A boozy ex-military captain trapped in a mysterious vessel searches for his runaway son, an aging superhero settles into academia, and a professional "dystopianist" receives a visit from a suicidal sheep. Men and Cartoons contains eleven fantastical, amusing, and moving stories written in a dizzying array of styles that shows the remarkable range and power of Lethem's vision. Sometimes firmly grounded in reality, and other times spinning off into utterly original imaginary worlds, this book brings together marvelous characters with incisive social commentary and thought provoking allegories. A visionary and creative collection that only Jonathan Lethem could have produced, the Vintage edition features two stories not published in the hardcover edition, "The Shape We're In" and "Interview with the Crab.

Film and televsion.

The Final Solution clarifies the key questions surrounding the attempt by the Nazis to exterminate the Jews. Drawing on important new research, these authoritative essays focus on the preconditions and antecedents for the 'Final Solution' and examine the immediate origins of the genocidal decision. Contributors also examine the responses of peoples and governments in Germany, occupied Europe, the USA and among Jews worldwide. The controversial conversions of this study challenge many of our accepted ideas about the period.

A collection of hilarious observations by twenty well known women cartoonists on the subject of men.

The popularity of cartoon music, from Carl Stalling's work for Warner Bros. to Disney sound tracks and "The Simpsons"' song parodies, has never been greater. This lively and fascinating look at cartoon music's past and present collects contributions from well-known music critics and cartoonists, and interviews with the principal cartoon composers. Here Mark Mothersbaugh talks about his music for "Rugrats," Alf Clausen about composing for "The Simpsons," Carl Stalling about his work for Walt Disney and Warner Bros., Irwin Chusid about Raymond Scott's work, Will Friedwald about "Casper the Friendly Ghost," Richard Stone about his music for "Animaniacs," Joseph Lanza about "Ren and Stimpy," and much, much more.

The "New Yorker" cartoon editor has collected dead-on portraits and eye-opening ruminations on all things bookish, courtesy of the magazine's renowned stable of cartoonists, from Charles Barsotti to Roz Chast, Ed Koren to Frank Modell, and Jack Ziegler to Victoria Roberts.

Hear the riveting stories of Black artists who drew--mostly covertly behind the scenes--superhero, horror, and romance comics in the early years of the industry. The life stories of each man's personal struggles and triumphs are represented as they broke through into a world formerly occupied only by whites. Using primary source material from World War II-era Black newspapers and magazines, this compelling book profiles pioneers like E.C. Stoner, a descendant of one of George Washington's slaves, who became a renowned fine artist of the Harlem Renaissance and the first Black artist to draw comic books. Perhaps more fascinating is Owen Middleton who was sentenced to life in Sing Sing. Middleton's imprisonment became a cause célèbre championed by Will Durant, which led to Middleton's release and subsequent comics career. Then there is Matt Baker, the most revered of the Black artists, whose exquisite art spotlights stunning women and men, and who drew the first groundbreaking Black comic book hero, Vooda! The book is gorgeously illustrated with rare examples of each artist's work, including full stories from mainstream comic books from rare titles like All-Negro Comics and Negro Heroes, plus unpublished artist's photos. Invisible Men features Ken Quattro's impeccable research and lean writing detailing the social and cultural environments that formed these extraordinary, yet invisible, men!

The story behind the creation of one of the most celebrated, revolutionary animated series of all time X-Men: The Art and Making of the Animated Series takes fans behind the scenes of the landmark cartoon that laid the groundwork for the dozens of Marvel Comics adaptations that followed. Interviews with series writers, producers, executives, and artists reveal the razor's edge that Marvel and Fox navigated in order to bring the X-Men to television, and detail the tough decisions, compromises, and brilliant solutions that resulted in a series that has been lauded by critics and fans for nearly three decades. Along the way, readers will encounter such comics and entertainment luminaries as Stan Lee, Avi Arad, and Haim Saban. This book gives a firsthand account of what it's like to develop, pitch, design, write, draw, direct, and produce an animated series, accompanied by rare original art, animated cels and still frames, and production and merchandising ephemera.

Meeting. Wooing. Dating. Mating. Wanting sex. Having sex. Regretting sex. Recovering from sex. Talking. Not talking. Proposing. Refusing. Marrying. Unmarrying. Remarrying . . . Here is the dance of true love captured at all its most outrageously funny moments--the graceful and the awkward, the blissful and the tormented. Here is meeting made easy at the "Mate Mart," Rilke as an aphrodisiac, and marriage as a daunting threshold ("And do you, Rebecca, promise to make love only to Richard, month after month, year after year, and decade after decade, until one of you is dead?"). Here is love between all sorts: children too young to know and adults old enough to know better. Between a vampire and a lady ("I think I can change him"), Narcissus and himself, women and their past paramours, men and their current possibilities ("Kathy, I'm updating my files. Do you still love me?"). Here are pragmatic approaches ("Let's date to see if we should go out"), rose-colored approaches, no-frills approaches ("Let's do it, let's fall in love"), and polite approaches ("Can I trouble you for a sexual favor?"). Here are the inimitably illuminating approaches to love from all the masterNew Yorkercartoonists from James Thurber to Robert Mankoff, from Peter Arno to Roz Chast, from Charles Addams to Victoria Roberts. The agony and the ecstasy of love (well, maybe a little more of the agony) are here hilariously revealed!

Animated by the stories of some of the last century's most charismatic and conniving artists, writers, and businessmen, Men of Tomorrow brilliantly demonstrates how the creators of the superheroes gained their cultural power and established a crucial place in the modern imagination. "This history of the birth of superhero comics highlights three pivotal figures. The story begins early in the last century, on the Lower East Side, where Harry Donenfeld rises from the streets to become the king of the 'smooshes'-soft-core magazines with titles like French Humor and Hot Tales. Later, two high school friends in Cleveland, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, become avid fans of 'scientifiction,' the new kind of literature promoted by their favorite pulp magazines. The disparate worlds of the wise guy and the geeks collide in 1938, and the result is Action Comics #1, the debut of Superman. For Donenfeld, the comics were a way to sidestep the censors. For Shuster and Siegel, they were both a calling and an eventual source of misery: the pair waged a lifelong campaign for credit and appropriate compensation." -The New Yorker