Fairest, Volume 1: Wide Awake


Bill WillinghamMark Buckingham - 2012
    Balancing horror, humor and adventure in the Fables tradition, Fairest explores the secret histories of Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Cinderella, The Snow Queen, Thumbelina, Snow White, Rose Red and othersThe first 6-issue tale follows the misadventures of Briar Rose immediately after the events of Fables 107 (collected in Fables, Volume 16: Super Team), in which she was stolen away by the goblin army.Fan-favorite artist Phil Jimenez (Wonder Woman, The Invisibles) returns to Vertigo to pencil the opening storyline. Award-winning cover artist Adam Hughes (Wonder Woman, Batgirl) provides covers, starting with a wraparound cover on issue 1 that spotlights the lovely ladies who will star in the series.Collecting: Fairest 1-7

The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book


Joe Daly - 2009
    Set in sun-drenched Cape Town, South Africa, The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book — featuring two full-length stories, “The Leaking Cello Case” and “John Wesley Harding” — is stuffed to the gills with mystery, suspense, action, adventure, conspiracy theories, cool cars, and excellent weed as Dave and his freeloading pal Paul, well-meaning stoners in the tradition of Cheech & Chong and Harold & Kumar, thwart criminal malfeasance even as they ponder the larger questions, such as, “What steps can I personally take to help protect the Earth and the species that inhabit it?” (though most people’s answers to these questions don’t involve sword fights and hovercrafts).Joe Daly brings a refreshingly original—and utterly hilarious—voice to the comics medium, a dry, deadpan wit anchored in everyday reality combined with unnervingly deranged plots, rendered with a hyper-detailed, half-realistic and half-cartoony Tintin-style crispness.

Maximum Minimum Wage


Bob Fingerman - 2009
    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.

The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks


Max Brooks - 2009
    They’ re coming. They’re hungry.Don’t wait for them to come to you! This is the graphic novel the fans demanded: major zombie attacks from the dawn of humanity. On the African savannas, against the legions of ancient Rome, on the high seas with Francis Drake . . . every civilization has faced them. Here are the grisly and heroic stories–complete with eye-popping artwork that pulsates with the hideous faces of the undead. Organize before they rise!Scripted by the world’s leading zombie authority, Max Brooks, Recorded Attacks reveals how other eras and cultures have dealt with–and survived– the ancient viral plague. By immersing ourselves in past horror we may yet prevail over the coming outbreak in our time.

Cerebus


Dave Sim - 1987
    This initial volume collects the first two years of stories from Dave Sim's 300-issue magnum opus. Don't be discouraged by the initially crude artwork or the silliness of the stories. It gets better--even noticeably within this volume. This first installment is the most valuable in preparing for the larger stories ahead.When we first meet Cerebus--a small, gray, and chronically ill-tempered aardvark--he is making his living as a barbarian. In 1977, when the Cerebus comic book series began, Sim initially conceived of it as a parody of such popular series as Conan, Red Sonja, and Elric but quickly mined that material and transformed the scope of the series into much more. Even by the end of this volume, the Cerebus story begins to transform beyond "funny animal" humor into something much more complex and interesting. High points in Cerebus include the introduction of Lord Julius, the dictator of Palnu, who looks, acts, and talks just like a certain cigar-smoking, mustachioed comedian; Jaka, Cerebus's one true love; Elrod the Albino, an innept swordsman; and the Cockroach, the-mother-of-all-superhero-parodies and "inspiration" for the much-later TV and comic character--the Tick. All of these characters appear later on in the series as part of a constantly present ensemble of supporting figures.Even if Cerebus doesn't knock your socks off, give its successor, High Society a try, as this is where the plot really gets going.

Jamilti and Other Stories


Rutu Modan - 2008
    Jamilti and Other Stories collects the cartoonist’s short works, which lead the reader through unexpected turns of plot and unusual character portraits. Some are darkly fantastical and unsettling, such as the unraveling of a serial-killer murder mystery, or her accounts of an infatuated plastic surgeon and his sanitarium, and a mother back from the dead with dubious healing powers. Others are more attuned to surprising discoveries that shape personal identity, as in the story of a tragic past that lies within a family’s theme hotel, or that of a struggling musician who hopes an upcoming gig will be his big break. In “Jamilti,” Modan addresses political violence with a suicide bombing that shakes up a day in the lives of a young couple.

Amazing Spider-Man: Edge of Spider-Verse


David HineRobbi Rodriguez - 2014
    Aaron Aikman, the Spider-Man? Who are the villainous Red Eye and Naahmurah...and can Aaron live through Morlun's arrival? In a universe where the story you know becomes as horrific as possible, a radioactive spider bites a high school nerd who is already something of a monster. Then, what or who is the incredible SP//dr? And finally, the breakout character of Spider-Verse makes her exciting debut - in a world where the radioactive spider bit Gwen Stacy!Collects Edge of Spider-Verse issues 1 to 5.

The Nao of Brown


Glyn Dillon - 2012
    She’s suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and fighting violent urges to harm other people. But that’s not who she really wants to be. Nao has dreams. She wants to quiet her unruly mind; she wants to get her design and illustration career off the ground; and she wants to find love, perfect love. Nao’s life continues to seesaw. Her boyfriend dumps her; a toy deal falls through. But she also meets Gregory, an interesting washing-machine repairman, and Ray, an art teacher at the Buddhist Center. She begins to draw and meditate to ease her mind and open her heart—and in doing so comes to a big realization: Life isn’t black-and-white after all . . . it’s much more like brown.

Tony Millionaire's Sock Monkey: Uncle Gabby


Tony Millionaire - 2004
    After spending thousands of Sunday afternoons gazing at his grandfather’s collections of old newspaper comics, he picked up a pen and started drawing monkeys with striped tails and top hats. He now writes and draws the comic book Sock Monkey as well as the weekly strip "Maakies," which has won him three Eisner Awards and has been animated for Saturday Night Live. He lives in Pasadena, California with his wife and daughters.

Behind You: One-Shot Horror Stories


Brian Coldrick - 2017
    A giggling crowd of masked watchers. A reassembling corpse. What could be behind you, just waiting for you to turn around? Behind You is an illustration series, a comic with no panels, where each piece is essentially a separate story. Each tale is one image and one piece of text; an unsuspecting victim with someone, or something, behind them. Entries range from the amusingly weird to the genuinely unsettling. Inspired by spooky films, books, myths, and internet tall tales, Behind You is full of scary set-ups but leaves lots of blanks for the reader to fill in with their own narrative. Includes an Introduction by New York Times Best-Seller Joe Hill.

Violent Love, Vol. 2: Hearts on Fire


Frank J. Barbiere - 2018
    BARBIERE and VICTOR SANTOS.Collects issues 6-10.

Nurse Nurse


Katie Skelly - 2012
    Please have an adventure.

Vague Tales


Eric Haven - 2017
    His inky, rubbery drawings buttress his black humor.Psylicon --Ruin --Pulsar --Sorceress

The Guild


Felicia Day - 2010
    Horrible's Sing-Along Blog)! Chronicling the hilarious on- and offline lives of a group of Internet role-playing gamers, the Knights of Good, The Guild has become a cult hit, and is the winner of numerous awards from SXSW, YouTube, Yahoo, and the Streamys. Now, Day brings the wit and heart of the show to this graphic-novel prequel. In this origin tale of the Knights of Good, we learn about Cyd's life before joining the guild, how she became Codex, her awful breakup with boyfriend Trevor, and how she began to meet the other players who would eventually become her teammates.

Lenore #13


Roman Dirge - 2007
    Poor stranger. Mayhem ensues. What kind of mayhem? The red, sticky, coagulating type. Pooty goes on a permanent sabbatical and leaves a mysterious stranger in his place. But ...Is this new guy friend or foe? Ohhhhhh.......cryptic.