Wally Gropius


Tim Hensley - 2010
    When the elder Thaddeus Gropius confronts Wally with the boilerplate plot ultimatum that he must marry "the saddest girl in the world" or be disinherited, a yarn unravels that is part screwball comedy and part unhinged parable on the lucrativeness of changing your identity.Hensley's dialogue is witty, lyrical, sampled, dada, and elliptical--all in the service of a very bizarre mystery. There's sex, violence, rock and roll, intrigue, and betrayal--all brought home in Hensley's truly inimitable style.Created during an era when another well-off "W" was stuffing the coffers of the morbidly solvent, Wally Gropius transforms futile daydreams and nightmares into the absurdity of capital.

The Manly World of Lloyd Llewellyn


Daniel Clowes - 1994
    The 31 stories collected here combine Dragnet with The Twilight Zone with Tales from the Crypt in a world filled with aliens, good-time girls, and cocktail-bar nihilism. The stories are hip and funny, with a good dose of wacky 1950s paranoia and the kind of tongue-in-cheek morality that characterized the old E.C. horror comics. The Lloyd Llewellyn stories also trace the development of Clowes's style as a comic artist, from the angular early pieces that show the influence of 1950s advertising style to the grotesque Robert Crumb-inspired style of the more recent work in Eightball. Clowes is one of the most gifted comic-book artists around, and the retro-chic world of Lloyd Llewellyn deserves to be seen by a new generation of readers.

Optimism Sounds Exhausting


Scott Adams - 2015
    Dilbert has managed to keep up with technology like iPads and Twitter over the years, as well as advanced systems like the Disaster Preparedness Plan that has its followers eating the crumbs from their keyboards. It doesn’t get any more sophisticated than that.   It’s an office code violation to be this good after so many years, but Dilbert keeps doing what he does best: passive-aggressively out-witting his superiors and exercising conflict avoidance. And he is so good. No wonder office drones and workforce automatons alike can’t resist the cold embrace of Dilbert’s workplace.

Archie Comics Spectacular: School Daze


Archie Comics - 2013
    Can Archie balance his two-pronged love life and keep his grades up, all under the watchful eye of Principal Weatherbee? Will Reggie be able to continue his chaotic pranks without spending every day in detention? Can Jughead indulge his bottomless appetite when Ms. Beazley's cafeteria food is so...unique? It's high school fun in a great pocket-size edition!

All About P'Gell


Will Eisner - 1998
    There are 17 classic stories, reprinted in black and white. Contains the complete stories “The Portier Fortune,” “Saree,” “The School For Girls,” “Saree Falls In Love,” “Il Fuce’s Locket,” “Black Gold (The Lands of Ben Adim),” “Competition,” “Money,” “Assignment Paris (The Spanish Jewels),” “Teachers Pet,” “The Seventh Husband,” “A Ticket Home,” “The Loot Of Robinson Crusoe (The Island Of Pearls),” “Staple Springs,” “L’Spirit,” “The Incident of the Sitting Duck,” and “The Capistrano Jewels.”

Preacher vol. 1-9


Garth Ennis - 1996
    The entire run has been collected in nine trade paperback editions. The final monthly issue, number 66, was published in July 2000.Preacher follows the story of Preacher Jesse Custer, his best friend, and his girlfriend, as they explore a world that fuses Southern culture and supernatural elements, especially religious ones, in a way that is highly provocative, exploratory, and controversial.Preacher draws on movies, particularly Westerns, for many of its stylistic elements.

Garfield: Homecoming


Scott Nickel - 2019
    Along the way, he meets up with a clown who works in an old-timey travelling circus. Convinced that this is the place for him, Garfield becomes part of the act. Wait. What is that cannon for? Join Garfield as he travels to find the perfect home, and as he finds a lot of not-so-perfect homes along the way. Writer Scott Nickel (Garfield: His 9 Lives) teams up with artists Sara Talmadge (Steven Universe), Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb (Adventure Time), Ben Sears (The Ideal Copy), and Genevieve FT (Betty & Veronica) for this epic adventure

The Cabbie: Book One


Martí - 1987
    Sometimes it takes Europeans to make gold of tuckered-out American tropes.Add to those instances of inspired global cross-pollination the Spanish cartoonist Martí’s eye-popping The Cabbie, which spins off Martin Scorsese’s sordid urban-justice drama Taxi Driver with a graphic style that unapologetically appropriates and even refines the brutal slabs of black, squashed perspectives, and grotesque approach to human physiognomy (and its ability to withstand punishment) that define Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy.And as Art Spiegelman (who was the first to publish Martí’s work in English, in RAW magazine) notes in his introduction, while “Gould’s graphic black and white precision and his diagrammatic clarity live on in Martí’s work,” he points out that “more interestingly, perhaps, so does Gould’s depravity.” Indeed, if anything, The Cabbie is even more savage than the legendarily brutal Dick Tracy, with its pimps, whores, petty thieves, corrupt businessmen, all swirling around the ingenuously violent “Cabbie” whose self-administered “upstanding citizen” status entitles him — in his view — to even more shocking acts of violence — especially on his quest for the stolen coffin of his father, which he’s told includes his entire inheritance!

Fantastic Butterflies


James Kochalka - 2002
    It also happens to be hilariously funny and infectious in its bubbly charm, combining autobiography with a kind of magic science-fiction.

Still Pickled After All These Years: A Pickles Collection


Brian Crane - 2004
    The other one was to Hopalong Cassidy, when I had a great crush on him at about six years old. But I did want to let you know how very much both my husband and I have enjoyed Pickles from the very first strip. Would you please consider putting a collection together in book form?"—Lois F. in Nevada  As its loyal fans will gladly tell you, Pickles has been a zinger-filled, laugh-out-loud gem since its debut in 1990. Since then, it has steadily climbed in popularity, and today appears in over 400 newspapers worldwide. Still Pickled After All These Years collects strips from this sweet intergenerational comic that alternates point of view between an older married couple, a 30-something married couple, and their son. The strip centers on Earl and Opal Pickles, who have been married over 50 years but inject plenty of spunk and insight into everything they do. Whether they're taking a wry but sympathetic glance at their divorced daughter, Sylvia, laughing at their faithful but feckless canine, Roscoe, marveling at their dictatorial feline, Muffin, or just commenting on the little things in life, Earl and Opal's good-natured wit and dry humor is brilliantly on target. Pickles is about growing old and keeping your sense of humor but never forgetting what it's like to be a child. The strip's inaugural AMP collection, Still Pickled After All These Years, encapsulates the importance of staying close to those who bring you the most joy and reminds everyone about the incalculable value of the unconditional love of pets, family, and friends.

Achewood volume 1: A Momentary Diversion on the Road to the Grave


Chris Onstad - 2002
    Also includes a collection of interviews, recipes and a short story by Ray. 187 pages.[http://www.achewood.com]

Superman (1939-2011) #1


Jerry Siegel
    Featuring the origin of the Man of Steel, Clark Kent’s first day at the Daily Star newspaper, and Superman, who stops a lynching, gangsters, and an execution.

Cola Madnes


Gary Panter - 2001
    This novel tells the story of a mysterious tribal figure named Kokomo, who falls asleep to dream a wild picaresque interlude starring Jimbo and Bob War.

The Mask Strikes Back


John Arcudi - 1995
    When they each get a shot at wearing the empowering emerald artifact, they figure it's a dream come true! And it is! Power, fame, and ultimate wish fulfillment are at arm's reach! But so is the mute man-monster, Walter, and arm's reach is far too close when he's involved!

Night of the Ghoul (comiXology Originals) #4


Scott Snyder - 2022
    Read for free as part of your subscription to comiXology Unlimited, Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime. Also available for purchase via comiXology, Kindle and collected in print via Dark Horse Books.