Below are some comic strip and cartoon books scheduled for August 2024 release.
Images and links from a variety of publishers and outlets,
though ordering through your local comic shop or independent book store is a good idea.
Arnold, The Complete Collection is now available!
Arnold: The Complete Collection Volume 1 by Kevin McCormick
On December 13, 1982, the world was introduced to ARNOLD. Created by industry newcomer Kevin McCormick, readers were unprepared for a comic strip about a nasty but lovable junior high school kid whose goal in life is the enslavement of the human race.
Arnold: The Complete Collection Volume 2 by Kevin McCormick
After more than 30 years Arnold is back, and he’s outrageous as ever! Join him as he makes everyone say “GACK!” with his antics, dragging his friend Tommy and their teacher, Mr. Lester, into the chaos. This volume contains the complete daily and Sunday strips from September 1984 to June 1986, plus the second installment of “A Brief History of Arnold”.
Arnold: The Complete Collection Volume 3 by Kevin McCormick
After more than 35 years, all 5 years of “Arnold” is back in print. The third and final volume contains every strip published between June 23, 1986 and April 17, 1988.
Kate Carew: America’s First Great Woman Cartoonist by Eddie Campbell
Kate Carew was America’s first great woman cartoonist, drawing for newspapers in the first two decades of the 20th century. She drew Sunday color comics alongside George Herriman, but it was in the idiom of freestanding caricature that she made her mark. She interviewed and sketched many of the famous celebrities of her time … the Wright brothers … Marconi … Picasso … boxer Jack Johnson … the leading figures of the suffragette movement. Her most endearing achievement was her cartoon alter ego “Aunt Kate,” whom she sketched into the proceedings.
Molly and the Bear: An Unlikely Pair by Bob Scott and Vicki Scott
Based on the beloved comic strip “Bear with Me” by Bob Scott, this lighthearted odd couple middle grade graphic novel is about a girl and her very best friend: an 800-pound scaredy-bear!
When Bear wanders into eleven-year-old Molly’s life, she knows she’s just met her new bestie. Loyal, sweet, inquisitive—and terrified of almost everything—Bear makes a great new friend. And he’s not scary at all! But try telling that to the rest of the world.
Mandrake the Magician the Complete Dailies Volume 1: 1934-1936 by Lee Falk and Phil Davis
The strips presented in this series of reprints feature two staple characters in addition to the master magician: Lothar and Princess Narda (princess of the mythical European kingdom Cockaigne). Lothar appears within the first few days (June 14, 1934), and Narda is introduced in Mandrake’s second adventure. Narda is … beautiful, constantly in need of rescue, and the love interest of our hero. A Prince of the Seven Nations of Africa, Lothar is Mandrake’s devoted servant, friend and companion. He is, “the strongest man in the world,” and decked out in a fez, shorts, and a leopard shirt.
The Comics Journal #310 (preview with Thierry Smolderen, Peter Maresca and David Kunzle)
Multimedia artist and satirist Gerald Scarfe, best known worldwide for his Pink Floyd iconography and designs for Disney’s Hercules, talks to Gary Groth about his film, TV, and comics career, spanning 60+ years. Zach Rabiroff does a journalistic deep dive into Bill Jemas’s tenure as Vice President of Marvel from 2000–2004, the creation of the Marvel Ultimates Universe, and much more. Also: visual artists Aidan Koch (Earth Comics, The Blonde Woman) and Lale Westvind (Grip) in conversation; a Jess Johnson sketchbook; a Fair Warning interview with TCJ Best of 2022 cartoonist Juliette Collet; a look at Chris Companik’s HIV-awareness comics, original work by Allee Errico, and much more.
Comics Revue Presents August 2024
Cool new Mandrake cover by Tom Yeates. Complete in this issue: The Phantom by Lee Falk and Sy Barry, Rick O’Shay by Stan Lynde, Buz Sawyer by Roy Crane, Sir Bagby by R&D Hackney. 19 pages of color Sunday pages featuring Flash Gordon by Harry Harrison and Mac Raboy, Gasoline Alley by Dick Moores, Alley Oop by V. T. Hamlin, Steve Canyon by Milton Caniff, Casey Ruggles by Warren Tufts, and The Phantom by Lee Falk and Sy Barry. Plus the following stories in B&W: Mandrake the Magician, Krazy Kat, Buz Sawyer, Rick O’Shay, Sir Bagby, Garth, and Peter Welkin, Planeteer!
The Truth About 5th Grade by Mark Parisi and Kim Tomsic (review)
Charlotte “Charli” Wilson thought Alex Andropov would always be her best BFF in the whole wide world. From crushes to butterfly phobias to secret hidden blankies, there’s never been a secret they couldn’t share. Charli even showed Alex the supersecret hiding spot for her diary. But when school starts and Charli learns that Alex has betrayed her by sharing her biggest, most secretest secret, she realizes that maybe her bestie isn’t so great after all.
With hilarious illustrations and outrageous twists on every page, this is the perfect story for fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Tapper Twins, and Invisible Emmie.
Garfield Donut Disturb: His 76th Book by Jim Davis
Garfield’s back in this brand-new full-color compilation comic strip book—truly a must-have for fans!
While Garfield is best known for his insatiable appetite for lasagne, he also believes in voraciously eating “hole” foods! In fact, making donuts disappear might just be Garfield’s superpower (along with taking marathon naps). Fans of the fat cat won’t want to be disturbed as they happily devour this latest batch of scrumptious comics.
Upsydown: Cartoons of Dorset Life by Lyndon Wall
In More Than Farming, Fairs and Food: Cartoons of Dorset Life, artist and caricaturist Lyndon Wall has selected over 90 of his favourite cartoons of the humorous side of life in Dorset. This book is a timely celebration of everyday life in this attractive part of the country, its rural heritage and many fairs and festivals rightfully provide the inspiration for many scenes in the book, but we also encounter local celebrities and politicians, strange and newsworthy events, Dorset’s past history and the onward march of so-called progress. All those who know and love this corner of the world will find this book delights and amuses.
Life in the Present: A Joyful Collection of Comics About Living in the Moment by Liz Climo
very page of Life in the Present is brimming with Liz Climo’s patented blend of humor and warm-hearted wisdom, and her adorable bears, otters, bunny rabbits, and hamsters (among others) help us all to see the beauty in life’s least significant occasions. ?Whether they’re grabbing for a slice of pizza that’s just out of reach or trying to gather the energy to go out on a Friday night, the delightful animal characters depicted in these comics—75 of which are brand new and never-before-seen—are guaranteed to brighten your day.
How It All Ends by Emmaq Hunsinger
Thirteen-year-old Tara lives inside the nonstop adventure of her imagination. It’s far more entertaining than dull, everyday life. But when she’s bumped from seventh grade directly to high school, she gets a dramatic jolt to reality.
Now Tara is part of a future she doesn’t feel at all ready for.
Emma Hunsinger has a pitch-perfect ear for the awkward yet endearing moments that accompany growing up, and her illustrations are downright hilarious.
International Journal of Comic Art Volume 25, Number 2 (IJOCA 25:2 Table of Contents)
The International Journal of Comic Art (“IJOCA”) celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary with Volume 25, Number 2.
It’s the Great Storm, Tom the Dancing Bug! by Ruben Bolling
Clover Press’s Complete Tom the Dancing Bug program bursts forward with the eighth chronological volume, covering all of the most recent installments of the comic strip, a two-time Pulitzer Prize Finalist, from 2020-2023.
It’s the Great Storm, Tom the Dancing Bug! includes Bolling’s award-winning work covering the last year of the Trump presidency and the post-term MAGA insanity. All the favorite Tom the Dancing Bug characters try to make sense of the dark times of the early 2020s
What do The Family Circus, Ziggy, and The Far Side have in common? They are all single-panel comics, a seemingly simple form that cartoonists have used in vastly different ways.
Singular Sensations is the first book-length critical study to examine this important but long-neglected mode of cartoon art. Michelle Ann Abate provides an overview of how the American single-panel comic evolved, starting with Thomas Nast’s political cartoons and R.F. Outcault’s groundbreaking Yellow Kid series in the nineteenth century. In subsequent chapters, she explores everything from wry New Yorker cartoons to zany twenty-first-century comics like Bizarro. Offering an important corrective to the canonical definition of comics as “sequential art,” Abate reveals the complexity, artistry, and influence of the single-panel art form.
Levy’s Law: The Whole Megillah – Book One By James Schumeister
Levy’s Law: The Whole Megillah – Book Two By James Schumeister
Levy’s Law brought workplace situation comedy elements into a daily comic strip. It centered on Ann Levy, a young, single woman beginning her career as a police officer. Ann was the cool center of a solar system orbited by an unconventional cast of supporting characters
THE GREAT ATOMIC AFTERMATH AND FRESH FRUIT FESTIVAL
he premise was simple: a nuclear holocaust wipes out all of humanity except for Fred, the meek man who inherits the Earth. Next, there’s Hadley, the second-to -last man on Earth, an IRS agent there to collect the inheritance tax. Completing the core cast was the last woman on Earth, Sister Maria Theresa.
As an added bonus, this collection includes the original, unedited versions of strips that the syndicate changed. Let’s just say that most of the changes were not for the better.
The Editorial Cartoons of Dan Collins: For the Delaware Gazette by Dan Collins
Dan Collins has drawn cartoons for magazines, greeting cards, marketing and advertising, but almost no one knows about his editorial work for one of the nation’s oldest single-family-owned daily newspapers, the Delaware Gazette of Delaware, Oho. This is a side of Dan you’ll see nowhere else: holding the powerful to account, skewering local officials, and presenting hometown events in a touching, always humorous way. Dan always brings a pen to a sword fight.
Fowl Language: Tweenage Wasteland by Brian Gordon
Everyone thinks the baby stage is hard, then the toddler stage, but have you even met teens and tweens? They will eff your sh!t UP.
The latest installment of Fowl Language by cartoonist Brian Gordon is something all parents of kids 10 and older can empathize with. (And maybe cry along to.)
Delights: A Story of Hieronymus Bosch by Guy Colwell
In Guy Colwell’s first full graphic novel in 33 years, we see one painter, Colwell himself, consider another, Hieronymus Bosch, and the story behind the latter’s most notable work told in sequential panels. The known details of Bosch’s life, and the commissioning of his enormous triptych “The Garden Of Earthly Delights,” are scant. Colwell takes the facts of Bosch’s time and setting and constructs a tale of a man and artist torn equally among piety, creativity, and commerce.
Not sure where we left off with the Alley Oop books.
ALLEY OOP AGAINST THE OUTLANDERS The Complete Sundays 1979-1981 by Dave Graue
ALLEY OOP THE ART INVASION 1993 Dave Graue and Jack Bender
ALLEY OOP THE BEAST OF THE WOODS 1992 Dave Graue and Jack Bender
ALLEY OOP AND THE DRAGON OF SILENE 1963 by V.T. Hamlin
lley Oop must rescue the town of Silene from a rampaging dragon — and win the affections of the beautiful Princess! All in North Africa in the 3rd Century! Then he’s off to King Arthur’s time, and Alley’s riding a horse and jousting and freeing prisoners from a castle. Watch Alley’s rise from Cad to King as the irrepressible “Big Charley,” as well as his hit making twist as “King Willie” on the radio! Plus it’s jealousy time for Oola when a new girl turns up in Moo and finds Alley quite the guy.
The Phantom the Complete Dailies Volume 32: 1986-1987 by Lee Falk and Sy Barry
This exciting 32nd volume continues the SY BARRY YEARS! Reprinted in all its black and white glory, journey with Hermes Press as we bring you five complete continuities drawn by Sy himself which continue adventures of The Phantom, Diana, and his two children. Also included is a comprehensive essay and documentary materials.
Contains Stories: The Ruler of Baronkahn: March 3, 1966 – July 5, 1986 The Tarashima Terrorists: July 7, 1986- April 11, 1987, The Snake Goddess: April 13, 1987 – September 12, 1987, Zabadabah: September 14, 1987 – January 16, 1988.
The Complete Betty Brown, Ph.G. by Zack Mosley, Boody Rogers, and Grant Powers (hardcover edition)
“The Complete Betty Brown, Ph.G.” compiles the complete adventures of Betty Brown, pharmacist and the first female comics character with an advanced degree! Spanning the years 1934 through 1948, you’ll see Betty make her own way through the Great Depression and the postwar environment, all the while overcoming all manner of obstacles!
feature image from the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum August 18, 2024 book sale
Shouldn’t that be Chris Welkin rather than Peter Welkin? Or did planeteers run in the family?
I guess when you’re in space everyone, including your cousin, is a Planeteer.
I thought it was a mistake by the Bud Plant summarizer but Peter is in all other summaries too.
https://www.tfaw.com/jun241832-comics-revue-presents-august-2024.html
https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/JUN241832
So it comes directly from Rick Norwood and Manuscript Press https://www.comicsrevue.com/
(I didn’t notice it when copying and pasting.)
Thanks for plugging the “Arnold” books! It’s been years in the making, and I’m glad to get it all out.
Didn’t know “Levi’s Law” got a reprint. Was corresponding with Jim Schumeister sometime back. Will need to get it, especially the first volume with “The Great Atomic Aftermath & Fresh Fruit Festival”, which I nominate for the best title a comic strip ever had.
Thanking you for including Molly and the Bear: An Unlikely Pair! Such a great list of books too!
Also, thank you for including IJOCA!