Best of
Graphic-Novels-Comics

1989

The Crow


James O'Barr - 1989
    Eric has returned from the dead, driven only by hate and the need to wreak revenge on those who killed him and raped and then killed his beloved Shelly.

The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S.


Jaime Hernández - 1989
    After the sci-fi trappings of his earliest stories (as seenin Maggie the Mechanic, the first volume in this series),Hernandez refined his approach, settling on the more naturalisticenvironment of the fictional Los Angeles barrio, Hoppers, and the livesof the young Mexican-Americans and punk rockers who live there. Acentral story and one of Jaime's absolute peaks is "The Death ofSpeedy." Such is Jaime's mastery that even though the end of the storyis telegraphed from the very title, the downhill spiral of Speedy, thelocal heartthrob, is utterly compelling and ultimately quitesurprising. Also in this volume, Maggie begins her on-again off-againromance with Ray D., leading to friction and an eventual separationfrom Hopey.(Note: A number of these stories, including a whole cycleof wrestling stories starring or co-starring Rena Titañon, were notcollected in the hardcover Locas.)

The Night of the Mary Kay Commandos Featuring Smell O-Toons


Berke Breathed - 1989
    Features the bonus, peel-away insert, Smell-O-Toons, the aromatic fragrance that is dabbed on more Commando pulse points than all other perfumes combined! Little, Brown.

Human Diastrophism


Gilbert Hernández - 1989
    In it, a serial killer stalks Palomar—but his depredations, hideous as they are, only serve to exacerbate the cracks in the idyllic Central American town as the modern world begins to intrude. "Diastrophism" concludes with the death (the suicide, in fact) of one of Palomar's most beloved characters, and a postscript that provides one of the most hauntingly magical moments of the entire series as a rain of ashes drifts down upon Palomar.Also included are all the post-"Diastrophism" stories, in which Luba's past (as seen in the epic Poison River) comes back to haunt her, and the seeds are sown for the "Palomar diaspora" that ends this dense, enthralling book.

The Complete Eightball


Daniel Clowes - 1989
    Now, for the 25th Anniversary of Eightball, Fantagraphics is collecting these long out-of-print issues in a slipcased set of two hardcover volumes, reproducing each issue in facsimile form exactly as they were originally published. Included are over 450 pages of vintage Clowes, including such seminal serialized graphic novels/strips/rants as Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, Ghost World, Pussey, I Hate You Deeply, Sexual Frustration, Ugly Girls, Why I Hate Christians, Message to the People of the Future, Paranoid, My Suicide, Chicago, Art School Confidential, On Sports, Zubrick and Pogeybait, Hippypants and Peace-Bear, Grip Glutz, The Sensual Santa, Feldman, and so many more."

The Sandman #1 : Sleep of the Just


Neil Gaiman - 1989
    An occultist accidentally traps Morpheus, the embodiment of Dreams, and holds him for 70 years. Finally free, Morpheus seeks his lost objects of power and rediscovers his place in the universe.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - A Serious House on Serious Earth


Grant Morrison - 1989
    Accepting their demented challenge, Batman is forced to live and endure the personal hells of the Joker, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, and many other sworn enemies in order to save the innocents and retake the prison. During his run through this absurd gauntlet, the Dark Knight's own sanity is placed in jeopardy. This special anniversary edition trade paperback also reproduces the original script with annotations by Morrison and editor Karen Berger.

Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying


Marv Wolfman - 1989
    Taking unnecessary risks and actions. Only Dick Grayson or a very young boy named Tim Drake can calm him.Collects BATMAN #440-442 and The NEW TITANS #60-61.

Beyond the Pale!: Krazed Komics and Stories


Kim Deitch - 1989
    Crumb and Justin Green, et. al., and today he is the most prolific and creatively fertile artist of his generation. His newest book is a hardcover collection from Pantheon and marks the company's big graphic novel follow-up to Jimmy Corrigan; these books collect the best of his classic, underground work from the 1960s to 1980s. Deitch shares with Crumb a fascination with the "lost America" of the 1920s and '30s, particularly the history of animation (his father was the legendary Gene Deitch of Terrytoons and jazz LP covers fame). Beyond the Pale collects Deitch's best from the '70s and '80s, while All Waldo Comics features the best of his most enduring character, Waldo the Cat. A Shroud for Waldo is a sacrilegious graphic novel about Jesus, Waldo, and Hollywood.

The Helpless Doorknob: A Shuffled Story


Edward Gorey - 1989
    As Gorey himself explained in the original edition, this shuffle story is made up of twenty cards which can be read in 2,432,902,069,736,640,000 different ways. Shuffle and read endlessly.