The Finest in Illustration & Cartooning

The Complete Johnny Comet
by Frank Frazetta

Vol 1 of the Vanguard Frazetta Classics series: The Complete Johnny Comet (in paperback, hardcover and deluxe slipcased editions). Frazetta's famous newspaper-strip masterpiece in the finest, most-complete edition ever. And, for the first time, it is shot from Frank's personal artist's proofs making this the best reproduction ever and is printed on art-book quality paper! Vanguard's are the definitive, official editions authorized by Frank Frazetta.

THE SPIDER:
SCAVENGERS OF THE SLAUGHTERED SACRIFICES
by Don McGregor & Gene Colan

The classic pulp character The Spider, in an original graphic novel by legendary talents Gene Colan and Don McGregor. McGregor is the well-known writer/creator of mystery graphic novels including Detectives Inc. and Nathaniel Dusk. Don's mysteries have been enthusiastically reviewed in Ellery Queen Magazine, Mystery Magazine, and by distinguished mystery authors: Ed McBain, Peter O'Donnell, Stuart Kaminsky, and Maxwell Grant. Gene Colan is the grand naturalist illustrator of comics and graphic novels. In his 50 year career, Colan added considerable drama to the exploits of Daredevil, Batman, Tomb of Dracula, Dr. Strange, Nathaniel Dusk, Wonder Woman, and is the co-creator of Blade which has spawned multiple major motion pictures staring Wesley Snipes. Gene's beautiful pencil techniques give the characters of The Spider, breath and bone. Colan said this Vanguard book was the best quality reproduction of his pencil art ever done.

Thrilling Comic Book Cover Art of Alex Schomburg
by J. David Spurlock with Dean Motter - art by Alex Schomburg

Thrilling, Wonder, Captain America, America's Best, Marvel, Exciting, Startling: Alex Schomburg produced the most dazzling array of high-quality comic-book covers in the Golden Age of American Comics. Spider-Man, Hulk, and X-Men co-creator Stan Lee said, "Alex Schomburg was to comic books what Norman Rockwell was to The Saturday Evening Post." Golden Age comic books with Schomburg covers are selling for record prices in America's leading auction houses. This book collects, for the first time, a host of tantalizing Schomburg treasures in one volume. Superheroes, jungle girls, robots, wild animals, and space travelers abound in these romantic and nostalgic Pop-Art icons of the bygone WWII era. Alex Schomburg has won every major award for both science fiction and comic book art, from the Hugo Lifetime Achievement Award to the Inkpot, the Doc Smith Lensman Award, and the Frank R. Paul Award. He was inducted posthumously into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame. During WWII, Schomburg turned out a plethora of ornate, flamboyant, and outrageously pro-American comic book covers jammed with detail.

The Comic Book Makers
By Joe Simon & Jim Simon with art by Jack Kirby

Original Jack Kirby partner, Captain America co-creator, Joe Simon tells the compelling, definitive history of the creators who gave us Superman, Captain America, Archie, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man and more. Meet the crime comics editor who would himself be accused of a gruesome murder; the horror artist who was periodically released from a mental hospital in order to meet his publishing dead-lines; the famous Senator Estes Kefauver, whose sub-committee investigated comic books as a cause of juvenile delinquency; and dozens of other fascinating personalities.

Will Eisner said, "The Comic Book Makers is like a school reunion, lavish with anecdotes that fill in the gap of threadbare memory. The Comic Book Makers is a very valuable work by a member of one of the most important teams in comic book history. Joe Simon deserves applause."

HAL FOSTER
Prince of Illustrators ~ Father of the Adventure Strip
By Brian M. Kane
Softcover Edition
Introduction by James Bama

In the first comprehensive biography of Hal Foster, author Brian M. Kane examines the 70-year career of one of the greatest illustrators of the twentieth century. Superman was modeled after Foster's drawings of Tarzan, Flash Gordon's Alex Raymond borrowed compositions from Prince Valiant and thousands of artists, including the famous contemporary Western painter James Bama, count Foster among their greatest influences.

Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1892 of a seafaring family, Hal naturally took to the sea. At the age of eight he paddled a twelve-foot plank across Halifax Harbor to the consternation of large Cunard liners. In his youth he was a catalogue artist, a trapper, a professional boxer, a gold prospector, and a hunter-guide in the uncharted forests of Canada. In 1921 with a wife and two children to support he peddled his one-speed bicycle 1,000 miles across dirt and gravel roads from Winnipeg to Chicago to attend the Art Institute and later find permanent employment.

The young illustrator's work appeared on the covers of Popular Mechanics and in hundreds of magazines for clients such as Northwest Paper, Jekle Margarine, Southern Pacific Railroad and Illinois Pacific Railroad. In 1929 Foster illustrated the first newspaper adaptation of Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The comic strip was the first of its kind and it was Foster's sense of realism, composition, draftsmanship, and understanding of fluid anatomy that would forever mark him as "The Father of the Adventure Strip."

The famous newspaper tycoon, William Randolph Hearst, wanted Foster and made the artist an unheard of offer. If Foster would leave Tarzan and come to work for Hearst's King Features Syndicate he could do anything he wanted and have complete ownership of the new series. The first episode of Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur appeared on February 13, 1937. Foster would chronicle the exploits of his greatest creation for the next 43 years.

Prince Valiant became one of the most successful comic series of all time, winning the prestigious Banshees' "Silver Lady" award and both the National Cartoonists Society's coveted "Reuben" award and "Gold Key" award. The strip also generated merchandise outside of the Sunday funnies such as toy knights complete with castle, a board game, paper dolls, candy bars and even a briefcase. In 1954, 20th Century Fox took Foster's creation to the silver screen in Prince Valiant, directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Robert Wagner, James Mason and Janet Leigh. Foster's fame led to him being the subject of an episode of the popular TV series, This is Your Life which aired April 14, 1954. At age 73, Foster was elected to membership in Great Britain's Royal Society of Arts - an honor very few Americans can claim. Foster's classic portraya l of Britain's history inspired England's King Edward, who abdicated to become Edward, The Duke of Windsor, to call Prince Valiant the "greatest contribution to English literature in the past hundred years."

LOVERBOY
An Irwin Hasen Story
By Irwin Hasen

Loverboy is the risqué, romantic escapade story of a very short, blue-eyed, confirmed bachelor, who adores tall, voluptuous women. The double-breasted suit wearing man-about-town seeks psychiatric insight to his tendencies in this humorous, intimate, and sometimes poignant, new graphic novel by award winning Dondi cartoonist, Irwin Hasen.
Toward the end of the story, we find that Loverboy is, in fact, Hasen himself and the book segues into an entertaining biography of the noted cartoonist whose career spans from the birth of the comic book; to work for DC, All-American, Sheldon Mayer and M.C. Gaines, including Catman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash, All-Star Comics; to his own creation, with Batman co-creator Bill Finger, Wildcat; to mentoring comics and animation legend, Alex Toth; to creating the Dondi newspaper strip with writer Gus Edson; and the1961 Dondi film staring David Janssen, Patti Page,and a cameo by Hasen as a police sketch artist. Loverboy is filled throughout with Irwin Hasen's famous humor.

"Irwin Hasen has lived a life that would take three lifetimes to experience. This book is a must read."

– Joe Kubert

"So you thought you missed the boat. Well here's your chance with Irwin Hasen's risqué and psychologically-insightful Loverboy graphic novel. Do not miss this book."
– Neal Adams

Wally Wood Dare-Devil Aces
Art by Wally Wood. Commentary by Thommy Burns, Larry Hama, J. David Spurlock & Rafael Medoff.

Greatest collection ever of Wallace Wood war comics. Spans the Hall of Fame creator’s career from titles like Capt Savage, U.S. Paratroopers, All American Men of War, War & Attack, D-Day, Warfront, Fight The Enemy, Blazing Combat―most have never been collected. Plus two full-length Ditko & Wood Cannon stories, commentary by J. David Spurlock, foreword by GI Joe and The ‘Nam writer Larry Hama and an essay on Wood’s EC war comics by Thommy Burns.

Wally Wood Jungle Adventures with Jim King & Animan
Art by Wally Wood

Before Marvel’s Wolverine, before DC’s Animal Man, Hall of Fame comics creator Wallace “Wally” Wood created Animan! After years of development, shortly after leaving Daredevil to launch the THUNDER Agents, Wood unveiled his Animan masterpiece in early issues of his ground-breaking self-published magazine, Witzend. Vanguard continues their Wood Classics series with nearly 200 pages of Wood jungle comics spanning from the Golden Age through the 1960s with Animan, Jim King, Sabu, Jungle Princess, and much more.

Wally Wood: Torrid Tales of Romance
Art by Wally Wood
Vanguard's Wally Wood Classics series follows the best-selling Wood: Strange Worlds and Wood: Eerie Crime & Horror with an all-new collection of Golden Age Wood Romance. These rare and valuable collectors-item stories have NEVER appeared in any book. This massive collection costs less than a single issue of the original comics!