The kids' comic classic, designed by Seth The ghoulish capers of everyone's favorite monster continue with the third volume of the acclaimed series. Melvin lands his first babysitting job only to discover he has his hands full, literally–the "baby" in this case is a giant monster, almost the size of a room. When Melvin meets his friend for a friendly game of marbles, an older monster-woman passing by is offended by the scene, as everybody in Monsterville knows that monsters should always fight when they're together. Finally, she is content only after forcing the two monsters into a scrap. Melvin also attempts to be the first kid in Monsterville to attend school in more than six hundred years, but he is thwarted each time by Miss McGargoyle, his would-be teacher. He is threatened with boulders, giant boomerangs, and even long-range missiles, but nothing can stop Melvin from wanting to go to school every day. Melvin Monster illustrates just how timeless the comics of John Stanley are.

John Stanley is celebrated as one of the great children's comics writers for his work on the Little Lulu series. In fact, the Lulu work is a small part of his output, he had drawn and continued to write many other comics — notably his work on the 1960s teen comics from Dell (Thirteen Going on Eighteen, Dunc and Loo, and Kookie) and his monster comedy strip Melvin Monster. The three-volume Melvin Monster collection is pivotal to the John Stanley Library, featuring all nine issues of the oddball monster boy who just wants to be good, go to school, and do as he's told. Designed to fit nicely with our current reprinting of Tove Jansson's Moomin series, these comics are great reading for children or comics history-minded adults. Stanley's reputation as a great storyteller and visual comedian is richly deserved — few golden- or silver-age comics stand the test of time the way these comics do.

An introduction to six-year-old Melvin Bubble as presented by his family, friends, and others.

Accountant turned professional monster hunter, Owen Zastava Pitt, managed to stop the nefarious Old Ones invasion plans last year, but as a result made an enemy out of one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Now an evil death cult known as the Church of the Temporary Mortal Condition wants to capture Owen in order to gain the favor of the great Old Ones. The Condition is led by a fanatical necromancer known as the Shadow Man. The government wants to capture the Shadow Man and has assigned the enigmatic Agent Franks to be Owens full time bodyguard, which is a polite way of saying that Owen is monster bait. With supernatural assassins targeting his family, a spy in their midst, and horrific beasties lurking around every corner, Owen and the staff of Monster Hunter International dont need to go hunting, because this time the monsters are hunting them. Fortunately, this bait is armed and very dangerous... At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). Lexile Score: 700

This is a deluxe, full-color, coffee table book biography; the first of one of America’s greatest storytellers. It's filled with beautifully reproduced artwork from the comic books Little Lulu, and his creations Melvin Monster and Thirteen(Going on Eighteen); rare drawings and cartoons; and never-before-seen photographs. Bill Schelly tells Stanley’s life story through interviews with his family, friends, and colleagues: his childhood in Harlem and the Bronx, life with his strict Irish Catholic mother, his education at Parsons, his first job as an animator at Max Fleischer Studios, and his years working as a commercial artist, before finding his true métier in comic books during World War II (while battling clinical depression and alcoholism).

The kids' comic classic, designed by Seth The ghoulish capers of everyone's favorite monster continue with the third volume of the acclaimed series. Melvin lands his first babysitting job only to discover he has his hands full, literally–the "baby" in this case is a giant monster, almost the size of a room. When Melvin meets his friend for a friendly game of marbles, an older monster-woman passing by is offended by the scene, as everybody in Monsterville knows that monsters should always fight when they're together. Finally, she is content only after forcing the two monsters into a scrap. Melvin also attempts to be the first kid in Monsterville to attend school in more than six hundred years, but he is thwarted each time by Miss McGargoyle, his would-be teacher. He is threatened with boulders, giant boomerangs, and even long-range missiles, but nothing can stop Melvin from wanting to go to school every day. Melvin Monster illustrates just how timeless the comics of John Stanley are.

An immediate perennial, documenting the critical rise of the graphic novel. Conventional wisdom states that cartooning and graphic novels exist in a golden age of creativity, popularity, and critical acceptance. But why? Today, the signal is stronger than ever, but so is the noise. New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Bookforum critic Ben Schwartz assembles the greatest lineup of comics critics the world has yet seen to testify on behalf of this increasingly vital medium. The Best American Comics Writing is the first attempt to collate the best criticism to date of the graphic novel boom in a way that contextualizes and codifies one of the most important literary movements of the last 60 years. This collection begins in 2000, the game changing year that Pantheon released the graphic novels Jimmy Corrigan and David Boring. Originally serialized as “alternative” comics, they went on to confirm the critical and commercial viability of graphic literature. Via its various authors, this collection functions as a valuable readers’ guide for fans, academics, and librarians, tracing the current comics renaissance from its beginnings and creative growth to the cutting edge of today’s artists. This volume includes Daniel Clowes (Ghost World) in conversation with novelist Jonathan Lethem (Fortress of Solitude), Chris Ware, Jonathan Franzen (The Corrections), John Hodgman (The Daily Show, The Areas of My Expertise, The New York Times Book Review), David Hajdu (The 10-Cent Plague), Douglas Wolk (Publishers Weekly, author of the Eisner award-winning Reading Comics), Frank Miller (Sin City and The Spirit film director) in conversation with Will Eisner (The Spirit’s creator), Gerard Jones’ (Men of Tomorrow), Brian Doherty (author Radicals of Capitalism, This is Burning Man) and critics Ken Parille (Comic Art), Jeet Heer (The National Post), R.C. Harvey (biographer of Milton Caniff), and Donald Phelps (author of the landmark book of comics criticism,Reading the Funnies). Best American Comics Writing also features a cover by nationally known satirist Drew Friedman (The New York Observer, Old Jewish Comedians) in which Friedman asks, “tongue-in-cheek,” if cartoonists are the new literati, what must their critics look like?

This is a critical overview of monster magazines from the 1950s through the 1970s. "Monster magazine" is a blanket term to describe both magazines that focus primarily on popular horror movies and magazines that contain stories featuring monsters, both of which are illustrated in comic book style and printed in black and white. The book describes the rise and fall of these magazines, examining the contributions of Marvel Comics and several other well-known companies, as well as evaluating the effect of the Comics Code Authority on both present and future efforts in the field. It identifies several sub-genres, including monster movies, zombies, vampires, sword-and-sorcery, and pulp-style fiction. The work includes several indexes and technical credits.

The classic children's comic strip in a handsome new archival series, designed by Seth John Stanley is celebrated as one of the great children's comics writers for his work on the Little Lulu series. In fact, the Lulu work is a small part of his output; he drew and continued to write many other comics-notably his work on the 1960s teen comics from Dell (Thirteen, Dunc and Loo, and Kookie) and his monster comedy strip, Melvin Monster. Drawn & Quarterly is planning to launch an extensive reprinting of much of Stanley's work in discrete volumes. The first in this series is the two-volume Melvin Monster collection featuring all ten issues about the oddball monster boy who just wants to be good, go to school, and do as he's told. Designed to fit nicely with Drawn & Quarterly's reprinting of Tove Jansson's Moomin series, these comics are great reading for all ages. Stanley's reputation as a great storyteller and visual comedian is richly deserved-few golden- or silver-age comics stand the test of time the way these comics do.

Focusing especially on American comic books and graphic novels from the 1930s to the present, this massive four-volume work provides a colorful yet authoritative source on the entire history of the comics medium. Comics and graphic novels have recently become big business, serving as the inspiration for blockbuster Hollywood movies such as the Iron Man series of films and the hit television drama The Walking Dead. But comics have been popular throughout the 20th century despite the significant effects of the restrictions of the Comics Code in place from the 1950s through 1970s, which prohibited the depiction of zombies and use of the word "horror," among many other rules. Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas provides students and general readers a one-stop resource for researching topics, genres, works, and artists of comic books, comic strips, and graphic novels. The comprehensive and broad coverage of this set is organized chronologically by volume. Volume 1 covers 1960 and earlier; Volume 2 covers 1960–1980; Volume 3 covers 1980–1995; and Volume 4 covers 1995 to the present. The chronological divisions give readers a sense of the evolution of comics within the larger contexts of American culture and history. The alphabetically arranged entries in each volume address topics such as comics publishing, characters, imprints, genres, themes, titles, artists, writers, and more. While special attention is paid to American comics, the entries also include coverage of British, Japanese, and European comics that have influenced illustrated storytelling of the United States or are of special interest to American readers.