Willie & Joe: The WWII Years
by Bill Mauldin
Fantagraphics Books
$65.00
Bill Mauldin knew war because he was in it. He had created his characters, Willie and Joe, at age 18, before Pearl Harbor, while training with the 45th Infantry Division and cartooning part-time for the camp newspaper. His brilliant send-ups of officers were pure infantry, and the men loved it. After wading ashore with his division on the first of its four beach invasions in July 1943, Mauldin and his men changed - and Mauldin's cartoons changed accordingly. Months of miserable weather, bad food, and tedium interrupted by the terror of intense bombing and artillery fire took its toll. By the year's end, virtually every man in Mauldin's original rifle company was killed, wounded, or captured. The wrinkles in Willie's and Joe's uniforms deepened, the bristle on their faces grew, and the eyes - "too old for those young bodies," as Mauldin put it - betrayed a weariness that would remain the entire war. With their heavy brush lines, detailed battlescapes, and pidgin of army slang and slum dialect, Mauldin's cartoons and captions recreated on paper the fully realized world of the American combat soldier. Their dark, often insubordinate humor sparked controversy among army brass and incensed General George S. Patton, Jr.

Born in 1921, Bill Mauldin squeezed several lifetimes into his 81 years. In addition to cartooning, he acted in Hollywood movies, ran for Congress, piloted airplanes, wrote several books and hundreds of articles, and won two Pulitzer Prizes, the first for his wartime cartoons. He died on January 22, 2003.

"Bill Mauldin acquired his fame as an anti-authoritarian critic in the most autocratic of societies, the US Army during World War II: in the panel cartoons he drew for military newspapers, he depicted the life of the 'dogface' (foot soldier) the way it was. Rained on and shot at and kept awake in trenches day and night, the combat soldier was wet, scared, dirty and tired all the time; and Mauldin's spokesmen - the scruffy, bristle-chinned, stoop-shouldered Willie and Joe in their wrinkled and torn uniforms - were taciturn but eloquent witnesses on behalf of the persecuted."
The Top 100 Comics, The Comics Journal #210. Read about the Top 100 Comics here.

Che: A Graphic Biography
by Spain Rodriguez & Paul Bhule
Verso Books
$16.95
Since his death in 1967, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara has become a universally known revolutionary icon and political figure whose image is among the most recognizable in the world. This dramatic and extensively researched book breathes new life into his story, portraying his struggle through the medium of the underground political comic - one of the most prominent countercultural art forms since the 1960s. Spain Rodriguez's powerful artwork illuminates Che's life and the experiences that shaped him, from his motorcycle journey through Latin America, his rise to prominence as a leader in Fidel Castro's revolutionary movement, his travels in Africa, his involvement in the insurgency that led to his death in Bolivia, and his extraordinary legacy.

"Spain is one of the true giants of the comics medium. He is a singular artist; his work is unmistakable."
Joe Sacco, author of Palestine

"A product of Buffalo, NY in the 1950s… [Spain] Rodriguez is the real deal, utterly devoted to political and cultural revolution, and taking numerous licks from the billy clubs of officers to prove it."
The Hartford Advocate

Apocalypse Nerd
by Peter Bagge
Dark Horse
$13.95
Software Engineer Perry and his friend Gordo are two average suburban guys who just wanted to go camping in the North Cascade Mountains near Seattle - but Kim Jung II had other plans. Now Seattle is a smoldering nuclear wasteland and Perry and Gordo are about to be put to the test in ways they have never imagined.

"My point is, I think almost all of us are capable of doing truly awful, despicable things, depending on the circumstances, and if we feel like we had no choice. The desire to remain alive can override pretty much anything, and that's what I wanted to show in this story."
Peter Bagge, as told to Christopher Irving, from Comics Introspective Vol 1

Little Nothings: The Curse Of The Umbrella
by Lewis Trondheim
NBM
$14.95
The creator of the Dungeon series, A.L.I.E.E.E.N. and Mr. O, pours his heart out in funny snippets of everyday life. His paranoia, little annoyances, big annoyances, chase of rainbows, love of comics, travel impressions from around the world, dealing with kids, being a kid: it's all about life as we know it. A collection from his comics blog that expands his palette with full color painting. Read an excerpt here.

"I think there are endemic types of comics in different creative centers around the planet. Some of those endemic comics, like superheroes and manga, manage pretty well in export markets. The classic comics of the French-Belgian school have struggled more, because they've cut themselves off from their popular roots. But now we're witnessing a form of cross-border comics: comics and graphic novels that can be read by everyone, which are created by authors that are separating themselves from their comics references and going more towards literature. People like Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes, Seth, Jiro Taniguchi, Marjane Satrapi, Joann Sfar and many others have managed to win over an audience that had slowly turned away from a type of comics that had become too facile, too commercial. We're witnessing the appearance of an international movement of authors who have grasped this medium vigorously and are trying to return it to one of the freest and most creative places to be, in terms of artistic narration. Whoa - am I sounding too pompous, saying that?"
Lewis Trondheim talks comics with Newsarama.

"One could perhaps say that the Coleridge poem is lacking in humour. Hunt Emerson has amply made up for that in this two hundredth (approximately) anniversary printing... We sure could have used this back in Mrs Teshner's English class."
Gilbert Shelton, from the introduction

"...my favourite of all the the books I've ever done... the text is dead straight. I didn't change anything. And I've done it all as a comic strip... Teachers just love it because they can introduce their students to the text and get them to read the stuff... it's now part of the Coleridge industry. There's only a certain amount of illustrated Ancient Mariner's around, and I'm one of the two living illustrators of the Mariner at the moment, or something like that."
Hunt Emerson, from the True Brit interview

Maakies With The Wrinkled Knees (HC)
by Tony Millionaire
Fantagraphics Books
$19.95
Drinky Crow may be the drunken star of the weekly comic strip Maakies, but more often than not, he plays straight man to the hapless ape, Uncle Gabby. Here is the newest collection of Tony Millionaire's strip, never before published in book form. The suicide jokes may come less frequently than in earlier years, but the comedy and superb drawing style are at their peak, as is the volume of triple-X cartoon booze consumed. Maakies features the comical adventures of a drunken crow on the high seas, blending vaudeville-style humor and a breathtaking line that harkens back to the glory days of the American comic strip. Designed by publishing's foremost graphic designer, Chip Kidd, Maakies with the Wrinkled Knees features over two years of strips in a beautiful, deluxe, landscape hardcover format that complements the strip's elegant and classical style.

"In his surrealist impulse and draftsman's brio, Millionaire is the closest thing we have to George Herriman of Krazy Kat."
The New York Times Book Review

Classic Illustrated: Great Expectations (HC)
adapted by Rick Geary
NBM/Papercutz
$9.95
Rick Geary, best known for his Treasury of Victorian Murder series, demonstrates the full range of his abilities in his adaptation of Dickens' bittersweet tale of a young man making his way in a challenging world populated by an array of richly delineated characters.  Geary's  adaptation of Great Expectations was originally published by First Comics in 1990.

Whatever
by Karl Stevens
Alternative Comics
$9.95
Whatever showcases a remarkable collection of humorous and beautifully drawn short stories by Ignatz-nominated and Xeric Award-winning artist Karl Stevens. Set in the world of young artists, dreamers, drinkers, layabouts and dime-store deep thinkers of bohemian Allston, Massachusetts, the strips - originally published in The Phoenix, Boston's leading alternative weekly - are revealing snapshots of real-life urban America at the dawn of the 21st century. In addition to The Phoenix strips, Whatever features ten exquisite color pieces expertly rendered in watercolor.

"It's called Whatever. It's about young people living in Boston. There's no real recurring characters or linear narrative. I get to try out new things and experiment formally so that keeps it exciting. I've been using some of the characters from Guilty and some from the next book. When I eventually collect them in a book I think they'll be a nice little bridge/side story between Guilty and the next work. Mostly they're just stand-alone little vignettes."
Karl Stevens talks to Comic Book Galaxy - Read the full interview here.

C'est Bon Anthology Vol 4
by various
C'est Bon Kultur
$17.95
With contributions from Mattias Elftorp, Amanda Vähämäki, Chiu Kwong Man & Claire Bishop, David Mack, Rutu Modan, Trina Robbins, Andrea Echorn, Jamil Mani, Junko Mizuno.

"CBA is essential for anyone intrigued about where this medium is heading."
Paul Gravett

Funeral Of The Heart
by Leah Hayes
Fantagraphics Books
$14.95
Funeral Of The Heart is Leah Hayes' stylistic tour-de-force and graphic novel debut, featuring a series of short stories by Hayes and illustrated entirely using the otherworldly medium of scratchboard. Hayes creates a world of unease and ambiguity populated by obsessive characters, forlorn animals, and mysterious, inanimate objects; odd occurrences, unnerving deaths and unconventional but genuine love bind these characters and their stories together.

Therefore, Repent!
by Jim Munroe & Salgood Sam
IDW
$24.99
What if the religious right... are right? Once the Christians have floated bodily into the sky, life goes on pretty much as usual for the immoral majority... . except that magic works, if you're willing to risk demonic mutations. CNN reports that Mr. Christ and Mr. Bush are on a speaking tour of the red states. And an angelic army appears to have been deployed to mop up the sinners. But through it all, outsiders Raven and Mummy face the possibility of a bigger problem than the end of the world: the end of their relationship.

"...the type of book that will have you flipping through it again and again... sure to be one of this years highly regarded Original Graphic Novels."
Jonathan Ellis at Pop Image - Read the full review here.

"Unfortunately, I opened the book and looked at the first page... this is the damn problem with this damn book - you're screwed if you read the first page... then have to read the second. And the third... This is a novel about the magic within all of us, about what stops us from realizing we have that magic, and how we can find that magic again and use it.
Victor Schwartzman at The Guild Of Outsider Writers - Read the full review here.

Applicant
by Jesse Reklaw
Microcosm
$4.00
"One night while rooting through the recycling bin for magazines, I found all the confidential Ph.D. applicant files for the biology department at an Ivy League university from the years 1965-1975. Stapled to many of the yellowed documents were photographs of the prospective students. They were treasures! I tore through the folders and rescued every portrait I could find. I had to have them. Only later did I realize I had to publish them."

So begins the preface to Jesse Reklaw's Applicant. A priceless time-bomb of pop culture, Reklaw serves a compelling and secret look into an impossibly lost era. The book collects photos from the 1970s paired with accompanying comments from employers and professors. The results are absurdist, confusing, often hilarious and disturbing. Applicant provides unique insight into outdated 1970s social attitudes and ephemera (under one girl's photo: "Weakness: she is a female, and an attractive, modest one, so is bound to marry"). Much of the book's appeal however is found in what the book fails to say: the blank and despondent stares of it's subjects, the outdated fashions and hairstyles and it's understated text. Equal parts Ann Taintor and Found Magazine, Applicant is one of those books you read once and then want to show everyone.

Indestructible
by Cristy Road
Microcosm
$6.00
Cristy Road offers a novel about her years in grade school and high school in Miami - valiantly trying to figure out and defend her gender identity, cultural roots, punk rock nature, and mortality. You know that the artwork alone in here makes this a page turner and the whole package more exciting. Cristy has always existed to remind us of the strength and ability of punk youth - for addressing things like rape, homophobia, and misogyny. This is no exception; giving voice to every frustrated 15 year old girl under fire from her peers for being queer or butch or punk.

The Art Of Peter Max
by Peter Max
Harry N. Abrams
$50.00
The definitive Peter Max coffee table art book, with 240 pages of glorious color and dazzling imagery. This hard-cover book captures Max's evolution of style, from his famous 60's period to his recent expressionistic painting period.

"Pop artist Max, like his contemporary Andy Warhol, had his artistic way with iconic figures: while Warhol captured Marilyn and Liz in Day-Glo glory, Max caught the visages of the Statue of Liberty, the Mona Lisa and George Washington in vibrant Technicolor (they both took a turn with Mick Jagger). But Max is the softer character in both art and life: his canvases are happier, swirlier, and he's a lot less hip. Perhaps it's his unabashed patriotism and his thorough endorsement by the establishment (though not necessarily the art world establishment). Max has painted Lady Liberty on the White House lawn, been named the official artist for the Grammys, the United Nations Earth Summit and five Superbowls, and had his paintings grace the covers of People, U.S. News & World Report and Manhattan's Yellow Pages - twice. "
Publishers Weekly

"Peter Max created a delirium of gorgeously imaginative and technically innovative posters and album covers during the sixties that perfectly capture the liberating power of rock and roll in brilliant colors, kaleidoscopic patterns-within-patterns, and bold, art deco-inspired graphics. But as instantly recognizable as Max's work is, his life story is not well known, and what a tale it is. "
Booklist

Reich #1
by Elijah Brubaker
Sparkplug Comics Books
$3.00
Reich is a biographical account of psychoanalyst and sex researcher Dr. Wilhelm Reich, a protégé of Freud. He courted scandal throughout Europe where he became known mostly for his controversial and radical ideas. Reich claimed to discover a palpable sexual energy, which he called 'Orgone'. The political climate of WWII was not encouraging for a leftist, sexually progressive, Jewish activist with heterodox scientific theories. Reich was forced to move to America in 1939. In America Reich founded Orgonon, a commune/laboratory located in Rangely Maine. There he continued his research into Orgone energy. Reich claimed the energy was a panacea and was determined to prove it to the world. Later Reich began to exhibit signs of paranoia but as the saying goes 'just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me.' Reich was abruptly persecuted by the United States government. Reich tells the story of a man who lived with unwavering conviction in his beliefs and it shows the potential danger of that conviction.

"Died. Wilhelm Reich, 60, once-famed psychoanalyst, associate, and follower of Sigmund Freud, founder of the Wilhelm Reich Foundation, lately better known for unorthodox sex and energy theories; of a heart attack in Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, Pa; where he was serving a two-year term for distributing his invention, the 'orgone energy accumulator' (in violation of the Food and Drug Act), a telephone-booth-size device which supposedly gathered energy from the atmosphere, and could cure, while the patient sat inside, common colds, cancer and impotence"
Time Magazine obituary, 1957

"Hey suckers, Reich #1 is now available in the Diamond catalog. Page 311 I think. It got an 'indie edge'. whatever the fuck that is. Anyway, comic shop employees and owners everywhere should snap this bitch up. It's totally worth three bucks."
Elijah Brubaker

Jack Staff Special #1
by Paul Grist
Image
$3.50
"Jack Staff is a delight, stuffed with more wonderful concepts than any reader has a right to expect - Becky Burdock, Vampire Reporter! Tom Tom the Robot Man! Charlie Raven, the greatest escapologist of the Victorian Age! These stories are written with an inventive wit and zest for adventure, and Grist's evocative, clear-line art would do Alex Toth proud. Stories jump backward and forward in time, and from place to place, with an almost reckless abandon; yet Grist's skillful compositions and sure storytelling never leave the reader behind. Best of all, these are comics you could give to a child without feeling uneasy, yet clever and imaginative enough to entertain an adult."
The Comics Journal #259

"When I started on Jack Staff I thought it might be a bit of fun to include some reference to characters from the British comics I used to read, such as The Steel Claw (the Claw) and Robot Archie (Tom Tom the Robot Man). Not every character is based on another, though (some people try and pair them all up but it doesn't really work like that). Some of it is fairly superficial resemblance such as Tom Tom and the Claw, say, whilst other stuff is slightly more integral to the overall "big story" that I'm telling in Jack Staff, of which an example would be Helen Morgan and the shard of the Valiant stone that she wears around her neck which is a reference to Kelly's Eye. Tim Kelly was an adventurer who wore the Eye of Zoltec (I think -- I don't exactly research all this stuff -- I'm just running on childhood memory). That's one of the key story elements that I'm going to be exploring in the issues to come."
Paul Grist, from The Comics Reporter interview - read the full interview here.

Ral Omega Grad #1
by Tsuneo Takano & Takeshi Obata
Viz
$7.99
By the creators of Death Note... The people of Sphaein are under siege by an army of horrendous monsters knows as Shadows. With the castle walls collapsing and their doom within sight they are persuaded to let loose a boy who himself has a Shadow within him. Released from his black cell a teenager who has never laid eyes on the opposite sex, he meets his beloved teacher face to face and discovers there are differences between men and women, differences he deems worth fighting for!