Best of
Comix

1999

American Elf: The Collected Sketchbook Diaries, Vol. 1


James Kochalka - 1999
    Drawn with relaxed and beautiful brushwork, these strips perfectly capture the rhythm of daily life. From the hilarious to the sad, from the poetic to the drunken, these strips offer a direct and intimate portrait of the life of one of America's most important alternative cartoonists. This ambitious and deluxe, perfect-bound volume collect the first five years of Kochalka's diary. Contains a full-color section.

Sleeper, Vol. 1: Out in the Cold


Ed Brubaker - 1999
    As an undercover agent in a complex super-villain organization, Holden Carver has become caught in a web of moral uncertainty. After being forced to kill someone to preserve his cover, the self-loathing operative looks to be pulled out of his assignment, but the only man who knows he is really a secret agent is in a coma. Now with the world believing him a traitor to his country and his cover about to be blown, Carver must find a way to survive his mission and regain his identity. SUGGESTED FOR MATURE READERS.

The Freddie Stories


Lynda Barry - 1999
    Lynda Barry, creator of the 'My Life' and 'Ernie Pook's Comeek' comic strips, is syndicated in over 40 alternative weekly newspapers across the country. The Freddie Stories—featuring sisters Marlys and Maybonne, and their spunky little brother Freddie--continues Lynda Barry's brilliant, raw, and completely original exploration of youth, coming of age, friendship, attitude, and being in the world.

Batman: No Man's Land, Vol. 1


Bob Gale - 1999
    (And fans of Rucka--assuming they get around to reading this at all--will still likely hold the opinion that Atticus Kodiak could take Batman in a standup fight any day.) DC shook up Gotham--literally--in its 1999 Batman plot arc: a 7.6 earthquake rocked Gotham City, wreaking enough destruction to bring the broken, crime-ridden, runt kid-brother of Metropolis and New York to its knees. In the story line's most indulgent liberty, those fat cats in Washington decide to write off Gotham, à la Escape from New York, blowing up the connecting bridges, mining the surrounding waterways, and signing into law the Federal Declaration of No Man's Land, which makes it a crime to even set foot in the city. The usual suspects from Arkham Asylum, Two-Face and the Penguin, the Riddler and Dr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Mr. Zsasz, file out to begin running the show, strong-arming and manipulating the block-by-block turf battles that envelop the now-ultraviolent city. A conflicted Batman shows up fashionably late, only to find that these lunatics are the least of his worries: Lex Luthor, Superman's archfoe, has nefarious designs on Gotham too. Could this possibly get any better? Sure, No Man's Land is derivative fiction, but the appeal of Rucka--and, of course, Batman--can make this one worth the read. --Paul HughesCollecting BATMAN: NO MAN'S LAND #1, BATMAN #563-564, BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT #83-84, DETECTIVE COMICS #730-731 and BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #116.

I Feel Sick: A Book About a Girl


Jhonen Vásquez - 1999
    from Johnny the Homicidal Maniac (JTHM), and her dealings with the same supernatural and/or psychological forces that drove Johnny to lunacy.

The Complete Hothead Paisan: Homicidal Lesbian Terrorist


Diane DiMassa - 1999
    Hothead Paisan, the over-caffeinated, media-crazed psychotic lesbian "with scary hair and a fetish for guns, grenades, mallets, and sharp objects, " returns for more search-and-destroy missions and preventative homicides A cult favorite, The Complete Collection combines Hothead Paisan and Revenge of Hothead Paisan with new strips in a single volume for the first time.

The Complete Strangers In Paradise, Volume 3, Part 1


Terry Moore - 1999
    Francine and Katchoo are high-school best friends who are reunited when Francine comes back to town after years away from her hometown. David is their new friend entangled in their complicated lives. From creepy ex-boyfriends and insensitive bosses to the reality of AIDS and underworld prostitution, you never know what will come up next - but you can always count on laughing and crying at the same time. This foil-stamped casebound hardcover with color dust jacket includes a special color cover art section, sketches, and more.

The Pretty Good Jim's Journal Treasury: The Definitive Collection of Every Published Cartoon


Scott Dikkers - 1999
    Actually, this collection is much more than okay. Comprehensive, featuring Jim's life as it progressed (or not) through his first five books, this special edition contains previously unpublished material including Jim in living color. No longer in syndication, the complete works of Jim's Journal will be a definitive must-have collection. College students rave about Jim's Journal, making it one of the most popular Generation X-oriented strips in history. Readers have grown along with Jim, as he moved from copy-store to grocery-store clerk, feigned interest in stamp collecting, faced frequent harassment from phone companies wanting him to switch his long distance service, and finally got married. From the beginning, Jim's message has been "Aren't comics dumb-even this one?" Yet even though it pokes fun at itself, the strip extols the virtues of a slacker lifestyle: Jim has a menial job, a cat, and a few friends. He doesn't do much. In fact, Jim's Journal was slacker before slacker was cool. Postmodern and minimalist, the quirky Jim's Journal has been featured inThe book collections I Went to College and it was okay; I Got a Job and it wasn't that bad; I Made Some Brownies and they were pretty good; I Got Married if you can believe that; and I Feel Like a Grown-up Now. In this jam-packed Pretty Good Jim's Journal Treasury, readers will find the same understated and unpredictable style.

Pokemon Adventures, Volume 1: Mysterious Mew


Hidenori Kusaka - 1999
    This story introduces the trainer, Pokemon expert Professor Oak, Professor Oak's nephew, and others, who try to capture all the Pokemon to complete the collection -- and win a series of duels against other Pokemon trainers.

Dori Stories


Dori Seda - 1999
    This long awaited volume include all the published work by the legendary Dori Seda, plus "Ecstacy" a story completed shortly before her tragically early death (at the age of 36), and a story originally commissioned for another anthology-Includes biographical memoirs, photos, and tributes as well as a 20 page color section of Dori's paintings and comics.

The Cartoon Guide to Sex


Larry Gonick - 1999
    Frank, informative, and written with Larry Gonick's characteristic comic verve and scientific accuracy, this book gives a comprehensive discussion of the spectrum of human sexuality, including sexual structures and functions, gender roles and sexual identity, sexual arousal and response, sexual communication, love, marriage and other arrangements, contraception, and sexual health -- without the fig leaves.

Finder, Vol. 01: Sin-Eater 1


Carla Speed McNeil - 1999
    Sin-Eater throws him into the vortex of a complex and unravelable plot that he may have set in motion himself.Finder is a drawn book that reads like a movie storyboard. Extensive notes and commentary by the author are included.

Radio: An Illustrated Guide


Jessica Abel - 1999
    Specifically, it explains how to make the public radio program This American Life. In comic book form, the producers of This American Life explain how to find a story, how to do an interview, how to edit sound, how to write for radio and how to mix a radio story. It also explains how the narrative structure of a radio story works, and how it's different from other kinds of stories. This American Life is the most popular documentary program on American radio, with a weekly audience of over a million listeners, on more than 380 public radio stations nationwide. It's produced at WBEZ Chicago and distributed by Public Radio International.

The Dreaming #43


Caitlín R. Kiernan - 1999