by Jon Morris
You know about Batman, Superman, and Spiderman, but have you heard of Doll Man, Doctor Hormone, or Spider Queen? In The League of Regrettable Superheroes, you’ll meet one hundred of the strangest superheroes ever to see print, complete with backstories, vintage art, and colorful commentary. So prepare yourself for such not-ready-for-prime-time heroes as Bee Man (Batman, but with bees), the Clown (circus-themed crimebuster), the Eye (a giant, floating eyeball; just accept it), and many other oddballs and oddities. Drawing on the entire history of the medium,The League of Regrettable Superheroes will appeal to die-hard comics fans, casual comics readers, and anyone who enjoys peering into the stranger corners of pop culture.
by Daniel Cooney
Written for art students and beginners who want to illustrate for comics and graphic novels, this book provides a thorough grounding in drawing the human form.
Explains how to pose and photograph models, and then use photos as reference for finished drawings
Describes the essentials of creating sequential art, including backgrounds, facial expressions expressing emotion, poses suggesting action, and more
Includes examples and principles on how to draw clothing and costumes
Advises on writing dialogue that keeps the story action moving This comprehensive self-teaching course for illustrators features more than 150 instructive color illustrations.
by Sharon Gosling
Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman sees the hero brought to the big screen for the first time in her own movie, and fully realizes the breathtaking wonder, strength, and grace of such an historic character. Wonder Woman: The Art & Making of the Film celebrates the creation of this groundbreaking movie, taking fans on a voyage of discovery through the world of Wonder Woman. Showcasing the earliest concept art, set and costume designs, sketches and storyboards, the book delves deep into the filmmaking process, from creating the stunning island of Themyscira to the war-torn trenches and towns of First World War Europe.
This official companion explores the Amazons’ rigorous training regimens, their weaponry, armor, Themysciran culture, and the amazing women themselves. With exclusive insights from cast and crew, including director Patty Jenkins, production designer Aline Bonetto, and Diana herself, Gal Gadot, this volume is the ultimate guide to the past, present, and future of one of the most iconic heroes in the world – Wonder Woman.
WONDER WOMAN and all related characters and elements © and TM DC Comics and Warner Bros. Entertainment. (s16)
by Bob Batchelor
The Amazing Spider-Man. The Incredible Hulk. The Invincible Iron Man. These are just a few of the iconic superheroes to emerge from the mind of Stan Lee. 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 Comics, 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. In this energetic and entertaining biography, Batchelor explores how Lee capitalized on natural talent and hard work to become the editor of Marvel Comics as a teenager. After toiling in the industry for decades, Lee threw caution to the wind and went for broke, co-creating the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and others in a creative flurry that revolutionized comic books for generations of readers. Marvel superheroes became a central part of pop culture, from collecting comics to innovative merchandising, from superhero action figures to the ever-present Spider-Man lunchbox. Batchelor examines many of Lee's most beloved works, including the 1960s comics that transformed Marvel from a second-rate company to a legendary publisher. This book reveals the risks Lee took to bring the characters to life and Lee's tireless efforts to make comic books and superheroes part of mainstream culture for more than fifty years. Stan Lee: The Man behind Marvel Comics not only reveals why Lee developed into such a central figure in American entertainment history, but brings to life the cultural significance of comic books and how the superhero genre reflects ideas central to the American experience. Candid, authoritative, and utterly absorbing, this is a biography of a man who dreamed of one day writing the Great American Novel, but ended up doing so much more - changing American culture by creating new worlds and heroes that have entertained generations of readers.
by Sean Howe
An unvarnished, unauthorized, behind-the-scenes account of one of the most dominant pop cultural forces in contemporary America
For the first time, Marvel Comics reveals the outsized personalities behind the scenes, including Martin Goodman, the self-made publisher who forayed into comics after a get-rich-quick tip in 1939; Stan Lee, the energetic editor who would shepherd the company through thick and thin for decades; and Jack Kirby, the World War II veteran who'd co-created Captain America in 1940 and, twenty years later, developed with Lee the bulk of the company's marquee characters in a three-year frenzy of creativity that would be the grounds for future legal battles and endless debates.
Drawing on more than one hundred original interviews with Marvel insiders then and now, Marvel Comics is a story of fertile imaginations, lifelong friendships, action-packed fistfights, reformed criminals, unlikely alliances, and third-act betrayals— a narrative of one of the most extraordinary, beloved, and beleaguered pop cultural entities in America's history.
by Stan Lee
These early classic Stan Lee/Jack Kirby adventures of Marvel's First Family - The Invisible Girl, the Human Torch, the Thing, and Mr. Fantastic - defined the Marvel Age of Comics! Collects Fantastic Four #1-20 and Annual #1.
by Various
Join DC to celebrate the 80th anniversary and 1,000th issue of one of the most important publications ever, Detective Comics. Over the past eight decades, Batman has remained at the forefront of popular culture, which is in no small part because of this comic book series that is synonymous with the Dark Knight! Celebrate Detective Comics with DC, as we revisit classic stories from comics from the 1930s onward, featuring some of Batman's greatest allies and villains and work from some of the greatest creators ever to grace the graphic-literature medium! With a new cover by DC publisher and chief creative officer Jim Lee. Curated by guest editor Paul Levitz, it features reprints of the Dark Knight’s most memorable adventures, from his first appearance to the debuts of Robin, Batwoman, Bat-Mite and Batgirl, as well as villains including Two-Face, the Riddler, Clayface, Man-Bat and more. This hardcover also spotlights crime-fighters including Slam Bradley, Air Wave, the Boy Commandos, the Martian Manhunter and the 1970s Manhunter, Paul Kirk! And, published for the first time anywhere: a new tale of a traumatic early moment in Bruce Wayne’s life written by Paul Levitz with art by Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz, and an extraordinary look at a long-ago work in progress—the original layouts for the Batman tale from DETECTIVE COMICS #200, as illustrated by Lew Sayre Schwartz (and signed “Bob Kane”). As if that’s not enough, this volume includes essays on Batman from contributors including Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman, Glen David Gold, Dennis O’Neil, former San Diego police chief Shelley Zimmerman and pulp historian Anthony Tollin.
by Kurt Busiek
In this critically acclaimed work from writer Kurt Busiek (ASTRO CITY) and artist Stuart Immonen (Ultimate X-Men), an alternate “Clark Kent” encounters complications the real Superman never had to handle: a career, a wife, children—a real life.
Despite his iconic name, Clark Kent from Picketsville, Kansas, is just a normal kid whose parents thought they were being clever. He can’t fly, or see through walls, or shrug off speeding bullets—that is, until the day he can. And it’s all much harder than it looks in the comics.
Follow Clark across the decades as this man with powers tries to prove he can make the world a safer place without sacrificing everything.
by DK Publishing
The most comprehensive history of Marvel Comics ever published, Marvel Year by Year is a fan-favorite title that offers a chronological account not only of Marvel Super Heroes such as the Avengers, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Wolverine, but also the company that created them. The book highlights the debuts of Super Heroes and Villains, the geniuses who invented them, and the real-life events that shaped the times. It also details Marvel Comics' beginnings and landmarks in publishing, movies, and television.
by Matt Forbeck
Bring the Marvel Universe home with this all-inclusive encyclopedia detailing little-known facts and information about the iconic Marvel characters. This essential tome has been fully updated with 32 additional pages.
Created in full collaboration with Marvel Comics, the revised pages of Marvel Encyclopedia now feature new entries on the latest characters and teams, updated facts on existing ones including their latest looks and story lines, and expanded entries on major superheroes such as Spider-Man, Thor, and The Avengers. Special double-page features have also been added highlighting recent major crossover events in the Marvel Universe, such as Fear Itself, and the new Marvel Now series.
by Jerry Siegel
Thrill to the Early Adventures of the Man of Steel!
In the late thirties, when Superman was making his ground-breaking debut in comic books, his legend was simultaneously being propagated in Sunday newspapers.
Collected in this deluxe edition are the first three years of the classic Sunday Superman comic strips as written and illustrated by the Man of Steel's creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster.
In these timeless tales, the Man of Steel challenges saboteurs and racketeers, saves runaway trains and plummeting planes, defeats giant robots and begins his lifelong rivalry with his greatest nemesis, Lex Luthor.
by Daniel Herman
This book takes an inside look at the artists who created the Silver Age of comics. Based on dozens of interviews, this book carefully shows the development of the art of comic book storytelling from its roots in comic strips and the first generation of comic book artists in the Golden Age. Hundreds of pieces of original artwork illustrate the lengthy text. The first comprehensive overview of the art and artists of the Silver Age of comics. The book is being printed in a special 9" x 12" format to better display the original artwork of the artists highlighted by the book.
by Gina Misiroglu
Appealing to the casual comic book reader as well as the hardcore graphic novel fan, this ultimate A-to-Z compendium describes everyone’s favorite participants in the eternal battle between good and evil. With nearly 200 entries examining more than 1,000 icons and their place in popular culture, it is the first comprehensive profile of superheroes across all media, following their path from comic book stardom to radio, television, movies, and novels. The best-loved and most historically significant superheroes mainstream and counterculture, famous and forgotten, best and worst are presented with numerous full-color illustrations, including dozens of classic comic covers. Each significant era of the superhero is explored from the Golden Age of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s through the Modern Age providing a unique perspective of the role of the hero over the course of the 20th century and beyond. This latest edition has been revised to reflect updates on existing characters, coverage of new characters, and recent films and media trends in the last several years.