Graphic Novels and Comics

These volumes offer 215 essays covering graphic novels and core comics series,focusing on the independents and underground genre.

Focusing especially on American comic books and graphic novels from the 1930s to the present, this massive four-volume work provides a colorful yet authoritative source on the entire history of the comics medium. * Provides historical context within individual entries that allows readers to grasp the significance of that entry as it relates to the broader history and evolution of comics * Includes coverage of international material to frame the subsets of American and British comics within a global context * Presents information that will appeal and be of use to general readers of comics and supply coverage detailed enough to be of significant value to scholars and teachers working in the field of comics

From its earliest appearance in the 1890s, the newspaper comic strip has told the story of America, from the Irish ghetto of the Yellow Kid to flappers, war heroes, hippies, and today's office drones and soccer moms. American Newspaper Comics is the first comprehensive, authoritative reference work to document this fascinating history, listing over 7,000 different comic strip and cartoon features from American newspapers. While previous books have typically concentrated on the most popular comic strips and panel cartoon series, American Newspaper Comics is designed to be all-inclusive, providing detailed information on important but previously overlooked artists and features. The result of more than twenty years of meticulous research, American Newspaper Comics provides the most complete picture to date of the evolution of newspaper cartoon features and corrects misinformation that has circulated for years in other references. American Newspaper Comics offers a wealth of information, including the start and end dates of features, their format, frequency, creators, and distribution companies.

Visually amazing, this critical history of comic books, manga, and graphic novels is a must-have for any comic buff or collector. Over the centuries, comic books and their offshoots, such as graphic novels, manga, and bandes dessinées, have evolved into a phenomenally popular, influential, and unique art form with which we can express our opinions, our fantasies, our nightmares, and our dreams. In short: comics are emphatically no longer just for kids. This diverse, constantly evolving medium is truly coming into its own in the 21st century, from Hollywood's blockbuster adaptations of super-powered caped crusaders to the global spread of Japan's manga and its spinoffs, and from award-winning graphic novels such as Maus and Persepolis to new forms such as online webcomix. This volume is the perfect introduction to a dynamic and globally popular medium, embracing every graphic genre worldwide to assess the very best works of sequential art, graphic literature, comics, and comic strips, past and present.

Once stereotyped as the preserve of improbably dressed superhumans with world-saving tendencies, in recent years graphic novels have become one of today's most exciting art forms, taking on the world we live in and reflecting it back to us in a thousand different ways. All of human experience is here, from teenage girlfriends alienated in suburbia to a desperate housewife's search for passion, brought to life with insight, imagination and page-turning narrative.

This extensive guide focuses on comic heroes and villains; the creators, artists, and writers of comic strips and comic books; and the publishers and syndicates of the comics industry. The more than 1,000 entries are arranged in dictionary form, are superbly illustrated, and are cross-referenced.

Millions of Americans know and love Charlie Brown and Snoopy, Blondie and Dagwood, Doonesbury, Li’l Abner, Garfield, Cathy, Beetle Bailey and other such comic strip characters. Thanks to the cartoonists—the people who have brought and still bring these and other characters to life day after day in the newspapers—the characters have become an entertaining and important part of American culture. The author provides a biographical sketch of each cartoonist, with special attention given to the cartoonist’s career and characters.

This guide provides detailed information on many of the world's best known artists - an A-Z listing of more than 150. It also includes detailed biographical information on each artist: birthplace, education, work history, artistic influences and major achievements.

Examines the lives and works of the greatest cartoon artists, as well as their contributions to and influences on the genre.

This work provides an extensive guide for students, fans, and collectors of Marvel Comics. Focusing on Marvel's mainstream comics, the author provides a detailed description of each comic along with a bibliographic citation listing the publication's title, writers-artists, publisher, ISBN (if available), and a plot synopsis.

This third edition of the landmark reference work has six additional years of information on Japanese animation, its practitioners and products, plus incisive thematic entries on anime history and culture. With credits, links, cross-references, and content advisories for parents and libraries.