Covering genres from adventure and fantasy to horror, science fiction, and superheroes, this guide maps the vast terrain of graphic novels, describing and organizing titles to help librarians balance their graphic novel collections and direct patrons to read-alikes. New subgenres, new authors, new artists, and new titles appear daily in the comic book and manga world, joining thousands of existing titles—some of which are very popular and well-known to the enthusiastic readers of books in this genre. How do you determine which graphic novels to purchase, and which to recommend to teen and adult readers? This updated guide is intended to help you start, update, or maintain a graphic novel collection and advise readers about the genre. Containing mostly new information as compared to the previous edition, the book covers iconic super-hero comics and other classic and contemporary crime fighter-based comics; action and adventure comics, including prehistoric, heroic, explorer, and Far East adventure as well as Western adventure; science fiction titles that encompass space opera/fantasy, aliens, post-apocalyptic themes, and comics with storylines revolving around computers, robots, and artificial intelligence. There are also chapters dedicated to fantasy titles; horror titles, such as comics about vampires, werewolves, monsters, ghosts, and the occult; crime and mystery titles regarding detectives, police officers, junior sleuths, and true crime; comics on contemporary life, covering romance, coming-of-age stories, sports, and social and political issues; humorous titles; and various nonfiction graphic novels.

The definitive e-guide to the characters of the DC Multiverse Iconic Super Heroes Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and The Flash have been transformed in recent years, along with many other DC characters. This new edition of the most comprehensive A-Z e-guide to DC's pantheon of Super Heroes and Super-Villains includes the latest earth-shaking developments in the DC Multiverse, with profiles of more than 1,200 characters. Created in full collaboration with DC, the encyclopedia features characters and art from every key crossover event, including Dark Nights: Metal and its sequel Dark Nights: Death Metal. With a foreword by DC legend Jim Lee, a brand-new cover design, and thrilling comic artwork, the fun and excitement of more than 80 years of comics history explodes off every page. Experience the DC Multiverse like never before with The DC Comics Encyclopedia New Edition. Copyright ©2021 DC Comics. All DC characters and elements © & TM DC Comics. WB SHIELD: TM & © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (s21)

Amanda “the Wall” Waller has fought tooth and nail to keep her Suicide Squad of metahuman black ops agents in operation. Together with Checkmate, a covert government spy agency, these two teams make up Waller’s Task Force X, taking on the missions that the United States government deems too dangerous for anyone else. But the members of Task Force X aren’t the only ones doing the government’s dirty work. When Waller uncovers a conspiracy code named the “Janus Directive,” it becomes clear that another government agency intends to wipe out Task Force X, and body count is not a consideration. Is this the beginning of an all-out secret war between the country’s most dangerous operatives, or is someone else pulling the strings to further their own endgame? And if that’s the case, has someone finally done the impossible and outsmarted the Wall? From an array of classic comics creators including John Ostrander, Paul Kupperberg, Kim Yale, John K. Snyder III, Steve Erwin, and many more, SUICIDE SQUAD: THE JANUS DIRECTIVE presents the classic crossover event in its entirety for the first time! Collects SUICIDE SQUAD #26-30, CHECKMATE #15-18, MANHUNTER #14, FIRESTORM #86 and CAPTAIN ATOM #30.

In this expansive and provocative new work, Michael Dango theorizes how aesthetic style manages crisis—and why taking crisis seriously means taking aesthetics seriously. Detoxing, filtering, bingeing, and ghosting: these are four actions that have come to define how people deal with the stress of living in a world that seems in permanent crisis. As Dango argues, they can also be used to describe contemporary art and literature. Employing what he calls "promiscuous archives," Dango traverses media and re-shuffles literary and art historical genealogies to make his case. The book discusses social media filters alongside the minimalism of Donald Judd and La Monte Young and the television shows The West Wing and True Detective. It reflects on the modernist cuisine of Ferran Adrià and the fashion design of Issey Miyake. And, it dissects writing by Barbara Browning, William S. Burroughs, Raymond Carver, Mark Danielewski, Jennifer Egan, Tao Lin, David Mitchell, Joyce Carol Oates, Mary Robison, and Zadie Smith. Unpacking how the styles of these works detox, filter, binge, or ghost their worlds, Crisis Style is at once a taxonomy of contemporary cultural production and a theorization of action in a world always in need of repair. Ultimately, Dango presents a compelling argument for why we need aesthetic theory to understand what we're doing in our world today.

The Siege of the Anvil! Will any of Hell's Half-Dozen survive?

'Whether you love Marvel 3000 or you're a Scorsese sympathisers, MCU is worth your time, being a pacy, lively account of the single most important studio of the century... This account offers a wealth of insight.' - Empire 'The book every MCU fan needs to read ' - Alan Sepinwall, co-author of The Soprano Sessions Marvel Entertainment was a struggling toymaker not even twenty years ago. Today, Marvel Studios is the dominant player both in Hollywood and in global pop culture. But what accounts for its stunning rise? In MCU, beloved culture writers Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards draw on more than a hundred interviews with actors, producers, directors, and writers to present the definitive chronicle of Marvel Studios and its sole, ongoing production, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As they delve into the studio's key moments - from the contentious hiring of Robert Downey Jr. for Iron Man to the negotiations over Disney's acquisition of Marvel to studio head Kevin Feige's embrace of streaming TV - the authors demonstrate that the genius of Marvel was its resurrection and modification of Hollywood's old studio system. Dishy and authoritative, MCU is the first book to tell the Marvel Studios story in full - and an essential, effervescent account of popular culture.

Acclaimed actor and rap artist Will Smith has achieved a level of Hollywood fame rarely attained by a Black celebrity. Early in his career, Smith aspired to be the world's most famous movie star and being named the world's top film attraction in 2008, fulfilled his goal. While his rise to a place of worldwide prominence and cultural relevance has made him iconic, his accomplishments have not received the full and thorough acknowledgement and analysis they merit. This is the first full-length critical look at the significance of Will Smith's achievements over a more than 30-year career. Many of his films have broken cultural norms by depicting Black men in groundbreaking social settings, like the role of the world-saving hero in his most popular films. In addition to analyzing Smith's filmography, this work contextualizes other popular and common portrayals of Black men in media and society. Finally, this book examines Smith's work in his middle age, ruminating on his ability to adapt to the realities of a new Hollywood.