Archive for the 'promotion' Category


Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink

Posted June 11, 2008
Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink
With the advent of summer holidays and school winding down. Kids are under the impression that learning is out the window. No more books, perish the thought. There are many books out there that will keep those little bright eyes glued to some exciting adventures. Some publishers are taking a clue from comic books and creating exciting stories laced in comic book themed ideas. Anna Smudge is the newest girl in town that will make reading exciting for many. Mac is the newest author from Popular Science Magazine and she chronicles the further adventures of Anna Smudge and her cast of "Professionals" in an ongoing series of exciting fresh plots. Not since Lucy from Peanuts that an eleven year old shrink can be a cool thing to read. Taking clue from the likes of Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Encyclopedia Brown and all the sleuths before her, Anna Smudge is full of promise as the next new series that will lure your kids like little fish to bait. Glenn Fabry a well known artist in the comic book industry fills out the book with his spot illustrations. This book will be the sleeper of the summer for kids nine and older.
 
A DANGEROUS ESCAPED HITMAN  

AN ART TEACHER WHO HAS LOST HER MIND

A NAKED MAN COVERED IN SEAWEED AND TALKING IN RHYMES

BUT WHAT DOES IT ALL HAVE TO DO WITH THE CRIMINAL MASTERMIND MR. WHO?

It’s up to Anna Smudge to find out. But Anna’s no ordinary eleven-year-old. She’s the top shrink in Manhattan, holding therapy sessions in a cramped storage closet in the lobby of her apartment building. And hordes of nutty New Yorkers are nearly kicking down her door, desperate to schedule an appointment. But Anna’s got major issues of her own: a mysterious blackmailer, a violent new patient, and more homework than a tenth grader. Oh, and she has to catch Mr. Who, the most horrendous criminal mastermind the world has ever known. Her father’s life depends on it.

Teaming up with a motley crew of friends, Anna embarks on an adventure that spans the landmarks of New York City. But how do you find a man when no one has ever seen his face? Does Mr. Who even exist? And if so, who is he?

Cherise the Niece

Posted June 8, 2008

Jim Benton’s Cherise the Niece
If you cherish Edward Gorey, Charles Addams, and Tim Burton and have a bent for black humor, then Jim Benton is your man. His new collection of prose illustrated gore and more is in the tradition of  Edward Gorey?s The Gashlycrumb Tinies. These cleverly rhymed lines of wit is not exactly for kids under 14, and some adults will squirm.  These books are all in jest as are the previous insperation works of past cartoonists.  It’s great to see that Jim Benton is carrying the torch of a genre that teeters on the edge of horror and comedy.
 
She was orphaned quite young In a mysterious way, Her parents just up and vanished one day.

The bloody footprints leading out of Cherise?s bedroom are the first clue that perhaps the little darling with the bow in her hair is not an angel. As Cherise is shuttled from one aunt?s home to another, her aunts vanish, meeting inventive and hysterical ends. With a killer punch line on its final page, Jim Benton?s Cherise the Niece will leave readers laughing.

Al Jaffee’s Tall Tales

Posted June 4, 2008


Tall Tales was an innovative newspaper strip syndicated internationally by the New York Herald Tribune from 1957?1963. Whereas newspaper strips are square, single-panel or multiple-panel horizontal gag cartoons, Al Jaffee, known for the Fold-In in MAD Magazine, once again altered the format of his work to create a vertical strip?the first, and last, in newspaper history. Tall Tales contains the best 120 wordless strips out of over 2,200, scanned from the original files. The book features a new preface by Jaffee and an introduction by Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report.

 

?Al Jaffee is the cartoonist?s cartoonist. He?s a pioneer in every field, from comic books to book illustration to magazine cartoons. The worst thing about Jaffee is that every time I do a drawing, I find out he?s done it before . . . and better.??Sergio Aragon?s, cartoonist

 

?This collection proves that not only has Al Jaffee always been funny, he?s always been disturbed.? ? Stephen Colbert, from his introduction

Disney’s Kingdom Comics

Posted May 29, 2008
Disney's Kingdom Comics

Kingdom Comics is the newest imprint to hit the stands to exploit the Disney vault of past nuggets in the company. A constant staple for many generations, many characters are just gathering dust and relegated to grown adults dressed as the mascots of the Disney world parks. It only makes sense to bring back those characters in a new line of old and new strips. The formula works great in Europe and in other countries where Disney characters enjoy a wealth of fame in the printed form. Seems in the North American market the characters were sentenced to Golden Books or clones of that formula for early childhood to be exposed to the characters. This market was already flooded by Gladstone Comics in the past, but will it work with this new Kingdom imprint. If it comes down to anything, no matter what age, people what something well written and drawn to satisfy the masses. It is a mighty task, with the proper resources and muscle that Disney has and if exploited right this could be a winning formula all.
 
In the past, a series of Disney comics were published based on cartoon characters, but now Walt Disney Studios has formed Kingdom Comics with one of the goals being to ?re-imagine and rejuvenate movies from the Disney ?vault,? the company?s library of live action films,?

Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book

Posted May 21, 2008

No man is an island some might say. There was no mention of a woman. Tove Jansson is the woman in question, she is gone now and left us a treasure to be found once again by new fans. Drawn and Quarterly, Montreal’s premiere graphic novel printer led the way with the reprinting of her Moomin illustrated yarns and the spillage is now overflowing with a new re-polished reprint of her newest old book called The Summer Book. This little trove is a story of a six year old girl and her grandmother.

The two polarities in age discover the basic themes of life in different perspectives pertaining to the generational divide and come to understand new things with each others eyes as though they were looking from inside out of each other. Sometimes the most basic relationships and the heart strings that attach us to a sentiment or thought of a captured moment in our youth will stick to us till our death. Tove Jansson is a classic writer and illustrator left unturned for many years, and most of us outside her native Finland are now discovering her work as a new experience. 

In the global village of thought, it is an amazing thing to comb through books forgotten such as this one. Truly Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book will be the advent to this summer which breams with new ideas. The quick page turner will put a smile and a little wonderment at the same time.
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The Ugly Guide to the Uglyverse

Posted May 14, 2008
Look who reared its ugly head.  Uglydolls found their way to Random House with two guides to the Uglyverse. These dolls have in the past few years developed a loyal following and grew each year with new ones. The idea behind these characters created by David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim fancy the imagination for all. In this safe universe where ugly is cute in a superlative way is a fresh beacon to the usual gore-fest out there from other individuals who thrive in creating truly horrific characters. The stuffed animals are a hit all over the world and these guides will help you discover David’s and Sun-Min’s world of fun.

The Uglydolls have taken our world by storm with their adorable uglyness and hilarious personalities. And now, Uglydoll lovers everywhere can get their first-ever glimpse into the mysteries of the Uglyverse! Join Wage, Babo, and the rest of the Uglydolls? quirky characters on a tour of Ugly Town. In Ugly Guide to the Uglyverse, you?ll dine in Ugly Town?s fine (and not-so-fine) restaurants, go on a tour of the Ugly History Museum, check in to the Ugly Hospital, vacation at the Ugly Beach, and learn even more about Ugly Town and the Uglydolls themselves, including what Jeero really does all day and what Big Toe wants to be when he grows up. Ugly Guide

The Big Book of Illustration Ideas 2

Posted May 6, 2008

The Big Book of Illustration Ideas 2

What if you need someone to draw salad on a plate with a glass of wine next to it? You could go through the above processes, and?after a while?you’d probably find someone to draw or paint it in the style you wanted. Or you could simply pick up The Big Book of Illustration Ideas 2 flip to the section marked "Food and Still Life," and find pages and pages of illustrators who can draw all kinds of food in all kinds of styles: pencil, crayon, watercolor, collage, and so on, and so on. It’s a smorgasbord of illustration ideas. In fact, within these pages are the best illustrators from all over the world, found together in one place along with all their contact information.

For ease of reference, illustrators’ work is cataloged by theme: People; Portraits; Food and Still Life; Buildings; Landscapes; Abstract Concepts; Diagrams; and Miscellaneous.

Speed Racer: Mach Go Go Go

Posted April 25, 2008
Manga comes in all shapes and sizes and genres. Nostalgic of just part of the hype machine of the new Speed Racer movie, we are treated to an exciting new duo collection of Manga based on the series in this sleeved set.
 
DMP celebrates Speed Racer’s 40th anniversary with a 2-volume hardcover collector’s set. Speed Racer: Mach Go Go Go Box Set is the complete, unabridged version and contains episodes available in the United States for the first time. Join Speed Racer, Racer X, Trixie, Spritle and Chim Chim in this fast-paced thriller of action and intrigue!

Fantasy and Sci-Fi Digital Art Imagine FX

Posted April 13, 2008
Some of the best artists can be found in England’s monthly magazine, Fantasy and Sci-Fi Digital Art Imagine FX. This magazine caters to the cream of the crop in the digital world and the process involved in the different milieus in the industry. It’s amazing how every individual attacks each project. A cornucopia of ideas for the novice or expert there is something for everybody. The cover price a bit pricey for some, but the information inside is worth every dime if you take your art seriously. Each magazine is accompanied with a CD with the latest in software and tutorials to get that extra edge. The web site is  just a loaded as the magazine.  Read more>>

The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America

Posted March 1, 2008
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America

In the years between World War II and the emergence of television as a mass medium, American popular culture as we know it was first created–in the pulpy, boldly illustrated pages of comic books. No sooner had this new culture emerged than it was beaten down by church groups, community bluestockings, and a McCarthyish Congress–only to resurface with a crooked smile on its face in "Mad "magazine.

The story of the rise and fall of those comic books has never been fully told–until "The Ten-Cent Plague," David Hajdu’s remarkable new book vividly opens up the lost world of comic books, its creativity, irreverence, and suspicion of authority.

When we picture the 1950s, we hear the sound of early rock and roll. "The Ten-Cent Plague "shows how–years before music–comics brought on a clash between children and their parents, between prewar and postwar standards. Created by outsiders from the tenements, garish, shameless, and often shocking, comics spoke to young people and provided the guardians of mainstream culture with a big target. Parents, teachers, and complicit kids burned comics in public bonfires. Cities passed laws to outlaw comics. Congress took action with televised hearings that nearly destroyed the careers of hundreds of artists and writers.

"The Ten-Cent Plague "radically revises common notions of popular culture, the generation gap, and the divide between "high" and "low" art. As he did with the lives of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (in "Lush Life") and Bob Dylan and his circle (in "Positively 4th Street"), Hajdu brings a place, a time, and a milieu unforgettably back to life.

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