Comic-Book Superstore: Humor: Page 5 of 6

The week it hit the stores, Watterson's Weirdos from Another Planet! touched down at No.l on Walden's and B. Dalton's bestselling lists and No. 2 on the New York Times bestseller list. How to top such success? With The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes, a large-format treausry of cartoons, including full-color Sunday strips, plus a full-color original story unique to this collection.


BILL WATTERSON
	ATTACK Of The DERANGED MUTANT KILLER MONSTER SNOW GOONS
	by Bill Watterson
	Paperback: 127 pages Andrews McMeel Publishing ISBN: 0836218833	$10.95
	With the help of his faithful stuffed tiger companion and his alter-egos--Spaceman Spiff, Stupendous Man, and Tracer Bullet-- Calvin continues to navigate the tricky waters of youth in the latest collection by comic strip genius Bill Watterson.

SHANNON WHEELER

TOO MUCH COFFEE MAN'S GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED

by Shannon Wheeler

Paperback: 144 pages
Dark Horse Comics, Inc.
ISBN: 1569712891

$10.95

Too Much Coffee Man (TMCM) is a caffeinated antihero who is steadily moving up the ladder of popularity. Starting from such diverse beginnings as a weekly cartoon in the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman (circ. 180,000) and one of the best-selling alternative comic books, he now has been seen in such diverse locations as TV Guide, MTV, and an animated Converse shoe commercial.

Too Much Coffee Man is not so much about coffee as it is about life and figuring things out; there`s a lot of free-thinking, bad puns, slapstick humor, and nickel philosophy. This unique collection features three 8-page stories, a 32-page DHP story, the notorious seven-page, bullet-hole story, at least 65 individual, one-page strips, and an introduction by Beavis and Butthead creator, Mike Judge. Available in both softcover and limited-edition hardcover collections, both fully caffeinated!
.
“Antihero comic strip Too Much Coffee Man is deep, full-bodied and steeped in angst.”

--The Washington Post

.
With his bulging eyes and coffee cup head, he dispenses a steady pour of humor cynical enough for the alienated, optimistic enough for the deluded. Take, for instance his morning prayer to his (Coffee) Maker, “I am humbled by your odoriferous outpouring. You inspire me to rise from my bed and motivate me through my morning rituals. I can now endure the hardships of an otherwise banal and meaningless existence.” Or how about Too Much Coffee Man’s sidekick, Too Much Espresso Man, who proclaims, “If you can’t be happy, force it”? “It’s metaphor,” creator Shannon Wheeler says of coffee. “It’s a keyhole into what’s wrong with my brain. If I wrote only about coffee, I’d run dry. There’s about eight coffee jokes, but there’s gotta be at least 25 jokes about emotional problems. Too Much Coffee Man is a strip about manic-depressive, obsessive-compulsive, behavior disorders for the whole family”
.
“If one cup makes me feel me good, two cups will make me feel better.”

--Too Much Coffee Man

.
“Unrequited love is like hitting your head against a wall that isn’t there.”

--Too Much German White Chocolate Woman With Almonds

.
A reader from East Coast, USA:
Good To The Last Drop.
A great read. I couldn't put it down, even when confronted by wild children and an irate spouse. TMCM does battle with the contradictions and idiocy of everyday life, saves the men of Mars, screams at the dirty dishes, wanders about naked, and leaves us with a sense of wonder (or is it wonderment?) at his nicotine and caffeine induced "super" powers. Wheeler's wry social commentary aligns him with the likes of Outcault, Herriman, McKay and Bushmiller. TMCM is a sure antidote to drivel like "Zippy" (not to mention the fact that it is far better drawn). Spare poor Shannon Wheeler the pain of seeing his work ignored. Read this book. Write a review. Keep the pot fresh.

--The Guatman

.
cheapshot@tmcm.com from Berkeley, CA:
It seemed to mirror my own life.
I had mixed feelings about reading this book. Finally, late one night, I managed to open the book to a random page and start reading. I was sucked in. My own thoughts were expressed in ways I never thought possible. In many ways this is the best book I have ever read. Soon I'll start to write a second book.

--Shannon Wheeler

.
About the Author
Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Shannon Wheeler is actually organized, thoughtful, and friendly. He lives in Berkeley, California.

Judd Winick

The ADVENTURES of BARRY WEEN,
BOY GENIUS: Volume 3

by Judd Winick

Paperback: 88 pages
Publisher: Oni Press
ISBN: 192999818X

$8.95

Barry Ween is back with his third collection of hilarious comic book stories! And this time, he's bringing monkeys! As you may know, Barry Ween is the world's smartest human being. His big brain, as his best friend Jeremy calls it, has a limitless capacity for knowledge, and better yet, Barry has no problem putting that knowledge to use.

That's pretty cool when you consider the fact that he's only ten years old. Unfortunately, when you have that kind of smarts, trouble is nearly a foregone conclusion--and boy howdy, does Barry get in trouble! Giant, talking gorillas from other dimensions; drunken, smelly clans of Bigfeet; and a germ-filled monkey looking to cause the next outbreak--these are things that Barry has just come to accept as normal. Heck, compared to such frightening childhood rites of passage as girls and the first school dance, Barry would take all three scenarios without blinking. THE ADVENTURES OF BARRY WEEN, BOY GENIUS 3: MONKEY TALES comes packed full of laughs from everyone's favorite foul-mouthed superbrain. A must for any humor connoisseur.

From the Publisher
Judd Winick is best remembered as a cast member of MTV's THE REAL WORLD III, but he has quickly earned a reputation as a gifted cartoonist with his work on the syndicated newspaper comic strip FRUMPY THE CLOWN. His story Road Trip in ONI DOUBLE FEATURE earned him an Eisner Award Nomination for Best Serialized Story in 1999. THE ADVENTURES OF BARRY WEEN, BOY GENIUS, was originally published by Image Comics, where it immediately sold out its print run, and the first trade paperback collection, as well as it's follow-up, has been a perennial seller since Oni published it in November, 1999. The concept has been optioned by Platinum Studios for development as an animated TV show. Judd also has a full-length, original graphic novel, PEDRO & ME, about his experiences on THE REAL WORLD and as an AIDs lecturer, published Henry Holt. It earned him his third Eisner Nomination this year, in the category of Best Original Graphic Novel, was awarded four honors from the American Library Association (including a Sibert Award Honor), votest Best Children's Book from Bay Area Book Reviewer's Association, and dubbed one of the best books of 2000 by PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY. He was also nominated for a 2001 Eisner for Best Writer/Artist--Humor for his work on BARRY WEEN.

Dimensions (in inches): 0.23 x 10.30 x 6.52

JIM WOODRING

FRANK
volume two

by Jim Woodring

Paperback: 96 pages
Fantagraphics Books
ISBN: 1560972793

$16.95

"Frank will take you to another world, rearrange your consciousness, and reprogram the inside of your head. It's cheaper than virtual reality, less risky than recreational pharmaceuticals, and more fun than falling asleep."

--Neil Gaiman

Like the best dreams, Jim Woodring's stories defy explanation. Frank, a vaguely bearlike creature with Mickey Mouse gloves, lives in a beautifully drawn, disturbingly strange world. Frank's wordless adventures may seem simple on first reading, but they will stick in your mind for a long time. The comic-book format presents us with a series of images that we are encouraged to string together into a narrative. Still, Woodring's work resists a simple interpretation. The comparison with dreams is impossible to resist, and Woodring has created something to rival the work of the most famous surrealist painters and writers. Like Dali, he creates a universe with a bizarre logic of its own, a dream world of extraordinary depth. Utterly odd, yet strangely familiar, Frank is one of the most memorable comic books ever created.