The Copacetic Comics Company Pure Imagination

Pure Imagination

Greg Theakston, both the brains and brawn behind Pure Imagination, is a comics soldier who's spent his life in the trenches to keep the classics of comics alive. This is his latest and greatest project. Each volume runs between 160 and 200 8 1/2" x 11" pages, and re-presents in glorious black and white the classic comics of yesteryear by the greatest names in the business. The art in these issues has been painstakingly reproduced from the originals by a process that has been come to be know as Theakston-ization, an original process by which the original comics have the color leached out, leaving only the black and white line art, which is then reproduced to appear exactly as it did at the time of original publication. This is the way to read old comics! (Unless, of course, you're independently wealthy and can afford to spring for the thousands of dollars that it would cost to buy the originals reproduced in these volumes. These comics don't feature the famous superhero characters, that have become cash cows for the majors. No, these volumes focus instead on the artwork by the same artists that made these characters famous, but in those instances when it was applied to pure story-telling, without having to worry about the marketing and product placement that accompanies comics featuring famous characters. These are really worth checking out and will be treasured by connoisseurs of comics everywhere.

Title	Creator	Publisher	Series	Price
Jack Magic: The Life and Art of Jack Kirby - Volume Two	Greg Theakston, Jack Kirby	Pure Imagination		$23.75 ($25.00 list)
Read more and comment...	Kirby confidante – and inker! – Greg Theakston, who is well known to readers of these pages as the power behind Pure Imagination publishing, has finally completed the first part in his long awaited recollection, reflection and appreciation of, and on, the life and work of the one and only Jack Kirby, King of Comics. This book is printed in the typical Pure Imagination format: 160, 8 1/2" x 11", B & W pages; softcover. It is liberally illustrated with Kirby comics – and cartoon – art that includes some early rarities. It also includes a selection of photos that featuring Kirby family portraits and snapshots as well as shots of him at the drawing table, hanging with pals and in the army. There are plenty of Kirby books already out there, and sure to be plenty to come, but only a few of them can be written by someone who has spent as much time with him as Theakston has, so we are hopeful that unique stories and insights will unfold within these pages.
Wild Wood	Wallace Wood	Pure Imagination		$18.88 ($25.00 list) OUT OF STOCK!
Read more and comment...	<<•>> edited by Greg Theakston <<•>> 160 pages of lesser known comics, cartoons and illustrations by the one and only Wally Wood.
The Will Eisner Shop	Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, Greg Theakston	Pure Imagination		$18.88 ($25.00 list)
Read more and comment...	<<•>> edited by Greg Theakston <<•>> 160 pages, roughly 2/3 of which is filled with rare early art from the Will Eisner shop, with the remaining 1/3 devoted to a transcript of a 1939 trial that editor Theakston has managed to track down. This is the infamous trial in which DC sued Fox over the infringement of their copyright and trademark on Superman, and offers some rare insights into the nascent era of the comic book publishing world.
Alex Toth in Hollywood, Volume Two	Alex Toth	Pure Imagination		$22.22 ($25.00 list)
Read more and comment...	More classic Toth from his work on the legendary late-'50s and early-'60s Dells. On hand we have four western tales from Roy Rogers, Sugarfoot, and Wagon Train, "Gale Storm," an excellent full-length, women-centered, hi-jinx adventure from Oh! Susanna (FC 1105), an underwater adventure from Sea Hunt, and a comedy sketch from The Danny Thomas Show one-shot (FC 1180). The highlight of this collection is, however, a set of five tales taken from Toth's early-'60s run on 77 Sunset Strip. Here we have the treat of an extended run of Toth art in a contemporary urban setting, replete with cars, girls, teen hoodlums and tough guys in suits. What more can you ask for! ONE COPY LEFT.
Alex Toth in Hollywood	Alex Toth	Pure Imagination		$19.99 ($25.00 list) OUT OF STOCK!
Read more and comment...	This 160 page 8 1/2" x 11" collection contains some of Toth's finest. In it we find four full-issue-length stories, all dating to the late 1950s, from the Dell Four Color series of one-shots: The Wings of Eagles (#790), The Lennon Sisters (#951), The Law Trap (#992), and The FBI Story (#1069). In addition there are three short stories of 6, 8 & 10 pages in length from roughly the same period -- two westerns and a comedy featuring Danny Thomas. Classic stuff!
The Jack Kirby Reader #V.2	Jack Kirby, Greg Theakston	Pure Imagination	The Jack Kirby Reader	$22.50 ($25.00 list)
Read more and comment...	And for the true Kirby aficionado, here is the second stunning volume of classic atom-age Kirby work. Most of the work orignally appeared in the late-forties, but there are a few gems from the fifties as well. Greg Theakston has done it again with this one: the reproduction is simply stellar. You can really appreciate the art here in super-solid black & white. The work collected here is among Kirby's best, including classics from Young Romance, My Date, Justice Traps the Guilty, and Strange World of Your Dreams. Truly amazing.
The Basil Wolverton Reader, Volume 2	Basil Wolverton, Greg Theakston	Pure Imagination		$22.50 ($25.00 list) OUT OF STOCK!
Read more and comment...	Believe it or not, this one's even better than the first volume. Greg Theakston and Co. herein present us with a true treasure trove of classic Wolverton: a fistful of Spacehawk strips are complemented by a cartload of Powerhouse Pepper, and then seasoned with healthy doses of lesser known Wolverton creations like Meteor Martin, Splash Morgan, Mystic Moot, Scoop Scuttle, BingBang Buster and more! Basil Wolverton is one of a handful of true comic geniuses whose work has informed, and continues to influence, the work of countless cartoonists who have followed in his wake, whether they realize it or not (R. Crumb's work owes an ineradicable debt to Wolverton's, and even such disparate artists as Bob Burden and Chris Ware have appropriated bits of Wolvertonia; and that's just for starters; without Wolverton's example Mad might never have come into being... you get the idea.). Check out this collection and you'll see what we're talking about.
The Steve Ditko Reader #Volume 3	Steve Ditko, Greg Theakston	Pure Imagination		$21.25 ($25.00 list) OUT OF STOCK!
Read more and comment...	Speaking of classic comics art, here are some great examples by one of the field's finest: Steve Ditko. The third volume in the Ditko seriers, which is itself subset of a larger ongoing project by Greg Theakston and Pure Imagination to collect the best comics of the forties and fifties by the greatest creators of those times, including, in addition to Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Alex Toth, Basil Wolverton, Wally Wood, and more to come. To learn more, visit our Pure Imagination Page.
Alex Toth: Edge of Genius - Volume 2	Alex Toth	Pure Imagination		$19.99 ($25.00 list)
Read more and comment...	Tales of war, adventure, horror and especially romance fill the second Toth volume in the Edge of Genius series. What can we say about Toth that hasn't been said a thousand times before? The comics here are the gold standard for layout and storytelling. Anyone who enjoys fine comics should be sure to read some Alex Toth, and anyone with ambitions to doing comics themselves -- at least those comics that involve storytelling -- pretty much has to get around to studying Toth sooner or later. The sooner the better, we say. Edge of Genius - Volume 2 is a great place to start.
Steve Ditko: Edge of Genius	Steve Ditko	Pure Imagination		$19.99 ($25.00 list) OUT OF STOCK!
Read more and comment...	Two more fantastic, 160 page, 8 1/2" x 11", volumes from the one and only Pure Imagination Publishing. The Ditko volume is especially splendiferous for providing readers with a hefty chunk of Ditko's earliest work -- one (his first) from 1953, and a whopping sixteen from 1954. These stories originally appeared in the pages of such classic titles as Black Magic, Strange Suspense Stories, This Magazine is Haunted, and The Thing. Also included in the Ditko volume is a freaky bondage tale Ditko co-created with his studio-mate, Eric Stanton, for the infamous Irving Klaw's Movie Star News (best known for its Bettie Page in bondage photos). We'd never seen this one before.
The Lou FIne Reader, Volume 2	Lou FIne	Pure Imagination		$19.99 ($25.00 list)
Read more and comment...	Believe it or not, this month brings us three new books from Pure Imagination, the undisputed champion of classic comics reprints. The second volume of The Lou Fine Reader contains 14 classic Golden Age tales taken from the pages of Jumbo, Wonderworld, Smash, Crack, Feature and National Comics published between 1939 and 1941. Also included are 24 rare early "Wilton of the West" full page Sunday comics from 1938 (published under the same psuedonym -- Fred Sande -- that Jack Kirby used when penning this strip earlier that same year), and 16 pages -- at 4-up per page -- of his late newspaper strip, "Peter Scratch". A real value on great classic comics.
The Al Williamson Reader	Al Williamson	Pure Imagination		$25.00 ($25.00 list) OUT OF STOCK!
Read more and comment...	Believe it or not, this month brings us three new books from Pure Imagination, the undisputed champion of classic comics reprints. The Al Williamson Reader is a true treasure trove: 23 -- count 'em -- stories that originally ran between 1948 and 1965, spanning the key years of Williamson's long (and still running) career. These stories run the gamut of the classic comics genres, including westerns, horror, science fiction, jungle, suspense and war. And, as for the inkers, well, nothing but the best for Williamson: this collection features the fine pen and brush work of none other than Frank Frazetta, Angelo Torres, John Severin, Wally Wood and, of course, Williamson himself. What a find!
The Complete Jack Kirby: Volume One	Jack Kirby	Pure Imagination		$19.99 ($25.00 list)
Read more and comment...	This book contians all the extant examples of Kirby's earliest works -- much of which was signed not as Kirby (whose given name was, of course, Jacob Kurtzburg), but by at least a half dozen other aliases ranging from Ted Grey to Fred Sande to Jack Curtis. It was not until the amazing science fiction tale "Solar Legion" that the name Jack Kirby first - and quite fittingly -- saw print. There's an almost incredible variety of material here, and it shows Kirby wearing many different hats. There are daily newspaper strips like the Popeye knock-off, "Socko the Seadog", the pirate strip, "The Black Buccaneer", Ripley's Believe-it-or-not wanna be "Facts You Never Knew" and many others; there are full-page Sunday strips like "The Diary of Dr. Hayward" and "Wilton of the West"; and even editorial cartoons! His style is all over the place in these pieces as Kirby adapts himself each time to the demands of the particular assignment. It was when Kirby started producing work directly for comic books he began to "find his voice" and his emblematic style finally starts to coalesce and take the now iconic Kirby form. So, between the covers of this single volume, lucky readers will be able to witness the forging of the most important talent in the history of comic books, that of Jack "King" Kirby! And, not only that, but you will be guided along the way by a series of informative essays written by the editor and publisher of The Complete Kirby series, noted Kirby Scholar, Greg Theakston; and, as an added bonus -- an interview with "the King" himself. 182 pages in all, and now available at a special Copacetic exclusive price.
Wallace Wood's Wayout	Wally Wood	Pure Imagination		$18.88 ($25.00 list) OUT OF STOCK!
Read more and comment...	Wally Wood's Wayout is a bit of a departure from the tried and true Pure Imagination format in that it collects not Wood's comics works (some of which have already been collected in Pure Imagination's The Wally Wood Reader), but instead focuses on his science fiction illustration work, all done for Galaxy and If. The bulk of the work on hand here is from the late 1950s, but it extends all the way to 1968. The work is especially notable for its use of ink wash. All of Wood's signature bits are on display here, including his unique sense of humor. This one will primarily be of interest to illustration fans and hardcore Wood collectors, who will be quite happy to add this one to their library -- especially when they discover the super special price we are offering it at!
The Complete Jack Kirby #Sept. - Oct. 1947	Jack Kirby	Pure Imagination		$19.99 ($25.00 list)
Read more and comment...	This amazing 172 page volume is filled with 160 pages of comics, ALL of which were published during just two months in 1947. No wonder Kirby was known as "The King." And these aren't just any comics. No! These two months saw Kirby embark on one of the greatest periods of his career. As editor Greg Theakston explains in his introduction to this volume, Kirby and his creative and business partner, Joe Simon, had, at long last, manged to secure a profit sharing deal -- with the publisher Crestwood (Prize) -- after years of being exploited by publishers Timely (Marvel), National Periodicals (DC). Finally having a direct financial stake in the succcess of their titles unleashed Kirby's inner dynamo and he produced a stunning amount of excellent work. The highlight here is Young Romance #1, in which Simon & Kirby introduced what would quickly become the most successful genre in comics publishing; yes, that's right -- romance comics. Also contained in this amazing volume are Kirby's contributions (5 stories, if you can believe it!) to Justice Traps the Guilty #1, the classic crime series, plus Kirby's lead stories for the ongoing crime comics, Headline Comics #26, Real Clue v.2#7; an action-packed story each to Airboy v.4#8 & #9; and the light-hearted 13-pager for My Date #2, and a funny animal(!) tale featuring Albert the Alligator for Punch and Judy v.3#1 showing that Jack could truly do it all, do it well and do it fast. All these comics in only 60 days, the mind reels... We want to encourage Copacetic customers to venture forth and experience this work, so, for a limted time, we are offering this volume at a super special price.
Alex Toth: Edge of Genius #Volume One	Alex Toth	Pure Imagination		$19.99 ($25.00 list) OUT OF STOCK!
Read more and comment...	This new release contains 160 pages of Toth stories in an 8 1/2" x 11" squarebound format, as with all previous Pure Imagination volumes. There are 24 stories total, with 21 from 1952. This is the period where Toth forms his trademarked style and will be of interest to all students of this seminal artist.
Will Eisner: Edge of Genius	Will Eisner	Pure Imagination		$19.99 ($25.00 list)
Read more and comment...	A fascinating compendium of Eisner's earliest work beginning with his amateur work of the early '30s and continuing through his first published efforts later that decade. Reading this book you can see his influences and watch his style form. It contains 160 pages of comics (mostly) and illustration in an 8 1/2" x 11" squarebound format; from Pure Imagination.
Miss Fury	Tarpe Mills	Pure Imagination		$22.22 ($25.00 list) OUT OF STOCK!
Read more and comment...	You want a gorgeously drawn, action packed, golden age super hero comic book, that centers on the adventures of an occasionally costume-clad heroine that's written and drawn by a woman and that, while it doesn't shy away from presenting its readers with a gaggle of curvaceous gals, is clearly the product of feminist thinking? What's that? You thought no such thing exists? Well, that's where you'd be wrong, as Miss Fury by Tarpe Mills fits the bill in spades. While the three issues that are collected here were originally cobbled together out of newspaper strips and as a result are occasionally subject to reiterations, the story races ahead at breakneck speed and there really is never a dull moment. In fact, there is so much going on in the issues reprinted here, that occasionally you'll find yourself thinking, "Hold on a second here, what's going on?" (and one page in the third issue is printed out of order [it may very well have been out of order in the original]) but, you'll find that if you flip back through the last few pages, you'll figure it out, because everything is there. Comes complete with an informative introduction by the noted feminist comics historian, Trina Robbins (who, we hasten to add, is also a fine cartoonist in her own right), that will help get you up to speed. As these comics were created during WWII, Miss Fury is not only compelled to deal with thugs, burglars and blackmailers -- as well as a femme fatale, a petulant boyfriend and an amoral seductress bent on getting him -- but also Nazi spys and soldiers: the major villian is a Nazi general, who, while clearly evil, is nevertheless surprisingly presented as courageous and heroic -- a far cry from the typical comic book caricatures of vicious bunglers, and a highly unusual example of ambivalence in the face of the enemy. Perhaps most fascinating is that during the Nazi invasion of Brazil (we told you this story was action packed) a fiery Latina forges an alliance with rugged gauchos and rainforest indians to repel the Nazi attack (assisted by Miss Fury, naturally) -- shades of today's leftist alliances to save the rainforest from rapacious multinational conglomerates. This book is a revelation! Thanks once again go to Greg Theakston's Pure Imagination publishing for bringing yet another comics classic to light.

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Sun	12 - 4