Hey Kids! Comics! Fun-Adventure-History

Below are some comic strip and cartoon books scheduled for October 2024 release (or so).
Images and links from a variety of publishers and outlets,
though ordering through your local comic shop or independent book store is a good idea.

Prince Valiant Artists (illustrators Hardcover Special #19) (Limited Edition)

Now is your first chance ever to own part of history as we delve into the greatest comics strip created by Hal Foster, exploring its origin, the colouring process and showcase samples from original artwork and the colour proofs, many scanned at their actual size.

But that is not all: we also feature all the artists that followed Foster from John Cullen Murphy to Gary Gianni and the current artist Thomas Yeates, with samples of their work scanned from their original artboards. In addition we interview Cullen Murphy who wrote the script for many years after Foster retired, Meg Nash who coloured the strip from 1991 until her father John Cullen Murphy retired in 2004, Mark Schultz the current writer and Scott Roberts the colourist since 2004. Plus lots more!

This is a limited Special edition of just 1000 copies.

If… Stands Up by Steve Bell

A new satirical extravaganza from one of Britain’s best-loved political cartoonists

Steve Bell’s If… cartoon strip in the Guardian attracted generations of loyal readers. If… Stands Up is his hilarious commentary on the past six years of political madness.

Bell draws an unforgettable picture of a nation that has left reality behind. Why did the chlorinated chicken cross the Atlantic? Who needs hell when you have the Conservative Party? Might the Labour leadership simply be robots in disguise? In a world of war and chauvinism, Bell picks himself up and goes in search of a new source of laughs. In this, if nothing else, Westminster politics rarely disappoints.

Adulthood Is a Gift!: A Celebration of Sarah’s Scribbles by Sarah Anderson

With new and classic Sarah’s Scribbles comics, essays, stickers, and more, this book is a celebration of one of the best loved comic voices of a generation.

With 100 comics, 15 essays, and dozens of photos and sketches, the fifth Sarah’s Scribbles book offers a rare look behind the creative process of one of the most original and beloved comic artists of a generation.

Terry and the Pirates: The Master Collection, vol. 9 by Milton Caniff

The saga continues in Terry and the Pirates Volume 9, reproduced from Milton Caniff’s personal set of color syndicate tabloid proofs!

Flip Corkin schools Joe Jitsu in good ol’ American know-how before he schools Terry about the ins-and-outs of being a fighter pilot. The October 17th Sunday page—as Terry earns his wings and Flip delivers “The Pilot’s Creed”—is so powerful it was read into the Congressional Record. Before that can happen, wily Rouge abducts Taffy Tucker and gives her amnesia before slipping away! Taffy is in safe hands, however, when she falls under the wing of Connie, Big Stoop, and Navy Lieutenant Pat Ryan! … while Terry investigates the French Captain Midi, whom some find almost—hypnotic.

Crazy: The Magazine That Dared To Be Dumb by Mark Arnold and Mark Slade

Yes, Marvel’s Crazy Magazine is back with an historical and hysterical volume that features over two dozen interviews with the magazine’s creators, plus a background history, issue highlights and index compiled by Mark Arnold (“If You’re Cracked, You’re Happy, Volume Won and Too,” and “Unconditionally MAD, Part 1 and B”) and Mark Slade (“The Marvelous Bronze Age: Conversations with Marvel Comics Creators of the ‘70s and ‘80s”). Crazy truly was “The Magazine That Dared to be Dumb”!

Mr. Lovenstein Presents: Feelings by J.L. Westover

Perfect for fans of CYANIDE AND HAPPINESS and DINOSAUR THERAPY – MR. LOVENSTEIN PRESENTS: FEELINGS takes readers on a rollercoaster of emotions that we deal with everyday.

Get ready to catch feelings in this brand-new collection of Mr. Lovenstein comics, including exclusive never-before-seen comics that can’t be found anywhere else. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll wonder if the tingling sensation in your stomach are butterflies…or something…else…!

Massively popular webcomics author J.L. Westover follows up his Eisner-nominated debut by taking readers on a rollercoaster of emotions in MR. LOVENSTEIN PRESENTS: FEELINGS.

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers: High Times and Misdemeanors by Gilbert Shelton & Dave Sheridan

In this early epic of the hilarious and politically correct Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Freewheelin’ Franklin, Phineas, and Fat Freddy think they’re in the money when they establish their own low-fare one-vehicle bus line in the full-color (painted!) adventure, “The $29.95 SF to NYC Non-Stop Whiteline Cannonball Express.” But that cheap price means lots of unexpected detours — especially when they decide to let the passengers vote on the stops along the way!

Other Freak follies in this volume include all of the color strips from the Freak Brothers’ adventures as originally published in High Times and Playboy magazines. (Oh, did we say “politically correct”? Just kidding!) Plus: Fat Freddy’s Cat stars in the black-and-white “Chariots of the Globs” and the color “The Burning of Hollywood,” along with other solo outings!

Seattle Samurai: A Cartoonist’s Perspective of the Japanese American Experience by Sam and Kelly Goto

Between 2012 and 2018, Sam Goto drew over 250 multi-paneled Seattle Tomodachi (“friend of Seattle”) comic strips for The North American Post. These comics chronicled the lives and stories of early Japanese settlers and their American-born offspring. Through his work, he captured elements of culture, nostalgia, and history, while infusing his characters — Shigeru Tomo and his alterego Samurai Shigeru — with the samurai values of courage, respect, and continuous improvement and compassion. 

Design researcher Kelly Goto reflects on her father’s legacy.

The Calvin and Hobbes Portable Compendium Set 3 by Bill Watterson

The third set of books collecting Bill Watterson’s timeless Calvin and Hobbes comics in a new portable format designed to introduce the timeless adventures of a boy and his stuffed tiger to a new generation of readers. Featuring nearly 500 comics presented chronologically from June 1988 to November 1989.

Featuring archival slipcase and cover art selected by the author, The Calvin and Hobbes Portable Compendium pays tribute to the strip’s origin in newspapers while appealing to both new and existing fans of Calvin and Hobbes.

Forces of Nature by Edward Steed

Once in generation, a distinctly new perspective emerges from the pages of The New Yorker. In our times, that perspective belongs to Ed Steed. Steeped in the classic formalist tradition of the single-panel gag, Steed possesses a shocking and macabre talent for drawings guaranteed to make even the most composed of casual readers laugh out loud. At times reminiscent of Charles Addams, George Booth, William Steig, Saul Steinberg, and Edward Gorey, the artist defies the blasé, urbanite’s worldview of the magazine in which his comics appear.

How Comics Were Made: A Visual History from the Drawing Board to the Printed Page by Glenn Fleishman

How Comics Were Made, celebrates the evolution of the comic strip: from the Yellow Kid and early syndication through the very latest webcomics. This covers the whole ball of wax of how artists, knowing their newsprint medium, drew their comics and marked drawings up for color reproduction; how printers put that work through the most arcane and impossible-to-believe operations to get them onto paper; and how modern cartoonists produce cartoons for print and online or web-only.

As part of the book, I interviewed dozens of cartoonists about the aesthetic and functional choices they made and make to ensure their work remains true to their vision through print and online production, particularly around color. I asked how those who started in the 70s and 80s worked through the great metal and analog to offset and digital switch.

The Big Book of Peanuts: All the Daily Strips from the 1990s by Charles M. Schulz

All of the Peanuts comic strips from Jan. 1, 1990, through the daily strip’s conclusion in January 2000, including an introductory essay and notes about the evolution of the strip in its final decade. 

The final decade of daily strips from Charles Schulz’s half century of Peanuts are presented here all in one place. Featuring all the adventures of Snoopy, Woodstock, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Sally, Peppermint Patty, and all the rest of the Peanuts Gang … With over 3,000 comic strips all in one place, as well as historical trivia about the comic strip and characters, this hardcover book is the perfect gift for the Peanuts lover in your life.

Peanuts Boxed Set: The Second Classic Peanuts Collection by Charles M. Schulz

This collection of three of the earliest Peanut books features many of your favorite characters, including Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, Pig Pen, and many others. Join them as they navigate their way through school, first crushes, the complexities of baseball, and the world of the forever unseen grown-ups and their crazy rules.
Collecting Peanuts Revisited, Peanuts Every Sunday and Good Grief, More Peanuts. With each book containing 128 pages, that’s over 360 pages of classic Peanuts daily and Sunday newspaper comic strips to enjoy.

On the Border by Brandon Hicks (author interview)

A small-town field guide

After moving to St. Stephen, New Brunswick during the height of the pandemic, cartoonist Brandon Hicks began illustrating a diary to record all of the strange occurrences and social mores of this sleepy border town.

On The Border collects the best of these stories, introducing you to a large cast of idiosyncratic neighbours, wild animals and strange antagonists. Learn all there is to know about the local traditions, bizarre habits and the changing economy of a small East Coast community.

The Redemption of Andy Capp by Paul Slade (review)

Reg Smythe, who created Andy Capp in 1957, wrote and drew every line of the strip himself for the next 40 years. During that time, he was hailed as a master by his peers … What few people realise is how much of his own troubled childhood Smythe poured into his characters’ lives. Andy was a portrait of his own wastrel father, Flo a version of his formidable mum, and their surroundings a faithful depiction of the pre-war Hartlepool neighbourhood where he grew up.

Pearls Gets Put in the Pokey:A Pearls Before Swine Treasury by Stephan Pastis

Featuring 18 months of daily comic strips from 2021-2022, along with reflections and strip-by-strip commentary by award-winning cartoonist and USA TODAY bestselling author Stephan Pastis, this treasury is an open and shut case of absolute criminal hilarity.

Throughout this treasury, Pastis covers all his tracks with commentary on every comic strip, along with photos, behind-the-scenes insights on his creative process, and thoughtful reflections on the last few years. If you’re a fan of Pearls Before Swine, keep your nose clean and stick it in this book instead.

Boy vs. Shark by Paul Gilligan

A hilarious middle-grade graphic memoir about boyhood, toxic masculinity and a shark named Jaws. For fans of Guts and New Kid.

In the summer of 1975, 10-year-old Paul Gilligan doesn’t have a whole lot to worry about other than keeping his comic books untarnished, getting tennis balls off roofs and keeping up with the increasingly bold stunts of his best friend, David.

And then Jaws comes to town.

Needless to say, Jaws leaves young Paul a cowering mess, and underlines the growing gap between him and David as well as the distance between where he stands and the world’s expectations of a boy’s “manliness.”

COMMERCIAL ARTICLE 16 DALE MESSICK AND BRENDA STARR by Connie Zeigler

For nearly fifty years, Dale Messick wrote and drew Brenda Starr, Reporter, one of the most popular comic strips in the country! … Messick was a trailblazer in the male-dominated world of newspaper comics!

Her creation, the intrepid reporter Brenda Starr, began an adventure in 1940 that lasted for decades! Starr’s zany antics and dramatic love affairs took her around the world, to the highest levels of high society, and to the depths of the criminal underworld. Along with her colorful cohorts like Hank O’Hair and Daphne Dimples, Brenda Starr, Reporter delighted millions of readers and was syndicated in over 250 newspapers.

Unicorn Time Machine by Dana Simpson

In this exciting new collection of Phoebe and Her Unicorn comics, 10-year-old Phoebe Howell and her magical unicorn best friend, Marigold, enjoy a series of fantastical adventures. Phoebe goes back in time to meet her father as a kid and makes some surprising discoveries. Marigold reveals that she sometimes puts the world on mute, a power that Phoebe quickly learns is easy to overuse. And at the Unicorn Award Ceremony, the pair launch a campaign to get Marigold the highest honor. It’s all part of the unique bond within one of the most memorable friendships in recent comics history.

Churchill: A Life in Cartoons by Tim Benson

Following an unrivalled political career that spanned a remarkable sixty years and reached both the heights and the depths of political fortune, Sir Winston Churchill undoubtedly became the world’s most caricatured politician of all time. From entering Parliament in 1900 through to his retirement in 1964, Winston Churchill in Cartoons will chart Churchill’s illustrious and tumultuous political career through the work of leading cartoonists from around the world.

Through these cartoons there developed very contrary views of Churchill; the glorious cigar-chomping wartime leader and the flawed politician. In America he was adored by cartoonists, while in Nazi Germany and in the post-war Soviet Union he was, unsurprisingly, painted as a bumbling buffoon.

The Routledge Introduction to American Comics by Andrew J. Kunka and Rachel R. Miller

This accessible, up-to-date textbook covers the history of comics as it developed in the US in all of its forms: political cartoons and newspaper comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, minicomics, and webcomics. Over the course of its six chapters, this introductory textbook addresses the artistic, cultural, social, economic, and technological impacts and innovations that comics have had in American history. Readers will be immersed in the history of American comics?from its origins in 18th-century political cartoons and late 19th-century newspaper strips to the rise of the wildly popular comic book, the radical, grassroots collectives that grew out of the underground comix movement of the 1960s and 1970s, all the way through contemporary longform graphic novels, the vibrant self-publishing scene, and groundbreaking webcomics.

Woman & Man+ by Craig Yoe

Woman & Man+ is a wildly surreal autobiographical telling of its artist, Yoe, losing his love, his country, and, some say, his sanity–and his struggle to reinvent himself.

The highly anticipated loudly wordless graphic novel Woman & Man+has a revolutionary approach that breaks all the rules of conventional comic storytelling. Steranko meets Hieronymus Bosch by way of R. Crumb and Dali. The unique art style has been deemed, “Yoe-Brow”!

Crabbily Ever After: The Twenty-Ninth Sherman’s Lagoon Collection by Jim Toomey

This selection of the best Sherman’s Lagoon comic strips from 2023 offers readers a plunge into aquatic adventure and underseas hilarity.

You don’t need to put on scuba gear to dive into the aquatic, comedic world of Sherman’s Lagoon, where sharks, sea turtles, and fish live together in a world of domestic dysfunction and celebrity-obsessed culture that mirrors our own. 

Paper of Wreckage By Susan Mulcahy and Frank DiGiacomo

A jaw-dropping and unputdownable oral history of the New York Post and the legendary tabloid’s cultural impact from the 1970s to today as recounted by the men and women who witnessed it firsthand.

By the 1970s, the country’s oldest continuously published newspaper had fallen on hard times, just like its nearly bankrupt hometown. When the New York Post was sold to a largely unknown Australian named Rupert Murdoch in 1976, staffers hoped it would be the start of a new golden age for the paper.

The Very Genius Notebooks: The Chronicles of Deltovia by Olivia Jaimes

Three middle school girls—Misha, June, and Ollie—know their epic fantasy story could be the next Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. The only holdup is they have to write it first. But that’s a trifling concern: they’ve bought a $1.99 composition notebook, and they’re going to pass it back and forth over the course of their 7th grade school year to build the world and characters as a team.

Together they invent and explore the mysterious land of Deltovia, while also writing about what’s going on in their actual middle school lives in the notebook, too.

This thrilling and irreverent new illustrated novel series about three middle school girls’ quest for literary greatness is written and illustrated by Olivia Jaimes … The Chronicles of Deltovia is the first book in her new series, The Very Genius Notebooks, which combines imagination and real-world drama, and delightfully mixes scenes of friendship, fantasy, and middle-grade illustrated novel fun.

Big Nate: The Nate Files by Lincoln Peirce

Featuring original content and stories based on the Emmy-nominated Big Nate animated series, The Nate Files offers an exciting peek into the world of Big Nate and friends, including comics, stories, and bonus material taken directly from Nate’s notebook.  

  • Nate’s bonus yearbook section of rivals and frenemies
  • A rundown of Nate’s most epic date disasters
  • Nate and friends assembling a collaborative time capsule, made up largely of freak artifacts from Nate’s locker
  • Nate’s guide to surviving detention
  • Character profiles and special features including Gina’s spy tips, Teddy’s study habits, and Principal Nichols’ tips for how (NOT) to fly a drone

Innocence and Seduction: The Art of Dan DeCarlo: Expanded Edition edited by Bill Morrison

The definitive retrospective of Dan DeCarlo, the great Archie Comics artist — a fitting tribute to the life and art of one of the world’s all-time best cartoonists, lavishly designed and now expanded with nearly 350 illustrations, including rare cartoons and strips, and of course, lots of those fabulous DeCarlo ladies!

Flash Gordon: Classic Collection Vol. 2

Science fiction’s most enduring icon Flash Gordon returns in a newly restored edition, collecting his ongoing adventures with Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov on the mysterious planet Mongo. In this volume, the escalating tensions between Flash and Ming threaten to bring about a full-scale planetary war…and only Ming’s estranged son-in-law, Prince Barin, can avert it.

This collection reprints all of Alex Raymond’s Sunday strips from April 25, 1937 to January 12, 1941, the period considered his artistic peak, and has been restored from the original tearsheets to present the series as intended.

Sophie: Jurassic Bark by Brian Anderson

Sophie: Frankenstein’s Hound by Brian Anderson

Based on the much-loved webcomic, “Dog Eat Doug,” Sophie is a hilarious new graphic novel series, a sendup of family life from the perspective of one snarky dog who wants nothing more than to have everything—without ever having to share. Full of mini adventures, pop culture spoofs, sharp jokes, adorable illustrations, and a sneaky dose of heart, Jurassic Bark and Frankenstein’s Hound are the perfect introduction to these characters and their world. Just right for the pet-obsessed among us no matter the age, while simultaneously appealing to the kids who love to giggle at Big Nate, Dog Man, Garfield, and Snoopy

Everything Everywhere…: A Baby Blues Collection by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

Featuring all the Baby Blues comics from 2023, Everything Everywhere sums up the realities of the parenting experience in relatable and hilarious fashion.

One of the most beloved family comic strips, Baby Blues chronicles the adventures of the McPherson parents, Darryl and Wanda, and their three children, Zoe, Hammie, and Wren. Written by Jerry Scott and illustrated by Rick Kirkman.

Manga Biographies: Charles Schulz by Yuzuru Kuki

Manga Biographies: Charles Schulz is a 168-page manga graphic novel written and illustrated by Yuzuru Kuki. This authorized biography spans Charles Schulz’s life, from his youth growing up in Minnesota, through a burgeoning love of drawing and his time in the army, to becoming one of the most recognized and beloved cartoonists in the world. Told in a clear and welcoming style perfect for readers young and old, this gripping manga story touches on many real-world historical events that impacted Schulz’s life, and the ways Peanuts impacted those events!

Thimble Theatre & the Pre-Popeye Comics of E.C. Segar: Revised and Expanded

More than a decade before he created the world’s most famous cartoon sailor, Elzie Crisler Segar began his comics career in the movies. He drew cartoons for silent movie theater slides, the Charlie Chaplin comic strip, and a daily strip about Chicago’s movies and entertainment. Then, in 1919, he penned his own “small screen” creation for the newspapers, Thimble Theatre, where Popeye was to be born a decade later. This comprehensive volume features examples of all of E.C. Segar’s early comics and illustrations, with over 100 pre-Popeye Thimble Theatre Sunday pages including the complete run of the famed Western desert saga, a series that rivals his later work in superb art, storytelling, and humor.

Newly revised and expanded, this new printing contains ten additional pages plus a 1920s-style Sunday comics section insert paying tribute to Segar and his comic creations featuring Charlie Chaplin’s Comic Capers and Popeye’s “The Jeep.”

Text and illustrations offer an in-depth history and commentary on the life and work of E. C. Segar by historians Paul C. Tumey and Jeet Heer, and best-selling author and journalist Michael Tisserand. Thimble Theatre is an essential part of any comics lover’s library.

Feature image is a panel from Macanudo by Liniers

4 thoughts on “Hey Kids! Comics! Fun-Adventure-History

  1. First off: Churchill was the third-easiest politician to draw during the first half of the 20th century, after Teddy Roosevelt and Hitler.

    Second: Sherman’s Lagoon is the official mascot of the Papah?naumoku?kea Marine National Monument, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Toomey did several posters for them.

    (and this is slightly off topic)

    Third: Someone just came out with a biography of Zeppo Marx.

  2. The completist side of me is happy that The Big Book of Peanuts: All the Daily Strips from the 1990s is finally coming out.

    1. A cautionary warning Ray:
      “This special Kickstarter-funded edition is being printed in only a limited number.”
      And: “future printings, if any.”
      You may want to order the book now to avoid missing out (I expect my pre-order to arrive soon).

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