Softcover. UK, PS Publishing, 1st, 2014, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover. Illustrated throughout in color. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to wrappers.
Hardcover. Seattle, Fantagraphics, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 120 pages, illustrated throughout in b&w. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket. Gilbert Hernandez's first original graphic novel from Fantagraphics follows on the heels of his acclaimed graphic novel, Sloth, from DC's Vertigo Comics in 2006. Chance in Hell tells the story about a little orphan girl who lives in the slum of slums. Nobody knows who she is or where she's from, but her fellow shantytown inhabitants collectively look over her. The three-act story follows our heroine as she is adopted by a decent man who raises her well, and she eventually marries a kind, well-to-do man, only to discover that she can't relate to the good life and the comforts it provides. This is the first in a series of standalone stories depicting the fictional filmography of Gilbert's Love and Rockets character, the B-movie actress Fritz. Hernandez wowed critics in 2003 with his epic work, Palomar, collecting more than 20 years of groundbreaking comics called "the most substantive single work that the comics medium has yet produced," by Booklist. Chance in Hell further establishes Hernandez as one of the great cartoonists of our age.
Hardcover. Seattle, Fantagraphics, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 120 pages, illustrated throughout in b&w. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket. Gilbert Hernandez's first original graphic novel from Fantagraphics follows on the heels of his acclaimed graphic novel, Sloth, from DC's Vertigo Comics in 2006. Chance in Hell tells the story about a little orphan girl who lives in the slum of slums. Nobody knows who she is or where she's from, but her fellow shantytown inhabitants collectively look over her. The three-act story follows our heroine as she is adopted by a decent man who raises her well, and she eventually marries a kind, well-to-do man, only to discover that she can't relate to the good life and the comforts it provides. This is the first in a series of standalone stories depicting the fictional filmography of Gilbert's Love and Rockets character, the B-movie actress Fritz. Hernandez wowed critics in 2003 with his epic work, Palomar, collecting more than 20 years of groundbreaking comics called "the most substantive single work that the comics medium has yet produced," by Booklist. Chance in Hell further establishes Hernandez as one of the great cartoonists of our age.
Hardcover. New York, Random House, 1st, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 382 pages, b&w illustrations. Like new in a bright dust jacket. In this first biography of the great cartoonist, written with exclusive access to Addams's intimates and his private papers, we finally meet the man behind the famed cartoons and circling rumors. Here is his surprising childhood in New Jersey, the cartoon that offended the Nazis, the friend whose early death Addams long mourned. Here are his wives, the stories behind his most famous-and some of his most private-cartoons, and the Addams whom even his closest friends didn't know. With wit, humor, poignancy, and insight-enhanced by rare family photographs, classic and previously unpublished cartoons, and private drawings-Linda H. Davis paints an engaging and endearing portrait of a marvelous American original.
Hardcover. New York, Random House, 1st, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 382 pages, b&w illustrations. Like new in a bright dust jacket. In this first biography of the great cartoonist, written with exclusive access to Addams's intimates and his private papers, we finally meet the man behind the famed cartoons and circling rumors. Here is his surprising childhood in New Jersey, the cartoon that offended the Nazis, the friend whose early death Addams long mourned. Here are his wives, the stories behind his most famous-and some of his most private-cartoons, and the Addams whom even his closest friends didn't know. With wit, humor, poignancy, and insight-enhanced by rare family photographs, classic and previously unpublished cartoons, and private drawings-Linda H. Davis paints an engaging and endearing portrait of a marvelous American original.
Hardcover. Cleveland, World Publishing, 1st, 1966, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, pictorial cloth, 48 pages. Color art by Schulz. The story of "an all-star baseball team and its conscientious but misunderstood manager-pitcher, Charlie Brown. " The book was the basis of the second prime-time animated TV specials based on the Peanuts comic strip. C;ean copy.
Softcover. University of Washington Press, 1st, 1999, Softcover, 176 pages. Traces the development of the comic strip since its birth at the turn of the century. The reproductions of vintage strips are strikingly pristine, due to the use of original artwork rather than published versions in the production of the volume. The author, a seasoned writer and scholar of the subject is good at historical and aesthetic discussion, less so at discussing the sociological context of various strips. Two other experts in the field, Brian Walker and Richard V. West, contribute a foreword and afterword. An attractive and enjoyable volume. 9x12
Singapore, Asiapac Books, reprint, 1994, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover 121 pages. The infamous and powerful eunuchs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties come to life in this graphic novel. Illustrated in b&w line.
Softcover. NY, Rizzoli, 1st, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, large oblong format, 304 pages. Described as "the closest thing to a rock star" in graphic design today (USA Today), Chip Kidd is universally recognized as an American master of contemporary book design. At the forefront of a revolution in publishing, Kidd's iconic covers, with their inventive marriage of type and found images, have influenced an entire generation of design practitioners in many fields.Chip Kidd: Book One collects all of his book covers and designs for the first time, as well as hundreds of developmental sketches and concepts-annotated by Kidd and by many of the best-selling authors he's worked with over the years. The result is an important contribution to the design canon today as well as a visually dazzling (and often hilarious) insider's look at the design and publishing process.The book also showcases Kidd's work with comics and graphic novels, including his collaborations with leading artists and writers in the field. Featured are projects for DC Comics, including Batman and Superman, as well as Kidd's award-winning exploration of the art of Charles M. Schulz. Chip Kidd: Book One is sure to enthrall design aficionados, book lovers, pop-culture fanatics, comics fans, and design students. DUE TO SIZE AND WEIGHT, DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.
Hardcover. New York, Workman Publishing, 1st, 1987, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 112 pages. Hardcover, illustrated throughout with Boynton's color cartoons. Stated first printing October 1987 with number line starting with "2". Clean, tight copy. CHRISTMASTIME is Sandra Boynton's humorous and compassionate carol to the season of warmth and giving, celebration and tradition. And tradition, to Boynton, is anything that happens every Christmas without fail: like trimming the tree, a fruitcake from the Rossiters, the crunch underfoot of your most precious ornament, and the customary search for scissors at four A.M. Christmas morning. With guest appearances by Santa and his reindeer, Boynton's familiar menagerie reveals the many joys and satisfactions that make Chrismastime such a universally special season: the thrill of finding the right gift for someone you love, and affording it; the personal gratification of wrapping all the gifts early; and the wonder of Christmas morning, when you realize you forgot to label them.And, in the spirit of giving, Boynton includes her own Christmas recipes: Santa's favorite chocolate chip cookies (with suggested note urging him to "please stack dishes neatly in the sink and wrap uneaten cookies in tin foil"); plum pudding (well worth someone else's time and money); and Wassail, which seems like a great treat if you happen to have 2,640 blanched almonds lying around the house.
Softcover. London, Marvel Comics, 1st, 1990, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 49 pages illustrated in color by Ian Gibson. Clean, bright copy.
Softcover. UK, FAB Press, 3rd pr., 2024, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 191 pages illustrated in b&w. A mind-melting compilation of gonzo writing, illustration and comics about the most insane, sexy, awkward, cheesy, hilarious, upsetting and jaw-dropping movies in the history of film, Cinema Sewer joyously celebrates the sleaziest aspects of the moviegoing experience, whilst delving deep into bizarre cinematic history. Author and comic artist Robin Bougie takes a dive to the bottom of the cesspool of sexploitation, doing so in a distinctive manner that has made him famous amongst a loyal following of cult film fans. Issues 17 to 20 of this celebrated underground smash magazine are exhaustively revised and collated in this third wild volume, together with an additional 80 pages of never-before-seen interviews, rants, comics, hard-to-find classic movie advertising, and graphic illustrations by Bougie and a host of his talented friends from both the comic book and animation industries. Clean copy.
Hardcover. Boston, David R. Godine, 1st, 1987, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. A book length series of poems, looking at life in all its imperfections through the viewpoint of an inextinguishable character whose spirit triumphs through humor. Clayfeld, a comic everyman, is the center of these poems about the nature of beauty, sorrow, and art, as well as the potential for happiness. Thwarted continually by ordinary defeats, Clayfeld endures and laughs, loves and remembers. Critic Harold Bloom called poet Robert Pack an heir to Robert Frost and Edwin Arlington Robinson.
Hardcover. NY, Funny Garbage Press, 1st, 2001, Hardcover, 212 pages. Legendary underground cartoonist Panter's comics are typically anarchic and fun, but they also delve deeper. First produced in 1983, Cola Madness is published here in book form for the first time. The work stars Jimbo, Panter's enduring punk everyman, sharing billing with a cast of idiosyncratic characters including Bob War; his calamitous brother, Uncle Garcia, a smart-talking dinosaur and beleaguered guardian in a bathrobe; and Kokomo, a native in an unspecified tropical land colonized by oil companies. Posited as the hallucinatory fever dream of Kokomo, Panter's farce follows Jimbo's misadventures as he tries to get a Moka Cola at the local Jack-in-the-McTacos, the whole zany affair culminating in an absurd, scatological climax at an automated fast food restaurant. Panter delivers a visionary response to contemporary American life viewed through the wrong end of some cosmic telescope. This delightfully inane story offers a selection of Panter's themes: humanity's troubled relationship with nature and technology; the tension between restraint and the uncontrollable urge; family relationships; and Jimbo's endearing, comical self-doubt. Panter's black and white "ratty line" drawing style offers great economy while suggesting a broad range of graphic style from art brut to bathroom graffiti, and calls to mind the works of legendary cartoonists Jack Kirby and Osamu Tezuka.
Softcover. San Francisco, Rip Off Press, 1st, 1980, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in pictorial color wraps, $1.50 cover price, 48 pages in b&w by Shelton. Clean, bright copy.
Hardcover. New York, W. Colston Leigh, 1st, 1931, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, blue cloth covers with gilt titles on front and spine, unpaginated, b&w cartoons throughout, drawings from Judge, The Bystander, Life, New Yorker and College Humor. SIGNED BY BAIRNSFATHER on the front fly leaf. Mild crease to first four pages, tight and clean copy.
Hardcover. Atglen PA, Schiffer Publishing, 1st, 2025, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, pictorial boards, 255 pages. illustrated in color. Explore the rise and fall of pre-Code comics with 500 covers revealing America's cultural shifts, censorship, and controversy. From 1940 to 1955, American society and culture underwent dramatic changes, including the introduction of the Comics Code in October 1954, which heavily impacted comic books. The Code aimed to moderate comic content in response to public opinion, including such topics as juvenile delinquency, wartime sentiment, teenage sex, drugs, violent crime, and more. While compliance was technically voluntary, most publishers followed its strict rules. Those who didn't faced ruin when wholesalers and distributors refused to handle noncompliant comics, returning them unopened to publishers, who soon self-destructed. Comic Book Apocalypse! explores this downfall through 500 examples of pre-Code cover art, highlighting why some deemed the Code necessary. The book also examines who decided what content was acceptable, demonstrating how pre-Code comics reflect the larger story of 1950s America. DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.
Softcover. Baltimore MD, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 326 pages, b/w illustrations, softcover. These 4 cartoonists worked at the New Yorker between 1925 and 1975, mocking the status quo without alienating that magazine's readers. For many aficionados of the New Yorker magazine, the drawings of Peter Arno, William Steig, Charles Addams, and Saul Steinberg epitomize its sophisticated wit and disarming humor. In The Comic Worlds of Peter Arno, William Steig, Charles Addams, and Saul Steinberg, the first full-scale scholarly study of the subject, Iain Topliss considers the work of each artist, traces the development of his art, and recalls the cultural and social context in which it was created.
Hardcover. NY/London, Tate Publishing, 1st, 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 144 pages, illustrated throughout in color and b&w. Clean, tight copy. In this richly illustrated and accessible survey, acclaimed author Paul Gravett considers the vast output of comics culture from the late 19th century to today, including syndicated comics, graphic novels, and contemporary art and illustration. From foundational masterpieces such as Rodolphe Topffer's and Wilhelm Busch's albums, George McManus's Art Deco "Bringing Up Father," and Alex Raymond's "Flash Gordon" to the later retro stylings of Robert Crumb, Gravett considers lines of influence from around the world and examines how comics have shifted from supporting the status quo to becoming the voice of alternative subcultures. Gravett traces the major themes taking place in contemporary comics, noting the rise of publications that function as questioning, transgressive outlets for outsider stories and ideas, and includes the ways that folk art traditions are reinvigorating the form.
Hardcover. NY/London, Tate Publishing, 1st, 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 144 pages, illustrated throughout in color and b&w. Clean, tight copy. In this richly illustrated and accessible survey, acclaimed author Paul Gravett considers the vast output of comics culture from the late 19th century to today, including syndicated comics, graphic novels, and contemporary art and illustration. From foundational masterpieces such as Rodolphe Topffer's and Wilhelm Busch's albums, George McManus's Art Deco "Bringing Up Father," and Alex Raymond's "Flash Gordon" to the later retro stylings of Robert Crumb, Gravett considers lines of influence from around the world and examines how comics have shifted from supporting the status quo to becoming the voice of alternative subcultures. Gravett traces the major themes taking place in contemporary comics, noting the rise of publications that function as questioning, transgressive outlets for outsider stories and ideas, and includes the ways that folk art traditions are reinvigorating the form.