Peanuts: A Golden Celebration: The Art and Story of The World's Best-Loved Comic Strip


Charles M. Schulz - 1990
    Schulz has been cartooning for an astonishing 50 years (the "Peanuts" strip itself debuted October 2, 1950, but he drew an earlier incarnation called "Li'l Folks" before that). Peanuts: A Golden Celebration is a remarkable collection of strips spanning that time period. Readers get to see the first appearance of Linus, Marcy, Pigpen, and Woodstock, and even the momentous first time Lucy holds a football for Charlie Brown to kick. Schulz comments on the cartoons and his inspirations via notes in the margin, ranging from boyhood stories about his father (a barber, just like Charlie Brown's) to an account of the time the narcolepsy experts at Stanford University expressed concerns over Peppermint Patty's constant sleeping in class. One of the most interesting inclusions is that of several letters of complaint, ranging from readers whose religious sensibilities have been offended to a 1969 missive from Schulz's own syndicate asking him not to depict Franklin in the same school as the white students anymore. Naturally, the much-loved "Peanuts" holiday specials are covered, as is the musical adaptation You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, but it's the strips that really make the book. Readers can follow the evolution of Schulz's drawing style--deliberately less realistic as the years went on--and even check out a few panels drawn by Schulz's own cartooning heroes. This is a terrific compilation that serves well both as a chronicle of popular culture and as just a really funny collection of comic strips. Don't wait for the Great Pumpkin to bring you one. --Ali Davis

Spider-Geddon: Edge of Spider-Geddon


Jed MackayTonci Zonjic - 2019
    After SPIDER-VERSE, Hobie Brown was a Web-Warrior, but that didn't mean things back in his universe were solved. The writer of the Spider-Punk story in SPIDER-VERSE is back and joined by VENOM's Gerardo Sandoval! Spider-Punk's Earth is under attack both on the ground and from space, meaning his responsibility seems to outweigh his power. After Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance, The Umbrella Academy) and Jake Wyatt created SP//dr back in SPIDERVERSE, she was one of the most requested heroes. With Spider-Geddon on the horizon, SP//dr is back. Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler are joining the team to bring you the next chapter in Peni Parker's life and set the table for the Spider-Event of 2018! COLLECTING: EDGE OF SPIDER-GEDDON 1-4, SUPERIOR OCTOPUS 1

Marvel Team-Up (2019-) #1


Eve L. Ewing - 2019
    Marvel and Spider-Man find themselves tangled up in the same chaotic adventure. Is it destiny? Or disaster?! Eve L. Ewing (IRONHEART) and Joey Vazquez (SPIDER-GEDDON) team up for the first thrilling arc of a mind-bending and magnificent new series!

i am 8-bit: Art Inspired by Classic Videogames of the '80s


Jon M. Gibson - 2006
    Frogger. Super Mario Bros. These classic videogames are burned into the collective consciousness of an entire generation, thanks to countless hours spent at pizza parlors and bowling alleys across the country. Now artists such as Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, and Ashley Wood put their memories to paper, canvas, and wood to create original works of art inspired by the art of the videogame. Chuck Klosterman shares his thoughts in his distinctively insightful and entertaining style in a foreword on how videogames created a new playground for artistic expression. With more than 100 thought-provoking, amusing, and simply fun pieces of original art, i am 8-bit is a pixilated stroll down memory lane.

What If? Classic, Vol. 1


Roy ThomasRick Hoberg - 2004
    Six titanic tales of triumph and tragedy in the mighty Marvel tradition! What If? (Vol. 1) No. 1 - What if Spider-Man Joined the Fantastic Four? What If? (Vol. 1) No. 2 - What if the Hulk Had Always had Bruce Banner's Brain? What If? (Vol. 1) No. 3 - What if the Avengers Had Never Been? What If? (Vol. 1) No. 4 - What if the Invaders Had Stayed Together After World War II? What If? (Vol. 1) No. 5 - What if Captain America and Bucky Had Both Survived World War II? What If? (Vol. 1) No. 6 - What if the Fantastic Four Had Different Super-Powers?

Black Panther by Christopher Priest: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1


Christopher J. PriestAmanda Conner - 2000
    government’s Everett K. Ross. As the Panther investigates a murder in New York, Ross plays Devil’s Advocate in an encounter with Mephisto, and a new regime seizes control in Wakanda. When the truth behind the coup becomes clear, T’Challa finds himself an enemy of the state — and a major revelation threatens to destroy his relationship with the Avengers! Plus: Meet Queen Divine Justice — is she ready to join T’Challa’s deadly crew of female bodyguards, the Dora Milaje? Are they ready for her? Hold onto your pants, because Ross sure can’t! Collecting BLACK PANTHER (1998) #1-17.

Absolute Carnage Omnibus


Donny CatesClay McLeod Chapman - 2020
    DEADPOOL (2019) 1-3, ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019) 1, ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: IMMORTAL HULK (2019) 1, ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN (2019) 1, ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: SYMBIOTE OF VENGEANCE (2019) 1, ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: LETHAL PROTECTORS (2019) 1-3, ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: AVENGERS (2019) 1, ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: MILES MORALES (2019) 1-3, ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: WEAPON PLUS (2019) 1, ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: SCREAM (2019) 1-3, ABSOLUTE CARNAGE: SEPARATION ANXIETY (2019) 1, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (2018) 29-31, VENOM (2018) 16-20, AND ABSOLUTE CARNAGE STINGER PAGES

All of the Marvels: A Journey to the Ends of the Biggest Story Ever Told


Douglas Wolk - 2021
    The Marvel story is a gigantic mountain smack in the middle of contemporary culture. Thousands of writers and artists have contributed to it. Everyone recognizes its protagonists: Spider-Man, the Avengers, the X-Men. Eighteen of the hundred highest-grossing movies of all time are based on parts of it. Yet not even the people telling the story have read the whole thing--nobody's supposed to. So, of course, that's what Wolk did: he read all 27,000+ comics that make up the Marvel Universe thus far, from Alpha Flight to Omega the Unknown.And then he made sense of it--seeing into the ever-expanding story, in its parts and as a whole, and seeing through it, as a prism through which to view the landscape of American culture. In Wolk's hands, the mammoth Marvel narrative becomes a fun-house-mirror history of the past sixty years, from the atomic night terrors of the Cold War to the technocracy and political division of the present day--a boisterous, tragicomic, magnificently filigreed epic about power and ethics, set in a world transformed by wonders.As a work of cultural exegesis, this is sneakily significant, even a landmark; it's also ludicrously fun. Wolk sees fascinating patterns--the rise and fall of particular cultural aspirations, and of the storytelling modes that conveyed them. He observes the Marvel story's progressive visions and its painful stereotypes, its patches of woeful hackwork and stretches of luminous creativity, and the way it all feeds into a potent cosmology that echoes our deepest hopes and fears. This is a huge treat for Marvel fans, but it's also a revelation for readers who don't know Doctor Strange from Doctor Doom. Here, truly, are all of the marvels.

Space: Punisher


Frank Tieri - 2012
    Capcom 3 and Punisher: Noir and gorgeously painted by Mark Texeira (Punisher War Journal, Ghost Rider).COLLECTING: SPACE: PUNISHER 1-4

Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz


Eric Shanower - 2009
    When Kansas farm girl Dorothy flies away to the magical Land of Oz, she fatally flattens a wicked witch, liberates a living scarecrow and is hailed by the Munchkin people as a great sorceress but all she really wants to know is: how does she get home?

Spider-Man/Deadpool, Vol. 1: Isn't it Bromantic


Joe Kelly - 2016
    Talk about a REAL dynamic duo!COLLECTING: SPIDER-MAN/DEADPOOL 1-5, 8

S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Human Machine


Jonathan Hickman - 2018
    1-6, ∞

The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore


George Khoury - 2003
    More than just a tribute book, The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore tells Moore's story, as the reclusive British author speaks enthusiastically and passionately about his life and work in an extensive series of interviews.Moore displays his trademark wit and shares his unique insight on the comics that have shaped his legendary career - from his beginnings on Swamp Thing to the present day success of his own comic book universe in America's Best Comics.Within this tome, readers will find rare strips, scripts, artwork and photographs of the author, most never published before.Also features Moore's closest collaborators elaborating in comic strip form on their relationships with Moore, including Neil Gaiman (New York Times Best Selling Author of American Gods), Dave Gibbons (Artist of Watchmen), Sam Kieth (creator of MTV's The Maxx), Kevin O'Neill, Brian Bolland and others!

The Death of Captain Marvel


Jim Starlin - 1982
    Captain Marvel wielded his cosmic powers in defense of the galaxy, but exposure to a carcinogenic nerve gas causes him to succumb to an incurable cancer.

Tintin: The Complete Companion


Michael Farr - 2001
    An overview of the world-famous comic character and of his adventures through the 23 titles of the complete oeuvre, the Complete Companion contextualizes Hergé's work and places it in its historical period by showing side by side by side the drawings and the references used by the artist to establish believable backgrounds and realistic details.Also included are large numbers of sketches that Herge would rework and polish until he would find the clearest, most easily readable line, giving birth to a style that would later be called the Clear Line.