Mark Squirek

Now more than ever the nation needs an alien it can respect. Not the cute ET-type of alien, either. This one should be wearing cargo pants, smoking a cigarette, and cooking hot dogs on a BBQ.

“If you know an 18 year old or an 80 year old who is in love with the creation of art, there is no better book for them to read . . .”

The appeal of The Flash TV show on the CW network transcends age groups in a way that few television shows ever really do any more.

In the opening pages of March: Book Three, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama has just ended its Sunday school lessons when a bomb explodes.

For Green Arrow: A Celebration of 75 Years, publisher DC Comics has dug through their massive vaults to find the perfect summation of the life of Oliver Queen.

The hat is sharp, built of perfect angles and straight lines. It sits atop his head in flawless balance to the mathematical precision of the angles on his face.

Even a partial list of newspaper strips represented by King Features Syndicate over the years is mind blowing. Almost every title on this list is a household name!

It wasn’t just the wild laughs, hilarious parodies, and complete lack of respect for almost anything it wrote about that pushed MAD into the spotlight.

For its original voyage, The USS Enterprise was deployed on a five-year mission that fell slightly short of its initial goal.

“The art perfectly matches the character, and the writing perfectly matches the art.”

The ideas that fell out of Stan Lee’s head seem to have come to RULE THE WORLD!

Today it is acceptable for a comic book hero to unravel, disappear, die, be reborn and on occasion, even be reincarnated in a different form, costume, or body.

With a mixture of the violence that Dashiell Hammett brought to Red Harvest, the wild characters that filled the stories of Damon Runyon and the humanity at the center of O.

“a wealth of comic art and undeniable fun.”

No one at a Dead concert is dancing to “Eyes of the World” and hearing the same thing.

Anyone who can figure love out is a genius.

“perfect for anyone who loves film, Turner Classic Movies, PBS, or show business.”

“the work of a professional at the top of his game.”

“pure American art.”

“the best of European storytelling . . .”

“There is tremendous beauty found in the obscure, forgotten, and lost corners of an artist’s attic. This collection is a peek into Ditko’s attic.”

“This wonderfully designed work is a tribute to the creative mind of artist Salvador Dalí.”

“Superman: The Golden Age Sundays 1946–1949 is the sound of America exhaling after facing nothing but stress for a long,

“This is over 200 Sunday pages of glorious art and words by Charles Schulz, covering an early, key period in what made Peanuts the best ever.”

“. . . richly entertaining volume.”

“A volume of prayer, meditation, worship and dance, Lit Up Inside: Selected Lyrics by Van Morrison features the best of a man driven by memory, th

“Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Daily Cartoons (1929–1930) is part Barnum, part Cosmos. . . .

“This is a Batman free of cynicism and irony. It is pulp adventure at its best. It is art that influenced the entire art world, advertising, and TV.

“What is in fact cool runs the gamut from the near ancient to what seems to be almost ten minutes ago. . . .

“This new collection form Dark Horse Publishing is the perfect book for a nine-year-old boy or girl who has just fallen in love with dinosaurs.

“This is a great collection in the same way that Frank King and Dick Moore’s work on Gasoline Alley in the early sixties was beautiful.

“A crawl through the wreckage of modern society and life, Serial Artist fascinates, repels, and moves the reader with each panel.”

“Doc Savage: Phantom Lagoon is the perfect mixture of adventure and escapist fantasy matched against unbelievable action while surprising twists keep us turning ev

“Deeply discomforting, The Tale of Brin and Bent and Minno Marylebone mixes evil with redemption and forgiveness on a landscape of terror, which makes the combination of poetry, my

“Cooke’s feel for the character and action matches the best seen in the world of graphic novels.”

“Fantagraphics’ series is a real find for even the most casual fan.”

“This is an archeological dig into the American mindset.”

No matter what country you were in, the moment that Donald Duck appeared on screen audiences either burst into laughter or applause.

The cover shows the narrators jumping feet first (and wearing big, broad smiles as they do) into a big machine that seems to be tracking a neverending ribbon with the general titles of branches of

“. . . a great way for a novice reader to discover the work of H. P. Lovecraft.”

What an exciting way to rediscover one of the most imaginative and funny comics characters.

“. . . your eyes [will] dance across the page.”

There is a hypnotic beauty to be found in this new adaptation of some of Edgar Allan Poe’s most imaginative works.

Like a perfect mash-up of pop, classical and trance music that keeps dancers going for hours, X-O Manowar combines various comic, adventure, and sci-fi concepts, in the process creating so

Originally written in 1985 as a screenplay, Fashion Beast by writer Alan Moore updates the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast as an eighties drama centered in the world of fa

“. . . a brilliant example of how the format can inspire and educate.”

It is impossible to find fault with a book featuring:

* Squishy, leathery aliens extending their wild tentacles toward cowering, voluptuous women,

“. . . wonderfully scary stories . . . told with such beauty and wit you regret when they end.”

“A masterful study of the painful reality of life . . .”

“Mr. Mullin is one of the best creators that comic art has ever produced.”

“. . . a mythic tale that transcends traditional boundaries.”

“. . . the best of an American art form . . .”

“. . . a delight for all, capturing the best of comics, film, and modern media in one four-color classic.”

“. . . opens up the world of heroes to everyone . . .”

“A timeless classic from the pages of period long gone, . . . pure, classic art with a touch of vaudeville and slapstick.”

“Mr. Barks distills pure comedy down to its simplest form.”

“. . . a volume of touching sincerity . . .”

“Genius Illustrated is a high-water mark in the field of comic artist biography.”

“No one is sure Who Put the Bomp, but Kim Fowley may have walked it to the door on its way into history.”

“Li’l Abner [was] a joyful bumpkin who lived in a world that both reflected and refracted what America was like . . .”

“Relish is as warm as Lucy Knisley’s beloved homemade chocolate ship cookies.”

“What a gripping and entertaining trip.”

For a team known mostly for incredible violence, reckless abandon, and general stupidity, the stories reprinted in this hardcover collection are can only be described in one word: charming

“Mr. Weiner connects all the dots in this amazing evolution of a true art form—an evolution driven as much by artists and writers as by their readers.”

“Killing Geronimo is the best a graphic novel gets.”

There are questions inherent to the world of comics easily explained and often, thanks to the inventiveness of writers such as John Byrne, Jack Kirby, John Broome, and Steve Ditko, quite logical in

“. . . thrilling . . . the intimate look into the sheer joy in Tanino Liberatore’s art.”

“It isn’t easy to write a character with 80 years of continuity while simultaneously pleasing old fans and drawing in new ones, but Will Murray does it.”

“In our hearts and minds, childhood is eternal. And so is Skippy.”

“Billionaires & Ballot Bandits is impartial—the corruption walks both sides of the aisle, and Greg Palast makes no effort to hide this.”

“Rick Geary is one of our best and most consistent graphic novelists. Lovers’ Lane is further proof.”

“. . . moving storytelling of the highest order.”

“Bring ’em Back Dead is the perfect introduction to both a forgotten hero and a great writer.”