Bill Ward's Torchy The first three issues of Bill Ward's classic cheesecake comic are reprinted here for the first time. Ward created the character Torchy Todd after being drafted into the military and soon the comic strip became syndicated to Army newspapers worldwide. Loaded with gags and pin-up charm, the solo series Torchy ran for six issues. Collected here are 22 stories from both Torchy and Modern Comics (1946-50) and includes an introduction by comics historian Trina Robbins. 8x11, softcover, 160 black & white pages. $25.00

Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-creator Joe Shuster showcases rare and recently discovered erotic artwork by the most seminal artist in comics, Joe Shuster. Created in the early 1950s when Shuster was down on his luck after suing his publisher, DC Comics, over the copyright for Superman, he illustrated these images for an obscure series of magazines called "Nights of Horror," published under the counter until they were banned by the U.S. Senate. Juvenile deliquency, Dr. Fredric Wertham, and the Brooklyn Thrill Killers gang all figure into this sensational story. The discovery of this artwork reveals the "secret identity" of this revered comics creator, and is sure to generate controversy and change the perception of the way we look at Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and Jimmy Olsen forever. The book includes reproductions of these images, and an essay that provides a detailed account of the scandal and the murder trial that resulted from the publication of this racy material. 8x9, hardcover, 160 black & white pages. $24.95

It Rhymes with Lust is a book, originally published in 1950, considered one of the most notable precursors of the graphic novel. Called a "picture novel" on the cover and published by the comic book and magazine company St. John Publications, it was written by Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller (together using the pseudonym "Drake Waller"), with black-and-white art by Matt Baker and inker Ray Osrin. In co-author Drake's opinion, "I don't think there is much question that It Rhymes with Lust was the first graphic novel". According to Drake, he and Waller created the concept of "picture novels" in 1949 while in college in New York City, conceiving "a more developed comic book — a deliberate bridge between comic books and book books. ... What we planned was a series of picture novels that were, essentially, action, mystery, Western and romance movies on paper". Armed with a two-page sample of an example story, One Man Too Many!, Drake and Waller convinced Archer St. John of St. John Publications to launch a line of mass market paperbacks containing original comics work that would appeal to the general public. It Rhymes with Lust is an adult-oriented story, influenced by film noir and pulp fiction, that depicts life in a steel town and stars a manipulative woman named Rust. Comics writer-artist Michael T. Gilbert wrote that it "reads like a B-movie potboiler, bubbling over with greed, sex, and political corruption". The cover tagline reads: "She was greedy, heartless and calculating. She knew what she wanted and was ready to sacrifice anything to get it". This painstakingly restored replica volume includes a new introduction by writer Arnold Drake providing a first-hand history of the graphic novel. Before winning the Bill Finger Award for lifetime achievement in comics writing, before creating Deadman, or writing Doom Patrol and X-Men, Drake helped bring the original "picture novel" to life, a true milestone in the history of comics! * Considered by many to be the first graphic novel, It Rhymes with Lust returns to print after more than fifty years--in the only edition authorized by the original creators! 5x7, softcover, 112-page full-color graphic album. ... $14.95

Edited by John Benson. A first-time collection of the best romance comics of the 1950s. These bright, naturalistic tales (originally published by Archer St. John and written by unrecognized comics master Dana Dutch) are about high school girls who may be inexperienced but definitely have minds of their own. Many of these stories are illustrated by Matt Baker, who achieved fame for his work on Phantom Lady and other sexy female characters in the 40s and 50s. 8x11, softcover, 160-page full-color graphic album. ... $22.95

Great Women Superheroes
by Trina Robbins The most famous female superhero is Wonder Woman, created in 1940 by a William Moulton Marston, a psychologist who also happened to invent the lie detector. But superheroines like the Blonde Phantom (1946); Ultra Violet (1947) and Miss Masque (1946) have long been forgotten. Trina Robbins (A Century of Women Cartoonists) resurrects the story behind these early characters and introduces a new generation of superheroines and their creators in The Great Women Superheroes. When was Wonder Woman created? Who is Miss Fury? What is Supergirl's disguise? Here comic illustrater and writer Robbins answers these questions and a great many more. In this detailed history of female superheroes from the Forties through the Nineties, the author covers both the well-known and the obscure. She chronicles comic-book heroines and their creators and also analyzes these characters. Robbins explores the roots in the booming comic industry of the 1940s, when the new characters provided powerful role models for female readers. And she criticizes the "bad girl" comics of the 1990s, wherein scantily clothed pinups spend their adventures bathed in blood. Written in a witty, entertaining manner and filled with black-and-white illustrations, this book packs as much punch as the superheroines it chronicles.
8x11, 208 black and white pages, softcover. ... $21.95