Book picks similar to
Clerks: The Comic Books by Kevin Smith


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graphic-novels
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Asterios Polyp


David Mazzucchelli - 2009
    An epic story long awaited, and well worth the wait. Meet Asterios Polyp: middle-aged, meagerly successful architect and teacher, aesthete and womanizer, whose life is wholly upended when his New York City apartment goes up in flames. In a tenacious daze, he leaves the city and relocates to a small town in the American heartland. But what is this “escape” really about? As the story unfolds, moving between the present and the past, we begin to understand this confounding yet fascinating character, and how he’s gotten to where he is. And isn’t. And we meet Hana: a sweet, smart, first-generation Japanese American artist with whom he had made a blissful life. But now she’s gone. Did Asterios do something to drive her away? What has happened to her? Is she even alive? All the questions will be answered, eventually.In the meantime, we are enthralled by Mazzucchelli’s extraordinarily imagined world of brilliantly conceived eccentrics, sharply observed social mores, and deftly depicted asides on everything from design theory to the nature of human perception.Asterios Polyp is David Mazzucchelli’s masterpiece: a great American graphic novel.

Rock Candy Mountain, Vol. 1


Kyle Starks - 2017
    Come inside and meet the mysterious, unbeatable hobo Jackson on his quest to find the mythical hobo heaven. Meet his sidekick Pomona Slim. But watch out for the Devil! And the FBI! And the Hobo Mafia too!It's a fantastical fisticuff frolic through post- World War II America via the rails and backroads through underground fight clubs, prison and the hobo jungles wrought with dangers, hobo fights, jokes and locomotive excitement.Collects issues 1 through 4.

The Case of the Team Spirit


John Allison - 2013
    Shauna, Charlotte, and Mildred just want to help the mysterious old immigrant woman keep her home. Jack, Linton, and Sonny just want to find out why the owner of the local football stadium has been plagued by a curse. If only the two groups could stop fighting with each other, they might realize there's a shared solution...Of course, when you're just starting your first year at Griswalds Grammar School, nothing matters quite as much as football, friends, stylish jackets, trading cards, or your nerdy teacher's fancy wife. And when all of these things are competing for your attention, just how are you supposed to find the time to solve mysteries, anyway?

Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth


Chris Ware - 2000
    It won the Guardian First Book Award 2001, the first graphic novel to win a major British literary prize.It is the tragic autobiography of an office dogsbody in Chicago who one day meets the father who abandoned him as a child. With a subtle, complex and moving story and the drawings that are as simple and original as they are strikingly beautiful, Jimmy Corrigan is a book unlike any other and certainly not to be missed.**ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY**

Tank Girl


Alan C. Martin - 1990
    Tank Girl!Join everybody’s favourite beer-swilling, chain-smoking, kangaroo-worrying lunatic as she blitzes her way through a dazzling array of bizarre adventures, including bounty hunting, delivering colostomy bags to Australian presidents, kangaroo boxing... and many more outrageous and mind-warping thrills! Marking the 20th anniversary of Tank Girl, with a new introduction from Alan Martin, and rarely seen material from Jamie Hewlett, this is the start of the ultimate collection. Presented for the first time, in chronological order and in glorious black and white - the way nature intended! Warning: Adults only!

Groovitude: A Get Fuzzy Treasury


Darby Conley - 2002
    Get Fuzzy has become a hit cartoon with its bitingly funny portrait of single life with pets.And why not? The laughs come fast and furious. Get Fuzzy features Rob Wilco, a single, mild-mannered advertising executive who's the so-called guardian of Bucky and Satchel, anthropomorphic scamps that still live by their animal instincts. Bucky, a temperamental cat who carries a boom box and goes on spending sprees, definitely calls the shots in this eclectic household, while Satchel is a kindly canine with a sensitive soul who tries to remain neutral, even though he bears the brunt of his feline companion's mischief.Between the three of them, the Wilco household faces a whole host of trials and tribulations that classify them as family. Satchel wants his boundaries respected. Bucky refuses to eat vegetables but insists on snarfing up Rob's plants. Rob tries to meet women, but his pets continually subvert his efforts. In every frame, Get Fuzzy depicts the hilarious war between the species, giving the animals an equal footing in hilarious one-upmanship.Get Fuzzy is the comic strip for everyone who loves their pets with an attitude. That said, Groovitude is Get Fuzzy at its finest.Contains cartoons from The Dog Is Not a Toy and Fuzzy Logic.

Too Much Coffee Man's Parade of Tirade


Shannon Wheeler - 1999
    Now, he takes the role of the eminent icon of caffeine culture in his new book; Too Much Coffee Man's Parade of Tirade. Fill your cup with dark satire and drink deep from these thoughtful, award-winning comics. Witness TMCM's secret origin! Marvel as our hero battles corporate oppression! Experience the anxiety of the author as he claws his way to the top! Gawk at Joel as he throws up on his girlfriend's door step! And revel in Too Much Coffee Man's wisdom; If you can't be happy naturally, be unnaturally happy.This book collects eight Too Much Coffee Man comic books and many newspaper strips, as well as new material. It's a complete book. All the characters are motivated. All the cliffhangers are resolved. All the plot threads are tied up. And all the jokes have punchlines.

The Adventures of Tintin, Vol. 1: Tintin in America / Cigars of the Pharaoh / The Blue Lotus


Hergé - 1990
    These full-color graphic novels broke new ground when they were first released and became the inspiration for countless modern-day comic artists.This repackaged hardcover volume contains 3 classic Tintin stories, including: Tintin in America, Cigars of the Pharaoh, and The Blue Lotus.

Lenore: Noogies


Roman Dirge - 1999
    Lenore: Noogies is a romp into the dark, surreal world of a little dead girl. Featuring stories about limbless cannibals, clock monsters, cursed vampire dolls, taxidermied friends and obssesed would be lover and more fuzzy animal mutilations than should be legal. Lenore is one of the funniest, darkest comic books on the marketplace today.

Book Love


Debbie Tung - 2019
    And paperbacks! And ebooks! And bookstores! And libraries! Book Love is a gift book of comics tailor-made for tea-sipping, spine-sniffing, book-hoarding bibliophiles. Debbie Tung’s comics are humorous and instantly recognizable—making readers laugh while precisely conveying the thoughts and habits of book nerds. Book Love is the ideal gift to let a book lover know they’re understood and appreciated.

xkcd: volume 0


Randall Munroe - 2009
    While it's practically required reading in the geek community, xkcd fans are as varied as the comic's subject matter. This book creates laughs from science jokes on one page to relationship humor on another.xkcd: volume 0 is the first book from the immensely popular webcomic with a passionate readership (just Google "xkcd meetup").The artist selected personal and fan favorites from his first 600 comics. It was lovingly assembled from high-resolution original scans of the comics (the mouseover text is discreetly included), and features a lot of doodles, notes, and puzzles in the margins.The book is published by Breadpig, which donates all of the publisher profits from this book to Room to Read for promoting literacy in the developing world.

Howard the Duck, Volume 1: Duck Hunt


Chip Zdarsky - 2016
    Trapped in a world he's grown accustomed to! The flightless fowl gets a new beginning, with the exact same superstar creative lineup as before! But this time, the whole entire universe is after Howard -- and that includes the would-be new herald of Galactus! As the duck hunt begins, things get totally cosmic with the Silver Surfer, the Collector, the Stranger and the Guardians of the Galaxy! Plus: Brace yourself for the two most sensational, fan-favorite, Internet-breaking Marvel team-ups of the year! She's a little nutty, he's downright quackers -- it's Squirrel Girl and Howard! And in a tale that will launch a thousand cosplay double-acts, meet Gwenpool! The Duck is back, and this means "Waugh!" Collecting: Howard the Duck 1-6, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl 6

Deadpool's Art of War


Peter David - 2015
    It has influenced leaders in both warfare and business for hundreds of years. Which means it's totally in the public domain, and ripe for being ripped off by Deadpool! And what's Deadpool's plan to ensure that his version outsells the original? Make sure the world is at war when it comes out! But Deadpool soon finds it's easier starting a war than it is keeping the war under his control! Now, Loki has imprisoned 'Pool and is about to conquer Earth! Fortunately, Deadpool knows the art of war, right? (He does, that's sort of the point. He's teaching you about war in this series.) Will Deadpool's war destroy Earth – or make him a best-selling author?Collects Deadpool's Art of War #1–4.

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories


Tim Burton - 1997
    Now he gives birth to a cast of gruesomely sympathetic children – misunderstood outcasts who struggle to find love and belonging in their cruel, cruel worlds. His lovingly lurid illustrations evoke both the sweetness and the tragedy of these dark yet simple beings – hopeful, hapless heroes who appeal to the ugly outsider in all of us, and let us laugh at a world we have long left behind (mostly anyway).

Rumble, Vol. 1: What Color of Darkness


John Arcudi - 2015
    A Scarecrow Warrior God walks into a bar...and proceeds to drag a modern American city into a ten-thousand-year-old grudge-match! A bizarre new adventure—complete with boozehound shamans, monster queens, and a football-fetching hydra! Featuring an extended sketchbook section and a few surprises!Collects RUMBLE #1-5