manga by Jiro Kuwata edited and designed by Chip Kidd This hefty, oversized softcover book is packed with full color scans of the actual cheap, pulpy, two-color pages of the original 1960s manga volumes in which these stories originally appeared.  This strategy of representation draws the reader 40 years back in time and makes for an in situ reading experience that is very different from that of your standard manga reprint.  To further draw the reader back, the editor and designer, Chip Kidd has included a gallery of Japanese Batman merchandise from the same era.  Together this gives the volume the air of a catalogue for a museum exhibition that uses these Japanese manifestations of an American pop culture icon -- at the height of the Pop Art era, no less -- to portray the relationship between the two countries during this pivotal period in history.  On the one hand there is the cultural hegemony of the US, but on the other, there is the Japanese transformation of American forms -- one that has accelerated of late as manga is now more widely read in the US than superhero comics.  In other words, it's definitely a two-way street.  Read more in Frank Santoro's Publishers Weekly review. 

Now out of print.  ONE COPY AVAILABLE (July 2021)

edited by Michael Dooley & Steven Heller This is a truly amazing compendium of the ins and outs of making comics in the world today. The list of contributors is eye-popping, and their writings are inspiring. Anyone interested in creating comics stands to benefit from this. Here's a partial list of the contributors: Bob Mankoff, R.C. Harvey, Tony Auth, Peter Kuper, David Rees, Stan Mack Mark Alan Stamaty, Bill Griffith, Nicole Hollander, Jim Steranko, Barron Storey, Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave McKean, David Mack, Monte Beauchamp, Gary Panter, David Sandlin, Peter Blegvad, Mark Newgarden, Chip Kidd, Chris Ware, Art Spiegelman, Marjane Satrapi, Kim Deitch, Rick Geary, Ho Che Anderson, Tom Spurgeon, Dan Nadel, Robert Williams, Heidi MacDonald, Todd Hignite, Eric Reynolds, Graig Yoe, Trina Robbins, Scott McCloud, Joe Kubert, Will Eisner, Ted Stearn, James Sturm, Matt Madden, Rich Kriener... and that's not all! Whew, what a line-up. Recommended.

Now out of print.  We still have a few...

Chip Kidd goes berserk and creates the most heavily arti directed short story ever, in this over the top treatment of Haruki Murakami's short story, The Strange Library.  You can some idea of what to expect here.