AiT San Diego signing sked hits the web first at Tom Spurgeon's excellent site The Comics Reporter, and its exhausticakes complete list of everyone's-everywhere. For an AiT-only list, look no further than this news post at CBR.

"This is AiT’s most entertaining effort of the past few years," says Marc Mason, writing about Monster Attack Network. "How much did I love this book? It’s damned near embarrassing, frankly. Those who know me well know that I would sell my mother for the chance to write any sort of GODZILLA title or series. I think the 90s GAMERA trilogy are the greatest kaiju films ever made. So a graphic novel about people whose job it is to battle giant monsters on a daily basis? God help me.

"Of course, it helps that it’s actually pretty good. The script is lively and full of easter eggs for genre fans; in fact, they don’t even have to be giant monsters, as one of the local companies turns out to be Weyland/Yutani of ALIEN fame. The characters are stock roles, but written in such a way as to feel fresh and entertaining. The plot whips along at a very fast pace, keeping the reader active in the story. And Sorat’s Paul Pope-esque art, while confusing at times, does a strong job of depicting most of the large-scale action that matters.

"Wisely, the boys leave themselves wide open for a sequel, and I hope to see it."

+++++

"This book is what AiT/Planet Lar does best," says Brendan McGuirk on Pop Culture Shock. "With one part stoic lead, one part mysterious beauty, and about a hundred parts super gigantor chaos monsters you get the blockbuster that is Monster Attack Network. The concept is simple; huge monsters arise and destroy the island of Lapuatu, and M.A.N. rebuilds. When this happens once every month or so, it isn’t a problem. When it starts happening damn near everyday… well, that would be spoiling it.

"The story doesn’t give us any more than we need to enjoy ourselves. It has all the banter and action one would expect from a story about fighting monsters. The only trip up comes in the art. Nima Sorat has a unique style and vision for the book, and the characters manage to be familiar while remaining original. When we do see the monsters they are as horrific and awesome as they were when you were ten. The problems arise when the style overwhelms the narrative, and when the lack of consistency between pages impedes the transitions. The opening action sequence takes the knowledge that there are monsters for granted, and fails to give us that one big establishing shot. It evens out towards the end, progressively getting better.

"Don’t think too much about this one. You’ll love it."

+++++

What Looks Good? "Monster Attack Network -- Pretty much, if you put the phrase 'Monster Island' in your solicit, you have my attention."

Los Angeles area monster fans, your worlds collide: Monster Attack Network writer Adam Freeman signs today at Adam Freeman's Brave New World Comics, 22722 Lyons Avenue, #6 Newhall, California, right off the Five at the Lyons exit. Here's what Adam-the-retailer says about Adam-the-writer's signing: "Will the real Adam Freeman please stand up? From the desk of one of’em: Who is Adam Freeman? First let’s talk about who he’s not. He’s not a wildlife painter in Texas. He’s not a pitchman for the Home Shopping Network. And he’s certainly not the proprietor of the future greatest comics shop on the face of Mars, Brave New World. No, ladies and germs, this Adam Freeman has a real job. When he’s not directing and producing television that you don’t admit to watching he’s writing some of the best comics you haven’t read, yet. Along with his partner, Marc Bernardin, Adam has written the sit-down-shut-up-hang-on-tight-action-thriller Highwaymen and the take-no-prisoners-Island of Dr. Moreau-meets-Buckaroo-Banzai by-way-of-Toho-popcorn-muncher Monster Attack Network. This Wednesday, after work, come by and raise the total number of Adam Freemans you’ve met in your lifetime to two and finally begin to dial-in on what is so magical about men born with that name."

Entertainment Weekly Senior Editor Marc Bernardin, and co-creator of this Wednesday's Monster Attack Network, answers ten from Blogarama's JK Parkin: "Larry and I met thanks to the awesome graciousness of Maureen McTigue. She and I worked together at Starlog magazine back in the early 90s, and have been friends ever since. She was an editor at iBooks when I went to my first San Diego in 2003—a fact-finding/people-meeting mission in preparation for starting EW’s comics’ coverage—and she introduced me to everyone she’d ever met. And one of the first people was Larry and Mimi, who were just aces. Every con since, I’ve made the AiT booth one of my first stops—not only do they put out top-notch books, I’ve always found them to be pleasant company, an oasis in the madness of the SDCC floor. When I told Larry I was thinking about putting the journalist hat aside and trying on the writer hat, he said that I should call him. So I did. I pitched him Monster Attack Network over a burger, and he said, “Go write it.” So we did."

See? It's just that easy.

+++++

The Boxwatcher, on The Homeless Channel: "Scott, of my co-conspirators at view from the cheapseats, has been raving about this over at his blog: www.wednesdayshaul.com for some time now. It is the story of Darcy, a young executive who pitches a homeless network complete with homeless themed TV shows and an overnight live feed of actual homeless people. She is trying to be socially conscious while also turning a profit and discovering if one can coexist with the other. Along the way she struggles with exploiting her homeless sister and a new unexpected romance in the form of a corporate watchdog. This is one of those quiet little tales that feels very personal but never pretentious. I don’t know how much I really bought into Darcy’s story arc in the last chapter but I’ve only read it once….so far. I understand this is the debut from writer/artist Matt Silady. It’s a very good book and I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more by Silady."

+++++

No worries, Dorian: ("The second issue features lots of snappy dialogue and a big jump in exposition, as more characters come into play and the various factions at play get fleshed out. It's very good building on the world and filling in of back-story, but now I'm really eager to see some car chase action smash-em-ups in the book.") If the first three issues were a sneeze, it'd be Ah... AH... CHOOH!

+++++

... and a shout-out to Randy Brochu, the little brother of one of my oldest friends, the improbably-named Rob Lavender. It's not enough that I have my own son, now, to make me feel old, but Rob's little brother, who I remember teaching to sing "Kiss Off" by the Violent Femmes to when he'd visit us at college as a wee tyke, is now the on-air voice of the Yakima Bears. "There seems to be no actual border, no line of demarcation dividing the domain of New York Yankees fans from Boston Red Sox nation.

"But if there were, it might well run along the south border of New Britain, Conn., a city of some 70,000 that sits nine miles south of Hartford.

"Though New Britain is 113 miles east of Boston and 115 north of New York, the two-mile difference might as well be 2 million as far as Randy Brochu is concerned.

"'Boston all the way,' Brochu, the Bears' radio voice, says proudly from his booth at Yakima County Stadium. 'I've been a Red Sox fan my whole life.'"



Good game, Randy; good game.

The Savage Critics gets going today, with Graeme leading off with a pleasant review of Monster Attack Network: "I'll say this about pull-quotes: Sometimes, they work. The evening that I got my copy of the new AiT/Planet Lar graphic novel MONSTER ATTACK NETWORK in the mail, Kate found herself reading the testimonials on the back cover from the likes of John Rogers, Jeff Parker and Ivan Brandon and becoming more and more excited to read the book itself. Me, I was sold on the name alone, and the realization that the acronym was M.A.N."

One particularly astute observation Graeme made: "...it's as if everyone involved is so excited about working on the book that they can't stop wanting to really, really impress the reader and maybe go slightly overboard." I think one can say the same about nearly every book we publish. We want to impress you, and aren't above going slightly overboard in the attempt.

+++++

The Black Diamond is a good example of this. I, of course, know that the sorts of stories I like to tell aren't exactly the sorts of things superhero fans are predisposed towards, so the mainstream-mainstream tales I craft are certainly an acquired taste for the comics-mainstream. I know our stuff isn't for everyone, and, since we're still trying to impress you and aren't above going slightly overboard in the attempt, Jon and I took the edge off by having some of our talented pals play around telling their Tales of the Black Diamond. Laura Gjovaag notes this: "The Black Diamond issues one and two: Larry was kind enough to send me these, even though he wasn't sure how much I'd like them. The answer, Larry, is that I like them well enough. The biggest problem is that the plot doesn't seem to move much in these first two issues. I suspect (hope?) that it will all read much better together. But to make up for the lack of progress in the main storyline, Larry included two GREAT back-up tales. I may not end up liking the main story as much as the fascinating side stories that have been built on the foundation of the Black Diamond. The world of the Black Diamond is a good one, with lots of potential in it. Larry is to be commended for allowing others to play in his world. My conclusion is that this is a solid book, well worth a look. If you get a chance to read it, give it a shot."

Something for everyone; that's us.