November 3rd, 2014

Editor’s Dispatch: Cartoonists’ Books!

by The King

Today we are highlighting some of the current books our cartoonists have available.

Now that is November, the holidays will be coming up before we know it – these are all perfect to purchase for a special comics fan in your life, including yourself!

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Bill Griffith from Zippy the Pinhead‘s latest book is “The Dingburg Diaries”. This is three years worth of  Zippy strips with a big color section! Here’s the link to purchase an autographed copy.

The latest Mary Worth book is “Searching and Other Stories of Mary Worth”. It is a collection of four reader favorites, written by Karen Moy and illustrated by Joe Giella, involving a search for someone or something. Here’s the link to purchase on Amazon.

Editorial cartoonist Jeff Koterba has new book out that is a collection of cartoons and narrative about his creative process. Since 1989, Jeff Koterba has delivered humorous, and often biting, commentary on everything from politics to potholes to pop culture– in “Drawing You In” Jeff tells how he does it and shows you some of his favorites. Here’s the link to purchase on the Omaha World-Herald store.

Editorial cartoonist Mike Smith‘s latest book “Nuts for Racing” is a collection of his editorial cartoons on NASCAR Sprint Cup racing. “Mike pokes good-natured fun at NASCAR, while at the same time . . . loving the sport he lampoons.” —Monte Dutton, NASCAR sportswriter. Here’s the link to purchase on Amazon.

“Freshly Dethany” is sure to delight fans of Bill Holbrook’s On the Fastrack. In this book, follow Dethany as she joins the cast of On the Fastrack. She’s cheerful, hard-working, conscientious and explodes every assumption her coworkers have about Goths. Here’s the link to purchase on Lulu.

“Viva Safe Havens” will be a special book for fans of Bill Holbrook’s Safe Havens. In this book, the Safe Havens gang spends a summer in Las Vegas hoping to make all of their dreams come true. Here’s the link to purchase on Lulu.

John Rose from Barney Google and Snuffy Smith‘s latest book is a bodacious collection of the popular long-running comic strip. In this volume, Rose selects over 350 of his favorite strips from 2004-2013. Here’s the link to purchase on Amazon.

Kevin Frank from Heaven’s Love Thrift Shop has two cartoon books for sale. “True North” is the story of an American transplant in Canada and “Balaam’s Chicken” is a collection of biblically “inspired” cartoons. Here’s the link to purchase them both from the cartoonist’s store.

Alex Hallatt from Arctic Circle contributed a chapter on creating comic strips for “The Art of Cartooning and Illustration”. In this book, aspiring cartoon artists will learn the basics of traditional cartooning and animation, as well as how to develop their own unique cartooning style, write storylines, and create gags. Here’s the link to purchase from Amazon.

Ray Billingsley from Curtis has three books, all part of The CURTIS Chronicles. The first book, “A Boy Named Curtis”, is a volume containing all strips, excluding the Kwanzaa story, from the year 2000. The second book in the series, “Living On SpongeCake”, contains the strips from 2001. The third book in the series, “Friends, Family & Other Catastrophes”, contains the strips from 2002. They are larger volumes than the standard, sized 8 x 11, priced at $16.95, and include fun features on Ray’s long travels in cartooning. Here’s the link to purchase all three books on the cartoonist’s store.

Terri Libenson from the Pajama Diaries‘ latest books are “The Pajama Diaries: Having It All and No Time To Do It”, which is the second collection of all-time favorite, full-color Pajama Diaries comic strips, and also “The Pajama Diaries: Bat-Zilla”, which is a shorter collection of Jewish-themed Pajama Diaries strips, including a story line about planning the character Amy’s Bat Mitzvah. Here’s the link to purchase on the cartoonist’s store.

Crankshaft fans can enjoy the new book “Crankshaft: Strike Four“. This enjoyable volume collects all of Crankshaft’s baseball-themed exploits. Here’s the link to purchase on the cartoonist’s store.    

And finally, Funky Winkerbean fans will love “The Complete Funky Winkerbean Vol. 3.” In this third volume, award-winning cartoonist Tom Batiuk continues to chronicle the lives of a group of students from the fictitious Westview High School. Here’s the link to purchase on the cartoonist’s store.   

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Wow, what a great list of books to kick off holiday gift-giving! Happy shopping!