Category: Miscellaneous

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Batman: Cover to Cover

Batman: Cover to Cover 

By various (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-4012-0659-X

Although not strictly a graphic novel, this giant collection of the best comic covers to depict the caped crusader since his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 in 1939, is a nostalgic delight for old timers newcomers alike. Many of the people who worked on Batman over the past decades were polled to provide their own favourites.

What seems like an impossible task at first glance is sub-divided into easy to digest, themed subject-headings such as Fearsome Foes, Welcome to Fun City, The Dynamic Duo, Batman by Design, Death Traps, Guilty, The Batman Family, Bizarre Batman, Secrets of the Batcave, Covers from around the World, A Death in the Family, Milestones and World’s Finest (pairing our hero with other heroes from the DC universe). Added features include an examination of the logo by designer extraordinaire Rian Hughes, discussions on cover construction by Jerry Robinson, Neal Adams and Bob Schreck and a vote on the greatest cover ever by the likes of Alex Ross, Chip Kidd and Mark Hamill.

This fan-boy’s coffee table book is lovely to look at and should provide hours of debate as we all dip in, reminisce and ultimately disagree on what should and shouldn’t be included. Enjoy. Art-lovers!

© 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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The 101 Best Graphic Novels

The 101 Best Graphic Novels 

By Stephen Weiner (NBM)
ISBN 1-56163-444-1

WINNER: CCG ‘BEST COMIC RELATED PRODUCT AWARD’ FOR 2006

With the huge upsurge in Graphic Novels currently swamping the market it takes a braver man than I to try and limit any list to 101, but that’s what compiler Weiner (with a little fudging) has done. This is an updating of an earlier edition, and some books have dropped out to make way for others, but the point is surely not that this book is better than that one but rather to celebrate the uniqueness of the strip-cartoon medium and let it takes its place alongside other popular art-forms in the societal gestalt.

Each entry includes a cover illustration, brief synopsis, creator information, ISBN and price; every thing you need to order these books should they catch your attention. They even have an age rating so you could buy a copy of this reference work for your local library and then pester them mercilessly until they get all the listed books into their own Graphic Novel section.

© 2003 Stephen Weiner.

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Old Jewish Comedians

Old Jewish Comedians 

By Drew Friedman (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN 10: 1-56097-741-8
ISBN 13: 978-1-56097-741-4

Technically, this isn’t a graphic novel or trade collection, it’s a picture book. But when it’s a series of drawings depicting a procession of Jewish American Comedians in their wrinkly twilight years by the absolute master of pencil rendering and ironic nostalgia I’m prepared to bend whatever rules I need to in order to make more people aware.

Friedman can just plain draw. His caricatures are powerful, resonant and joyful. He at once captures what these wizened laugh-smiths were about, and gives them a beer-goggles beauty that our generation of comedy fans just doesn’t see in recordings of the performers. A book for true art collectors, whatever their particular fascination.

© 2006 Drew Friedman. All Rights Reserved.

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The Anime Encyclopedia

The Anime Encyclopedia 

By Jonathan Clements & Helen McCarthy

(Stone Bridge Press)  ISBN 1-84576-500-1

Although a bit of a reach for this particular forum, I thought I’d put in my tuppence-worth in regard to this splendid reference tome that thudded onto my doormat yesterday.

This is a revised and expanded edition of a very useful thing: a comprehensive, informative and passionate lexicon of all things to do with Japanese cartoons. If you’re a new convert, an expert, a nostalgic dabbler (Yay, Marine Boy!) or even a curmudgeon who thinks he has no interest, this is the book for you.

Subtitled ‘A Guide to Japanese Animation since 1917’, this hefty (nearly 900 pages) paperback covers film and television features, providing technical details and a synoptic overview of everything from A15 Anthology to Zorro the Magnificent with thematic entries, a huge index, 150+ illustrations, and screen captures culled from the more than 3,000 reviews. Separate listings of studios, creators and anime history are included. And there’s even a parental advisory for each entry — to prevent any surprise or misunderstandings when Gran visits!

Thoroughly readable, this work glows with the writers’ enthusiasm, making it a pleasure to consult. My review copy went straight to my reference shelf and yours should go next to your TV/home entertainment system.

Text © 2006 Muramasa Industries Ltd. & Helen McCarthy.
Original illustrations © 2006 Steve Kyte.

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Havoc in Heaven

Havoc in Heaven 

By Tang Cheng & various

(Foreign Languages Press)  No ISBN

Although not strictly Graphic Novels, and certainly hard to find in many parts of the country, the picture books portraying Chinese tales and legends are always a rewarding read. If you have a local Chinatown it’s certainly worth a scout around, or perhaps you might try Googling.

This time out is a double oddity, in that Havoc in Heaven, another tale of Monkey, taken from Wu Cheng’en’s classic Journey to the West features full colour stills from an animated film of the same name, embedded with small blocks of English text in the manner of Rupert the Bear, rather than those wonderful black line drawings that drive western artists to tears of jealousy.

The irrepressible and wayward Monkey is the bane of the pious and stiff denizens of Heaven, whom he offends with his carousing and fighting and mischief. In an effort to control him, The Jade Emperor invites Monkey to join the Celestials and even gives him a job in the palace, but Monkey’s wayward nature cannot be tamed and the resultant chaos and combat shakes the heavens and rattles the gods themselves.

Spectacular, bright and irresistibly engaging, this colourful interpretation is an absolute delight, thanks to the beautiful illustrations of Yan Dingxian, Pu Jiaxiang, Lin Wenxiao, Lu Qing, Gao Yang and Fang Pengnian. Although these books are seldom out of print for long, it would be nice if some entrepreneur could pick up a British license for both the books and the film too.

© Foreign Languages Press BEIJING 1979

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Nasty Tales: Sex, Drugs, Rock ‘n’ Roll and Violence in the British Underground

Nasty Tales

By David Huxley

Headpress: Critical Vision ISBN: 1 900486 13 X

The creative explosion of the 1960s and early 1970s has been largely forgotten these days, and never more so than in what used to be called “underground comix”. This slim volume, written by one of the lesser luminaries of the scene, traces the developments and points of note of a generally fuzzy period in the history of the comic strip, with lavish illustration and keen insight into how our side of the pond responded to “the Man” and his implacable foes Robert Crumb, Wonder Warthog, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and all those other forgotten immortals of the US counter-culture.

Extensively researched, clearly propounded and sporting what seems to a complete chronological listing of all underground and alternative comic titles published between 1966-1982.

Text: © 2001 David Huxley. Illustrations © respective owners and artists. All Rights Reserved.