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!

edited by Michael Dooley & Steven Heller This is a truly amazing compendium of the ins and outs of making comics in the world today. The list of contributors is eye-popping, and their writings are inspiring. Anyone interested in creating comics stands to benefit from this. Here's a partial list of the contributors: Bob Mankoff, R.C. Harvey, Tony Auth, Peter Kuper, David Rees, Stan Mack Mark Alan Stamaty, Bill Griffith, Nicole Hollander, Jim Steranko, Barron Storey, Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave McKean, David Mack, Monte Beauchamp, Gary Panter, David Sandlin, Peter Blegvad, Mark Newgarden, Chip Kidd, Chris Ware, Art Spiegelman, Marjane Satrapi, Kim Deitch, Rick Geary, Ho Che Anderson, Tom Spurgeon, Dan Nadel, Robert Williams, Heidi MacDonald, Todd Hignite, Eric Reynolds, Graig Yoe, Trina Robbins, Scott McCloud, Joe Kubert, Will Eisner, Ted Stearn, James Sturm, Matt Madden, Rich Kriener... and that's not all! Whew, what a line-up. Recommended.

This 230 page hardcover collects 33 pre-code classics by the one-and-only Joe Kubert – all in full color!  Discover a whole other side to the artist most widely known for his work on Sgt. Rock and Tarzan, in page after page of hard hitting, well drawn and superbly laid out pages of comics that that straddle the gap between the work of Alex Toth and Steve Ditko (and surely influenced the latter).  Don't delay your gratification; dive right into this 22-page PDF preview to see what we're talking about.