Between 300 and 600 C.E., Chinese writers compiled thousands of accounts of the strange and the extraordinary. Some described weird spirits, customs, and flora and fauna in distant lands. Some depicted individuals of unusual spiritual or moral achievement. But most told of ordinary people’s encounters with ghosts, demons, or gods; sojourns in the land of the dead; eerily significant dreams; and uncannily accurate premonitions. The selection of such stories presented here provides an alluring introduction to early medieval Chinese storytelling and opens a doorway to the enchanted world of thought, culture, and religious belief of that era. Known as zhiguai, or “accounts of anomalies,” they convey a great deal about how people saw the cosmos and their place in it. The tales were circulated because they were entertaining but also because their compilers meant to document the mysterious workings of spirits, the wonders of exotic places, and the nature of the afterlife. A collection of more than two hundred tales, A Garden of Marvels offers an authoritative yet accessible introduction to zhiguai writings, particularly those never before translated or adequately researched. This volume will likely find its way to bedside tables as well as into classrooms and libraries, just as collections of zhiguai did in early medieval times.

Dreaming is a near-universal human experience, but there is no consensus on why we dream or what dreams should be taken to mean. In this book, Robert Ford Campany investigates what people in late classical and early medieval China thought of dreams. He maps a common dreamscape—an array of ideas about what dreams are and what responses they should provoke—that underlies texts of diverse persuasions and genres over several centuries. These writings include manuals of dream interpretation, scriptural instructions, essays, treatises, poems, recovered manuscripts, histories, and anecdotes of successful dream-based predictions. In these many sources, we find culturally distinctive answers to questions peoples the world over have asked for millennia: What happens when we dream? Do dreams foretell future events? If so, how might their imagistic code be unlocked to yield predictions? Could dreams enable direct communication between the living and the dead, or between humans and nonhuman animals? The Chinese Dreamscape, 300 BCE – 800 CE sheds light on how people in a distant age negotiated these mysteries and brings Chinese notions of dreaming into conversation with studies of dreams in other cultures, ancient and contemporary. Taking stock of how Chinese people wrestled with—and celebrated—the strangeness of dreams, Campany asks us to reflect on how we might reconsider our own notions of dreaming.

CollectsÿAvengers (1963) #124-125, #129-135; Captain Marvel (1968) #33; Giant-Size Avengers #2-4; Avengers: Celestial Quest #1-8. Follow the fateful saga of the Avenger named Mantis - a tale three decades in the telling! It all begins with the revelations of the Star-Stalker, and soon drags Earth's Mightiest Heroes into a cosmic clash between Captain Marvel and Thanos! But when Kang comes to the present day in search of the Celestial Madonna, Mantis' life is forever altered! In one of the greatest Avengers epics ever told, the besotted Swordsman will go to great lengths to save the woman he loves. Wedding bells will chime, and Mantis will embrace her destiny!

A desperate woman hopes a psychic can help find her son in “this intricate, surprise-filled crime novel” from the CWA Gold Dagger Award–winning author (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Five footprints are the only sign that four-year-old Daniel Buck was ever here. They’re all his mother has left. Every day, Anna Buck guards the little prints in the cement. Polishing them to a shine. Keeping them safe. Spiraling towards insanity. With little help or hope coming from the police or her husband, James, Anna is looking for any opportunity that may lead to finding her son. So when a woman tells her she’s found a “shut eye”—a true psychic—Anna grasps at it. Maybe he can tell her what happened. But her meeting with the psychic is not at all what she suspected . . . Matching breathtaking suspense with a keen exploration of skepticism in the face of the unexplainable, The Shut Eye is a “very satisfying” crime thriller that will have readers “rushing to the final pages” (TheIndependent). “A standout.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Collects Captain Marvel (2019) #17-21. The end of an era! It’s poker night at Casa Danvers with Wolverine, Monica Rambeau, Spider-Woman, Hazmat, Jessica Jones and Ms. Marvel all in the game! But the fun ends as a cosmic conflict breaks out. And when EMPYRE unites the Kree and the Skrulls, Captain Marvel takes on a bold new role — as the Supreme Accuser, wielding the Universal Weapon! Carol has become Emperor Hulkling’s swift and necessary hammer of justice — but when she’s tasked to accuse a renegade soldier responsible for heinous crimes, she finds herself torn between two worlds! Carol recruits some of her staunchest allies to help bring down the hammer of justice! But with the end of a war, Captain Marvel must make a choice that will define her life — and the lives of those closest to her!

Was 1906 the year of birth of animation pictures? Or 1908? Was France the place of birth, or was it the United States? --

Collects Guidebook to the Marvel Cinematic Universe - Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season One, Two, Three, Four; Marvel's Agent Carter Season One, Two. Level 7 access granted! Just as the MCU exploded onto TV screens, the Guidebooks expand their coverage to take on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Marvel’s Agent Carter — including an ALL-NEW exclusive chapter on S.H.I.E.L.D. Season Four! We reveal everything you need to know about the past and present of S.H.I.E.L.D., from the early days of Agent Peggy Carter’s SSR to Agent Phil Coulson’s ragtag team! Featuring fact sheets, comic-book counterparts, behind-the-scenes artwork and production stills, this Guidebook is packed with profiles of all the major players, including Carter; Coulson; Daisy Johnson, a.k.a. Quake, A.K.A. Skye; Melinda May; Leo Fitz; Jemma Simmons; and Grant Ward. Plus: Howard Stark, Edwin Jarvis, Deathlok, Ghost Rider, the Inhumans and more!

New York City has had a profound influence on the Marvel Comics universe. Unlike Batman's Gotham City or Superman's Metropolis, the Marvel superheroes - Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers - are grounded firmly in the streets of New York, working and living beside us. This fun and informative guide will take you through those streets, pointing out locations of interest along the way. Peter Parker's apartment in the West Village? We'll show you how to get there. Looking for the Avengers headquarters? They might give you funny looks when you show up at the Frick Museum, but don't worry, you're in the right place. You'll also discover why Stan Lee decided to use New York as his backdrop in the first place, and what effect that decision has had on subsequent generations of comic book artists and writers. Whether you're a curious traveller or just a Marvel Comics fan, The Marvel Comics Guide to New York Citygives a fresh and fun new look at the greatest city in the world - and the Marvel universe.

Collects Iron Man (1968) #55, Captain Marvel (1968) #33, Silver Surfer (1987) #45, Spider-Man (1990) #17, Ka-Zar (1997) #11, material from Marvel Holiday Special (1991) #2. Thanos is one of the deadliest villains in the Marvel-Verse - and these are some of his greatest tales of conquest! Thanos' sinister debut leads Iron Man into battle with Drax the Destroyer! Then, join Thanos in cosmic conflict with his arch-enemy, the legendary Kree warrior Mar-Vell! The Mad Titan takes on the demonic Mephisto as secrets of the Infinity Gems are revealed - but can Spider-Man triumph over Thanos and escape the afterlife? And what chance does Ka-Zar, lord of the Savage Land, have against the Mad Titan's world-conquering plans?! Plus, a holiday tale like no other starring Thanos and his "daughter" - the deadly Gamora!