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Title Creator Publisher Series Price
Government Issue Comics Richard L Graham, Will Eisner, Milton Caniff, Al Capp and more ... Abrams ComicArts $17.77
($29.99 list)
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Read more and comment... 		edited, compiled and annotated by Richard L Graham    Government Issue Comics provides readers with a 300 page overview of over sixty years of government sponsored comics.  The numerous and various branches of the US government managed, unsurprisingly, to recruit some of the top comics talent of its time, and in these pages you will find work by Will Eisner, Milton Caniff, Al Capp, Joe Kubert and Kurt Schaffenberger – and Charles Schulz, Walt Kelly, Chic Young and George McManus (and Al Wiseman!), along with a host of anonymous unknowns, all working on behalf of educating their fellow citizens on a (very) wide array of issues.  Richard Graham, an associate professor and media services librarian at the University of Nebraska has put together a broad survey of this massive but under-appreciated aspect of comics history.  It is organized into four categories:  military; economics and employment; civil defense, safety and health; and landscapes and lifestyles.  Each of these sections begins with an introductory essay by Graham that puts the comics in context.  Readers with Q-Code readers will, in theory, be able to access a large online archive of these comics by scanning the digital access code at the end of the book (or, go here and download PDF files of some of the complete comics and start reading now; just scroll down...).   Yes, history can be fun!  And now for less, as it is now on sale!
Storeyville (original newspaper edition) Frank Santoro Sirk Productions $50.00
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Read more and comment... 		<<•>>  WAREHOUSE FIND <<•>>  Much to our amazement, a heretofore unknown secret stash of the original 1995 newspaper edition of Storeyville has been unearthed!  Each copy had been sealed in a polypropylene bag and the entire box had been taped up and stored away in a corner where it was eventually forgotten... until now!  We haven't seen a copy of this for sale anywhere for years (except for one that was on sale on Amazon for $1000!) so, if this is something you've been thinking about, don't debate about it too long, as there's only this one box, and when it's empty, that's it! A perfect match of form and content, Storeyville is a 40 page tabloid newspaper -- printed in black and white and a set of muted tones ranging from sandy yellow to a deep sepia -- that describes the arc of a youthful adventure that takes its protagonist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the USA to Montreal, Quebec in Canada at the opening of the 20th century.  Click on image at left to read our full length review.
What It Is Lynda Barry Jonathan Cape $12.95
($24.95 list)
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Read more and comment... 		What It is, the long awaited, all new, 208 page hardcover volume of heuristic metacomix by the one and only Lynda Barry, is both a beautiful and inspiring work of art and an insightful exploration of the creative process.  Her first new work since her 2002 masterpiece, 100 Demons, What It Is uses the language of comics to probe the secrets of creativity itself, which leads her deep into the caverns of philosophy, where, ever the intrepid explorer, Ms. Barry undertakes an especially thorough excavation of the cave of epistemology.  There in the murky darkness she discovers that memory and imagination blur and merge amidst the stalactites and stalagmites of our respective genetic heritages before condensing and collecting in placid prehistoric pools to mix with the ancient amoebas; in the process dissolving time itself.  The past, present and future come together -- an instant and an eternity stand as one in the revelation that it all starts with... The Image!  Lynda Barry, long considered among the major contemporary comics creators, has, with What It Is,  taken comics to a new place and created a work that can stand shoulder to shoulder in the pantheon with those created by Frida Kahlo, Jean Michel Basquiat, and Hayao Miyazaki, to name but a few of her new peers.  This book is full of surprises and delight.  There's really only one thing to say about this book:  "YES!!!"  If you still need convincing, then feast your eyes on this amazing (lucky)13-page preview and/or read our full length review.  PLEASE NOTE:  In this listing we are offering the Jonarthan Cape edition from the UK.  This edition – also a hardcover – is printed on firmer, heavier paper stock, giving the book more heft than the D & Q edition.  Not only that, but we were able to purchase an allotment at a special price and are passing on the savings to you!  While supplies last.
Hey, Mister: The Fall Collection Pete Sickman-Garner Top Shelf $5.95
($12.95 list)
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Read more and comment... 		You want funny?  Look no further:  This book will make you laugh.  Like Peter Bagge's Hate, but smarter and more brutal in its judgments on this dysfunctional society of ours, and with a distinctive flavor all its own, this is a comic for people who see past the façade as a matter of course.  Hey, Mister takes sarcasm to new heights.  It makes us think of the Monty Python episode, the "Piranha Brothers," in which a fearful and trembling thug played by Michael Palin relates how Doug Piranha was the most terrifying gangster he had ever encountered because of the deft manner in which, "he used... sarcasm." And the bitterness, oh, the bitterness!  The Fall Collection is the Guernica of bitterness.  This volume is without doubt the best (and, sadly, the last; at least to date) Hey, Mister collection.  Work-a-day America has never been stripped so completely naked as in these pages.  Now available for an amazing price! 
Life of the Party The Complete Autobiographical Collection Mary Fleener Fantagraphics $8.88
($14.95 list)
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Read more and comment... 		One of the best collections of autobiographical comics -- or "autobiographix," as she calls them -- Life of the Party presents cartoonist Mary Fleener's crazy life of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll is all grist for the mill in this series of "autobiographix," as she calls them—strips based on her own life that have appeared in such anthologies as Wimmen's, Weirdo, Rip Off Review, and Snarf, and, especially, her own title, Slutburger. Growing up in the alcohol-soaked, tiki-decorated world of her parents' suburban Los Angeles, and then living on her own through a progression of loud-mouthed boyfriends, gay and straight pals of both genders, and untenable roommates, Fleener takes last-minute band gigs in dyke bars, is visited by ghosts, picks up after other people's sexual misadventures, and brews her own kitty stew to feed her cat. Her high-contrast drawing is augmented by her unique "cubismo" style: whenever characters are in agitated mental states, or their spiritual selves are interacting on some astral plane, Fleener expresses the effects in emotive geometric abstractions that would've tickled Picasso's funny bone.  This is a one of a kind collection, and now, as a result of a special purchase, we have copies available for over 40% the original price.  Recommended!
Portraits from Life David Collier Drawn and Quarterly $8.88
($12.95 list)
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Read more and comment... 		This book presents the strongest of David Collier's work and is one of our perennial best-sellers here at Copacetic.  It is filled with extremely engaging stories of the lives of minor, obscure and offbeat Canadian figures.  Some of these are full fledged biographies, such as the fascinating account of Humphrey Osmond, the Canadian scientist who was an early researcher into psychotropic drugs and reputedly coined the term "psychedelic."  Then there's the life story of Ethel Catherwood, the Olympic high jumper known as the Saskatchewan Lily, who ended up obscure and reclusive.  A more tightly focused tale is that of "Grey Owl," an enigmatic British man who managed to convince those he came into contact with in the Canadian north that he was a North American Indian.  The acme of the collection is the tale of David Midgaard, a Saskatchewan man arrested as a teenager and imprisoned for decades for a rape and murder he didn't commit.  This is a gripping tale told in the inimitable Collier fashion, wherein he weaves his own life into the tale of another, and so really makes it hit home hard.  The stories in this volume were key to pioneering the comics journalism movement.  They amply illustrate why the most notable of the new comics journalists, Joe Sacco once said, "I don't think there's a cartoonist whose every new work I approach with such anticipation as David Collier."  RECOMMENDED!
The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics Harvey Kurtzman, Denis Kitchen, Paul Buhle Abrams ComicArts $22.22
($40.00 list)
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Read more and comment... 		This massive hardcover volume is now the definitve account of the life and work of the one and only Harvey Kurtzman, the man who brought the world Mad and so much more.  Written by Kurtzman's friend and one-time publisher, Denis Kitchen, who also currently represents the Kurtzman estate.  Kitchen is an accomplished cartoonist in his own right, one who was influenced by Kurtzman, and who was active during the glory days of Underground comix, and so is more fully capable of appreciating Kurtzman's achievement than your average biographer.  This book has it all:  miraculously preserved childhood drawings, early comics and illustration work, Kurtzman's glory days in comics, the creation of Mad, Humbug, Trump, and Help! followed by Little Annie Fannie and much, much more, including plenty of rarities that will astound and delight Kurtzman fans.  And now available for an amazing price!  What's not to like?
Popeye, Volume 3 – "Let's You and HIm FIght!" E.C. Segar Fantagraphics Popeye $17.77
($29.95 list)
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Read more and comment... 		The latest giant-size, full-color, die-cut-hardcover collection of the classic Sunday pages (as well as also containing, in glorious black and white, the accompanying daily strips, cleverly laid out six [as in Monday through Saturday] to a page so as to perfectly balance out the weekly rhythm of the Sunday pages) is here.  Classic comics written and drawn by E.C. Segar collected in a book designed by Jacob Covey that is published by Fantagraphics so as to be offered for sale by Copacetic, and purchased by... you?
AX: Alternative Manga - Vol. One Kazuichi Hanawa, Takashi Nemoto, Imiri Sakabashira, Yoshihiro Tatsumi and more ... Top Shelf $18.88
($29.95 list)
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Read more and comment... 		<<•>>  edited by Sean Michael Wilson  <<•>>  This much anticipated anthology of manga from off the beaten path premiered at SPX and is now on our shelves.  It weighs in at a substantial 400 pages and contains the work of 33 artists, including the recognized figures, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Imiri Sakabashira, Takashi Nemoto and Kazuichi Hanawa, who have had books published in North America by Drawn & Quarterly, PictureBox and Ponent Mon.  More important, perhaps, is the first time looks at lesser known and unknown lights of Japan's alternative manga scene, and they are on ample display here.  The material in AX runs the gamut from the crudely drawn and obscenely scatalogical work of Takashi Nemoto, who makes Johnny Ryan look tame by comparison, to the cutesy cuddly Shinya Komatsu, to the super-polished works of both Keizo Miyanashi (think Paul Gulacy) and Takato Yamamoto (think Suehiro Maruo), to the jaggedly angular Otoyo Mitsuhashi and a world of variety inbetween.  Sexual relations are a common thread in many, but by no means all, of the works in AX, and are plainly on disply in more than one tale, making this a definite ADULTS ONLY item.
Wild Kingdom Kevin Huizenga Drawn and Quarterly $14.95
($19.95 list)
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Read more and comment... 		And here's another reason to get up in the morning:  a new release by Kevin H. This one is fairly convoluted in its conception and execution, but therein lies part of its appeal.  Wild Kingdom had its humble beginnings in Super Monster 12 that was first published way back at the dawn of the millennium.  This material was then bolstered and slightly reconfigured for the February 2006 release of the fourth issue of Or Else, his since discontinued Drawn & Quarterly series.  And, now with Wild Kingdom, the material at last receives its apotheosis.  The core meaning of Wild Kingdom is surrounded by a dense underbrush of irony that must be overcome by the reader.  In addition, a multiplicity of signification strategies are employed that may throw careless readers off the scent.  Only those capable of sustained, dedicated tracking will be able to bag the prize at the center of the Wild Kingdom.  Get a head start, here.
King: The Special Edition Ho Che Anderson Fantagraphics $19.99
($34.99 list)
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Read more and comment... 		¡SPECIAL!  Now on sale for over 40% off!  Here it is at last, the complete work, how it was meant to be read.  This 312 page oversize hardcover volume contains the entirety of Anderson's comics biography of King.  A 10-year-long project, Anderson's goal was to deliver a portrait of MLK that is one of a complex, multi-layered, flesh and blood human being, a task for which comics are ideally suited.  Employing a host of styles, techniques, devices and processes, Anderson has striven to match the method to the mood and the moment, and thereby enhance the reader's engagement with the material and so heighten its emotional impact, which is, unsurprisingly given who this book is about, quite intense at times.  There is much more on offer in this biography than simply technical expertise, however.  It is a truism that every biographer finds himself (or herself) in his subject, and this is clearly the case here.  King is a very personal take on MLK, one that focuses on those earthier characteristics that are often given short shrift in the plentiful King hagiographies that stock the shelves.  It is exceptionally strong in its focus on King's personal life – his marriage and his friendships – and it does not shy away from confronting his extramarital affairs.  The might, the majesty and the miracle that is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are, of course, all here, but so is the man.  So, while King is a graphic tour de force, it is also a demonstration of how we internalize larger than life figures and they become a lens through which we see ourselves.  Most of all, King provides readers with an excellent opportunity to revisit and reflect upon the life of one of the most important figures in American history.  This edition includes 64 pages of bonus materials including breakdowns, layouts, cover sketches, typescripts, and a personal essay that revisits and reflects the years of the work's creation, as well as the entirety of his comic book prelude to King, Black Dogs.  Taken together, this material provides an exceptionally well-rounded look at the creative process and the personal growth that it both partakes in and contributes to – clearly making this the definitive edition of this heartfelt work.  AND, as we are always all about encouraging people to learn more about Martin Luther King, and we view this book as a great opportunity for those among our customers who enjoy challenging and ambitious comics work, and who could also stand to brush up on their civil rights era history, to simultaneously get both benefits in a single work, we are offering King at a special promotional (and Amazon-Beating) price of a whopping more than 40% OFF to encourage fence-sitters to take the plunge.  Please take note that this is a promotional price that will last only until those copies we have alotted to it are sold, then it's back to the standard Copacetic discount.
The Fixer (softcover) Joe Sacco Drawn and Quarterly $11.95
($19.95 list)
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Read more and comment... 		For those of you who either missed this the first time around, were waiting for the lower priced softcover, or who just got turned onto Sacco by reading his just released masterwork, Footnotes in Gaza, here's your chance to get yer mitts on this close focus look at the disintegration of former Yugoslavia during the 1990s, from the point of view of post-war Bosnia.   To learn more about this work, we recommend that you read this excellent in-depth review by Michel Faber for The UK Guardian.
MAD's Greatest Artists: The Completely MAD Don Martin Don Martin $50.00
($150.00 list)
OUT OF STOCK!
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Read more and comment... 		 This massive two-volume slip-cased edition is the same format made famous by the complete Calvin and Hobbes and Complete Far Side, and, like them, is a deluxe edition.  The Completely MAD Don Martin weighs in at a walloping fifteen pounds and runs a mind-boggling 1200 pages that contain ALL of Don Martin's work for Mad Magazine.  If you know anyone for whom this would be a dream come true, now's your chance to score it for a mere fraction of its original price!    SUPPLIES ARE LIMITED
Map of My Heart John Porcellino Drawn and Quarterly $17.77
($24.95 list)
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Read more and comment... 		To celebrate King-Cat Comics and Stories' twentieth birthday, Drawn and Quarterly has given us a present:  this swell 360 page volume that collects King-Cat Comics and Stories #51 - #61 – all classics – in their entirety, along with copious notes, bonus comics, journal and notebook entries, maps, and even an index (of titles)!  This one should be a no-brainer for everyone except those who already own the originals (and even they might be tempted by the bonuses).  Those who are unfamiliar with Porcellino's work can get a nice PDF  taste of it here.  And, we're adding to the celebration by offering a special discount.
Abstract Comics Andrei Molotiu Fantagraphics $29.99
($39.99 list)
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Read more and comment... 		Andrei Molotiu, college professor, art historian, and all-star poster to the TCJ message board, has pulled together a wide ranging assortment of works under the banner of "abstract comics."  Molotiu well understands the vagaries that will attach themselves to an overly broad designation such as this and has penned a cogent introduction to give readers as idea of his thoughts about what areas this label could assist in classifying.   Importantly, he is well aware that this primary purpose of this collection is to get the conversation started.  And this it has already accomplished, as the numerous posts to the Abstract Comics Blog firmly attest.  Artists represented in this volume range from celebrated masters such as R. Crumb, Gary Panter and Patrick McDonnell, to accomplished practitioners of the comics arts such as James Kochalka, Lewis Trondheim, J.R. Williams and John Hankiewicz, to marginally known art comics figures like Richard Hahn, Jason T. Miles, Blaise Larmee and Warren Craghead III, but the majority of contributors are obscure figures working on the margins that few readers of these pages will be familiar with – at least in the context of producing comics – such as editor Molotiu himself, who turned in eight pages of free floating abstractions, and Copacetic's own Bill Boichel whose entry is a 24-page mini-comic that has been reformatted as a two-page spread.  Yet lack of renown should not be conflated with lack of artistic vision as some of the most engaging works on display here are by the least recognized artists.  In recognition of the fact that the purchase of this volume represents a bit of a risk for most comics readers due to the largely unfamiliar terrain, we have decided to shoulder some of that risk by offering an introductory special price of 25% below retail, which works out to a savings of $10.00 that you can either pocket... or spend on more comics!
Che: A Graphic Biography Spain Rodriguez Verso $7.77
($16.95 list)
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Read more and comment... 		Ernesto "Che" Guevara's life and times are concisely communicated in exactly 100 pages of comics written and drawn by the man born for the job, Spain Rodriguez.  One of the founding members of the original Underground Comix generation that helped define the 1960s, Spain (the single name by which he is commonly known and referred to in the comics world, but not, alas, in the wider world, for then we could have had a book that was titled, simply, an more appropriately, "Che by Spain") is someone who is sure to have been conversant with Che's iconic and political status during those heady days when his life and work was still in the air and so have had ample time during the ensuing forty-some years since his death to ruminate upon Che's significance as well as digest the morass of historical data and coordinate the diverse opinions into a single, solid over-arching narrative; this he has done.  In yet another example of the communicative efficiency of comics, this work, which can be successfully absorbed after dinner, imparts the saga of an era that will leave its readers more worldly and skeptical.  It must be said that most of the negative aspects that have been imputed to Che's character have been ignored and that some (i.e. conservative) critics will doubtless view this portrayal as a "whitewash."  Regardless of any and all opinions on the pros and cons of Che the man, we're confident in our positive appraisal of "Che" by Spain as making for an absorbing read. NOW ON SALE!
The Bun Field Amanda Vähämäki Drawn and Quarterly $8.88
($12.95 list)
Bunfield
Read more and comment... 		We susupect that in Finland, when it rains it pours.  The old adage holds true in the case of the introduction of Ms. Vähämäki's work to the USA.  Six months ago, nothing, now the work of this Finnish artist extraordinaire can be found in Souvlaki Circus, Drawn & Quarterly Showcase 5, Glomp X, The Comics Journal 296, and now in this delicate tale, deftly drawn in pencil.   Somewhat reminiscent of Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro, The Bun Field captures the magic of those childhood years in which the projections of personal fantasy freely intermingle with the necessities of reality, and creates a zesty stew of emotions and visions.  Get a taste with this PDF preview.
Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman Patrick McDonnell, George Herriman Abrams $8.88
($19.95 list)
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Read more and comment... 		Where to begin with such a book.  It is clearly and definitely the best book ever done on Krazy Kat, which is, at least in our estimation, the greatest of the classic newspaper comics. Ergo, it is, Copacetically speaking, one of the single best volumes of comics ever produced.  In other words, it wins the Desert Island Award™: If there were one comics related book to take  to a deserted island, this might very well be it.  And as if that weren’t enough, it has now been reissued in an economy softcover edition that’ll only set you back a double sawbuck.  Think of it-- a lifetime of pleasure and consolation for what it would cost you to spend a few hours in a bar.  And they say there is no God. For sheer aesthetic achievement, narrative inventiveness, psychological incisiveness, cultural significance, and creative ebullience, Krazy Kat, the masterpiece in comics that George Herriman produced on a daily basis from 1913 through 1944, cannot be beat. This volume provides a judiciously selected, finely reproduced and intelligently arranged collection of George Herriman’s work accompanied by an engrossing account of his life and career.  NOW AVAILABLE AT A SUPER SPECIAL PRICE!
The Comics Journal Special Edition: Volume Two - Summer 2002 Bill Griffith, R. Crumb, Jaime Hernandez, Chris Ware and more ... Fantagraphics $7.47
($22.95 list)
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Read more and comment... 		  What's so great about this book?  Well, just for starters, it was the 2003 Harvey Award Winner for the Best Anthology. It's 180 pages in all.  The cover feature spotlight shines on master cartoonist Jim Woodring who turns in the fab cover painting you see here and who is the subject of two essays by Donald Phelps and Kenneth Smith respectively, as well as a new interview. Text-and-art features include an appreciation of the cartoonist W.E. Hill by Zippy creator Bill Griffith (with many examples of Hill's unique tabloid-sized Sunday pages in full color); "All Hail Jack Kent,"  an appreciation of King Aroo's creator written by indy comincs maven, Tom Devlin, that includes a rare look at the strip itself, in the form of a dozen full page, full color, high resolution scans of Sunday comics full-pagers; Timothy Kreider probes deeper into the cat cartoons of B. Kliban; an essay on French comics artist, Louis Trondheim by British comics critic, Paul Gravett; a bit of comics history by Robert Fiore wherein he explores "how Harvey Kurtzman and Al Capp succumbed to the 1960s;" and "Between Borders," a who's who in Mexican alternative graphic narrative, by Ernesto Priego.  And then there's the comics.  Hold onto your hats and check out the contributor list:  Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Chris Ware, Michael Kupperman, James Sturm, Mary Fleener, P. Craig Russell (w/ Lovern Kindzierski), Penny Van Horn, Spain Rodriguez, Ron Regé, Jr., John Porcellino, Jordan Crane, David Collier, Peter Blegvad, Rick Geary, Rick Altergott, Johnny Ryan, Steven Weissman, Megan Kelso, Gerald Jablonski, Ted Jouflas, Roger Langridge, Tim Hensley, Justin Green, Mark Kalesniko, Carol Lay, Sam Henderson, Ho Che Anderson, Phoebe Gloeckner, Tony Millionaire, Frank Stack, Bill Griffith, Arnold Roth, Mark Martin, Ivan Brunetti, John Kerschbaum, Wilfred Santiago, Sherri Flenniken, Mack White, Carol Tyler, Victor Moscoso, and, yes, even R. Crumb, whose submission is an instant classic! But, most amazing of all is the price, of this, our first Depression Buster Bargain™!
Best American Comics 2006 Jesse Reklaw, Joe Sacco, Anders Nilsen, Jaime Hernandez and more ... Houghton Mifflin Best American $8.88
($22.00 list)
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Read more and comment... 		edted by Harvey Pekar and Anne Elizabeth Moore This volume marks the first time that comics joins the well established "Best American Series."  It is a surprisingly well produced book -- surprising in that it's from Houghton Mifflin, a major NY publisher, whose eyes are usually more closely set on the bottom line -- that contains a good cross-section of work published in North America in 2004 and 2005 and functions as a fine follow-up -- as a yearbook does to an encyclopedia (for those of you old enough to know what we're talking about) -- to both McSweeney's #13 -- which is clearly its inspiration -- and the just-released Brunetti-edited Yale anthology.  This collection spans the generations, including new work from old-timers Kim Deitch, Gilbert Shelton and Robert Crumb, middle-agers Jaime Hernandez, Lynda Barry and Joe Sacco, and youngins' Anders Nilsen, Rebecca Dart and Jesse Reklaw, whose story, "13 Cats of My Childhood," we singled out for praise in our 2005 SPX report, when it appeared in it's original form as Couch Tag #2, stating at the time, "It is one of the best comics at this year's SPX... and deserving of a much wider audience than it will be able to find in this form."  So, suffice it to say that we're quite happy to see it included here in this anthology.  By far the longest piece included in this 320 page anthology, practically a graphic novella, "La Rubia Loca," by Justin Hall -- another SPX attending self-publisher --  is an engrossing story about a bunch of hippie slackers stuck on a bus tour through Mexico with a crazy woman.  And keep in mind that these are just the highlights, there's plenty more.  2006 • full color • hardcover • 320 pages
Skitzy Don Freeman Drawn and Quarterly $9.99
($19.95 list)
Skitzy
Read more and comment... 		Out of print for over 50 years, D & Q has returned this classic to the shelves in a boffo hardcover edition.  Skitzy offers readers of today a perfect snapshot of the 1950s.  It is a minimalist, pen & ink pantomime graphic short story that concisely illustrates the American male of the time as being divided between his vital creativity and his domestic security.  The only solution in the 1950s seemed to be the impossible one shown here:  of becoming two different people.  It took the upheavals of the 1960s, primarily the emergence of the modern feminist movement, to start us down the path towards a workable rapprochement of these once seemingly irreconcilable goals.
Best American Comics 2008 Lynda Barry Houghton Mifflin Best American $8.88
($22.00 list)
Bestamcomics2008
Read more and comment... 		The Best American Comics 2008 edited by Lynda Barry is now on sale for only $8.88! This is a 324 page, nicely produced, hardcover volume that is chock-a-block with great comics.  Starting with the amazing embossed wraparound dustjacket by Eleanor Davis, the book is cover to cover comics that are worth reading.  It leads off with a ten-page introduction by editor Barry, rendered in her new What It Is collage-comics style.  It then proceeds -- in alphabetical order, no less -- with a well-rounded survey of the state of American comics.  Missing from previous volumes in this series was any focus on Ms. Barry's peers in the independent newsweekly world.  That has been smartly rectified this time out with a nice selection of work by fellow pioneer of independent comics syndication, Matt Groening (Life In Hell), along with Alison Bechdel (Dykes To Watch Out For), Derf (The City) and Kaz (Underworld). And that's just the tip of the iceberg.  We've got excerpts from some of the year's best graphic novels -- Salon by Nick Bertozzi, The Saga of the Bloody Benders by Rick Geary, Berlin: Book Two by Jason Lutes, Percy Gloom by Cathy Malkasian and American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, among others.  Then we've got a one after another super solid short and medium length comics works that show a truly remarkable range.  We have instant classics by established masters like Jaime Hernandez's "Gold Diggers of 1969" from Love and Rockets and Chris Ware's "Thanksgiving Series" from The New Yorker.  Then we have what is probably this collection's signal strength:  new work by new(er) talent:  Graham Annable and Sarah Oleksyk, both from Papercutter; T. Edward Bak and Evan Larson, both from Project: Romantic;  Eleanor Davis and Martin Cendreda, both from MOME; Eric Haven and Michael Kupperman from their own comics, Tales To Demolish and Tales Designed To Thrizzle, respectively; and then self-published works by Lilli Carré, Shawn Cheng and Sara Edward-Corbett, Joseph Lambert, and John Mejias. And there's more!  This one is a winner.  Recommended!
Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories: Volume Two David Mazzuchelli, Leif Goldberg, Brian Chippendale, Elinore Norflus and more ... Yale University Press $20.00
($28.00 list)
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Read more and comment... 		edited by Ivan Brunetti It's too early to say for certain, but this follow-up to Brunetti's already classic 2006 anthology, also published by Yale University Press, might just be even better than its precursor.  One thing's for certain:  Brunetti has held onto -- and further refined -- his editorial vision of arranging the work contained in this volume in an organic sequence, deftly managing to map out the similarities between artists so that each piece flows smoothly into into the other, creating an amazing sense of an innate connectivity between all areas of comics here on display.  This book is a powerful ally in the struggle to bring the light of comics to those poor souls still dwelling in the darkness.  It's the perfect choice to turn on a friend or relative to the joy, beauty and pleasures of our favorite medium.  Hold onto your hats, here's the contributor list:  Daniel Clowes, Saul Steinberg, Sammy Harkham, Chris Ware, R. Sikoryak, Michael Kupperman, Drew Friedman, Mark Beyer, Mack White, Jayr Pulga, Renee French, Kim Deitch, Richard Sala, J. Bradley Johnson, Archer Prewit, Anonymous (utility sketchbook), HJ Tuthill, Milt Gross, Bill Holman, Harvey Kurtzman, R.Crumb, Basil Wolverton, Art Spiegelman, Jess, John Hankiewicz, Tim Hensley, Bill Griffith, Richard McGuire, Gilbert Hernandez, Jim Woodring, David Collier, Eugene Teal, Charles Burns, Karl Wirsum, Gary Panter, Paper Rad, Fletcher Hanks, CF, Charles Forbell, Ron Rege, Jr., Winsor McCay, Matthew Thurber, Souther Salazar, Kevin Scalzo, Megan Kelso, James McShane, Laura Park, Vanessa Davis, Onsmith, Joe Matt, Jeffrey Brown, Martin Cendreda, Dave Kiersh, John Porcellino, Carrie Golus/Patrick Welch, Jessica Abel, Cole Johnson, Lynda Barry, Debbie Drechsler, Diane Noomin, Aline Kominsky-Crum, Ariel Bordeaux, Chester Brown, Anders Nilsen, Joe Sacco, Phoebe Gloeckner, Elinore Norflus, Brian Chippendale, Leif Goldberg, David Mazzuchelli, Jerry Moriarty, Ben Katchor, Frank Santoro, Dan Zettwoch, Kevin Huizenga, Harvey Pekar/R.Crumb, Carol Tyler, Maurice Vellekoop, Seth, Adrian Tomine, Jaime Hernandez & David Heatley.  It's simply amazing.  Comics Power!  PLEASE NOTE:  We feel compelled to mention that this volume includes several pieces that contain quite explicit sexual content; and while this content represents only a miniscule fraction of the total, it nevertheless renders this volume fit for ADULTS ONLY.
Breakdowns Art Spiegelman Pantheon $13.75
($27.50 list)
Breakdownssm
Read more and comment... 		This volume reissues the seminal, long out-of-print, and highly sought after volume which collected Spiegelman's trailblazing (pre-Maus)1970s work.  These are the thoroughly original, self-aware comics about comics through which he forged a comics of deconstruction.  This, in turn, led him, along with his wife, François Mouly, to pioneer a new comics aesthetics that forefronted comics' formal properties, consciously focused on the mechanics of production and that changed the face of comics in the 1980s: RAW.  And there's more:  this fabulous, oversize harcover volume includes a 20-page introduction in comics form in which Spiegelman takes the logical next step and deconstucts his own comics!  This one is pretty much essential.  NOW ON SALE FOR HALF PRICE!
Jamilti and Other Stories Rutu Modan Drawn and Quarterly $12.95
($19.99 list)
Jamilti
Read more and comment... 		The author of Exit Wounds returns with this collection of all her extant short work.  While the execution of the material ranges from early work rendered entirely in pencil to her current "paperless" work that is rendered entirely electronically using a Wacom™ tablet and Photoshop™, the material all connects in one way or another with Israael and the Jewish experience. Get a taste, here. 
The Acme Novelty Library Chris Ware Pantheon $13.75
($27.50 list)
Acmenoveltyhc
Read more and comment... 		This startlingly well produced Big Book, the latest from the greatest full grown adult comics whiz kid, that literary minded artistic genius and graphic technician extraordinaire who possesses what could possibly be the most divided consciousness in a fully-functioning adult in the known world -- yes, that's right, Mr. Chris Ware -- collects material previously presented in the comics periodical Acme Novelty Library #7 & #15 (AKA Acme Novelty Big Book of Jokes #1 & #2 ) published by Fantagraphics, along with plenty of finely crafted, bruising new work with which it has been seamlessly integrated, all bundled together in an extravagant and exquisite oversize hardcover edition published by Pantheon Books.  It pretty much goes without saying that this exquisite hardcover edition is a must for anyone interested in contemporary comics.  A contender for the most densely packed volume in the history of printing -- there are more drawings and more text squeezed into every nook and cranny than any other book we can think of -- this is work that will rend the senses and boggle the mind.  It comes shrinkwrapped to insure that the deluxe package remains unscathed until its owner deigns to unwrap it.  Click at left to read our feature listing to learn more.  NOW ON SALE FOR HALF PRICE!!!
The Ganzfeld #3 Peter Blegvad PictureBox The Ganzfeld $11.77
($24.95 list)
Ganzfeld3big
Read more and comment... 		The Ganzfeld is a true one-of-a-kind publication and #3 is by far the best issue yet.  It shouldn't really be under the comics listing, but as it is truly uncategorizable, this is as good a spot as any.  The editors once again bring together a unique group of designers, illustrators, cartoonists, and artists in a coherent, strongly designed format. It features a unique collaboration between Rick Moody and Fred Tomaselli; a new picture story by designer Geoff McFetridge, and even an illustrated essay by Alfred Hitchcock. Lengthy comics and picture stories are contributed by an international group, Renée French, Ron Rege, Jr., Blexbolex, Brian Ralph.  The major highlight of the book is Peter Blegvad's contribution:  a highly innovative piece that is a stellar work of genius. Really, it's that good.  No one compares to Blegvad.  He's in a class by himself here.  (If you aren't familiar with Peter Blegvad's work, do yourself a favor and check out The Book of Leviathan.) The Ganzfeld #3 also puts the spotlight on history: profiles include the inventor of the Macy's Parade Balloons; a special 40-page section devoted to the art collective The Hairy Who, and articles on Bruegel and deep space photography. Also: humorous picture stories on color theory, where we go when we die, and the lost genre of blank books. And much more, all bound together and accentuated by impeccable graphic design. 
The Book of the Leviathan Peter Blegvad Overlook Press $11.77
($23.95 list)
Bookofleviathan
Read more and comment... 		Leviathan arrives in the USA at last, in the form of The Book of Leviathan, published by Overlook Press.  Everyone who is serious about exploring the more far-flung and adventurous realms of comics, enjoys graphic intellectual stimulation, or appreciates a healthy sense of the absurd has an excellent chance of finding what they are looking for in The Book of Leviathan. This is a truly one-of-a-kind item.  The Book of the Leviathan employs a wry wit with dextrous aplomb at every turn.  Right from the initial impression -- the overall book design, with its ruby edged pages, making it resemble a accountant's ledger -- the reader is put in the position of having to ask questions, such as, in this case, "What exactly are we keeping track of here?", and then later, once we've gone a few pages into the book, "What, in our lives and most especially in our early, childhood years, goes into the plus columns and what goes into the minus?" and, finally, "Will it all add up in the end?" Most readers confronting Blegvad's work for the first time will find themselves mysteriously compelled to grab the first person who happens by to share their enthusiasm: "Hey! This is really different.  I don't think I've ever read anything quite like this before."  Some readers may find themselves somewhat unsettled at first, if only from the sheer unfamiliarity of Blegvad's narrative strategies.  In the end, however, all readers that prevail will come away from The Book of Leviathan with a deepened appreciation for the unknown corners of our lives, and a sense, finally, of the ultimate incomprehensibility of being.
Punk Rock and Trailer Parks Slave Labor Graphics $11.77
($15.95 list)
Punkrocktp
Read more and comment... 		The creator of the long running independent newsweekly strip, The City, has created a pitch perfect tale of the classic days of punk rock.  Set in his home town of Akron, Ohio, in 1980, PR & TP gives us the senior year and then some of high school loser cum small-town-punk-rock-legend, Otto "The Baron" Pizcok.  While the central narrative is entirely fictional, its setting is not, and Derf wryly  captures the mid-Ohio ambience and recreates the hot and heavy scene at the main Akron club -- The Bank -- that was, at least for the time chronicled here, the center of the punk scene.  Plot, pacing, characterization, the supporting cast -- all are spot on.  Punk Rock and Trailer Parks will make for a thoroughly enjoyable read for anyone who likes comics and punk rock and will be a real thrill for anyone who remembers these days.  
Michael Chabon presents The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, Volume 1 Howard Chaykin, Michael Chabon, Glen David Gould, Bill Sienkiewicz and more ... Dark Horse $9.95
($17.95 list)
Small
Read more and comment... 		This collects the entirety of the first two issues of the comic book of the same name.  The page size of this volume is a bit smaller than the comic books.  However, this edition sports new front and back covers by Mr. Chris Ware, more than making up for it.  160 pages; full color throughout.