Well, instead of the long awaited Maria M., Book Two, we get... Maria M., the compete, all-in-one, single-volume hardcover edition. So, sorry to all those who bought Book One and now have to get it again in this complete volume... but, this one – containing both Books One and Two – is priced only seven dollars more* than Book Two alone was priced (before it was cancelled and replaced with this single volume). Such are the exigencies of publishing.

All that said, Maria M. is a a book of multiple layers. To anyone simply picking it up and reading it, Maria M. will be 232 pages of rock 'em, sock 'em comics pulp fiction, loaded with the sex...

Yes, Cold Heat #4 is still in stock, and it's a doozy. Disparate and heretofore disconnected aspects of the storyline are joined together as some puzzling pieces of the plot are put into place. We don't want to give too much away here, but suffice it to say that some things have turned out -- surprise! -- not to be what they seemed. Lovers of cosmic mysteries and mighty metaphors will find plenty of food for thought this time around, and thrill seekers should find what they're looking for as the intensity is ramped up a notch or two. Santoro's art really shines this issue as he continues to bring a world beat of styles and perspectives to...

Anyone on the lookout for intellectually stimulating, æsthetically challenging work – regardless of the form it takes – should be sure to investigate the comics of Dash Shaw. Shaw is a sophisticated visual thinker and natural experimenter unconstrained by generic conventions or audience expectations. In Doctors, soap operatic melodrama mixes freely with science fiction concepts (Philip Jose Farmer / Philip K Dick) and both are together presented to the reader with a bold decisive formalism that simultaneously brings to mind painters such as Hans Hoffman and filmmakers like Jean Luc Godard. The final product is in intriguing investigation...

Typex'sAndy: The Life and Times of Andy Warholis a tour de force of comics biography. It's 562 (silver-edged!) pages delve deeply into the life and times of its subject. The work's central organizingprinciple is that each of its 10 chapters is conceived and designed as an individual issue of a comic book series, titledAndy, complete with it's own front and back covers (and, as an added bonus, each also comes with its ownuncut sheet of collector trading cards!). The chapters arechronologically arranged, with each tackling a particular arc of Warhol’s life and work. Each of the“issues" in thisserieshas been conceived and executed by Typex as...

The concluding volume of Ellsworth's ambitious cartooned deconstruction of the psyche has arrived! This is the third in a matched series of full size, full color, hardcover graphic excursions. Prepare yourself for a trip like no other, as The Understanding Monster turns identity inside-out and then plays out a series of dramas with its component parts... it's pretty difficult to describe actually. Hereis our take on the initial volume in the series. See you on the other side!

Working in an office building – or even visiting one! – will never be the same again after reading Theo Ellsworth's richly imaginative graphic novel interpretation of Jeff VanderMeer's tale (that was originally published as the lead storyin his2004 collection of the same name). Secret Life, as one might expect,is all about revealing adifferent sort of life lurkingjust below the surface of quotidian normalcy. It only takes an instant to realize that this is straight up Theo Ellsworth's alley! It's close toa perfect match, and Theo really goes to town. It is a bit different seeing him work on a more formally straightforward narrative, and...

There's no point in trying to compete with Chris Ware's own description of his latest project, so we won't. Here it is:

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Written by Chris Ware, Preface by Ira Glass, Introduction by Francoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman

A flabbergasting experiment in publishing hubris,Monographcharts the art and literary world's increasing tolerance for the language of the empathetic doodle directly through the work of one of its most esthetically constipated practitioners.

For thirty years, writer and artist (i.e. cartoonist) Chris Ware (b. 1967) has been testing the patience of readers and fine art fans with his complicated and...

LIGHTNING OVER BRADDOCK AND COLLECTED SHORTS: THE FILMS OF TONY BUBA

AT LAST! Here, on two full-lengthdiscs, are the collected films of Tony Buba! For coming up on fifty years, Tony Buba has been documenting (and romanticizing) his hometown of Braddock, PA right here on the Monogahela River, just outside of Pittsburgh proper. Anyone who hasn't seen these is in for a real treat.And, all of those, like us here at Copacetic, who already havebut have been yearning for another chance to revisit them after all these years, are likely in for an even bigger treat. Finally!

Featuring Tony Buba,Sal Carollo,Stephen Pellegrino,Jimmy Roy,Richard...

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Here's ONE, like newcopy of the FIRST PRINT of the original 2009 edition of this just-reissued classic. Here's our write-up from back then:

OK, this is the one you've been waiting for! Eleven years in the making, a whopping 840 pages in length, A Drifting Life is the graphic memoir of one of the all-time manga greats. Over the last several years, Drawn and Quarterly has been assiduously releasing Tatsumi's classic gekiga, in which he pioneered a street savvy, morally ambiguous form of comics that thrived on grittier material and was more ambivalent about the post-war boom in Japan. A Drifting Life chronicles the years...