Publishing Comics

Starting with the Civil War and cartoonist Thomas Nast, creator of the lasting images of Uncle Sam and Santa Claus, author Jeremy Dauber whizzes listeners through the progress of comics in the 20th century and beyond. Follow the history from the golden age of newspaper comic strips - Krazy Kat, Yellow Kid, Dick Tracy - to the midcentury superhero boom - Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman - and from the moral panic of the Eisenhower era to the underground comix movement; from the grim and gritty Dark Knights to the graphic novel’s rise.

PICK UP THIS BOOK BEFORE YOU PICK UP THE MICROPHONE Part instruction manual, part memoir and part cautionary tale, “How to FAIL at Stand-Up Comedy” is a hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking exploration of a 30 year career in stand-up. Sabo pulls no punches while revealing what it’s really like to live the life of a traveling comedian, warts and all. Sabo points out everything you can do wrong in this business with glaring detail and without judgment. Chock full of advice from industry insiders and experts in the field, “FAIL” takes you on the journey from open-miker to seasoned ...

A stand-up comedian beloved for her combination of feisty wit and Southern charm, Pierce knows all too well that life is funny—until it’s not. But she also knows that it will become funny again. She’s held on to that hope—and that promise—through tragedy and triumph. And now she’s finally ready to tell her full story. In Life Is Funny until It’s Not, Pierce recounts a preacher’s daughter’s childhood filled with heartbreak, including abuse, her parents’ divorce, and the sudden deaths of her two sisters in the span of two years.

Hilarious southern-fried chicken fiction from the Georgia Author of the Year Butterbean and Ruby Sweat, heads of a comical, fantastically redneck southern family, are trapped in generational poverty and facing a gut-wrenching crisis — how to quickly raise money for their baby daughter’s clubfoot operation lest she be a cripple for life. Memorable characters swarm the pages. Slob extraordinaire Bean – the beer-guzzling, pickup-driving, NASCAR-loving deer hunter – sails through life as trailer park philosopher, clown prince, and champion of his fellow chicken plant workers. Ruby ...

See You At San Diego is the comprehensive chronicle of Comic-Con International and modern geekdom itself as told through countless stories by nearly fifty of the most integral members of the Comic-Con and fandom scene. This full-fledged oral history—bursting with intimate reflections, hilarious observations, and at times, heartbreaking stories—is about how the geek at last inherited the earth and the story of the transformation of mainstream American pop culture into comic book culture over the past century.

After he and his wife are murdered, Marine Ray Garrison is resurrected by a secret team of scientists. Enhanced with nanotechnology, he becomes a superhuman, biotech killing machine - “Bloodshot” - without any memory of his previous life. But some things can’t stay buried, and Ray refuses to back down when his memories begin to surface. Haunted by the face of his family’s killer, he will stop at nothing to take his revenge. And he discovers a conspiracy going deeper than he could have possibly imagined.

"You're a comedian? That must be awesome!" It's a familiar response from people who've just met someone that calls comedy their full-time job. On the surface, it's glamorous: laughter, bright spotlights, and traveling the world. But like sausage-making, the real action is far from pretty. What goes unseen is the struggle undertaken by comedians to perform on that stage. In Go Home Happy, stand-up veteran Nathan Timmel leads the reader through a funny, pride-swallowing journey navigating the minefield of club owners, booking agents, drunken hecklers, and unexpected friends. Part fun and ...

When it comes to superheroes of the silver screen, nobody knows more than the masterminds behind the wildly popular Comicstorian YouTube channel. This definitive guide to comic book films divulges behind-the-scenes secrets and the hidden history behind these must-see movies including how, after very rocky beginnings, they shot to the top with DC and Marvel as two of the most important franchises in the industry.

Unlike other Creepers, the Friendly Creeper wanted to be nice to people rather than explode and hiss at them. He wants to help the friends who saved him from the villagers. However, the other Creepers shun his idea because Creepers are supposed to be mean and hurt people rather than help them. They, therefore, force him to attend Creeper School.

Cheryl Sanderson is looking to make a new start in life, beginning with her new home in San Francisco. But her old life in Las Vegas won't leave her be. So, she packs up her belonging, and her son, Nathan, and drives to San Francisco to take possession of an old Victorian she inherits from her aunt. Soon she's hip deep in boarders, larcenists, and dead bodies. And to clear her good name she must find the murderer of her most recent house guest. Sanderson House is an enjoyable cozy mystery about a young mother trying to catch a break in life.

What would happen if a dog became a superhero? In this exciting middle grade adventure, Joe is a run-of-the-puppy-mill cocker spaniel who dreams of being special, but suffers with the curse of being average. He lives in the suburbs of Barksdale with his friends Elwood, a dopey mutt who looks like a genetic mishap, and Frank, a plump wiener dog. When the dogs devour heaping mounds of dog food that is laced with plutonium, their DNA evolves. Joe transforms into MegaDog, a superhero with a passion for funky music. Elwood mutates into Baywolf, a sleek, black wolf with a hip-hop attitude, and ...

Michael E. Uslan, executive producer of the Batman movie franchise, offers an insider’s look at Hollywood and the process of how movies and television shows go from the drawing board to your screens. Continuing the delightful tale of his adventures begun in The Boy Who Loved Batman, Uslan draws on both his successful and less successful attempts to bring ideas to the screen, offering a helpful, honest, and breezily told guide to producing films.

In his never ending quest to be more than just a regular creeper, Friendly Creeper discovers the world of hobbies. Everyone he meets seems to have a hobby of one kind or another. In fact, he’s the only one who doesn’t! Friendly Creeper journeys far and wide to discover his true calling. Follow along as he meets friends old and new while discovering new things about himself and the world around him.

Shocking deaths and equally shocking reappearances abound in the latest case that the Grand Duchy of Allemonde’s chief inspector, D. T. Giovanni, must solve. Allemonde’s grand duke decides that, in the aftermath of the global pandemic, what the world needs is a festival consisting exclusively of comic operas, operettas, and a few Broadway musicals. Meanwhile, a circus comes to town in an attempt to bring even greater merriment to the duchy. But, despite these efforts, the annual festival nearly comes to a crashing halt when, once again, murders begin to intrude on the gaiety.

When a tenor is murdered only days before the annual opera festival begins in the tiny European duchy of Allemonde, it’s up to Chief Inspector D. T. Giovanni to find the culprit. Unfortunately for Giovanni, everyone seems to have a motive and no one believes he’s up to the challenge. This light-hearted adventure is full of so many twists and turns that it becomes a mystery on an operatic scale. NOTE: This thoroughly revised second edition contains an improved and corrected text.

Did you see the guy in the video wearing the purple tights and mask robbing that bank? That’s Brendan’s dad. He’s a supervillain. The law is after him. The internet loves him. Brendan wishes they weren’t related. Fortunately a scholarship fell into his lap to an exclusive private high school across the country in California. The chance of a lifetime. The teachers are attentive and Brendan is making new friends, but Dutchman Springs Academy has its own mysteries. A girl keeps showing up in his electronics lab who can vanish at will, the phone and internet keep going out, and Brendan ...

Why are so many of the superhero myths tied up with loss, often violent, of parents or parental figures? What is the significance of the dual identity? What makes some superhuman figures “good” and others “evil”? Why are so many of the prime superheroes white and male? How has the superhero evolved over the course of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries? All these topics, and more, are covered in this lively and original exploration of the reasons why the superhero—in comic books, films, and TV—is such a potent myth for our times and culture.

I'm a geek. And until this past Comic-Con, I was a typical, loser, fanboy, geeky, super-virgin. This is my story. It works on many levels, but it works. It will work for you too. Because this is my story of how I went from zero to hero and I wrote it like a textbook for you.

In this insightful and provocative book, comics-industry veteran Danny Fingeroth explores the backgrounds of the most well-known superheroes and their creators—largely young American Jewish men from Eastern European backgrounds. These innovators include Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Will Eisner, and Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. In Disguised as Clark Kent, Fingeroth explores how the creators’ Jewish backgrounds helped make superheroes the most familiar popular-culture icons of all.

In this memoir, Lockwood draws upon his forty years in the newspaper industry as a reporter and editor, offering a unique glimpse into the world of newspaper cartoon strips. He details the production and promotion of countless comic strips, while also providing his own assessments of the most iconic cartoonists of the last half-century. The book is filled with fascinating anecdotes about his relationships with some of America's greatest cartoonists and the syndicate reps who sold their cartoon strips.