In "The Beats: A Graphic History," those who were mad to live have come back to life through artwork as vibrant as the Beat movement itself. Told by the comic legend Harvey Pekar, his frequent artistic collaborator Ed Piskor, and a range of artists and writers, including the feminist comic creator Trina Robbins and the "Mad" magazine artist Peter Kuper, "The Beats" takes us on a wild tour of a generation that, in the face of mainstream American conformity and conservatism, became known for its determined uprootedness, aggressive addictions, and startling creativity and experimentation. What began among a small circle of friends in New York and San Francisco during the late 1940s and early 1950s laid the groundwork for a literary explosion, and this striking anthology captures the storied era in all its incarnations--from the Benzedrine-fueled antics of Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs to the painting sessions of Jay DeFeo's disheveled studio, from the jazz hipsters to the beatnik chicks, from Chicago's College of Complexes to San Francisco's famed City Lights bookstore. Snapshots of lesser-known poets and writers sit alongside frank and compelling looks at the Beats' most recognizable faces. What emerges is a brilliant collage of--and tribute to--a generation, in a form and style that is as original as its subject. Harvey Pekar is best known for his graphic autobiography, "American Splendor," based on his long-running comic-book series that was turned into a 2003 film of the same name.
Paul Buhle is a senior lecturer at Brown University. In "The Beats: A Graphic History," those who were mad to live have come back to life through artwork as vibrant as the Beat movement itself. Told by the comic legend Harvey Pekar, his frequent artistic collaborator Ed Piskor, and a range of artists and writers, including the feminist comic creator Trina Robbins and the "Mad" magazine artist Peter Kuper, "The Beats" takes us on a wild tour of a generation that, in the face of mainstream American conformity and conservatism, became known for its determined uprootedness, aggressive addictions, and startling creativity and experimentation. What began among a small circle of friends in New York and San Francisco during the late 1940s and early 1950s laid the groundwork for a literary explosion, and this striking anthology captures the storied era in all its incarnations--from the Benzedrine-fueled antics of Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs to the painting sessions of Jay DeFeo's disheveled studio, from the jazz hipsters to the beatnik chicks, from Chicago's College of Complexes to San Francisco's famed City Lights bookstore. Snapshots of lesser-known poets and writers sit alongside frank and compelling looks at the Beats' most recognizable faces. What emerges is a brilliant collage of--and tribute to--a generation, in a form and style that is as original as its subject. "This revelatory and exhilarating and funny book not only tells us of the Beat generation, but of a time when we as individuals felt truly free. It is as fresh and pertinent as the latest scholarly history only far more entertaining."--Studs Terkel "This revelatory and exhilarating and funny book not only tells us of the Beat generation, but of a time when we as individuals felt truly free. It is as fresh and pertinent as the latest scholarly history only far more entertaining."--Studs Terkel
"History with a deeper perspective is the province of "The Beats," a multifaceted effort led by writer Harvey Pekar, his frequent collaborator Paul Buhle and artist Ed Piskor. It delivers the texture of a movement easy to underestimate in brief biographies of touchstones like poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, novelists William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac and lesser-known lights like poet d.a. levy (an underground Cleveland icon) and mythopoeic poetess Diane di Prima . . . This fearless, substantial history entertains as it uncovers."--Carlo Wolff, "The Boston Globe
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"Pekar's history of the post-war literary, cultural and spiritual awakening is well researched and intended . . . Piskor is joined by such stellar artists as Kuper, Tooks, Gary Dumm and Fleener . . . More writers pitch in, too, and the diversity of images and narrative voices add texture and resonance to the proceedings . . . The absorbing graphic presentation may elicit interest from unexpected quarters."--Richard Pachter, "The Miami Herald"

"Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs need no introduction, but here they are introducing "The Beats: A Graphic History"--in the section written by Harvey Pekar and illustrated by Ed Piskor. It's warts and all: the alcohol-fueled writings, the drug-fueled globe-trotting, not to mention the rampant sexuality and jaw-dropping misogyny . . . But there's humor here too by Joyce Brabner and Summer McClinton on a topic ripe for latter-day ridicule: 'Beatnik Chicks.' Good thing too that Pekar et al. salute some lesser lights in this primer on the birth of the cool: City Lights bookstore founder and poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, in addition to poets Philip Whalen, Kenneth Patchen, and D.A. Levy, plus former hobo Slim Brundage."--Leonard Gill, "The Memphis Flyer "
"Graphic novels don't just have to be about dystopian alternative universes, no matter if "Watchmen" might indicate otherwise. Just peruse the eye-catching "The Beats: A Graphic History" (in stores as of Tuesday), from Harvey Pekar, Ed Piskor and Paul Buhle, which takes an illustrated look back at a very real part of American pop-culture history, when beat culture of the '40s and '50s--sandwiched between the improvisational nature of jazz and the recklessness of rock 'n' roll--began to speak to a part of a generation at odds with mainstream society. One word sums it up: Cool."--Cary Darling, "Star-Telegram
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"Do we really need another bio on the lives of Kerouac, Ginsberg, et. al.? Yes, especially should it be one like "The Beats." I expected "The Beats" to be dry, regurgitated history presented in graphic novel form simply because graphic novels are so 2009. So much for first impressions. "American Splendor"'s Pekar leads a troop of writers who bring these influential--and often seriously flawed--writers to life . . . "The Beats" is strong, dramatic storytelling that is executed and illustrated by major leaguers."--Randy Myers, "Contra Costa Times"
"Written by Harvey Pekar and four other authors, with art by eleven cartoonists and illustrators, "The Beats" covers all the major writers of the generation--Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Philip Whalen, Robert Duncan, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Charles Olson, Diane DiPrima, and many more. 'No one claims this treatment to be definitive, ' Buhle and Pekar write in their introduction to the book. 'But it is new and it is vital.' And, perhaps more important, it's fun."--"Poets & Writers"

"If you're a fan of Harvey Pekar, author of the successful graphic novel-turned-film "American Splendor," then you can imagine how his voice sounds on a weekday morning, discussing topics including homophobia, Yiddish, and moves about Joseph McCarthy. In his latest project, "The Beats: A Graphic History," Pekar conjures an imagined, often hilarious d

In 1992, Marvel Entertainment commissioned Jim Lee, the young superstar penciller behind X-Men (vol. 2) no. 1, the bestselling single-issue comic book of all time, to create all of the art for a new set of 105 trading cards-a set that would go on to become one of the most celebrated in Marvel history and the gold standard for non-sports trading-card artwork and design. Lee was the first artist to create all of the original artwork for a Marvel card set; his dynamic character portraits, battle scenes, team shots, and innovative nine-card Danger Room puzzle cards helped fuel both the '90s boom of comic-book trading cards and the general public's mania for all things X-Men. Fans of the chart-topping comics could turn to the cards for further insight into their favorite characters, as Marvel writers and editors-inspired by classic baseball cards-included bios, stats, and trivia for each hero and villain. The Uncanny X-Men Trading Cards: Series One collects, for the first time, the front and back of each collectible card in the set-including Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Magneto, and Deadpool-alongside select scans of Lee's original and digitally remastered art. It also includes interviews conducted by author and set editor Bob Budiansky, with the Marvel staff who helped commission, design, and create these iconic trading cards.

Covering the early years of 1981-1983, Hip Hop has made a big transition from the parks and rec rooms to downtown clubs and vinyl records. The performers make moves to separate themselves from the paying customers by dressing more and more flamboyant until a young group called RUN-DMC comes on the scene to take things back to the streets. This volume covers hits like Afrika Bambaataa s Planet Rock, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five s the Message, the movie Wildstyle and introduces superstars like NWA, The Beastie Boys, Doug E Fresh, KRS One, ICE T, and early Public Enemy. Cameos by Dolemite, LL Cool J, Notorious BIG, and New Kids on the Block (? ) "

The lore of the early days of hip hop has become the stuff of myth, so what better way to document this fascinating, epic true story than in another great American mythological medium the comic book? From exciting young talent and self-proclaimed hip hop nerd Ed Piskor, acclaimed for his hacker graphic novel Wizzywig, comes this explosively entertaining, encyclopedic history of the formative years of the music genre that changed global culture. Originally serialized on the hugely popular website Boing Boing, The Hip Hop Family Tree is now collected in a single volume cleverly presented and packaged in a style mimicking the Marvel comics of the same era. Piskor s exuberant yet controlled cartooning takes you from the parks and rec rooms of the South Bronx to the night clubs, recording studios, and radio stations where the scene started to boom, capturing the flavor of late-1970s New York City in panels bursting with obsessively authentic detail. With a painstaking, vigorous and engaging Ken Burns meets- Stan Lee approach, the battles and rivalries, the technical innovations, the triumphs and failures are all thoroughly researched and lovingly depicted. plus the charismatic players behind the scenes like Russell Simmons, Sylvia Robinson and then-punker Rick Rubin. Piskor also traces graffiti master Fab 5 Freddy s rise in the art world, and Debbie Harry, Keith Haring, The Clash, and other luminaries make cameos as the music and culture begin to penetrate downtown Manhattan and the mainstream at large. Like the acclaimed hip hop documentaries Style Wars and Scratch, The Hip Hop Family Tree is an exciting and essential cultural chronicle and a must for hip hop fans, pop-culture addicts, and anyone who wants to know how it went down back in the day."

To celebrate the resounding critical and commercial success of the first two volumes of Ed Piskor s unprecedented history of Hip Hop, we are offering the two books in a mind-blowingly colorful slipcase, drawn and designed by the artist. As if that s not enough, in addition to the two books and the slipcase itself, Piskor has drawn a 24-page comic book Hip Hop Family Tree #300 specifically for this boxed set that elegantly reflects the confluence of hip hop and comics, which was never more apparent in the early 1990s than with the famous Spike Lee-directed Levi Jeans commercial starring Rob Liefeld, who went on to create Youngblood and co-found Image Comics, not to mention ending up on the radar of gangster rapper Eazy E. Piskor tells this story as a perfect parody/pastiche/homage to 90s Image comics."