Kaiju Unleashed offers a general introduction to the exciting film genre, serves as a guidebook to its film highlights, and celebrates its practitioners, trends, and stories. Celebrate the world of movie monsters and beasts with Kaiju Unleashed, a complete reference guide to strange creatures in film and how they came to be. Kaiju (Japanese for “strange creature”) is a film genre that emerged in Japan in the early ’50s. The movies center on giant monsters battling humans, machines, or other beasts. First popular in the ’50s and ’60s, this film category has stomped its way back into mainstream culture. This comprehensive guide features: A foreword by Jason Barr, author of The Kaiju Film and The Kaiju Connection A thorough discussion of monster movies (Gamera; Rodan; Destroy All Monsters) Insight into how kaiju has impacted international films (Ant-Man; Attack of the 50-Foot Woman; Jurassic Park) Stunning movie posters and film stills, plus fan-made tributes to some of the kaiju classics (Godzilla; King Kong; Mothra; Pacific Rim) If you are a kaiju fan or are interested in kaiju’s cultural influence worldwide, this display-worthy volume provides the perfect general introduction to the genre, reference to its film highlights, and celebration of its practitioners, trends, and stories.

Chuck D (Public Enemy, Prophets of Rage, etc.) brings his personal insights and social critiques to the page in fierce, passionate, and evocative visual art and prose in this limited edition box set Legendary hip-hop artist and social activist Chuck D has used every opportunity in his groundbreaking career to stand up for civil rights. His rap group Public Enemy is widely regarded as a revolutionary act both in terms of its impact on hip-hop and its use of music to impart a message of race and class equality. The band emerged from the late 1970s/early ‘80s coalescence of rap, punk, and street art into hip-hop music culture on the East Coast. At the time, Chuck D had completed his BFA in graphic design, and while his music career exploded, his passion for visual art never left his heart. In February 2020, he turned his gaze once again to the page, and began to fill three 5 x 8 journals with his written and drawn reflections of a world beginning to unravel. STEWdio: The Naphic Grovel ARTrilogy of Chuck D recreates format of his original art, combining three full-color paperback bound books into a beautiful box set. The box set is the inaugural offering from Enemy Books, the new Akashic Books imprinted curated by Chuck D. Spanning the onset of COVID-19 through the first year of the Joe “Bye-Don” administration, Chuck D lends his powerful artistic voice to one of the most tumultuous periods in American history, and puts it in a capsule. Like the neo-expressionist graffiti art of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Chuck D’s energetic “Naphic Grovels” marry text with drawings, commenting on contemporary events with the same activist instinct that propelled Public Enemy’s “music-with-a-message” reputation. His inventive, Amiri Baraka–esque language and accompanying art is also occasionally used as a tool for introspection, providing unparalleled insight into one of the most important cultural figures of our time. Each journal follows a distinct period in Chuck D’s (and America’s) life; There’s a Poison Goin On chronicles the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, from February–April 2020; 45 Daze of REaD Octobot follow the days leading up to and the aftermath of the historic 2020 election; and Datamber Mindpaper, which focuses on the early days of the Biden administration. No song may be more reflective of 1980s America than Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power;” no document may come to capture our COVID era like Chuck D’s STEWdio.

The Nameless City meets Princess Mononoke in this eco-adventure about a young messenger who taps into an ancient magic to defend her island’s animal inhabitants. Sable has spent her whole life in a tight-knit community on a remote island. With support from her parents, she’s trained for years to take up her position as the next Kerpathic, a messenger who travels through the dangerous forest to share news, medicine, and culture. When her father, the current Kerpathic, has an accident, Sable must step into her pre-destined role. As her first mission goes awry, she wonders if she’s ready for this important but dangerous work. Until a young naturalist arrives on the island and sets off to capture a mysterious animal that’s never been seen on the mainland. Sable realizes that she can use her skills as a Kerpathic to defend the island’s animals and their way of life. But she quickly learns that she can’t do it alone. In Survival of the Goodest, Marianne Boucher (Talking to Strangers) explores ideas of animal sentience, interspecies communication, and environmental preservation.