Cartoons Books

This book was great. After purchasing this, I went back and bought the original Duplex. I'm looking forward to Duplex3.

This really did make me laugh out loud, and it has something for everyone. If you don't like this book, you have no sense of humor.

I wish there were more like it. If this doesn't make you laugh you might want to seek professional help.

If you have the time to look, you'll see that Glenn McCoy's other "Duplex" Book either can't be purchased, or when it is available, sells for $75 or more. Yes, $75.00. That should tip you off to how funny he is and how good the books are. This one doesn't disappoint!

Thanks Jerry! I've been a fan for years. This is the kind of humor that can be visited time and again without getting old. (Do not keep a copy in the bathroom without a seat belt.) I recognize so many of the characters depicted in these pages and many of them are me. (Going to have to work on that.) As a frustrated cartoonist (no talent) and self proclamed humorist (no laughing) it is to Jerry's alter that I bring my offerings. Just don't raise prices. I give these books to people I know well. I don't loan my collection anymore, because they never come back. (I'f your reading this Leonard, I know where you live.) And a warning; be very careful which ones you show to your wife. The last time it cost me flowers and a long dry spell (get it). I'f you've never purchaced a cartoon book before (I can only imagine your kind of person) now is your chance to hit one out of the park. If you like to put on a Snoopy suite and your wife gets a rolled up news paper and play "bad doggie", you'll like this book.

I have his previous books and believe them to be unique and worth having in any personal library. This new book is exactly like the others. If you liked his Neighborhood books, you'll like this one. Its more of the same, which is exactly what I was looking for.

In my humble opinion, Jerry Van Amerongen is a comic genius. His "The Neighborhood" and "Ballard Street" panels take everyday phrases and/or situations and he turns them into absurdity when combined with his detailed, exaggerated drawings. During my day-to-day activities I am constantly reminded of his cartoons and I can't say that about any other cartoonist. Jerry (along with Gary Larson) completely changed the nature of the comics because before them the drawing was secondary to the humor of the panel or strip whereas they made the picture an integral part of it. Today, there are many comic panels that are of this type, but Ballard Street is still unique. My only criticism is that Jerry now focuses almost exclusively on dumpy old people in his panels, whereas in his old "The Neighborhood" panels he frequently used animals (particulary chickens which are really absurd creatures!) or inanimate objects which would seem to allow more creative possiblities. Anyway, enjoy!

J Amerongen entertains us by divulging the home life, and inner musings of the folks who go through life being totally ignored. They have hum drum jobs, and share their boredom with a boring spouse. One man enjoys talking to his weeds, while Jocelyn posts household hints on her front window. Aaron sits stunned in his office as he realizes an original thought just passed through his brain. Others engage in a battle of wits with their dogs. They generally lose. Some find their world too stressful and drive up to the drive in therapy window for help.

Strange humor? You bet, but to me its the most hilarious stuff in the world. I was very disappointed when I bought the book, though, because at 144 pages I thought, "Oh no, I can read this at one sitting." My solution? I limited my reading of it to 6 pages a day. That way I could keep laughing for over three weeks.

I read JvA's Ballard Street daily newspaper cartoon in the LA Times for years, but then moved to humorless Atlanta. This book was a godsend, and I hope JvA comes out with a new one every other month. I'll buy them all.

Keiji Nakazawa, Barefoot Gen: Life After the Bomb (New Society, 1989)

Volume 3 of Nakazawa's justly famous four-volume series sees life settling down for Gen Nakaoka and family, but "settling down" is a relative term. Gen's mother decides, like most of her neighbors, to flee Hirsohima and go to Eba, the nearest town of any size, to see if the family can find shelter, work, and food by staying with an old school friend of hers. The friend is more than happy to take them in, but her mother-in-law and two children take an instant dislike to the Nakaokas, and set about finding ways to drive them out. Gen gets a job caring for a bomb victim in town, and life, as much as it can, settles into a routine. Ryuji, who first made an appearance in The Day After, pops up again, as well.

Unlike The Day After, New Society prefaced this one with only a "the story thus far" sheet, having presumably learned their lesson with volume 2, and Life After the Bomb is a far better book for it. Nakazawa's story is presented here unadorned, leaving the reader to ferret out the deeper meanings while watching Gen's transformation from the exuberant, but somewhat thoughtless, child of the first volume into the caring, responsible individual he becomes by the end of the series. It is a feature of good series that the characters tend to get stronger in their characterization as the series goes along, and Barefoot Gen is no exception to this rule; Gen, who started out (by design, one thinks) as something of a caricature, has become a real, three-dimensional character here, and that's a wonderful thing. *** ½

This is not really a children's book- I would recommend this book to anyone from age 12 and up.

I am Japanese, and I was given this book by my dad in Japanese when I was eight years old. I have not been able to forget this book since, so I was thrilled to come across this book in English and I had to get it!!! Having not read the book in almost two decades, it was like reading it all over again with a much more mature (hopefully) perspective. This book reduced me to tears again as it did the first time.

This is a work about the universal theme of love, family, peace, hope, and war. Although it is set in World War II Japan, it is really not about "the" war and does not take any sides but rather represents war and its devastation from a very personal point of view, as seen by a young boy living in Hiroshima during world War II. In fact, this book was harshly criticized for being anti-patriotic in Japan when it was first published for refusing to take the Japanese side. Those criticisms disregard the whole point of the book, which is about war in general and the devastation of the people involved in it regardless of the side they are on. I was never able to forget this book after reading it as a child, and I can't recommend this book highly enough. Powerful. Riveting. I can read this a hundred times and be reduced to tears every time by its poignant message of peace.

A poignant story in cartoon form that brings home the horrors of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 yet manages to show the love and courage that survived through the story of Gen. 7 years old Gen and his mother survives the bombing but see the father and two brothers die before their eyes. Homeless, starving and ill they struggle to survive but never lose their humanity.

An excellent book for children and adults.

Barefoot Gen: Life After The Bomb is volume three of a four part series. The atom bomb has been dropped on Hiroshima, destroying most of the city, killing many people, and causing others to become sick with radiation sickness. Gen's hair is falling out from radiation exposure. He, his mother, and his newborn sister have to leave to survive. His mother can think of only one person to turn to, Kiyo, her childhood friend in the town of Eba. But the people of Eba are afraid the Hiroshima survivors have a strange contagious illness. Kiyo's family and the whole town treat them with suspicion and contempt.

As refugees, Gen and his mother have to find food, money, and shelter in a hostile environment. He takes a job caring for a rich man's brother who has been quarantined and left to die by the family because he has radiation sickness. Gen's compassion, humanity, and determination make this an inspiring book about the strength of the human spirit. The close loving values of his family are in sharp contrast to the narrow-minded self interest of the people in the Eba community.

The work has been wonderfully translated from the Japanese original: Hadashi no Gen. It was originally published in serial form in 1972 and 1973 in Shukan Shonen Jampu, the largest weekly comic magazine in Japan, with a circulation of over two million. The drawings are all in black and white. This US edition was published as part of a movement to translate the book into other languages and spread its message. It is a powerful testimony to the strength of the human spirit and the horrors of nuclear war. There are a few introductory essays at the front of the book that help to put this book into perspective. It is a tragic but uplifting story that I highly recommend for anyone interested in the topic. This and the other volumes in the series are important books for their message on the dangers of nuclear war.

Bart does not disapoint!
Simpsons Rule _ every bart fan should read this book at least twice!

great stuff

My son loves the Simpsons and wasn't too into reading. I thought what better way to get him into reading than buying him books about his beloved Simpsons. Sure enough he sat down with it and read it cover to cover without getting off the couch.

This slim little volume features everything you'd ever want to know about one of your favorite Simpsons characters, Bart. The book opens with a timeline reviewing all the significant milestones in Bart's life. The various "Bart Zones" sections describe in detail some of Bart's most-visited sites, including the school cafeteria and his tree house. Also featured are significant people in Bart's life, from his school friends and enemies to the girls who have stolen his heart. Of course, a book without Bart wouldn't be complete without some mischievousness, so you'll also get some ideas for making prank telephone calls as well as suggestions for Bart's "Dream Tattoos." Finally, the book begins and ends with Bart's Top 40 and his Bottom 40, respectively. A great stocking stuffer for any die-hard Simpsons fan!

Brilliant! Includles profiles of characters like Fat Tony, as well as valuable sections such as "pullable pranks." Almost every page is a new original concept with one of the highlights being a delightful review of how to annoy adults by having "...fun with facial muscles." And did you know that Bart plans to change his name to Steve Bennett when he is older?

AC Carroll
Salt Lake City, Utah

A compendium of strips, biographical material, and smart analysis and commentary by smart analyzers and commmentators. Why can't more reprints be like this -- combine some historical and aesthetic perspectives with the original work?

You want post-modernism? I got your post modernism right here!

I consult the works of the great Bushmiller almost daily. This jumbo volume serves as an I CHING for me. WWND (What Would Nancy Do?) Random consultations of this tome's pages can solve all of life's vexing problems. Three rocks=universal symbol of balance and calm. Zen gags and images an industrial lathe could have fashioned make Bushmiller's NANCY ever-important, ever-comforting and ever-inscrutable. Turn to Nancy and Sluggo for your pressing questions!

This book shows Nancy and Sluggo in their cutest moments! Any aged reader will love the antics and mischief of Nancy.

My dad bought me this over 10 years ago, and I've read it countless times. Bushmiller's art personifies a Platonic space stretching through the mind's suburbia, and this thick tomb has lots of strips from Nancy's many eras, giving you a good picture of the strip's evolution. Also some great historical material and some of the weird spinoffs of Nancy (the MAD magazine parodies and some abstract art stuff). If you've never read this essential strip, this is the book to get. If someone would just bother to reprint it...

Each (color!)strip is so beautifully mesmerizing. Its the perfect example of what can be accomplished in the comic industry. Windsor McCay was a genius!

Anyone who's read a history of comic books, comic strips, and other sequential art has heard of Little Nemo, but few have seen it in detail. This is a beautiful collection of Little Nemo strips that demonstrate author Winsor McCay's use of plot, characters, and sequential art in ways that decades later others would be heralded for "pioneering". The strips are beautiful, elegant, witty, and fascinating. A must for any fan of sequential art.

This book is an absolute treasure. Every cartoonist should buy and study this book with a magnifying glass for a few hours a week. Winsor McCay is maybe the most dedicated, hard-working cartoonist to date. He was certainly before his time, and he has still carries more weight than most artists of today. His strips are lavish and generous. You can believe that I will be studying this book for years to come.

If one cannot purchase the 6 vol set of the *complete* Little Nemo, this will have to do. (sigh) Any collection of McCay is worth having. All one can do is *cry* over the lack of skill when comparing this with modern strips. It is not impossible to have good story line AND good draftsmanship. Buy it, you will not be dissapointed!

If you have pets, you should get this book.
If you love animals, you should get this book.
If you don't have an animal friend in your life, you especially need to get this book!

"The Best of Mutts" is a collection of Patrick McDonnell's favorite in his comic series that opens the world to you from the innocent viewpoint of a dog and cat. It's funny, heartwarming, and oftentimes thought-provoking. Kids and adults alike will appreciate its gentle humor. Never fails to make me smile!

This book was actually a gift for my son who absolutely loves it. The book itself is also really nice, seems like I'll keep it for a collector's item.

This is the second of the books we gave our grandson for his birthday. He is in love with these tender animals. He catches their poignancy and wit. He often speaks of their kindness.

Patrick McDonnell's legendary comic strip showcasing the adventures and observations of Earl the dog and Mooch the cat entertained readers throughout its 300+ strip history. These two unlikely buddies were supported by a cast of memorable characters that included Shtinky Puddin', Sourpuss, and Guard Dog. Deftly embedded in this popular newspaper cartoon series were lessons on love, friendship, animal advocacy, and pet ownership. Now Andrews & McMeel have meticulously published "The Best Of Mutts" featuring McDonnel's own hand-picked favorites from the dailies and the Sunday strips over the past ten years. the cartoons are arranged into ten chapters, each of which is enhanced with an introduction by McDonnell. A welcome addition to any personal or community library collection, "The Best Of Mutts" will well serve to introduce a whole new generation to a superbly crafted series that is as popular today as when it first appeared so many years ago.

This was a birthday gift for my politically savvy grandson. He loved it and shared it with his friends as well as family. We all had fun discussions about the various topics.

This latest entry in this venerable series is one of the best--and the most inclusive, too.

Thankfully, it includes many more cartoons from foreign cartoonists. It's wonderful to enjoy an international cartooning perspective.

This is the Fourth Edition of Cagle Books I have purchased. This one in my Humble Opinion is the Best yet, and that is Due to amount of Cartoons included herein. This one has more cartoons per page than the 2005-2007 Editions and contains a few more pages as well. Hundreds of Top Political Cartoonists are featured, and Subjects like The Iraq War are right here next to Paris Hilton and O.J. Simpson.

If you have an interest in the Issues of the Day and enjoy Great Cartoons. This Book should be a part of your Library..This is an Excellent Purchase...Five Stars !!!

This book was very entertaining and a great collection of pollitical cartoons. Categorized so that the reader can look at various cartoons about a specific topic (such as the iPhone), this book was easily accessible. Sarcastic, humerous, and in some cases very true, (although not necessarily complete) this is indeed a great collection of some of the best cartoons of 2008's biggest issues.

Another excellent edition of the DC Comics' Factoid Press "Big Book" series. This one focuses on a variety of criminals, from small-time hoods to organized crime. Not terribly morbid, but interesting all the same.

One more excellent volume from Paradox Press! In this book, you learn about criminals from history, from small-time hoods to organized crime. This is the volume that demonstrates just how crime does not pay!

In this new installment of the "Big Book of..." series the level of artistry and research stays high as it had in all other pieces so far.
I own most of the installments that have hit the market over the past few years and simoultaneously I'm an avid comic-fan. That being as it is I can safely say that this happens to be one of the very best comics publications I've ever seen.

Particularly to this book, it's a history of some of the most notorious underworld figures in the United States. Except for the masterheads of crime it also includes some characters which became famous rather for their lack of intelligence. In the 63 stories included are also figures which were well known in their time and faded into history afterwards but whose story is extremely interesting nevertheless.
Impeccably researched (as usual) and with that subtle sarcasm or cynicism that this series is well known for, this is an absolutely must-have item.

It's been often after I've read issues of the Big Book series that i went on to further reads because of what i discovered in these books. That i think, is a huge compliment in itself. If you're not acquainted with this series start over here with the "....Little Criminals" part. A pure gem.

All these Big Books are simply marvelous. The contributing artists number in the fifties so the artwork never becomes boring. Factoid books has done a remarkable job of fusing top rate artwork with extemely accurate short tales or biographies. For anyone interested in the less successful side of crime or for more obscure matters like the midget member of the Gallo gang this book is a goldmine......the whole series is fantastic popcorn for the mind....hard to put down till you are finished.....read one and rush right out and buy another....I have all fifteen and reread them often

"Big Fat Little Lit" is a greatest hits collection. It's advertised as appropriate for ages nine to twelve, but you have to wonder about that. ("Our audience is all ages --- even though children's book publishing doesn't like that," says Mouly.) Some of it is just dandy for our six-year-old. Most of it will delight any media-savvy `tween. But its greatest appeal is surely to adults, who may buy it as an ultra-hip coffee table book, only to discover it is the Fountain of Youth.

In this world, attitude counts. Which isn't to say the morals of these little tales are negative in any way. They're just... twisted. Not surprising when the contributors include David Sedaris, Gahan Wilson, Maurice Sendak, Jules Feiffer and the cream of the alt-comix set.

For example: "The Hungry Horse" is the sad tale of a critter that will work so long as it isn't fed --- of course, after a decade, a farmer tosses the nag a crust of bread. There is a "Hasidic parable" and a story of a "fairy godfather". In a retelling of "The Princess and the Pea", after the prince rejects 1,628 princesses, someone comments, "Perhaps he can't make a commitment." A creepy face becomes frozen in the backwards world of "Pretty Ugly". A gingerbread man escapes every pursuer but a fox, who catches him by pretending to be deaf. When Jack's beanstalk grows, someone says, "There goes the view."

And there are bonus pages. A picture asks you to identify "22 odd things." Another challenges you to "Find the Twins". And there's a "Joke page", with a moral that our little one might have devised: "He who laughs last thinks the slowest."

Be swift.

Big Fat Little Lit has an all star cast of contributers, but it is a bit uneven in its results. Some parts are great, but others are not. The thing about it is that my kids aren't rereading it like they do with other graphic novels such as the Mighty Skullboy Army.

This collection--culled from three previous Little Lit anthologies--is, of course, literary and brilliant and oh-so-eclectic, and if you know nothing about the genre, it's an easy intro. Fairy tales nestle comfortably next to horror stories and folklore, and my four-year-old easily adapted to the diverse narrative styles and voices: after all, he could SEE the differences.

Looking at the big picture, pardon the pun, I was struck by how many were told with forceful moral underpinnings. More than a few protagonists must face the gloomy consequences of their misdeeds and I didn't spot a single story where evil prevailed. Naughtiness, maybe, but not genuine eat-your-family badness.

That's not to say it's all goody-two-shoes fluff. Like the original Grimm's Fairy Tales, many of these tales venture into nightmare territory, where mothers-in-law try to devour grandchildren, stuffy noses explode with dopplegangers and cute kitties come from alternate worlds, and little that seems comfortable and safe turns out to be so.

I get the distinct impression these are stories written by actual parents who have braved the wild terrain of a child's imagination to chart both its twisted roads and startling flora.

Let's say that you've heard of the "Little Lit" books, edited by Art Spiegelman and his wife Francoise Mouly, but that you've never actually gone so far as to pick one up. Let us also say, while we are at it, that you are aware of the massive loads of talent that have gone into the series, but that this was still not quite enough to draw you in. Well, my lovelies, I have an answer for you. Like yourself, I somehow managed to catch a snatch of a comic strip here or a lovingly drawn panel there without actually sitting down and reading the "Little Lit" books cover to cover. Then, out of the bright blue sky, "Big Fat Little Lit" falls into my lap. So I read it through with not a little skepticism. Truth be told, I've always suspected that the books were written for adults rather than children. You can cast a book in a childish shell and claim your artists are working with the younger set in mind but will kids actually read what you create? Slowly I've come to the conclusion that yes, there is definitely an audience for this series that is under the age of 21. Still, if you're gonna hand them a "Little Lit" collection, better to go for the best. Give them a compendium of selected past works. Give them "Big Fat Little Lit", the best of the best, and save yourself some time.

Behold before you thirty-six comics created by thirty-three "of the world's most beloved authors and artists", or so says the backflap. Compiled from parts of the three "Little Lit" collections already in existence (with some extra goodies for spice) "Big Fat Little Lit" has it all. Ghouls and fools and fables both traditional and with a twist all working together to fill this 144 page beauty. You'll find old classics like Crockett Johnson's, "Barnaby" alongside all new tales by people as varied as Daniel Clowes or David Macaulay. The result is eye-popping jaw-dropping assortment of stories of varying styles and macabre natures. Puzzles too pop up between comics that can range anywhere between one to nine pages.

The sheer weight of celebrity is both a boon and an drag on enterprises like "Little Lit". On the one hand, adults like me are bound to go gaga over the luminaries who've worked on this puppy. Where else can you find David Sedaris working with Ian Falconer (outside of The New Yorker, of course)? Neil Gaiman and Gahan Wilson? Heck, forget the pairings. They have two William Joyce offerings, Maurice Sendak unleashed, Jules Feiffer, and God knows who else. Illustrators that work primarily in the realm of children's books like Barbara McClintok pair with kid-only authors like Lemony Snicket (as opposed to Daniel Handler, of course). Most impressive to my eyes (and proof that I never examined the original collection it appeared in closely enough) is a Walt Kelly piece. Publishers out there might do very well if they were to republish Kelly's non-Pogo related fairy tales in a compendium, seeing as how they work so nicely here and all. So that's on the one hand. On the other hand, it's sometimes hard not to get the feeling that child readers sometimes come across as a secondary concern. Since Spiegelman and Mouly founded "RAW", the alternative comics magazine, is it fair to think of this as a slightly watered down version of that magazine's material? Or is it its own separate beastie? I can answer the question of whether or not any kid is reading this collection, but nothing's simple.

I once worked in a Greenwich Village library where I would proudly display the first collection of "Little Lit" on the top of my bookshelves where it was easy to pluck and check out. No takers. That book sat solitary and untouched for weeks on end. At the time I blamed the publication itself. Then I moved to a different library branch. In my new location I created a Graphic Novel shelf and put the exact same publication there, visible for all to see. Within mere minutes that puppy flew off the shelf. What I deduce from all of this (aside from the average Greenwich Village native's reluctance to disturb book displays) is that if you put "Little Lit" out there without any explanation, the viewing public isn't going to know what to do with it. They've slowly been acclimated to the idea of what a graphic novel is, sure. But thrust something with pages the size of dinner mats in their face and they go all to pieces. Is it a picture book? A comic book? Fairy tales? So my advice to you is to make it crystal clear to people that this is a beastie like no other. No, it's not really a graphic novel. But if you put it under that heading then at least people will have some kind of a context to work with.

But do CHILDREN read it? I direct you, in this case, to a conversation I had just today. I spoke to a homeschooler and her mother who were recently in my library, and the subject of graphic novels came up. When I mentioned "Little Lit" in passing, the two lit up. Apparently the girl was given the first collection when she was two and has been read them ever since at bedtime. Hearing this I was, to put it mildly, stunned. Then a co-worker informed me that her son likes the books because he likes fairy tales and he likes comics. Apparently the only way he can justify reading the one is if it is combined with the other. It bears some thought. I think that another reason that "Big Fat Little Lit" succeeds where its predecessors merely did okay is that due to the sheer volume of twisted puzzles, games, and I Spy-like ventures, this book can sit down and seriously court fans of "Highlights" everywhere.

The collection doesn't contain all the past "Little Lit" ventures, which is logical. I was very very sad, however, to see that Chris Ware didn't make the cut. His "Fairy Tale Road Rage" board game is not included, much to the chagrin of my Ware-lovin' heart. Still, I was able to come to terms with his disappearance. Then I was perturbed by the reduced size of the individual comics in this book. Overall I think it was a very wise choice to reduce the size of "Little Lit". The large size of the earlier collections, while they evoke the comic pages of our youth, are bulky and hard to fit on personal and public bookshelves. Unfortunately with this new size we now face a problem that comic artists face nationwide whenever a newspaper wants to fit in more copy. Small panels can sometimes crush otherwise perfectly nice reading matter rendering it difficult to see. In general this isn't a noticeable problem until you come to Barbara McClintock's, "The Princess and the Pea". McClintock's delicate lines and meticulous details have been scrunched and shrunken down so far in this book that the reader definitely loses something in the process. Ah well.

Now if your child/neice/nephew/grandchild/what-have-you already owns one of the "Little Lit" collections (or all of them, for that matter) then perhaps this gift might come across as a tad repetitive. Then again, there is new material to be found here that you could not locate elsewhere. Did I mention to you that the talents of Martin Handford are utilized here? Don't know who Handforth is? Does the name "Where's Waldo" mean anything to you? Aw yeah, baby. He's here and he is, as the blurb on the back of this book states in general, "in top form". By and large, I'm a skeptic when it comes to this many sophisticates pooling their talents to bring small children joy. All that aside, this is undoubtedly my favorite "Little Lit" of the lot and is undoubtedly THE best way to enjoy the series. If you're gonna give a kid some comics, make `em read "Big Fat Little Lit". I seriously doubt it'll take much prodding.