I love my comics coming out in portable form. There are very few things better then spending some hard earned cash on some well drawn and well written art. At the last NYCC I couldn’t help but buy the comics of every artist that agreed to let us interview them but even then I missed getting Ugly Hill. Darn that Paul Southworth and all his creative talent for taunting me. Here are some more creators that insist on proving I don’t know how to save.

Shortpacked! – The past two years of shenanigans from David Willis arrives in it’s first print collection Shortpacked! Brings Back the Eighties. Crammed with extras it collects the first hundred strips of Shortpacked! into a 140-page keepsake volume with commentary, providing witty insight and background to the comics. Additional features include Shortpacked v1.o, the early strips, and pages from the never-before-seen Shortpacked! Employee Handbook. David, you are an evil, evil man.

PandaXpress! – Truly one of the best all ages graphic novels I’ve encountered. We reviewed them way back in our 43rd show during one of Phil’s first appearances. Well we foretold of an epic book and Manny Trembley and Eric A. Anderson have finally put together the first chapter which tells the story of Dahlia, a young girl who, with the help of her Giant Panda sidekick, sets off on an epic journey around the globe to rescue her missing father. PX! BOOK ONE: A GIRL AND HER PANDA is a beautiful full color, 168-page landscape format graphic novel that will surely dazzle the eyes of all readers. It goes on sale August 1, 2007.

Phables – This isn’t exactly a web comic but it does come from infamous web comic creator Brad Guigar. Back in Feb, while convincing me to purchase the first two volumes of Evil Inc., Brad mentioned a sort of side project that was quickly earning him a name in an unexpected way. Phables tells stories of ordinary Philadelphians living their extraordinary lives. Readers often submit stories, and then may be interviewed. This culminates in a full-page comic based on the results. Sometimes Guigar tells his own stories or shares opinions about city life from a first-person perspective. Earlier in the year this very unique comic was even nominated for an Eisner Award. Recently Brad has been awarded Best Local Column by the Greater Philadelphia chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.