The Weirdo Years by R. Crumb: 1981-'93


Robert Crumb - 2013
    Widely considered to be some of his best work ever. Weirdo was a magazine-sized comics anthology created by Robert Crumb in 1981, which ran for 28 issues. It served as a "low art" counterpoint to its contemporary highbrow Raw. Early issues of Weirdo reflect Crumb's interests at the time: outsider art, fumetti, Church of the SubGenius-type anti-propaganda and assorted "weirdness." The incredibly varied stories include TV Blues, Life of Boswell, People Make me Nervous, The Old Songs are the Best Songs, Uncle Bob's Mid-Life Crisis, Kraft Ebbing's' Psycopathia Sexualis, Goldilocks, The Life of Philip K Dick, and many more. Also within are several photo strip stories featuring Crumb himself and various of his trademark well-built women including his wife Aline Kominsky-Crumb in tales such as Get in Shape and Unfaithful Husband.

Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip


Nevin Martell - 2009
    And then, on the last day of 1995, the strip ended. Its mercurial and reclusive creator, Bill Watterson, not only finished the strip but withdrew entirely from public life.In Looking for Calvin and Hobbes, Nevin Martell sets out on a very personal odyssey to understand the life and career of the intensely private man behind Calvin and Hobbes. Martell talks to a wide range of artists and writers (including Dave Barry, Harvey Pekar, and Brad Bird) as well as some of Watterson's closest friends and professional colleagues, and along the way reflects upon the nature of his own fandom and on the extraordinary legacy that Watterson left behind. This is as close as we're ever likely to get to one of America's most ingenious and intriguing figures - and it's the fascinating story of an intrepid author's search for him, too.

Liō's Astonishing Tales: From the Haunted Crypt of Unknown Horrors


Mark Tatulli - 2009
    The 2009 National Cartoonists Award for Best Newspaper Comic Strip, Lio is unique in its pantomime content and drawing style. This treasury includes creator commentary and origins of Lio.It's slightly dark and terribly funny. Lio, the main character, a young boy with an imagination that has no limit, explores everything kid. From bumps in the night to things hiding under the bed, readers get an inside look at different shades of humor but always come out the other end unscathed and laughing."Lio is brilliant!" --Dallas Morning News