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You've Come A Long Way, Charlie Brown


Charles M. Schulz - 1971
    Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000 (the day after Schulz's death), continuing in reruns afterward. The strip is considered to be one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium, with 17,897 strips published in all. At its peak, Peanuts ran in over 2,600 newspapers, with a readership of 355 million in 75 countries, and was translated into 21 languages.

The Curly Pyjama Letters


Michael Leunig - 2001
    Curly. "It is worth doing nothing and it is worth having a rest", advises the sagacious Mr. Curly. "In spite of all the difficulty it may cause, you MUST rest Vasco - otherwise you will become RESTLESS!" Mr Curly and Vasco Pyjama are very different in nature but have been great friends for a long time. The wise and grounded Mr Curly leads a contented life birdwatching and tending his vines on the shores of Lake Lacuna, near Curly Flat, while the adventurous, inquisitive and sometimes fragile and despondent Vasco circumnavigates his world from the comfort of his amphibious club armchair, accompanied by his ever faithful direction finding duck (who always points toward new joys). We first met Vasco Pyjama and shared in his adventures and epiphanies way back in the Second Leunig. It seems the restless Vasco is driven almost to exhaustion in his search for truth and self discovery - such is the nature of all great explorations no matter what their geographic scale. Periodically he returns to Curly Flat to join his mentor Mr Curly and picnic by the shores of Lake Lacuna, but throughout his journey the friends share their adventures, wisdom and thoughts through handwritten letters, some of which have appeared in print over the years. In this, Leunig's 18th book, we are privy to a further 29 of these letters from a bundle which simply appeared, in mysterious circumstances, tied up with a thin blue ribbon. The letters are faithfully reproduced and accompanied by beautiful illustrations, some of which will be familiar to regular readers and many of which have never been seen before.

Kampung Boy: Yesterday and Today


Lat - 1993
    These cartoons by Malaysian cartoonist Lat return to the Kampung Boy setting of his famous autobiographical collection to compare kampung life as he knew it growing up with the modern kampung life of the eighties and nineties.

Abnormal Psychology


Thomas F. Oltmanns - 1994
    It also includes a major study on suicide and case studies.

Dynomite!: Good Times, Bad Times, Our Times--A Memoir


Jimmie Walker - 2012
    Starting in small clubs and eventually opening for Black Panther rallies, he ultimately became an icon playing J. J. Evans on Good Times. Walker was the first successful young black sitcom star, and his catchphrase--“Dyn-o-mite!”--remains an indicator of the era. He saw sudden and enormous fame in everything from comic books and a talking doll to pajamas, trading cards, a bestselling album, and TV Guide covers. In Dyn-o-mite!, Walker candidly talks about his rise and the considerable tensions on the set of Good Times that contradicted the show’s image of a close-knit, blue-collar family struggling to survive in the projects. Walker made “Dyn-o-mite!” a catchword for the Baby Boomer generation. Today, Dyn-o-mite! will inspire that same generation to rediscover what once made America great--the freedom of thought, the freedom of speech, and the belief in the individual.

Comic Wars: How Two Tycoons Battled Over the Marvel Comics Empire--And Both Lost


Dan Raviv - 2002
    In the late 1980s, financier Ronald Perelman, worth billions and riding high after his hostile takeover of the cosmetics firm Revlon, bought Marvel Entertainment–legendary creator of Captain America, the Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, the X-Men, and other superheroes–and he had big plans. He not only began churning out more comic books, he also acquired sports cards and other subsidiaries, impressing Wall Street so much that after he took the company public, Marvel’s market value ballooned to over $3 billion. Perelman took advantage of the company’s inflated valuation by selling junk bonds, and personally pocketing nearly $500 million. Meanwhile, Marvel’s bank debt rose to more than $600 million. And then came the collapse of the comic-book and trading-card markets.Enter rival corporate raider, Carl Icahn, who sank a fortune into Marvel’s bonds in an effort to wrest away control of Marvel–and to beat Perelman at his own game. As the competing tycoons went head-to-head, Ike Perlmutter and Avi Arad, two entrepreneurs who ran Toy Biz, a company that depended on Marvel superheroes, realized that their fate hung in the balance. They soon put in motion plans to take control themselves.Bunkered in The Townhouse, his high-security Manhattan corporate headquarters, Perelman had Marvel declare bankruptcy. Icahn, an avid poker player, had to figure out if his foe was bluffing; the Toy Biz entrepreneurs needed to find a way to save the company they loved from ruin; and a team of killer lawyers representing the banks was faced with recouping their colossal debt. Thus, in United States Bankruptcy Court, began the comic war–as ferocious and outlandish as any of Marvel’s tales of good vs. evil.Combining meticulous investigative reporting with entertaining storytelling, Comic Wars exposes the actions and motives of two Goliath-style corporate raiders, two innovative Davids, and some of the world’s most prominent banks. It is the rollicking true tale of a unique Wall Street showdown, of Marvel’s surprising emergence from the ashes of bankruptcy, and of its triumphant reinvention as the producer of such hit Hollywood movies as X-Men and Spider-Man.

Rattles, the Barn Cat Misfit


Arlene White - 2015
    When Rattles gets sick, a major change takes place. Get "Rattles, the Barn Cat Misfit" to find out why Rattles was the odd-ball cat in the group. Suitable for ages 4-9. First book in series!

The Search for Smilin' Ed!


Kim Deitch - 2010
    Where Boulevard of Broken Dreams focused on the earliest days of the animation industry, Alias the Cat delved into the history of comic strips, and “Molly O’Dare” (collected in Shadowland) concerned vintage movie serials, The search for Smilin’ Ed! explores the wacky world of children’s TV shows. Launched on his latest investigation by a remark from his brother about a shared childhood favorite (“Y’know, I heard that when Smilin’ Ed died... his body was never found!”), Deitch begins to uncover some truly amazing things about the kiddie-show host and his malevolent sidekick, Froggy the Gremlin. Meanwhile, Deitch’s muse and nemesis Waldo the Cat abandons Deitch to hang out with some demon buddies, and soon both Waldo and Deitch are closing in on the mysteries of Smilin’ Ed and Froggy. Ranging across the entire twentieth century, replete with flashbacks, stories within stories, and guest appearances from other Deitch regulars, The Search for Smilin’ Ed! is a narrative whirligig that shows Deitch at his wildest and woolliest. For those whose heads have started to spin at the complexity of “Deitch world,” Deitch scholar Bill Kartalopoulos offers a lengthy essay on the ins and outs of this ever-evolving, ever-expanding world where fantasy, reality, and satire combine, clash, and are sometimes downright indistinguishable. Bonus! Deitch has also created a brand new story starring Waldo in his twenty-first century post-Alias The Cat state of domestic bliss, stumbling across an army of (French-) talking beavers. Of course, there’s a story behind that...

Sherman's Lagoon: Ate That, What's Next?


Jim Toomey - 1997
    Then there was the Little Mermaid. Today, thanks to Jim Toomey, it's Sherman's Lagoon, a satirical, sea-floor look at popular culture as showcased through the lives of a lovable shark and his waterborne cronies. Sherman's the somewhat dim-witted but happy-go-lucky shark who takes us for a wonderful ride beneath the waves. This Jaws-less jokester teams up with a veritable school of bottom-dwelling denizens to deliver one of the funniest creations on land or sea. With an imaginative storyline and creatively rendered characters, Sherman's Lagoon has captured a considerable following.  Sherman—who never allows thinking to interfere with life's simple pleasures, especially eating—is joined by Fillmore, his trusty turtle sidekick; Megan, his significant shark other; Hawthorne, the irascible hermit crab; and a host of other Neptunian neighbors occupying the lagoon of an imaginary South Pacific island called Kapupu.  In Sherman's Lagoon: Ate That, What's Next?, this cast of coral reef critters never fails to amuse. Consider Sherman opening a wrapped holiday gift box only to find a putrid dead fish—and loving it! Or the day he and Fillmore contemplate plunging to the deepest depths of the ocean, in order to recover Fillmore's fumbled Ninja Turtle Decoder Ring. The fun and laughs never end!

Math, Science, and UNIX Underpants


Bill Amend - 2009
    In this first ever FoxTrot themed book, the best math, science, and other geek-worthy cartoons are collected for all of FoxTrot's many fans.

Moms Who Drink and Swear: True Tales of Loving My Kids While Losing My Mind


Nicole Knepper - 2013
    Any bad thought you’ve had about your kids, Nicole Knepper has had worse. Much worse. It’s not that she doesn’t love her kids. It’s that she understands what a mind-f*?% it can be to try to civilize those wild little beasts.Based on her hugely popular Facebook page, “Moms Who Drink and Swear,” this book reveals why family dinners are like herpes, how to avoid smashing toys that are being fought over, and the joy of hearing that your son has murdered his imaginary friend. As Nicole rants and raves about caring for children (without crushing their souls), family togetherness (without too many tears), the saving grace of girlfriends (and vodka), and love and marriage (and all the baggage that goes with them), she gets to the heart of what every exasperated mom is thinking, just much funnier.

99 Percent Perspiration: A Frazz Collection


Jef Mallett - 2006
    Frazz is cool. Frazz is . . . a hit! Take one successful and secure songwriter, put him on the steering end of a janitor's broom, and drop him into the world of elementary education. And with that, if Jef Mallett's calling the creative shots, you have the makings of one of the most flourishing new comic strips to come along in years.Frazz follows the life and loves of one Edwin Frazier, aka Frazz, as he writes more best-selling lyrics, ponders the world's greatest literature and deepest mysteries with an 8-year-old genius, and interacts with the menagerie of other faculty and staff members. What results is a wild mix of witty observations and outright slapstick that amuses while causing you to see the world in a new light.99 Percent Perspiration is the second collection of this very popular strip that appears in more than 150 newspapers worldwide, including the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune. Frazz was nominated in 2004 as one of the best comic strips of the year by the National Cartoonists Society. It has also received two Wilbur awards for ethics and values.

Stan Lee presents The Amazing Spider-Man #2


Stan Lee - 1978
    One of Marvel Comics most recognizable and best-loved superheroes, Spider-Man appears in three comic books with a monthly circulation of over one million, is syndicated in over 500 newspapers, with a readership of over 100 million, and is soon to be the star of a big-budget motion picture, written, produced and directed by James "Terminator" Cameron.

Stern


Bruce Jay Friedman - 1962
    Friedman's first novel, Stern, tells the story of a young Jewish man who relocates his family from the city to the suburbs, where they are besieged by voracious caterpillars and a bigotry that ranges from the genteel snub to outright confrontation.

Don't Let the Turkeys Get You Down


Sandra Boynton - 1986
    Any similarity to actual persons living or in Los Angeles is strictly unintentional, including the stuff on page 54 that will remind many people of Snigbert Knuddsen.From the turkeys extremely large ego to its arrogant behavior, the traits are classified. Boynton traces the turkey's influence on history, the neighborhood, the family, more. Several profiles in turkitude and a pop quiz further uncover turkeys in the immediate vicinity. Forewarned is forearmed: turkeys possess absolutely unwarranted and absolutely unshakable self-confidence. They insist on high visibility, and can show up at a party, in an argument, on the jogging path. The reader's best defense is through study of this important manual, keying in on the single most important turkey fact: a turkey never knows that it is a turkey.