More Heroes Of The Comics

Featuring over 80 full-color portraits of the pioneering legends of American comic books, including publishers, editors and artists from the industry’s birth in the ’30s, through the brilliant artists and writers of behind EC Comics in the ’50s. All lovingly rendered and chosen by Drew Friedman, a cartooning legend in his own right. Featuring subjects popular and obscure, men and women, as well as several pioneering African-American artists. Each subject features a short essay by Friedman, who grew up knowing many of the subjects included (as the son of writer Bruce Jay Friedman), including Stan Lee, Harvey Kurtzman, Will Eisner, Mort Drucker, Al Jaffee, Jack Davis, Will Elder, and Bill Gaines. More names you might recognize: Barks, Crumb, Wood, Wolverton, Frazetta, Siegel & Shuster, Kirby, Cole, Ditko, Werthem… it’s a Hall of Fame of comic book history from the man BoingBoing.com call “America’s greatest living portrait artist!”

Spanning the birth of the industry to its first few decades, this book has approximately 100 full-color portraits of the legends of American comic books―publishers, editors, and artists. Its subjects are popular and obscure, men and women, and it includes several pioneering artists of color.

Meet one hundred of the strangest superheroes ever to see print, complete with backstories, vintage art, and colorful commentary. You know about Batman, Superman, and Spiderman, but have you heard of Doll Man, Doctor Hormone, or Spider Queen? So prepare yourself for such not-ready-for-prime-time heroes as Bee Man (Batman, but with bees), the Clown (circus-themed crimebuster), the Eye (a giant, floating eyeball; just accept it), and many other oddballs and oddities. Drawing on the entire history of the medium, The League of Regrettable Superheroes will appeal to die-hard comics fans, casual comics readers, and anyone who enjoys peering into the stranger corners of pop culture.

The enduring cultural phenomenon of comic book heroes was invented in the late 1930s by a talented and hungry group of artists and writers barely out of their teens, flying by the seat of their pants to create something new, exciting, and above all profitable. The iconography and mythology they created flourishes to this day in comic books, video, movies, fine art, advertising, and practically all other media. Supermen! collects the best and the brightest of this first generation, including Jack Cole, Will Eisner, Bill Everett, Lou Fine, Fletcher Hanks, Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Basil Wolverton.

The first history of modern costumed-hero comic books, from the start of the Silver Age in 1956 up to today. Focusing on DC and Marvel Comics, the story begins with the efforts of DC to revitalize such Golden Age heroes as the Flash, Superman, and Green Lantern in the wake of the anti-comic furor of the early 1950s. The authors cover the science fiction rage of the late 1950s, the birth of the experimental Marvel Comics Group in 1961, the emergence of such classic Marvel characters as the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man, the "camp" craze set off by the "Batman" TV show in 1966, and the socially conscious and politically relevant comics of the early 1970s. Later chapters describe the slump of the mid-1970s, as the medium lost touch with its young readers, followed by the comics' resurgence of the 1980s, as many new companies help DC and Marvel to extend the boundaries of the field with innovation, daring, and a new sophistication. Factually thorough and written in a lively, narrative style, this history includes behind-the-scenes glimpses at the men who wrote, drew, and published the comics, the impact of their creations on the fans, and critical assessments of the works themselves. Illustrated throughout with examples of comic book art, The Comic Book Heroes will inform and entertain both the hardcore fan and the casual reader of this most popular of American mediums.

Wonder Woman versus…Booster Gold?! Diana finds out the hard way that Booster can be a formidable opponent when his back’s against the wall. Of course, being the prime suspect in a superhero massacre and exposing a secret trauma hospital for metahumans will do just that. Meanwhile, Batman and the Flash combine their detective skills to investigate what went awry at Sanctuary and uncover a serious glitch in the system—not to mention an explosive, spoiler-ific secret!

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a superhero drawing book! Professional comic book artist and YouTube guru Robert Marzullo teaches you the building blocks of creating your own action heroes and explosive comic book scenes. Easy to follow step-by-step demonstrations break down advanced drawings into basic shapes and shading for you to replicate and master before applying your newfound knowledge to create your own dynamic comic book characters and settings. INCLUDES • 50+ step-by-step demonstrations • Chapters on drawing faces, bodies, character details and scenes • Instruction on depicting both superhuman men and women using different perspectives, expressions, proportions and poses • Ideas for costumes, such as basic cuffs, capes, helmets, armor and weaponry • Tips for rendering power effects, from flying and wall smashing to magic-orb wielding and energy blasting • Lessons on blocking in a scene to create powerful comic panels that tell a story