About Comics – Page 2

Bus Busters: Expanded Edition

What do you get when someone with fifteen years experience driving big Greyhound buses turns into a nationally syndicated cartoonist? You get Bus Busters, filled with cartoons by bus-driver Wally Falk showing the beleaguered drivers, the amusing and often clueless passengers, and the joy and surprises to be found traveling America’s highways. Bus Busters first and last saw print in 1954, but now it’s back, with not only all of the cartoons from the original edition, but also dozens more, selected from the run of Falk’s syndicated newspaper panel “Kickin’ Around”.

About the author: Minneapolis’s Wally Falk spent fifteen years as Greyhound bus driver followed by sixteen years behind the drawing desk, creating two gag panel series for America’s comic pages: first, “Kickin’ Around” (1945-1956) and then “The Family Car” (1956-1961). He was also the original illustrator for the daily adage feature “The Country Parson”.

$12 US

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 127 pages, 5.25 x 8 inches
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1949996778
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1949996777

Order from Amazon!

The Family Car Road Trip

The 1950s and ‘60s were the classic era of the American road trip. With cars having become ubiquetous and airfare still unaffordable, we took our vacations in our sedans and station wagons. We traveled endless stretches of asphalt during the day by following the lines on awkwardly-folded maps or AAA Triptiks. We squeezed intogether each night at motels, motor lodges, and campsites at night. The travel time was filled with license plate games and back seat battles, with stops for gas, service station bathroom breaks, natural wonders, bizarre roadside attractions, and if you were lucky, a pecan log.

Wally Falk was there to chronicle it all. A former bus driver, he knew the nation’s roadways like few others. His daily syndicated comic panel The Family Car chronicled our love for and struggles with our vehicles and our destinations. Here is the first collection ever from that series, focusing on those family trips and the adventures of the open road.

$9.99 US

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 107 pages, 5.25 x 8 inches
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1949996751
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1949996753

Order from Amazon!

Just a Book with About 410 Drawings of Bicycles from Newspapers of the 1890s

During the 1890s, bicycles were the hot technology, and influenced the fashion and culture of the day… all of which was chronicled by artists in the pages of the daily newspaper In this book you will find about 410 of their images.

Within those roughly four hundred and ten is a wide array of drawings. There are illustrations, headers, both editorial and gag cartoons, comic strips, diagrams, advertisements, and more. They document not just the vehicles themselves, both real and imagined, but the surrounding culture. You’ll see the conflict between whether a woman should wear a skirt while biking, or should she succumb to the temptation of the far less impeding, but far more scandalous, bloomers. You’ll see the danger of “scorchers” speeding their bikes dangerously through the horse-and-pedestrian-laden streets. The biking clubs, the cycling shows, the move to regulate “wheels” and their riders, and more are reflected in these images.

The drawings have been located, selected, and organized by Eisner Award-winning writer Nat Gertler… to the extent that they’ve been organized at all. Rather than being grouped by topic, the nature of the images changes from page to page, intended to provide constant surprises.

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 6″x9″, 228 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1-949996-78-6
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1-949996-78-4

Order from Amazon!

Killer Princesses

Written by Gail Simone. Drawn by Lea Hernandez

When the smart people of the world are causing all the problems, someone else must be the solution.

Faith, Hope, and Charity are sorority members… of a most deadly sorority. Trained in the art of assassination and sent to target people of power, these “princesses” are bold, beautiful, bawdy, belligerent, and bdangerous, and their complete adventures collected here are dark, hilarious, and not for the kiddies.

Originally published as a 3 issue series in 2002, this dark action comedy was Gail Simone’s first creator-owned comic.

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 96 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 194999676X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1949996760
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 10 inches

Order from Amazon, or order from the printer:

Killer Princesses

Simone, Gail and Hernandez, Lea

Buy Now

Our Fight, Our Time: a Graphic Novel of the Civil War

by Stan Mack and Susan Champlin

Sam was born in slavery, Annabelle was born in wealth.

They live on the same plantation, but in very different worlds. Now the Civil War is upending life as they’ve known it: Each of their fathers is pulled into the conflict, and armies from North and South have their eyes on Twin Oaks. As Sam faces life-threatening danger, he makes courageous choices. Annabelle casts off the rules she grew up with and steps in to take charge. The characters are fictional, but the realities of war blaze to life in this story of heroism, adventure, and unexpected friendship. The real struggles of the War are shown, and some of its major figures, like Clara Barton and Abraham Lincoln, put in appearances.

The book includes an afterword detailing the real people and historical events involved.

(Previously released as Fight for Freedom.)

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 120 pages, black and white
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1949996638
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1949996630
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 10 – 16 years
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 9 inches

Purchase on Amazon

The Pickpocket, the Spy, and the Lobsterbacks: a Graphic Novel of the American Revolution

by Stan Mack and Susan Champlin

A graphic novel that throws two teens into the excitement and tumult of the American Revolution, delivering the true story of the nation’s founding in an approachable and thrilling manner.

When Penny, the hard-working daughter of a tavernkeeper, meets Nick, an orphaned stableboy who lives by his wits (and a few “borrowed” wallets), opposites do not attract. But these unlikely partners don’t know that their lives are on the brink of change—of revolution—as England and the American colonies march toward war. While Nick and Penny are fictional, their adventures put them (and us!) in the thick of the action with the real-life heroes (including Paul Revere and George Washington) and battles (such as the Battle of Bunker Hill) that shaped a brand-new country.

This book ends with a guide to the real people and events that drive this fictional story.

(Previously released as Road to Revolution!)

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 125 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 194999662X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1949996623
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 10 – 16 years
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.29 x 9 inches

Purchase from Amazon

Revolting Rebels: a History in Comics of the American Revolution

Acclaimed cartoonist-author Stan Mack turns his humorously journalistic comics style on the events and characters of the American Revolution, creating a reader-friendly cartoon guide to the who, what, when, and why of the effort to end ties with Britain and create a new nation. Getting away from the simplistic all-patriotic takes, this graphic novel covers the battles, the arguments, and the very un-united set of people who somehow still managed to launch the United States. From the king to the commoners, the book uses a light, readable visual presentation for serious topics and real subtleties. Called “spectacular” by Publisher’s Weekly, given a starred review by Library Journal, and chosen as “New York Public Library Recommended Book” for teens, this lively graphic history demonstrates how the people and issues of a quarter of a millennium ago are not so different from those we deal with today, and how their impact is still felt.

(Previously released under the titles Stan Mack’s Real Life American Revolution and Taxes, the Tea Party and those Revolting Rebels.)

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 173 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1949996646
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1949996647
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.39 x 9 inches

Order from Amazon!

Cold War Coloring: Political Adult Coloring Books of the Kennedy Era – Expanded Edition

The first time adult coloring books swept America, they weren’t therapeutic… they were satiric.

In the early 1960s, the first wave of parody coloring books used the form to mock the culture of the day. Here in this expanded edition are seven prime examples that took on the political conflicts of that era.

The New Frontier Coloring Book – The very first political adult coloring book takes on the liberalism of the Kennedy administration.
JFK Coloring Book – a genuine New York Times-certified best seller, this look at the Kennedy White House, the Kennedy friends, and especially the Kennedy family contains beautiful art by Mort Drucker, master caricaturist from Mad.
New Frontier Comic Coloring Book – an all-out attack on the Kennedy administration, produced by Arthur J. Weaver, a politician who was a four-time delegate to the Republican National Convention
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev Coloring Book – a look at the notorious but colorful Soviet leader, written by Amram Ducovny, father of actor David Duchovny.
Khrushchev’s Top Secret Coloring Book – with Gene Shalit on the writing and Jack Davis of Mad fame handling the art, the communists take it on the chin.
The Sing Along with Khrushchov Coloring Book – drawn by a Hungarian artist who had been imprisoned by the Nazis for his political cartoons, this book was discussed at a meeting of the House Un-American Activities Committee.
The John Birch Coloring Book – a poke at the right-wing John Birch Society, who were concerned with communists abroad and communists (real and perceived) at home.

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 197 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 194999659X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1949996593
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.29 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.45 x 11 inches
Cover price: $20

Order from Amazon!

Dazzling Diamond Lil’

She’s a little gem with diamonds for eyes!

The year after the great Bill Woggon created Katy Keene, the comic book character who would bring him to attention and gain him the lasting love of fans, he created another special character. Diamond Lil’ reached the nation’s newspapers not on the comics page, but in jewelry store ads, where week after week she would promote the advantages of buying from the local shop, often in the most ridiculous ways. While Katy went on to a long-running comics career and ever her own TV series, Lil’ has been long forgotten and never collected… until now. Finally, over seventy years since she first saw print, her cartoons are available again for a whole new audience. Includes an introduction by Eisner Award-winning comics history writer Nat Gertler.

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 103 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1949996603
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1949996609
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.06 x 0.24 x 7.81 inches
Cover price: $10 US

Order now from Amazon!

Scott Shaw!s Comix & Stories: about Fandom, Underground Culture, the Comics Industry, Talking Animals, a Gonzo Cartoonist, & Other Stuff!

For over fifty years, SCOTT SHAW! has been writing and drawing allegedly funny stuff for mainstream comics sold on spinner racks (including Sonic the Hedgehog, Captain Carrot and The Simpsons), underground comix sold in head shops — and almost everything in between. Finally, here’s the first collection starring the award-winning cartoonist’s most notorious characters (including Scott himself!), with over 200 pages of offbeat stories, plus surprises and silliness from the depths of his archives!

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 335 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1949996581
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1949996586
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.5 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.44 x 0.76 x 9.69 inches
Cover price: US$30

Order now from Amazon!