Softcover. Kitchen Sink Press, 1st, 1992, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 176 pages. The most popular of Capp's hundreds of distinctive characters was the Shmoo. This lovable little creature loved mankind so much that it would sacrifice itself and turn into a ham steak, a gallon of milk or a dozen eggs: whatever its owner desired. Its whiskers made nice toothpicks and its eyes could be recycled as buttons. Most important, a Shmoo could reproduce faster than a rabbit. Thus, if you had one Shmoo, you were set. You didn't need to work at all. Thus did the apparent book for mankind become its curse and the powers that be decreed that all Shmoos must be exterminated. Capp's insightful morality tale was so popular that it spawned an unprecedented merchandising bonanza. Two introductions, by David Schreiner and by science fiction writer Harlan Ellison, are illustrated with various Shmoo toys manufactured. The large back cover photograph shows a selection of Shmoo merchandise in color from the Denis Kitchen collection. Also featured in this volume: Flying Sausages (parody of "Flying Saucers," a term first coined a few months earlier; Fearless Fosdick, Nightmare Alice, Salomey, Adam Lazonga, Moonbeam McSwine, Cousin Weak-Eyes and Marryin' Sam.
Softcover. US, Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1st, 2009-08-18, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 221 pages, illustrated throughout in color and b&w. Clean, unmarked copy in excellent condition.
Hardcover. NY/Philadelphia, David McKay, 1st, 1941, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover, black & white, 2-color cartoons from the Saturday Evening Post. Bright cardboard covers, clean, sharp. Dust jacket with edgewear, soil. Presumed first edition, price of 50 cents on front flap and *Little Lulu and Her Pals* only Lulu book listed on rear flap.
Softcover. Milwaukee, OR, Dark Horse Books, 1st, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 240 pages. Softcover. Illustrators by John Stanley and Irving Tripp. Based on the character created by Marge Buell. Light edgewear to wrappers.
Hardcover. Montreal, Drawn & Quarterly, 1st, 2020, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 244 pages of color comics plus 30 pages of additional material. Essay on Stanley by Frank Young. Lulu is a strong, assertive young girl who is both entertaining and empowering to girls and women of all ages-even if she sometimes finds herself in hot water. In Little Lulu: The Fuzzythingus Poopi, she outsmarts criminals, sabotages the boys in a masterful snowball fight, and solves the crime of the missing piggy bank! Over the course of these stories, Stanley excels at visual gags, from Lulu winning the soap box derby by turning her frock into a sail, to a lonely cloud almost getting sucked up by a vacuum. This is the second installment in Drawn & Quarterly's landmark reprint series of the classic John Stanley comic strip that was first published by Dell Comics in the 1940s and '50s.
Hardcover. Evergreen/Taschen, 1st, 2000, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 432 pages. A reproduction of some of the "Little Nemo" comic strip from the early 20th century. This volume reflects the distinctive art-nouveau style of the original drawings and follows Little Nemo as he journeys nightly into the world of dreams. The strip was introduced to America over a century ago, and these pages still have the power to astonish and touch anyone that reads them. The utter timelessness of this strip, both in artwork and vision, is the kind of testament to genius that very few graphic artists ever receive. Winsor McCay was such a genius and his major work, Little Nemo in Slumberland, is a vastly rich exploration of human dreams.
Hardcover. Franklin Square, NY, Nostalgia Press, 2nd pr., 1974, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 263 pages. B&W and color comic strips throughout. Black pictorial boards with orange cloth spine. Sticker residue to bottom corner of back cover. Overall, a clean, tight copy. A gorgeous collection of Little Nemo cartoons from 1905 - 1910, including many in color. With an introduction by Woody Gelman.
Hardcover. Racine WI, Whitman Publishing, 1944, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a bright, chipped dust jacket. Based on the Harold Gray comic strip. Illustrated with comic book style art. When Annie and Sandy stopped in the little town of Butternut, a train robbery and an abandoned mine threaten to entangle the two of them in a mysterious maze of circumstances. Front hinge partially cracked, paper tanning. No markings.
Softcover. Seattle, Fantagraphics, 1st, 2002, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 160 pages. Daddy Warbucks, Annie, and Sandy ("Arf!") hit their hardest times yet in the fifth volume of Fantagraphics' complete reprinting of Harold Gray's classic comic strip of optimism, honesty against all odds, and self-reliance. The action kicks off with an unshaven Warbucks leading Annie from town to town looking for jobs that never turn up. Through a twist of fate, however, Warbucks becomes reunited with his old friend Harry Morgan, a millionaire whose life he'd saved long ago, and through Morgan Annie meets a new, if at first frightening, friend: Punjab, a super-strong mystic whom Annie can summon at a moment's notice with a blow on a dragon whistle. Together, they face industrial espionage when the evil financier J. Gordon Slugg hires an army of thugs to assassinate Warbucks and his crew. Fate is never predictable, however, and just when things seem to be working out, Annie gets separated from Warbucks, Punjab and the rest, and falls into the hands of the manipulators, cheats, and crooks of Hollywood on her own when a crooked agent promises her motion-picture stardom. Little Orphan Annie Volume 5: 1935 includes a whole year's worth of comics artistry and enjoyment from the golden age of adventure serials, introduced by comics historian R.C. Harvey, who gives the strips historical context, making these strips as immediate and exciting today as they were for the readers of 1935.
Hardcover. San Diego CA, IDW Publishing, 1st, 2009, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, oblong format, 277 pages. Dailies in b&w, Sunday strips in color. Clean copy.
Hardcover. Library of American Comics, 1st, 2014, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Oblong hardcover, 336 pages. In Alley Oop, Hamlin created a unique concept, marrying his fascination with dinosaurs and prehistoric times to a rollicking style of storytelling and drawing that was simultaneously serious, fantastic, and loaded with slapstick. The series was set in the kingdom of Moo and starred Alley Oop, the club-wielding caveman, his girlfriend Ooola, friends Dinny the dinosaur and Foozy (who speaks in rhyme), plus Oop's rival, King Guz, and Guz's Queen Umpateedle. Yet Hamlin knew that the strip's horizons in Moo were limited. So it was, in early 1939, that Alley Oop and Ooola see a mysterious box and, to the utter amazement of Guz and his minions, promptly fade from view, followed by the caption: "Dear Reader: you must now say goodbye to Moo...if you are to follow Alley Oop in this strangest of many strange adventures. --V. T. Hamlin". Oop and Ooola had entered a time machine and were now living in the modern-day 20th Century! Their host was the inventor of the time machine, Dr. Elbert Wonmug! No change of such magnitude had ever occurred in a continuing newspaper strip, and readers responded enthusiastically. With every time period in history available as a backdrop, Alley Oop became even more popular. This volume features Oop's final Moo adventure, followed by his trips to the 20th Century and ancient Greece, where he and Ooola share adventures with brave Ulysses, the lovely Helen of Troy, and the mighty Hercules. V.T. Hamlin would send his characters everywhere and everywhen--but the classic Alley Oop begins with the stories contained in this volume. The book is introduced by Michael T. Price, who first met V. T. Hamlin in the 1960s and remained friendly with him for the rest of the cartoonist's life. Price also composed the musical score for Hip Pocket Theatre's production, Alley Oop.
Hardcover. NY, Abrams, 1st, 2023, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover in pictorial boards. Featuring beloved New Yorker covers, iconic animated characters, and more, Local Fauna is the definitive monograph by award-winning illustrator and character designer Peter de Seve. His work spans four decades and various media, from magazines, books, and television commercials, to Broadway posters and character designs for animated feature films. He is perhaps best recognized for his many covers for The New Yorker magazine and his character designs for the blockbuster Ice Age franchise (Scrat is a veritable international celebrity). De Seve has also contributed to such films as Finding Nemo, Robots, The Little Prince, and The Grinch, to name only a few. Local Fauna showcases de Seve's most iconic illustrations and designs alongside a plentiful selection of sketches and personal work that have become fan favorites across social media. This monograph opens a doorway into his visual universe, and it includes behind-the-scenes insight into his process, from a character or cover's first conception to the final product. Local Fauna also includes an introduction by writer, illustrator, and character designer Carter Goodrich and an in-depth interview with Bill Watterson, the legendary creator of Calvin & Hobbes, as well as essays by The New Yorker art director Francoise Mouly; Academy Award winning director and animator Glen Keane; comic artist and creator of Hellboy, Mike Mignola; and New York Times bestselling picture book author Randall de Seve.
Hardcover. Seattle, Fantagraphics, 1st, 2004, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 712 pages. These superb stories from the nearly 20-year run of Love and Rockets define a world of Hispanic gang warfare, '80s California, punk rock, women wrestlers and the subtle battle to stay true to oneself. Hernandez's main characters are Maggie and Hopey, two adorable lesbian rockers who start out in a somewhat vague relationship and are then are separated by adventures both grand and demeaning. Maggie is a magnificent comics character, a tempestuous naif who wears her heart on her sleeve when she's not throwing it at a succession of bad boys who ignore her, even though Hopey is secretly the love of Maggie's life. Hopey, a mohawked imp, is more opaque, a symbol of the youthful rebellion of punk rock that all the characters are trying to return to in some way, even as real life sweeps them further away from their dreams. Maggie's weight gain over the years sends her self-esteem on a downward spiral, while Hopey goes on an endless tour with a band. Along the way, Hernandez gradually peels away the strip's early sci-fi trappings (dinosaurs and rocket ships) to create a devastatingly naturalistic world. Sharp b&w drawings capture the characters in minute detail with a wide range of emotions. Finally collected into one volume, these stories are among the greatest comics ever put to paper, and an essential piece of the literature of the punk movement.
Softcover. Paris, Dragon's Dream, 1st English transl., 1973, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, brilliant color illustrations throughout. Superb very fine detailed art, in this Science Fiction & Dark Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, graphic novel masterpiece, with incredible color pictures. Measures 8.5" x 11". One of the great French Comic Artists, with some of his strips appearing in Pilotte magazine; He became best know in North America for his work in the pages of Heavy Metal magazine. Clean, sharp copy.
Softcover. Seattle WA, Fantagraphics Books, 1st, 1992, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 143 pages, over 100 b&w drawings. A generous collection of drawings from two cartoonists who revolutionized the medium. A fascinating look into the work processes of two of comics' most talented artists, allowing readers to witness the creative process, from the earliest ideas through roughed-out pages all the way to finished artwork (including several completed sequences that were edited out of continuity, seen here for the first time!) -- plus dozens of pages of beautiful character sketches, as well as the requisite sketchbook section of just goofing around, all annotated by Los Bros.
Hardcover. Seattle, Fantagraphics Books, 1st, 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, large format, color throughout. From the very first cover of the very first issue of Love and Rockets in 1982, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez have created artwork that has subverted, contradicted and celebrated the history of the comic book medium, inverting familiar tropes and creating some of the most iconic images in comics over the past three and a half decades, inviting fans and readers into their world. Amazingly, many of the covers created by Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez for the various iterations of Love and Rockets over the past 35 years have never been collected or have only been reprinted in black-and-white. Love and Rockets: The Covers rectifies this problem, presenting them without trade dress (logos, marketing hype, etc.), allowing the original cover illustrations to communicate on their own.
Hardcover. Seattle, Fantagraphics, 1st, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 120 pages. The third in Gilbert Hernandez's line of original hardcovers featuring Love and Rockets' "Fritz" in her guise as a Z-movie actress (the first two were Chance in Hell and The Troublemakers) is a trippy thriller that stars Fritz in no fewer than three roles. A beautiful waitress (Fritz, of course) and her hospital nurse brother (also Fritz) visit their estranged father, a once successful but now retired writer (amazingly enough, also Fritz), in order to find out the true reason why their mother committed suicide. When dad's health fails, the siblings are then more concerned with the money he might leave them. The story weaves in and out of reality and hallucination and possibly back in forth in time, and to complicate things further, the sister is sexually obsessed with a mysterious man throughout the tale - or is it her brother (at one point posing as his sister so that he might gain his and her inheritance) that is so hot and bothered by this mystery stud? And that's only the tip of the iceberg. There's also a venture into ghost territory, with frauds bilking the gullible and Fritz's character(s) right in the middle. 120 pages of black-and-white comics
Hardcover. New York, Macmillan, 1st, 1958, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, illustrated glazed boards with red cloth spine. 160 pages illustrated with b&w cartoons by the Berenstains that poke fun at the male in the relationship. No dust jacket.
Hardcover. NY, Vertigo/DC Comics, 1st, 2009, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. Graphic novel, 158 pages, art by Danijel Zezelj. Alik is a former Soviet soldier who has relocated to Coney Island only to become a gangland enforcer. He's haunted by memories of his past, and the only thing that soothes his angst is booze, heroin and his lover, the prostitute Marina. But as much as Alik encourages her to break away from the ganglord who owns her, Marina can't because of her daughter, who never leads the ganglord's side. So Alik comes up with a desperate plan to save all three of them, and in doing so, he'll find he's destined to repeat the past over and over again, including a past or two he might not even be aware he has, in a story that flashes from present- day run down Coney Island to the Russia of 10 years ago during the Second Chechen War to turn of the 20th century Coney Island, when the area was at its peak amusement park glory and wonder.
Hardcover. NY, New York Review Comics, reprint, 2019, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover in pictorial boards. A reprint of Stamaty's classic 1980 book about life in New York City. Every week, from 1978 to 1980, The Village Voice brought a new installment of Mark Alan Stamaty's uproarious, endlessly inventive strip MacDoodle St. Centering more or less on Malcolm Frazzle, a blocked poet struggling to complete his latest lyric for Dishwasher Monthly, Stamaty's creation encompassed a dizzying array of characters, stories, jokes, and digressions. One week might feature the ongoing battle between irate businessmen and bearded beatniks for control of a Greenwich Village coffee shop, the next might reveal a dastardly plot involving a genetically engineered dishwashing monkey, or the frustrated dreams of an irascible, over-caffeinated painter, or the mysterious visions of a duffle-coated soothsayer on the bus. Not to mention the variable moods and longings of the comic strip itself.... And somehow, in the end, it all fits together. MacDoodle St. is more than just a hilarious weekly strip; it is a great comic novel, a thrilling, surprising, unexpectedly moving ode to art, life, and New York City. This new edition features a brand-new, twenty-page autobiographical comic by Stamaty explaining what happened next and why MacDoodle St. never returned, in a unique, funny, and poignant look at the struggles and joys of being an artist. Remainder dot top edge, otherwise like new.
 "Lil Abner: Meets the Shmoo, 1948, Vol. 14by: Capp, Al")
 "Little Lulu, Vol. 4: Sunday Afternoonby: Comics, Dark Horse")
 "Little Nemoby: McCay, Winsor")
 "Little Orphan Annie: 1933 Vol. 3by: Gray, Harold")
 "Little Orphan Annie: Bucking the Worldby: Gray, Harold")
 "Love & Rockets Sketchbook Vol. 2by: Hernandez Brothers (Gilbert and Jaimie)")
 "Love & Rockets: The Coversby: Gilbert Hernandez; Jaime Hernandez")
 "Love, East European Styleby: Hugdebert")
 "Lover Boy: The Last Word in Animal Husbandryby: Berenstain, Stanley and Janice")
