There’s nothing really special about this page. These are books that I’ve read and like so much that I want everyone else in the world to read them too. And if I make a couple of bucks in the process, well, that’s all gravy.
- The Desert Peach Annotations
- A collection of Desert Peach annotations by Sharon Henderson, as well as the Desert Peach FAQ and a convention read.
- The Northwest Cartoon Cookery
- Review of The Northwest Cartoon Cookery, with a recipe for Joe Sacco’s “What the Poor Eat”.
More Information
- Animal Man•
- Animal Man is two things: Grant’s ranting about animal rights, and eventually coming to terms with it, sort of; and an investigation into the comic book world itself. What kind of a person lives in a comic book? High points are the chapters “The Coyote Gospel” and “The Death of the Red Mask”.
- Animal Man: Deus Ex Machina•
- This completes the Grant Morrison run on Animal Man. This was the book that got me hooked on Doom Patrol and the Invisibles and pretty much ensures that if Grant Morrison writes it I’ll at least take a look at it.
- Animal Man: Origin of the Species•
-
The first volume ends just as it starts getting weird. The second volume really brings a restrained Grant Morrison ethos out into the open. This is where I started picking up the series, on a recommendation from a friend. This was one of those series that kept me coming back into the comic book shop every month; it wasn’t just a love of the story but the stories clear love of superhero comics that sucked me in.
- Beanworld•
- This is an odd work. The Beans live under the watchfulness of the great tree Gran’ma’pa, the wisdom of Professor Garbanzo, and the protection of Mr. Spook. The Bean life is a simple alternation of chowing down on chow, going on chow raids among the Hoi Polloi beyond the four realities, and washing back up on the Proverbial Sandy Beach. It looks like a children’s story; that’s because it’s a good story of strange people in a strange place told simply.
- The Cartoon Guide to the Computer•
- The author of “The Cartoon History of the Universe” has done it again with the computer.There’s too much emphasis on computer programming (he includes a page on each of the major BASIC language commands) but most of the information is either about the history of computers or the heart of what makes computers tick. You don’t need this book to switch your computer on. But if you’d like a better understanding of why some things always happen, such as why the numbers 256, 512, and 1024 keep popping up, you’ll not find a more entertaining way to learn.
- The Cartoon History of the Universe•
- Do not pass up these books. The most fun I’ve ever had reading history. Larry Gonick has an eye for the absurd from the beginning of time. But don’t let the funny pictures fool you: this is a real history book.
- Comics and Sequential Art•
- Probably the best “how-to” book on comics you’ll find if you’re an illustrator, and not a bad book for writers either. Will Eisner discusses panel layout, storytelling, expressiveness, and the uses of “sequential art” in a book that was way ahead of its time.
- The Complete Superman Collection•
- The Fleischer studios released seventeen “Superman” animated shorts during the forties. While the storylines are lacking, the animation is very interesting: shadowy, with art-deco backgrounds and ‘props’.
- Doom Patrol: Crawling from the Wreckage•
- Doom Patrol begins as an odd superhero story but quickly becomes a twisting exploration of the psychological maze of Crazy Jane. Thrill to the adventures of the Doom Patrol in the City of Bone as an odd collection of superheroic misfits search for their humanity amid an increasingly odd and inhuman world.
- Doonesbury
- Ever since I first read “The Doonesbury Chronicles”, I’ve rated comic strips by how well they compare to the Doonesbury of that collection.
- Flaming Carrot Comics•
- “I do not know what it is that Bob sees,” said Dave Sim in the intro to Man of Mystery!. The Flaming Carrot fights characters like the Artless Dodger and his best friends are the girls down at the Boom Boom Room. When an evil Soviet scientist discovers how to turn cellulite into a powerful explosive, the Carrot springs into action at the local bar. “There’s more hoods here than we thought,” says a compatriot. “Then shoot more bullets,” replies the Carrot.
- From Hell•
- Alan Moore’s Twentieth Century psyche seen through the eyes of a Nineteenth-Century killer. Through Jack the Ripper’s murders, he sees visions of a mechanized future: “How would I seem to you? Some antique fiend or penny dreadful horror, yet you frighten me! You have not souls. With you I am alone.” That’s not Jack the Ripper speaking, that’s Alan Moore, using Jack as the gods used the Delphic oracle. This is a brilliantly dark book, made all the more so by Eddie Campbell’s moody pencils.
- Graffiti Kitchen•
- Yet Another biographical comic work, this one is Eddie Campbell in London, and whether its true or almost true or completely mythical, Eddie is one of the best story-tellers in the business. A lot of the story is getting drunk in pubs, walking it off, sticking willies where they ain’t supposed to be, and talking philosophy in bars and bedrooms. Ulysses and Lolita both come up.
- Hothead Paisan
- “Homicidal Lesbian Terrorist”. The full-blown paranoia of a gun-totin’, axe throwin, take-no-prisoners, queen of the world, angry pissed-off bitch on wheels. Of course, even feminist terrorists have their calm moments when Rush isn’t looking or she’s not talking to her lamp. She’s a nice person, really. When she isn’t off kidnapping rapists and hanging them to dry deep in uncharted dungeons, she’s buying a fez for her cat. Great comic. Buy it, but watch out for the severed penis exhibit.
- The Invisibles•
- With Invisibles, Grant Morrison is going off in a similar direction to his work on Doom Patrol and Animal Man. This is a search for reality where everyone wears great clothing! Grant takes on Michael Moorcock, Eastern Philosophy, and Sixties Fashion, and weaves them into a philosophical treatise so deep you’ll need to wear rubber pants.
- Jar of Fools•
- Jason Lutes came on the comics scene like a comet with Jar of Fools. It’s a simple story drawn finely in black and white: an alcoholic magician and his escaped-from-the-old-folks-home mentor meet up with a con-man and his daughter. It’s a beautiful, funny story well worth going into a comic book store for.
- JLA•
- Stand down, kids. Protex of the Hyperclan is here to save the world! And DC’s big guns are back to make sure they don’t save it right into oblivion. If you watched Superfriends, you’ll recognize most of the names: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash. These are DC’s greatest heroes, and Grant tones down his normal weirdness to take these legends straight on. Grant is instead compiling the best myths of the past Leagues into a coherent epic.
- Moonshadow•
- A fascinating story, touching, silly, and funny, lovingly illustrated by Jon J. Muth, about a young boy who, after growing up in a small and insular community where he was an outcast, is cast into a universe which he can never call home.
- Oddville!
- Flying babies from outer space, a paranoid town that hunts the baby down to kill it, and an eight-year-old superhero named “Jetcat”. What more could you ask for? Jay is the creator of Jetcat, Tutenstein, and Space Ape #8, among other odd characters.
- Seal of Approval: The History of the Comics Code•
- I have not yet read this; however, enough people on the comix mailing list have raved that I thought it should be included.
- A Smithsonian Book of Comic Book Comics•
- This book collects some of the well-known firsts, such as Superman’s first appearance in Action, and Batman’s in Detective Comics. But its strength lies in the other items which have not been reprinted, giving those of us born in modern times our first look at relatively well-known tales such as Sheldon Mayer’s Scribbly, and also obscure titles such as George Carlson’s Jingle Jangle Tales. Some of the reproductions seem to double, at least in my copy.
- Stinz•
- “Stinz” is a half-horse, born and raised in the isolated Geisel Valley, fights in the First World War, and returns to the Geiselthal to become a Very Important Person in local politics. And marry and raise two children (or so) in the meantime. This gives Donna Barr a pretty wide range of stories to tell, which is pretty much the way she likes it. Barr wanders throughout Stinz’s life in order to tell “the tale that needs telling”. Like the Desert Peach, only more so, the stories are not told sequentially, nor could they be read that way.
- Superman from the Thirties to the Eighties•
- If you’re interested in Superman, this is a very cool collection of random appearances chosen from the beginning, up through “The Secret World of Jonathan Kent!” in the eighties. It includes “our very first IMAGINARY story”, some tiny covers, and Orson Welles. Lois Lane, Lana Lang, and Lex Luthor all put in an appearance. It won’t turn you into Tom Galloway, but you will get a quick overview of Superman’s growth as a comic book character from his leaping days in 1938 to the all-powerful hero we’re more familiar with.
- Superman in Action Comics•
- From Abbeville Press, this pocket book is nothing more than the covers from the first twenty-five years, and second twenty-five years, of Action Comics. “Can you blame Lois Lane for being jealous when the Man of Steel teams up with the World’s Most Perfect Woman?”. The covers in the first volume go up through Action #300, in May of 1963. All except for the first few in 1938 feature Superman. The introduction is by Mark Waid and describes a short history of the selling of Superman, and the various artists in the life of Superman in Action. I haven’t seen volume two yet.
- Superman: Last Son of Krypton• (paperback)
- “Last Son of Krypton” explores the responsibility of power and the side-effects of universal good deeds through the super-powered adventures of Superman. Elliot S! Maggin’s Superman books are highly recommended. (Elliot S! Maggin)
- Understanding Comics•
- Everyone who is interested in comics as an artform or as a medium of information exchange should read this book. You’ll have fun just leafing through it reading the various chapters.
- WasteLA
-
Waste L.A.: Descent; the photo-comic to begin photo-comics. And you can order it right here. Or read it right here. Descent is one of the best series I read in 1996, and I strongly recommend you check it out.
- Watchmen•
- Destined to be one of the seminal works of the (modern or dying, take your pick) superhero comics industry. Moore weaves a tale of millennial fever in a world where the atomic bomb is big, blue, and looks like us.
