The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia


Phil Jimenez - 2010
    Blessed at birth by the gods themselves, Princess Diana left an idyllic island paradise ruled by wise and brave women to bring the peace, love, and nobility of the Amazons to the tumultuous world of humankind. In January 1942, Wonder Woman took the world of comics—and its pantheon of superpowered males—by storm. Wielding her impervious silver bracelets and golden Lasso of Truth, she’s battled forces of evil from the Axis powers to a slew of super-villains worldwide, teamed up with the likes of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash, and become a high-flying feminist icon and pop-culture superstar. Now, for the first time in more than thirty years, here’s a definitive A-to-Z volume that draws together all the knowledge about the star-spangled, action-packed history of Wonder Woman. In more than 400 fact-packed pages you’ll find • the complete story of Wonder Woman’s origins, as imagined and reinterpreted by generations of comics writers—including her groundbreaking creator, William Moulton Marston • biographies of every major character in Wonder Woman’s universe, including her mother, Hippolyta; sister, Donna Troy; and mortal ally Steve Trevor—as well as such classic foes as Ares, Cheetah, Hades, and the members of Villainy Inc.• classic black-and-white comic book artwork throughout• two sixteen-page full-color artwork inserts—plus a dazzling original cover illustration by fan-favorite artist Adam Hughes Written by veteran Wonder Woman artist and writer Phil Jimenez and comics historian John Wells, The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia is the ultimate archive, proving that die-hard devotees of the gorgeous go-to goddess don’t have to visit Paradise Island for a taste of heaven on earth.

The Big Book of the 70's


Jonathan Vankin - 2000
    Jonathan Vankin's Big Book of the '70s looks in surprising depth at the trends and the notable figures of that decade, using illustrations from dozens of excellent comics artists like Shary Flenniken and Terry Laban. Richard Nixon, Jane Fonda, Burt Reynolds, and Jimmy Carter all get the Big Book treatment in a delicious combination of behind-the-scenes peeks and easily digested history lessons. Fads and phenomena like disco, running, and the rise of the women's movement are also explained and, in some cases, followed up through modern times. The writing is clear and snappy, the illustration is consistently well-done, and the topics chosen are a thorough, comprehensive mix of lightweight (pet rocks) and serious (Vietnam). --RobLightner

Heretics!: The Wondrous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy


Steven Nadler - 2017
    With masterful storytelling and color illustrations, Heretics! offers a unique introduction to the birth of modern thought in comics form--smart, charming, and often funny.These contentious and controversial philosophers--from Galileo and Descartes to Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, and Newton--fundamentally changed the way we look at the world, society, and ourselves, overturning everything from the idea that the Earth is the center of the cosmos to the notion that kings have a divine right to rule. More devoted to reason than to faith, these thinkers defended scandalous new views of nature, religion, politics, knowledge, and the human mind.Heretics! tells the story of their ideas, lives, and times in a vivid new way. Crisscrossing Europe as it follows them in their travels and exiles, the narrative describes their meetings and clashes with each other--as well as their confrontations with religious and royal authority. It recounts key moments in the history of modern philosophy, including the burning of Giordano Bruno for heresy, Galileo's house arrest for defending Copernicanism, Descartes's proclaiming cogito ergo sum, Hobbes's vision of the "nasty and brutish" state of nature, and Spinoza's shocking Theological-Political Treatise.A brilliant account of one of the most brilliant periods in philosophy, Heretics! is the story of how a group of brave thinkers used reason and evidence to triumph over the authority of religion, royalty, and antiquity.

The Comic Book Story of Beer: The World's Favorite Beverage from 7000 BC to Today's Craft Brewing Revolution


Jonathan Hennessey - 2015
    No book has ever told the story of beer in a graphic format as a liberating or emancipating force that improved the life of everyday people. Visually riffing on abstract subjects like pasteurization, "original gravity," and "lagering," artist Aaron McConnell has a flair for cinematic action and demonstrates versatility in depicting characters and episodes from beer's rich history. Hand-drawn in a classic, accessible style, The Comic Book Story of Beer makes a great gift, and will appeal to the most avid comic book geek and those who live for beer.

Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash


Dave McKean - 2016
    Dark Horse proudly presents a new original graphic novel by the legendary artist based on the life of Paul Nash, a surrealist painter during World War 1. The Dreams of Paul Nash deals with real soldier's memoirs, and all the stories will add up to be a moving piece about how war and extreme situations change us, how we deal with that pain, and, in Nash's case, by turning his landscapes into powerful and fantastical psycho-scapes.Praise for one of Dave McKean's previous graphic novels, Cages: "One of the most important works of comic art in the last decade." -The Comics Journal"It is compulsively readable, with a lyrical tone that moves the reader through the rougher, more elusive passages as it strives at the very edge of the form's limitation." -Comic Foundry Magazine"The finest comic being created today. Get it and see what heights narrative graphic art can achieve." -The Fine Print

Frida Kahlo: The Story of Her Life


Vanna Vinci - 2016
    The perfect subject for a graphic novel, Frida Kahlo's brief life was dramatic and romantic, tragic and painful. In this illustrated -biography-, Vanna Vinci captures the spirit of Kahlo's world in boldly colored, minutely detailed illustrations. Blending facts and history with dreamlike and surreal sequences, Vinci creates an intimate portrayal of an artist who incorporated her life experiences into her art. Burning love and crushing loss, incredible joy and deep despair--these were all part of Kahlo's life and part of the paintings that are some of the most celebrated art of all time. Filled with images that populated Kahlo's work--monkeys and parrots, traditional clothing and lush gardens--Vinci imbues her text and drawings with an artist's perception and sensitivity. The result is an evocative, fittingly passionate tribute to a legendary figure.

Isadora Duncan: A Graphic Biography


Sabrina Jones - 2008
    The pioneering modern dancer emerged from provincial nineteenth-century America to captivate the cultural capitals of Europe, reinvent dance as a fine art, and leave a trail of scandals in her wake. From her unconventional California girlhood to her tragic death on the French Riviera fifty years later, Duncan's journey was an uncompromising quest for truth, beauty, and freedom.Here Duncan's art and ideas come vividly to life. Each page is a unique dance of words and images, reflecting Duncan's courage, passion, and idealism in a way sure to inspire another generation of admirers.

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam: An Illustrated Memoir


Ann Marie Fleming - 2007
    Who was Long Tack Sam? He was born in 1885. He ran away from Shangdung Province to join the circus. He was an acrobat. A magician. A comic. An impresario. A restaurateur. A theater owner. A world traveler. An East-West ambassador. A mentor to Orson Welles. He was considered the greatest act in the history of vaudeville. In this gorgeous graphic memoir, his great-granddaughter, the artist and filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming, resurrects his fascinating life for the rest of the world. It's an exhilarating testament to a forgotten man. And every picture is true.

The Joe Shuster Story: The Artist Behind Superman


Julian Voloj - 2018
    Based on archival material and original sources, "Truth, Justice, and the American Way: The Joe Shuster Story" tells the story of the friendship between writer Jerry Siegel and illustrator Joe Shuster, and puts it into the wider context of the American comicbook industry.

Red Rosa: A Graphic Biography of Rosa Luxemburg


Kate Evans - 2015
    The story follows Rosa from her family life in Jewish Poland—where she became the leader of a general strike at age fifteen and was exiled from her homeland at eighteen—to her immersion into the then largest radical party in the world, the German Social Democratic Party, to her founding of the German Communist Party and leadership of the German revolution of 1919.This beautifully drawn graphic life gives “Red Rosa” her due as an iconic radical, but also portrays a fascinating woman with a rich love life, struggles with physical disability and an abiding love of literature and theater. Rosa will contribute to the growing understanding of one of the twentieth century’s greatest revolutionaries.

Be Gay, Do Comics


Matt BorsDelta Vasquez - 2020
    The life of a gay and Jewish Nazi-fighter. A gender reveal party that tears apart reality. These are the just some of the comics you'll find in this massive queer comics anthology from The Nib.Be Gay, Do Comics is filled with dozens of comics about LGBTQIA experiences, ranging from personal stories to queer history to cutting satire about pronoun panic and brands desperate to co-opt pride. Brimming with resilience, inspiration, and humor, an incredible lineup of top indie cartoonists takes you from the American Revolution through Stonewall to today's fights for equality and representation.Featuring more than 30 cartoonists including Hazel Newlevant, Joey Alison Sayers, Maia Kobabe, Matt Lubchansky, Breena Nuñez, Sasha Velour, Shing Yin Khor, Levi Hastings, Mady G, Bianca Xunise, Kazimir Lee, and many, many more!

Wonder Woman: Amazon. Hero. Icon.


Robert Greenberger - 2010
    Wonder Woman is the most popular female super hero of all time and a cultural icon. During her existence, she has served in the army, renounced her powers at the height of the feminist movement, and helped launch Gloria Steinem’s Ms. magazine. She has been—and continues to be—a trailblazing role model to girls and women and an integral part of the cultural zeitgeist. Loosely chronological, Wonder Woman explores idiosyncratic creator William Moulton Marston’s interest in ideas of a "new woman" for the twentieth century; costume and character story changes over the decades; the influence on all other female comic book characters since her inception; and how Wonder Woman is still powerful and relevant in today’s comic book renaissance. The book contains more than 250 Wonder Woman illustrations, including covers, interior comic art, and sketch treatments, beginning with her inception in the early 1940s to present-day treatments of the character. Celebrated artists include Alex Ross, Jim Lee, George Perez, and Brian Bolland, to name only a few. The book will also feature rare covers and pin-up posters created for past special-edition comic books. Wonder Woman is certain to appeal to fanboys and fangirls, collectors, and newcomers to the comic book genre alike.

Recycled Doonesbury


G.B. Trudeau - 1990
    Featuring a generous dose of the uncompromising satire that won the cartoonist a Pulitzer Prize, this collection of daily and Sunday comic strips represents a retrospective look at the politics and events of the late 1980s.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures


Phoebe Gloeckner - 2002
    I was a very ugly child. My appearance has not improved so I guess it was a lucky break when he was attracted by my youthfulness." So begins the wrenching diary of Minnie Goetze, a fifteen-year-old girl longing for love and acceptance and struggling with her own precocious sexuality. Minnie hates school and she wants to be an artist, or maybe a speleologist, or a bartender. She sleeps with her mother's boyfriend, and yet is too shy to talk with boys at school. She forges her way through adolescence, unsupervised and unguided, defenseless, and yet fearless.The story unfolds in the libertine atmosphere of the 1970s San Francisco, but the significance of Minnie's effort to understand herself and her world is universal. This is the story of an adolescent troubled by the discontinuity between what she thinks and feels and what she observes in those around her. The Diary of a Teenage Girl offers a searing comment on adult society as seen though the eyes of a young woman on the verge of joining it.In this unusual novel, artist and writer Phoebe Gloeckner presents a pivotal year in a girl's life, recounted in diary pages and illustrations, with full narrative sequences in comics form.

Capote in Kansas


Ande Parks - 2005
    Not an intricately plotted "whodunit" or fiery passionate fury. But dirty, sad, disturbing actions from real people. That's what Truman Capote decided to use for IN COLD BLOOD—his bold experiment in the realm of the non-fiction "novel." Following in that legacy is CAPOTE IN KANSAS, a fictionalized tale of Capote's time in Middle America researching his classic book. Capote's struggles with the town, the betrayal, and his own troubled past make this book a compelling portrait of one of the greatest literary talents of the 20th century.