Copacetic Christmas 2010
Web customers may now purchase these items – and much, much more – directly, from our online gift catalogue at Copacetic 2.0, our 24/7 eCommerce site (payments through PayPal™ – now with no membership required: any credit card will do).
Pittsburgh
customers can choose between shopping at our new and
improved Copacetic
HQ in Polish Hill, and our
downtown location, Copacetic@TheToonSeum,
located at 945 Liberty Avenue in the cultural district (Please note,
however, that the standard Copacetic discounts do NOT apply at this
location, as the proceeds serve to benefit The Toonseum*, and that this
location is limited to stocking only items from the comics and cartoon
categories).
Also, as an added
bonus, FREE giftwrapping is available at
Copacetic HQ in Polish
Hill. Just ask!
In a hurry? Jump ahead to:
COMICS
• for kids
BOOKS
MUSIC - CD
CINEMA - DVD
CRAZY DEALS!
The Art of Jaime Hernandez:
The Secrets of Life and Death
by Todd Hignite
introduction by Alison Bechdel
YES! It's here: a dream come true. Designed by Jordan Crane, and perfectly printed on high quality flat white stock, every page of this oversize hardcover book is a wonder. Where to start with a book like this? Well, first off, there are the page after flawless page of full color reproductions of Jaime's black and white (and color) original artwork – including many pieces of unpublished art, several of which are real eye-openers! Then there is the uncovered cache of rare ephemera like punk rock fliers, early L & R ads, and local and national magazine covers. Also unearthed are drawings from Jaime's childhood years, including those that cover Jaime's Oxnard High School Pee-Chee folder, amongst which is one of the first ever depictions of Maggie! Best of all, there is a veritable family scrap book worth of photos documenting the Hernandez clan's development from its earliest days (Jaime in diapers!) on up through the halcyon days of punk rock splendor and beyond that will have long time Love and Rockets fans dewy eyed more than once. AND, this book isn't just about the art, it's also about the man behind the art. It's full of choice quotes from Jaime and others in his circle, all of which go a long way towards shedding light on the particular nature of his genius. Our favorite so far is this gem of Jaime's, in response to the suggestion that he build on his popularity to step into the mainstream: "That's not the next step. Love and Rockets is the last step. I 'made it' when we did the first issue. Everything else – The New York Times, even making a movie – is lesser than Love and Rockets, as far as I'm concerned, and everyone else should treat their work that way. If it's your own work, it should be treated as the last thing, not the first thing." Amen to that. Written and curated by Comic Art Magazine founding editor, Todd Hignite, this massive hardcover volume builds on and extends Comic Art's tradition of high standards in writing, graphic design and production. Hignite's introduction, craftily employing Jaime's New York Times serial "La Maggie la Loca" as both its jumping off point and visual foil, is a model of concise clear prose in the service of promoting an ideal. The body of the book constructs a well rounded portrait of the artist that will stand the test of time. We'd say more, but we're all too busy poring over the pages and dabbing our eyes...
retail price - $40.00 copacetic price - $34.00
Wilson
by Daniel Clowes
This is the one that someone you know has been waiting for... even if they don't know it themselves. Well, it's here, the first original graphic novel by Mr. Clowes; the first, in other words, that did not first see the light of day in his long running solo title, Eightball. Wilson extends the vein he opened in Eightball #22 (the story that went on to be released as Ice Haven) and continued in Eightball #23 (the yet to be graphic-novelized 1970s "super-hero" story). In these two works Clowes penned a sequence of stand-alone short strips of varying length each rendered in one of a variety of distinct cartoon voices (aka styles). Through the course of these works, the short pieces slowly coalesce into an organic whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. In Wilson Clowes employs this technique with a singular focus. Whereas in the aforementioned works, point of view shifted among and between the characters, in Wilson each and every one of the 71 single page strips, while employing the same wide variety of voices as the other works, features and focuses on the titular character. In addition, almost all the single page strips contain six panels – with the few that don't all being either seven or eight panels – and the last panel of each strip serves as a sort of "punch line." Taken together, this homogeneity creates a formal unity between all of the strips and gives a sense that the book is a collection of Sunday page strips that is doubling as a graphic novel. The cumulative narrative effect of Wilson is to provide the reader with a massive refraction of a single personality and the realization that while context can and does alter the perception of people and events, an individual's character remains and retains an essential unity that undergirds and connects it all.
retail price - $21.95 copacetic price - $19.75
A Graphic Cosmogony
edited by Alex Spiro; introduction by Paul Gravett
art by Stuart Kolakovic, Mikkel Sommers, Brecht Vandenbroucke, Luke Best, Rob Hunter, Jon McNaught, Ben Newman, Andrew Rae, Luke Pearson, Jack Teagle, Jon Boam, Jakob Hindrichs, Clayton Junior, Daniel Locke, Isabel Greenberg, Mike Bertino, Nick White, Rui Tenreiro, Sean Hudson, Luc Melanson, Katia Fouquet, Yeji Yun, Matthew Lyons & Liesbeth De Stercke
The fine folks at the London-based NoBrow Ltd. have produced their first anthology, and it's a doozy! Editor, Alex Spiro has assembled twenty-four artists and, with a nod to The Book of Genesis, asked each of them to "take on seven pages to tell their tales of the creation of everything." As those who are familiar with the NoBrow works on display here at Copacetic already know, their publications are finely crafted and produced in an engaged, hands-on manner, in keeping with the company's stated aim "to place a renewed focus on quality in print." The company maintains a special focus on hand-separated planes of flat color that gives their entire catalogue a wholly unique feel, and now, with A Graphic Cosmogony, they have produced an amazing 176 page hardcover volume – by a large margin the most ambitious assemblage they have yet to produce – that will pop your eyes out and knock your socks off! It's hot off the press and it's here. Check it out.
retail price - £24.00 copacetic price - $40.00
Birchfield Close
by John McNaught
McNaught's contribution to the aforementioned A Graphic Cosmogony, "Pilgrims," was one the real standouts, and his Birchfield Close is a masterpiece in miniature. There is a lot going on in this slim, 5" x 7" hardcover. First and foremost, there is a wholly successful evocation of the modern condition that reveals a heretofore unrecognized potential for visual poetry in suburban tract housing. This is no small achievement. It is accomplished through a highly disciplined use of the two-color palette in combination with a real tour de force in layout. Connoisseurs of the comics grid will find themselves returning to this work over and over again simply to marvel at its majestic overall form, as well as the subtle rhythms that are delicately woven throughout. Birchfield Close is a veritable defiition of "deceptively simple." What at first glance appears a bunch of squares and rectangles filled with rudimentary drawing, will, when given the attention it is due, come alive and fill the reader with wonder. Check it out at Mr. McNaught's page devoted to it.
retail price - £9.00 copacetic price - $18.00
Wild Kingdom
by Kevin Huizenga
And here's another reason to get up in the morning: a new release by Kevin H. This one is fairly convoluted in its conception and execution, but therein lies part of its appeal. The Wild Kingdom had its humble beginnings in Super Monster 12 that was first published way back at the dawn of the millennium. This material was then bolstered and slightly reconfigured for the February 2006 release of the fourth issue of Or Else, his since discontinued Drawn & Quarterly series. And, now with Wild Kingdom, the material at last receives its apotheosis. The core meaning of Wild Kingdom is surrounded by a dense underbrush of irony that must be overcome by the reader. In addition, a multiplicity of signification strategies are employed that may throw careless readers off the scent. Only those capable of sustained, dedicated tracking will be able to bag the prize at the center of The Wild Kingdom. Get a head start, here.
retail price - $19.95 copacetic PIX special price - $14.95
X'ed Out
by Charles Burns
Wow! When you least expect it, Charles Burns surprises us with a full color graphic album that grafts his by now easily recognized Burnsian concerns onto the bande dessinée format. It's a sort of Black Hole meets Tintin (In fact, the cover of X-ed Out is an homage to the cover of the Tintin album, The Shooting Star). How can you go wrong?
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.77
Picture This
by Lynda Barry
Picture This (The Near-Sighted Monkey Book) is the follow up volume to Lynda Barry's 2008 Drawn & Quarterly debut, the masterful What It Is. Executed in the same multiple medias – pen and ink, ink wash, water colors, and collage – on perhaps an even more diverse selection of surfaces – in addition to her now trademarked use of lined, yellow legal pad paper, she here works with assorted notebook pages, graph paper and construction paper, as well as pages torn from books, magazines and newspapers – Barry amply demonstrates that her multi-media mastery continues to be in full force. Every page is a pleasure to look at, and while each page taken on its own may or may not display any obvious narrative content, taken as a whole the book most certainly coheres into a nourishing organic whole. Clearly she is not afraid to take artistic risks and is comfortable working with whatever is at hand. In Picture This, Barry manages the enviable feat of transforming quotidian detritus into a thoughtful, heartfelt, and personal work of art that gradually universalizes her personal concerns through hard won aesthetics
retail price - $29.95 copacetic price - $25.95
King: The Special Edition
by Ho Che Anderson
Here it is at last, the complete work, how it was meant to be read. This 312 page oversize hardcover volume contains the entirety of Anderson's comics biography of King. A 10-year-long project, Anderson's goal was to deliver a portrait of MLK that is one of a complex, multi-layered, flesh and blood human being, a task for which comics are ideally suited. Employing a host of styles, techniques, devices and processes, Anderson has striven to match the method to the mood and the moment, and thereby enhance the reader's engagement with the material and so heighten its emotional impact, which is, unsurprisingly given who this book is about, quite intense at times. There is much more on offer in this biography than simply technical expertise, however. It is a truism that every biographer finds himself (or herself) in his subject, and this is clearly the case here. What's more, Anderson's own personal reflections on his creation of this work which start off the bonus section (see below) impart a sense that working on King provided a redemption of sorts to Anderson's own life, and that the process of working on it helped him regain both his footing and his focus, and so demonstrates yet again the power of Dr. King's shining example. King is a very personal take on MLK, one that focuses on those earthier characteristics that are often given short shrift in the plentiful King hagiographies that stock the shelves. It is exceptionally strong in its focus on King's personal life – his marriage and his friendships – and it does not shy away from confronting his extramarital affairs. The might, the majesty and the miracle that is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are, of course, all here, but so is the man. So, while King is a graphic tour de force, it is also a demonstration of how we internalize larger than life figures and they become a lens through which we see ourselves. Most of all, King provides readers with an excellent opportunity to revisit and reflect upon the life of one of the most important figures in American history. This edition includes 64 pages of bonus materials including breakdowns, layouts, cover sketches, typescripts, and a personal essay that revisits and reflects the years of the work's creation, as well as the entirety of his comic book prelude to King, Black Dogs. Taken together, this material provides an exceptionally well-rounded look at the creative process and the personal growth that it both partakes in and contributes to – clearly making this the definitive edition of this heartfelt work.
retail price - $34.95 copacetic super special price - $22.95
Artichoke Tales
by Megan Kelso
It took a while, but she did it! This chunky, pert, hardcover volume finally delivers on the promise of Kelso's self-published mini-comics trilogy of the same name that brought her multiple Ignatz awards way back in 2002. During the intervening years, Kelso has been busy with – among other things, such as having a major work run 24 weeks in the New York Times – raising a child. And, as anyone who has done so knows, personal creative work not only necessarily retreats into the background of the rigorous demands of the day-to-day, but is very difficult to find the time to do. In other words, the fact that an artistic work is completed during the trials of parenthood is as sure a guarantor that the work is passionately cared about as any we can think of, and Artichoke Tales is a work that can be cited in defense of this premise. This volume provides (if memory serves) roughly twice the amount of the previously extant material, and all long-suffering Kelso fans are sure to be pleased. Doubt us? Then check out this massive 16-page PDF preview, and doubt no more!
retail price - $22.99 copacetic price - $19.99
Bodyworld
by Dash Shaw
Anyone who feels like messing with someone's head for Christmas, might consider putting Dash Shaw's groundbreaking new graphic Novel, Bodyworld under the tree. A non-stop comics producer, Shaw had published a number of small press works over a roughly five year period before making a big splash with his 700 page graphic novel, Bottomless Belly Button, which went on to grab a lot of mainstream attention and had readers wondering where he would go next. Well, where he went was to the web, where he produced the full color Bodyworld at a furious pace. The hardcopy – and hardcover – edition is a revised-for-print presentation of his webcomics epic, Bodyworld is printed in a vertical format so as to translate the experience of reading and scrolling on the web. Read the original online here, and then check out the book and compare, and while you're at it you will experience living on the cusp of the digital age.
retail price - $27.95 copacetic price - $25.00
Make Me a Woman
by Vanessa Davis
For the full blooded woman in your life - especially if she celebrates (or celebrated) hanukkah – we have the follow up effort to Ms. Davis's debut collection, Spaniel Rage, published a few years back by the now (sadly) defunct Buenaventura Press. Make Me a Woman, is, at least to our thinking, quite an apt title, for of all the supremely talented female practitioners of comics out there, it is Davis who perhaps most unapologetically embraces her womanhood. Davis pens page after page of voluptuously sensuous comics that retain a strong sense of humor and present the reader with a fully formed sensibility. Check it out, if you think you can handle it.
retail price - $24.95 copacetic price - $22.22
Lucky in Love, Book One: A Poor Man's History
by George Chieffer and Stephen DeStefano
At last, the underrated artistic talents of Stephen DeStefano get the chance to step into the limelight. Lucky in Love is a fictional memoir of that brings its readers an Italian-American coming of age story set in the WWII-era. DeStefano, with the able assistance of scripter, George Chieffet, really brings the era alive. This volume – the first of two – divides the first half of its protagonist's life into three parts: teenage life before the war; life during wartime; and the "triumphant" post-war return. The book's designer, Alexa Koenings, deserves special recognition for delivering a book that looks and feels – from its olive drab cover color scheme to its heavy, ivory paper stock – as though it originated in the era it describes: which goes a long way towards immersing readers in the illusion of going "back in the day"; this achievement is no small potatoes, and is a very real part of the reading experience that simply does not survive the transition to the screen of an e-reader. So, please keep that in mind when you take a gander at this sneak preview on your computer screen.
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.77
Eden
by Pablo Holmberg
Eden employs a relaxing, subdued color palette in presenting an otherworldly fantasy that is simultaneously a tale of the heart that focuses on quotidian domestic pleasures. Here are a few Copacetic favorites singing it's praises: "Pablo Holmberg's comics feel like they were written by a friend who loves you deeply." -- James Kochalka; "Eden ... immerses us in a perfect little universe, one tiny glimpse at a time." -- Ron Rege, Jr.; "Discovering Pablo Homberg was a revelation to me, and Eden makes for a perfect point of entry into his work." -- John Porcellino. If that was enough to get you interested, then you're ready to take the next step.
retail price - $16.95 copacetic price - $14.75
Hicksville
by Dylan Horrocks
Here at Copacetic Comics, we've long been fond of calling Hicksville "The Watchmen of small press comics." This is useful in that practically all comics readers are familiar with and have positive associations with The Watchmen, and we feel that Hicksville is a similarly ambitious, successful and important work, and so is one that we like to draw attention to, and comparing it to The Watchmen is a cheap and easy way to do so. Whether or not this is a good, right or fair thing to say in regards to to the themes and content of the respective works, we're not going to try to defend. The comparison's validity rests more on a historical point in that both are works whose central narratives, in addition to telling engaging stories, simultaneously serve to deconstruct the basis of the genres they are working in. For Watchmen it is that of the superhero, for Hicksville it is the genre of autobio comics and its rise out of the world of comics fandom. Now, back in print after a two-year hiatus, this new edition of Hicksville is, we feel, likely to be the definitive one, as everything about it feels just right. Most especially the significant addition of an all new, all comics introduction by Horrocks that he himself states (in this quite-worthy-of-reading Publisher's Weekly interview) is "one of the most frank and personal things I've ever drawn." This introduction is an important minor work in its own right and puts the proverbial icing on the cake of this seminal volume (preview it here). So, for any and all Copacetic customers who have yet to experience this comics masterwork, we say: now is the time.
retail price - $19.95 copacetic price - $17.77
Afrodisiac
by Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca
Well, here's a work that sets the table for a multi-course feast that will appeal to folks of different stripes for different reasons. First and foremost, it is the most ample display to date of the pop culture prowess of the Pittsburgh-based artist/writer team of Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca, who here have given a virtuoso performance. Afrodisiac is an homage to the last gasp of traditional comic book values; specifically, those that were embodied by the comic books of, roughly, 1972 - 1985. These were the final years of the newsstand comic book market – its decade of irrevocable decline. Beginning in 1986 it was permanently eclipsed by the direct market, a turn of events which not only forever altered the perception and reception of comic books, but simultaneously led to a substantial and equally permanent change in their values and production. The work contained in this compact, full color, hardcover volume demonstrates a deep intuitive understanding of the the tropes and formulas of traditional newsstand comic books, as well as, and perhaps most significantly, the role played by the wide variety of production and reproduction processes and techniques through which the raw language of comics passes en route to becoming the actual physical end product comic book that transmits its content through the readers' sensory apparatus, and thereby promulgates its meaning to the end consumer: human consciousness. Conscious manipulation of the denotative capacities of production processes has a history that goes back at least thirty years, to Art Spiegelman's work in Breakdowns, and it continues to be employed successfully in works such as Paul Hornschemeier's The Three Paradoxes. Afrodisiac is, however, unique in that, here, this conscious manipulation is the driving force behind the entire project, and is encoded in the texts as well as the images, with the character of The Afrodisiac acting as a cypher – one that is simultaneously a celebration and an elegy – for the uncritical creation of unabashed power fantasies that was no longer possible in the wake of The Dark Knight Returns and The Watchmen. Jim Rugg is a one-man production house and he has put the pedal to the metal in his reclamation of a panoply of production processes in this pandemonium procuring panegyric to the blaxploitation genre (that was itself an embodiment of the last gasp of the classical Hollywood values that vanished in the wake of the blockbuster onslaught of Spielberg, Lucas & Co.). It is here, in this nostalgic conflation of blaxploitation's own uncritical creation of unabashed power fantasies with those of comic book superheroes, by, let it be said, a couple of middle-class white guys, that another layer of signification transpires. Certainly, an exploration of the text's Playing in the Dark is warranted, and an old Lou Reed song may come to the mind of readers of a certain age; in addition, the fact that the power fantasy on display in these pages is of a distinctly sexual nature and is employed in the domination and exploitation of women cannot be ignored. Yet, all is rendered with a clear sense of humor, and where level, intellectually engaged heads prevail, there are sure to be some interesting and potentially valuable correlations made (cultural anthropologists, please take note). In other words, Afrodisiac is one of the densest texts one is likely to come across; and while many will doubtless find it a source of uncritical enjoyment, those who do so will be doing themselves a disservice and missing the work's essential character. To get a head start processing this sucka', download this PDF preview.
retail price - $14.95 copacetic price - $12.75
Footnotes in Gaza
by Joe Sacco
With this new work – over six years in the making – Joe Sacco returns to the people and the land that launched him to the forefront of comics journalism – a position which he has held ever since. Few indeed are the number of people who can lay claim to being the top in their field for as long as Sacco has his, and with Footnotes in Gaza, he extends his lead even further, to the point where his position as being the single most important founder of the field/genre/school of comics journalism is now well nigh unassailable. Footnotes in Gaza is the major work of a mature master, fully confident of his abilities and coolly in control of his talents. Taking a page from the Art Spiegelman playbook and extending it to address his own concerns, Sacco deftly weaves a detailed account of his own personal quest – in the here and now (or at least what was the here and now at the time, 2003, when he carried out his research) – to unearth the details of two specific historical events that took place in Gaza in November of 1956, by interviewing every possible living participant, with his own depiction of the interviewees' recollections. These events are, as the title baldly states, considered mere footnotes to the wide world outside of Gaza, but to the people who lived through them, they are traumas undimmed by the passage of half a century. If ever the devil was in the details, it is here, and the details that are dredged up by Sacco's research into this historical "footnote" are certain to engender strong opinions on both sides of the horrific divide that is addressed by the central events of this tale. To readers not directly involved in these events, however, there is the chance to delve into both how the past is ever present and, crucially, how the present can be and is projected into the past. In addition, readers are offered the opportunity to contemplate how "seeing" an event recapitulated in visual images differs in both kind and degree from merely reading a description of the same event. These, and other, interactions of the past and present, brought to light through reportorial diligence and mediated here by both art and memory, form the core of this fascinating and powerful work.
retail price - $29.95 copacetic price - $26.95
Denys Wortman's New York:
Portrait of the City in the 1930s and 1940s
edited by James Sturm and Brandon Elston
And, while we're on the topic of pencil-rendered realities, it would be a gross injustice not to bring this amazing volume to your attention. What we have here is over 250 simply beautiful cartoons depicting life in NYC over two full decades. This book is a real "Wow!" It is indeed a true "portrait of the city": a crystal clear picture window which provides neglected and forgotten views that will reinvigorate our understanding of the times it depicts and the lives of those who lived through them. A perfect book to remind us about real people and an excellent antidote to the dehumanizing electronic entertainments that seem to have us hemmed in on all sides in the present moment. Denys Wortman's New York provides us with an escape hatch. It couldn't have come at a better time.
retail price - $29.95 copacetic price - $27.50
Six Novels in Woodcuts (boxed set):
Gods’ Man • Madman’s Drum • Wild Pilgrimage
Prelude to a Million Years • Song Without Words • Vertigo
by Lynd Ward
introduction by Art Spiegelman
We are quite happy to report that the venerable Library of America has done right by the unique works of Lynd Ward. From the Art Spiegelman introduction through the choice of texts, and, most crucially, to the quality of the reproduction and presentation, this two volume collection of the works of this pioneering, Depression-era master of the art of telling stories without words has opened the door of the official American literary canon to the graphic novel form. Please visit the LoA page on this work and be treated to an overview of the work and an exclusive pdf interview with Art Spiegelman about the project, along with a 16-page preview.
retail price - $70.00 copacetic price - $63.00
The Complete Peanuts Box Set 7: 1975-1978
by Charles Schulz
And, speaking of box sets, how could we let the holidays pass without mentioning the latest annual box set in Fantagraphics' The Complete Peanuts? We couldn't! As with all previous box sets, this one contains the exact same two volumes that were released during the year, along with an especially sturdy, Seth-designed slipcase, all for almost 15% less than the price of the two volumes alone – and that's before taking into account the Copacetic discount!
retail price - $49.99 copacetic price - $39.99
The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga
By Helen McCarthy Foreword by Katsuhiro Otomo
We managed to somehow to fail to list this Harvey Award winning book on this page last year, but have decided to belatedly rectify that lapse, prodded by Dash Shaw's post on ComicsComics, wherein he waxes rhapsodic about the importance of the DVD it comes packaged with, which contains the 1985 NHK TV documentary on Tezuka, Secrets of Creation, which Shaw calls, "one of the best cartoonist documentaries I’ve ever seen." The Art of Tezuka is a farily swell affair, and is – as you would expect with any book in which it's subject is referred to as a "God" – a bit of a hagiography, but if anyone deserves this treatment it's Tezuka who is roughly the Japanese equivalent of Jack Kirby and Walt Disney combined, in both influence and renown, and so was no stranger to being an object of worship.
retail price - $40.00 copacetic price - $35.00
Sergio Aragonés: Five Decades of His Finest Works
by (duh) Sergio Aragonés; forward by Patrick McDonnell
The latest volume in the Mad's Greatest Artists series, this one will be very hard to pass up for anyone who grew up reading Mad Magazine and found their eyes constantly straying to the margins, where Aragonés uniquely plied his trade. Only Mad would make doodling in the margins a regular feature. The tacit acceptance and then official incorporation of this normally frowned-upon activity exemplifies the spirit of Mad perhaps more than any other aspect of what can now safely be considered an American institution (and the spirit of which is perfectly captured in this volumes cover image). These drawings are celebrated in a giant fold out poster that is included in this volume that displays 500 favorites! And, of course, there is much, much more to Aragonés's work than the marginalia. Here, in the close to 300 oversize pages of this affordably priced hardcover, readers will discover timeless insights into the human condition side-by-side with graphic commentaries on nearly fifty years worth of fads and trends of the day.
retail price - $29.95 copacetic price - $27.50
The Simon and Kirby Superheroes
by Jack Kirby, with Joe Simon
introduction by Neil Gaiman
Wow! 469 – count 'em! – pages of eye-popping, brain-blasting, Golden Age, Atomic Age and Silver Age Jack Kirby artwork! Here we have the complete Kirby runs (which in most cases is the run in its entirety) on Stuntman, Fighting American, Captain 3-D (speaking of which, here's an online preview of a full-length Captain 3-D story, courtesy of the fine folks at BoingBoing), The Double Life of Private Strong, The Adventures of The Fly, and more, all in full color, printed on flat white stock from scans of the original comics. All in full color, printed on flat white stock from scans of the original comics. AND, as if this weren't already more than enough, there are a pair of previously unpublished covers, a pair of previously unpublished double page splashes and a pair of complete stories, one of which, "Stuntman Crowns a Jungle Lord," is, intriguingly, caught mid-process, in which, at least according to an editor's note, only Kirby's actual pencil lines have been inked, before the heavy chiaroscuro detail inking was laid down. The publishers' in house production team has then, evidently, created an era-appropriate color scheme that seamlessly blends in these unpublished pieces into the rest of the book, the last page of which promises further volumes that promise to focus on the great Kirby Romance, Crime and Horror comics that Simon packaged for Prize Comics during their great Atomic Age partnership. Yes!
retail price - $49.95 copacetic price - $44.44
Art In Time:
Unknown Comic Book Adventures, 1940 - 1980
by Dan Nadel
The long awaited follow up volume to Nadel's pioneering 2006 anthology of rarely seen and under appreciated comics, Art Out of Time, has at last arrived! This time around we have a tighter focus. While much of the work contained in Art Out of Time originally appeared in newspapers and broadsheets, all the work contained in this volume originally appeared in comic book form between 1942 and 1980. Extending and expanding his mission to bring art world curatorial standards to comics, Nadel has provided an informative introduction to the book as a whole, along with separate one-page explanations of the underlying reasoning behind each of the thematic groupings into which the work is divided: "Demand and Supply," "Where They Were Drawing From," "It's All In the Routine," and "Expansive Palettes." The artists included here range from the golden age superhero work of H.G. Peter and Mort Meskin, through the post-WW II "atomic age" genre work of Bill Everett, Matt Fox, Jesse Marsh and Pete Morisi, and also including early work focused on hardboiled detective, Sam Hill, by the one and only Harry Lucey, who is best know for his 1960s work on Archie Comics. Another artist whose work included here ranges far from their iconic work is John Stanley, who is best known for his multi-decade run Little Lulu. Nadel has dug up a couple of obscure horror tales from 1962 that should be quite a surprise to most Stanley collectors. Also from the 1960s we have Sam Glanzman's Kona and Pat Boyette's career high, the 25 page, "Children of Doom" from 1967. Heading into the underground era we have fairly obscure yet nonetheless era-defining work from Willy Mendes and John Thompson. And, finally, on the cusp of the undergrounds and the alternative revolution that supplanted them is Sharon Rudahl's 34 page epic, The Adventures of Crystal Night, which is presented here in its entirety. Essential, we say.
retail price - $40.00 copacetic price - $35.00
George Herriman's Krazy Kat: A Celebration of Sundays
edited by Patrick McDonnell and Peter Maresca
Yes, it's true!!! Sunday Press, the fine folks who brought us the game-changing Little Nemo in Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays, and its myriad Sunday strip sequels have at last seen their way clear to produce an equivalent volume of that greatest of all( well, at least to us here at Copacetic) Sunday strips, the work that introduced poetry to comics: the one and only Krazy Kat, by George Herriman. Finally, KRAZY KAT as it was meant to be seen: 135 full-size Sunday pages from 1916-1944 Plus, dozens more early comics from George Herriman. Included in this splediferous 14 x 17-inch collection is a sampling of each of Herriman's creations for the Sunday newspaper comics from 1901-1906: Professor Otto, The Two Jackies, Major Ozone, and more, many of which have never been reprinted before. HERE are some sample pages, BUT the whole idea of this book is lost in reading them on a computer screen, so think twice before clicking over: you may want to wait for the real thing.
retail price - $100.00 copacetic price - $95.00
Krazy & Ignatz 1916 - 1918
by George Herriman
This month we have an embarrassment of riches in the comics classics department, and the lead off can be none other than this absolutely essential volume. Here it is: the first three years of George Herriman's splendiferous Sunday pages for the one and only Krazy Kat! With this volume, Fantagraphics launches its third and final leg of collecting the entirety of Krazy Kat Sunday pages. Due to the fact that the first nine years of the run had been collected in a series of nine volumes jointly published by Eclipse Books and Turtle Island Press roughly twenty years ago, Fantagraphics Potentates, Kim Thompson and Gary Groth decided it was best to pick up the run after that point and then, if the series met with success (which it, of course did) then they would circle back and start over from the beginning and collect those first nine years. And, so here we are. And what a glorious place to be!
retail price - $24.95 copacetic price - $22.22
Captain Easy
by Roy Crane
What do Milton Canniff, Alex Toth, Hergé, Frank Santoro and a whole heck-of-a-lot of other cartoonists all have in common? A solid appreciation of the genius of Roy Crane, that's what. In the family tree of comics, one of the sturdiest and vital branches is that of Roy Crane. A natural story-teller and fluid draughtsman who knew how to lay out a page like nobody's business, Roy Crane originated the adventure comic strip in 1924 with his Wash Tubbs daily strip (a full decade before Terry and the Pirates). Populated with thoroughly likable, humble, human heroes, the Wash Tubbs daily comic strip, and its later outgrowth, the Captain Easy Sunday pages established Crane at the forefront of the cartoonists of his day. Crane achieved a magic balance between realism and cartooning that went a long way towards defining the visual identity of comics in the twentieth century, and Captain Easy is his masterpiece. This wonderful, oversize, full color, hardcover volume presents the first two years – and then some! – of this classic, from its very first strip, 7/30/33 through to 12/1/1935. And, best of all, this is only the first volume of a promised complete collection, which will run through four volumes! Five full adventures are herein assembled – "Gungshi," "The Slave Girl," "The Sunken City," "Pirates," and "The Princess." Learn more about Roy Crane, Wash TUbbs and Captain Easy by reading this excellent article by R.C. Harvey.
retail price - $39.99 copacetic price - $35.00
Culture Corner
by Basil Wolverton
This 169-page, vertically formatted, full color hardcover volume is wacky and wonderful and Wolverton through and through. Format fiends and practicing artists will relish this chance to see over 100 examples of a master working in the relatively rare half-page format. Originally published in the pages of Whiz Comics (home of Captain Marvel) and several other Fawcett Comics titles, from 1944 through 1952, Culture Corner is a conceptual, idea-centered strip, that occupies a place in Wolverton's oeuvre that is analogous to that which "Hey, Look!" occupies in Kurtzman's. The challenge was to repeatedly present a humorous concept month after month in a specifically ascribed format. Culture Corner took modern manners as its taking off point and then gets going and gets goofy. And it's all here – and then some! Culture Corner not only collects the series in its entirety, but, offers up a truly amazing bonus feature of including the original pencil roughs for nearly every one of the published strips AND an incredible treasure trove of an additional 41 pencil roughs for strips that were rejected by the publisher (why? who knows! see if you can figure it out...). Plus an introduction by Basil Wolverton's son, Monte that lays out the history of the strip and helps to puts it all in context of Wolverton's career and comics history.
retail price - $22.99 copacetic price - $19.99
John Carter of Mars
by Jesse Marsh
One of the great masters of comic book art, Jesse Marsh is best remembered as the long-running artist on Dell's Tarzan comics (Marsh drew the first 153 issues, one of the longest unbroken runs in the history of comics). Here at Copacetic, while we do, of course, have a great and abiding respect for Marsh's work on Tarzan, it is his modest three-issue run on that other Edgar Rice Burroughs creation, John Carter of Mars, that has long been our favorite of his works. Marsh really shines here, with page after stunning page of fabulous work. He manages to combine a 'fifties SF sensibility with pop abstractions derived from modern art and his own classic comics language that he developed on Tarzan for a career high work that is magnetically attractive; you can get lost in the pages. This full color hardcover from Dark Horse contains good quality scans of every page of the original comic books, along with the front and back covers – and, thankfully, inside front and back covers as well. Our only criticism is Dark Horse's continual reliance on glossy coated stock. C'mon guys, wake up! These works were originally printed on newsprint. When you're printing scans of original comic book work, it needs to be printed on flat, uncoated, off-white stock. Dark Horse is clearly doing the work a disservice by printing the interior pages on glossy white stock. But this is a mere quibble next to the easy availability of this classic work that their edition has now made possible (In other words, "Thank you, Mike Richardson."). As Copacetic customers may or may not know, Marsh's work was a fixture in the household of los hermanos Hernandez when they were growing up, and its influence is quite visible in their work, especially that of Gilbert, whose line owes quite a bit to Marsh's (Gilbert's long focus landscapes and skyscapes are also very much indebted to Marsh's example), so it is quite fitting that the forward to this volume is by Mario Hernandez, the eldest, who would have likely been the one to have first brought these comics home and introduced them to his bros; and its inclusion more than makes up for the aesthetic damage of glossy stock. Here's hoping that this book is the success that it deserves to be, that it sells out and requires a second printing, and that the powers that be at Dark Horse wise up and select a more suitable paper stock for the second printing. This work is good enough that it would be worth buying again if they do!
retail price - $29.95 copacetic price - $26.95
Manga Kamishibai:
The Art of Japanese Paper Theater
by Eric P. Nash
introduction by Frederik L. Schodt
Paralleling the rise of comic strips in the US, Kamishibai – paper theater – originated during the early 1930s in Japan, and experienced its heyday during the subsequent 20 years. At its height, during the post war years, it entertained over five million children and adults daily! This lushly printed and designed hardcover volume presents over 300 pages of full color illustrations covering the entire history of the medium from its inception through its glory days to its inevitable decline and current status as a classical form still employed in educational settings. Manga Kamishibai opens a window on a forgotten world.
retail price - $35.00 copacetic price - $29.75
Archie: The Complete Daily Newspaper Comics, 1946-1948
by Bob Montana
Here's another fine volume in the Library of American Comics series from IDW. Our hats are off to its creative director, industry veteran, Dean Mullaney, and his crack team. Bob Montana was the Jack Kirby of the Archie Universe, creating the visual and situational template that has endured for nearly 70 years. His work on these strips is absolutely outstanding and it probably represents his career high as an artist; leading to the conclusion that he must have been pretty pumped about appearing in the newspapers. The strip is built from the ground up on the assumption that a significant number of the strip's readership would be unfamiliar with the comic book appearances of the freckled teen and his gang and so have the added value of providing a sort of "origin of Archie." The big surprise reading this sumptuous, oversize 300+ page horizontally formatted, hardcover volume is how good they are! These are really great comics, that pretty much do it all: in addition to the expected gags, teen antics and domestic humor, there are stretches wherein these classic Archie facets are integrated into Roy Crane inspired serial adventures. This volume is really worth celebrating in that – believe it or not – this is the very first time these strips have ever been collected, and so will be – finally – getting the notice they deserve. The level of artistry on display in these strips will go a long way towards solving the riddle of Archie's longevity: he got off to a great start (and, it is worth noting here, Bob Montana shared his studio during these years with the greatest of all Archie artists, Harry Lucey, who obviously was inspired by Montana's work).
retail price - $39.99 copacetic price - $35.00
Bringing Up Father
by George McManus
McManus is a Copacetic Favorite and one of the all time greats, the founder of the (co-opted by the Europeans) Ligne Claré (clear line, to us Yanks) school of art now most closely associated with Hergé. All hail the Library of American Comics series currently being published by IDW for not only bringing this classic strip to a new generation of readers, but for producing in the process what might very well be the best single collection of the work of George McManus ever released! This collection presents several distinct continuities – including what may be the single most famous, the cross country tour (that includes a stop in, you guessed it, Pittsburgh, PA) – all from the glory days of the strip: the late 1930s - early 1940s. Humor abounds in the domestic comedy plot lines that both prefigured and influenced the sit-com format that has been a staple of television programming from the days of I Love Lucy through to The Simpsons: all these shows have roots in Bringing Up Father. But the true joy of this strip is in the quality of the line. The comics heir to the high value placed on line by the fin de siclé Art Nouveau movement – as well as the Art Deco movement that came in its wake – McManus, along with – during the latter part of his career – his able assistant Zeke Zekley, crafted a drawing technique that provided all necessary visual in formation in the outline -- no messy cross-hatching, shading or chiaroscuro for these guys – no! – just a clear, precise line, thank you. McManus was a true comics original and hugely influential. The work of artists as diverse as Carl Barks and Joost Swarte, and many others in between, show the strong stamp of McManus's artistic influence. You owe it to yourself to at least take a look at the work of this master, and, with the fine choice of work, excellent reproduction, and copious historical material, this volume is the clear and obvious place to start.
retail price - $49.95 copacetic price - $44.44
Alec: "The Years Have Pants" (A Life-Sized Omnibus)
by Eddie Campbell
"The Years Have Pants" collects all seven previously published Alec books – The King Canute Crowd, Graffiti Kitchen, How to Be an Artist, Little Italy, The Dead Muse, The Dance of Lifey Death, and After the Snooter – and "a generous helping of rare and never-before-seen material, including an all-new 35-page book, titled (you guessed it), "The Years Have Pants." No less an authority than Tom Spurgeon, has stated, "There's no artist working in comics today whose body of work I admire more than Eddie Campbell's." And who is this Alec? For those of you who are unaware, the Alec series is autobiographical, with the title character serving as Eddie's alter ego through which he channels both his inner and outer life in a series of adventures, reflections and fantasies that fold back on themselves to graphically reveal a multi-faceted portrait of the artist. This is, needless to say, an solid value.
softcover edition retail price - $35.00 copacetic price - $29.75
hardcover edition retail price - $50.00 copacetic special price - $37.50
Meatcake
by Dame Darcy
This is the softcover edition of the long out-of-print, hard-to-find, and (now) super-pricey hardcover that collects 240 pages of the best of the first ten years of Meatcake comics by the one-and-only pop-art polymath and , Dame Darcy! If you ain't hep then you'll want to dive into this whoppin' 20-page preview of her pen-and-ink visions of gaunt and haunted beings, taunted by their inner sexual frustrations and lost chances.
retail price - $22.99 copacetic price - $19.99
Abandoned Cars
by Tim Lane
Here's another softcover edition of a previously released hardcover. Tim Lane's Abandoned Cars is a hardboiled, hard-drawn, hard-livin' look at the underbelly of America that deserves a look, and the new, attention grabbing cover for the softcover works hard to get you to do just that. We'll do our part by offering up this major league 16-page PDF preview, and referring you to our review of the hardcover. Get this for the tough guy in your life.
retail price - $18.99 copacetic price - $17.00
Halloween for Christmas:
Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s
edited by John Benson and Greg Sadowski
Just in time for Halloween, here's a trio of classic horror comics that provide a great window on the great thrill that comics once provided... and still can! First up we have Fantagraphics' Four Color Fear: 320 pages of fulsome full color comics, all scanned from the pre-code originals and printed on flat white paper (except for the cover reproductions, which are, appropriately, reproduced on bright white glossy stock to best mimic their original appearance). This is the horrific follow-up volume to last year's wild and woolly Supermen!, that presented a revealing display of the earliest superhero comic books that showed the form before its tropes and conventions were still in flux, before they fully gelled (and later hardened). Aficionados take note: this is not one to miss – in fact, we sold out of our initial shipment almost immediately. Not to worry: new copies are on the way! So, while you wait for our restock, take a moment and read the editor's introduction and check out the table of contents; and then... feast your eyes on this tumultuous 26-page preview that contains four complete stories!
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - sorry, this one is now sold out until after the holidays
The Horror! The Horror! – Comic Books the Government Didn't Want You to Read!
Selected, edited and with commentary by Jim Trombetta; with an Introduction by R.L. Stine
Next, we have the Abrams ComicArts entry. This cleverly named tome presents readers with a smorgasbord of brain searing graphics and more. The Horror! is a nicely put together 300+ page full color flexi-bound collection that comes complete with a running commentary by editor Trombetta to provide a "you are there" context. It is heavy on covers and single page examples and much lighter on actual stories than Four Color Fear, but the covers, pages and stories that are here are generally well selected, and taken together do provide an excellent survey of the period (sans EC, of course – except for a few covers; presumably because EC stories are already under separate reprint agreements). Perhaps the biggest surprise are the excellent stories by "artist unknown." Let's hope that some well-informed comics sleuths can deduce the correct creators. The reproduction here is nice as well: good quality, full color scans printed on flat white stock. And the icing on the cake is the bonus DVD slipped inside the back cover which contains the 30-minute TV show that originally aired on October 9, 1955, Confidential File, about the "evils" of comic books! Taken all together, it makes for a great introduction to the comics and cultural climate of the early 1950s in the US of A.
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $26.99
Dick Briefer's Frankenstein
by Dick Briefer
edited by Craig Yoe
Billed as the first volume in The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics!™, this 144 page, full color hardcover is by far the best book yet produced under the Yoe Books imprint, and is the third in our Halloween horror threesome. The ample selection of high quality scans straight from the original comic books takes readers from the 1940 debut of Briefer's Frankenstein in Prize Comics #7 through to the 1954 release of Frankenstein #31, near the end of the run. The book begins with a biographical overview of Briefer's life and career, replete with nice repros of original art, comic covers, ephemera and rarities. Great comics, sharp scans, crisp printing, engaging support material, nice package, reasonable price – it all comes together here. Let's hope Yoe can keep it up.
retail price - $21.99 copacetic price - $20.00
And, here's the ultimate comics stocking stuffer:
Tel-Tales #1
by Dan Zettwoch, based on a story by his dad, Don "Toots" Zettwoch
Dan Z has done it again! The mega-master of industrial art comics has given us a perfect blend of form and content in Tel-Tales. This pint-sized wonder, which is (more or less, depending on what you're viewing this on) reproduced at actual size on the right, tells the tale of the good ol' days of telephone call switching that involved actual human beings – as well as the "ancient & mysterious 8-Board" – that existed before the days of fully automated digital switching, not to mention cell phones, FOIP and Skype, which are putting the entire infrastructure of plain old telephone calling into the dumpster. And that's just where the Bell System punched cards that are used here as the cover were likely headed before rescued by the Zettwoch Comics Co. and put to such perfect use. Just take our word for it: THIS is a comic book.
retail price - $3.00 copacetic price - $3.00
Comics for Kids
Meanwhile
by Jason Shiga
Mathematically-minded, computer-program-writing, troubleshooting-oriented comics fans please take note: Here is a comic book for you. This is a comic that is very hard to accurately describe. It is a true one-of-a-kind work (so much so that it may be destined to remain so for all eternity) that is a take on the "choose your own adventure" genre that is much, much more. To give you a better idea, here's the entirety of the author's introductory note: "Meanwhile began as a series of seven increasingly complex flowcharts. Because of asymmetries in the branching, a special notation had to be invented for the final three charts. Once the outline of the story was structured, a computer algorithm was written to determine the most efficient method to transfer it to book form. However, the problem proved to be NP-complete. With the use of a V-opt heuristic algorithm running for 12 hours on an SGI machine, the solution was finally cracked in the spring of 2000. It was another six months before layouts were finished, again with the aide of homebrew computer algorithms. After a year of prep work, production began on the book, which was completed one year later." And that brings us to the fact that this work was originally released in a hand made edition with a tiny press run roughly seven years ago, and only now has it finally managed to make it out into the wider world courtesy of Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams. You owe it to yourself to check this one out!
retail price - $15.95 copacetic price - $15.00
The Little Prince
by Joann Sfar
adapted from the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Here's a risky artistic venture: messing with a beloved children's classic. However, THe Little Prince is over sixty years old now, and we have a suspicion that it is not as beloved by today's generation of parents as it once was, and, as a result, kids are in the dark about it's greatness. So, bringing it back to life in graphic novel form does have a purpose, and we can't think of anyone better suited for the task than Joann Sfar, whose delicate and nuanced line, while quite different from Saint-Exupéry's, is nonetheless well suited to representing the magical visions of childhood, as readers of his Sardine series already know. A very European and quite boyish boyhood is here, along with a fabulous, practically paradigmatic, fabrication of a father and son relationship that is a joy. Take a look at this when you get a chance. This is a great gift for someone.
retail price - $19.99 copacetic price - $17.77
The Unsinkable Walker Bean
by Aaron Renier; colored by Alec Longstreth
Here's an action packed, adventure-filled comics tale told in page after page of fabulous and highly engaging artwork. In other words: this one has it all and so it gets our vote for the original, kid-friendly graphic novel of 2010. Fans who have been wondering what Renier's been doing with himself since Spiral Bound's 2004 release now at last have their answer in The Unsinkable Walker Bean, an energetic and entertaining, 190-page, full color graphic novel that is quite the value. One can infer from the raves plastered on the back covers – by the likes of Brian "Hugo Cabret" Selznick ("Gorgeous... Your'e going to love it."), Lane "Stinky Cheese Man" Smith ("Makes me feel ten years old again... The guy's a bit of a mad genius") and Jeff "Bone" Smith ("So beautiful are the drawings, that I can smell the sea salt and feel the spray... Outrageous, and wonderful!") – that it appears that this book is aimed at young readers, but, clearly, as with the works of all the above quoted blurbsters, it is a work that can be enjoyed by comics readers of all ages. This is a magically well-drawn work (and, we can't help but add, it looks as though Renier has gained more than a passing familiarity with the comics of Dan Zettwoch; to which we say, "Hurrah!" Zettwoch being a long time Copacetic fave). Walker Bean contains page after page of fantastic art in the service of story telling and is sure to encourage a burgeoning of comics appreciation in many a reader. (Colored by Alec Longstreth)
retail price - $13.95 copacetic price - $12.75
Amulet, Book Three: The Cloud Searchers
by Kazoo Kibosh
The Amulet series has won a veritable legion of enthusiastic young readers here at Copacetic, and we're certain they will all be happy to hear that the third, 200 page, full color volume in this series has at last arrived – just in time to provide a welcome weekend reward after a week of scholarly striving. Flying monsters, robot pilots, cities in the sky, and more fills the fantastic parallel universe – one that comes complete with prophetic glances into our own – with adventure and thrills. The Amulet series is definitely reminiscent of Miyazaki's work, with The Cloud Searchers bringing to mind Castle in the Sky in particular, so we feel comfortable recommending this book to Miyazaki fans as well as fans of Jeff Smith's Bone who are looking around for something new to read. Anyone who has yet to experience Amulet, or is considering it as a gift, is encouraged to start at the beginning, with the first volume in the series, The Stonekeeper (which is, of course, readily available here at Copacetic, along with it's sequel, The Stonekeeper's Curse).
retail price - $10.99 copacetic price - $9.99
Bone: Tall Tales
by Jeff Smith with Tom Sniegoski
The eleventh volume in the immensely popular Bone series, Tall Tales collects previously published material along with an all-new framing sequence that weaves it all together, featuring Smiley, Bartleby, Ring, Bingo and Todd telling the "tall tales" that fill the collection. The largest portion of the book is a now-colored-by-Steve-Hanamaker representing of the out-of-print, B&W collection Stupid, Stupid Rat Tales, which features three adventures of Big Johnson Bone, that were written by Tom Sneigowski and drawn by Bone-creator, Smith. In addition there is a hard-to-find short story that originally appeared in Disney Adventures Magazine. And, for those readers that pay attention to these sort of things, technically, the story-telling framing sequence that weaves together the "Tall Tales" takes place after the conclusion of the Bone saga, while the stories that they tell take place before, making them prequels of a sort. This volume will set snugly on the shelf next to the previous ten volumes in the Bone saga, and is sure to be enjoyed by all its fans.
retail price - $10.99 copacetic price - $9.99
Copper
by Kazu Kibuishi
Kazu Kibuishi is the creator of the much acclaimed Amulet series as well as the editor for the equally acclaimed Flight comics anthology series. His work has a loyal following here among readers of all ages. The Flight anthology has a strong appeal to teen to young adult readers and Amulet has long been the natural go-to choice for fans of Jeff Smith's Bone looking for a follow-up reading experience, and is of late building a new base of readers all on its own. Now we have a new collection of his web comic, Copper, about a boy and his dog. This square format (9" x 9") full color collection of lively short tales leap off the page. There's definitely a (subdued, more reflective and less manic) Calvin and Hobbes flavor to the strip, and, like Calvin and Hobbes, Copper is a work that really can appeal to all ages. There's no need to take our word for it, however, as you can read it all online. The book contains a nifty bonus: a 10-page behind the scenes, step-by-step look at the creation, execution and production of the strip that will be of great interest to many an aspiring comics creator. Anyone interested in thoughtful, well crafted, kid-friendly comics should definitely be look into Copper.
retail price - $12.95 copacetic price - $11.75
Trickster: Native American Tales
edited by Matt Dembicki
This square, full color volume contains over two hundred pages of comics and is the first graphic anthology devoted to American Indian "trickster tales." Over twenty tales in all are adapted into comics form in this "inspired collaboration between native writers and accomplished artists" working to "bring the trickster back into popular culture." This book generated plenty of positive responses (read more at the book's blog, here) and immediately sold out its initial printing and we have only now been able to get outr hands on it. Tales of raccoons and ravens, coyotes and crayfish, wolves, owls, minks and more are given form by a host of comics talents including Pittsburgh's own Pat Lewis. Anyone looking to experience the original American culture in comics form need look no further, Trickster delivers.
retail price - $22.95 copacetic price - $20.00
Giant-Size Little Lulu, Volume 1
by John Stanley
This hefty 650+ page book brings back into print the first three volumes of Dark Horse's collected Little Lulu in one big book. Here we have the entirety of the Dell Four Color, Little Lulu one-shots along with the first five issues of the stand alone title. If you (or anyone you know) missed out the first time around, now's your chance to get started with one of the most lauded kids comic book series around. (NOTE: Volume 2 is now available as well)
retail price - $24.99 copacetic price - $22.22
Adventures in Cartooning: Activity Book
by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, Alexis Frederick-Frost
And here's the companion book tolast year's super-fabulous Adventures in Cartooning (see immediately below). This time around the kids can jump right in and start making their own cmoics, right in the book! Help nurture the next generation of comics creators with this fun volume. Produced under the aegis of The Center for Cartoon Studies, it is the creation of the Center's director, James Sturm, and two of his students. It very simply provides the basic building blocks of comics while embodying core CCS principles of story-telling. It is primarily geared to encourage and empower youngsters to create comics of their own and is priced to encourage parents and relatives to buy it for them (or even for them to buy it themselves).
retail price - $7.99 copacetic price - $7.17
Adventures in Cartooning: How to Turn Your Doodles Into Comics
by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, Alexis Frederick-Frost
We couldn't help but list this again, as for any budding cartoonist who doesn't already have it, this, together with the preceding, make's for a near perfect gift. This is a book to help nurture the next generation of Art Spiegelmans and Lynda Barrys. This volume was produced under the aegis of The Center for Cartoon Studies. It is the creation of the Center's director, James Sturm, and two of his students. It very simply provides the basic building blocks of comics while embodying core CCS principles of story-telling. It is primarily geared to encourage and empower youngsters to create comics of their own and is priced to encourage parents and relatives to buy it for them (or even for them to buy it themselves). There's a swell 17 page excerpt on the web, here. Check it out!
retail price - $12.95 copacetic price - $11.75
Well, these are really for kids of ALL ages...
Thor: Tales of Asgard
by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee
Well, as much as we hate to admit it, every once in a while Marvel Comics gets it right, and this is one of those times. This full color hardcover volume presents 260 pages of Kirby and Lee greatness from the pages of Journey Into Mystery and Thor, all taken from the magic era of their original runs in the early and mid-1960s. Add to that a fairly swell 40+ page bonus section and wild six-page foldout of all six covers of the recent mini-series that forms an impressively dramatic portrait of the major players in the Nordic mythos that is the basis for the stories contained herein, and you've got a pretty darn decent entertainment value. Yes, the stories have been recolored, and so are not 100% true to the spirit of the original, and while we'd be lying if we said this didn't bother us, we will give credit where credit is due and say that, Matt Milla, the colorist assigned the job, chose a suitably muted pallete of colors that helps to counterbalance the glaring brightness of the glossy, clay-coated paperstock that the powers that be at Marvel irritatingly continue to insist on for their archival productions, and so allows – for the most part – the strength and nobility of Kirby's compositions to come through. These are stories that old-timers will be certain to enjoy revisiting and newcomers should find quite worth their while. Anyone interested in advancing their comics skills will find plenty to glean from these (mostly) five-pages tales, especially where it concerns efficient storytelling – Kirby and Lee can cram a lot of both plot and action into five pages, and usually manage to impart a little lesson along the way. Action! Drama! Thrills! Chills! Romance! Adventure! They're all here in the mighty Marvel manner. (more than) 'Nuff said!
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $26.99
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Fantastic Firsts
by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby and the rest of the Marvel Bullpen
It's back! We just located a new source for this out of print classic. This terrific volume presents the origin and first appearance of every -- yes, that's right, EVERY -- superhero character and team that headlined their own title in the formative years of Marvel, the 1960s. Here's the list: The Fantastic Four, Ant-Man, The Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, Sub-Mariner, Iron Man, Captain America, The Avengers, The X-Men, Daredevil, Sgt. Fury and his Howlin' Commandos, Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and The Silver Surfer (although the actual first appearance of the Surfer in Fantastic Four #48 is not included; the sole exeption to the above claim of all-encompassing completeness). In addition, the publishers have tacked on at the end (presumably to boost sales) the first issue of the 2001 series, Wolverine: Origin. Despite its obviously poor fit, many readers will doubtless still enjoy it, in any case, and it doesn't detract one iota from the magic that precedes it. 424 full color pages!
retail price- $29.95 copacetic price - $25.00
Web customers may now purchase these items – and more – directly, from our online gift catalogue at Copacetic 2.0, our new 24/7 eCommerce site.
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BOOKS
Just Kids
by Patti Smith
OK, true believers, THIS IS IT! Just Kids is the most poetic evocation of the spirit of rock 'n' roll rebellion that we are likely ever to have. The story told here, of Patti and Robert, is a modern American version of the classic tragedy of the doomed lovers (think Troilus and Cressida, Pelléas and Mélisande, Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde – you get the idea). The intensity and historical importance (well, at least to the history of rock 'n' roll and the nexus at which it connects to art, at any rate) of the events related in the story are at times overwhelming. Whereas throughout Western history, the tragic paradigm has been for the tragedy to occur within the realm of history and to be later redeemed within the realm of art, here in Just Kids, Patti Smith spins the tale of how her and Robert Mapplethorpe have redeemed their own personal tragedies in the present through their own work, thus breaking on through to the other side by being both actors on history's stage and creating artists themselves. It's the American way. While, surely, they aren't the only couple to have done so, Just Kids is the purest and strongest literary embodiment by an actual living participant in such a story that we have come across. Do someone a favor and give them this. Patti Smith has a poet's eye, a poet's ear, a poet's tongue and a poet's pen, all animated by a rock 'n' roll soul.
retail price - $16.00 copacetic price - $14.44
Life
by Keith Richards
Well, doubtless eveyone already knows that this one is out; just thought we'd let you know it's here. Clearly, every Copacetic Customer likely to know someone who will have Life on their Christmas list. Inevitably, someone somewhere is going to end up with ten copies...
retail price - $29.99 copacetic price - $25.00
Rat Girl
by Kristin Hersh
And, if that's not enough rock 'n' roll life for you, then get ready for Kristin Hersh's Rat Girl: a rock 'n' roll childhood that is haunting and affecting on many levels, as these many reviews attest: with hidden noise, Huffington Post (w/interview), Slate. While nowhere near as well known as Richards or Smith, Hersh's talent and output – solo, as well as and especially with her original ensemble, The Throwing Muses, is of surpassing intensity. Rat Girl, while very different from Just Kids, also covers the years leading right up to her entering the professional stage of her rock 'n' roll life. Bonus fact: cover by none other than Gilbert Hernandez!
retail price - $15.00 copacetic price - $13.75
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2010
edited by Dave Eggers (and the kids at 826Valencia and 826Michigan)
introduction by David Sedaris
And, while we're at it, we should bring to your attnetion the fact that, as always, we feel comfortable in recommending this year's installment of Best American Nonrequired Reading to Copacetic customers everywhere. There's something for everyone here, and quite a lot for most, from Lilli Carré's full color career high (so far), "The Carnival," to Sherman Alexie's "War Dances," to the relentless reportage of George Saunders in "Tent City, U.S.A.," and much more – including over a dozen Best American lists, among which we will bring your attention to "Fast-Food Related Crimes" and "Gun Magazine Headlines." And, just for the record, we are also stocking The Best American Short Stories 2010, edited by Richard RUsso and The Best American Essays 2010, edited by Christopher Hitchens, all at the same price point.
retail price - $14.95 copacetic price - $13.75
Freedom
by Jonathan Franzen
Presumably, anyone interested already knows all about Franzen's new novel, given that it has been the recipient of a stratospheric level media coverage. We just thought we'd let you know that it's available at Copacetic for decent price. The big problem with this one as a gift is the risk that the giftee already has it.
retail price - $28.00 copacetic price - $22.22
Dangerous Laughter
by Steven Millhauser
OK, all you cheapskates, we know you're near to flat broke, so we decided to help out by offering the latest Millhauser collection for a bargain price. Do someone a favor and get them these 13 new tales by the master, and still have enough left over for a cup of coffee.
retail price - $14.95 copacetic special price - $4.95
and speaking of more for less...
Here's a list of our under five dollar fiction -- ALL NEW!
and then there's this:
Dover Thrift Editions (in store only)
THE choice for anyone wanting to give the gift of classical learning for less. We may be the last place in Pittsburgh where you can get these budget beacons of culture. From Buddha and Confucius to Plato and Aristotle; from St. Augustine and St. John of the Crtoss to Emerson and Thoreau; from Austen and Dickens to Melville and Hawthorne; from Shakespeare to Blake to T.S. Eliot and so much more – all priced from as little as $1.00 (for, say, Hamlet) to, at most, $5.00 (for, say, Moby Dick). Check out our (sadly, not up to date*) list, HERE, to get an idea of what you can choose from. *(some are gone, but new, unlisted titles more than make up for the deletions)
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Web customers may now purchase these items – and more – directly, from our online gift catalogue at Copacetic 2.0, our new 24/7 eCommerce site.
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If you ask us for the CD of the year, we'd say:
Proper Box 93: Louis Armstrong - King Louis
99 Tracks of absolute greatness. This is the music that defines the twentieth century, that once and for all distinguished the unique and original culture of The New World from that of its Old World forebears. Louis Armstrong changed the face of music and the music he created changed history. His career is nothing short of miraculous. No self-respecting American can be ignorant of the music contained on this set: it's the real declaration of independence. Finally, this music gets the Proper Box treatment: Five hours of music on four discs, each enclosed in their own LP-style jacket, accompanied by an informative 40-page illustrated booklet, all packed in a stylish, compact box for the copacetic price of only $29.75!
You really should know all your options before making up your mind, however, so be sure to check out the rest of the Proper Boxes, where you'll find the best music, in the best package, at the best price. Over 140 amazing boxes to choose from!
Web customers may now purchase these items – and more – directly, from our online gift catalogue at Copacetic 2.0, our new 24/7 eCommerce site.
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CINEMA - DVD
By Brakhage, Volume 2
Here we have it: a whopping seven and a half hours of work by the undisputed master of independent American experimental cinema, selected by his widow, Marilyn Brakhage, and expertly transferred to digital media by the Criterion Collection Crew. While most movie-goers have never even heard of him, it's hard to over-estimate Brakhage's impact on the history of film. Beginning in the 1950s, he opened up a whole new way of thinking about and working with film. It could be said (and so, we will) that what Einstein was to Newton in the realm of physics, Brakhage was to Eisenstein in the realm of film. Learn quite a bit about what's on this 3-disc set by reading this in-depth essay by Ms. Brakhage.
retail price - $39.98 copacetic price - $34.95
My New New York Diary: A Film Book
by Julie Doucet and Michel Gondry
And here's another new one from PictureBox. In 2008, Gondry contacted Doucet with a film proposal. Involving a unique hybrid of still, unanimated drawings, and live action filming, Gondry and Doucet worked together to try to make something new, and they have: this is an equally unique film-book (or, book-film?). An 80-page hardcover complete with DVD of the entire film that resulted from Doucet and Gondry's collaboration, which is small, personal film that is a unique hybrid of drawing, animation and live-action that runs about 20 minutes.
retail price - $24.95 copacetic price - $22.22
gifts for less: our massive SALE selection of classic DVDs (in store only)
We have ranged far and wide over the past year to bring our customers the biggest and best selection of bargain priced DVDs in the history of the store: we currently have in stock over 150 different movies that are all priced at $7.77@ or 3/$17.77 (which works out to less than $5.86@). There are TONS of classics here! CHECK OUT THIS (far from complete) LIST. ALL these great films – and more – are now on sale (in, need we add, limited quantities) for the amazing copacetic price of $7.77@ or 3/$17.77!
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Web customers may now purchase these items – and more – directly, from our online gift catalogue at Copacetic 2.0, our new 24/7 eCommerce site.
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Crazy Deals
Kirby
by Mark Evanier
Here it is, the official authorized biography of the King! Yes, of course this is a lavishly illustrated oversize hardcover edition. It's author, Mark Evanier was the man closest to Kirby during the last two decades of his life and so was in a position to learn of many personal anecdotes that no other chronicler of Kirby's life would have had access to. Evanier's acccount of Kirby's life is not pretending to be a thorough, in-depth accounting of Kirby's life and art, full of penetrating analysis – we'll have to wait a bit longer for that one – but what we are given here of the story of Jack's life is a true wonder, and the reader is taken on a whirlwind tour. And, crucially, from a production and presentation standpoint, the creators of this volume have done an excellent job. The quality of the reproductions is top notch and the've made all the right printing decisions -- flat colors on flat, bright, low-reflective, heavyweight white stock. The book is filled with page after amazing page of full size reproductions of original art, as well as luscious reproductions of the comics themselves. This book is a real pleasure to go through. When all is said and done, this must be considered a book that no self-respecting comics fan can be without. And now, at this crazy deal price, no one needs to be.
retail price - $40.00 copacetic crazy deal price - $18.88
The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics
by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle
This massive hardcover volume is now the definitve account of the life and work of the one and only Harvey Kurtzman, the man who brought the world Mad and so much mnore. Written by Kurtzman's friend and one-time publisher, Denis Kitchen, who also currently represents the Kurtzman estate. Kitchen is an accomplished cartoonist in his own right, one who was influenced by Kurtzman, and who was active during the glory days of Underground comix, and so is more fully capable of appreciating Kurtzman's achievement than your average biographer. This book has it all: miraculously preserved childhood drawings, early comics and illustration work, Kurtzman's glory days in comics, the creation of Mad, Humbug, Trump, and Help! followed by Little Annie Fannie and much, much more, including plenty of rarities that will astound and delight Kurtzman fans. And now available for an amazing price! What's not to like?
retail price - $40.00 copacetic crazy deal price - $22.22
While we certainly had some sympathy for those who felt that this amazing volume was simply too dear, there's no longer any excuse not to own this stunning two-volume box set. The definitive career-spanning collection of the one and only Gary Panter is now available for a price so low that the mind simply boggles. Now's your chance to experience the first and foremost fomenter of the fine-art/comics nexus in all his glory in this massive, oversized, two-volume hardcover for less than the price of a fistful of new comics. This book is so well designed that it is practically a work of art in itself! And, needless to say, as a gift, this will impress the pants off just about anyone.Gary Panter (The Book)
Foreword by Mike Kelley. Text by Robert Storr, Doug Harvey, Edwin Pouncey,
Richard Gehr, Dan Nadel, Karrie Jacobs, Byron Coley
retail price - $95.00 copacetic crazy deal price - $27.50
Rolling Stone Cover to Cover: The First 40 Years
official hype: "Easy to use and searchable digital archive with every issue, every page (even the ads!) of Rolling Stone from the last 40 years on 4 DVD-ROMs: Over 1,000 complete printable issues, cover to cover – that’s over 98,000 scanned pages, completely indexed and searchable. This edition includes the powerful Bondi Reader and search engine (Mac or PC). Find and read any award winning cover story, interview, photo or review in seconds. The browse-by-cover feature lets you visually locate any issue by its cover – simply click the cover and the issue opens to read. Custom reading lists let you organize the collection any way you want. PLUS, a photo-filled, 208–page page companion coffee table book providing a vivid behind-the-scenes look at the magazines history, from birth to today. All packed in an attractive slipcase." we say: This is a serious document of an era and its aftermath that spans at least two generations. The search function allows all readers the ability to focus on what they want to when they want to, but it's also possible just to read the issues as they appeared. While it is certainly true that Rolling Stone grew progessively commercial as it aged, it started out strong, and while it surely printed a lot of fluff it also showcased quite a bit of worthwhile writing by the likes of Hunter S. Thompson and many others. And now we have this massive archive for sale at an amazing 70% off it's original price. Think of it, over 1,000 issues of Rolling Stone for less than you'd pay for 10 issues on the newstand; in other words, 100 issues for less than the price of 1!!!
retail price - $125.00 copacetic crazy deal price - $35.00
The Giant 600 Cartoon Collection Box Set
Here's one for on your list whom you feel is in need of some serious downtime: six hundred cartoons from back in the day (the 1930s through the 1960s) on 12 discs. At a nickel a cartoon how can you go wrong? We've put together a page for your perusal which contains the complete listing, here.
copacetic crazy deal price - $24.95
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Can't make up your mind? Afraid they might already have it? Not to worry, we offer a full complement of gift certificates: currently available in $10, $20, $25, $50 & $100 denominations.
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And, yes, we do third-party shipments (i.e. we will ship direct to a recipient at a different address from the purchaser), and we will gift wrap for a nominal charge (it's free for in-store purchases).
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Web customers may now purchase these items – and more – directly, from our online gift catalogue at Copacetic 2.0, our new 24/7 eCommerce site (payments through PayPal, now with no membership required – any credit card will do).
Pittsburgh customers can choose between shopping at our new and improved Copacetic HQ in Polish Hill, and our downtown location, Copacetic@TheToonSeum, located at 945 Liberty Avenue in the cultural district (Please note, however, that the standard Copacetic discounts do NOT apply at this location, as the proceeds serve to benefit The Toonseum*, and that this location is limited to stocking only items from the comics and cartoon categories).
*BUT, should you decide to take the plunge and become a member of The Toonseum, then you will be eligible to receive a whoppin' 15% off on all your purchases from Copacetic @ The ToonSeum, in addition to receiving a host of other great benefits!
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Tried and true gift ideas may be found at:
Copacetic Gifts
If you're looking for a one-of-a-kind classic collectible comic book, may we suggest perusing:Many bargain priced books may be found at:
To learn more about some Copacetic favorites check out:
Copacetic Select
Here's the latest:
And of course there's all the rest of the Copacetic Comics Company offerings to choose from:And, finally: Can't find what you're looking for anywhere on the site, but aren't ready to give up? Send an email listing the item or items you're looking for, or any other question you may have, to: query@copacetic.biz
Also, if you already have certain items and/or creators in mind and you want to see if we have it and/or what we have, just enter the appropriate info into Copacetic Search and go from there.
prices and availability current as of 14 December 2010
