Bob Fingerman's 3 favorite reads in 2024

The beloved comic book series Eightball made Daniel Clowes' name even before he gained fame as a bestselling graphic novelist (Ghost World, Patience, David Boring, Ice Haven) and screenwriter. From 1989 to 1997, he produced 18 issues of what is still widely considered one of the greatest and most influential comic book titles of all time. Now, Fantagraphics is collecting every single page of these long out-of-print issues in a paperback edition. It includes more than 500 pages of vintage Clowes: seminal serialized graphic novels, strips, and rants, such as "Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron," "Ghost World," "Pussey,"… show more.

The first complete narrative history of Underground Comix, the countercultural movement from the 1960s, '70s, and '80s that forever changed comics

In Dirty Pictures: How Nerds, Feminists, Bikers, and Potheads Revolutionized Comix, author and journalist Brian Doherty tells the wild history of the outlaw, outsider, and sometimes illegal world of Underground Comix. This subterranean subgenre of comic strips and books was printed in lofts on out-of-date machinery, published in handbound zines and underground newspapers, and distributed in headshops, porno stores, and on street corners.

Comix-spelled that way to distinguish the work from its dime-store superhero contemporaries-presented tales of illicit sex,… show more.

New York Times bestselling author Jason Pargin’s hilarious and horrifying John Dies at the End series continues with If This Book Exists, You’re in the Wrong Universe.

"Pargin once again delights with scathing social commentary thinly disguised as an outrageous action novel...This is a feast."―Publishers Weekly

"Within the snarky humor is an incisive commentary on social media and the state of our connected world, and a story about trauma and how people lash out when they’re hurt...This isn’t just a funny tale of inept supernatural investigators; it’s a story of people struggling through pain to find a better path. Pargin… show more.