Best of
Comic-Strips

2011

Pearls Blows Up: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury


Stephan Pastis - 2011
    Collecting every cartoon from 50,000,000 Pearls Fans Can't Be Wrong and When Pigs Fly, this hot-to-the-touch, volatile edition also includes annotated thoughts reflecting Pastis's searing wit.Offering blistering commentary on hot-button topics related to recent news events, popular culture, cartoon-page contemporaries, and more, Pearls Before Swine expertly illustrates the flaws and shortcomings of human nature through Pastis's mindful menagerie of fiery and feisty characters. Arrogant, self-centered, and totally hilarious Rat stars in misadventure after misadventure with his four-legged friends, Pig, the slow but good-hearted conscience of the strip; Goat, the voice of reason that often goes unheard; Zebra, the activist; and those eternally inept carnivorous Crocs.Catch the dynamite action inside this hot-off-the-press edition of Pearls Blows Up. With multiple honors as Best Comic Strip of the Year by the National Cartoonists Society, and an international fan base that follows the strip's appearance in more than 600 newspapers worldwide, Pearls Blows Up is guaranteed to be a blast.

The Complete Peanuts, 1979-1982


Charles M. Schulz - 2011
    The perfect gift item.The Complete Peanuts 1979-1980: It’s 1980, Charlie Brown… and Peppermint Patty is wearing corn-rows! Plus, a strange romance...Charles Schulz enters his fourth decade as the greatest cartoonist of his generation, and Peanuts remains as fresh and lively as it ever was. (How do we know it’s 1980? Well, for one thing Peppermint Patty gets herself those Bo-Derek-in-10 cornrows — Peanuts’ timelessness occasionally shows a crack!) That said, The Complete Peanuts 1979-1980 includes a number of classic storylines, including the month-long sequence in which an ill Charlie Brown is hospitalized (including a particularly spooky moment when he wonders if he’s died and nobody’s told him yet), and an especially eventful trek with Snoopy, Woodstock, and the scout troop (now including a little girl bird, Harriet). And Snoopy is still trying on identities left and right, including the “world-famous surveyor,” the “world-famous census taker,” and Blackjack Snoopy, the riverboat gambler. In other extended stories, Snoopy launches an ill-fated airline (with Lucy as the agent, Linus as the luggage handler, and Marcie as what it was still OK then to call the stewardess)… Peppermint Patty responds to being leaked upon by a ceiling by hiring a lawyer (unfortunately, she again picks Snoopy)… plus one of the great, forgotten romances of Peanuts that will startle even long-time Peanuts connoisseurs: Peppermint Patty and…“Pig-Pen”?!The Complete Peanuts 1981-1982: With this volume, The Complete Peanuts ventures into the lesser-known 1980s, and Peanuts fans are sure to find plenty of surprises.In Snoopy-family news, Spike is drafted into the Infantry (don’t worry, it’s only Snoopy’s imaginary World War I army), and a brand new brother, “Marbles” (with the spotty ears) takes his bow. We also see two major baseball-oriented stories, one in which Charlie Brown joins Peppermint Patty’s team, and another in which Charlie Brown and his team lose their baseball field.In other stories, Peppermint Patty witnesses the “butterfly miracle,” Linus protests that he is not Sally’s “Sweet Babboo,” Sally (in an unrelated sequence) gets fat, the Van Pelts get into farming, and two of the most eccentric characters from later Peanuts years, the hyperaggressive Molly Volley and the whiny “Crybaby” Boobie, make a return engagement.Charles Schulz’s Peanuts world will never grow old, and Fantagraphics’ complete reprinting of this masterpiece, now in its eighth year — still lovingly designed by world-class cartoonist Seth — has firmly established itself as one of the very finest archival comic-strip projects ever done.

Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips, Vol. 1: Through the Wild Blue Wonder


Walt Kelly - 2011
    The earliest strips embrace a kind of broad farce that reflects Walt Kelly's interest in slapstick and the comedies popular in the 1930s. By the second year, Kelly begins to test the waters of political satire.

Garfield Fat Cat 3-Pack #6


Jim Davis - 2011
    Garfield may have gone through a few changes, but one thing has stayed the same: his enormous appetite for food and fun. So enjoy some supersized laughs with the insatiable cat, because too much fun is never enough!

Garfield Fat Cat 3-Pack #15


Jim Davis - 2011
    The ingenious and always gluttonous cat even elevates burping to an art form!So, Garfield lovers, enjoy the exhibit!The GARFIELD FAT CAT 3-PACK series collects the GARFIELD comic-strip collections in a new, full-color format. Garfield may have gone through a few changes, but one thing has stayed the same: his enormous appetite for food and fun. So enjoy some supersized laughs with the insatiable cat, because too much fun is never enough!

Curse of the Masking Tape Mummy: Basic Instructions


Scott Meyer - 2011
    Basic Instructions, the webcomic of sarcasm and schadenfreude is back and as consistently surprising as ever! Helpful advice includes "How to Gloat Over Your Captured Enemy," "How to Prepare for the Apocalypse" and much more! Basic Instructions are your all inclusive guide to a life well lived.' If you attempt to follow this advice, and your life goes hilariously askew, we apologize in advance, although not very sincerely.

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: Vols. 1 & 2 Gift Box Set


Floyd Gottfredson - 2011
    Vol. 1, "Race to Death Valley," features a dozen different adventures starring Mickey, his gal Minnie and her uncle Mortimer (not to be confused with Mickey's rival in the animated shorts!), his pals Horace Horsecollar and Butch, the villainous Pegleg Pete, and the mysterious and shrouded Fox. Relive Mickey's race to a gold mine with Pegleg Pete hot on his heels; Mickey's life on the lam; and Mickey's ringside battle with a hulking heavyweight champ! In Vol. 2: Trapped on Treasure Island, Mickey fights with pirates on desolate Treasure Island; quests with Goofy to catch ruthless counterfeiters; and battles to save windy Horace Horsecollar from mad scientists, a robbery frame-up - and himself! Bad guys "Bill Shakespeare" and hypnosis-happy Professors Ecks, Doublex, and Triplex join archenemy Pegleg Pete.

Bloom County: The Complete Digital Library Vol. 6


Berkeley Breathed - 2011
    Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom County burst onto the American comic scene in December 1980 and it soon became one of the most popular comic strips of all time. The endearing and quirky denizens of the strip included Milo Bloom, Steve Dallas, Michael Binkley, Cutter John, Bill the Cat, and Opus the Penguin. Bloom County was a strip that dealt with many issues relevant to the period. Occasional “Context comments” are added throughout this collection, giving the reader a greater understanding of the time. This is the first time Bloom County has been collected in a digital library. IDW will add more volumes, one year per volume. Each newspaper strip is reproduced in chronological order from first to last. Great effort has been made to ensure the highest production values are achieved.

Our Little Kat King: A MUTTS Treasury


Patrick McDonnell - 2011
    Showcasing nearly two years worth of color Sunday strips and black-and-white daily strips, Our Little Kat King includes pop-art splash pages that highlight McDonnell's imaginative artwork and distinctive style.Deceptively simple yet strikingly profound, Mutts speaks to fans of all ages through McDonnell's expressive art and humorous, often philosophical musings. As one of the most popular comic strips in the world with an estimated daily readership of 50 million, Mutts follows the day-to-day exploits of Earl the dog and his feline friend Mooch. Our Little Kat King is an emotive collection brimming with postulations and punch lines, as well as enlightenment and entertainment. Whether Earl and Mooch are contemplating the cosmos, embarking on a new adventure, or curling in for a much-needed nap, these two lighthearted pals remind us of the simple pleasures that make life so "shweet."

Do Not Sniff the Bees: Two Lumps Year Six


Mel Hynes - 2011
    It has since become a cult legend. Collected here in print, for the first time, are the strips from the sixth year of Two Lumps - complete with author and artist annotations.

Little Lulu, Volume 29: The Cranky Giant and Other Stories


John Stanley - 2011