Cartoons Books

40 Hour Man is an unusual style of graphic novel narrative, telling the true story of a working stiff's 30 years struggling with the minimum wage American dream, from being a mini golf lackey to going under with the Internet boom and bust and much more. Each page features a paragraph of text and a black-and-white cartoon illustration. Although there is a small amount of adult content - 40 Hour Man is definitely for mature readers only - the primary focus is on frustrations of the working world, petty co-workers, vengeful bosses, bean-counters in suits, and other employment-related hazards. There isn't an overreaching moral to the memoir, other than that happiness in the working world is fleeting and should be enjoyed while it lasts but not depended upon to stay, but the story itself is all too sympathetic and cannot be put down. Highly recommended.

I got my copy of this book in the mail the other morning. As a former co-worker of Mr. Beaupre's, his description of at least one of the dot-bombs he worked at is amazingly accurate. Also, it made me realize why I will still always call this just a job and not a career, regardless of what I may be I'm doing.

I am in absolute disbelief that no review has ever been given for this masterpiece. I read this book once a week in college. My friends and I could quote it as well as any cult movie of the nineties. "Fetch my dart gun, boy" and other phrases in this book became second nature to us. I cannot possibly recommend any book more strongly than Action Figure and I am in absolute disbelief that is has never been reviewed before. Buy this book...now...and that's my final offer.

Hilarious. Uncle Duke based on Hunter S Thompson, bumbles through life in a hallucinary haze serving his opportunistic self-interests first, usually egged on by the corrupt players who run the USA machine.

Uncle Duke sees locations as diverse as China, Haiti, Panama, Kuwait, Hollywood, Iran,Washington, New York. And a job description that includes US Ambassador to China, Governor of American Samoa, football coach, tour guide, bar owner, movie producer, CEO of a highly dodgy medical schoo based in the Bahamas, Ship's captain for Donald Trump, zombie.....amongst others.

A good example as an oilman and Uncle Duke are having a conversation,

Oilman: "What's your going rate for committing an unspeakably depraved but highly patriotic act?"

Duke: "$100,000 + 10%"

Oilman: "I respect you too much to haggle."

Duke: " But I don't work with Albanians and children and pets are extra."

Well, I got this book because nobody loves Mickey more than me (no, really). While I expected much more from it, I'm not disappointed by it. Basically, it's a little picture book full of scenes from various Mickey movies with one-line advice captions on each page pertaining to the scene shown... did that make sense?? Let me explain... there's a picture of the scene from "Fantasia" where he's leading the marching brooms and the caption on the bottom says "Be a leader." You got it now??

It's a very elementary book, but it's adorable none the less. And it's full of Mickey pics, which everyone MUST love!

A charming collection of timeless advice for getting through life, this little book confirmed my suspicions that Mickey Mouse was way ahead of his time. The little mouse has faced it all in his eighty or ninety years of making us laugh, smile and think. And evidently, he's learned a thing or two. The illustrations, taken from old animated shorts and features, are delightful; the text is short, sweet and ripe fruit for thought. The perfect, life-affirming read while waiting for a friend, sitting by a pond, or recovering from thorassic surgery.

Snoopy has become a legend, it is sort of a part of a culture. You ought to read this if you like american culture.

This book contains strips from the book "You Can't Win, Charlie Brown" - strips from 1960-62. Published by Fawcett Crest.

ON THE BACK COVER:

BEWARE OF SNOOPY? YES INDEED. Snoopy is dangerously habit-forming. A real spellbinder. No one is safe from his reckless charm, his dashing antics, his dogged imagination. But then who wants to be?

Alter Ego was the premier 'fanzine' of comics. Started by Jerry Bails, Alter Ego was taken over by Roy Thomas, who published more history packed issues, then output slowed to a stop as Roy became one of the chief writers at Marvel Comics.

After nearly 20 years since the last issue, Alter Ego is back, with Roy Thomas at the helm, and is once again the premier magazine of comics history. Alter Ego covers the Golden Age to the Silver Age and every age in-between. This is a collection of the first few, out of print issues, with new material for those hesitant to shell out for something they might own already.

A great addition to your bookshelf, full of great reading and reference. Hey! It's from TwoMorrows, what more need I say?!

At the risk of sounding like a giddy comic book nerd, Roy Thomas is one of my all-time heroes in comics, and certainly my favorite writer. His long run on the Avengers from 1966 through the early 1970's was arguably the greatest period for the series and saw the introduction of characters such as The Vision, Yellow Jacket, Ultron, the new Black Knight, and the Squadron Supreme. It also featured one of the most important storylines in Marvel history, The Kree-Skrull War.

There was no one more responsible for keeping alive the legacy of the Golden Age of comics in the 70's and 80's than Roy Thomas through titles like The Invaders, The All-Star Squadron, and Infinity Inc. Thomas continues to keep the Golden, and Silver Ages alive and well through his long-running zine, Alter Ego, now in its third incarnation and published by TwoMorrows publishing. Alter Ego originally started in the early 60's by comics historian Dr. Jerry Bails and Thomas, then a college student. This collection from TwoMorrows features the first two issues of the new Alter Ego Magazine that Thomas resurrected in 1999 along with 30 pages of brand new material.

A full transcript of the 1995 roast of Stan Lee at the Chicago Comicon is a feature of the first issue. Guest speakers included Sal Buscema, John Romita Sr., Chris Claremont, Roy Thomas, Jim Shooter, and Julius Schwartz, and was hosted by Peter David. There's some hilarious stories told by the guests about their experiences in working with Stan. Buscema relates the tale of his first meeting as Stan proceeded to leap about his office explaining how comics were done the "Marvel" way. The only downer was Jim Shooter who used the opportunity to play the martyr by talking about how he and Stan were both stabbed in the back by friends, and misjudged, misquoted and slandered by people who were ignorant of the facts. Even reading the transcript you can feel the tension in the room.

Other features in the first issue include Roy's secret history of Infinity, Inc. those children, and children in spirit to the original Golden Age Heroes and an interview with Irwin Hansen, artist on the Golden Age Green Lantern (after creator Martin Nodell) who would later do the long running "Dondi" newspaper comic strip.

There is also a very rare glimpse at an unusual team-up, The Golden Age Captain Marvel and the Human Torch. This rarity happened in a Brazilian comic book in 1964, where these titles continued to run even many years after the American comics has been canceled.

In the second issue, Roy, along with rare letters from Gardner Fox, Jerry Bails, and Julie Schwartz, uncovers the tangled history and origin of the Silver Age Atom. This is a fascinating piece and we get a look back in time some 45 years through the reprinting of these letters and the remarkable communication that took place between creators, editors, and fans.

The highlight of the second issue is the interview with Stan Lee's younger brother, Larry Lieber. Despite having been in the comic business since the 1950's, we've never heard much about Stan's little brother. Lieber discusses working at Atlas in the late 1950's and early 1960's and working with Jack Kirby and Don Heck. Lieber wrote many early Thor stories and coined the term "Uru" hammer. There's a funny story about how Roy Thomas searched through a book of Norse mythology to try and find out what Uru meant, only to learn that Larry just made it up. Lieber also shares his thoughts on working for the New Atlas Comics in the 1970's which sunk faster than the Titanic. (but you know I still have a copy of Grim Ghost #1!).

Alter Ego is an absolute dream for fans of Golden and Silver Age comics. It's one of the few magazines that I actually read cover-to-cover because it is so well-written by people who know what their talking about. Pure fun the way comics are supposed to be!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

These books were Christmas presents for my grandchildren. They arrived quickly and were in excellent condition.

I've read all the anthologies, and this one ranks as one of the top-two for the series. There are many enjoyable subplots and less individual strips that were missing from the last collection, and caused the previous anthology to be a cut below par.

Enjoy!

The first section features Sunday strips from 1952,1953,1954,1955 and 1956.Snoopy is jumping rope,Linus is trying to throw potato chips and a lot about Schroeder at the piano!The second section features strips from 1955,1956 and 1957.It mostly features Charlie Brown as he has to struggle through life.

I believe this collection was originally entitled Good Ol' Charlie Brown. It seemed like Peanuts was truly finding its niche at the time these cartoons came out. You had Lucy being bossy, crabby, and chatty (is it any wonder Charlie Brown complained about stomach cramps when she was trying to teach Linus the "facts of life"?). Linus was beginning to enjoy the comforts of his blanket. Snoopy had learned how to dance and pantomime (he's a scream when he does imitations of Lucy, Violet, Beethoven- much to Schroeder's offense and Mickey Mouse). Charlie Brown had started asking the question "How come nobody likes me?" and of course, loses every baseball game (unless it's raining and the other team never shows up).

Btw, the title comes from a cartoon where Charlie builds a birdhouse for sparrows.

Published in 1990, The Amazing Spider-Man: The Death of Jean DeWolff is a trade paperback collection that reprints Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #'s 107-110 (October 1985-January 1986). This story was about the death of police officer Jean DeWolff, who was a recurring character in the various Spider-Man comic books at the time. Her unfortunate death was committed by the Sin-Eater, a crazed madman. Written by Peter David and illustrated by Rich Buckler, this story has a shocking twist at the end. It's also interesting as the events of this story unfold, Spider-Man himself ends up in some extreme fury and rage, which is usually not the case with everybody's favorite neighbourhood wallcrawler. One of writer Peter David's early comic book works, The Death of Jean DeWolff is a must have in anyone's library.

This is some of the earliest comics work of Peter David, and is a great example of how Spider-Man should be written.

Jean DeWolff was a recurring police officer in the Spider-books. Her death at the hands of a serial killer named the Sin-Eater was a major crisis for Spider-Man. The webbed one is usually a fairly light-hearted guy, but this story had an edge to it that made it stand out.

If this book becomes available again, and you have any interest in the character, the author, or comics in general, pick this one up!

When my 7-year old son is fighting with my 9-year old daughter for his turn to read AMELIA RULES!, you know these books are going to be a hit. The artwork is beautiful, the dialogue full of great humor and pathos, the stories engaging. But what appeals most to the kids, I think, is the characters themselves. Amelia is out-and-out fascinating--a perfect combination of pre-teen girl and tomboy--and her friends are as lively and entertaining as any you'll find in American literature.

In fact, this IS literature, and if you're the kind of parent who thinks comics are no better for kids than TV, AMELIA RULES! will prove you completely and utterly wrong. Get these books. Your kids won't be able to put them down--and neither will you.

Simply put, there is no kids' comic book on the market
better than "Amelia Rules!" It is intelligently written,
beautifully drawn, and totally hilarious. The stories
contained in this volume are a cartooning tour de force.

I had no appreciation for this comic book artist before an instructor "forced" us to read it. Boy am I glad he did! This is the bomb... flowing, magical little stories. Gifted in drawing expressions!

James Kochalka draws his comics in a minimalist fashion. At the same time, it could be argued that his American Elf strip is therefore closer to the artistry of the form - each pen stroke is closer to the original eye-to-hand portrayal than the most refined comic strip panel ever could be. Or at least, that's the overwhelming impression upon the reader (who frequently feels as if the same task could easily be replicated by him/her, yet so rarely is able to capture any such essence present in a single Kochalka panel).

To those unfamiliar with American Elf, it is best described as a daily comic strip diary of James Kochalka's life as lived through his surrogate character, "Magic Boy." Magic Boy is an elf whose life parallels that of Mr. Kochalka, from shared homestead, occupation, family, and even name. Though fully aware of the strip's presence in their daily lives, the characters in American Elf live "outside" the realm of the strip. From day to day, the predictability of the strip's format never denigrates into predictability of content - a one-liner from Kochalka's wife is given the same treatment as a close friend's wedding, an acknowledgment that even the most special days in a life are comprised of exactly the same units of time, though that day's events and emotions aren't subject to the same rules.

In short, American Elf is a celebration of life - and not just the happy, memorable bits. Rather than a self-absorbed look into his own daily accomplishments and observations, Mr. Kochalka presents some of the less-than-glamorous moments as well; a chat over the coffeepot, or a trip to the toilet, or a stroll along Lake Champlain, or a display of temper.

American Elf Book 2 varies from the epic Book 1 in two ways: it is vastly thinner than the original, and it is in full colour on glossy paper stock. That is not to say that Book 2 is inferior in any way. The colour artwork featured in this second book highlights the emotions captured in each strip, subtly stimulating a kind of visual euphoria. Though the book is comprised primarily of previously-released material (on the author's website), in many ways American Elf Book 2 is the superior format. The primary reason is that the paper format directly involves the reader, drawing him/her much closer to the source material, and thereby the artist's original sketchbook, providing a small feeling of exhilaration not otherwise present in electronic form.

Familiarity with James Kochalka's prior work is not necessary for a full, satisfying read (though it does enhance the experience). A beautiful book all on its own, American Elf Book 2 does not provide an intricate story line, nor a resolution with the final panel on the final page. On finishing the book, the reader is simply concluding the last strip (drawn on December 31st, 2005). But that's the essence of a human life after all, isn't it?

Based on its merits and creativity alone, this is one of the most important comic books ever presented in the independent realm. As for the element of human spirit celebrated herein - there simply is no method by which to measure. And the gratification bestowed upon the reader is unlike that of any other comics experience.