The Copacetic Comics Company IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing

Title	Creator	Publisher	Series	Price
The Best of Harry Lucey, Volume One	Jaime Hernandez, Harry Lucey	IDW Publishing	Archie	$22.75 ($24.99 list)
Read more and comment...	introduction by (the one and only) Jaime Hernandez First off, we'd like to nominate this book as the single most overdue volume in the history of comics. It may not win, but it will certainly be a contender. If there is one single artist that comics readers need to increase their consciousness of, it's Harry Lucey. Any comic book reader over forty is almost certainly already familiar with Lucey's work as he pencilled hundreds of stories for Archie Comics, including the majority of its flagship title for fifteen years. So, anyone who read a few Archie Comics from before 1975 – or any of the ubiquitous Archie Digests that were seemingly everywhere through at least the 1980s – has read at least a few Harry Lucey stories – but there is no way they would have known it: because LUCEY NEVER GOT ANY CREDIT – until, finally, now. With all due respect to Bob Montana, Dan DeCarlo and all the other fine artists who worked for Archie Comics over the past seventy years, Harry Lucey was the best comics artist who ever worked for Archie and his work is their greatest legacy. While this volume does not come close to presenting "The Best" of Lucey's work, the fact that it is subtitled "Volume One" fills us with hope that, when taken together with an ever expanding series of subsequent volumes, it will ultimately live up to it's title.
Miss Fury	Tarpe Mills, Trina Robbins	IDW Publishing	Library of American Comics	$44.44 ($49.99 list)
Read more and comment...	Yes, it's one classic after another here at The Copacetic Comics Company! Miss Fury – the Golden Age comics work that ran in full color in the Sunday comics pages for 351 consecutive weeks from 1942 through 1949, and was also collected in comic book form by Timely Comics (the precursor company to Marvel), and which provided (and continues to provide!) a uniquely female perspective to the heroic fantasy genre that simultaneously provided (ditto!) a solid proto-feminist critique of the genre's conventions, all the while delivering finely crafted, solid entertainment – gets the mega-deluxe Library of American Comics treatment in this massive, oversize 232 page hardcover volume edited and introduced by Trina Robbins. At least in part due to the fact that the earliest Miss Fury strips have previously been collected – albeit in black & white – by Pure Imagination in their now-out-of-print volume (note to Greg Theakston: now would be a good time to reprint it!) which helped to get the Miss Fury revival rolling, the powers that be (i.e., Dean Mullaney) have decided to present the "never before reprinted" strips that comprise roughly the second half of the Miss Fury run: strips #159 - #351 which originally ran from April 1944 through August 1949. As Mullaney's brief preface makes clear, it was no mean feat to assemble this complete, high quality, full color run. Get ready to be wowed!
Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman	David Boswell	IDW Publishing		$27.50 ($29.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Speaking of classics, here's another sui generis masterwork that belongs in every library. When Reid Fleming first arrived on the scene, lo these thirty years ago (thirty years? how is that possible!?!), it existed at the cusp of the waning underground comix scene and the nascent direct market for alternative comics that was just starting to gain some traction. It was just right there at the crossroads; if any comic book can be said to capture that moment, it's that first issue. With Reid Fleming, David Boswell created a cartoon archetype that served – and continues to serve – as an anger fueled eulogy for the vanished world embodied by the figure of the milkman. This massive hardcover volume collects the initial 1980 stand alone comic book – which was all that there was for the first five years of his existence, and that really says something about the character's staying power – along with what is arguably Boswell's masterpiece, Heartbreak Comics, which, naturally, stars Reid Fleming, and then the entirety of the Reid Fleming mini-series published by Eclipse Comics in the late '80s. 224 pages in all! And there is a second volume in the works which will collect the remainder. So, rejoice!
Parker, Book Two: The Outfit	Darwyn Cooke	IDW Publishing	Parker	$22.22 ($24.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Our apologies for not listing this sooner: our initial stock sold out pretty much overnight, and then our restock sold out, so we didn't get a chance to crack open a copy and check it out until now. Never one to rest on his laurels, Darwyn Cooke has managed to stretch out a bit in this, the second in his ongoing series of adaptations of Donald Westlake(writing as Richard Stark)'s hardboiled crime series featuring the guy you don't want to meet, Parker. The Outfit, like its precursor, The Hunter, is a hard-charging angry tough guy piece, full of dames and danger, violence and vixens. The action takes place in 1963 and so allows Cooke to flex his retro muscle in an era he has an obvious affinity for. And flex that muscle he does, with flair. What is perhaps the most interesting aspect of The Outfit takes place at roughly the center of the work, where readers will come across an intriguing 30-page aside drawn in a number of different styles, each of which evokes a specific, different aspect of the graphic sensibilities of the period. This insert goes a long way to keep The Outfit from simply being more of the same; but, we can't help but adding, more of the same, when it comes from the pen of Darwyn Cooke, is not something anyone can really complain about.
Dick Briefer's Frankenstein	Dick Briefer, Craig Yoe	IDW Publishing		$20.00 ($21.99 list)
Read more and comment...	Billed as the first volume in The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics!™, and edited by Craig Yoe, this 144 page, full color hardcover is by far the best book yet produced under the Yoe Books imprint, and is the third in our Halloween horror threesome. The ample selection of high quality scans straight from the original comic books takes readers from the 1940 debut of Briefer's Frankenstein in Prize Comics #7 through to the 1954 release of Frankenstein #31, near the end of the run. The book begins with a biographical overview of Briefer's life and career, replete with nice repros of original art, comic covers, ephemera and rarities. Great comics, sharp scans, crisp printing, engaging support material, nice package, reasonable price – it all comes together here. Let's hope Yoe can keep it up.
Archie: The Complete Daily Newspaper Comics, 1946-1948	Bob Montana	IDW Publishing	Archie	$35.00 ($39.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Here's another fine volume in the Library of American Comics series from IDW. Our hats are off to its creative director, industry veteran, Dean Mullaney, and his crack team. Bob Montana was the Jack Kirby of the Archie Universe, creating the visual and situational template that has endured for nearly 70 years. His work on these strips is absolutely outstanding and it probably represents his career high as an artist; leading to the conclusion that he must have been pretty pumped about appearing in the newspapers. The strip is built from the ground up on the assumption that a significant number of the strip's readership would be unfamiliar with the comic book appearances of the freckled teen and his gang and so have the added value of providing a sort of "origin of Archie." The big surprise reading this sumptuous, oversize 300+ page horizontally formatted, hardcover volume is how good they are! These are really great comics, that pretty much do it all: in addition to the expected gags, teen antics and domestic humor, there are stretches wherein these classic Archie facets are integrated into Roy Crane inspired serial adventures. This volume is really worth celebrating in that – believe it or not – this is the very first time these strips have ever been collected, and so will be – finally – getting the notice they deserve. The level of artistry on display in these strips will go a long way towards solving the riddle of Archie's longevity: he got off to a great start (and, it is worth noting here, Bob Montana shared his studio during these years with the greatest of all Archie artists, Harry Lucey, who obviously was inspired by Montana's work).
Krazy & Ignatz in Tiger Tea	George Herriman	IDW Publishing		$11.75 ($12.95 list)
Read more and comment...	<<•>> edited by Craig Yoe; introduction by Paul Krassner <<•>> Here we have 91 Krazy Kat dailies from 1936 and 1937; two extended runs – eight straight weeks in '36 and four in '37 – interconnected by choice strips inbetween. While, as is usual with collections edited by Craig Yoe, it is hard to determine what guided his choice and arrangement of the material – other than the fact that the strips are, at least in theory, all related to the putative "Tiger Tea" storyline that is considered Herriman's only foray into an an extended connected narrative – but, hey! – it's all George Herriman, so, really, who cares? Introduced by Paul Krassner and editor Yoe, and packaged in an affordable hardcover volume, it's hard to pass up.
Bringing Up Father: From Sea to Shining Sea	George McManus	IDW Publishing	Library of American Comics	$44.44 ($49.95 list)
Read more and comment...	McManus is a Copacetic Favorite and one of the all time greats, the founder of the (co-opted by the Europeans) Ligne Claré (clear line to us Yanks) school of art now most closely associated with Hergé. All hail the Library of American Comics series currently being published by IDW for not only bringing this classic strip to a new generation of readers, but for producing in the process what might very well be the best single collection of the work of George McManus ever released! This collection presents several distinct continuities – including what may be the single most famous, the cross country tour (that includes a stop in, you guessed it, Pittsburgh, PA) – all from the glory days of the strip: the late 1930s - early 1940s. Humor abounds in the domestic comedy plot lines that both prefigured and influenced the sit-com format that has been a staple of television programming from the days of I Love Lucy through to The Simpsons: all these shows have roots in Bringing Up Father. But the true joy of this strip is in the quality of the line. The comics heir to the high value placed on line by the fin de siclé Art Nouveau movement – as well as the Art Deco movement that came in its wake – McManus, along with – during the latter part of his career – his able assistant Zeke Zekley, crafted a drawing technique that provided all necessary visual information in the outline -- no messy cross-hatching, shading or chiaroscuro for these guys – no! – just a clear, precise line, thank you. McManus was a true comics original and hugely influential. The work of artists as diverse as Carl Barks and Joost Swarte, and many others in between, show the strong stamp of McManus's artistic influence. You owe it to yourself to at least take a look at the work of this master, and, with the fine choice of work, excellent reproduction, and copious historical material, this volume is the clear and obvious place to start.
The Art of Steve Ditko	Steve Ditko	IDW Publishing		$26.95 ($29.95 list)
Read more and comment...	edited by Craig Yoe <<•>> As if the above weren't enough, we now also have this oversize cloth hardcover brimming with more classic Ditko art! Compared to the Fantagraphics volume, the page size is larger and the paper stock seems to us to be a bit brighter and the colors a bit lighter. This one is divided into a number of thematically organized sections and has a bit more editorial content courtesy of editor Yoe. While, yes, there is a bit of overlap between the two volumes, it is fairly minimal. This book spans a greater number of years and presents a wider variety of material and so only a few of the earlier stories are duplicated in the volume listed above. If your budget limits you to only one volume, we'd have to say go with the Fantagraphics, but, c'mon: this is classic Ditko we're talking about here. and it's well worth the price, so put if you have to, put it on the back burner for now, but don't forget it's there.
The Hunter	Darwyn Cooke	IDW Publishing	Parker	$22.22 ($24.99 list)
Read more and comment...	The Hunter by Darwyn Cooke OK, technically the title is, Richard Stark's Parker in "The Hunter," and it is not really by, but is rather adapted and illustrated by, Darwyn Cooke. And, to make matters even more complicated, for those of who don't already know, Richard Stark is really "Richard Stark," the most important pseudonym of the famous mystery writer, Donald Westlake, who penned the original novel which Cooke here adapts. That said, this is a new and much anticipated work by the highly esteemed Mr. Cooke, who has made quite a name for himself in the comics world – and deservedly so – over the past decade. Not everyone knows that he first dipped his toes in the comics water in the mid-1980s, but found the temperature at that time not to his liking and decided instead on a career as a graphic designer. He later turned his sights on animation, and, finally, found his way back to comics at the turn of the century, bursting into the consciousness of the comics world with Batman: Ego. He secured himself a place in the nascent 21st century comics pantheon in 2004 with his seminal recreation of the dawn of the Silver Age, DC: The New Frontier. He then initiated the revival of Will Eisner's The Spirit, taking a stunning eleven-issue turn which showed him pointed in the direction that led him here to this graphic adaptation of the classic crime series featuring Parker. He is not the sort fellow you'd like to meet in the flesh, but on the page is a different matter. Cooke captures it all in bold brash brushstrokes that produce a two-toned cocktail that is one part Toth and one part Kirby, well shaken. Cooke's graphic savoir faire shines once again as he visually replicates Westlake's measured sentences and clipped dialogue in page after page of fine comics which place the reader right in Parker's shoes, and will have you believing it's 1962 in no time, for better and for worse. Parker is a cypher for the pent up male rage that was in strong supply during those years leading up to 1964 (and seems, evidently, to be making a bit of a comeboack as of late) after which the gradual change in social mores created new – or, at least, newly acceptable – avenues of release.
The Complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy #Volume Two - 1933 - 1935	Chester Gould, Ashley Wood	IDW Publishing		$26.99 ($29.95 list)
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