Category: Reading Group

One month through the relentless summer heat, and not much of a monsoon to show for it. oh well, at least we still have comics! The Ash Ave Comic Book Club is meeting Sunday, August 3 to discuss The Eternals, one of just a few stories from famed writer Neil Gaiman over at Marvel. This 2006 mini-series breathed new life into Jack Kirby’s late Marvel work, with John Romita Jr. providing pencils and inks, this mini-series brought The Eternals to a new audience at the tail end of Marvel’s epic Civil War mini-series, so there’s some timely Marvel continuity in the book, but it is also a completely stand alone read. Speaking of comics that either are or are not stand alone (depending on your stance re: two projects published without the original writer), we’ll be reading the most critically acclaimed comic book of the last 30+ years Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen for our Comic Book Club’s 5th anniversary this September.

Our meetings begin at 6 PM, and we recommend attendees BYOB (be it beer, beverage, or brisket).  Our reading group selections are available in the shop, so drop by to purchase a copy of Eternals by Neil Gaiman TP for our August meetup. Listed below are our next two months of readings, and a photo and summary of the August selection:

Sunday, August 4: Eternals by Neil Gaiman TP

Sunday, September 8: Watchmen TP

More than thirty-five years ago, comics legend Jack “The King” Kirby returned to the House of Ideas with perhaps his biggest idea of all: the universe of the Eternals! Their creation was the result of Kirby’s ceaseless curiosity about the origin of man and his mythologies – but like many of the King’s concepts, it was definitely ahead of its time. Flash forward to 2006: Superstar creators Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr. have boldly taken on these concepts with a loving hand, in the process telling a fresh and crackling fun yarn full of mystery, suspense and majestic power – all with an eye on helping establish Kirby’s creations as a vital part of the Marvel Universe once and for all. Against the backdrop of Marvel’s CIVIL WAR, the Eternals are being awoken one by one from a strange, waking dream, at once coming to terms with the fact that they are far more than the normal people they have thought themselves to be. They find there is little time to commiserate about such things, however, as they are thrust into a life and death struggle that spans both time and space! Collecting ETERNALS #1-7.

It’s July, which means San Diego Comic Con, the inevitable comic based summer blockbuster film(s), and of course, the Ash Ave Comic Book Club will meet for our monthly discussion of comics. For July we’re discussing Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill’s Marshal Law, specifically the deluxe edition collection released by DC Comics a few years back. Unfortunately this title went out of stock at our distributor after we selected it, and is now completely out of print, so we do not have any copies in the shop available for purchase. This is not the case for our August selection, Marvel’s 2007 Eternals mini-series by Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr., we have copies available in the shop now for purchase.

Our meetings begin at 6 PM, and we recommend attendees BYOB (be it beer, beverage, or brisket).  Our reading group selections are available in the shop, so drop by to purchase (or preorder if we’re temporarily out of stock) a copy of Eternals by Neil Gaiman TP for our August meetup. Listed below are our next two months of readings, and a photo and summary of the July selection:

Sunday, July 7: Marshal Law TP

Sunday, August 4: Eternals by Neil Gaiman TP

We’re rounding out Spring with a discussion of John Arcudi, Doug Mahnke, and Keith Williams’ collected run on The Mask with a reading and discussion of the recently repackaged omnibus from Dark Horse Comics. For our July comic book club, we will be discussing Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill’s Marshal Law, an extremely dystopian look at the law and superheroes.

Our meetings begin at 6 PM, and we recommend attendees BYOB (be it beer, beverage, or brisket).  Our reading group selections are available in the shop, so drop by to pick up The Mask Omnibus volume 1 collection or to preorder a copy of Marshal Law TP for our July meetup. Listed below are our next two months of readings, and a photo and summary of the June selection:

Sunday, June 2: The Mask Omnibus volume 1

Sunday, July 7: Marshal Law TP

The bestselling comic trilogy that inspired the blockbuster film The Mask is collected in this omnibus edition of gruesome hilarity!

A weird mask of unknown origin and power is discovered and imbues its wearer with limitless cartoon character invulnerability that takes the nerdy Stanley Ipkiss, the police, the mafia, and the monstrous mob muscleman Walter on a colliding violent path of homicidal mayhem, lunacy, and destruction!

Collects The Mask, The Mask Returns, and The Mask Strikes Back!

Our Ash Ave Comic Book Club is next meeting on Sunday, May 5th to discuss Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson’s beloved supernatural animal series Beasts of Burden, a winner of eight (!!!) Eisner awards over its various mini-series and one shots. After that we’ll be exploring a character that readers may be most familiar with from the mid 90s film adaptation starring Jim Carrey, The Mask by Doug Mahnke and John Arcudi has recently been reprinted in an omnibus format by Dark Horse Comics. We’ll be discussing The Mask Omnibus on Sunday, June 2nd.

Our meetings begin at 6 PM, and we recommend attendees BYOB (be it beer, beverage, or brisket).  Our reading group selections are available in the shop, so drop by to pick up the Beasts of Burden collection or to preorder a copy of The Mask Omnibus volume 1 for our June meetup. Listed below are our next two months of readings, and a photo and summary of the May selection:

Sunday, May 5: Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites

Sunday, June 2: The Mask Omnibus volume 1

Black magic, demonic frogs, and zombie road kill are just a few of the problems plaguing this seemingly sleepy little town. Beneath the quiet streets a rat cabal plots vengeance, while in the local cemetery the dead leave their graves. With the human residents unaware of the supernatural danger, it’s up to a determined crew of dogs (and one cat) to keep their community safe. Lives will be lost, and bonds forged as the beasts of Burden Hill battle against an unknown evil rooted within their town. Award-winning comics creators Evan Dorkin (Milk & Cheese) and Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother) come together to share the lives of some unlikely heroes. This volume reprints the comic-book series Beasts of Burden issues #1-4, the short stories from the Dark Horse Book of Hauntings, the Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft, the Dark Horse Book of the Dead, and the Dark Horse Book of Monsters,  “Stray,” “Unfamiliar,” “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie,” and “A Dog and His Boy,” published by Dark Horse Comics.

Spring has sprung and like clockwork the Ash Ave Comic Book Club will be meeting to discuss another entry in the wide world of comics.  For our April get together we’ll be meeting Sunday, April 7 to discuss Warren Ellis’ and Stuart Immonen’s superhero comedy Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E., winner of three Eagle Awards, as well as being a pick for the Young Adult Library Services Association’s (YALSA) list for the Best Comics of 2007.

We had an excellent discussion in March of Mister Miracle with Mister Miracle artist Mitch Gerads, here’s a couple of photos from the event if you couldn’t attend.

Our meetings begin at 6 PM, and per usual we recommend attendees BYOB (be it beer, beverage, or BBQ).  Our reading group selections are available in the shop, so drop by to pick up the Nextwave collection or to preorder a copy of Beasts of Burden Animal Rites for our May meetup. Listed below are our next two months of readings, and a photo and summary of the April selection:

Sunday, April 7: Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. 

Sunday, May 5: Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites

The Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort, or H.A.T.E. (a subsidiary of the Beyond Corporation©) put NEXTWAVE together to fight Bizarre Weapons of Mass Destruction. When NEXTWAVE discovers that H.A.T.E. and Beyond© are terrorist cells themselves, and that the BWMDs were intended to kill them, they are less than pleased. In fact, they are rather angry. So they make things explode. Lots of things. Starring Monica Rambeau (formerly Captain Marvel and Photon), Aaron Stack (Machine Man), Tabitha Smith (X-Force’s Meltdown), monster-hunter Elsa Bloodstone and The Captain! If you like anything, you will LOVE NEXTWAVE! BOOM! This new collection also includes all the hilarious letters pages!