Book picks similar to
Great American Comic Books by Ron Goulart


comics
non-fiction
superheroes
creator-jeff-smith

Hellboy: Masks and Monsters


Mike Mignola - 2010
    Next, Hellboy travels to Arcadia in search of Ghost, a spectral vigilante caught up in a web of intrigue orchestrated by an ancient mask.

Thor: God of Thunder by Jason Aaron, Vol. 2


Jason Aaron - 2015
    Frost Giants! The origin of Malekith! And King Thor's Original Sin!Collecting: Thor: God of Thunder 12-25

Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #1


Victor Gischler - 2009
    HEAD TRIP, Part 1 of 6It's the Merc with two mouths! Deadpool travels to the Savage Land to retrieve the severed-but-still-hungry head of the Marvel Zombies Deadpool! Now, Deadpool must dodge Hydra operatives, dinosaurs, and zombie cavemen as he attempts to take his not-so-precious cargo back where it came from: the Marvel Zombies Universe.

Aliens: Defiance #1


Brian Wood - 2016
    . . Battling demons from her past while fighting for her life, Colonial Marine Private First Class Zula Hendricks, in the company of Weyland-Yutani synthetics, is forced to question her strength and loyalty when the discovery of an insidious alien species on a derelict hauler sends her on a dangerous journey across the stars. Brian Wood brings his sharp storytelling to Aliens. Rising star Tristan Jones draws the scariest xenomorph youve seen in years . . .

Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir


Stan Lee - 2015
    The most legendary name in the history of comic books, he has been the leading creative force behind Marvel Comics, and has brought to life—and into the mainstream—some of the world’s best-known heroes and most infamous villains throughout his career. His stories—filled with superheroes struggling with personal hang-ups and bad guys who possessed previously unseen psychological complexity—added wit and subtlety to a field previously locked into flat portrayals of good vs. evil. Lee put the human in superhuman and in doing so, created a new mythology for the twentieth century.In this beautifully illustrated graphic memoir—illustrated by celebrated artist Colleen Doran—Lee tells the story of his life with the same inimitable wit, energy, and offbeat spirit that he brought to the world of comics. Moving from his impoverished childhood in Manhattan to his early days writing comics, through his military training films during World War II and the rise of the Marvel empire in the 1960s to the current resurgence in movies, Amazing Fantastic Incredible documents the life of a man and the legacy of an industry and career.This funny, moving, and incredibly honest memoir is a must-have for collectors and fans of comic books and graphic novels of every age.

Doctor 13: Architecture and Mortality


Brian Azzarello - 2007
    Terrence Thirteen, a parapsychologist who disproves reports of supernatural activity. In this story collected from TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED #1-8, Dr. Thirteen rounds up a group of the world's magical beings to prevent strange forces from tearing asunder the very fabric of the past, present, and future!

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2011-) #1


Scott Lobdell - 2012
    Writer Scott Lobdell leads the Outlaws down a path--but is it the path of hero or villain?

Young Avengers Omnibus


Kieron Gillen - 2014
    It matters what we do. Someone has to save the world. You're someone. Do the math. The critically acclaimed team of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie reinvent the teen super-hero comic for the 21st century - uniting Wiccan, Hulkling and Kate "Hawkeye" Bishop with Kid Loki, Marvel Boy and Miss America. No pressure, right? When Wiccan makes a horrible mistake that comes back to bite everyone on their communal posteriors, we cue five issues of hormonal panic. Fight scenes! Fake IDs! Plentiful feels! (a.k.a. "meaningful emotional character beats" for people who aren't on tumblr.) Young Avengers is as NOW! as the air in your lungs and twice as vital.Collecting: Young Avengers 1-15, material from Marvel Now! Point One.1

The Joker 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1


Scott SnyderBrian Azzarello - 2020
    The stories feature a range of terror and anarchy, showing how the Joker has impacted Gotham City from the police to Arkham Asylum, from the local underworld to the Dark Knight and his allies! Make sure to RSVP to this birthday bash-you wouldn’t want to wake up with a Joker Fish on your doorstep, would you?

Wonder Woman 75th Anniversary Special #1


Gail SimoneJim Lee - 2016
    An immense special issue celebrating seventy-five years of the Amazing Amazon, through phenomenal new stories, art, and stand-alone illustrations! Featuring a roster of incredible creators-some who’ve laid down legendary runs with the character, and some who’ve never drawn her before-including Rafael Albuquerque, Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang, Renae De Liz, Brenden Fletcher, Adam Hughes, Karl Kerschl, Gail Simone, and many, many more to be announced!

Tag & Bink Were Here


Kevin Rubio - 2006
    Now under attack by the Empire, they will choose life over a noble death and "borrow" the armor off a pair of deceased stormtroopers. Their new disguises might get them off the freighter alive, but they'll also lead Tag and Bink on an adventure neither could have predicted!Chockfull of appearances by everyone's favorite Star Wars characters, Tag and Bink cleverly weaves the pair's misadventures into the movies themselves. No setting is safe as they traverse the galaxy from the Death Star to the Sarlacc pit to Cloud City to Endor!Written by fan-favorite writer Kevin Rubio (creator of the internet film sensation Troops and hilarious short stories from Star Wars Tales) and illustrated by Star Wars stalwart Lucas Marangon, find out why Tag and Bink is a favorite of many Dark Horse employees.

DC Comics/Dark Horse: Batman vs. Predator


Dave Gibbons - 2017
    PREDATOR miniseries are collected into one massive bloody collection, including the Eisner Award-winning BATMAN VS. PREDATOR #1-3 by Dave Gibbons (WATCHMEN), Adam Kubert (SUPERMAN: LAST SON) and Andy Kubert (DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE) in DC COMICS/DARK HORSE COMICS: BATMAN VS. PREDATOR.While fear and darkness have always haunted the streets of Gotham City, a new terror has crept onto the rooftops and into the hearts of its citizens. An alien hunter known only as the Predator has come to Gotham to hunt its greatest warriors, and after a string of brutal murders, the Predator has its sights on Batman. In an epic showdown, the Dark Knight must use all of his skills, both martial and mental, to beat this otherworldly menace.After their first bloody contact, Batman faces off against the alien Predator a second time as a price is put on his head by a ruthless gangster. This time Batman enlists the help of the Huntress as he fends off both the assassins and the Predator.Finally, Batman and Robin must face a third incursion from space as a deadly gang war rages across the streets of Gotham. As Mr. Freeze and Catwoman entangle themselves in the web of death, Batman must learn to trust his young partner in order to defeat the alien menace for a third time.Collects BATMAN VS. PREDATOR #1-3 by Dave Gibbons (WATCHMEN), Adam Kubert (SUPERMAN: LAST SON) and Andy Kubert (DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE).

Wolverine: Dangerous Games


Gregg Andrew HurwitzBen Oliver - 2008
    Then, Wolverine faces down Nanny and Orphan-Maker, and lets former New X-Men member Trance in on all his secrets.

Edge of Venomverse #1


Matthew Rosenberg - 2017
    Bonding with the alien enhances her already considerable abilities, and aids in her escape, but it begins to alter her mind! On the run from the very people that made her, can X-23 hold it together or is she doomed to give in to Venom!

The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture


Glen Weldon - 2016
    For more than three quarters of a century, he has cycled from a figure of darkness to one of lightness and back again; he’s a bat-shaped Rorschach inkblot who takes on the various meanings our changing culture projects onto him. How we perceive Batman’s character, whether he’s delivering dire threats in a raspy Christian Bale growl or trading blithely homoerotic double-entendres with partner Robin on the comics page, speaks to who we are and how we wish to be seen by the world. It’s this endlessly mutable quality that has made him so enduring.And it’s Batman’s fundamental nerdiness—his gadgets, his obsession, his oath, even his lack of superpowers—that uniquely resonates with his fans who feel a fiercely protective love for the character. Today, fueled by the internet, that breed of passion for elements of popular culture is everywhere. Which is what makes Batman the perfect lens through which to understand geek culture, its current popularity, and social significance.In The Caped Crusade, with humor and insight, Glen Weldon, book critic for NPR and author of Superman: The Unauthorized Biography, lays out Batman’s seventy-eight-year cultural history and shows how he has helped make us who we are today and why his legacy remains so strong.