Humble Comic Bundle: 50 Essential Fantagraphics Titles by Fantagraphics
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Bottomless Belly Button
Dash Shaw, Fantagraphics
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Bottomless Belly Button is a graphic novel comedy-drama that follows the dysfunctional adventures of the Loony Family. When the parents announce their… Bottomless Belly Button is a graphic novel comedy-drama that follows the dysfunctional adventures of the Loony Family. When the parents announce their divorce, the family comes together at their beach house for a week. Dennis, the eldest son, is having marriage troubles of his own, and searches for clues, trap doors, and secret tunnels. Claire, the middle child, is a single mother with a troubled 16-year-old daughter, Jill. The youngest child, Peter, is a hack filmmaker suffering from paralyzing insecurities who establishes an unorthodox romance with a mysterious day care counselor at the beach.
Boy's Club
Matt Furie, Fantagraphics
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Matt Furie
BTTM FDRS
Ezra Claytan Daniels, Ben Passmore, Fantagraphics
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Once a thriving working class neighborhood on Chicago’s south side, the “Bottomyards” is now the definition of urban blight. When an aspiring fashion… Once a thriving working class neighborhood on Chicago’s south side, the “Bottomyards” is now the definition of urban blight. When an aspiring fashion designer named Darla and her image-obsessed friend, Cynthia, descend upon the neighborhood in search of cheap rent, they soon discover something far more seductive and sinister lurking behind the walls of their new home. Like a cross between Jordan Peele’s Get Out and John Carpenter’s The Thing, Daniels and Passmore’s BTTM FDRS (pronounced “bottomfeeders”) offers a vision of horror that is gross and gory in all the right ways. At turns funny, scary, and thought provoking, it unflinchingly confronts the monsters—both metaphoric and real—that are displacing cultures in urban neighborhoods today.
Cannon
Wallace Wood, Steve Ditko, Howard Chaykin (introduction), Fantagraphics
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Meet John Cannon, the perfect agent and America's exploitative answer to James Bond, whose adventures are drawn the legendary Wallace Wood (Mad, EC… Meet John Cannon, the perfect agent and America's exploitative answer to James Bond, whose adventures are drawn the legendary Wallace Wood (Mad, EC Comics, Daredevil)! Cannon appeared in Overseas Weekly, a newspaper distributed exclusively to U.S. Military bases around the world. Uncensored by commercial editorial restrictions, Wood pulled out all the stops — producing a thrilling and salacious Cold War spy serial run amok with brutal violence and titillating sex, all in an effort to boost morale and support our troops! Initially brainwashed by the terrifying, voluptuous, and always half-naked Madame Toy to be "the perfect assassin" for the Red forces, Cannon was eventually rescued and brainwashed (again) by the CIA until he had no emotions whatsoever. Under the employ of our government's Central Intelligence Agency, Cannon experiences action like no other agent!
Castle Waiting Volume 1
Linda Medley, Jane Yolen (introduction), Fantagraphics
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Castle Waiting is the story of an isolated, abandoned castle, and the eccentric inhabitants who bring it back to life. A fable for modern times, it is… Castle Waiting is the story of an isolated, abandoned castle, and the eccentric inhabitants who bring it back to life. A fable for modern times, it is a fairy tale that's not about rescuing the princess, saving the kingdom, or fighting the ultimate war between Good and Evil — but about being a hero in your own home. The opening chapter tells the origin of the castle itself, which is abandoned by its princess in a comic twist on "Sleeping Beauty" when she rides off into the sunset with her Prince Charming. The castle becomes a refuge for misfits, outcasts, and others seeking sanctuary, playing host to a lively and colorful cast of characters that inhabits the subsequent stories, including a talking anthropomorphic horse, a mysteriously pregnant Lady on the run, and a bearded nun. Linda Medley lavishly illustrates Castle Waiting in a classic visual style reminiscent of Arthur Rackham and William Heath Robinson. Blending elements from a variety of sources — fairy tales, folklore, nursery rhymes — Medley tells the story of the everyday lives of fantastic characters with humor, intelligence, and insight into human nature. Castle Waiting can be read on multiple levels and can be enjoyed by readers of all ages, especially young girls.
Castle Waiting Volume 2
Linda Medley, Fantagraphics
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With its long-awaited second volume, Linda Medley's witty and sublimely drawn fantasy eases into a relaxed comedy of manners as Lady Jain settles into… With its long-awaited second volume, Linda Medley's witty and sublimely drawn fantasy eases into a relaxed comedy of manners as Lady Jain settles into her new life in Castle Waiting. Unexpected visitors result in the discovery and exploration of a secret passageway, not to mention an epic bowling tournament. A quest for ladies' underpants, the identity of her baby son Pindar's father, the education of Simon, Rackham and Chess arguing about the "manly arts," and an escape-prone goat are just a few of the elements in this delightful new volume. characters, including Jain's earliest romantic entanglements and conflicts with her bratty older sisters, the horrific past of the enigmatic Dr. Fell, and more. Originally released in a slightly shorter version when the series ceased publication, this new edition includes over 60 pages' worth of brand new additional story and epilogue, and the entire book has been re-lettered in a livelier, more inviting style for an even more engaging reading experience.
Ephemera: A Memoir
Briana Loewinsohn, Fantagraphics
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Ephemera is a poetic and dreamlike take on a graphic memoir set in a garden, a forest, and a greenhouse. The story drifts among a grown woman, her… Ephemera is a poetic and dreamlike take on a graphic memoir set in a garden, a forest, and a greenhouse. The story drifts among a grown woman, her early memories as a child, and the gossamer existence of her mother. A lyrical entry in the field of graphic medicine, Ephemera is a story about a daughter trying to relate to a parent who struggles with mental illness. Gorgeously illustrated in a painted palette of warmy, earthy tones, it is a quiet book of isolation, plants, confusion, acceptance, and the fog of childhood. Loewinsohn’s debut book is an aching, meditative twist on autobiography, infusing the genre with an ethereal fusion of memory and imagination.
Heartbreak Soup
Gilbert Hernandez, Fantagraphics
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This volume is the second in a chronological series, The Complete Love and Rockets Library, and the first that collects comics writer-artist Gilbert… This volume is the second in a chronological series, The Complete Love and Rockets Library, and the first that collects comics writer-artist Gilbert Hernandez's main "Palomar" storyline and more. Heartbreak Soup reprints the earliest tales a small Central American town, Palomar, beginning with the groundbreaking "Sopa de Gran Pena" (which introduces most of his main cast of characters as children, plus imposing newcomer Luba), and continuing on through such classics as "Ecce Homo," "Act of Contrition," "Duck Feet," and the great love story "For the Love of Carmen." In addition to seeing Hernandez develop as a cartoonist from 1983 to 1988, readers will see how he draws characters with various body types that change as they age in "real-time."These stories first appeared in the long-running (and ongoing) Love and Rockets comics series, also featuring work by Gilbert's brothers, Jaime and Mario. L&R has been called "the greatest American comic book series of all time" by Rolling Stone and "a great, sprawling American novel" by GQ. It broke ground with its craft and the casual intersectionality of its huge and diverse casts of nuanced characters (many of whom are LGBQTIA+) who live and have relationships in often-naturalistic settings and situations (although L&R has SF and magical realist elements too). Along with contemporaries Chris Ware, Lynda Barry, and Daniel Clowes, the Hernandez brothers pushed the comics medium into new artistic heights.
Hip Hop Family Tree The Omnibus
Ed Piskor, Fantagraphics
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Ed Piskor's Hip Hop Family Tree has been a global phenomenon and perennial bestseller since the first (of four) volumes was published in 2013,… Ed Piskor's Hip Hop Family Tree has been a global phenomenon and perennial bestseller since the first (of four) volumes was published in 2013, spawning multiple printings, fourteen comic books, and the author's wildly popular YouTube comics channel, Cartoonist Kayfabe (with fellow cartoonist Jim Rugg). Yet the series has never been collected under one cover. Until now. This omnibus collection includes the original 360-page series with over 140 pages of extra material: a cover gallery of every HHFT book and comic book cover and back cover Piskor ever created, pages from the HHFT comic book series that have never been collected, new annotations of the entire series by Piskor, and much more. Plus, it features a foreword by Charlie Ahearn and an afterword by Bill Adler. Hip Hop Family Tree is the entertaining, encyclopedic history of the formative years of the music genre that changed global culture. Piskor's cartooning crackles like Kirby and takes you from the parks and rec rooms of the South Bronx to the night clubs, recording studios, and radio stations where the scene started to boom, capturing the flavor of late 1970s New York City in panels bursting with obsessively authentic detail. With a vigorous and engaging Ken Burns-meets-Stan Lee approach, the battles and rivalries, the technical innovations, the triumphs and failures are all thoroughly researched and lovingly depicted. Like the acclaimed hip hop documentaries Style Wars and Scratch, Hip Hop Family Tree is an essential cultural chronicle and a must for hip hop fans, pop-culture addicts, and anyone who wants to know how it went down back in the day.
How to Be Happy
Eleanor Davis, Fantagraphics
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Eleanor Davis is one of the finest cartoonists of her generation and has been producing comics since the mid-2000s. How to Be Happy represents the… Eleanor Davis is one of the finest cartoonists of her generation and has been producing comics since the mid-2000s. How to Be Happy represents the best stories she's drawn for comics anthologies as well as her own self-publishing and web efforts. Davis achieves a rare, subtle poignancy in her narratives that are at once compelling and elusive, pregnant with mystery and a deeply satisfying emotional resonance. This collection shows the full range of Davis's graphic skills — sketchy drawing, polished pen and ink line work, and meticulously designed full color painted panels— which are always in the service of a narrative that builds to a quietly devastating climax.
How to Read Nancy The Elements of Comics in Three Easy Panels
Paul Karasik, Mark Newgarden, Jerry Lewis (foreword), James Elkins (introduction), Fantagraphics
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Everything that you need to know about reading, making, and understanding comics can be found in a single Nancy strip by Ernie Bushmiller from August… Everything that you need to know about reading, making, and understanding comics can be found in a single Nancy strip by Ernie Bushmiller from August 8, 1959. Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden’s groundbreaking work How to Read Nancy ingeniously isolates the separate building blocks of the language of comics through the deconstruction of a single strip. No other book on comics has taken such a simple yet methodical approach to laying bare how the comics medium really works. No other book of any kind has taken a single work by any artist and minutely (and entertainingly) pulled it apart like this. How to Read Nancy is a completely new approach towards deep-reading art. In addition, How to Read Nancy is a thoroughly researched history of how comics are made, from their creation at the drawing board to their ultimate destination at the bookstore. Textbook, art book, monogram, dissection, How to Read Nancy is a game changer in understanding how the “simplest” drawings grab us and never leave. Perfect for students, academics, scholars, and casual fans.
Humbug
Jack Davis, Will Elder, Al Jaffee, Fantagraphics
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Harvey Kurtzman changed the face of American humor when he created the legendary MAD comic. As editor and chief writer from its inception in 1952,… Harvey Kurtzman changed the face of American humor when he created the legendary MAD comic. As editor and chief writer from its inception in 1952, through its transformation into a slick magazine, and until he left MAD in 1956, he influenced an entire generation of cartoonists, comedians, and filmmakers. In 1962, he co-created the long-running Little Annie Fanny with his long-time artistic partner Will Elder for Playboy, which he continued to produce until his virtual retirement in 1988. Between MAD and Annie Fanny, Kurtzman’s biographical summaries will note that he created and edited three other magazines—Trump, Humbug, and Help!—but, whereas his MAD and Annie Fanny are readily available in reprint form, his major satirical work in the interim period is virtually unknown. Humbug, which had poor distribution, may be the least known, but to those who treasure the rare original copies, it equals or even exceeds MAD in displaying Kurtzman’s creative genius. Humbug was unique in that it was actually published by the artists who created it: Kurtzman and his cohorts from MAD—Will Elder, Jack Davis, and Al Jaffee—were joined by universally acclaimed cartoonist Arnold Roth. With no publisher above them to rein them in, this little band of creators produced some of the most trenchant and engaging satire of American culture ever to appear on American newsstands. At last, the entire run of 11 issues of Humbug is being reprinted in a two-volume slipcased hardcover deluxe format, much of it reproduced from the original art, allowing even owners of the original cheaply-printed issues to experience the full impact for the first time. Nominated for a 2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award: (Best Archival Collection/Project: Comic Books).
I Am Not Okay With This
Charles Forsman, Fantagraphics
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Sydney seems like a normal, rudderless fifteen-year-old freshman. She hangs out underneath the bleachers, blasts music in her friend's car, and gets… Sydney seems like a normal, rudderless fifteen-year-old freshman. She hangs out underneath the bleachers, blasts music in her friend's car, and gets into arguments with her annoying little brother. But she also has a few secrets she’s only shared in her diary: how she's in love with her best friend, the bizarre death of her war veteran father, and excruciatingly painful telekinetic powers that keep popping up at the most inopportune times. Charles Forsman once again expertly channels teenage ethos in a style that evokes classic comics strips while telling a powerful story about the intense, and sometimes violent, tug of war between trauma and control. I Am Not Okay With This tackles familial strain, sexual confusion, and PTSD in Forsman's signature straight-faced-but-humorous style and firmly stakes his place among the world's best cartoonists.
I Killed Adolf Hitler
Jason, Fantagraphics
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In this graphic novel, a hitman travels back in time to kill Adolf Hitler in 1939... but things go spectacularly wrong.
Maggie the Mechanic
Jaime Hernandez, Fantagraphics
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Jaime Hernandez's "Locas" stories comprise one of the great bodies of work in comics history, and it all begins here, collecting the earliest Love and… Jaime Hernandez's "Locas" stories comprise one of the great bodies of work in comics history, and it all begins here, collecting the earliest Love and Rockets adventures of the spunky Maggie, her annoying best friend and sometimes lover Hopey, and their circle of friends, including their bombshell friend Penny Century, Maggie's weirdo mentor Izzy — as well as the wrestler Rena Titañon and Maggie's handsome love interest, Rand Race... " Maggie the Mechanic " collects the earliest, punkiest, most heavily sci-fi stories of Maggie and her circle of friends, and you can see the artist (who drew like an angel from the very first panel) refine his approach: Despite these strong shifts in tone, the stunning art and razor sharp characterizations keep this collection consistent, and enthralling throughout.
Megahex
Simon Hanselmann, Fantagraphics
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Simon Hanselmann
Megg & Mogg In Amsterdam (And Other Stories)
Simon Hanselmann, Fantagraphics
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Megg the witch, Mogg the cat, their friend Owl, and Werewolf Jones struggle unsuccessfully with their depression, drug use, sexuality, poverty, lack… Megg the witch, Mogg the cat, their friend Owl, and Werewolf Jones struggle unsuccessfully with their depression, drug use, sexuality, poverty, lack of ambition, and their complex feelings about each other. It's a laff riot! Megg and Mogg decide to take a trip to Amsterdam for some quality couple time, although the trip gets off to a rocky start when they forget their antidepressants. They need Owl to come and help them save their relationship. But why does he have a suitcase full of glass dildos? And what will they do when they realize that the housesitting Werewolf Jones has turned their apartment into a "f#@k zone"? Megg & Mogg in Amsterdam collects all of Simon Hanselmann's contributions to Vice.com, the Ignatz Award-nominated short story "St. Owl's Bay," and other surprises that will add additional color and background for fans of Megahex.
Mort Cinder
Alberto Breccia (artist), Héctor Germán Oesterheld (writer), Fantagraphics
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Alberto Breccia is recognized as one of the greatest international cartoonists in the history of comics and Mort Cinder is considered one of his… Alberto Breccia is recognized as one of the greatest international cartoonists in the history of comics and Mort Cinder is considered one of his finest achievements. Created in collaboration with the Argentine writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld, best known in the U.S. for his politically incendiary sci-fi masterpiece, the Eisner Award-winning The Eternaut, Mort Cinder is a horror story with political overtones. This episodic serial, written and drawn between 1962–1964, is drawn by Breccia in moody chiaroscuro. The artist's rubbery, expressionistic faces capture every glint in the eyes of the grave robbers, sailors, and slaves that populate these stories; while the slash of stripes of prisoners' uniforms, the trapeziums of Babylon, and more create distinct and evocative milieus.
Night Fisher
R. Kikuo Johnson, Fantagraphics
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First-rate prep school, SUV, and a dream house in the heights — an island paradise was handed to Loren Foster when he moved to Hawaii with his father… First-rate prep school, SUV, and a dream house in the heights — an island paradise was handed to Loren Foster when he moved to Hawaii with his father six years ago. Now, with the end of high school just around the corner, his best friend, Shane, has grown distant. Rumors abound. Loren suspects that Shane has left him behind for a new group of friends. Their friendship is put to the test when they get mixed up in a petty crime. Johnson has a naturalistic ease in exploring these relationships, which sets this drama apart. This graphic novel debut is at once an unsentimental portrait of that most awkward period between adolescence and young adulthood and that rarest of things — a mature depiction of immature lives. His lush-yet-unsentimental-depiction of Maui creates an immersive, visceral sense of place. In 2006, critics heralded R. Kikuo Johnson's Night Fisher as one of the most exciting debuts in the medium's history. Johnson won the prestigious Russ Manning Newcomer Award at the 2006 Eisner Awards, the Harvey Award for Best New Talent, and a Harvey Award nomination for Best Graphic Novel.
No One Else
R. Kikuo Johnson, Fantagraphics
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In this graphic novel, Charlene is a divorced mom, has a young son named Brandon, and works full-time as a nurse while also caring for her infirm… In this graphic novel, Charlene is a divorced mom, has a young son named Brandon, and works full-time as a nurse while also caring for her infirm father. She is barely holding their lives together when tragedy strikes and leaves Charlene and Brandon on their own. Charlene, who has put everyone but herself first for years, sees it as an opportunity for a new start of sorts. That is, at least, until her easy-come, easy-go brother, Robbie — a well-intentioned but unserious semi-professional musician — rolls back into town after a long absence. Brandon, a good kid who aches for life to return to normal, focuses his grief on his cat, Batman, who hasn't been seen for a few days since he ran into the sugar cane fields that lie on the edge of their housing tract. No One Else is a graphic novel of great tender truth, as Charlene, Brandon, and Robbie learn to navigate life day to day with their plans, fears, and desires. Gorgeously drawn and set in the author's hometown on the Hawaiian island of Maui, it is the long-awaited follow up to Johnson's acclaimed debut graphic novel, Night Fisher, and a mature work of literary fiction that is certain to be one of the most talked-about books of the year.
One Beautiful Spring Day
Jim Woodring, Fantagraphics
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Jim Woodring has been chronicling the adventures of his cartoon Everyman, Frank, for almost 30 years. These stories are a singular rarity in the… Jim Woodring has been chronicling the adventures of his cartoon Everyman, Frank, for almost 30 years. These stories are a singular rarity in the comics form — both bone-chillingly physical in their depictions of Frank's travails and profoundly metaphysical at the same time. Not since George Herriman's Krazy Kat has the comics language been so exquisitely distilled into pure, revelatory aesthetic expression. One Beautiful Spring Day combines three previously published volumes —Congress of the Animals, where Frank embarked upon a life-changing voyage of discovery, Fran, where he learned, then forgot, that things are not always what they seem, and Poochytown in which Frank demonstrated his dizzying capacity for both nobility and ignominy — along with 100 dazzling new pages conceived and drawn by the author. The result is a seamless, 400 page graphic narrative that forges a new and even more poignantly realized single story that takes readers deep into the hidden meanings of the previous stories and offers the most full, complete, astonishing exposition of Frank and his supercharged world to date. Frank's curiosity and risk-taking mixed with a dose of, let's face it, wanton recklessness, takes him on a series of terrifying peregrinations that often leave his soul and body shattered, and the reader in a state of creative exaltation. Suffice to say that if you are a friend to Frank you will find One Beautiful Spring Day to be a thousand-course feast of agonizing bliss, soul-stirring mystery and luminous depth. This is undoubtedly one of the great novels of the 21st century, graphic or otherwise.
Palestine
Joe Sacco, Edward W Said (introduction), Amira Hass (afterword), Fantagraphics
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Joe Sacco's breakthrough work of graphic journalism — a now-established genre almost single handedly invented by Sacco — won the American Book Award… Joe Sacco's breakthrough work of graphic journalism — a now-established genre almost single handedly invented by Sacco — won the American Book Award upon its initial release in 1996, and has remained a perennial, essential work for understanding the Palestinian Israeli conflict in the Middle East. This new hardcover edition includes a new afterword by Israeli journalist Amira Hass and also features Palestinian academic and critic Edward Said’s timeless 2001 introduction to the work. Based on several years of research and an extended visit to the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the early 1990s, where he conducted over 100 interviews with Palestinians and Jews, Palestine was the first major comics work of political and historical nonfiction by Sacco, whose name has since become synonymous with this graphic form of New Journalism. Like Safe Area Gorazde, Palestine has been favorably compared to Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus for its ability to brilliantly navigate such socially and politically sensitive subject matter through the immersive lens of the comic book medium. Sacco has often been called the first comic book journalist, and he is certainly the best.
Pogo The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips Volume 2: Bona Fide Balderdash
Walt Kelly, Stan Freberg (foreword), Fantagraphics
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In November of 2011, Fantagraphics released the first volume of its much-anticipated, long-promised series reprinting in its entirety the syndicated… In November of 2011, Fantagraphics released the first volume of its much-anticipated, long-promised series reprinting in its entirety the syndicated run of Walt Kelly's classic newspaper strip, Pogo. Pogo: Through the Wild Blue Wonder immediately became the company's best-selling book of the last five years. Exactly one year later, the second volume, Pogo: Bona Fide Balderdash, will be released, featuring all the strips from 1951 and 1952. With sources found for the more elusive strips (in the past, our scheduling downfall), we're confident that these collections will become an annual affair. Even though Pogo had been in syndication for less than two years as this volume begins, Kelly's long professional experience (including seven years creating Pogo stories for comic books) had him at the peak of his powers, and this book features page after page of gorgeously drawn, hilarious vaudevillian dialogue and action among the swamp denizens, as well as Kelly's increasingly sharp-tongued political satire — especially on display during the 1952 election season. Kelly was famous for his prolific creation of recurring characters, and by the end of this second volume, the count will already have topped over one hundred. New arrivals include Tammanany the Tiger, the voluble P.T. Bridgeport, the sinister Sarcophagus MacAbre (with his funereal speech balloons), Uncle Antler the bull moose... and Bewitched, Bothered, and Bemildred, the adorable trio of bats. The two years of daily strips in this volume have been collected before but in now long-out-of print books; and even there they were not as meticulously restored and reproduced as in this new series. Bona Fide Balderdash also reprints, literally for the first time ever in full color, the two full years of Sunday pages, also carefully restored and color-corrected, shot from the finest copies available. This second volume is once again edited and designed by the cartoonist's daughter, Carolyn Kelly, who is also handling much of the restoration work. It includes a new introduction by the legendary author, recording artist, and satirist Stan Freberg, who was not only a friend of Kelly's but the voice of Albert the Alligator in the I Go Pogo: Pogo for President movie. There will also be more extensive annotations by comic strip historian and expert R.C. Harvey, as well as additional historical information from writer Mark Evanier.
Popeye Volume 2: Wimpy & His Hamburgers
E. C. Segar, Kevin Huizenga (introduction), Fantagraphics
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An irresistible alchemy of screwball comedy, tender romance, and rags-to-riches fantasy, Elsie Crisler Segar's newspaper comic strip, starring Popeye… An irresistible alchemy of screwball comedy, tender romance, and rags-to-riches fantasy, Elsie Crisler Segar's newspaper comic strip, starring Popeye the sailor man, captivated readers of the Roaring Twenties and beyond. Fantagraphics is thrilled to bring Segar's whimsical world back into print, collecting the complete Popeye Sunday stories in four gorgeous full-color volumes, each packaged in a deluxe vertical slipcase. Volume one highlighted the mercurial relationship between Popeye and Olive Oyl, while volume two shifts the focus to an even more dynamic connection, between that of J. Wellington Wimpy and his one true object of desire: a delectable hamburger. A notorious chiseler without a penny to his name, Wimpy is forever scheming new ways to bamboozle the local diner out of a mouth-watering morsel of his favorite meal. And the audacious chicaneries Wimpy employs in pursuit of his greatest love are as riotous today as they were when these strips first appeared in the '30s. Featuring laugh-out-loud gags, sensational slugfests, and an endearing cast of characters, this Wimpy-centric volume of classic Popeye adventures emphatically answers the question: Where's the beef? Plus, an illustrated appreciation/deconstruction of this legendary comic character by acclaimed cartoonist Kevin Huizenga!
Post-Apocalypto
Jack Black, Kyle Gass, Fantagraphics
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In the fall of 2018, the Greatest Band in the World - Tenacious D (comprised of Jack Black and Kyle Gass) - added arguably its most crucial work to an… In the fall of 2018, the Greatest Band in the World - Tenacious D (comprised of Jack Black and Kyle Gass) - added arguably its most crucial work to an already scintillating catalogue of rock greatness: Tenacious D in Post-Apocalypto the movie (available on YouTube) and Post-Apocalypto the album. And now - with great excitement - Tenacious D will add the final piece to the Post-Apocalypto universe: the graphic novel, which Jack Black drew and Kyle Gass wrote, complete with accompanied audio. Post-Apocalypto finds Tenacious D thrust into a world of complete and utter destruction following the drop of an atomic bomb. Surviving the attack in classic cinematic fashion (a good old imperishable 1950s refrigerator), the duo quickly learn that new forms of evil have spawned from the blast. One thing becomes apparent - for humanity to prevail, Tenacious D must save the world. With unimaginable twists and turns, an insane visit to the White House, a time machine, a space adventure, and the help of some tried-and-true daddy issues, Post-Apocalypto is as hilarious as it is political, and as brilliant and multi-faceted as its incredible creators.
Prince Valiant Vol. 1: 1937-1938
Hal Foster, Brian M Kane (foreword), Fantagraphics
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Nominated for a 2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award: The most stunningly gorgeous adventure comic strip of all time finally returns in its… Nominated for a 2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award: The most stunningly gorgeous adventure comic strip of all time finally returns in its definitive edition, the first to boast superb testored artwork that captures every delicate line and chromatic nuance of Foster's original masterpiece. Universally acclaimed as the most stunningly gorgeous adventure comic strip of all time, Prince Valiant ran for 35 years under the virtuoso pen of its creator, Hal Foster. (Such was its popularity that today, decades after Foster's death, it continues to run under different hands.) The giant Sunday-funnies pages (Valiant ran only on Sundays) gave Foster a huge canvas upon which he was able to limn epic swordfights, stunning scenes of pomp and pageantry, and some of the most beautiful human beings—male and female—ever to appear in comics. And he matched his nonpareil visual sense with the narrative instincts of a born storyteller, propelling his daring young hero from one crisis to another with barely a panel to catch one's breath. Prince Valiant has previously been widely available only in re-colored, somewhat degraded editions (now out of print and fetching collectors' prices). Thanks to advances in production technology and newly available original proof sheets, this new series from the industry leader in quality strip classics is the first to feature superb restored artwork that captures every delicate line and chromatic nuance of Foster's original masterpiece. Comic strip aficionados will be ecstatic, and younger readers who enjoy a classic adventure yarn will be bowled over. Volume One is rounded out with a rare, in-depth classic Foster interview previously available only in a long out-of-print issue of The Comics Journal, as well as an informative Afterword detailing the production and restoration of this edition.
Prince Valiant Vol. 2: 1939-1940
Hal Foster, Mark Schultz (foreword), Fantagraphics
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Swords and sorcery at their grandest as the classic adventure strip continues in second volume! For 35 years, Hal Foster created epic adventure and… Swords and sorcery at their grandest as the classic adventure strip continues in second volume! For 35 years, Hal Foster created epic adventure and romantic fantasy in his legendary Sunday strip, Prince Valiant. Realistic in its visual execution and noble in its subject, depicting a time in which the fabled warriors of history and legends fought together for the greater good, it remains one of the great masterpieces of the medium. In this second volume, Prince Valiant helps his father reclaim his throne in kingdom of Thule, fights alongside King Arthur, and is made a knight of the Round Table in recompense for his bravery and wit. Bored by the peace he helped to create, Val decides to independently pull together the forces to battle the Huns' descent on Southern Europe. When Val's army breaches the Huns' stronghold, however, he discovers that corruption reigns still further west in Rome. Thus Val sets off with Sir Gawain and Tristam of Arthurian legend fame, and the familial kinship of the trio sees them through chivalrous escapades, false imprisonment and daring escapes. By the end of this volume, they go their separate ways, and Val boards a ship to Sicily—yet a storm approaches, throwing him off-course, as adventure follows him everywhere. Fantagraphics is proud to present these strips, which, thanks to the use of original proof sheets and advances in printing technology, are even brighter and crisper than when they were originally published 70 years ago. Foster's work, painterly and sweeping, is finally treated to the grand depiction it deserves. These illustrative, time-honored comic strips will enthrall old readers and just as easily awe new ones.
Raised By Ghosts
Briana Loewinsohn, Fantagraphics
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Set in the author’s own teenage years, Raised By Ghosts begins in 1991 with semi autobiographical Briana in middle school. Classes are a bummer, but… Set in the author’s own teenage years, Raised By Ghosts begins in 1991 with semi autobiographical Briana in middle school. Classes are a bummer, but lunches are worse; either spent alone, or being teased. Traditionally a good student, Briana is not doing well in her academics, but keeps it a secret. Her parents (divorced) are a mess, and largely absent. She spends a lot of time by herself. By high school, she makes friends, and those connections are her only source of happiness as they help each other navigate adolescence. But life at home with each parent remains fraught. When her relationships at school begin to falter, she has no one to turn to, forcing Briana to grapple with her sense of self-worth, her longing for belonging, and her desire for authenticity in her relationships. Raised By Ghosts is a powerful, affecting graphic novel for young adult readers. The story is told by shifting between Briana’s first-person class notes and diary entries. In her understated yet masterful approach to comics storytelling, Loewinsohn eschews dramatic confrontations and overt sentimentality, preferring instead to underscore the idea that sometimes acceptance and love can be communicated through quiet, everyday moments and close family bonds.
Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995
Joe Sacco, Christopher Hitchens (introduction), Fantagraphics
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The winner of the 2001 Eisner Award for Best New Graphic Album. Sacco spent five months in Bosnia in 1996, immersing himself in the human side of life… The winner of the 2001 Eisner Award for Best New Graphic Album. Sacco spent five months in Bosnia in 1996, immersing himself in the human side of life during wartime, researching stories that are rarely found in conventional news coverage, emerging with this astonishing first-person account. Praised by The New York Times, Brill's Content and Publishers Weekly, Safe Area Gorazde is the long-awaited and highly sought after 240-page look at war in the former Yugoslavia. Sacco (the critically-acclaimed author of Palestine) spent five months in Bosnia in 1996, immersing himself in the human side of life during wartime, researching stories that are rarely found in conventional news coverage. The book focuses on the Muslim-held enclave of Gorazde, which was besieged by Bosnian Serbs during the war. Sacco lived for a month in Gorazde, entering before the Muslims trapped inside had access to the outside world, electricity or running water. Safe Area Gorazde is Sacco's magnum opus and with it he is poised to become one of America's most noted journalists. The book features an introduction by Christopher Hitchens, political columnist for The Nation and Vanity Fair.
Sun Ra: Art on Saturn: The Album Cover Art of Sun Ra's Saturn Label
Sun Ra, Irwin Chusid (editor), Chris Reisman (editor), Fantagraphics
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Considered the foremost exponent of Afrofuturism, Sun Ra mastered a wide array of styles that spanned jazz, R&B, exotica, Afro-hybrids, electronic,… Considered the foremost exponent of Afrofuturism, Sun Ra mastered a wide array of styles that spanned jazz, R&B, exotica, Afro-hybrids, electronic, big band, solo piano, orchestral, experimental, and chamber works. In his 45-year recording career, he issued an epic number of albums and he was one of the first Black musicians to own an independent label, which he named Saturn, after the planet on which he claimed to have been born. The covers of Saturn LPs, issued from 1957 to 1988, are iconic—some rolled off commercial printing presses but many were hand-crafted. These records were sold at concerts, club dates, and by mail order. As collectibles, original handmade Saturn covers sell for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars. More than just packaging for a slab of vinyl, they are works of art in their own right. Sun Ra: Art on Saturn is the first comprehensive collection of all Saturn printed covers, along with hundreds of the best hand-designed, one-of-a-kind sleeves and disc labels, decorated by Ra himself and members of his Arkestra. Essays by Sun Ra catalog preservationist Irwin Chusid, noted Ra scholar John Corbett, and Glenn Jones, who in the 1970s signed Ra to a distribution deal that put countless homemade covers into circulation, add unique insights into the interplanetary life and work of Sun Ra and his Saturn partner Alton Abraham. Historians have written extensively about Sun Ra and his music. This book is a tribute to the covers and to the uncredited visual artists and their rich imaginations. From the simple to the baroque to the absurd, the covers that sheathed Ra's discs reflect the tenaciousness of a genius who refused to compromise or relinquish control of his destiny.
Sunday
Olivier Schrauwen, Fantagraphics
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Sunday follows, over the course of one day, the stream of consciousness of a fictionalized version of the author's cousin, Thibault. On the day of his… Sunday follows, over the course of one day, the stream of consciousness of a fictionalized version of the author's cousin, Thibault. On the day of his girlfriend's return from an extended trip, Thibault wakes up, does nothing, gets James Brown stuck in his head, drinks and smokes, grows paranoid about his relationship, struggles to compose text messages, and watches The Da Vinci Code, all the while avoiding anyone and everyone, descending deeper into his own thoughts and fears. Meanwhile, a former crush and another cousin of Thibault's plan a surprise birthday for him, sending the external and internal on a collision course. Schrauwen's brilliant comic timing and formal mastery transcends the quotidian nature of the plot. Through use of color, flashback and the dissonance between text and image, the ways in which Schrauwen layers a depiction of human consciousness as lines on paper are infused heavily with slapstick and white-knuckle tension and make for an exhilarating read and breathtaking use of the comics medium.
The Complete Wimmen's Comix
Trina Robbins (editor), Fantagraphics
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In the late '60s, underground comix changed the way comics readers saw the medium — but there was an important pronoun missing from the revolution. In… In the late '60s, underground comix changed the way comics readers saw the medium — but there was an important pronoun missing from the revolution. In 1972, ten women cartoonists got together in San Francisco to rectify the situation and produce the first and longest-lasting all-woman comics anthology, Wimmen's Comix. Within two years the Wimmen's Comix Collective had introduced cartoonists like Roberta Gregory and Melinda Gebbie to the comics-reading public, and would go on to publish some of the most talented women cartoonists in America — Carol Tyler, Mary Fleener, Dori Seda, Phoebe Gloeckner, and many others. In its twenty year run, the women of Wimmen's tackled subjects the guys wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole: abortion, menstruation, masturbation, castration, lesbians, witches, murderesses, and feminists. Most issues of Wimmen's Comix have been long out of print, so it's about time these pioneering cartoonists' work received their due. Presented as a gorgeous two-volume slipcased set, The Complete Wimmen's Comix includes the ground-breaking 1970 one-shot, It Ain't Me, Babe, the very first all-woman comic book ever published. Edited with an introduction by Trina Robbins.
The End of the Fucking World
Charles Forsman, Fantagraphics
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Charles Forsman's hit graphic novel follows James and Alyssa, two teenagers living a seemingly typical teen experience as they face the fear of coming… Charles Forsman's hit graphic novel follows James and Alyssa, two teenagers living a seemingly typical teen experience as they face the fear of coming adulthood. Forsman tells their story through each character's perspective, jumping between points of view with each chapter. But quickly, this somewhat familiar teenage experience takes a more nihilistic turn as James's character exhibits a rapidly forming sociopathy that threatens both of their futures. He harbors violent fantasies and begins to act on them, while Alyssa remains as willfully ignorant for as long as she can, blinded by young love.
The Frank Book
Jim Woodring, Francis Ford Coppola (introduction), Fantagraphics
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Jim Woodring
The George Herriman Library: Krazy & Ignatz 1916-1918
George Herriman, Fantagraphics
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A deluxe reprint of the first three years of the most renowned comics strip ever created. For nearly 30 years, George Herriman's hilarious, poetic… A deluxe reprint of the first three years of the most renowned comics strip ever created. For nearly 30 years, George Herriman's hilarious, poetic masterpiece Krazy Kat graced the Sunday pages of America's newspapers. This new hardcover collection of all the full-sized Sunday pages from 1916 through 1918 brings back into print the inventive language, haunting vistas, and beguiling brick throwing that makes this strip so special. Perfect for Herriman connoisseurs and brand-new readers, this collection provides you with the joy of joining the lovelorn Krazy Kat, the ill-tempered Ignatz Mouse, the stalwart Officer Pupp, and many more of the inhabitants of surreal Coconino County in the strip that originally elevated the comics medium into a celebrated art form.
The George Herriman Library: Krazy & Ignatz 1919-1921
George Herriman, Bill Blackbeard (introduction), Fantagraphics
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As the surreal comic strip continues into the 1920s, the likes of Joe Stork, Blind Pig, and Bum Bill Bee settle into the mesas of Coconino County.… As the surreal comic strip continues into the 1920s, the likes of Joe Stork, Blind Pig, and Bum Bill Bee settle into the mesas of Coconino County. Brand-new readers and Herriman aficionados alike will find out what happens when Ignatz the Mouse's brick supplier runs out of stock, how Krazy Kat fares after taking up boxing, and what happens when a new "Katnippery" opens providing libations to the locals. Krazy & Ignatz 1919-1921 (Vol. 2) includes photographs, artwork, and introductory text by comic historians Bill Blackbeard and Michael Tisserand.
The Wolverton Bible
Basil Wolverton, Monte Wolverton (editor), Grant Geissman (editor), Fantagraphics
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Cartoonist Basil Wolverton was known for his grotesque drawings, fantastically odd creatures, spaghetti-like hair, smoothly sculpted caricatures and… Cartoonist Basil Wolverton was known for his grotesque drawings, fantastically odd creatures, spaghetti-like hair, smoothly sculpted caricatures and insanely detailed crosshatching. His career in the golden age of comic books lasted from 1938 until 1952, after which his illustrations and caricatures extended into such publications as Life, Pageant and MAD magazines. Stylistically, he has been regarded as one of the spiritual grandfathers of underground and alternative comix. Less well known and understood is his work for the Worldwide Church of God, headed until 1986 by radio evangelist Herbert Armstrong. From 1953 through 1974, Wolverton, a deeply religious man, was commissioned and later employed by the church to write and illustrate a narrative of the Old Testament (including over 550 illustrations), some 20 apocalyptic illustrations inspired by the Book of Revelations, and dozens of cartoons and humorous illustrations for various Worldwide Church publications. Compiled and edited by Wolverton’s son, Monte, the 304-page Wolverton Bible includes all of Wolverton’s artwork for the Worldwide Church of God corporation. Recording artist and noted EC authority Grant Geissman (Tales of Terror: The E.C. Companion and Foul Play!: The Art and Artists of the Notorious 1950s E.C. Comics!) provides an insightful foreword, while Monte Wolverton delivers commentary and background in the introduction and in each section. This volume is authorized and commissioned by the Worldwide Church of God and endorsed by the Wolverton family. Many of the illustrations in this book are regarded as Basil Wolverton’s finest work. Still others have never been published, and some of the humorous drawings printed here rival Wolverton’s work in MAD magazine.
Turn Loose Our Death Rays And Kill Them All! The Complete Works Of Fletcher Hanks
Fletcher Hanks, Paul Karasik (editor), Fantagraphics
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Although EC is the comic book company most fans associate with horror, during the genre's peak (1951-54) more than fifty titles appeared each month.… Although EC is the comic book company most fans associate with horror, during the genre's peak (1951-54) more than fifty titles appeared each month. Four Color Fear collects the finest of these into a single robust and affordable volume. Jack Cole, Steve Ditko, George Evans, Frank Frazetta, Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Basil Wolverton, and Wallace Wood contribute both stories and covers, with many of the forty full-sized covers created by specialists Bernard Baily, L.B. Cole, William Eckgren, and Matt Fox.
Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition
Stan Sakai, Fantagraphics
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Created in 1984 as a supporting character for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo has vaulted to the very forefront of iconic… Created in 1984 as a supporting character for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo has vaulted to the very forefront of iconic modern comics characters and is a perennial favorite amongst both children and adult fans. Stuffed with engaging supporting characters, villains, and even a romantic interest or two, Usagi Yojimbo chronicles the action-packed wanderings of a masterless samurai (a "ronin") in feudal Japan — as told with funny-animals. (If Pixar and the late Akira Kurosawa were to collaborate on a movie, it might very well look like this.) For the first ten years of his career, the battling bunny was published by Fantagraphics Books. In honor of his 25th anniversary, Fantagraphics is releasing a deluxe slipcase set collecting the first seven Usagi books, including the earliest stories; the origin story, "Samurai"; "The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy," a full graphic novel; and literally dozens more. With over 1000 pages of story, this is the complete, definitive, early Usagi. But that's not all! This Special Edition will also be brimming with extra material, some from the long-out-of-print hardcover editions of those first seven volumes, some brand new. Just a few of the goodies are a complete full-color gallery of the more than 50 Usagi covers from that period (never-before-collected); many preparatory sketches, including Sakai's original first draft of the "Samurai" story; two "non-canon" Usagi stories by Sakai co-starring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (with whom Usagi also shared screen time in the TMNTs' TV series); and an updated and expanded, long out-of-print and feature-length, career-spanning interview with Sakai from the pages of The Comics Journal.
Why Art?
Eleanor Davis, Fantagraphics
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What is "Art"? It's widely accepted that art serves an important function in society. But the concept falls under such an absurdly large umbrella and… What is "Art"? It's widely accepted that art serves an important function in society. But the concept falls under such an absurdly large umbrella and can manifest in so many different ways. Art can be self indulgent, goofy, serious, altruistic, evil, or expressive, or any number of other things. But how can it truly make lasting, positive change? In Why Art?, acclaimed graphic novelist Eleanor Davis (How To Be Happy) unpacks some of these concepts in ways both critical and positive, in an attempt to illuminate the highest possible potential an artwork might hope to achieve. A work of art unto itself, Davis leavens her exploration with a sense of humor and a thirst for challenging preconceptions of art worth of Magritte, instantly drawing the reader in as a willing accomplice in her quest.
Willie & Joe: The WWII Years
Bill Mauldin, Todd DePastino (editor), Fantagraphics
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During WW II, the closest most Americans ever came to combat was through the cartoons of Bill Mauldin, the most beloved enlisted man in the U.S. Army.… During WW II, the closest most Americans ever came to combat was through the cartoons of Bill Mauldin, the most beloved enlisted man in the U.S. Army. This new edition brings together Mauldin’s complete works from 1940 through the end of the war under one cover. This collection of over 600 cartoons, most never before reprinted, is more than the record of a great artist: it is an essential chronicle of America’s citizen-soldiers from peace through war to victory. Bill Mauldin knew war because he was in it. He had created his characters, Willie and Joe, at age 18, before Pearl Harbor, while training with the 45th Infantry Division and cartooning part-time for the camp newspaper. His brilliant send-ups of officers were pure infantry, and the men loved it. Mauldin’s cartoons and captions recreated on paper the fully realized world of the American combat soldier. Willie & Joe is edited by Todd DePastino, Mauldin’s official biographer. Willie & Joe contains an introduction and running commentary by DePastino, providing context for the drawings, pertinent biographical details of Mauldin’s life, and occasional background on specific cartoons (such as the ones that made Patton howl).
21: The Story of Roberto Clemente PB
Wilfred Santiago, Fantagraphics
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Wilfred Santiago’s instant classic 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente is a human drama of courage, faith, and dignity, inspired by the life of the… Wilfred Santiago’s instant classic 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente is a human drama of courage, faith, and dignity, inspired by the life of the acclaimed Pittsburgh Pirates baseball star who died too young. 21 chronicles Clemente’s life from his early days growing up, through the highlights of his career, capturing the grit of his rise from an impoverished Puerto Rican childhood to the majesty of his performance on the field, and to his fundamental decency off of it. Santiago’s inviting style combines realistic attention to detail and expressive cartooning to great effect.
Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s
Greg Sadowski (editor), Fantagraphics
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Although EC is the comic book company most fans associate with horror, during the genre's peak (1951-54) more than fifty titles appeared each month.… Although EC is the comic book company most fans associate with horror, during the genre's peak (1951-54) more than fifty titles appeared each month. Four Color Fear collects the finest of these into a single robust and affordable volume. Jack Cole, Steve Ditko, George Evans, Frank Frazetta, Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Basil Wolverton, and Wallace Wood contribute both stories and covers, with many of the forty full-sized covers created by specialists Bernard Baily, L.B. Cole, William Eckgren, and Matt Fox.
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two
Emil Ferris, Fantagraphics
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Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late '60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two is the eagerly awaited conclusion to one of… Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late '60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two is the eagerly awaited conclusion to one of the most acclaimed graphic novels of the past decade. Presented as the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes as she tries to solve the murder of her beloved and enigmatic upstairs neighbor, Anka Silverberg, a holocaust survivor, while the interconnected stories of those around her unfold. In Book Two, dark mysteries past and present continue to abound in the tumultuous and violent Chicago summer of 1968. Young Karen attends a protest in Grant Park and finds herself swept up in a police stomping. Privately, she continues to investigate Anka's recent death and discovers one last cassette tape that sheds light upon Anka's heroic activities in Nazi Germany. She wrestles with her own sexual identity, the death of her mother, and the secrets she suspects her brother Deez of hiding. Ferris's exhilarating cast of characters experience revelations and epiphanies that both resolve and deepen the mysteries visited upon them earlier. Visually, the story is told in Ferris's inimitable style that breathtakingly and seamlessly combines panel-to-panel storytelling and cartoon montages filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster mag iconography.
Pogo The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips Volume 1: Through the Wild Blue Wonder
Walt Kelly, Steve Thompson (introduction), Jimmy Breslin (foreword), Carolyn Kelly (annotations), Fantagraphics
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Walt Kelly started his career at age 13 in Connecticut as a cartoonist and reporter for the Bridgeport Post. In 1935, he moved to Los Angeles and… Walt Kelly started his career at age 13 in Connecticut as a cartoonist and reporter for the Bridgeport Post. In 1935, he moved to Los Angeles and joined the Walt Disney Studio, where he worked on classic animated films, including Pinocchio, Dumbo, and Fantasia. Rather than take sides in a bitter labor strike, he moved back east in 1941 and began drawing comic books. It was during this time that Kelly created Pogo Possum. The character first appeared in Animal Comics as a secondary player in the "Albert the Alligator" feature. It didn't take long until Pogo became the comic's leading character. After WWII, Kelly became artistic director at the New York Star, where he turned Pogo into a daily strip. By late 1949, Pogo appeared in hundreds of newspapers. Until his death in 1973, Kelly produced a feature that has become widely cherished among casual readers and aficionados alike. Kelly blended nonsense language, poetry, and political and social satire to make Pogo an essential contribution to American "intellectual" comics. As the strip progressed, it became a hilarious platform for Kelly's scathing political views in which he skewered national bogeymen like J. Edgar Hoover, Joseph McCarthy, George Wallace, and Richard Nixon. Walt Kelly started when newspaper strips shied away from politics — Pogo was ahead of its time and ahead of later strips (such as Doonesbury and The Boondocks) that tackled political issues. Our first (of 12) volume reprints approximately the first two years of Pogo — dailies and (for the first time) full-color Sundays. This first volume also introduces such enduring supporting characters as Porkypine, Churchy LaFemme, Beauregard Bugleboy, Seminole Sam, Howland Owl, and many others. And for Christmas, 1949, Kelly started his tradition of regaling his readers with his infamously and gloriously mangled Christmas carols. Special features in this sumptuous premiere volume, which is produced with the full cooperation of Kelly's heirs, include a biographical introduction by Kelly biographer Steve Thompson, an extensive section by comics historian R. C. Harvey explaining some of the more obscure current references of the time, a foreword by legendary columnist Jimmy Breslin, and more.
Popeye Volume 1: Olive Oyl & Her Sweety
E. C. Segar, Sergio Ponchione (introduction), Cathy Malkasian (introduction), Fantagraphics
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An irresistible alchemy of screwball comedy, tender romance, and rags-to-riches fantasy, Elsie Crisler Segar's newspaper comic strip captivated… An irresistible alchemy of screwball comedy, tender romance, and rags-to-riches fantasy, Elsie Crisler Segar's newspaper comic strip captivated readers of the Roaring Twenties and beyond. And Popeye, the sailor man, was the unlikely star of the show. Fantagraphics is thrilled to bring Segar's whimsical world back into print, reviving the origins of the beloved spinach-eating American icon for a whole new readership. The E.C. Segar Popeye Sundays series collects the complete Popeye Sunday stories in four gorgeous full-color volumes, each packaged in a deluxe die-cut vertical slipcase. Volume one (1931-1932) highlights Popeye's riotous romance with his sweet patootie, Olive Oyl. As apt to hold hands as butt heads, they are ultimately meant for each other, and their enduring connection forms the warm heart of the comic. Outside the love nest, Popeye seeks fame and fortune as a prizefighter. Ever the under-dog, he must contend with a series of increasingly fearsome opponents, from the formidable Johnny Brawn to a literal gorilla! Featuring tongue-twisting gags, sensational slugfests, and an endearing ensemble of characters, this revival of classic Popeye adventures really packs a punch and will captivate stalwart fans and new readers alike. Introduced with comic tributes by acclaimed cartoonists Sergio Ponchione and Cathy Malkasian.
The Eternaut
Héctor Germán Oesterheld (writer), Francisco Solano López (artist), Fantagraphics
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A gathering of neighbors in suburban Buenos Aires is interrupted by an eerie, phosphorescent snowfall. When those outside exposed to the "snow" start… A gathering of neighbors in suburban Buenos Aires is interrupted by an eerie, phosphorescent snowfall. When those outside exposed to the "snow" start dropping dead, it becomes clear that the harmless-looking "snow" reflects the vanguard of an alien invasion, and a story of survival, cunning, and armed struggle against them unfurls. Written by the Argentine author Héctor Germán Oesterheld — who opposed the military junta in the late '70s, and was disappeared, along with his daughters, in 1977 — and drawn by Francisco Solano López in an appropriately pulpy, representational style. The story, originally serialized from 1957 to 1959, holds a mirror to Argentine politics, reflecting an era of paranoia, military juntas, and Cold War geopolitics. Encounter the gripping tale that remains a symbol of resistance in Latin America to this day.
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters
Emil Ferris, Fantagraphics
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Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late '60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen… Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late '60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes, filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster magazines iconography. Karen Reyes tries to solve the murder of her enigmatic upstairs neighbor, Anka Silverberg, a holocaust survivor, while the interconnected stories of those around her unfold. When Karen's investigation takes us back to Anka's life in Nazi Germany, the reader discovers how the personal, the political, the past, and the present converge.
Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life
Ellen Forney, Fantagraphics
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In the follow up to her acclaimed Marbles, Forney writes and draws a guide for people with mood disorders. Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My… In the follow up to her acclaimed Marbles, Forney writes and draws a guide for people with mood disorders. Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life is the eagerly awaited sequel/companion book to Forney's 2012 best-selling graphic memoir, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me. Whereas Marbles was a memoir about her bipolar disorder, Rock Steady turns the focus outward, offering a self-help guide of tips, tricks and tools by someone who has been through it all and come through stronger for it.
Stone Fruit
Lee Lai, Fantagraphics
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Bron and Ray are a queer couple who enjoy their role as the fun weirdo aunties to Ray's niece, six-year-old Nessie. Their playdates are little oases… Bron and Ray are a queer couple who enjoy their role as the fun weirdo aunties to Ray's niece, six-year-old Nessie. Their playdates are little oases of wildness, joy, and ease in all three of their lives, which ping-pong between familial tensions and deep-seeded personal stumbling blocks. As their emotional intimacy erodes, Ray and Bron isolate from each other and attempt to repair their broken family ties — Ray with her overworked, resentful single-mother sister and Bron with her religious teenage sister who doesn't fully grasp the complexities of gender identity. Taking a leap of faith, each opens up and learns they have more in common with their siblings than they ever knew. At turns joyful and heartbreaking, Stone Fruit reveals through intimately naturalistic dialog and blue-hued watercolor how painful it can be to truly become vulnerable to your loved ones — and how fulfilling it is to be finally understood for who you are. Lee Lai is one of the most exciting new voices to break into the comics medium and she has created one of the truly sophisticated graphic novel debuts in recent memory.
50 Things I Love About Fantagraphics
Fantagraphics Editors, Fantagraphics
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50 things to love about Fantagraphics for their 50th anniversary of bringing extraordinary creators and art to readers!
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21: The Story of Roberto Clemente PB
Wilfred Santiago, Fantagraphics
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Wilfred Santiago’s instant classic 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente is a human drama of courage, faith, and dignity, inspired by the life of the… Wilfred Santiago’s instant classic 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente is a human drama of courage, faith, and dignity, inspired by the life of the acclaimed Pittsburgh Pirates baseball star who died too young. 21 chronicles Clemente’s life from his early days growing up, through the highlights of his career, capturing the grit of his rise from an impoverished Puerto Rican childhood to the majesty of his performance on the field, and to his fundamental decency off of it. Santiago’s inviting style combines realistic attention to detail and expressive cartooning to great effect.
Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s
Greg Sadowski (editor), Fantagraphics
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Although EC is the comic book company most fans associate with horror, during the genre's peak (1951-54) more than fifty titles appeared each month.… Although EC is the comic book company most fans associate with horror, during the genre's peak (1951-54) more than fifty titles appeared each month. Four Color Fear collects the finest of these into a single robust and affordable volume. Jack Cole, Steve Ditko, George Evans, Frank Frazetta, Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Basil Wolverton, and Wallace Wood contribute both stories and covers, with many of the forty full-sized covers created by specialists Bernard Baily, L.B. Cole, William Eckgren, and Matt Fox.
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two
Emil Ferris, Fantagraphics
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Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late '60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two is the eagerly awaited conclusion to one of… Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late '60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two is the eagerly awaited conclusion to one of the most acclaimed graphic novels of the past decade. Presented as the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes as she tries to solve the murder of her beloved and enigmatic upstairs neighbor, Anka Silverberg, a holocaust survivor, while the interconnected stories of those around her unfold. In Book Two, dark mysteries past and present continue to abound in the tumultuous and violent Chicago summer of 1968. Young Karen attends a protest in Grant Park and finds herself swept up in a police stomping. Privately, she continues to investigate Anka's recent death and discovers one last cassette tape that sheds light upon Anka's heroic activities in Nazi Germany. She wrestles with her own sexual identity, the death of her mother, and the secrets she suspects her brother Deez of hiding. Ferris's exhilarating cast of characters experience revelations and epiphanies that both resolve and deepen the mysteries visited upon them earlier. Visually, the story is told in Ferris's inimitable style that breathtakingly and seamlessly combines panel-to-panel storytelling and cartoon montages filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster mag iconography.
Pogo The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips Volume 1: Through the Wild Blue Wonder
Walt Kelly, Steve Thompson (introduction), Jimmy Breslin (foreword), Carolyn Kelly (annotations), Fantagraphics
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Walt Kelly started his career at age 13 in Connecticut as a cartoonist and reporter for the Bridgeport Post. In 1935, he moved to Los Angeles and… Walt Kelly started his career at age 13 in Connecticut as a cartoonist and reporter for the Bridgeport Post. In 1935, he moved to Los Angeles and joined the Walt Disney Studio, where he worked on classic animated films, including Pinocchio, Dumbo, and Fantasia. Rather than take sides in a bitter labor strike, he moved back east in 1941 and began drawing comic books. It was during this time that Kelly created Pogo Possum. The character first appeared in Animal Comics as a secondary player in the "Albert the Alligator" feature. It didn't take long until Pogo became the comic's leading character. After WWII, Kelly became artistic director at the New York Star, where he turned Pogo into a daily strip. By late 1949, Pogo appeared in hundreds of newspapers. Until his death in 1973, Kelly produced a feature that has become widely cherished among casual readers and aficionados alike. Kelly blended nonsense language, poetry, and political and social satire to make Pogo an essential contribution to American "intellectual" comics. As the strip progressed, it became a hilarious platform for Kelly's scathing political views in which he skewered national bogeymen like J. Edgar Hoover, Joseph McCarthy, George Wallace, and Richard Nixon. Walt Kelly started when newspaper strips shied away from politics — Pogo was ahead of its time and ahead of later strips (such as Doonesbury and The Boondocks) that tackled political issues. Our first (of 12) volume reprints approximately the first two years of Pogo — dailies and (for the first time) full-color Sundays. This first volume also introduces such enduring supporting characters as Porkypine, Churchy LaFemme, Beauregard Bugleboy, Seminole Sam, Howland Owl, and many others. And for Christmas, 1949, Kelly started his tradition of regaling his readers with his infamously and gloriously mangled Christmas carols. Special features in this sumptuous premiere volume, which is produced with the full cooperation of Kelly's heirs, include a biographical introduction by Kelly biographer Steve Thompson, an extensive section by comics historian R. C. Harvey explaining some of the more obscure current references of the time, a foreword by legendary columnist Jimmy Breslin, and more.
Popeye Volume 1: Olive Oyl & Her Sweety
E. C. Segar, Sergio Ponchione (introduction), Cathy Malkasian (introduction), Fantagraphics
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An irresistible alchemy of screwball comedy, tender romance, and rags-to-riches fantasy, Elsie Crisler Segar's newspaper comic strip captivated… An irresistible alchemy of screwball comedy, tender romance, and rags-to-riches fantasy, Elsie Crisler Segar's newspaper comic strip captivated readers of the Roaring Twenties and beyond. And Popeye, the sailor man, was the unlikely star of the show. Fantagraphics is thrilled to bring Segar's whimsical world back into print, reviving the origins of the beloved spinach-eating American icon for a whole new readership. The E.C. Segar Popeye Sundays series collects the complete Popeye Sunday stories in four gorgeous full-color volumes, each packaged in a deluxe die-cut vertical slipcase. Volume one (1931-1932) highlights Popeye's riotous romance with his sweet patootie, Olive Oyl. As apt to hold hands as butt heads, they are ultimately meant for each other, and their enduring connection forms the warm heart of the comic. Outside the love nest, Popeye seeks fame and fortune as a prizefighter. Ever the under-dog, he must contend with a series of increasingly fearsome opponents, from the formidable Johnny Brawn to a literal gorilla! Featuring tongue-twisting gags, sensational slugfests, and an endearing ensemble of characters, this revival of classic Popeye adventures really packs a punch and will captivate stalwart fans and new readers alike. Introduced with comic tributes by acclaimed cartoonists Sergio Ponchione and Cathy Malkasian.
The Eternaut
Héctor Germán Oesterheld (writer), Francisco Solano López (artist), Fantagraphics
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A gathering of neighbors in suburban Buenos Aires is interrupted by an eerie, phosphorescent snowfall. When those outside exposed to the "snow" start… A gathering of neighbors in suburban Buenos Aires is interrupted by an eerie, phosphorescent snowfall. When those outside exposed to the "snow" start dropping dead, it becomes clear that the harmless-looking "snow" reflects the vanguard of an alien invasion, and a story of survival, cunning, and armed struggle against them unfurls. Written by the Argentine author Héctor Germán Oesterheld — who opposed the military junta in the late '70s, and was disappeared, along with his daughters, in 1977 — and drawn by Francisco Solano López in an appropriately pulpy, representational style. The story, originally serialized from 1957 to 1959, holds a mirror to Argentine politics, reflecting an era of paranoia, military juntas, and Cold War geopolitics. Encounter the gripping tale that remains a symbol of resistance in Latin America to this day.
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters
Emil Ferris, Fantagraphics
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Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late '60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen… Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late '60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes, filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster magazines iconography. Karen Reyes tries to solve the murder of her enigmatic upstairs neighbor, Anka Silverberg, a holocaust survivor, while the interconnected stories of those around her unfold. When Karen's investigation takes us back to Anka's life in Nazi Germany, the reader discovers how the personal, the political, the past, and the present converge.
Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life
Ellen Forney, Fantagraphics
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In the follow up to her acclaimed Marbles, Forney writes and draws a guide for people with mood disorders. Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My… In the follow up to her acclaimed Marbles, Forney writes and draws a guide for people with mood disorders. Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life is the eagerly awaited sequel/companion book to Forney's 2012 best-selling graphic memoir, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me. Whereas Marbles was a memoir about her bipolar disorder, Rock Steady turns the focus outward, offering a self-help guide of tips, tricks and tools by someone who has been through it all and come through stronger for it.
Stone Fruit
Lee Lai, Fantagraphics
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Bron and Ray are a queer couple who enjoy their role as the fun weirdo aunties to Ray's niece, six-year-old Nessie. Their playdates are little oases… Bron and Ray are a queer couple who enjoy their role as the fun weirdo aunties to Ray's niece, six-year-old Nessie. Their playdates are little oases of wildness, joy, and ease in all three of their lives, which ping-pong between familial tensions and deep-seeded personal stumbling blocks. As their emotional intimacy erodes, Ray and Bron isolate from each other and attempt to repair their broken family ties — Ray with her overworked, resentful single-mother sister and Bron with her religious teenage sister who doesn't fully grasp the complexities of gender identity. Taking a leap of faith, each opens up and learns they have more in common with their siblings than they ever knew. At turns joyful and heartbreaking, Stone Fruit reveals through intimately naturalistic dialog and blue-hued watercolor how painful it can be to truly become vulnerable to your loved ones — and how fulfilling it is to be finally understood for who you are. Lee Lai is one of the most exciting new voices to break into the comics medium and she has created one of the truly sophisticated graphic novel debuts in recent memory.
50 Things I Love About Fantagraphics
Fantagraphics Editors, Fantagraphics
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50 things to love about Fantagraphics for their 50th anniversary of bringing extraordinary creators and art to readers!
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My Favorite Thing Is Monsters
Emil Ferris, Fantagraphics
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Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late '60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen… Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late '60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes, filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster magazines iconography. Karen Reyes tries to solve the murder of her enigmatic upstairs neighbor, Anka Silverberg, a holocaust survivor, while the interconnected stories of those around her unfold. When Karen's investigation takes us back to Anka's life in Nazi Germany, the reader discovers how the personal, the political, the past, and the present converge.
Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life
Ellen Forney, Fantagraphics
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In the follow up to her acclaimed Marbles, Forney writes and draws a guide for people with mood disorders. Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My… In the follow up to her acclaimed Marbles, Forney writes and draws a guide for people with mood disorders. Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life is the eagerly awaited sequel/companion book to Forney's 2012 best-selling graphic memoir, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me. Whereas Marbles was a memoir about her bipolar disorder, Rock Steady turns the focus outward, offering a self-help guide of tips, tricks and tools by someone who has been through it all and come through stronger for it.
Stone Fruit
Lee Lai, Fantagraphics
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Bron and Ray are a queer couple who enjoy their role as the fun weirdo aunties to Ray's niece, six-year-old Nessie. Their playdates are little oases… Bron and Ray are a queer couple who enjoy their role as the fun weirdo aunties to Ray's niece, six-year-old Nessie. Their playdates are little oases of wildness, joy, and ease in all three of their lives, which ping-pong between familial tensions and deep-seeded personal stumbling blocks. As their emotional intimacy erodes, Ray and Bron isolate from each other and attempt to repair their broken family ties — Ray with her overworked, resentful single-mother sister and Bron with her religious teenage sister who doesn't fully grasp the complexities of gender identity. Taking a leap of faith, each opens up and learns they have more in common with their siblings than they ever knew. At turns joyful and heartbreaking, Stone Fruit reveals through intimately naturalistic dialog and blue-hued watercolor how painful it can be to truly become vulnerable to your loved ones — and how fulfilling it is to be finally understood for who you are. Lee Lai is one of the most exciting new voices to break into the comics medium and she has created one of the truly sophisticated graphic novel debuts in recent memory.
50 Things I Love About Fantagraphics
Fantagraphics Editors, Fantagraphics
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50 things to love about Fantagraphics for their 50th anniversary of bringing extraordinary creators and art to readers!