Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.
Man of Rock: A Biography of Joe Kubert by Bill Schelly
Promo copy:
A full portrait of one of the comic book field’s greatest talents.
Joe Kubert’s extraordinary career spans the history of the comic book in America: he began drawing comics in 1938, just as Superman made his debut in Action Comics #1, and continues to be one of the most vital cartoonists working today, writing and drawing both mainstream comic book characters as well as, more recently, graphic novels of his own conception.
Kubert made his name working for DC Comics on acclaimed series starring Sgt. Rock of Easy Co., Hawkman, Tarzan, and has worked on many of DC’s most commercially successful properties (Superman, Batman, Flash, et al.). Kubert has created comics for virtually every major publisher over an incredible 70 years in the business, including Marvel and EC. He started the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in the 1980s. In the 1990s, he wrote and drew his own graphic novels, including Fax from Sarajevo, which won the Will Eisner Comics Industry Award for Best Graphic Novel. He was subsequently inducted into both the Harvey Awards’ Jack Kirby Hall of Fame and the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.
Joe Kubert: Man of Rock provides a unique, behind-the-scenes look at the career of one of the most distinctive, dynamic artists in the history of comics. Schelly’s insightful book covers all facets of Kubert’s creative life: artist, writer, innovator, entrepreneur, and educator. It abounds in heretofore unknown details about Kubert’s life and work, and is rich in colorful anecdotes drawn from numerous interviews the author conducted with Kubert’s colleagues, family and friends. Joe Kubert: Man of Rock is a full-bodied biography intended to be read and enjoyed by anyone interested in the history of American popular culture.
This should be a fascinating bio.
Serenity: Better Days by Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, and Will Conrad
Promo copy:
Serenity: Better Days follows everyone’s favorite space cowboys in a thrilling, action-packed adventure, where Mal and his crew take on a heist that promises a big payoff. But when one of Serenity’s crew is taken captive and tortured, the gang must put their enduring differences aside and work together to save one of their own, even if it means losing the cash prize of a lifetime! Joss Whedon returns to the world of his blockbuster film Serenity, reuniting with Brett Matthews and Will Conrad, his collaborators on the bestselling 2005 series Those Left Behind.
As though any of you will need convincing to read a new Serenity tale.
The Mammoth Book of Zombie Comics edited by David Kendall
Promo copy:
You can’t keep a good (or bad) corpse down, and they rise up in spectacular form in this new collection. The mindless, shambling zombies of yesteryear are rapidly being replaced by sprinters and runners with an insatiable appetite for human flesh. These days zombies are the rock and roll of horror monsters. Presenting a mix of voodoo victims, creepy somnambulists, and flesh eating, rock n roll deadheads, "The Mammoth Book of Zombie Comics" brings you the best the graveyard can give. From film sources and literary sources to some very strange sources, here over 20 of the best zombie comics ever produced. They include the first Vince Locke "Deadworld" comic, Scott Hampton’s awesome adaptation of R. E. Howard’s "Pigeons From Hell", plus stories from Steve Niles, Darko Macan, and many, many more. If it’s dead, moving and hungry, you’ll find it here!
A little side note: Zombie cover artist Carlos Kastro also produced the cover and lead story for my first anthology Modern Perversity.
The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics edited by Paul Gravett
Promo copy:
These are some of the slickest, moodiest, graphic short stories ever collected, from the mean streets and sin cities of crime. One of the only compilations of the crime comic genre, this volume contains 25 of the best graphic short stories and is fully loaded with some of the greatest writers and artists in comics. This collection includes Alan More, Neil Gaiman, Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Johnny Craig, Alex Toth, Bernie Krigstein, Jack Cole, Jacques Tardi, Gianni De Luca, and Paul Grist. This, for sure, is one offer you can’t refuse!
This is one of the finest collections of comic book stories I have ever encountered and at only $17.95 should be part of everyone’s collection! More details to come.