Robert Crumb first began drawing record covers in 1968 when Janis Joplin asked him to provide a cover for her album Cheap Thrills. It was an invitation that the budding artist couldn't resist, especially since he had been fascinated with record covers since he was a teenager. This early collaboration proved so successful that Crumb went on to draw hundreds of record covers for both new artists and forgotten masters. So remarkable were Crumb's artistic interpretations of these old 78 rpm singles that the art itself proved influential in their rediscovery in the 1960s and 1970s. Including such classics as Truckin' My Blues Away, Harmonica Blues and Please Warm My Weiner, Crumb's opus also features more recent covers done for CDs. The Complete Record Cover Collection is a must-have for any lover of graphics and American music.

Author Biography: Included are R. Crumb's designs for Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, James Brown, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Woody Guthrie, Frank Zappa, Artie Shaw and many other artists. Author website: www.crumbproducts.com                                            

With the debut of 1961's FANTASTIC FOUR #1, Marvel Comics reinvented the super-hero genre - and the hits just kept on coming! Compiled in one titanic tome: the famous first issues of dozens of your favorite super heroes and super-hero teams - including the Hulk, Dr. Strange, Nick Fury, Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man, Daredevil, the X-Men, the Avengers and the Defenders! And witness the unlikely solo breakouts of the Human Torch, Red Wolf, Dr. Doom, the Silver Surfer, the Black Widow and more! Collecting RAWHIDE KID (1955) #17; material from AMAZING ADVENTURES (1961) #1; FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) #1; material from TALES TO ASTONISH (1959) #27, #51 and #70; INCREDIBLE HULK (1962) #1; material from AMAZING FANTASY #15; material from JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #83; material from STRANGE TALES (1951) #101, #110 and #135; TWO-GUN KID #60; material from TALES OF SUSPENSE (1959) #39, #49 and #59; SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS #1; AVENGERS (1963) #1; X-MEN (1963) #1; DAREDEVIL (1964) #1; GHOST RIDER (1967) #1; MARVEL SUPER-HEROES (1967) #12 and #19-20, CAPTAIN SAVAGE #1; and material from SILVER SURFER (1968) #1.                                  

Since Kate Beaton appeared on the comics scene in 2007 her cartoons have become fan favourites and gathered an enormous following, appearing in the "New Yorker", "Harper" and "The LA Times", to name but a few. Her website, "Hark! A Vagrant", receives an average of 1.2 million hits a month, 500 thousand of them unique. Why? Because she's not just making silly jokes. She's making jokes about everything we learned in school, and more. Praised for their expression, intelligence and comic timing, her cartoons are best known for their wonderfully light touch on historical and literary topics. The jokes are a knowing look at history through a very modern perspective, written for every reader, and are a crusade against anyone with the idea that history is boring. It's pretty hard to argue with that when you're laughing your head off at a comic about Thucydides. They also cover whatever's on her mind that week - be it the perils of city living or the pop-cultural infiltration of "Sex and the City", featuring an array of characters, from a mischievous pony, to reinvented superheroes, to a surly teen duo who could be the anti-Hardy-Boys. Perceptive, sharp and wonderfully irreverent, "Hark! A Vagrant" is as informative as it is hilarious, and a comic collection to treasure.

Author Biography: Kate Beaton was born in Nova Scotia, took a history degree in New Brunswick, paid it off in Alberta, worked in a museum in British Columbia, then came to Ontario for a while to draw pictures, then Halifax, and now New York. Maybe the moon next time, who knows.

                                      

Who could have known that a strip launched by cartoonist Charles M Schulz on 2nd October 1950 in seven US newspapers would impact the world for decades to come. With philosophical humour, subtle social commentary, quotable wisdom and irresistible charm, Peanuts grew to become not just the best-known, most-loved comic strip ever created, but a true global phenomenon. 60 years on, Peanuts now appears in over 2,200 newspapers, on iTunes, through wireless and TV channels in 75 countries and in 25 languages around the world, with hundreds of consumer products available for purchase in virtually all retail channels.

Updated edition of this complete A-Z of Marvel characters is created in full collaboration with Marvel Comics. Are you a comic-book fan, obsessed by superheroes? This unique A-Z of more than 1,000 classic characters created by comic giant Marvel will satisfy any super-thirst for knowledge. Get closer to Spider-Man, the Avengers, Hulk, Wolverine, the X-Men and more...all your favourite superheroes and villains are here, as well as some weird and wonderful one-offs. Knock-out double-page features celebrate some of the biggest Marvel stars with intimate details on their powers, titanic clashes and action-packed careers. Jam packed with things you never knew, as well as original, Marvel comic-book art - the power and excitement of more than 60 years of comic-book history explodes off every page.