Well, if you're only going to read one comic book this year... then you are going to have to steer clear of this one! That's becauseBuilding Storiesis a box set offourteenseparate comics pieces, including two hardcover books, pamphlet style comics, accordion fold-outs, newspapers, flip books,a gameboard-esque piece,and more (check out the accompanying illustrations to get an idea). In his relentless quest to up the ante of what comics are capable of pulling off, Mr. Ware has pulled out the stops, called in the reserves, and put the Acme Novelty Company on a wartime footing to forge thismassive meditation on the parallelsbetween the...

GIlbert Hernandez enthusiasts, aficionados, completists and collectors have reason to celebrate the release of Comics Dementia. Here, collected in a single volume, we have over 200 pages of GIlbert's wildest and wooliest comics, drawn together from hither and yon in the comics firmament. Not for the faint of heart or weak of mind, the work here is where Gilbert cuts loose and lets you have it, right in the eyes! So, hold onto your hats! 64 stories in all!

It's here: the deluxe full color, 112 page, horizontally formatted hardcover collection of Michael DeForge's internet work,Ant Comic. A high intensity allegory rendered in dazzling full color and employing DeForge's personal cartooning language to great advantage,Ant Colonyis a wholly original work that is not to be missed. In the words of no less a comics authority than Jaime Hernandez, "DeForge is one of those rare comics naturals andAnt Colonyproves it."

NOW OUT OF PRINT. Wehave just a few copies remaining. LIMIT: ONE per customer.

It's here: the first volume of Anders Nilsen's epic look at our collective 21st Century headspace: Tongues. Like a skilled neurosurgeon, he peels back the conscious, subconscious and unconscious layers of our civilization, taking each layer then staining them with his creative intelligence and putting them under the microscope revealing a spectacular vision of their intermingling forms of mythography, history, speculative fiction and more, all entwined within the double-helix of love and war, and lays them bare for the reader's edification and private analysis (which has put us in mind of a modern La Divina Commedia di Dante – particularly...

Here it is: the final (>sob!<) Peanuts strips by Charles M. Schulz, the last of which, the final Sunday page, originally appeared on the same day as Schulz's obituary, as he passed on from this world (and doubtless onto the Sphere of True Comics) the day before its publication. The editors cleverly filled out what would have otherwise been a slim volume by bookending the conclusion of Peanuts with the complete collection of Schulz's precursor strip to Peanuts, L'il Folks. And, to top it all off, this volume is introduced by none other than the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama! A fitting finale.

At long last, a book edition – and a swell hardcover, no less – collecting Ethan Rilly's excellent Pope Hats series (issues 2, 3 & 5). Only, it turns out, Ethan Rilly is really... Hartley Lin*! So, now we have Young Frances by Hartley Lin. A finely crafted tale of young urbanites navigating the worlds of work and life as they come of age in 21st centuryNorth America. Recommended.

Don't want to take our word for it? Then how about these wordsfromsomeone whose opinion is worth paying attention to:

"Young Frances is a meditation on work and meaning. Its depiction of corporate culture and the finesse required to exist within it feels...

The follow up to last year's It Never Happened, New Construction features two new comics novellas, "Backyard" and "Household."Each is tautly rendered in Alden's forceful pencil line. New Construction is aptly titled in that it is put together diferently. It is a bifurcated edition, with the first tale, "Backyard," being both tightly rendered and printed on a (relatively) bright cream colored stock, while the second, "Household" is far more loose and expressionistic in its rendering and is printed on a dull light gray newsprint. It is worth noting here that the reproduction quality in New Construction is significantly superior to that of It...

From the Midwest to the Middle Kingdom, Ginseng Roots spans global history through the lens of this humble plant in Craig Thompson’s latest epic work – the first of his works to be serialized in individual issues. Now, all twelve issues are available in a nifty collector box designed by Craig specifically to house the series, along with a few bonus doodads, all for less than the price of the individual issues alone. Ginseng Roots is engrossing – it’s hard to stop reading – educational – you’ll definitely be learning plenty you didn’t know before, about ginseng, about American and Chinese history and culture, and much more besides – and...

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...