From the moment Captain America punched Hitler in the jaw, comic books have always been political, and whether it is Marvel's chairman Ike Perlmutter making a campaign contribution to Donald Trump in 2016 or Marvel's character Howard the Duck running for president during America's bicentennial in 1976, the politics of comics have overlapped with the politics of campaigns and governance. Pop culture opens avenues for people to declare their participation in a collective project and helps them to shape their understandings of civic responsibility, leadership, communal history, and present concerns. Politics in the Gutters: American Politicians and Elections in Comic Book Media opens with an examination of campaign comic books used by the likes of Herbert Hoover and Harry S. Truman, follows the rise of political counterculture comix of the 1960s, and continues on to the graphic novel version of the 9/11 Report and the cottage industry of Sarah Palin comics. It ends with a consideration of comparisons to Donald Trump as a supervillain and a look at comics connections to the pandemic and protests that marked the 2020 election year. More than just escapist entertainment, comics offer a popular yet complicated vision of the American political tableau. Politics in the Gutters considers the political myths, moments, and mimeses, in comic books-from nonfiction to science fiction, superhero to supernatural, serious to satirical, golden age to present day-to consider how they represent, re-present, underpin, and/or undermine ideas and ideals about American electoral politics.

In Asterix and the Chariot Race, Senator Lactus Bifidus announces a special one-off chariot race, to defend his name and prove Rome's greatness. Julius Caesar insists a Roman must win, or Bifidus will pay. Open to anyone from the known world, competitors arrive from far and wide, including Asterix and Obelix. With Bifidus secretly scheming, who will win this almighty chariot race? In Asterix and the Chieftain's Daughter, Adrenalin, the rebellious daughter of the great Gaulish chieftain Vercingetorix, arrives at their village, and Asterix and Obelix are tasked with protecting her from the Romans chasing her. This is easier said than done though, as Adrenalin is desperate to escape! Follow our favourite heroes as they try and reach Adrenalin before the Romans do. In Asterix and the Griffin, Asterix and Obelix set out on their 39th adventure on a long journey in search of a strange and terrifying creature. Half-eagle, half-lion, and idolised and feared by ancient peoples, this creature is the griffin.

In a film eight years in making, Studio Ghibli's cofounder Isao Takahata tells the untold story of Princess Kaguya. An old bamboo cutter and his wife find a tiny girl inside a bamboo shoot and raise her. The mysterious little princess grows rapidly into a young lady, enthralling everyone who encounters her-but ultimately, she must face her fate. This book captures the breathtaking art of the film from conception to production, and features commentary, interviews, and an in-depth look at the production process. "Every frame is worthy of being its own painting." -Joe Hisaishi, film's composer

Since at least 1939, when daily-strip caveman Alley Oop time-traveled to the Trojan War, comics have been drawing (on) material from Greek and Roman myth, literature and history. At times the connection is cosmetic-as perhaps with Wonder Woman's Amazonian heritage-and at times it is almost irrelevant-as with Hercules' starfaring adventures in the 1982 Marvel miniseries. But all of these make implicit or explicit claims about the place of classics in modern literary culture.
Classics and Comics is the first book to explore the engagement of classics with the epitome of modern popular literature, the comic book. This volume collects sixteen articles, all specially commissioned for this volume, that look at how classical content is deployed in comics and reconfigured for a modern audience. It opens with a detailed historical introduction surveying the role of classical material in comics since the 1930s. Subsequent chapters cover a broad range of topics, including the incorporation of modern theories of myth into the creation and interpretation of comic books, the appropriation of characters from classical literature and myth, and the reconfiguration of motif into a modern literary medium. Among the well-known comics considered in the collection are Frank Miller's 300 and Sin City, DC Comics' Wonder Woman, Jack Kirby's The Eternals, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and examples of Japanese manga. The volume also includes an original 12-page "comics-essay," drawn and written by Eisner Award-winning Eric Shanower, creator of the graphic novel series Age of Bronze.

Dive into this monstrously massive compendium and explore all of the hunting fields, monsters, weaponry and lore that turned Capcom’s beloved Monster Hunter franchise into a global hit! Monster Hunter: World is one of the biggest games to release in years, and an epic game deserves an epic book! Explore the world of Monster Hunter firsthand with detailed commentary from the producers, beautiful reproductions of designs and concept art, spotlights on the weapons you can forge, and a trek through the story of the game—from the moment the Fifth Fleet made landfall in the New World all the way through the end of their hunt for Zorah Magdaros and their investigation of the Elder Crossing!

Comics have become icons of U.S. popular culture familiar throughout the world. This huge bibliography, one of four compiled by Lent to cover all parts of the world, cites many publications in various writing styles, formats, time periods, and languages. This volume is introduced by famed cartoonists Mort Walker ("Beetle Bailey") and Jerry Robinson ("The Joker"). The genres of comic art have had a phenomenal growth in recent years; the literature has grown with these developments, making this volume of interest to scholars of popular culture and fans alike.

Featured are sections on resources, including an annotated directory of 128 comic art-related periodicals; comics collecting; portrayals of comics in movies, television, and radio; and relationships of comics with art, education and children, eroticism, ethnicity, humanism, the professions, violence, and war. Other parts deal with historical, business, legal, and technical aspects of comics. Two hundred and ninety-one comics-related personnel are singled out for special consideration, as well as 143 individual comic strip characters and 48 comic book titles under 13 genres. The foreword by Mort Walker deals with comics over the years and the topic of political correctness, and the introduction by Jerry Robinson gives a history of comic art. The indices are conveniently divided by authors, cartoonists, characters and titles, periodicals, and subjects. The other three books in this international series cover animation, caricature, gag, magazine, illustrative, and political cartoons in the United States and Canada; comic art of Europe; and comic art of Africa, Asia, Australia and Oceania, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Learn magic from the God of Mischief!

Everyone loves magic! Especially Marvel Comics’ Loki, who’s mastery of magic makes him one of the most dangerous—and beloved—antiheroes in all of The Nine Realms. And now, for the first time ever, Loki shares the secrets behind performing 35 tricks!

Filled with classic Marvel comic book art and full-color photographs that illustrate easy-to-learn step-by-step instructions, readers of all ages will learn ways to amaze their friends, impress their family, and trick their goody two-shoes brother.

And with guest appearances by other Marvel magic-wielders, including Doctor Strange, Wong, and The Scarlet Witch, Loki’s Book of Magic and Mischief offers something for every magic and Marvel fan!

The secrets and techniques of shoujo manga, the popular style of Japanese animation that is based on stories related to peer pressure, friendship, and romance, are revealed in a guide that includes information on the unique stylistic characteristics of the style and tips on drawing different character types.

Every week, the comic book artist Riad Sattouf has a chat with his friend's daughter, Esther. She tells him about her life, about school, her friends, her hopes, dreams and fears, and then he works it up into a comic strip. This book consists of 52 of those strips, telling between them the story of a year in the life of this sharp, spirited and hilarious child. The result is a moving, insightful and utterly addictive glimpse into the real lives of children growing up in today's world.

With this high-quality sketchbook, experienced and aspiring manga artists can take what they've learned about drawing manga and create their own manga graphic novels. The opening pages of this sketchbook include information on filling the panels, creating drama with angles, using speech balloons, and creating special effects. After that, the book is divided into six sections, each with a cover template and blank, black-framed panels that allow artists to create different manga stories from start to finish. The possibilities are endless!

From knitting personality Vickie Howell comes an adorable collection of modern baby knits featuring a fresh new take garter stitch, everyone s go-to for easy projects. Taking this stitch into new creative territory, Howell designer, author, "Knit Simple(r) "columnist, and host of PBS "Knitting Daily TV with Vickie Howell "has created 28 standout garments for boys and girls, including plenty of unisex items. These pieces wow with their inventiveness and modern appeal including stylish fringed moccasins, a boho hooded poncho, a feathered pom-pom toboggan hat, and a baby Cowichan sweater that grownup knitters will envy!"

Hoping to break out of a sales slump at Marvel in the early 1960s, veteran comic creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby hit on the idea of doing a super team. Kirby, who thought superheroes were due for a revival after 15 years of being pushed aside by romance, horror, and war comics, saw it as smart business. Lee just once wanted to "do the type of story I myself would enjoy reading." The Fantastic Four forever changed their careers, their lives, and the comic book industry. Some of the most iconic moments in Marvel history are here, starting with Reed Richards, his girlfriend Sue Storm, his best friend Ben Grimm, and her little brother Johnny Storm crash landing their rocket after it has been hit cosmic rays and discovering they have been transformed into Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, the Thing, and the Human Torch in issue No. 1. They were emotionally complex characters, who weren't always sure whether their powers were a benefit or burden. Stories were set in New York City, not some fictional stand-in, and Marvel heroes regularly crossed over into each other's books. The art was dynamic and the writing conversational and engaging. Lee and Kirby were like the Lennon and McCartney of comic books. Where the talents of one ended and the other began was not always clear, but together one plus one equaled three. Collected here in an XXL-size volume are the first 20 issues reproduced from the most pristine pedigreed original comics, which were cracked open and photographed in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company. Featured alongside the comics is an in-depth essay by acclaimed Marvel writer Mark Waid, a foreword by former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, and original art, photographs, and other rarities. Welcome true believers to the Marvel Age of Comics. (c) 2022 MARVEL About the series MARVEL COMICS LIBRARY is an exclusive, long-term collaboration between TASCHEN and Marvel. The rarest classic comics, including Spider-Man, Avengers, and Captain America are meticulously reproduced in their original glory, in extra-large format. The library offers collectors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lay their hands on the world's most desirable comics. Each volume includes an essay by a comic book historian along with hundreds of photos and artifacts, including rare original comic book artwork.

Printing Terror places horror comics of the Cold War in dialogue with the anxieties of their age. It rejects the narrative of horror comics as inherently, and necessarily, subversive and explores, instead, the ways in which these texts manifest white male fears over America's changing sociological landscape. It examines two eras: the pre-CCA period of the 1940s up to 1954, and the post-CCA era to 1975. The book examines each of these periods through the lenses of war, gender, and race, demonstrating that horror comics at this time were centered on white male victimhood and the monstrosity of the gendered and/or racialised other. It is of interest to scholars of horror, comics studies, and American history. -- .

In The Expanding Art of Comics: Ten Modern Masterpieces, prominent scholar Thierry Groensteen offers a distinct perspective on important evolutions in comics since the 1960s through close readings of ten seminal works. He covers over half a century of comics production, sampling a single work from the sixties (Ballad of the Salt Sea by Hugo Pratt), seventies (The Airtight Garage of Jerry Cornelius by Moebius), eighties (Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons), and nineties (Epileptic by David B.). Then this remarkable critic, scholar, and author of The System of Comics and Comics and Narration delves into recent masterpieces, such as Building Stories by Chris Ware. Each of these books created an opening, achieved a breakthrough, offered a new narrative model, or took up an emerging tendency and perfected it. Groensteen recaptures the impact with which these works, each in its own way, broke with what had gone before. He regards comics as an expanding art, not only because groundbreaking works such as these are increasing in number, but also because it is an art that has only gradually become aware of its considerable potential and is unceasingly opening up new expressive terrain.

As properties of DC comics continue to sprout over the years, narratives that were once kept sacrosanct now spill over into one another, synergizing into one bona fide creative Universe. Intended for both professional pop culture researchers and general interest readers, this collection of essays covers DC Universe multimedia, including graphic novels, video games, movies and TV shows. Each essay is written by a recognized pop culture expert offering a distinct perspective on a wide variety of topics. Even though many of the entries address important social themes like gender and racism, the book is not limited to these topics. Also included are more lighthearted essays for full verisimilitude, including analyses of long forgotten or seemingly marginal aspects of the DC Extended Universe, as well as in-depth and original interpretations of the most beloved characters and their relationships to one another. Highly accessible and approachable, this work provides previously unavailable in-roads that create a richer comprehension of the ever-expanding DC Universe.

Bring to life legendary creatures from around the world in this manga-inspired adult colouring book. Camilla d'Errico adds her signature, manga-inspired twist to creatures from myth, folklore, and legend-as well as from her own imagination. From European favorites such as gryphons, fauns, and centauresses, to her particular take on the Persian manticore and the Asian kinnaris and kirin, fans and colouring enthusiasts can embolden these fabled creatures with their own palette and turn striking full-page spreads with dramatic details into one-of-a-kind art.

An eye-opening exploration of the toxic masculinity and sexism that pervades the superhero genre. Superheroes have been exciting and inspirational cultural icons for decades, dating back to the debut of Superman in the 1930s. The earliest tales have been held up as cornerstones of the genre, looked upon with nostalgic reverence. However, enshrining these tales also enshrines many outdated values that have allowed sexist gender dynamics to thrive. In Not All Supermen: Sexism, Toxic Masculinity, and the Complex History of Superheroes, Tim Hanley examines how anger, aggression, and violence became the norm in superhero comics, paired with a disdain for women that the industry has yet to fully move beyond. The sporadic addition of new female heroes over the years proved largely ineffective, the characters often underused and objectified. Hanley also reveals how the genre's sexism has had real-world implications, with many creators being outed as sexual harassers and bigots, while intolerant fan movements are awash with misogynistic hate speech. Superheroes can be a force for good, representing truth, justice, and courage, but the industry is laden with excessive baggage. The future of the genre depends on what elements of its past are celebrated and what is left behind. Not All Supermen unravels this complex history and shows how superheroes can become more relevant and inspiring for everyone.

Featuring the complete Zits comics from 2020, the newest treasury by award-winning duo Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman is filled with zaniness, wit, and relatable comedic truths about being - and raising - a teenager. Featuring the award-winning combination of Jerry Scott's trademark humor and Jim Borgman's brilliant line art, Zits is the perfect comic for anyone parenting a teenager, or who remembers the days of sleeping in until noon, subsisting entirely on pizza, and rehearsing for an arena rock tour from the cozy confines of the garage. This fantastic Zits treasury presents the timeless teenage antics of Jeremy and friends and the trials of his Baby Boomer parents. Filled with lessons about growing up and growing older, this book contains so many laughs it will make your sides hurt.

Every week, the comic book artist Riad Sattouf has a chat with his friend's daughter, Esther. She tells him about her life, about school, her friends, her hopes, dreams and fears, and then he works it up into a comic strip. This book consists of 52 of those strips, telling between them the story of a year in the life of this sharp, spirited and funny child. The result is a moving, insightful and utterly addictive glimpse into the real lives of children growing up in today's world.

What exactly are comics? Can they be art, literature, or even pornography? How should we understand the characters, stories, and genres that shape them? Thinking about comics raises a bewildering range of questions about representation, narrative, and value. Philosophy of Comics is an introduction to these philosophical questions. In exploring the history and variety of the comics medium, Sam Cowling and Wesley D. Cray chart a path through the emerging field of the philosophy of comics. Drawing from a diverse range of forms and genres and informed by case studies of classic comics such as Watchmen, Tales from the Crypt, and Fun Home, Cowling and Cray explore ethical, aesthetic, and ontological puzzles, including: - What does it take to create—or destroy—a fictional character like Superman? - Can all comics be adapted into films, or are some comics impossible to adapt? - Is there really a genre of “superhero comics�? - When are comics obscene, pornographic, and why does it matter? At a time of rapidly growing interest in graphic storytelling, this is an ideal introduction to the philosophy of comics and some of its most central and puzzling questions.