Book picks similar to
Batman: A Visual History by Matthew K. Manning
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Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
Grant MorrisonMichel Lacombe - 2011
This is the final chapter of the epic storyline that began in the bestselling graphic novels Batman R.I.P. and Final Crisis in which the original Batman was lost in time.Collecting: Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne 1-6
It's a Bird...
Steven T. Seagle - 2004
is a Superman story that doesn't feature Superman at all. Rather, this unique graphic novel explores what the icon of Superman means to the world. Told from the perspective of an author who has written tales about Superman, this book explores the overwhelming effect that the Man of Steel has had on society. A compelling narrative told in a variety of experimental styles, It's a Bird... weaves two interlocking stories: one that ultimately explores our own mortality and another that dissects the symbolic and cultural elements which make up Superman's mythicimportance.
Study Hall of Justice
Derek Fridolfs - 2016
There's a gang of jokers roaming the halls, a muscle-headed kid named Bane wants to beat you up, and your guidance counselor Hugo Strange seems really, well, strange.This inventive novel follows young Bruce Wayne and his friends Clark (Superman) and Diana (Wonder Woman) as they start a Junior Detective Agency to investigate their teachers and find out what's going on behind closed doors at Ducard Academy, all before recess.This all-new story presents a twist on the idea of junior sleuths, using comics, journal entries, and doodles to reimagine Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman as three students in the same school. They'll try their best to solve their case, but just because you're faster than a speeding bullet or more powerful than a locomotive, it doesn't mean you get to stay up past eleven.
Trashed
Derf Backderf - 2015
Trashed, Derf Backderf's follow-up to the critically acclaimed, award-winning international bestseller My Friend Dahmer, is an ode to the crap job of all crap jobs--garbage collector. Anyone who has ever been trapped in a soul-sucking gig will relate to this tale. Trashed follows the raucous escapades of three 20-something friends as they clean the streets of pile after pile of stinking garbage, while battling annoying small-town bureaucrats, bizarre townfolk, sweltering summer heat, and frigid winter storms. Trashed is fiction, but is inspired by Derf's own experiences as a garbageman. Interspersed are nonfiction pages that detail what our garbage is and where it goes. The answers will stun you. Hop on the garbage truck named Betty and ride along with Derf on a journey into the vast, secret world of garbage. Trashed is a hilarious, stomach-churning tale that will leave you laughing and wincing in disbelief.
DC Comics Ultimate Character Guide
Brandon T. Snider - 2011
Arranged in an easy-to-use A-Z format, this book devotes a full page to each character, covering both major characters such as Superman and Batman, as well as lesser-known characters such as Captain Boomerang and the Question. The main text on each page gives an overview of the characters' history and personality, while the vital stat boxes provide all the essential details about their background, physical features, and powers. With accessible text and carefully chosen DC comic-book art, this is the perfect guide to the DC Universe for readers 7 and up.
Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to the Comic Book Universe
Tim Leong - 2013
This book by one of Wired magazine's art directors traverses the graphic world through a collection of pie charts, bar graphs, timelines, scatter plots, and more. Super Graphic offers readers a unique look at the intricate and sometimes contradictory storylines that weave their way through comic books, and shares advice for navigating the pages of some of the most popular, longest-running, and best-loved comics and graphic novels out there. From a colorful breakdown of the DC Comics reader demographic to a witty Venn diagram of superhero comic tropes and a Chris Ware sadness scale, this book charts the most arbitrary and monumental characters, moments, and equipment of the wide world of comics.
Wonder Woman: Odyssey, Vol. 1
J. Michael Straczynski - 2011
Due to mysterious circumstances, Diana must track down the truth behind what’s happened to her timeline and face the biggest stunner of all: Who destroyed Paradise Island?If you think you knew who Wonder Woman was – think again! All bets are off in this all-new direction for the long-running series that’s perfect for new readers as Wonder Woman embarks on an odyssey to find her past and gets a new costume, a new set of foes, and a new tone from the ground up!
Superman: The Man of Steel, Vol. 1
John Byrne - 1986
Along with inker Dick Giordano, Byrne reimagined the look of Superman, Lois Lane, Krypton and Lex Luthor.The relationships between Superman and Lois, Superman and Batman, and Superman and Luthor were reexamined and tweaked for modern readers. Old villains such as Bizarro returned and new ones, such as Magpie, were introduced.It was the dawn of a new age for the Man of Steel that endures today. See how it all began in this collection of the first six stories. Includes a foreword by Ray Bradbury.This volume collects Man of Steel #1-6.
The Beats: A Graphic History
Paul M. BuhlePeter Kuper - 2009
Told by the comic legend Harvey Pekar, his frequent artistic collaborator Ed Piskor, and a range of artists and writers, including the feminist comic creator Trina Robbins and the Mad magazine artist Peter Kuper, The Beats takes us on a wild tour of a generation that, in the face of mainstream American conformity and conservatism, became known for its determined uprootedness, aggressive addictions, and startling creativity and experimentation.What began among a small circle of friends in New York and San Francisco during the late 1940s and early 1950s laid the groundwork for a literary explosion, and this striking anthology captures the storied era in all its incarnations—from the Benzedrine-fueled antics of Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs to the painting sessions of Jay DeFeo’s disheveled studio, from the jazz hipsters to the beatnik chicks, from Chicago’s College of Complexes to San Francisco’s famed City Lights bookstore. Snapshots of lesser-known poets and writers sit alongside frank and compelling looks at the Beats’ most recognizable faces. What emerges is a brilliant collage of—and tribute to—a generation, in a form and style that is as original as its subject.
Identity Crisis
Brad Meltzer - 2004
The most talked-about and successful miniseries of 2004 the story that has created ripple effects throughout the DC Universe for many years to come is now available in a stunning hardcover volume! New York Times best-selling author Brad Meltzer (GREEN ARROW) teams with artists Rags Morales & Michael Bair (WONDER WOMAN) and cover artist Michael Turner (SUPERMAN/BATMAN) to deliver an all-too-human look into the lives of super-heroes, and the terrible price they pay for doing good.When the spouse of a JLA member is brutally murdered, the entire super-hero community searches for the killer, fearing their own loved ones may be the next targets! But before the mystery is fully solved, a number of long-buried secrets rise to the surface, threatening to tear apart and divide the heroes before they can bring the mysterious killer to justice.Bonus features include extended commentary by Meltzer and Morales, the rest of the creative team talking about their favorite moments, a look at Morales's sketchbook and more!
Kafka
David Zane Mairowitz - 1994
Crumb's Kafka is a vibrant biography that examines this Czech writer and his works in a way that a bland texbook never could! R. Crumb's Kafka goes far beyond being explication or popularization or survey. It's a work of art in its own right, a very rare example of what happens when one very idiosyncratic artist absorbs another into his worldview without obliterating the individuality of the absorbed one. Crumb's art is filled with Kafka's insurmountable neuroses. They are all there: Gregor Samsa's sister, the luscious Milena Jesenska, the Advacate's "nurse" Leni, Olda and Frieda, and the ravishing Dora Diamant-drawn in that mixture of self-commandtantalizing knowingness, and sly sexuality, that amazonian randines and thick-limbed physicality that is Crumb.Crumb's idiosyncratic illustrations add a new dimension to the already idiosyncratic world of Kafka. Includes adaptations of "The Judgment," "The Trial," "The Castle," "A Hunger Artist," and "The Metamorphosis."
Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
Alan MoorePaul Kupperberg - 1986
Moore teams with Curt Swan, the definitive Superman artist from the 1950's through the 1970's, to tell the final adventure of the Man of Steel featuring his last stand against Lex Luthor, Brainiac and his other foes in "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW?". This volume also includes Moore's classic early collaboration with WATCHMEN illustrator Dave Gibbons, "FOR THE MAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING", in which Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman find Superman held captive by the villain Mongul in the Fortress of Solitude and dreaming of an idyllic life on Krypton courtesy of a wish-fulfilling parasitic plant known as the Black Mercy. Both tales are considered two of the top five all-time best Superman stories among fans. The rare first team-up adventure between the Man of Tomorrow and Swamp Thing, the character that first brought Moore to notoriety in the United States, is included as an additional bonus.This volume collects the two-part “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” from SUPERMAN #423 and ACTION COMICS #583, as well as “The Jungle Line” from DC COMICS PRESENTS #85 and “For the Man Who Has Everything...” from SUPERMAN ANNUAL #11.
Batman: R.I.P.
Grant MorrisonJared K. Fletcher - 2008
Soon Bruce Wayne drops out completely, having seemingly become the victim of mental illness and abandoning his Batman identity for a life on the streets of Gotham City. Capitalizing on the fall of their greatest foe, the Club of Villains begin a crime spree through the streets of Gotham that threatens to bring the city to its knees.Collecting: Batman 676-683
Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
James Tynion IV - 2016
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles face the battle of a lifetime, fighting both the fearsome Foot Clan and their leader, the Shredder, and the alien forces of General Krang...which is exactly Krang's plan. Now a single dimensional warp can rid him of both of his greatest rivals at once.GOTHAM CITY. From the Penguin to Killer Croc to Ra's al Ghul and beyond, the caped crime-fighter called Batman already has his hands full protecting his city. Suddenly, a new enemy emerges--the Shredder and his ninja followers, transported to Gotham and unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. Now they're on the hunt for the technology that will help them return home...and conquer Gotham City in the process, with the help of Batman's deadliest rogues. But heroes come in all shapes, and the Dark Knight does not fight alone.As the Caped Crusader joins forces with Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael and Master Splinter, can the Bat, the Rat and the Turtles take down the most vicious villains from two dimensions?DC Comics and IDW Publishing proudly present BATMAN/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES! This deluxe edition collects issues#1-6 and DIRECTOR'S CUT #1, featuring bonus material including all retailer variants, full scripts to each issue, character concept drawings by Freddie Williams III and pencils to issue #1.
Grayson: The Superspy Omnibus
Tim Seeley - 2017
As Robin, he was supposed to take up Batman's mantle. As Nightwing he broke the mold and became a hero all his own. As a dead man he was supposed to do nothing. But now he's something different. This oversize omnibus collects GRAYSON #1-20, SECRET ORIGINS #8, GRAYSON ANNUAL #1-3, GRAYSON: FUTURE'S END #1, ROBIN WAR #1-2.