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Out of the Shadows collects the best of Golden Age comics artist Mort Meskin's comic book stories from the '30s, '40s, and '50s. Out of the Shadows features work in every genre Meskin worked in: superhero (Back Terror and Fighting Yankee), adventure (Sheena, Queen of the Jungle), kid gangs ("Kid Crusaders"), romance ("My Destiny"), crime (Justice Traps the Guilty), Westerns (Prize Comics Western), science fiction (Tom Corbett, Space Cadet), and horror (Frankenstein). The variety of genres shows the breadth and versatility of Meskin's craft, from the noirish chiaroscuro of his crime work to the chiseled, gritty realism of his Westerns.

From Shadow to Light: The Life and Art of Mort Meskin is a coffee table art book and critical biography of one of the twentieth century's most influential comic book artists. Meskin's career spanned both the Golden and Silver ages of comics, from the 1940s to the 1960s. His drawing, chiaroscuro technique, and storytelling are considered by connoisseurs of the form to be among the most sophisticated of his time. His passion for his artwork was equaled by his skill, and the quality of his overall oeuvre blurs the artificial distinction between high and low art. Yet he is known mostly among hard-core aficionados today, eclipsed by many of his peers, some of whom he profoundly influenced. Among Meskin's fans and admirers are Jim Steranko, Joe Kubert, Alex Toth, Carmine Infantino, Steve Ditko, Jerry Robinson, and Jack Kirby. From Shadow to Light: The Life and Art of Mort Meskin will finally give this neglected artist the recognition he's due.

This graphic novella catches up with aspiring young writer Fante Bukowski one year later; he's attempting to establish himself in a new city's literary scene, self-publishing his first zine, and coming to terms with his feelings for an old friend. Fante Bukowski yearns for success as the great American novelist, and to get respect from his father once and for all. But, there's just one problem: he still has no talent for writing.

Noah Van Sciver's latest graphic novel drops in on the life of the self-styled, aspiring young writer, Fante Bukowski, as he delusively makes his way to literary fame and fortune, one drink at a time. Living in a cheap hotel, consorting with the debased and downtrodden, searching for that golden idea that will rocket him to the success he yearns for as the great American novelist, and to get respect from his father once and for all. But, there's just one problem: Fante Bukowski has no talent for writing.

These legendary stories, from the classic first fifteen issues of Bagge's Hate comic, are a defining icon of Seattle's early 1990s culture, as well as Generation X in general. This is the first time these hilarious stories, starring the hapless Buddy Bradley and his cast of loser cohorts, have ever been available under one cover, and never have they been available at such a low price! Bagge's riotous tales of the early 1990s subculture are more hilarious now than ever, and find out why he has been praised by R. Crumb, Matt Groening, John Kricfalusi, Publishers Weekly, Entertainment Weekly and many more as a comedy genius.

In this graphic novel, presented in English for the first time, the Italian "Crumb" portrays a lost generation of late 1970s/early 1980s teenagers coping with family problems, school, sex, and drugs. A true visionary, with a fluid line and an uncanny sense of color and composition, Pazienza's innovative graphic style served up stories that were iconoclastic, outrageous, humorous, and deeply personal, often based on himself and his microcosm of friends and collaborators. Pazienza was a revolutionary cartoonist who ushered an underground sensibility to Italian and European comics, breaking from the more staid tradition of genteel adult (and children's) graphic albums.

Back in 2003, Lou Reed paid tribute to poet Edgar Allan Poe with his sprawling album, The Raven. This gorgeous book of art and poetry, made in collaboration with Italian illustrator Lorenzo Mattotti, shares its title with that album and further explores Reed's fascination with Poe's work. Reed's poetically streetwise sensibility and style works in surprising harmony with Poe's dark chronicles of terror and despair, just as Mattotti's vivid, abstracted and enigmatic paintings perfectly complement Reed's haunting, contemporary interpretation of Poe's vision.

THE SECOND BOOK FROM 2008 EISNER 'BEST NEW TALENT' CATHY MALKASIAN
Do ideas of war and enemies hold a people together? Is a culture of conflict too seductive not to be irresistible? These are the questions Cathy Malkasian explores in her second graphic novel, Temperance. Malkasian creates, as she did in the critically acclaimed Percy Gloom, a fully realized, multi-layered world, inhabited by vividly realized characters. After a brutal injury in battle, Lester has no memory of his prior life. For the next thirty years his wife does everything to keep him from remembering -and re-constructing- a society, Blessedbowl, that elevates him as a hero. Blessedbowl is a cultural convergence of lies, memories, stories, and beliefs. Its people thrive on ideas of persecution, exceptionality, and enemies, convinced that war lurks just outside their walls. They have come to depend on Lester, their greatest war hero, to lead the charge once the Final Battle begins. What kind of enemy could topple such a people and its walls? Mere memory, it seems, as Lester gradually emerges from his amnesia.

The suppression of family history is the initial thread that ties together The Love Bunglers, featuring Hernandez's longtime Love and Rockets heroine Maggie. Because these secrets can't be dealt with openly, their lingering effect is even more powerful. But Maggie's ability to navigate and find meaning in her life - despite losing her culture, her brother, her profession, and her friends - is what's made her a compelling character. After a lifetime of losses, Maggie finds, in the second half, her longtime off and on lover, Ray Dominguez. Much like John Updike in his four Rabbitnovels, Jaime Hernandez has been following his longtime character Maggie around for several decades, all of which has seemed to be building towards this book in particular.

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.

Although there have been literally hundreds of Peanuts books published, many of the strips from the series' first two or three years have never been collected before―in large part because they showed a young Schulz working out the kinks in his new strip and include some characterizations and designs that are quite different from the cast we're all familiar with. (Among other things, three major cast members―Schroeder, Lucy, and Linus―initially show up as infants and only "grow" into their final "mature" selves as the months go by. Even Snoopy debuts as a puppy!) Thus The Complete Peanuts offers a unique chance to see a master of the art form refine his skills and solidify his universe, day by day, week by week, month by month.

This groundbreaking body of comics journalism collects for first time Anderson's entire biography of the renowned civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Over a decade in the making, the saga has been praised for its vivid recreation of one of the most tumultuous periods in U.S. history and for its accuracy in depicting the personal and public lives of King, from his birth to his assassination. King probes the life story of one of America's greatest public figures with an unflinchingly critical eye, casting King as an ambitious, dichotomous figure deserving of his place in history but not above moral sacrifice to get there. Anderson's expressionistic visual style is wrought with dramatic energy; panels evoke a painterly attention to detail but juxtapose with one another in such a way as to propel King's story with cinematic momentum. Anderson's successful use of the graphic novel to tell a major work of nonfiction has drawn favorable comparisons to Art Spiegelman's Maus: A Survivor's Tale, Joe Sacco's Palestine, and Osamu Tezuka's Adolph.

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.

Winsor McCay, the creator of Little Nemo in Slumberland, is internationally renowned as a pioneer in comics and animation. But author Ulrich Merkl's dedicated sleuthing has unearthed a never-published strip by McCay that was lost following the artist's untimely death. Titled simply Dino, it opens a surprising new window into McCay's life and work and showcases his exquisitely beautiful and delicate delineations (exactingly reproduced from the original art). Merkl explores the influences McCay brought to the strip - including McCay's own Gertie the Dinosaur animated shorts, the animation in 1933's King Kong, and the growth of New York City from the Holland Tunnel to the Empire State Building - and traces our love of dinosaurs and monster movies down through the decades. Breathtakingly designed, each page of this deluxe oversize volume is overflowing with amazing imagery, with more than 650 photographs and illustrations (more than 250 in color) - most of them seen here for the first time in a century! An essential volume for everyone interested in the development of the comic strip - and our never-ending fascination with dinosaurs!

L.B. Cole created some of the most bizarre, proto-psychedelic, eye-popping comic book covers of all time, yet remarkably this is the first retrospective of his career, featuring the largest collection of Cole covers ever assembled, in an oversize format that showcases his attention to detail and his versatility in all the popular comic book genres of the day. Cole burst into comics during the glory years of the Golden Age of comics. He was famous for his bold covers, usually featuring "poster colors" ― brilliant primaries often over black backgrounds ― and an over-the-top sense of the bizarre mixed with whimsy. There's never been a comic book cover designer like L.B. Cole and there's never been a book like this one.

This collection includes all 15 of Elder's humorous Panic stories (The Night Before Christmas" got the first issue banned in the entire state of Massachusetts); all seven of his science fiction tales from the pages of Weird Science and Weird Fantasy (including two Ray Bradbury adaptations, "The King of the Grey Spaces!" and "The Million-Year Picnic"); and a special horror story that hasn't been seen since its original publication more than 60 years ago.

This beautifully reproduced selection of quirkily elegant, sensual pin-up art from Jack Cole's 1950s career as the premier Playboy cartoonist shows that there was far more to Cole than his brilliant Plastic Man.

This is, simply, Frank Thorne's paean to women and art. Chronicling Thorne's days as an art student, his growing fascination and love of the female form, his professional association with famous bondage photographer Irving Klaw and Marvel Comics impresario Stan Lee, his encounters with Hollywood, and his emergence as the most imaginative, uninhibited, preeminent erotic artist in America.

The enduring cultural phenomenon of comic book heroes was invented in the late 1930s by a talented and hungry group of artists and writers barely out of their teens, flying by the seat of their pants to create something new, exciting, and above all profitable. The iconography and mythology they created flourishes to this day in comic books, video, movies, fine art, advertising, and practically all other media. Supermen! collects the best and the brightest of this first generation, including Jack Cole, Will Eisner, Bill Everett, Lou Fine, Fletcher Hanks, Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Basil Wolverton.

Collecting more than a decade's worth of excavations, comic strips, animation stills, storybook covers, and much more, this broken jigsaw puzzle of a graphic novel tells the story of Pim & Francie - childlike male and female imps - whose irresponsible antics get them into horrific, fantastic trouble. The brilliant, fairy tale-like backdrops hint at further layers of reality lurking under every gingerbread house or behind every sunny afternoon. Their loosely defined relationship only contributes to the existential fear that lingers underneath the various perils they are subjected to, which are threaded together by text and notes by the artist.