“A gifted and perceptive writer whose characters are second to none.”—Sharyn McCrumb The many devoted readers of Susan Rogers Cooper's Milt Kovak mystery series have been noticed from time to time laughing out loud, even during a passage of thrilling drama. Obviously, the author is a very funny woman. And now she brings that aspect of her talent to fruition in the creation of Kimmey Kruse, stand-up comic. Kimmey is constantly assaulted by the public—bartenders, dentists, clean­ing ladies—all trying to give her jokes. "I don't tell jokes! I'm a stand-up comic!" But she is just as funny offstage as on, and a character to be savored. Life at this point, however, is about as much fun as picking okra for our pint-sized comedian. While playing the Kaiser Komedy Klub in Chicago, she encounters a former lover, Cab Neusberg, whom she hasn't seen since the Laff-a-Lot club in Denver several years earlier. Planning a brief reprise, Cab arrives at Kimmey's hotel room only to expire in her arms just as things are getting interesting. That's not funny at all, and it's even less funny when Sal Pucci, the Chicago detective who catches the case, informs Kimmey that somebody gave Cab enough digitalis to kill a Buick with heart disease. Who could it have been, Ms. Kruse? As a kind of up-to-date Greek chorus with common sense, there is Kimmey's corporate lawyer friend Phoebe, a very present phone presence in whom Kimmey confides. Phoebe gives the comedian strong doses of reality and the name of the Chicago equivalent of super-lawyer Racehorse Haynes. She'll need it. “Funny as a Dead Comic deftly pulls back the curtain on a world both witty and sordid. Kimmey Kruse in her debut as comedian and crime-solver keeps the crowd laughing and the pages turning. Susan Rogers Cooper has created a stand-up tragedy of the first order.”—Kinky Friedman, author of Elvis, Jesus & Coca-Cola

When amateur sleuth and professional comedian Kimmey Kruse turns out to be the main suspect in an old flame's death, she learns that murder is no joke. By the author of Chasing Away the Devil.

As the survivors settle into their prison home something has drawn them out into the open... out of the prison... out of their sanctuary. This is a major turning point for the over-all story of THE WALKING DEAD and it sets the stage for years to come. Collects issues 25-30.

From the authors of the breakout best seller All my friends are dead comes a brand-new illustrated compendium of the humorous existential ruminations of people, animals, legendary monsters, and inanimate objects.

Three bounty hunter siblings blaze a path of death and destruction across the old west. Traveling by moonlight they rip criminals screaming for mercy from their hiding places, but none is ever given. The Irons are the most feared bounty hunting killers in the west, but that fear isn't based on them being the fastest with a pistol or rifle. It's because they're the Walking Dead! A lone, tortured soul tracks them with vengeance and salvation driving him to end the curse upon his family. Those who he rescues call him savior but those who look upon his twisted and scarred face call him monster. Silas Irons is the only hope his brothers and sister have of salvation from the abominations they've become. But even the purity of his heart can't stop the unnatural rage and bloodlust building in his diseased soul. A black curse turned these siblings into monsters but deep rooted and twisted family history made them into the worst kind of horrors. This year's biggest supernatural western tale begins here! Written by James Kuhoric (Freddy vs Jason vs Ash), illustrated by Jason Alexander (BPRD), and based on character designs and covers by Jae Lee (The Dark Tower).

Fred Van Lente’s brilliant debut is both a savagely funny homage to the Golden Age of Mystery and a thoroughly contemporary show-business satire. As the story opens, nine comedians of various acclaim are summoned to the island retreat of legendary Hollywood funnyman Dustin Walker. The group includes a former late-night TV host, a washed-up improv instructor, a ridiculously wealthy “blue collar” comic, and a past-her-prime Vegas icon. All nine arrive via boat to find that every building on the island is completely deserted. Marooned without cell phone service or wifi signals, they soon find themselves being murdered one by one. But who is doing the killing, and why? A darkly clever take on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and other classics of the genre, Ten Dead Comedians is a marvel of literary ventriloquism, with hilarious comic monologues in the voice of every suspect. It’s also an ingeniously plotted puzzler with a twist you’ll never see coming!

Collects Deadpool Killustrated #1-4. Deadpool has already killed every hero in the Marvel Universe, but he isn't through. This time...Deadpool's gonna take down the most famous characters in classic literature! Why read a book when you can watch a book die?! Tom Sawyer gets slashed in TWAIN! The Little Women's throats MAY get ALL-CUT! Scrooge gets a visit from THREE BULLETS! Gulliver gets a SWIFT DEATH! The Three Musketeers are all for DONE! Sherlock Holmes gets to the bottom of HIS OWN GRAVE! And more book-related puns! Can Deadpool rid the universe of the scourge of classical literature? Throw away your library card and buy this book! You never knew how badly you needed this!

If you're a dinosaur, all of your friends are dead. If you're a pirate, all of your friends have scurvy. If you're a tree, all of your friends are end tables. Each page of this laugh-out-loud illustrated humor book showcases the downside of being everything from a clown to a cassette tape to a zombie. Cute and dark all at once, this hilarious children's book for adults teaches valuable lessons about life while exploring each cartoon character's unique grievance and wide-eyed predicament. From the sock whose only friends have gone missing to the houseplant whose friends are being slowly killed by irresponsible plant owners (like you), All My Friends Are Dead presents a delightful primer for laughing at the inevitable.

This one-of-a-kind anthology features thirty-six hilarious short plays by major American playwrights and emerging new voices, all guaranteed to send readers and audiences into peals of laughter. From the surrealistic wit of Steve Martin's "The Zig-Zag Woman" to the biting political satire of Steven Dietz's "The Spot," from Christopher Durang's wonderfully loopy "Wanda's Visit" to Shel Silverstein's supremely twisted "The Best Daddy," there's something in here to make everyone laugh. There are plays for casts of all sizes, from monologues to large ensembles, with diverse and challenging roles for actors of every age and type. Even the titles are funny: Mark O'Donnell's "There Shall Be No Bottom (a bad play for worse actors)," Elaine May's "The Way of All Fish," and Alan Ball's "Your Mother's Butt." A bonanza for theatergoers, performers, and comedy fans, Laugh Lines will bring down the house. From the Trade Paperback edition.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR Amy Poehler, Mel Brooks, Adam McKay, George Saunders, Bill Hader, Patton Oswalt, and many more take us deep inside the mysterious world of comedy in this fascinating, laugh-out-loud-funny book. Packed with behind-the-scenes stories—from a day in the writers’ room at The Onion to why a sketch does or doesn’t make it onto Saturday Night Live to how the BBC nearly erased the entire first season of Monty Python’s Flying Circus—Poking a Dead Frog is a must-read for comedy buffs, writers and pop culture junkies alike.