Offering irreverent and even caustic commentary on hot-button topics as well as wry observations about social and interpersonal dynamics, King of the Comics expertly illuminates the flaws within human nature, including humanity's fervent quest for the unattainable. Along the way, readers will find themselves absorbed in Pearls' wacky world, laughing out loud at the menagerie of over-the-top characters placed in awkward and peculiar situations. King of the Comics is sure to keep readers entertained and engaged with extended puns, morbid re-writes of nursery rhymes, and repeated excursions to Lemmings Leap.

Nobody expects the French Revolution, especially not the hapless vampires of Paris. Can genteel Lucien, murderous Ginevra, flaky sire Audric, crabby werewolf Luther, and the new vamp/ex-tavern wench Claire rescue their coven from a crazed revolutionary and avoid a date with Madame Guillotine? This special 13th-anniversary edition includes a new 11-page story.

This book provides both students and scholars with a critical and historical introduction to the graphic novel. Jan Baetens and Hugo Frey explore this exciting form of visual and literary communication, showing readers how to situate and analyse graphic novels since their rise to prominence half a century ago. Several key questions are addressed: what is the graphic novel? How do we read graphic novels as narrative forms? Why is page design and publishing format so significant? What theories are developing to explain the genre? How is this form blurring the categories of high and popular literature? Why are graphic novelists nostalgic for the old comics? The authors address these and many other questions raised by the genre. Through their analysis of the works of many well-known graphic novelists - including Bechdel, Clowes, Spiegelman and Ware - Baetens and Frey offer significant insights for future teaching and research on the graphic novel.

Big Nate's Greatest Hits collects three bestselling e-book only collections - Big Nate Makes a Splash, Big Nate Dibs on This Chair, and Big Nate Pray for a Fire Drill - in this super-sized, paperback edition. Eleven-year-old Nate Wright is no one-hit wonder. He's the king of Monopoly, the Michelangelo of P.S. 38, and a Cheez Doodle poet extraordinaire. He's a sixth-grade superstar - at least, that's what he tells everyone - and he's going all the way to Number One!

The hilarious tale of a group of amphibians and one free-range hamster who set out to save their tiny pond home from one very large steamroller. Sometimes big stories happen in small places. Sometimes big things happen to small creatures. This is one of those stories. Cecil is a toad. A toad busy doing what any other toad does with its days - judging the pond splashing contest or visiting his friends. And, of course, trying to keep clear of the local hawk. But when Cecil discovers a freeway construction project aimed right at the pond, he knows he has to come up with a plan to save his home. But what can a small group of amphibians and a reincarnating fly do against construction vehicles and a steady onslaught of hot asphalt?

Gronk is a monster… and not a very good one. Follow Gronk's adventures as she leaves the monster world and joins up with her new family! Enjoy the first year's worth of comics from this popular, all-ages webcomic in a wonderful, full color collection!

Beginner's Guide to Digital Painting: Characters is a comprehensive guide for artists wishing to create convincing and detailed characters. It features established artists such as Charlie Bowater (concept artist at Atomhawk) and Derek Stenning (freelance concept artist and illustrator, with clients such as Marvel Entertainment and Nintendo) who share their industry experiences by covering such aspects as posing characters, choosing the correct costumes, conveying emotions, and creating suitable moods. Conclusive step-by-step instructions make this an invaluable resource for artists looking to learn new skills, as well as those pursuing the next level.

"Drawing from Life: Memory and Subjectivity in Comic Art is a collection of essays about autobiography, semi-autobiography, fictionalized autobiography, memory, and self-narration in sequential art, or comics. Contributors come from a range of academic backgrounds including English, American studies, comparative literature, gender studies, art history, and cultural studies. The book engages with such well-known figures as Art Spiegelman, Marjane Satrapi, and Alison Bechdel

It has become an axiom in comic studies that 'comics is a language, not a genre.' But what exactly does that mean, and how is discourse on the form both aided and hindered by thinking of it in linguistic terms? In Comics and Language, Hannah Miodrag challenges many of the key assumptions about the 'grammar' and formal characteristics of comics and offers a more nuanced, theoretical framework that she argues will better serve the field by providing a consistent means for communicating critical theory in the scholarship. She exposes the problems embedded in the ways critics have used ideas of language, literature, structuralism, and semiotics, and sets out a new and more theoretically sound way of understanding how comics communicate.

In Thierry Groensteen's The System of Comics, the comics theorist set out to investigate how the medium functions, introducing the principle of iconic solidarity, and showing the systems that underlie the articulation between panels at three levels: page layout, linear sequence, and nonsequential links woven through the comic book as a whole. He now develops that analysis further, using examples from a very wide range of comics, including the work of American artists such as Chris Ware and Robert Crumb. He tests out his theoretical framework by bringing it up against cases that challenge it, such as abstract comics, digital comics, and shoujo manga.

The early 1980s saw a revolution in mainstream comics - in subject matter, artistic integrity, and creators' rights - as new methods of publishing and distribution broadened the possibilities. Among those artists utilizing these new methods, Chester Brown quickly developed a cult following due to the undeniable quality and originality of his Yummy Fur (1983-1994). Chester Brown: Conversations collects interviews covering all facets of the cartoonist's long career and includes several pieces from now-defunct periodicals and fanzines.

Eisner and Harvey Award-winner Paolo Rivera grew up in his parents' art store, so it's no wonder his life's path is that of an artist. And not just your run-of-the-mill comic book artist, but a painter, penciler, inker, colorist, and sculptor - Paolo does it all! From the pulp magazine feel of Mythos to the cinematic adventure of Spider-Man and the sleek stylings of Daredevil, Paolo brings a fresh storytelling approach to each project he illustrates.

The medieval Dance of Death gets a satirical modern update. In this kooky, small-format boutique art book, hand-painted watercolors are paired with wicked verse and depict the Foodie, the Hipster, and the Pundits frolicking with the Grim Reaper. Foreword by 'Ask a Mortician' creator Caitlin Doughty.

Be careful what you wish for, and even more careful of what other people wish for! In this original fable, a laundry girl rescues a fox with an unusual gift, and the wishes that follow will change both lives forever. A 2012 Eisner Award nominee for Best Digital Comic.