From ESPN combat sports reporter Marc Raimondi comes a detailed narrative history of professional wrestling's legendary faction, The NWO (New World Order). From ESPN reporter Marc Raimondi comes a compelling, gripping narrative history of professional wrestling’s legendary faction, The NWO (New World Order), from their inception in 1996 to their influence on American pop culture today. In 1996, professional wrestling was one of the most watched sports on cable television, with more than 5 million people tuning in every week. And in the late 1990s, pro-wrestling was the hottest thing in American pop culture, with companies making millions in action figures, video games, and simple black t-shirts emblazoned with three little letters: NWO. The NWO, or New World Order, became a business like no other, and was responsible for the explosive ratings and rabid fanbase. It started with an ingenious storyline starring Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and the titular Hollywood Hogan—Hulk Hogan gone bad. Together, they formed a new era of characters to root for: The Bad Guys. Never before had audiences cheered for the villains, rooting for them over the heroes. The NWO broke down wrestling’s fourth wall in a clever new way, blurring the lines between fiction and reality. And suddenly, watching professional wrestling not only became socially acceptable, but a necessity if you wanted to stay up to date with pop culture. Their impact was infectious and long-lasting. It was entertainment that shaped a generation. Written by Marc Raimondi, a current ESPN reporter with nearly twenty years of experience in journalism, this narrative history explores professional wrestling’s most popular faction and how their existence influenced American culture like never before.

A cyborg solves the murder of a detective who shares his same face in this sci-fi noir graphic novel. Tansang Loop is a space station with a population of two million, officially speaking. But really, it's thrice more, including the cyborgs and androids. Io is a Rohm Model Five, a cyborg made with a biomechanical brain and synthetic muscle. While on a routine spacewalk, Io stumbles upon the body of a murdered detective--and improbably, both Io and the detective are Model Fives. Io tries to solve the detective's last case in order to find out who killed him, but in doing so, may reveal that their lives are more interconnected than meets the eye.

After two years of unemployment, Maggy Garrisson lands a secretarial job. Too bad her new boss is the shady, chaotic Anthony Wight: private detective and alcoholic. But a job is a job, and Maggy could use the cash. Five days into her new role, Wight is beaten to a pulp and Maggy is tasked with returning his wallet. With this seemingly innocuous request, Maggy enters a sinister underworld of corrupt cops, crooked businessmen, and career criminals. There’s a lot to investigate, from the disappearance of a family album to the theft of gold teeth from bodies at the crematorium. But for someone with the energy, ingenuity, and enterprising spirit of Maggy Garrison, puzzles are there to be solved—especially if there’s money to be made in the process.

This first true biography of Stan Lee is an eye-opening look at a pop culture visionary. This book traces Lee's life—from his Depression-era childhood to his years as a teen editor and ultimately to his triumphs as the genius behind some of the most beloved characters in pop culture history, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor. The Amazing Spider-Man. The Incredible Hulk. The Invincible Iron Man. Black Panther. 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, 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 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.