Best of
Comic-Strips

2008

The Crass Menagerie: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury


Stephan Pastis - 2008
    Joining him for the journey are Pig, the slow but good-hearted conscience of the strip; Goat, the voice of reason that often goes unheard; and Zebra and the eternally inept Crocodiles who pursue him. Together this mindful menagerie mocks the flaws and shortcomings of human nature through Pastis's cynically biting wit.* The third Pearls Before Swine treasury, this book combines all the cartoons from Da Brudderhood of Zeeba Zeeba Eata and The Sopratos, along with annotations by Pastis.* From courtroom antics to references of other cartoon strips, Pastis's strip is a fresh presence on the comic pages.

The Complete Peanuts, 1967-1970


Charles M. Schulz - 2008
    Beautiful boxed set collects four years in two volumes of the complete collection of the popular strip.

Frazz 3.1416


Jef Mallett - 2008
    And boy does he make his first appearance count. --The Bob and Tom Radio ShowNominated by the National Cartoonist Society as Best Comic Strip, Jef Mallett's Frazz follows the life of Bryson Elementary School janitor and hit-songwriting-wonder Edwin Frazier. An all-round Renaissance man, role model, and friend rolled into one, Frazz feels as comfortable philosophizing with the students as he is with the teachers and principal.Always placing an emphasis on the importance of seizing opportunities to learn and grow, Frazz is a family favorite and multiple-year recipient of the Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council for excellence in communicating values and ethics.

A Baby Blues Treasury: X-Treme Parenting


Rick Kirkman - 2008
    And laundry." --Baby Blues proverbWhen the recipe box has more pizza coupons than recipes, or for those parenting days when all you seem to accomplish is brushing your hair and making a tray of ice cubes, Baby Blues offers parental fatigue redemption. The brainchild of Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott, this Baby Blues treasury features cartoons from Briefcase Full of Baby Blues and Night Shift. From prophetic Baby Blues proverbs like, "The grass is always greener on the knees of your kid's new white pants," to Dinner Table Olympics where Synchronized Whining is the main event, young parents Darryl and Wanda keep pace with energetic children Zoe, Hammie, and baby Wren, as Kirkman and Scott expertly navigate the daily nuances of newborns, nocturnal diaper changes, and the nirvana of family life.

Call of the Wild: A MUTTS Comic Strip Treasury


Patrick McDonnell - 2008
    To me, Mutts is exactly what a comic strip should be." -Charles Schulz, Peanuts creatorMUTTS appears in 700 newspapers in more than 20 countries and receives about 1 million visits each month to its official Web site at www.muttscomics.com.Always striking a delicate balance between lighthearted fun and responsible social commentary, Patrick McDonnell's MUTTS has been recognized by the National Cartoonists Society as Best Strip of the Year for its distinctive style, heartwarming humor, and strong yet gentle stand on important social issues.McDonnell, a New York Times best-selling author, has been awarded the Reuben Award for Best Cartoonist of the Year, as well as the Max and Moritz Award for Best International Comic Strip, the Adamson Statuette from the Swedish Academy of Comic Art for Best International Comic Strip Artist, and multiple Genesis Awards.

Cul de Sac: This Exit


Richard Thompson - 2008
    I think you're in for a real treat." --Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes, 2008"One of the five best features in any newspaper, period." --The Comics Reporter"One of the few strips around where nearly every individual panel is stand-alone delight." --The OnionĀ "...it really seems like the inheritor of 'Calvin and Hobbes.'" --Art Spiegelman"I can't say enough in his favor, so much is my admiration for his work." --Pat OliphantMore than half of our nation's population resides in the 'burbs. Knowingly, Richard Thompson's Cul de Sac follows the antics of four-year-old Alice Otterloop as she navigates her way through life at Blisshaven Preschool, "the scene of [her] daily toil." Suburbanites across the nation will easily recognize the quirks and conundrums associated with house-lined streets, sidewalk canvases, and magnetified refrigerator art.Instructed by the proper Miss Bliss, Alice regularly has issues with taking a nap, speaking out of turn, and remembering what a triangle looks like. Helping her through life's ups and downs are her eight-year-old brother Petey, Dad (a.k.a. Peter), and Mom (a.k.a. Madeline), as well as Mr. Danders, the preschool's pompously pedantic guinea pig.This is the strip's first book collection incorporating more than a year's worth of strips dating back to the cartoon's 2007 debut. Thompson has received critical praise for doing a masterful job of commenting on social issues while entertaining in a freshly amusing and unexpected way.

Da Crockydile Book o' Frendsheep: A Pearls Before Swine Gift Book


Stephan Pastis - 2008
    Do geeft book.' And we is like, 'OKay. Whatevers. Just pays us monees.'Den dey is say, 'Make book about frensheep.' And we is like, 'But we ees hate evrybodies.' ANd dey is go, 'But dat make most monees.' So we is like, 'Okay. We expert.'"And experts they are, as they show in such an endearing expression of care as, "If you is have a beeg butt, frend sometime honesst and say, 'you have beeg butt.'"Named Best Comic Strip of the Year by the National Cartoonists Society in 2004 and 2007, Pearls Before Swine has a devoted fan following of crockydiles and humans alike.

Pugs: God's Little Weirdos


Dave Kellett - 2008
    Their lungs sound like an asthmatic jogger in a Beijing smog. And they move like they've had 48 more espressos than they should. They're pugs: The dogs that prove breeding can make massive, massive mistakes...and still create awesome dogs. The first Sheldon "theme" book collects all your favorite pug strips into one book -- with a few extra tidbits not seen online! It's the perfect collection for dog-lovers like you. (And yes, we do mean *you*, the one with dog hair all over you.)

The Potpourrific Great Big Grab Bag of Get Fuzzy


Darby Conley - 2008
    On the Media lauds Darby Conley as "the most successful cartoonist of the new generation." --National Public RadioAs Darby Conley's fourth treasury, this title presents strips from I'm Ready for My Movie Contract and Take Our Cat, Please!Named Best Comic Strip of the Year in 2002 by the National Cartoonists Society, Darby Conley's Get Fuzzy takes a keen and witty look at the dynamics of interspecies cohabitation.Beleaguered ad exec Rob Wilco is the mild-mannered guardian to Bucky, a sharp-fanged, self-absorbed house cat with a penchant for scheming and screenwriting, and Satchel, a gentle laid-back Shar-pei-Lab who frequently finds himself on the receiving end of Bucky's mischief.Inside this fourth treasury, Get Fuzzy fans will follow Bucky's vainglorious pursuit of fame while Rob holds a magazine intervention with Satchel.

We Must Be Gods: Two Lumps Year Two


Mel Hynes - 2008
    It has since become a cult legend. Collected here in print, for the first time, are the strips from the second year of Two Lumps - complete with author and artist annotations.

Life on a Bicycle


Rick Smith - 2008
    You'll meet a bevy of characters whom Yehuda and Joe encounter: the bike ninja, the bike hypochondriac, their elderly compatriot Fred, the Shakers who build the bicycle frames, neighborhood kids starting riding clubs, roadies, commuters, and many more. Extra features include comic design notes and early character sketches.

Scorchy Smith and the Art of Noel Sickles


Dean Mullaney - 2008
    They moved away from the simple outline approach then popular, and created a chiaroscuro style that still influences comics artists today. Having blazed a trail through the comics world, Sickles left the medium in favor of a 40-year career as one of America's most successful magazine illustrators. A regular at Life magazine, his work also appeared in Look, Reader's Digest, National Geographic, and The Saturday Evening Post.A massive, comprehensive, oversized 392-page volume that collects, for the first time, every Sickles Scorchy Smith strip, from December 1933 through November 1936. It also features, in a 140-page biography, an extensive examination of Sickles's life and the decades-long influence of his work, while also showcasing the full breadth of his career as one of America's foremost magazine illustrators.

The Complete K Chronicles


Keith Knight - 2008
    Dark Horse is honored to present this omnibus-sized collection of the brilliance and silliness of K Chronicles!Keith Knight is also the artist behind MAD Magazine's "Father o'Flannity's Hot Tub Confessions & Bully Baby," as well as the Sportsknight strip in ESPN the Magazine. He is also a rapper and gives multimedia lectures about race, media, politics, and cartoons.

100% Whole Grin Rose is Rose: A Collection of Rose is Rose Comics


Don Wimmer - 2008
    A toe-biting monster dwells in the bathtub drain, awaiting Pasquale's bath time. Family-minded Rose occasionally morphs into her wild alter ego, Vicki the biker. Rose's love-note-writing husband Jimbo never disappoints as the always hopelessly hopeful romantic. The creation of Pat Brady and Don Wimmer, this Rose is Rose collection features more than 40 weeks of Gumbo family high jinks.After two decades of sketching every Rose is Rose strip himself, Brady shifted the writing and drawing duties to Don Wimmer. This Rose is Rose collection features the talents of Wimmer as based on Brady's creation.

Little Lulu, Volume 18: The Expert


John Stanley - 2008
    Come visit Main Street, home to the cleverest girl in America - Lulu Moppet Whether its reclaiming a roast chicken stolen by the clubhouse fellers, placating the terrible tot Alvin with a tale of the wicked Witch Hazel and her nasty niece Little Itch, or solving the case of the grasshopper's ghost with junior detective Tubby, Lulu can turn any conundrum into a recipe for fun

Ten Years of Userfriendly.Org


Illiad - 2008
    Loyal User Friendly fans "Ufies" have been asking for a Big Book of User Friendly that assembles the first decade of comics almost 4,000 individual strips in a single volume. Manning has teamed up with the folks at UserFriendly.Org to create exactly that!The comics are presented in chronological order, so you not only see how User Friendly changed over the years, but you also get UF's twisted timeline of the last decade in geekdom. Several custom indexes let you find strips based on storylines, characters, and even the occasional UF song.