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Ed The Happy Clown
''Ed the Happy Clown'' is a graphic novel by Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown. Its title character is a large-headed, childlike children's clown who undergoes one horrifying affliction after another. The story is a dark, humorous mix of genres and features scatological humour, sex, body horror, extreme graphic violence, and blasphemous religious imagery. Central to the plot are a man who cannot stop defecating; the head of a miniature, other-dimensional Ronald Reagan attached to the head of Ed's penis; and a female vampire who seeks revenge on her adulterous lover who had murdered her to escape his sins. The surreal, largely improvised story began with a series of unrelated short strips that Brown went on to tie into a single narrative. Brown first serialized it in his comic book '' Yummy Fur'', and the first, incomplete collected edition in 1989, titled ''Ed the Happy Clown: A Yummy Fur Book''. Shortly after, Brown became unsatisfied with the direction of the serial; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vortex Comics
Vortex Comics is a Canadian independent comic book publisher that began operation in 1982. Under the supervision of president, publisher, and editor Bill Marks, Vortex was known for such titles as Dean Motter's '' Mister X'', Howard Chaykin's ''Black Kiss'', and Chester Brown's '' Yummy Fur'', the last of which was a pioneer of alternative comics. Vortex also earned a reputation for publishing Canadian comic book creators such as Brown, Ty Templeton, Ken Steacy, and Jeffrey Morgan. History Vortex was founded by 20-year-old high school dropout William P. "Bill" Marks of Toronto in 1982, with its first title being an anthology comic of the same name. Marks recalled, " omic bookshad a lot of potential for growth that I could see. I could see a revolution happening. By this time ''Cerebus'' was doing extremely well. '' Elfquest'' was a runaway success in the bookstores and on the best-seller lists. Eclipse was just starting up and shortly thereafter Pacific Comics started to get quit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruce McDonald (director)
Bruce McDonald (born May 28, 1959) is a Canadian film and television director, writer, and producer. Born in Kingston, Ontario, he rose to prominence in the 1980s as part of the loosely-affiliated Toronto New Wave. McDonald has directed more than a dozen features films over the course of his three-decade-long filmmaking career. ''The Hollywood Reporter'' has called him an "iconoclastic filmmaker". Several of his films, ranging from mockumentaries to horror films, have attracted cult followings. His most notable films include ''Roadkill'' (1989), '' Highway 61'' (1991), '' Hard Core Logo'' (1996), ''Pontypool'' (2008), ''Trigger'' (2010), and '' Hellions'' (2015). ''Hard Core Logo'' has been frequently ranked amongst the greatest movies ever to come out of Canada. Early life McDonald was born in Kingston, Ontario, and later moved to Toronto, where he graduated from film school at Ryerson University. At Ryerson, he made the short films ''Merge'' (1980) and ''Let Me See...'' (198 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to leader André Breton, to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality", or ''surreality.'' It produced works of painting, writing, theatre, filmmaking, photography, and other media. Works of Surrealism feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and '' non sequitur''. However, many Surrealist artists and writers regard their work as an expression of the philosophical movement first and foremost (for instance, of the "pure psychic automatism" Breton speaks of in the first Surrealist Manifesto), with the works themselves being secondary, i.e. artifacts of surrealist experimentation. Leader Breton was explicit in his assertion that Surrealism was, above all, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maus
''Maus'' is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Art Spiegelman, serialized from 1980 to 1991. It depicts Spiegelman interviewing his father about his experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. The work employs postmodern techniques, and represents Jews as mice and other Germans and Poles as cats and pigs. Critics have classified ''Maus'' as memoir, biography, history, fiction, autobiography, or a mix of genres. In 1992 it became the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize. In the frame-tale timeline in the narrative present that begins in 1978 in New York City, Spiegelman talks with his father Vladek about his Holocaust experiences, gathering material and information for the ''Maus'' project he is preparing. In the narrative past, Spiegelman depicts these experiences, from the years leading up to World War II to his parents' liberation from the Nazi concentration camps. Much of the story revolves around Spiegelman's troubled relationship with his father ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman (; born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman on February 15, 1948) is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines ''Arcade (comics magazine), Arcade'' and ''Raw (magazine), Raw'' has been influential, and from 1992 he spent a decade as contributing artist for ''The New Yorker''. He is married to designer and editor Françoise Mouly, and is the father of writer Nadja Spiegelman. In September 2022, the National Book Foundation announced that he would receive the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Spiegelman began his career with Topps (a bubblegum and trading card company) in the mid-1960s, which was his main financial support for two decades; there he co-created parodic series such as ''Wacky Packages'' in the 1960s and ''Garbage Pail Kids'' in the 1980s. He gained prominence in the underground comix scene in the 1970s with short, experimental, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cerebus
''Cerebus'' (; also ''Cerebus the Aardvark'') is a comic book series created by Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim, which ran from December 1977 until March 2004. The title character of the 300-issue series is an anthropomorphic aardvark who takes on a number of roles throughout the series—barbarian, prime minister, and Pope among them. The series stands out for its experimentation in form and content, and for the dexterity of its artwork, especially after background artist Gerhard joined with the 65th issue. As the series progressed, it increasingly became a platform for Sim's controversial beliefs. The comic began as a parody of sword and sorcery comics, primarily Marvel's version of Conan the Barbarian. However, it evolved to explore a variety of other topics, including politics, religion, and gender issues. At a total of 6,000 pages, it progressively became more serious and ambitious than its parodic roots. Sim announced early on that the series would end with the death of the ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comic Shop
The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of: * four major comic distributors: ** Lunar Distribution and UCS Comic Distributors (which distribute DC Comics since 2020), ** Penguin Random House Publisher Services (the distribution arm of the publishing company), which since 1 October 2021 distributes Marvel Comics and since 1 June 2022 distributes IDW Publishing (with Diamond switching to a Marvel and IDW wholesaler), and ** Diamond Comic Distributors, which distributes most, if not all, non-DC/Marvel/IDW comics (having exclusive deals with those publishers) * the majority of comics specialty stores, and * other retailers of comic books and related merchandise. The name is no longer a fully accurate description of the model by which it operates, but derives from its original implementation: retailers bypassing existing distri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Underground Comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality, and violence. They were most popular in the United States in the late 1960s and 1970s, and in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. Robert Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, Barbara "Willy" Mendes, Trina Robbins and numerous other cartoonists created underground titles that were popular with readers within the counterculture scene. Punk had its own comic artists like Gary Panter. Long after their heyday, underground comix gained prominence with films and television shows influenced by the movement and with mainstream comic books, but their legacy is most obvious with alternative comics. History United States The United States underground comics scene emerged in the 1960s, focusing on subjects dear to the count ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their first comic under the DC banner being published in 1937. The majority of its publications take place within the fictional DC Universe and feature numerous culturally iconic heroic characters, such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, and Cyborg. It is widely known for some of the most famous and recognizable teams including the Justice League, the Justice Society of America, the Suicide Squad, and the Teen Titans. The universe also features a large number of well-known supervillains such as the Joker, Lex Luthor, the Cheetah, the Reverse-Flash, Black Manta, Sinestro, and Darkseid. The company has published non-DC Universe-related material, including ''Watchmen'', '' V for Vendetta'', '' Fables'' and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 1951 and its predecessor, ''Marvel Mystery Comics'', the ''Marvel Comics'' title/name/brand was first used in June 1961. Marvel was started in 1939 by Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin Goodman as Timely Comics, and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics (1950s), Atlas Comics. The Marvel era began in June 1961 with the launch of ''The Fantastic Four'' and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and many others. The Marvel brand, which had been used over the years and decades, was solidified as the company's primary brand. Marvel counts among List of Marvel Comics characters, its characters such well-known superheroes as Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor (Marvel Comics), Thor, Doc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superhero Comics
Superhero comics are one of the most common genres of American comic books. The genre rose to prominence in the 1930s and became extremely popular in the 1940s and has remained the dominant form of comic book in North America since the 1960s. Superhero comics feature stories about superheroes and the universes these characters inhabit. Beginning with the introduction of Superman in 1938 in ''Action Comics'' #1 — an anthology of adventure features — comic books devoted to superheroes (heroic people with extraordinary or superhuman abilities and skills, or god-like powers and attributes) ballooned into a widespread genre, coincident with the beginnings of World War II and the end of the Great Depression. Precursors In comics format, superpowered and costumed heroes like Popeye and The Phantom had appeared in newspaper comic strips for several years prior to Superman. The first fully-masked hero The Clock first appeared in the comic book ''Funny Pages'' #6 (Nov. 1936). H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
