I really am cutting back...

So despite all my intentions of cutting back, I had a chance for two books I couldn't pass up. One I've hunted for a long time, and one I didn't know I wanted until I saw it. I got both from mycomicshop.com auctions.

The first is A1 #5, 9.6 SS signed by William Stout. I've already written about how much I enjoyed A1 #1, and the feeling has expanded across the title. This one includes work by the following, lifted from the A1 wikipedia page:

Cover Story, Neil Gaiman and Kelley Jones

Bricktop: "Sunglasses", Chris Smith and Glenn Fabry

In the Penal Colony, Peter Milligan and Brett Ewins (adapted from Franz Kafka)

The Contact, Brett Ewins and Shaky Kane

Tor: "Food Chain", Joe Kubert

Jeff Hawke: "The Devil at Rennes-le-Chateau", Sydney Jordan, Trevor Goring and Thayed Rich

Knuckles the Malevolent Nun, Cornelius Stone and Roger Langridge

Bic: "Party Piece", Ed Hillyer

Reasons, Jeff Jones

The Boy Who Defied Gravity, Nick Abadzis

Take One Capsule Every Million Years, Bruce Jones, Jim Sullivan, and William Stout

Elvistein: "Yin and Yankee", Bambos Georgiu

The Proxy, Ramsey Campbell and David Lloyd

Trypto the Acid-Dog: "Pet Sounds", Miguel Ferrer, Bill Mumy, Steve Leialoha

Kathleen's House, Steve Dillon

I still need to find a reader copy, because that is an amazing roster of creators. I like A1 for Sig Series because of all the good opportunities there. This one of course came to me already signed, so I got to learn about William Stout. The name was not familiar to me, but a quick Google told me I had several pieces of his art already in my home. Most notably, the cover art to Ralph Bakshi's "Wizards." Check him out... http://www.williamstout.com/

The other is Cherry Deluxe, 9.6, and this one has been on my list since it came out 15 years ago. I just hadn't found a copy in any of my usual venues. I hadn't searched exhaustively online though. Being an "adult" comic it wasn't as commonly available as most. The reason I wanted it was the Neil Gaiman story, but looking into it has brought to light several aspects of the Cherry series that are pretty interesting to an amateur panelologist. There may be more to post on that front in a few weeks/months.

I've been collecting Neil Gaiman stories even more fervently than Alan Moore stories, although I'd be hard-pressed to say which author I preferred. I guess it would come down to what I call their benchmark works, Sandman and Saga of the Swamp Thing. In total, I slightly prefer the storyline of Sandman.

I'm happy to add two books to my Neil Gaiman collection, and may get around to identifying a Neil Gaiman set (minus Sandman) similar to the Alan Moore DC Universe set I requested a few weeks ago...

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