Watching the Watchmen: The Definitive Companion to the Ultimate Graphic Novel


Dave Gibbons - 2008
    Featuring the breathtaking design of Chip Kidd and Mike Essl, WATCHING THE WATCHMEN is both a major art book in its own right, and the definitive companion to the graphic novel that changed an industry.Voted among Time magazine's 100 Best Novels from 1923 to the present, a perennial bestseller over the past twenty years and widely considered the greatest graphic novel of all time, WATCHMEN is a gripping, labyrinthine piece of comic art, which has earned an acclaimed place in modern literary history."I've had a great time, re-visiting the very beginnings of Watchmen and unearthing material I haven't set eyes on for many years. As a fan myself, this is the kind of stuff I eat up and I'm sure the many devotees of the graphic novel will do the same!" says Gibbons.© DC Comics 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Silhouettes from Popular Culture


Olly Moss - 2012
    Find your favourite pop-culture character in this collection of silhouettes from well-known movie, television, comics and video game characters!

Penguins with People Problems


Mary Laura Philpott - 2015
    They understand the agony of social awkwardness, the power of the perfect smoky eye, and the arm-(or wing)-flapping terror of having a bee in the car. In fact, these winged characters get into the same sticky situations we all do. They are Penguins with People Problems. So meet your favorite new flightless friends. They're brutally honest (except when they're lying), comically insecure, and totally relatable.

Up Front


Bill Mauldin - 1945
    Week after week, Mauldin defied army censors, German artillery, and Patton's pledge to "throw his ass in jail" to deliver his wildly popular cartoon, "Up Front," to the pages of Stars and Stripes. "Up Front" featured the wise-cracking Willie and Joe, whose stooped shoulders, mud-soaked uniforms, and pidgin of army slang and slum dialect bore eloquent witness to the world of combat and the men who lived—and died—in it.This taut, lushly illustrated biography—the first of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Bill Mauldin—is illustrated with more than ninety classic Mauldin cartoons and rare photographs. It traces the improbable career and tumultuous private life of a charismatic genius who rose to fame on his motto: "If it's big, hit it.

Guide to Troubled Birds


Matt Adrian - 2012
    We are only just discovering the reality of our avian adversaries, with their reptilian brains, their appetites for mayhem and the fact that they fly mostly to spite us. To ignore the information found within this volume may be at the peril of your very life.

This Book Will Change Your Life, Again


Benrik - 2005
    This Book Will Change Your Life has even greater ambitions than its forefather, aiming to subvert not only your own life, but the whole of society—as only Benrik can. Part instruction book, part therapy, part religious cult, part sheer anarchy, this wickedly funny day planner will help you stick a spoke in the wheel of your routine, every day of the first year of your new life. Days to spice up your life include: * Claim you’re Jesus day * Lobby Celine Dion to sing about you * Bake naked day * Let children rule the world * Speak only Esperanto day * Speed-read War and Peace

Mingering Mike


Dori Hadar - 2007
    There he stumbled into the elaborate world of Mingering Mikea soul superstar of the 1960s and '70s who released an astonishing 50 albums and at least as many singles in just 10 years. But Hadar had never heard of him, and he realized why on closer inspection: every album in the crates was made of cardboard. Each package was intricately crafted, complete with gatefold interiors, extensive liner notes, and grooves drawn onto the "vinyl." Some albums were even covered in shrinkwrap, as if purchased at actual record stores. The crates contained nearly 200 LPs and 45s by Mingering Mike, as well as other artists like Joseph War, the Big "D," and Rambling Ralph, on labels such as Sex Records, Decision, and Ming/War. There were also soundtracks to imaginary films, a benefit album for sickle cell anemia, and a tribute to Bruce Lee. Hadar put his detective skills to work and soon found himself at the door of the elusive man responsible for this alternate universe of funk. Their friendship blossomed and Mike revealed the story of his life and his many albums, hit singles, and movie soundtracks. A solitary boy raised by his brothers, sisters, and cousins, Mike lost himself in a world of his own imaginary superstardom, basing songs and albums on his and his family's experiences. Early teenage songs obsessed with love and heartache soon gave way to social themes surrounding the turbulent era of civil rights protests and political upheavalbrought even closer to home when Mike himself went underground dodging the Vietnam War.In Mingering Mike, Hadar tells the story of a man and his myth: the kid who dreamed of being a star and the fantastical "careers" of the artists he created. All of Mingering Mike's best albums and 45s are presented in full color, finally bringing to the star the adoring audience he always imagined he had.

Normal Is Just a Setting on the Dryer


Adair Lara - 2003
    Celebrated columnist Adair Lara polled her readers for life-lessons learned the hard way and compile their priceless counsel, including: If someone offers you a breath mint, take it. Never continue dating anyone who is rude to the waiter. Take Spanish, not German. Whenever people say they hate to say something, they actually love to say it. Never fry bacon in the nude. Wear cheap pants if you must, but never cheap shoes. With whimsical illustrations by Roxanna Bikadoroff, and a healthy dose of humor that's just what the doctor ordered, Normal is Just a Setting on the Dryer equips you with hard-won wisdom to take on the real real world.

Strange Planet


Nathan W. Pyle - 2019
    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.

The Worrier's Guide to Life


Gemma Correll - 2015
    For all you fellow agonizers, fretters, and nervous wrecks, this book is for you. Read it and weep...with laughter

Are You Dissing Me?: What Animals Really Think


Simon Winheld - 2015
    A cardinal has roommate problems. A hummingbird is eager to join a social network. A bush baby teeters on the edge (You wanna throw down?!) Here for the first time are the innermost thoughts of our furry and feathered friends, who—it is finally revealed—humorously share the same anxieties, frustrations, and preoccupations as we do. Whether it's a raccoon fretting about his judgmental friends, a buffalo impatiently waiting for his dumplings, or a sloth contemplating a career in stand-up comedy, each colorfully illustrated critter captures a moment of modern flux—and together they create an irresistibly funny portrait of a kingdom both wild and amusingly familiar.

Brief Histories of Everyday Objects


Andy Warner - 2016
    Chapters are peppered with ballpoint pen riots, cowboy wars, and really bad Victorian practical jokes. Structured around the different locations in our home and daily life—the kitchen, the bathroom, the office, and the grocery store—award-nominated illustrator Andy Warner traces the often surprising and sometimes complex histories behind the items we often take for granted. Readers learn how Velcro was created after a Swiss engineer took his dog for a walk; how a naval engineer invented the Slinky; a German housewife, the coffee filter; and a radical feminist and anti-capitalist, the game Monopoly. This is both a book of histories and a book about histories. It explores how lies become legends, trade routes spring up, and empires rise and fall—all from the perspective of your toothbrush or toilet.

FIELDHOUSE


Scott Novosel - 2016
    while re-inspiring yourself!" - Rick "Shaq" Goldstein, author of 669 reviews for Amazon "Novosel's autobiographical narrative of self-determination inspires and delights, in large part because it isn't a lofty tale of grandiose achievement but a humble one; he merely wants, and earns, a chance to show what he's got." - Publisher's Weekly Based on actual events, FIELDHOUSE is a story of embracing adversity through challenges, teamwork, perseverance, grit, determination, and a positive attitude! Fieldhouse follows Scotty Novosel on his journey to play basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks. What he lacks in size he makes up for in heart, but countless obstacles and a devastating setback push his dream further and further out of reach... With incredible persistence, positive energy, and help from a cast of endearing characters, Scotty discovers just what it takes to transform vision into reality! In March 1995, Scott Novosel started for the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 8 Championship game. For the next 20 years, through endless determination and a mantra of never giving up, Scott completed the all ages graphic novel FIELDHOUSE with the help of the Eisner Award nominated artist Sam Sharpe. Together the duo produced an instant classic! The story of the making of the book was featured on Sports Illustrated. Find out why parents, teachers, librarians, parents, and grandparents are declaring FIELDHOUSE a "MUST READ!"

The Best of Norman Rockwell


Norman Rockwell - 1984
    Rockwell senior, who said he depicted life “as I would like it to be,” chronicled iconic visions of American life: the Thanksgiving turkey, soda fountains, ice skating on the pond, and small-town boys playing baseball-not to mention the beginning of the civil rights movement. Now, the best-selling collection of Rockwell’s most beloved illustrations, organized by decade, is available in a refreshed edition. With more than 150 images-oil paintings, watercolors, and rare black-and-white sketches--this is an uncommonly faithful Rockwell treasury. The original edition has sold nearly 200,000 copies.

On to the Next Dream


Paul Madonna - 2017
    Suddenly finding himself yet another victim of San Francisco’s overheated boomtown housing market, with its soaring prices and rampant evictions, Madonna decided to use his comic as a cathartic public platform to explore the experience, and to capture the complex, highly charged atmosphere of a city—and a life—being forced through a painful transition.In a series of drawings and stories, Madonna evokes the sense of vertigo induced by being forced from his home, and the roil of emotions that ensue as he enters into the city’s brutal competition for a place to live. The line between reality and surreality begins to blur almost immediately, in real life and in his comic. Absurd, maddening, and all-too-poignant, these drawings and stories capture the spirit of not just San Francisco, but a cultural epidemic that has now spread to cities around the world."For years I've been intrigued and charmed by Paul Madonna’s careful and thoughtful drawings of overlooked nooks and by-ways of San Francisco. In his new book he now combines them with manic, delirious, and increasingly paranoid writings as he struggles with the all-consuming City dilemma of gentrification; of who came first, who gets to stay, which wave of usurpers is more 'real' and deserving than the next, and finally, what happens when someone decides it’s your turn to go. Beautiful and engaging."--Sandow Birk, visual artist"Madonna has created a kind of San Francisco Realism, details so absurd, cruel, and beautiful that they can only come from our infuriating home. If Charlie Kaufman squatted in an illegal sublet in Armistead Maupin's mind, this would be the lovely tenant."--Joshua Mohr, author of All This Life"Paul Madonna's On to the Next Dream is bleak, terrifying, hilarious and lovely."--MariNaomi, author and illustrator of Turning Japanese"Simply delightful. I really don't like much out there, I really don't, but On to the Next Dream I couldn't put down. It was sharp, clever, honest, and maybe the funniest book on eviction ever written."--New Yorker cartoonist and New York Times bestselling author, Bob Eckstein, Footnotes from the World's Greatest BookstoresPraise for Everything is its own reward by Paul Madonna:"The book is fantastic. Of time and tenderness. Beautiful drawings. Beautiful text. Ethereal and serious at once. The book is its own reward."--Maira Kalman, illustrator"Mesmerizing . . . When his international images are paired with his sparse, poetic words—sometimes thought-provoking one-liners such as 'You don't get anywhere without searching' and sometimes long, meandering sections of dialogue and story—the effect is haunting."--Oprah.comPaul Madonna is a San Francisco-based artist and writer. He is the creator of the comic series “All Over Coffee” and the author of two books, All Over Coffee and Everything is its own reward. His drawings and stories have appeared in numerous books and journals as well as galleries and museums, including the San Francisco Contemporary Jewish Museum and the Oakland Museum of California.