{"id":469,"date":"2009-12-11T03:11:33","date_gmt":"2009-12-11T03:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/2009\/12\/11\/art-books-and-graphic-novels-received-121009\/"},"modified":"2012-08-17T05:18:46","modified_gmt":"2012-08-17T05:18:46","slug":"art-books-and-graphic-novels-received-121009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/2009\/12\/11\/art-books-and-graphic-novels-received-121009\/","title":{"rendered":"Art books and graphic novels received 12\/10\/09"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s take a quick look to see what\u2019s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound. <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Gahan Wilson: 50 Years of Playboy Cartoons<\/span><\/a> Introductions by Hugh Hefner and Neil Gaiman<\/span><\/p>\n

Promo copy:<\/span><\/p>\n

A three-volume slipcased full-color set: over one thousand cartoons, spanning fifty years of a legendary career. Gahan Wilson is among the most popular, widely-read, and beloved cartoonists in the history of the medium, whose career spans the second half of the 20th century, and all of the 21st. His work has been seen by millions\u2014no, hundreds of millions\u2014in the pages of Playboy<\/span>, The New Yorker<\/span>, Punch<\/span>, The National Lampoon<\/span>, and many other magazines; there is no telling, really, how many readers he has corrupted or comforted. He is revered for his playfully sinister take on childhood, adulthood, men, women, and monsters. His brand of humor makes you laugh until you cry. And it\u2019s about time that a collection of his cartoons was published that did justice to his vast body of work.<\/p>\n

When Gahan Wilson walked into Hugh Hefner\u2019s office in 1957, he sat down as Hefner was on the phone, gently rejecting a submission to his new gentlemen\u2019s magazine: \u201cI think it\u2019s very well-written and I liked it very much,\u201d Hefner reportedly said, \u201cbut it\u2019s anti-sin. And I\u2019m afraid we\u2019re pro-sin.\u201d Wilson knew, at that moment, that he had found a kindred spirit and a potential home for his cartoons. And indeed he had; Wilson appeared in every issue of Playboy<\/span> from the December 1957 issue to today. It has been one of the most fruitful, successful, and long-lived relationships between a contributor and a magazine, ever.<\/p>\n

Gahan Wilson: 50 Years of Playboy Cartoons<\/span> features not only every cartoon Wilson drew for Playboy<\/span>, but all his prose fiction that has appeared in that magazine as well, from his first story in the June 1962 issue, \u201cHorror Trio,\u201d to such classics as \u201cDracula Country\u201d (September 1978). It also includes the text-and-art features he drew for Playboy<\/span>, such as his look at Madame Tussaud\u2019s Wax Museum, his take on our country\u2019s \u201cpathology of violence,\u201d and his appreciation of \u201ctransplant surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson\u2019s notoriously black sense of comedy is on display throughout the book, leaving no sacred cow unturned (an image curiously absent in the book), ridiculing everything from state sponsored executions to the sober precincts of the nouveau rich, from teenage dating to police line-ups, with scalding and hilarious satirical jabs. Although Wilson is known as an artist who relishes the creepy side of modern life, this three-volume set truly demonstrates the depth and breadth of his range\u2014from illustrating private angst we never knew we had (when you eat a steak, just whom are you eating?) to the ironic and deadpan take on horrifying public issues (ecological disaster, nuclear destruction anyone?).<\/p>\n

Gahan Wilson has been peeling back the troubling layers of modern life with his incongruously playful and unnerving cartoons, assailing our deepest fears and our most inane follies. This three-volume set is a testament to one of the funniest\u2014and wickedly disturbing\u2014cartoonists alive. Full color.<\/p>\n

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Robert E. Howard Chronicles<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Promo copy:<\/span><\/p>\n

For the first time, Robert E. Howard’s most-celebrated creations are together in one handsome collection! By buying all three of the first volumes of Dark Horse’s Chronicles of Conan<\/span><\/a>, Chronicles of Solomon Kane<\/span><\/a>, and Chronicles of Kull<\/span><\/a> series, you will receive an attractive slipcase only available through this offer and also get to experience all of Howard’s most exciting tales as told by the industry’s finest creators – including Roy Thomas, Barry Windsor-Smith, Howard Chaykin, Mike Mignola, the Severins, and more! Featuring the latest in coloring technology, the remastered comics are a perfect introduction to the Robert E. Howard universe and a refreshing refurbishment of these timeless yarns for the collector who already owns the classic comics from the ’70s and ’80s! The Chronicles of Conan Volume 1<\/span> reprints issues #1 through #8 of the original Marvel comic-book series and includes such classic tales as "Tower of the Elephant" and the work of the incomparable Barry Windsor-Smith! The Chronicles of Solomon Kane<\/span> collects every color appearance of Solomon Kane from his years at Marvel, beginning with Marvel Premiere<\/span> issues #33 and #34 and bookended with the six-issue miniseries The Sword of Solomon Kane<\/span><\/a>. Not to be outdone, The Chronicles of Kull Volume 1<\/span> features the work of Bernie Wrightson and includes Monsters on the Prowl<\/span> #16, Creatures on the Loose!<\/span> #10, and the first nine issues of Kull the Conqueror!<\/span><\/p>\n

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Drawing Down the Moon: The Art of Charles Vess<\/span><\/a> Foreword by Susanna Clarke<\/span><\/p>\n

Promo copy:<\/span><\/p>\n

Verdant fairy forests. Whispering mountains. The fallen towers of ancient kings. Spirit-filled lakes. The distant strains of elven bards. For over thirty years, the fantasy art of Charles Vess has been acclaimed worldwide, his rich palette, striking compositions, and lavish detail second-to-none in the field. Vess has been the illustrator of choice for countless publishers and writers, and is perhaps best known for his collaborations with bestselling author Neil Gaiman, including the illustrated novel Stardust<\/span><\/a>, whose major motion-picture adaptation<\/a> from Paramount Pictures launched in Summer 2007. <\/p>\n

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Pictures That Tick<\/span><\/a> by Dave McKean<\/span><\/p>\n

Promo copy:<\/span><\/p>\n

Rediscover Dave McKean’s lost masterpiece! Pictures That Tick<\/span> is a collection of McKean’s groundbreaking short comics stories from the 1990s and early 2000s. A true iconoclast, McKean mixes illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and digital art for a comics experience unlike any other. Some pieces are poignant, some are silly, but all are beautiful and thought provoking. Each is completely unique, and gathered together they represent a tour-de-force achievement. A perfect companion to McKean’s Cages<\/span>, Pictures That Tick<\/span> stretches the boundaries of comics art, and the short-story format in some ways allows him to create an even broader artistic vision.<\/p>\n

\nEvery one of these books is as impressive and as beautiful as they sound.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s take a quick look to see what\u2019s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound. Gahan Wilson: 50 Years of Playboy Cartoons Introductions by Hugh Hefner and Neil Gaiman Promo copy: A three-volume slipcased full-color set: over one … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n