American Presidents
By David Levine

For more than a half century, David Levine has taken on the most powerful men of the free world with only his pen and a bottle of India ink. That pen has proved to be mightier than the sword as Levine skewered, illuminated, satirized and condemned every president of the 20th century, as well as the most significant presidents from colonial times and the Civil War era. His drawing of Lyndon Johnson revealing a scar in the shape of Vietnam is considered one of the most recognized (and most copied) of the Vietnam era. His devastating wit and delicately cross-hatched drawing have exposed the venality of the Nixon administration, the phoniness of the Reagan years, the duplicity of the Clinton era, and the evil of the Bush cabal. Nine administrations have come and gone during Levine's tenure, and with a new one on the horizon, the artist remains, unbowed, unfazed, and unrelenting.

Now for the first time, the best of Levine's five decades of portraits of American Presidents and their administrations are gathered in a comprehensive and visually dynamic book. From John Adams to George Bush; from John Quincy Adams to George W. Bush; from the Great Emancipator to the Great Society, Levine has captured them all, including present day candidates John McCain and Barack Obama.

David Levine is internationally renowned for his incisive caricatures of world figures in literature, politics, and the arts. For 45 years his work appeared in every issue of the New York Review of Books, and his drawings have been reproduced in Time, Newsweek, Esquire, Playboy, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, The Nation, and many other publications. Levine is perhaps the most influential caricaturist of the late twentieth century.

128-page black & white 8.5" x 10" softcover • $19.99
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Man of Rock: A Biography of Joe Kubert
By Bill Schelly

Joe Kubert’s extraordinary career spans the history of the comic book in America: he began drawing comics in 1938, just as Superman made his debut in Action Comics #1, and continues to be one of the most vital cartoonists working today, writing and drawing both mainstream comic book characters as well as, more recently, graphic novels of his own conception.

Man of Rock: A Biography of Joe Kubert provides a unique, behind-the-scenes look at the career of one of the most distinctive, dynamic artists in the history of comics. Bill Schelly’s insightful book covers all facets of Kubert’s creative life: artist, writer, innovator, entrepreneur, and educator. It abounds in heretofore unknown details about Kubert’s life and work, and is rich in colorful anecdotes drawn from numerous interviews the author conducted with Kubert’s colleagues, family and friends. Man of Rock: A Biography of Joe Kubert is a full-bodied biography intended to be read and enjoyed by anyone interested in the history of American popular culture.

220-page black & white 6" x 9" softcover • $19.99
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Sshhhh! (New Printing)
By Jason

From the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning author comes this sharp suite of short tales, ranging from the funny to the terrifying to the surreal to the touching, all told entirely in pantomime. Like Chris Ware, Jason's clean, deadpan style (featuring animal-headed characters with mask-like faces) hides a wealth of emotion and human complexity, leavened with a wicked wit. Jason's work has also drawn comparisons to Art Spiegelman for the similar ways both artists utilize anthropomorphic stylizations to reach deeper, more general truths, and to create elegantly minimalist panels whose emotional depth-charge comes as an even greater shock. His dark wit and supremely bold use of "jump-cuts" from one scene to the next are endlessly surprising and exhilarating. This new 2008 reprint features a brand new cover design.

120-page black & white 7" x 10" softcover • $16.99
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Photo/Video Slideshow Preview:

I've been on vacation since SPX and as such neglected until now to link to this excellent feature (with slideshow) on David Levine in the pages of Vanity Fair. The news isn't all good -- Mr. Levine is losing his eyesight and his legendary career has been curtailed accordingly -- but the piece is a respectful, insightful profile of one of New York's most iconic artists. And it doesn't hurt that it hits just on the eve of the release of our new Levine book, American Presidents:

Behold: Jaime Hernandez's Wonder Woman sketch for the Wonder Woman Day benefit auctions. (Via Forbidden Planet Intl.)

Johnny Ryan says and we quote:

VICE UK made these t-shirts using the covers I drew for their boys and girls student guides. Click the image and it will take you to the VICE site and you can buy one.

Only one new release from us arriving in comic shops this week:

• The Comics Journal #293

Before you make the trip, preview the contents of this issue at the link above — we've got multimedia and excerpts.