Roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, in which players take the roles of heroes in their own story, have solidly moved from the geek fringes to the mainstream, beloved by celebrities and inspiring hit podcasts and massively successful sales in games, comics, and hobby shops. The story of the tabletop’s triumph even in our digital age begins in the day of actual sword-wielding warriors, leading right up to the fireball-casting avatars of today. In Gamemasters: The Comic Book History of Roleplaying Games, New York Times-bestselling and award-winning comics creators Fred Van Lente and Tom Fowler take you on an incredible journey from the mists of the past to the screen-lit present, showing not just how these games work and why we love them, but what they can tell us about ourselves.

The definitive, complete collection of the coming-of-age roller derby romance for fans of Giant Days, The Avant-Guards, and Haiikyu! From Fresh Meat Orientation to becoming leaders on-and-off the track, follow Jennifer “Knockout” Chu and Maisie “Can-Can” Huff on their journey to roller derby domination! Messy lives, complicated friendships, and new romance blossom as they learn to take their hits, get back up, break some bones, take on adult responsibilities, and jam on their competing teams in the Eastside Roller Girls league! From bestselling novelist, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, actress, and former Los Angeles Derby Doll Pamela Ribon (My Boyfriend is a Bear, Why Moms Are Weird), illustrator and painter Veronica Fish (Archie, Spider-Woman) and acclaimed artist Marina Julia (Lumberjanes, Adventure Time) comes the definitive collection of the beloved derby dramedy, Slam! Collects Slam! #1-4 and Slam! The Next Jam #1-4.

Stranger Than Fiction crosses paths with Fables and The Maltese Falcon in this mind-bending noir murder mystery! It’s the most important case of private detective Will Profane’s life–solve the murder of Spud Coltrane. But this isn’t just any murder case; Coltrane is an author. The author famous for creating the fictional character… Will Profane! With the death of his author being all-too-real, where does that leave his unwritten destiny? The main suspects: Spud’s professional rival, Ken Kane, Lili Macbeth–the beautiful nightclub singer who desires eternal youth through fiction–and Red Glove, Profane’s bonafide nemesis who is determined to escape his tormented existence of losing to Will again and again. However, even if each suspect gets crossed off the list, a wildcard connected to Coltrane from the world of Non-Fiction could end up as the fly in Profane’s ointment if he’s not careful… Discover the reality-shattering mystery thriller from legendary writer Peter Milligan (Hellblazer, Venom VS. Carnage), and veteran artist Raül Fernandez (Detective Comics, Justice League Dark), walking the thin line between reality and fiction. Collects Profane #1-5.

In Islamabad in 2018, Pakistani investigative journalist Taha Siddiqui is kidnapped at gunpoint and barely escapes being killed. He flees the country on the first plane to France with questions left unanswered: What motivated the attack? Was the tyrannical Pakistani military involved? The Dissident Club is an action-packed graphic memoir about Islamic politics, complex family dynamics, and one man''s dedication to truth and principle. With illustrator Hubert Maury, Siddiqui, winner of the prestigious journalism award Prix Albert Londres, tells the story of his intriguing life and career, beginning with his childhood in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan under the stern gaze of a fundamentalist Islamic father. Taha rebels against his religion, but his personal freedom is constrained by strict Islam, especially after his father joins a jihadi mosque. Following the Gulf War and then the shock caused by 9/11, Taha enters university and begins his personal emancipation. He becomes a journalist, but as he reveals the crimes of the Pakistani military, he learns the hard way that journalists are moving targets. Once in Paris, he opens the Dissident Club, a bar dedicated to helping political dissidents from around the world. An expansive Pakistani coming-of-age story, The Dissident Club documents Taha''s experiences as a young man fighting for truth and justice against the harsh backdrop of Islamic fundamentalism and corruption.

Batcat is back and cooking up something extra special in the new graphic novel in Meggie Ramm’s hilarious early reader series There’s something delicious in the air on Spooky Isle . . it’s the scent of fall! The changing of seasons means Spooky Isle transforms into an autumnal wonderland—the tree leaves and the skull on Mount Marrow change colors, the air gets crisper, and, best of all, the Night Festival arrives! Celebrating food, friends, found family, and festivities, everyone is excited for the next full moon. And this year, Al will enter the cooking contest! But Al doesn’t know what to cook . and he really, really wants to win! Together, Batcat and Al search for the perfect recipe and learn that sometimes winning doesn’t always mean coming in first place. Filled with pun-derful, spooky (but not too spooky) humor, Cooking Contest! is perfect for fans of Investigators, the Narwhal and Jelly series, and the Astrid and Stella series.

This gripping graphic novel adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s groundbreaking dystopian novel stands beside the acclaimed previous graphic novel adaptations, Kindred , a #1 New York Times bestseller, and Parable of the Sower , winner of the Hugo Award NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work—Graphic Novel Set against a background of a war-torn continent under the control of a Christian fundamentalist fascist state, Parable of the Talents is a modern masterpiece that resonates powerfully. This graphic novel adaptation is brought to life thrillingly by Damian Duffy and John Jennings, the creative team behind the #1 New York Times bestselling adaptation of Kindred. Parable of the Talents is told in the voice of Lauren Olamina’s daughter, Asha Vere—from whom she has been separated for most of the girl’s life—interspersed with sections in the form of Lauren’s own journals. Asha searches for answers about her past while struggling to reconcile with her mother’s legacy—caught between her duty to her chosen family and her calling to lead humankind into a better future among the stars. Octavia E. Butler's bestselling literary science-fiction masterpieces are essential works in feminist, Afrofuturist, and fantasy genres, and this compelling graphic novel adaptation of Parable of the Talents is a must-read graphic novel for our time.

Wrestling is big business in arenas across the country, and for the Castros, it’s the family business. “King” Castro is the patriarch of the family, he’s also the manager, booker, promotor, MC, and owner of the local independent wrestling promotion KCPW. His daughter, Ramonita “Mona” Castro, has dreams of going to business school, but also has a penchant for wrestling. And his son, Rey Castro, is the star. A real showman, Rey is known as the “King of the Death Match,” and he’s on the verge of getting a contract to go pro. But when a shocking in-ring death occurs, it sends the family spiraling out of control, and down the path of revenge as one big question rears its head: was it an accident? Or was it murder? Pro Wrestling built the Castro family, and now it’s about to tear it apart… The worlds of pro-wrestling and family crime drama collide in Hard Style Juice!, from writer Clay McCormack (Batman White Knight Presents: Red Hood, Redline, Poser) and featuring explosively dynamic art from Ricardo López-Ortiz (The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1, Black Panther vs Deadpool). ABLAZE and Comixology Originals proudly bring this hard-hitting wrestling/crime story to print for the first time!

We Sold Our Souls meets a Josie and the Pussycats-from-hell in Def Leppard’s HYSTERIA, the graphic novel, a supernatural thriller that tells the tale of the world’s most dangerous guitar! Worship at the altar of the almighty Guitar. It wants your love. It craves your blood. It desires YOU. A struggling band is gifted with a magical guitar that rockets them to success, but when it’s stolen they’ll stop at nothing to get it back. When Foz, the frontwoman of indie band Darkside, inherits her father's estate, it comes with a guitar she half-remembers from her childhood. The guitar speaks to her, promising fame and success. Soon, it delivers. But when Darkside’s equipment is stolen at a massive music venue, just before they’re set to take the stage with Def Leppard, Foz goes on the warpath to get it back. A knuckle-dusting rampage ensues, and the guitar's true history is revealed.

The Superhero Blockbuster: Adaptation, Style, and Meaning builds an innovative framework for analyzing one of the most prominent genres in twenty-first-century Hollywood. In combining theories of adaptation with close textual analysis, James C. Taylor provides a set of analytical tools with which to undertake nuanced exploration of superhero blockbusters’ meanings. This deep understanding of the films attends to historical, sociopolitical, and industrial contexts and also illuminates key ways in which the superhero genre has contributed to the development of the Hollywood blockbuster. Each chapter focuses on a different superhero or superhero team, covering some of the most popular superhero blockbusters based on DC and Marvel superheroes. The chapters cover different aspects of the films’ adaptive practices, exploring the adaptation of stylistic strategies, narrative models, and modes of seriality from superhero comic books, while being attentive to the ways in which the films engage with the wider networks of texts in various media that comprise a given superhero franchise. Chapter one looks back to the first superhero blockbuster, 1978’s Superman: The Movie, examining its cinematic re-envisioning of the quintessential superhero and role in establishing Hollywood’s emerging model of blockbuster filmmaking. Subsequent chapters analyze the twenty-first-century boom in superhero blockbusters and examine digital imaging and nostalgia in Spider-Man films, Marvel Studios’ adaptation of a shared universe model of seriality in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the use of alternate timeline narratives in X-Men films. The book concludes by turning its analytical toolkit to analysis of DC Studios’ cinematic universe, the DC Extended Universe.

Inspired by the film American Psycho, a darkly humorous collection of tongue-in-cheek advice on how to make it in the cutthroat world of business, as well as pointers about work/life balance, dating, and personal style. Since its release in 2000, the film American Psycho, starring Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, has been lauded as a searing send-up of toxic masculinity and 1980s materialism. How to Make a Killing in Business . . and Life draws upon the film’s macabre, campy humor, resulting in a funny advice book of sorts, with recommendations on how to slash the competition and dealing with the challenges of letting work bleed into personal life. The book combines dynamic art with darkly witty wisdom about how to get that coveted reservation at Dorsia, the dos and don’ts of choosing a business card, deep dives on the importance of pop music groups like Huey Lewis and the News, and ideas on how to dispose of your rivals. This compendium of tips is the perfect gift for fans of film, horror, and humor .

Biggie, Boingy and Flop have the park under control, and life is grand, if maybe a bit... boring. When they see a festival pop up nearby, they decide to investigate, and when they have a run-in with a group of city rats, their little park suddenly seems like small carrots. The Fluffle sets their sights on a bigger prize. But can this adorable gang really take over the whole city? Only if they can do it their way

The Fluffle Bunnies are back for the second installment in their bad-bunny kingpin saga. A brand-new graphic novel chapter book series for Bad Guys fans ages 6 and up. Biggie, Boingy and Flop have the park under control, and life is grand, if maybe a bit . . boring. When they see a festival pop up nearby, they decide to investigate, and when they have a run-in with a group of city rats, their little park suddenly seems like small carrots. The Fluffle sets their sights on a bigger prize. But can this adorable gang really take over the whole city? Only if they can do it their way .