At the same time, while preparing for the Sandman 10th anniversary, he met Yoshitaka Amano, his artist for the 11th Sandman book. Amano is the famed designer of the Final Fantasy game series. The product of Gaiman's immersion in Japanese art, culture, and history, Sandman: Dream Hunters is a classic Japanese tale (adapted from "The Fox, the Monk, and the Mikado of All Night's Dreaming") that he has subtly morphed into his Sandman universe.Like most fables, the story begins with a wager between two jealous animals, a fox and a badger: which of them can drive a young monk from his solitary temple? The winner will make the temple into a new fox or badger home. But as the fox adopts the form of a woman to woo the monk from his hermitage, she falls in love with him. Meanwhile, in far away Kyoto, the wealthy Master of Yin-Yang, the onmyoji, is plagued by his fears and seeks tranquility in his command of sorcery. He learns of the monk and his inner peace; he dispatches demons to plague the monk in his dreams and eventually kill him to bring his peace to the onmyoji. The fox overhears the demons on their way to the monk and begins her struggle to save the man whom at first she so envied.Dream Hunters is a beautiful package. From the ink-brush painted endpapers to the luminous page layouts--including Amano's gate-fold painting of Morpheus in a sea of reds, oranges, and violets--this book has been crafted for a sensuous reading experience. Gaiman has developed as a prose stylist in the last several years with novels and stories such as Neverwhere and Stardust, and his narrative rings with a sense of timelessness and magic that gently sustains this adult fairy tale. The only disappointment here is that the book is so brief. One could imagine this creative team being even better suited to a longer story of more epic proportions. On the final page of Dream Hunters, in fact, Amano suggest that he will collaborate further with Mr. Gaiman in the future. Readers of Dream Hunters will hope that Amano's dream comes true. --Patrick O'Kelley

    Strawberry Shortcake returns to comics! It's a berry special re-introduction to Strawberry Shortcake and all her pals and - maybe - a certain not-so-nice purple someone as well?!

    We flashback to a pair of butchers who arrive at work one morning to find not only that there is no meat in their shop but also that they have forgotten completely how to do their job. As customers arrive, they are too fearful for their livelihood to admit their dilemma, leading to increasingly disastrous events. But what has caused their strange amnesia? This often hilarious, enigmatic and uncomfortable book will establish Stechschulte as an exciting new talent."

    Archie 1000 Page Comics-Palooza collects 1000 pages of new and classic Archie tales in our biggest collection ever, with over 100 full-color stories featuring America's favorite red-head and friends navigating the pressures and pratfalls of teenagers everywhere!

    Why? Because each page boasted sticky, uncomfortable truths drenched in bleakly familiar humor. It was "cringe comedy" before the phrase had been coined, presaging squirmy shows like Louie and Girls. Set in a New York so real you can practically smell it (so claimed Mike Mignola), Minimum Wage is the workaday saga of cartoonist Rob Hoffman and his firebrand girlfriend, Sylvia. He churns out strips for smut rags and off-brand MAD knockoffs and she languishes managing a hair salon. With their colorful crew of friends, they forge ahead against the brutal indifference of their hometown. This definitive edition includes the original 72-page "pilot" episode (Minimum Wage Book One) and the revised "director's cut" of the main storyline. Plus, a bonus color section featuring original cover paintings and guest pin-ups by Mike Mignola, Kevin Nowlan, Dave Johnson, Jill Thompson, Dave Cooper, Glenn Barr, and others.

    His path lies in shadows, his enemies' legion.

    Abandoned by his fiancee, his family, his church, and his government, Sergeant Dan Sylva returns to Iraq for a third tour of duty - and a descent into Hell itself! If the demon Belathauzer and the mysterious mercenary group known as Bloodstone have their way, Iraq, the place where civilization began, may also be where civilization ends! The reinvented Devil-Slayer takes Marvel's Dead of Night to terrifying new heights, from award-winning horror novelist Brian Keene (The Rising, Dark Hollow) and artist Chris Samnee (Daredevil: Blood of the Tarantula)! Collects Dead of Night Featuring Devil-Slayer #1-4.

    Like Girls and Boys, Big Ideas features many of her greatest cartoons, including her menacing "Poodle with a Mohawk". Line drawings throughout.

    Scott Fitzgerald declared it "the funniest story ever written" and "one of my two favorite stories." It's the strange tale of a man who is "born" 70 years old and mysteriously ages in reverse. This stunning graphic novel adaptation illustrates Benjamin Button's many adventures: He falls in love, starts a family, and runs a successful business. In his later years, he goes to war and attends Harvard University. As an old man, he resembles a newborn baby and returns to the care of a nurse.Complete with Fitzgerald's original text, dazzling watercolor illustrations, and an afterword describing the story's origins and critical reception, this edition offers a fresh look at a literary masterpiece.

    In keeping with the popular but off-beat anime, the manga begins a series of original stories that take the action to a whole new level. Spike, Jet and Faye all end up after the same bounty, Spike goes after a convict who's already in prison, and Faye (the con-artist she is) ends up the victim of a con not once, but twice.

    Now, the Master of Horror takes us into his Bestiary for an anthology series—free of continuity, but full of shocking consequences. WHY YOU’LL LOVE IT: HELLRAISER: BESTIARY will pick up where classic horror comics anthologies like Tales From The Crypt, Vault of Horror, and the more recent Flinch left off. And not only will some of comics’ rising stars, such as Ed Brisson (Sheltered), and Michael Moreci (CURSE), get a chance to open the puzzle box in this series, but the first issue features the comics debut of award-winning novelist Victor LaValle (The Devil in Silver, Big Machine). WHAT IT’S ABOUT: Step into the Bestiary for all-new tales of the LeMarchand Device and its guardians! This first issue contains the start of a six-part serial written by Mark Miller (CLIVE BARKER’S NEXT TESTAMENT) and Ben Meares (HELLRAISER ANNUAL 2013), and drawn by Carlos Magno (DEATHMATCH), where a group of mercenaries are hired to steal Pinhead’s pins. Also, superstar author Victor LaValle teams with artist Colin Lorimer (CURSE) to tell a story set on the outskirts of New York City, as a close-knit community is torn apart by the presence of the puzzle box.

    (It's like camping, but much more expensive.) Loosely based on actual events, but sometimes veering unexpectedly into fantasy, the story plays with the challenges nature presents to city folk as they forage for berries, get stuck up a tree, make perilous encounters with stinging wildlife, compete to build the best fire and discover the importance of finding good sticks. Also, it rains. It's about the human desire to get back to nature. Or to return to childhood and hit things with sticks.Funny, moving, beautifully drawn, Collecting Sticks can stand beside Joff Winterhart’s classic graphic novel of family life, Days of the Bagnold Summer.

    Armies are being raised and targets being set. All that stands between life and chaos are Alice Blood and a handful of unsuspecting federal agents. The war between the living and the undead has begun!

    For millions of years, mankind's place on Earth was unchallenged - until five young people paved the way for a new kind of human! While students at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast and Iceman taught the world what it meant to be X-Men.Collects X-Men: First Class #11-16 and Giant-Size X-Men: First Class #1.

    Pyle comes an adorable and profound universe in pink, blue, green, and purple. Based on the phenomenally popular Instagram of the same name, Strange Planet covers a full life cycle of the planet’s inhabitants, including milestones such as:The Emergence DayBeing Gains a SiblingThe Being Family Attains a BeastThe Formal Education of a BeingCelebration of Special DaysBeing Begins a VocationThe Beings at HomeHealth Status of a BeingThe Hobbies of a BeingThe Extended Family of the BeingThe Being Reflects on Life While Watching the Planet RotateWith dozens of never-before-seen illustrations in addition to old favorites, this book offers a sweet and hilarious look at a distant world not all that unlike our own.