This book is an updated history of the American comic book by an industry insider. You'll follow the development of comics from the first appearance of the comic book format in the Platinum Age of the 1930s to the creation of the superhero genre in the Golden Age, to the current period, where comics flourish as graphic novels and blockbuster movies. Along the way you will meet the hustlers, hucksters, hacks, and visionaries who made the American comic book what it is today. It's an exciting journey, filled with mutants, changelings, atomized scientists, gamma-ray accidents, and supernaturally empowered heroes and villains who challenge the imagination and spark the secret identities lurking within us.

Following the success of the Superman Masterpiece Edition comes another nostalgic celebration of the equally popular Batman. Since 1939, this nocturnal super hero has been the tragically orphaned Bruce Wayne by day, and the moody but fearless guardian of Gotham City by night. Our classic boxed set captures the golden age of the Caped Crusader with an exclusive action figure of the early Batman; the first-ever facsimile reprint of the first Batman comic book; and a lavishly illustrated, full-color hardcover book by best-selling author Les Daniels detailing Batman's early years. This deluxe boxed set is thoroughly collectible, and a must-have for Batman fans across the world.

This book approaches the subject of Corporate Taxation through the prism of the Federal income tax treatment of taxable and tax-free mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Although the book discusses virtually every section of subchapter C of the Internal Revenue Code, which governs the tax treatment of corporations, the emphasis is placed on those provisions of subchapter C that have the most impact in M&A transactions. The book is structured for use both by students who have not previously been exposed to Corporate Tax and by those who have. The book focuses principally on domestic M&A; however, because of the growing importance of cross-border M&A, the Federal income tax consequences of these transactions are also briefly examined. The book is divided into four parts. Part I contains an introduction to business tax principles, to basic corporate tax principles, and to the Federal income tax treatment of taxable and tax-free M&A. Part II focuses on taxable stock and asset acquisitions; Part III focuses on tax-free reorganizations; and Part IV focuses on special topics, including acquisitions involving partnerships and S corporations, bankruptcy issues in M&A, and policy issues.

Don't miss this opportunity to own this very limited and rare hard cover edition; a very low print run will be made, so be sure to order it now to get your copy. This might be your only chance to own a true piece of Transformers history.

Limited to 1000 copies, the hardcover edition of Bhob Stewart's long-awaited AGAINST THE GRAIN: MAD ARTIST WALLACE WOOD includes 16 full-color pages not found in the softcover edition. It's the most comprehensive book ever produced on the career of one of science-fiction and comics' finest artists! For his Mad magazine work alone, many have long regarded Wallace Wood as the world's greatest cartoonist, and this remarkable memoir of life at the Wood Studio includes a biographical portrait, tracing Woody's life while exploring the humorous spirit, dark detours and psychological twists of this gifted maverick who often went against the grain! Many artists and writers who knew Wood personally have also contributed articles and essays, making this book a huge compendium of imaginative art, insights and critical commentary! From childhood drawings and ambitious teenage samples to an endless parade of pages for a variety of publishers—Avon, EC, Fox, Marvel, Warren, and! more—plus illustrations for Galaxy Science Fiction, this is the most stunning display of Wood art ever assembled! Bill Pearson, executor of the Wood Estate, has made available rare drawings directly from Wood's own files, while noted art collector Roger Hill provides a wealth of obscure, previously unpublished Wood drawings and paintings. Stand by to blast off! Spa fon!.

Madge the Magician's Daughter was a classic newspaper comic strip that ran from 1905-1910. 51 selected comics from 1906 and 1907 are reprinted in black and white. The comic showed the misadventures of a young girl who tried to perform magic with her father's wand, with amusing results.

When the DC Comics character Batman got his own television series in 1966, Batman merchandising took off. A market was developed not only for little Caped Crusader suits and toy Batmobiles, but for Batman kiddie blankets, Batman nursery wallpaper, and so on down a slippery slope of mostly plastic kitsch to Batman combs, pogo sticks and tortilla chips. With Tim Burton's 1990s movie blockbusters, Hollywood marketing spin revived the genre. Book designer Chip Kidd, whose earliest memory of this commerce-driven Batman fetish is a nightlight that soothed his four-year-old mind, has actually collected vast quantities of such junk, and has put it all together in a catalog of shameless pop culture. Artfully photographed by Geoff Spear, this document casts light upon a dark and awesome figure-advertising. The Batman mythology has fired the American imagination since 1939. Its ever-growing popularity right up until today has spawned thousands of toys, gadgets, plastic figurines, night-lights, wind-up toys, wristwatches,and many other collectibles. Drawing upon the author's own personal collection, as well as those of such notable fans as Andy Warhol and the DC Comics archives, Batman Collected brings these memorabilia to life. Perfect for the comic lover, here is a remarkable wealth of rare, never-before-photographed Batman treasures. Extreme close-up photography and dramatic chiaroscuro lighting give these materials a magnificent aura of dark menace that brilliantly reflects the Batman ethos. [+]

The Warren Companion is the ultimate compendium to the great comics of Warren Publishing, examining all the titles including Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, Blazing Combat, Help!, The Spirit, and many more! Including the most cross-indexed artist and writer listing, this tome also features a new painted cover by Alex Horley, reams of unpublished art, archival photos, examinations of Warren's competition, plus exhaustive details on Warren merchandise, conventions, top strips, most prolific contributors, foreign publications, and many other fascinating oddities! Also featuring new articles on Richard Corben, Frank Frazetta, Steve Ditko and others, and interviews with Bernie Wrightson, Jim Warren, Will Eisner, Neal Adams, Gene Colan and many more.

In her sparkling new book, Lillian Robinson looks at Wonder Women - all of them - Supergirl, Invisible Girl, Invisible Woman, She Hulk - and examines what these cartoon heroines mean for everyday life. Can you balance a home, career, and the struggle for justice? What about men? Does flying help? Drawing upon her long career as a formidable feminist critic yet wearing her knowledge lightly, Lillian Robinson finds the essence of wonder women in our non-animated three-dimensional world. This book will delight and provoke anyone interested in the history of feminism or the importance of comics in contemporary life.

This volume display hundreds of full-color photos of comic book covers spanning from the earliest years of Comics' Golden Age (1938-45) through the dawn of its Silver Age in the mid-1950s. The first volume contains titles beginning with letters A-J. HC, 10x14, 452pg, FC.

Fantagraphics's latest volume collecting one of America's true national treasures, Krazy Kat. In 2002, Fantagraphics embarked on a publishing plan to reintroduce the greatest strip of the first-half of the 20th Century (the Peanuts of its era) to a public that has largely never seen it: this volume is the fourth in a long-term plan to chronologically reprint strips from the prime of Herriman's career, most of which have not seen print since originally running in newspapers 75 years ago. Each volume is edited by the San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum's Bill Blackbeard, the world's foremost authority on early 20th Century American comic strips, and designed by Jimmy Corrigan author Chris Ware, who may well go down as the best cartoonist of the 21st Century. Krazy & Ignatz 1931-1932 will be a hot-baked brickbat of a volume, adance with nearly two full years of the Sunday Krazy Kat (Herriman did not use color until 1935), snug between multiple pages of Herriman extras, including two premiere appearances of Krazy from 1909, never before reprinted; a sports page panorama of graphic fun with the French boxing champion, Georges Carpentier; two extremely frank daily strip revelations about Krazy's dubious gender; several gag cartoons from the early days of the last century; vignettes of the Coconino Kast of Kharacters drawn for Kat fans; and a first-time-ever reprint of Gilbert Seldes' second article on Krazy, written in 1935 for Esquire, two decades after his seminal piece in The Seven Lively Arts, with komments by Bill Blackbeard; plus an introduction by Blackbeard detailing the miraculous recovery of many of the Sunday pages in this volume from apparent newspaper oblivion, a new Debaffler page, and a stunning layout front and back and throughout by the inimitable Chris Ware! Krazy Kat is a love story, focusing on the relationships of its three main characters. Krazy Kat adored Ignatz Mouse. Ignatz Mouse just tolerated Krazy Kat, except for recurrent onsets of targeting tumescence, which found expression in the fast delivery of bricks to Krazy's cranium. Offisa Pup loved Krazy and sought to protect "her" (Herriman always maintained that Krazy was gender-less) by throwing Ignatz in jail. Each of the characters was ignorant of the others' true motivations, and this simple structure allowed Herriman to build entire worlds of meaning into the actions, building thematic depth and sweeping his readers up by the looping verbal rhythms of Krazy & Co. 's unique dialogue.

It all began from the tragedy of 50 years ago. In the style of Yu-Gi-Oh! comes the latest smash award-winning manga/anime, a serial fantasy adventure in which a 15-year-old schoolgirl is transported to a feudal Japan inhabited by evil demons and goblins. There she encounters the half-demon, half-human Inuyasha, who, with the other demons, seeks to capture the Shikon Jewel so that he can become omnipotent - his success spells disaster for the world!.