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<\/p>\nLet\u2019s take a quick look to see what\u2019s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.<\/p>\n
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The Beats: A Graphic History<\/span><\/a> by Harvey Pekar, et al (writer) and Ed Piskor, et al (artist)<\/span><\/p>\n Promo copy:<\/span><\/p>\n In The Beats: A Graphic History<\/span>, those who were mad to live have come back to life through artwork as vibrant as the Beat movement itself. Told by the comic legend Harvey Pekar, his frequent artistic collaborator Ed Piskor, and a range of artists and writers, including the feminist comic creator Trina Robbins and the Mad<\/span> magazine artist Peter Kuper, The Beats takes us on a wild tour of a generation that, in the face of mainstream American conformity and conservatism, became known for its determined uprootedness, aggressive addictions, and startling creativity and experimentation. What began among a small circle of friends in New York and San Francisco during the late 1940s and early 1950s laid the groundwork for a literary explosion, and this striking anthology captures the storied era in all its incarnations\u2014from the Benzedrine-fueled antics of Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs to the painting sessions of Jay DeFeo\u2019s disheveled studio, from the jazz hipsters to the beatnik chicks, from Chicago\u2019s College of Complexes to San Francisco\u2019s famed City Lights bookstore. Snapshots of lesser-known poets and writers sit alongside frank and compelling looks at the Beats\u2019 most recognizable faces. What emerges is a brilliant collage of\u2014and tribute to\u2014a generation, in a form and style that is as original as its subject.<\/p>\n \n The Good Humor Man<\/span><\/a> by Andrew Fox<\/span><\/p>\n Promo copy:<\/span><\/p>\n A witty tribute to Ray Bradbury\u2019s Fahrenheit 451<\/span><\/a>, this surreal, futuristic narrative explores the highly topical relationships between obesity, government health care, pop culture, and body image. In a world where chocolate is worth more than cocaine on the black market, government-sanctioned vigilantes known as Good Humor Men patrol the streets, seeking to immolate all fattening food products as illegal contraband and summarily cancel the health insurance of any offenders. An evil nutraceutical company controls the food market with products engineered to keep the population painfully thin, while a mysterious wasting plague threatens to starve humanity. An ex-plastic surgeon whose father performed a secret liposuction surgery on Elvis Presley may hold the key to humanity\u2019s future. Incorporating a colorful cast of characters\u2014a civil servant with questionable motives, an acquisitive assassin, a power-mad preacher evangelizing anorexia, a beautiful young woman addicted to liposuction, and a homicidal clone from an experiment gone terribly awry\u2014this satirical romp asks the question Can Elvis save the world 64 years after his death?<\/span><\/p>\n \n Blazing Combat<\/span><\/a> by Archie Goodwin & various artists<\/span><\/p>\n Promo copy:<\/span><\/p>\n Written by Archie Goodwin and drawn by such luminaries as Frank Frazetta, Wally Wood, John Severin, Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Russ Heath, Reed Crandall, and Gene Colan, Blazing Combat<\/span> was originally published by independent comics publisher James Warren in 1965 and \u201966. Following in the tradition of Harvey Kurtzman\u2019s Two-Fisted Tales<\/span><\/a> and Frontline Combat<\/span>, Goodwin\u2019s stories reflected the human realities and personal costs of war rather than exploiting the clich\u00e9s of the traditional men\u2019s adventure genre. They were among the best comics stories about war ever published.<\/p>\n Blazing Combat<\/span> ended after its fourth issue when military post exchanges refused to sell the title due to their perception that it was an anti-war comic. Their hostility was fueled by the depiction of the then-current Vietnam War, especially a story entitled \u201cLandscape,\u201d which follows the thoughts of a simple Vietnamese peasant rice-farmer who pays the ultimate price simply for living where he does \u2014 and which was considered anti-war agitprop by the more hawkish members of the business community.<\/p>\n Writer Archie Goodwin and the original publisher James Warren discuss the death of Blazing Combat<\/span> and market censorship as well as the creative gestation of the series in exclusive interviews.<\/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. The Beats: A Graphic History by Harvey Pekar, et al (writer) and Ed Piskor, et al (artist) Promo copy: In The Beats: A … Continue reading ![](\"http:\/\/ecx.images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/51-D3YfYz6L._SL500_AA240_.jpg\")
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