Comic Art

Starting with the Civil War and cartoonist Thomas Nast, creator of the lasting images of Uncle Sam and Santa Claus, author Jeremy Dauber whizzes listeners through the progress of comics in the 20th century and beyond. Follow the history from the golden age of newspaper comic strips - Krazy Kat, Yellow Kid, Dick Tracy - to the midcentury superhero boom - Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman - and from the moral panic of the Eisenhower era to the underground comix movement; from the grim and gritty Dark Knights to the graphic novel’s rise.

The defining, behind-the-scenes chronicle of one of the most extraordinary, beloved, and dominant pop cultural entities in America’s history - Marvel Comics - and the outsized personalities who made Marvel, including Martin Goodman, Stan Lee, and Jack Kirby.

In the mid-70s, Steve Martin exploded onto the comedy scene. By 1978 he was the biggest concert draw in the history of stand-up. In 1981 he quit forever. Born Standing Up is, in his own words, the story of "why I did stand-up and why I walked away".

Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were two of the brightest stars ever to light up the world of comedy. They set standards that will probably never be surpassed. Cambridge graduates who met in Beyond the Fringe, their chemistry produced some of the funniest, most inventive and downright brilliant comedy ever recorded. They came to wider fame with the TV series Not Only… But Also. The writing and performances were superb....

Once in a lifetime a venue comes along that changes show business dramatically, that fosters growth and camaraderie, experimentation and freedom. The Comic Strip is one of those places, and Make ’Em Laugh is an inside look at how it all happened, straight from the mouths of the stars who built their careers on its stage.

Danny Fingeroth’s A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee is the first comprehensive biography of this powerhouse of ideas, who, with his invention of Marvel Comics, changed the world’s ideas of what a hero is and how a story should be told. With exclusive interviews with Lee himself, as well as with colleagues, relatives, friends - and detractors - Fingeroth makes a doubly remarkable case for Lee’s achievements, while not ignoring the controversies that dogged him his entire life - and even past his death.

Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, the Avengers, the X-Men, Watchmen, and more: the companion volume to the PBS documentary series of the same name that tells the story of the superhero in American popular culture.

This well focused and perceptive analysis of a phenomenon in our popular culture - the new respectability of the comic book form - argues that the comics medium has a productive tradition of telling true stories with grace and economy. It details vividly the outburst of underground comics in the late 1960s and '70s, whose cadre of artistically gifted creators were committed to writing comic books for adults, an audience they made aware that comic books can offer narratives of great power and technical sophistication.

As a movie actress Lucille Ball was, in her own words, "queen of the B-pluses." But on the small screen she was a superstar - arguably the funniest and most enduring in the history of TV. In this exemplary biography, Stefan Kanfer explores the roots of Lucy's genius and places it in the context of her conflicted and sometimes bitter personal life.

Jack and his fellow students are now well into their School of Thought training and are "sidekicking" for official, card-carrying super heroes. But, even though Jack feels more at home in the Imagine Nation, he's still hiding secrets from his friends Skerren and Allegra, both about his shocking connection to their enemy Revile and about his "Top Secret" school assignment, which involves investigating the RÜstov computer virus that affects the Mechas.

Otto Binder: The Life and Work of a Comic Book and Science Fiction Visionary chronicles the career of Otto Binder, from pulp magazine author to writer of Supergirl, Captain Marvel, and Superman comics. As the originator of the first sentient robot in literature ("I, Robot," published in Amazing Stories in 1939 and predating Isaac Asimov's collection of the same name), Binder's effect on science fiction was profound.

In the 1990s, Megan Margulies' Upper West Side neighborhood was marked by addicts shooting up in subway stations, frequent burglaries, and the "Wild Man of 96th Street", who set fires under cars and heaved rocks through stained glass church windows. The world inside her parents' tiny one-bedroom apartment was hardly a respite, with a family of five - including some loud personalities - eventually occupying the 550-square-foot space.

If your gut reaction to reading the title “Comic NFTS—An Ethical Approach” is anger, confusion, or excitement, this book is for you. It is for comic creators who are concerned or curious about NFTs, especially those interested in moving past the myth and rhetoric found on social media to real, fact-based information about this emerging multi-billion-dollar industry.

From the mean streets of Depression-era New York City to recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Lee's life has been almost as remarkable as the thrilling adventures he spun for decades. From millions of comic books fans of the 1960s through billions of moviegoers around the globe, Stan Lee has touched more people than almost any person in the history of popular culture. In Stan Lee: The Man behind Marvel, Bob Batchelor offers an eye-opening look at this iconic visionary, a man who created (with talented artists) many of history's most legendary characters.

Even when he was a kid, everyone thought Jeff Kinney was talented. People loved his drawings, and when he went to college his comic strip, Igdoof, was so popular that it spread to other universities! Still, Jeff faced challenges. His cartoons were rejected by syndicates that claimed his art was unprofessional. Then an idea struck: Jeff would write a journal from the perspective of a child, illustrated with doodles just like a kid might do. And so the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series was born - and it was a hit!

Since its improvised creation at Microsoft in the mid-1990s, Comic Sans has become one of the most used and talked—about typefaces of the digital age. The subject of April Fools pranks and endless internet discourse, it has spawned a movement to ban it, inspired revivals and spinoffs, and continues to be widely promoted by educators. In this delightful history, bestselling author Simon Garfield tells the story of how Comic Sans emerged from speech bubbles on educational software to become one of the most recognized—and reviled—typefaces on earth.

We're currently in the golden age of superhero blockbusters. Movies like Black Panther, Wonder Woman, Joker, and Avengers: Endgame routinely break box office records and compete for Oscars. Yet, Zack Snyder's 2017 behemoth Justice League - a veritable sure bet at the Hollywood casino - tanked miserably, and the behind-the-scenes reasons for the movie's demise are fascinating.

As the creator of "Cathy", Cathy Guisewite found her way into the hearts of fans more than 40 years ago and has been there ever since. Her hilarious and deeply relatable look at the challenges of womanhood in a changing world became a cultural touchstone for women everywhere. Now, Guisewite returns with her signature wit and warmth in this debut essay collection about another time of big transition, when everything starts changing and disappearing without permission: aging parents, aging children, aging self stuck in the middle.

Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were two of the brightest stars ever to light up the world of comedy. They set standards that will probably never be surpassed. Cambridge graduates who met in Beyond the Fringe, their chemistry produced some of the funniest, most inventive and downright brilliant comedy ever recorded.They came to wider fame with the tv series Not Only… But Also. The writing and performances were superb....

This is the candid, uncensored and utterly unofficial of story of DC Comics' infamous Vertigo UK office, written by one who was the heart of the drug-fuelled, creative whirlwind. It's the odyssey of one comic fan in pursuit of his dream job, becoming the first British member of the DC editorial staff, and learning the harsh realities of publishing life. Along the way he meets celebrities including Paul Gambaccini, Jonathan Ross, The Spice Girls, Blur, Adam Ant and many, many more.