Hit Reblog: Comics That Caught Fire (comiXology Originals)


Megan KearneyAdam Ellis - 2018
    Follow the ups and downs of internet fame, from IP theft to book deals, and all the trials of becoming an overnight sensation after gaining 10,000 reblogs in a single night. Learn about the origins behind the hit comic strips "This is Fine", "All Houses Matter", "No Take, Only Throw", and frequently-viral webcomics such as Owlturd, Cyanide and Happiness, False Knees, and Poorly Drawn Lines. Each of the twenty artists featured includes a biographical intro by award-winning comic artist Megan Kearney (Disney Princess, The Secret Loves of Geek Girls). Hit Reblog includes comics by webcomic superstars: Anelien, Joshua Barkman, Rob Denbleyker, Adam Ellis, Reza Farazmand, Nick Franco, Craig Froehle, KC Green, Ryan Harby, Maya Kern, Fran Krause, Dami Lee, David Malki!, Dave Mcelfatrick, Alex Norris, Branson Reese, Nick Seluk, Katie Shanahan, Brandon Sheffield, Shen, Kris Straub, and Zach Weinersmith, Kris Wilson. Edited by Hope Nicholson of the multi Eisner-award nominated publisher Bedside Press. Part of the comiXology Originals line of exclusive digital content only available on comiXology and Kindle. This title is available as part of comiXology Unlimited, Kindle Unlimited, and Prime Reading with a print version available exclusively through Amazon.com.

Dawn: The Worlds of Final Fantasy


Yoshitaka Amano - 2009
    "Dawn" collects the paintings, detailed line art, and preliminary sketches designed for the first four games.---From book cover:There is only one Final Fantasy.Through more than two dozen wildly diverse adventures since the first game was released in 1987, the international influence of the game is legendary both inside the video-game industry and throughout popular culture. It is a tale of bold heroes and heroines, breath-taking landscapes and terrifying creatures. Through Final Fantasy, characters such as Luneth, Refia, Rosa Farrell, Cecil Harvey, and many others have become household names to millions of players across the globe. And for many of the games, the epic landscapes have all been brought to life through the remarkable vision of one man: Yoshitaka Amano.Now, for the first time outside Japan, Amano and Square-Enix, Inc., have permitted the artwork that inspired the designs of the Final Fantasy games to be published. In Dawn, you will see the development of the first four games through Amano's paintings, detailed line art, and preliminary sketches.If you've taken this journey before, prepare to see the world you know through new eyes. If you're embarking on this quest for the first time, brace yourself. Your life will never be the same again.There's never been a game, a world, an adventure, like Final Fantasy.Cover design by Scott Cook

The Power of Art


Simon Schama - 2006
    "The hushed reverence of the gallery can fool you into believing masterpieces are polite things; visions that soothe, charm and beguile, but actually they are thugs. Merciless and wily, the greatest paintings grab you in a headlock, rough up your composure, and then proceed in short order to re-arrange your sense of reality. . . ."With the same disarming force, The Power of Art propels us on an eye-opening, breathtaking odyssey, zooming in on eight extraordinary masterpieces, from Caravaggio's David and Goliath to Picasso's Guernica. Jolting us far from the comfort zone of the hushed art gallery, Schama closes in on intense make-or-break turning points in the lives of eight great artists who, under extreme stress, created something unprecedented, altering the course of art forever.The embattled heroes—Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, David, Turner, Van Gogh, Picasso and Rothko—each in his own resolute way, faced crisis with steadfast defiance, pitting passion and conviction against scorn and short-sightedness. The masterpieces they created challenged convention, shattered complacency, shifted awareness and changed the way we look at the world.With vivid storytelling and powerfully evocative descriptive passages, Schama explores the dynamic personalities of the artists and the spirit of the times they lived through, capturing the flamboyant theatre of bourgeois life in Amsterdam, the passion and paranoia of Revolutionary Paris, and the carnage and pathos of Civil War Spain.Most compelling of all, The Power of Art traces the extraordinary evolution of eight "eye-popping" world-class works of art. Created in a bolt of illumination, such works "tell us something about how the world is, how it is to be inside our skins, that no more prosaic source of wisdom can deliver. And when they do that, they answer, irrefutably and majestically, the nagging question of every reluctant art-conscript . . . 'OK, OK, but what's art really for?'"

Signs and Symbols


Miranda Bruce-Mitford - 1996
    A rich source of information for readers of all ages, this book is divided into two sections, first looking at major sources of symbols (basic shapes, colors and numbers, the natural world), then, placing symbols in context of mythologies and religions, the human life cycle, people and culture, and symbol systems. Clear cross-referencing illuminates connections between symbols, while beautiful artwork and photography make this a collector's edition to treasure.

Yosemite and the Range of Light


Ansel Adams - 1979
    Full page B&W photos

Standing Small: A Celebration of 30 years of the Lego Minifigure


Nevin Martell - 2010
    

Norman Rockwell


Thomas S. Buechner - 1970
    A study of the artist and illustrator, Norman Rockwell, which reproduces 600 of his best illustrations, providing a panorama of nearly 60 years of American social history.

HR Giger


Taschen - 2002
    Born in 1940 in Chur Switzerland, he studied architecture and industrial design at the School of Applied Arts in Zurich. By 1964 he was producing his first artworks, mostly ink drawings and oils, leading to his first solo exhibition in 1966, followed by the world-wide distribution of his first published posters in 1969. Shortly after, he discovered the airbrush and his own signature freehand style, and created his most well known works, the Biomechanical dreamscapes which formed the cornerstone of his fame. Giger's first book, Necronomicon, published in 1977, servers as the visual inspiration for director Ridley Scott's blockbuster movie Alien, Giger's first film assignment, earning him the 1980 Oscar for "Best Achievement in Visual Effects," for his designs of the film's title character and otherworldly environment. Giger's album covers for Debbie Harry and the band ELP were voted among the 100 best in music history in a survey of rock journalists. Throughout his career, Giger also worked in sculpture and, in 1992, created his first total environment, the Giger Bar in Chur. The Museum H.R. Giger in Chateau Saint-Germain was opened in Gruyeres in 1998. Today, Giger continues to live and work in Zurich with his companion in life Carmen, where his current projects include the realization of his museum bar in Gruyeres.

The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss


Dr. Seuss - 1995
    Dr. Seuss) in a whole new light. Depicting outlandish creatures in otherworldly settings, the paintings use a dazzling rainbow of hues not seen in the primary-color palette of his books for children, and exhibit a sophisticated and often quite unrestrained side of the artist. 65 color illustrations.

Nature Anatomy


Julia Rothman - 2014
    With whimsically hip illustrations, every page is an extraordinary look at all kinds of subjects, from mineral formation and the inside of a volcano to what makes sunsets, monarch butterfly migration, the ecosystem of a rotting log, the parts of a bird, the anatomy of a jellyfish, and much, much more.

The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America


Matt Kracht - 2019
    Featuring 50 common North American birds, such as the White-Breasted Butt Nugget and the Goddamned Canada Goose (or White-Breasted Nuthatch and Canada Goose for the layperson), Matt Kracht identifies all the idiots in your backyard and details exactly why they suck with ink drawings. Each entry is accompanied by facts about a bird's (annoying) call, its (dumb) migratory pattern, its (downright tacky) markings, and more.The essential guide to all things wings with migratory maps, tips for birding, musings on the avian population, and the ethics of birdwatching.

Retronaut: The Photographic Time Machine


Chris Wild - 2014
    Rather than nostalgia or folly, the aim is enlightenment, wonder and the pleasure of weirdness." --The Guardian    Based on the widely popular blog that started as a side project in a basement, Retronaut reveals strange yet enlightening photographs from the past that somehow seem to depict another version of now. Martha Stewart as a fashion model, Kim Jong Il in a bumper car, and Ronald Reagan modeling for a sculpture class—this quirky page-turner enriched with author Chris Wild’s unique wit and oddball knowledge is a must-have for collectors of the unusual.    Wild, a former museum archivist, has revolutionized the way we think of dusty photos—turning them into a sensation that has taken the Internet by surprise. He has selected over 300 of the best photographs from the site's most visited eras and themes, mashing up Victoriana with vintage advertising from the ’60s and ’70s and unearthing rare snapshots of evil dictators taking vacations. Page by page, this unconventional, thought-provoking photographic time machine will change what you think you know about history.

What's the Number For 911?: America's Wackiest 911 Calls


Leland Gregory - 2000
    However some situations that callers perceived as emergencies, may not be so urgent. Dispatcher: 911. What is your emergency'Male caller: Yeah, I want to order a pizza.What's the Number for 911' is a collection of more than 170 stories and actual transcripts of strange, and hilarious 911 phone calls. Most of the people who made these calls needed help all right-but not 911 help. It is an easy read, with stops only for shaking your head, turning the page, and laughing out loud. It's amazing what some people have used their telephones for-Alexander Graham Bell would be shocked. People love to laugh at the stupidity of others and this book shows stupidity at its, well, stupidest. Here are just a couple of the absurd 911 reports: Male complainant called and requested police call gas stations on all exits of I-95 to find out which ones are open. Female complainant called to request police officer come to residence to change battery in smoke detector as she couldn't reach it. Roger's Department Store called three times asking if they could close during a storm. Complainant called about neighbor keeping a pet cow in the yard.

The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade


Jerry Holkins - 2010
    The comic appears to catalog the lives of two young men who are utterly steeped in popular culture.Each chapter gathers into a coherent beam of savory trivia, strange facts, formerly mysterious origins, biographical information, interviews, inaugural conventions, an unlikely charity, and comic strips. You get the sense that some of the content may be apocryphal—for example, the part where they eat a whole wolf basically comes out of nowhere. Also, if one of them really did become “King of the Britons,” you’re sure you would have heard about it somewhere else. > close book You close the book and place it back on the shelf. Maybe next time.

Will You Still Love Me If I Wet the Bed?


Liz Prince - 2005
    Described as a mix between Jeffrey Brown and James Kochalka, Liz's comic is made up of short vignettes that capture all the cute, gross, and endearing aspects of relationships.