Samuel C. Gaskin's first book is a delirious mash-up of gags, strips and stories with playful, risque riffs on pop luminaries. Fatal Faux-Pas is youthful exuberance for the adult reader.

Absorbing Roman poet Ovid's tales of transformation in Metamorphoses and adding his own dash of art-historical figuration and contemporary pop culture, Mark Ryden broaches new terrain with The Tree Show. Arcadian Gothic might hint at the nature of this new work, and fans of Ryden will find familiar preoccupations in these new paintings, drawings and sculptures - made since his first solo show in 1998 - transposed to new pastures. Never reluctant to freight his work with layers of reference that range from Renaissance landscape and Neoclassical portrait painting to occultism and literature, in his latest works Ryden combines the arcane with pop-cultural images as ground from which to make his carefully executed leaps into fantasy. Ryden's series includes depictions of oak trees consuming children, floating tree stumps with "seeing" eyes, imaginary wood nymphs and mythological characters who personify Nature herself. Ryden paints his characters with a masterful, porcelain glow reminiscent of Ingres and renders his trees with a care that evokes Audubon's botanical illustration. Several of his paintings are presented in elaborately carved frames that project their narratives beyond the canvas. The Tree Show offers reproductions of these paintings and sculptures alongside the fruits of Ryden's research on the tree as myth - drawing from the Buddha's Bodhi Tree to Adam and Eve, the Sephiroth of the Kabbalah and matters of ecological science. As such, this volume constitutes an enticing dossier on Ryden's encyclopedic exploration of the subject and reproduces in its entirety this series centered around the arboreal world.

Tattoos continue to move into the mainstream and grow in popularity with each passing day. For the talented and decorated artists behind these designs, the tattoo is not just a way of adorning the human form, but a way of honoring our bodies, celebrating our icons and loved ones, inspiring ourselves to accomplish our goals, and remembering and marking defining experiences - a way of life. Tattoo Delirium profiles top tattoo artists around the world, exploring their inspiration, tools, techniques, strategies and thought processes for creating unique, beautiful, and inspirational tattoo designs. What defines them as artists? What were their most challenging tattoos to create? Which ones did they have reservations about? Each artist is introduced with a short biography explaining who they are and why they were drawn to the tattoo design field, notes and musings from them on their clientele and favorite tattoo designs are featured, along with full-color photographs and sketches from their extraordinary creations.

Jillian Venters was a fairly spooky and morbid child, with parents who never objected to her eccentric taste in clothing. When she discovered the existence of the whole Gothic subculture, she clapped her hands with glee. Eventually she came to realise that excellent clothes were not a substitute for excellent manners. Goth has become a permanent fixture in mainstream culture, but there are a lot of misconceptions about the people who choose to embrace the lifestyle. "Gothic Charm School" is the ultimate, fully-illustrated handbook for day-to-day Gothic living and an 'insider's look' at the subcluture for people who are curious about, but not necessarily part of the subculture. Jillian Venters, aka 'The Lady of the Manners', was a fairly spooky and morbid child, with parents who never objected to her eccentric taste in clothing. Her father raised her to be his revenge upon the universe, while her mother rolled her eyes a lot and frequently had an air of amused patience. When the Lady of the Manners discovered the existence of the whole Gothic subculture, she clapped her hands with glee. Eventually the Lady of the Manners came to realise that excellent clothes were not, contrary to popular opinion, a substitute for excellent manners, and that being a Black-Clad-Freak didn't have to mean being depressed and snarly. (Witty, sarcastic, and possibly a touch cynical, yes. Mean-spirited, sullen, and rude, no.) Since then, the Lady of the Manners has spent a not-inconsiderable amount of time trying to gently persuade others in her chosen subculture that being Goth and being polite is much, much more subversive than just wearing black t-shirts with 'edgy' sayings on them.

Reimagines the first meeting of Batman and Superman against a backdrop of the Cold War, in a tale that follows their collaborations in Gotham City and Metropolis in the wake of rumors about a flying saucer crash, escalating nuclear threats, and Lex Luthor's scheme to build a military-industrial empire.

This first graphic novel from the acclaimed cartoonist and short-story writer Tyler ("Late Bloomer") tells the story of her relationship with her World War II veteran father, and how his war experience shaped her childhood and affected her relationships in adulthood. Recommended ages: adult.