The comedic and ironic misadventures of a confused Philosophy professor on the path to spiritual awakening. From Legendary artist Moebius (The Incal, Arzach, Blueberry) and writer Alejandro Jodorowsky (The Incal, Metabarons, Jodorowsky's Dune). Alan Mangel has it all. As a popular professor at the world-famous Universite de La Sorbonne, he is wealthy, married, and academically acclaimed. On his sixtieth birthday, however, his life crumbles as a beautiful young student claims she has received a holy vision that Mangel is to impregnate her with the second coming of John the Baptist. Thus begins a wild existential and spiritual journey that challenges Mangel's very reality when everything once true is proved to be false, while everything once false is proved to be true.

An original sci-fi adventure of rebellion against a totalitarian and oppressive world, as imagined by master storyteller Alejandro Jodorowsky (The Incal, Metabarons, Jodorowsky's Dune). On Megalex, the city-planet, a tyrannical order reigns over a population controlled by drug addiction and genetic manipulation. Its only opposition are the freedom fighters hiding in a primitive and impenetrable forest. The fighters are easy prey--until a clone policeman, known only as Anomaly, is rescued from death by the rebel Adama and learns the truth about the side he's been fighting for. Now the gentle giant has joined the opposition and is eager to help topple his former masters. At long-last back in print in a gorgeous oversized deluxe edition for the first time, this is the definitive way to enjoy this classic sci-fi epic. Experience the art in the way it was meant to be. Includes: Special Edition with Gold Foil Stamping on Cover Cover gallery

Michael Allred stands out for his blend of spiritual and philosophical approaches with an art style reminiscent of 1960s era superhero comics, which creates a mixture of both postmodernism and nostalgia. His childhood came during an era where pop art and camp embraced elements of kitsch and pastiche and introduced them into the lexicon of popular culture. Allred's use of both in his work as a cartoonist on his signature comic book Madman in the early 1990s offset the veiled autobiography of his own spiritual journey through Mormonism and struggles with existentialism. Thematically, Allred's work deals heavily with the afterlife as his creations struggle with the grander questions--whether his modern Frankenstein hero Madman, cosmic rock 'n' roller Red Rocket 7, the undead heroine of iZombie (co-created with writer Chris Roberson), or the cast of superhero team book The Atomics. Allred also enjoys a position in the creator-driven generation that informs the current batch of independent cartoonists and has experienced his own brush with a major Hollywood studio's aborted film adaptation of Madman. Allred's other brushes with Hollywood include an independent adaptation of his comic book The G-Men from Hell, an appearance as himself in Kevin Smith's romantic comedy Chasing Amy (where he provided illustrations for a fictitious comic book), the television adaptation of iZombie, and an ongoing relationship with director Robert Rodriguez on a future Madman film. Michael Allred: Conversations features several interviews with the cartoonist from the early days of Madman's success through to his current mainstream work for Marvel Comics. To read them is to not only witness the ever-changing state of the comic book industry, but also to document Allred's growth as a creative genius.

Collects Thor The Mighty Avenger #1-8 and material from Free Comic Book Day 2011: Captain America & Thor.

It’s Thor as you’ve never seen him when Eisner and Harvey Award-nominated writer Roger Langridge and artist Chris Samnee re-imagine the God of Thunder! Thrill as Thor battles raging robots the size of cities and fights side-by-side with Iron Man for the first time! Gasp as he tames the mightiest sea creatures and tests his might against the Sub-Mariner! Swoon as he rescues damsels in distress from the vilest villains! Plus: When mischievous Loki’s machinations throw Thor and a World War II-era Captain America into King Arthur’s court, it’s a time-twisting tale of Camelot craziness that neither Avenger will ever forget!

This detailed analysis of the adult manga phenomenon describes and analyzes the complex attitudes towards manga in Japan since the 1980s. Topics covered include: the revival of manga censorship and the moral panic surrounding manga otaku; the repression of the amateur manga subculture; and the promotion of certain genres of manga by educational and cultural institutions. The book aims to show how manga's status in Japanese society is intimately linked to changes in the balance of power between artists and editors.

First detailed analysis of the phenomenon in English. Describes and analyses the complex new attitudes to manga since the 1980s. Provocative and timely, the book shows how manga's status in Japanese society is intimately linked to changes in the balance of power between artists and editors.

Graphic novels (kurimchaek) are a major art form in North Korea, produced by agents of the regime to set out its vision in a range of important areas. This book provides an analysis of North Korean graphic novels, discussing the ideals they promote and the tensions within those ideals, and examining the reception of graphic novels in North Korea and by North Korean refugees in South Korea. Particular themes considered include the ideal family and how the regime promotes this; patriotism, and its conflict with class identities; and the portrayal of the Korean War - "The Fatherland Liberation War", as it is known in North Korea - and the subsequent, continuing stand-off. Overall, the book demonstrates the importance of graphic novels in North Korea as a tool for bringing up children and for promoting North Korean ideals. In addition, however, the book also shows that although the regime sees the imaginative power of graphic novels as a necessity for effective communication, graphic novels are also viewed with caution in that they exist in everyday social life in ways that the regime may be aware of, and seeks to control, but cannot dominate completely.

This second collection of gorgeously illustrated artworks highlights events from volumes 10 through 15 of the main story. The definitive edition also includes illustrations from volumes 1 through 3 of Sword Art Online: Progressive, as well as art from animated productions, games, and conventions. A must-have for SAO fans and abec fans alike!

This is the third installment in comics icon Stan Lee's series showing readers how to draw some of the most exciting and dynamic superheroes of all time. Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, and the Avengers all share a common trait - these hugely popular Marvel Comics superheroes were co-created by the legendary Stan Lee. Now, Lee shows readers everything they'll need to make their own mighty superheroes, just like his classic creations. Lee exposes his secret tools and techniques for bringing strong, inspiring heroes and heroines to life. He even shows aspiring creators how to expand their super-universes with evil villains, trusty sidekicks, brutes and monsters, super-pets, secret hideouts, and more! These invaluable insights from one of the greatest superhero creators of all time are must-haves for all fans of Lee's legendary superhero comic work.

Monsters seem inevitably linked to humans and not always as mere opposites. Maaheen Ahmed examines good monsters in comics to show how Romantic themes from the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries persist in today's popular culture. Comics monsters, questioning the distinction between human and monster, self and other, are valuable conduits of Romantic inclinations. Engaging with Romanticism and the many monsters created by Romantic writers and artists such as Mary Shelley, Victor Hugo, and Goya, Ahmed maps the heritage, functions, and effects of monsters in contemporary comics and graphic novels. She highlights the persistence of recurrent Romantic features through monstrous protagonists in English- and French-Language comics and draws out their implications. Aspects covered include the dark Romantic predilection for ruins and the sordid, the solitary protagonist and his quest, nostalgia, the prominence of the spectacle as well as excessive emotions, and above all, the monster's ambiguity and rebelliousness. Ahmed highlights each Romantic theme through close readings of well-known but often overlooked comics, including Enki Bilal's Monstre tetralogy, Jim O'Barr's The Crow, and Emil Ferris's My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, as well as the iconic comics Series Alan Moore's Swamp Thing and Mike Mignola's Hellboy. In blurring the otherness of the monster, these protagonists retain the exaggeration and uncontrollability of all monsters while incorporating Romantic characteristics.

Attempts to define what comics are and explain how they work have not always been successful because they are premised upon the idea that comic strips, comic books and graphic novels are inherently and almost exclusively visual. This book challenges that premise, and asserts that comics is not just a visual medium. The book outlines the multisensory aspects of comics: the visual, audible, tactile, olfactory and gustatory elements of the medium. It rejects a synaesthetic approach (by which all the senses are engaged through visual stimuli) and instead argues for a truly multisensory model by which the direct stimulation of the reader's physical senses can be understood. A wide range of examples demonstrates how multisensory communication systems work in both commercial and more experimental contexts. The book concludes with a case study that looks at the works of Alan Moore and indicates areas of interest that multisensory analysis can draw out, but which are overlooked by more conventional approaches.

Stan Lee, who was the head writer of Marvel Comics in the early 1960s, co-created such popular heroes as Spider-Man, Hulk, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, and Daredevil. This book traces the ways in which American theologians and comic books of the era were not only both saying things about what it means to be human, but, starting with Lee they were largely saying the same things. Author Anthony R. Mills argues that the shift away from individualistic ideas of human personhood and toward relational conceptions occurring within both American theology and American superhero comics and films does not occur simply on the ontological level, but is also inherent to epistemology and ethics, reflecting the comprehensive nature of human life in terms of being, knowing, and acting. This book explores the idea of the "American monomyth" that pervades American hero stories and examines its philosophical and theological origins and specific manifestations in early American superhero comics. Surveying the anthropologies of six American theologians who argue against many of the monomyth's assumptions, principally the staunch individualism taken to be the model of humanity, and who offer relationality as a more realistic and ethical alternative, this book offers a detailed argument for the intimate historical relationship between the now disparate fields of comic book/superhero film creation, on the one hand, and Christian theology, on the other, in the United States. An understanding of the early connections between theology and American conceptions of heroism helps to further make sense of their contemporary parallels, wherein superhero stories and theology are not strictly separate phenomena but have shared origins and concerns.

Celebrating the 75th anniversary of DC Comics, these 100 all-different postcards feature the incredible art of DC's comic book covers from the 1930s through the 1980s.

Fall in love all over again in volume one of the graphic novel adaptation of the global phenomenon AFTER! Uncover Tessa and Hardin's love story as you've never seen it before . . . Anna Todd's original story comes to life with breathtaking illustrations by Pablo Andres. Featuring twelve pages of behind-the-scenes and character profile bonus content, After: The Graphic Novel is a great introduction to the bestselling series for new readers and the ultimate collector's item for fans everywhere! There was the time before Tessa met Hardin, and then there's everything AFTER . . . Tessa is a good girl with a sweet, reliable boyfriend back home. She's got direction, ambition, and a mother determined to keep her on course. But she's barely moved into her freshman dorm when she runs into Hardin Scott, with his tousled brown hair, cocky British accent, and tattoos. Good looking, confident, and rather rude, even a bit cruel. For all his attitude and insults, Tessa should hate Hardin, and she does - until something about his dark mood grabs her, and it's only a matter of time before he ignites a passion in her that she's never known before. He will call her beautiful, then insist he's not the one for her, making excuses and disappearing, again and again. He'll turn away from her, yet when she tries to push him aside, he'll only pull her in deeper. Despite the reckless way Hardin treats her, Tessa is drawn to his vulnerability and determined to unmask the real Hardin beneath all the lies. A good girl . . . a bad boy . . . something undeniable . . . and everything AFTER.

You've researched your character extensively, tailored her to your audience, sketched hundreds of versions, and now you lean back content as you gaze at your final character model sheet. But now what? Whether you want to use her in an animated film, television show, video game, web comic, or children's book, you're going to have to make her perform. How a character looks and is costumed starts to tell her story, but her body language reveals even more. Character Mentor shows you how to pose your character, create emotion through facial expressions, and stage your character to create drama. Author Tom Bancroft addresses each topic with clear, concise prose, and then shows you what he really means through commenting on and redrawing artwork from a variety of student "apprentices." His assignments allow you to join in and bring your drawing to the next level with concrete techniques, as well as more theoretical analysis. Character Mentor is an apprenticeship in a book. Professional artists from a variety of media offer their experience through additional commentary. These include Marcus Hamilton (Dennis the Menace), Terry Dodson (X-Men), Bobby Rubio (Pixar), Sean "Cheeks" Galloway (Spiderman animated), and more. With a foreword by comicbook artist Adam Hughes, who has produced work for DC, Marvel Comics, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros. Pictures, and other companies.

Create the Gotham for your Batman, the African savannah for your Simba, or the bustling newsroom for your Clark Kent. Background, setting, environment.whatever you call it, it is the silent character in the visual story, and a dynamic and compelling setting can define and hone the action and drama of your story. If you're in the habit of creating disembodied characters or adding backgrounds as an afterthought, Set the Action! will help you understand and utilize the importance of the setting in your narrative. Understand perspective, blocking, and color-and focus your narrative by establishing and designing your setting to interact with characters and story.

The first global history of comics from 1968 through to the present day, arranged chronologically and richly illustrated with prime examples of the artists, styles and movements being discussed. The authors contextualize the crucial modern period within the art form's broader history and offer a description of the more fluid, international and digital scene that is the medium's likely future. They supply examples from around the world - including the US and UK, France, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Argentina, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand - and from a range of renowned and lesser-known artists.

Graphic narratives are one of the world's great art forms, but graphic novels and comics from Europe and the United States dominate scholarly conversations about them. Building upon the little extant scholarship on graphic narratives from the Global South, this collection moves beyond a narrow Western approach to this quickly expanding field. By focusing on texts from the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia, these essays expand the study of graphic narratives to a global scale. Graphic Novels and Comics as World Literature is also interested in how these texts engage with, fit in with, or complicate notions of World Literature. The larger theoretical framework of World Literature is joined with the postcolonial, decolonial, Global South, and similar approaches that argue explicitly or implicitly for the viability of non-Western graphic narratives on their own terms. Ultimately, this collection explores the ways that the unique formal qualities of graphic narratives from the Global South intersect with issues facing the study of international literatures, such as translation, commodification, circulation, Orientalism, and many others.

The end of the twentieth century and the turn of the new millennium witnessed an unprecedented flood of traumatic narratives and testimonies of suffering in literature and the arts. Graphic novels, free at last from long decades of stern censorship, helped explore these topics by developing a new subgenre: the trauma graphic novel. This book seeks to analyze this trend through the consideration of five influential graphic novels in English. Works by Paul Hornschemeier, Joe Sacco, Art Spiegelman, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons will be considered as illustrative examples of the representation of individual, collective, and political traumas. This book provides a link between the contemporary criticism of Trauma Studies and the increasingly important world of comic books and graphic novels.

If Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs represented the Animation industry's infancy, Ed Hooks thinks that the current production line of big-budget features is its artistically awkward adolescence. While a well-funded marketing machine can conceal structural flaws, uneven performances and superfluous characters, the importance of crafted storytelling will only grow in importance as animation becomes a broader, more accessible art form. Craft Notes for Animators analyses specific films - including Frozen and Despicable Me - to explain the secrets of creating truthful stories and believable characters. It is an essential primer for the for tomorrow's industry leaders and animation artists.

The Comics of Joe Sacco addresses the range of his award-winning work, from his early comics stories as well as his groundbreaking journalism Palestine (1993) and Safe Area to Gorazde (2000), to Footnotes in Gaza (2009) and his most recent book The Great War (2013), a graphic history of World War I. First in the new series, Critical Approaches to Comics Artists, this edited volume explores Sacco's comics journalism, and features established and emerging scholars from comics studies, cultural studies, geography, literary studies, political science, and communication studies. Sacco's work has already found a place in some of the foundational scholarship in comics studies, and this book solidifies his role as one of the most important comics artists today. Sections focus on how Sacco's comics journalism critiques and employs the ""standard of objectivity"" in mainstream reporting, what aesthetic principles and approaches to lived experience can be found in his comics, how Sacco employs the space of the comics page to map history and war, and the ways that his comics function in the classroom and as human rights activism. The Comics of Joe Sacco offers definitive, exciting approaches to some of the most important--and necessary--comics today, by one of the most acclaimed journalist-artists of our time.

Share the little word of Liz Climo with friends and family! Featuring all new comics and fan favorites from the bestselling artist's delightful cast of animal friends, these 30 postcards will bring a smile to anyone you send them to, no matter the occasion.

• INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING ARTIST: Liz Climo's books have sold millions of copies. These postcards are a new way to get a piece of her quirky, charming artwork.
• FEATURES FAVORITE ART AND BRAND-NEW STRIPS: The postcards contain full-color comics and spot illustrations throughout, including some new Liz Climo art!
• RELATABLE AND FUNNY CONTENT: Liz Climo has a gift for creating short and sweet panels that range from goofy to sweet to laugh-out-loud. Her voice is pitch-perfect, and her animal art is just as charming. These postcards are perfect for all occasions.
• INCLUDES: 30 unique full-color postcards, 4 3/4 x 6 1/2 inches