Gruesome, spindly figures gather outside a house, then spirit away a dreaming youth, bed and all. The stage is set for 32 skin-crawling poems imagining various children's nightmares, all with sequential illustrations by Danish horror master Mortensen. His eerie visions fade to black at the edges, like a dreamer unable to shift their focus, and inspire delicious terror all by themselves. Similarly, the short poems each evoke a distinct sense of dread for the sleeping imagination to expand upon; together, the words and pictures conjure a nightmarish world tinged with pitch black humor. The sequences splay across double-page spreads, evoking Edward Gorey gone grand scale, and grand guignol.For those of a nervous disposition, read in bright sunlight. For those in search of a nervous disposition, take two before bed.

What do pirates, prisons, and a lavabender have in common? It''s this collection of Avatar: The Last Airbender stories! Katara has to embrace her tougher side and join a pirate crew to escape the Fire Nation, Toph embraces her new role as teacher to some skeptical new students, and Suki''s time in the Boiling Rock prison provides a painful lesson that will ultimately strengthen her faith in her friends. These three standalone stories are collected into one oversized hardcover for the first time, with exclusive commentary from the creators. Continue the adventure of the beloved Avatar: The Last Airbender TV series with adventures written by Faith Erin Hicks (The Nameless City, Pumpkinheads) and drawn by Peter Wartman (Stonebreaker), with colors by Adele Matera and letters by ComiCraft''s Jimmy Betancourt, in collaboration with original creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko''s Avatar Studios! Collects the graphic novels: Avatar: The Last Airbender - Katara and the Pirate''s Silver; Avatar: The Last Airbender - Toph''s Metalbending Academy & Avatar: The Last Airbender - Suki, Alone.

An author struggles to understand an encounter on the subway that has led her to romantic despair. Six characters embark on a dangerous voyage, searching for a mysterious treasure. A cartoon character finds himself in bizarre yet uncannily familiar scenarios. Three characters obsess over the same image and sense that their lives connect across generations. Novelistic worlds in miniature. Hilarious hijinks. The occasional twist ending… The stories in Six Treasures of the Spiral: Comics Formed Under Pressure are inventive and wide-ranging, sometimes funny, occasionally sad, and always offbeat. The New York Times called Matt Madden a "stuntman-philosopher" because he creates comics in the crucible of formal constraints — one comic is a visual palindrome, another maps on to the letters of the alphabet, several follow the rules of demanding poetic forms like the villanelle and the haiku. It may seem that strict limitation would stymie creativity; on the contrary, the massive pressure it exerts on the author's process bonds atoms of text and image together into comic diamonds that Booklist has called "formally rigorous and narratively lucid." Madden is an educator and evangelist for experimental comics. This book contains an extensive afterword that walks through all the game-like rules he used in the stories in this collection. He offers insights into how he turned the shackles of these complex constraints into a source of inspiration and ingenuity. If you want to explore new creative challenges, you'll leave this book eager to work on forging your narrative jewels.

Riotous bodies abound in these deeply honest comics that will get you through it (or at least help) “When you order CBD gummies for your anxiety but forget to consider your eating disorder.” Known for her buzzing colors, delightful patterns, sharp humor, and unflinching vulnerability, Tara Booth does not miss any mark in this exquisitely woven collection of pure and nasty magic. Part advice column and exhibit, exploration of psychic pollution and tranquility, Processing is—quite simply—intrepid: in its honesty; its unapologetic grossness; its unrivaled and frank portrayal of life with a body that bleeds. In the grand tradition of underground women cartoonists like Julie Doucet and Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Booth draws a horned up woman laying rose petals on the bed, to distract from the bedbugs before her hookup arrives. She bears witness to the reality of wearing a t-shirt with no bra—when you stretch, your boobs, sometimes, pop right out. This is all just life but we don’t often see it on the page. Undaunted, Booth draws it. When advice from spiritual gurus like Tara Brach and Ram Dass just aren’t cutting it, take solace in the genuine arms of Tara Booth: a fearless cartoonist who is unafraid to put her existential angst, blemishes, and stains right on the page, and who—with relentless relatability—makes us all feel a bit more at home in our too-human vessels. With color that vibrates and fluids that impose, Processing lays Booth bare—literally and figuratively.

Learn about chess tactics and test your skills with this oversize deck of 54 cards from the New York Times bestselling author of How to Win at Chess, International Master and YouTube’s top chess teacher Levy Rozman (aka GothamChess). Chess is all about practice. With this interactive, immersive deck of 54 cards, Levy Rozman distills the most important information players need to know in order to practice right. Fifty cards with chessboard diagrams feature the best openings for black and white; tactics to know like forks, pins, and skewers; historical games to learn from; and brainteasers to test your skills. Two introductory cards explain how each of the six pieces moves and how to understand chess notation so you can analyze positions. Suitable for those who have a rudimentary understanding of chess but challenging enough for more seasoned players, The Chess Deck will help ensure victory. Checkmate awaits!

In the summer of 1975, 10-year-old Paul Gilligan doesn''t have a whole lot to worry about other than keeping his comic books untarnished, getting tennis balls off roofs and keeping up with the increasingly bold stunts of his best friend, David. And then Jaws comes to town. Suddenly everyone is obsessing over this movie about a shark ripping people to pieces. And if you haven''t seen it, not only are you missing out, you''re also kind of a wimp. Needless to say, Jaws leaves young Paul a cowering mess, and underlines the growing gap between him and David as well as the distance between where he stands and the world''s expectations of a boy''s ''manliness.'' And when Jaws himself becomes a kind of macho Jiminy Cricket for Paul, what is a scared and overwhelmed boy to do?

In the summer of 1975, 10-year-old Paul Gilligan doesn''t have a whole lot to worry about other than keeping his comic books untarnished, getting tennis balls off roofs and keeping up with the increasingly bold stunts of his best friend, David. And then Jaws comes to town. Suddenly everyone is obsessing over this movie about a shark ripping people to pieces. And if you haven''t seen it, not only are you missing out, you''re also kind of a wimp. Needless to say, Jaws leaves young Paul a cowering mess, and underlines the growing gap between him and David as well as the distance between where he stands and the world''s expectations of a boy''s ''manliness.'' And when Jaws himself becomes a kind of macho Jiminy Cricket for Paul, what is a scared and overwhelmed boy to do?

"Authors Alan Moore and Steve Moore team up with six stellar artists for a fascinating survey of occult sciences and figures, from the paleolithic era to today. Lavishly illustrated chapters suggesting things to do on a rainy day offer instructions on performing divinations and conjuring spirits and deities. Lengthy primers on kabbalah and tarot card divination offer the authors' insights into the historical and cultural significance of each, as well as practical suggestions for readers interested in adapting these practices to inspire creative work drawn from their subconscious or expand their conscious processing of the day-to-day world. "Old Moores' Lives of the Great Enchanters" is a series of single-page biographies highlighting the lives and work of an array of mystics, heretics, saints, scholars, poets, and painters throughout history. The authors' passion for their subject is obvious, but often with tongue planted firmly in cheek, as evidenced by chapters depicting an ancient conman's screwball quest to establish a ult and an array of puzzles, mazes, and connect-the-dots activity pages strewn throughout. VERDICT: The authors make a compelling case for the importance of mysticism and magical thinking for the development of human consciousness and civilization..."--Library Journal.