Reid Feming World's Toughest Milkman & other great graphic novels

This week, IDW publishing is releasing the first of two gorgeous hardcover collections of David Boswell's beloved oddball comic, Reid Fleming World's Toughest Milkman, from the 1980s. If you've never read Reid Fleming and or want to have a nice collection of this seminal humor comic, for a mere $29.99 for 224 pages (and 20% off at Alternate Reality Comics through Friday, Dec. 24th), you can see what all the fuss is about.



This is the first page of the Reid Fleming hardcover (the book is in black and white, as it was originally published) and should give you an idea of David Boswell's sense of humor and his character, Reid Flemings, "damn the torpedoes" attitude towards his job and life.

I'd also like to give a roll call list shout out to some other great recent graphic novels that have newly arrived the last few weeks (or that I've gotten back in as a restock because they're so good that they keep selling out):

Dynamic Forces is finally releasing the first volume of the Vampirella Archives this week, which collects the fist seven issues of this great comic from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Image is releasing a softcover edition of Viking by Ivan Brandon and Nic Klein, a great crime fiction story set in viking times, with GREAT art. The ninth volume of the always funny, delightful manga, Yotsuba, by Kiyohiko Azuma (and you can read any volume onto itself) also arrived a couple of weeks ago. DC released a 500 page black and white Showcase volume of Our Army At War and at $99.99 for the who's who of great artists contained within, you'll not find a better deal. This week also sees the release of Bill Willingham's excellent Fables novel Peter and Max, which is a good introduction to what Fables is about (and even more excellent if you're already a fan of Fables), in a softcover edition. For a great sampling of some of the best comics in the U.S. this past year, the 2010 edition of Best American Comics came out about month ago, edited by Neil Gaiman. Everyone knows that when Chip Kidd designs a book it's going to be great right? Well a few weeks ago he put together a hardcover volume on Shazam and it's of course a beauty! Two Cents Plain is a great new autobiographical graphic novel by Martin Lemelman, about growing up in Brooklyn with parents who survived the Holocaust. Fantagraphics released the second Steve Ditko Archives, which collects many fantastic early stories by Ditko before he co-created Spider-Man and Dr. Strange. For anyone wanting to read great Thor stories that don't require any knowledge of what's going on in the Marvel Universe, look no further then Thor The Mighty Avenger by Rodger Langridge and Chris Samnee.

Still available at Alternate Reality Comics: Logicomix An Epic Search For Truth, Acme Novelty Library volume 20 (Lint), The Outfit, by Darwyn Cooke, and Gilbert Hernandez' Chance In Hell. And remember, all of the above and many more great graphic novels / trade paperbacks are on sale for 20% off through Friday, Dec. 24th!