Jon B. Cooke

The definitive biography of one of the most prolific creators in the history of American comics! From a start in 1947 at the Simon & Kirby shop, he co-created the legendary Western strip American Eagle with Will Elder, and became an EC Comics mainstay, working with Harvey Kurtzman on Mad and Two-Fisted Tales. In addition to a 40+ year association with Cracked magazine, his pivotal Marvel Comics work included an extended run inking Herb Trimpe on The Hulk, and teaming with sister Marie Severin to create the classic comics version of King Kull. Throughout his storied career, he freelanced for every major publisher, and remained a workhorse up till his final Dark Horse mini-series at age 90. Included in this volume is a special "American Eagle" section, an eye-popping art gallery, and extensive personal photos and artifacts (including WWII "Victory Mail" cartoons and handmade greeting cards for his family). Also featured are commentary from over 25 peers gathered just for this book, including Neal Adams, Richard Corben, John Byrne, Russ Heath, Walter Simonson, and many others. Written by Greg Biga and multiple Eisner Award-winner Jon B. Cooke, with an introduction by Howard Chaykin, Foreword by Mort Todd, and Afterword by Chuck Dixon, this profusely illustrated book celebrates the centennial of the two-fisted artist's birth!

In 1994, amidst the boom-&-bust of comic book speculators, The Jack Kirby Collector #1 was published for true fans of the medium. That modest labor of love spawned TwoMorrows Publishing, today’s premier purveyor of publications about comics and pop culture. Celebrate their 25th anniversary with this special retrospective look at the company that changed fandom forever! Co-edited by and featuring publisher John Morrow and Comic Book Artist/Comic Book Creator magazine’s Jon B. Cooke, it gives the inside story and behind-the-scenes details of a quarter-century of looking at the past in a whole new way. Also included are Back Issue magazine’s Michael Eury, Alter Ego’s Roy Thomas, George Khoury (author of Kimota!, Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore, and other books), Mike Manley (Draw! magazine), Eric Nolen-Weathington (Modern Masters), and a host of other comics luminaries who’ve contributed to TwoMorrows’ output over the years. From their Eisner Award-winning Streetwise book, through their BrickJournal Lego magazine, up to today’s RetroFan magazine, every major TwoMorrows publication and contributor is covered with the same detail and affection the company gives to its books and magazines. With an Introduction by Mark Evanier, Foreword by Alex Ross, Afterword by Paul Levitz, and a new cover by Tom McWeeney!

The First Comics Companion is the only book dedicated to the history of Chicago’s groundbreaking independent comics publisher, which took on the Big Two by storm between 1983–1991. From a modest promotional comic hawking theater subscriptions, First soon blossomed into an ambitious, aggressive imprint with achievements that included adapting the fabled sci-fi play Warp; reviving beloved ’70s Charlton hero E-Man; luring Mike Grell over from Pacific Comics to continue Starslayer and launch Jon Sable, Freelance; and releasing one of the ’80s greatest comic book series, American Flagg! by Howard Chaykin. Soon followed Elric, Grimjack, Nexus, Shatter, Dreadstar, Lone Wolf and Cub, super-hero Alter Ego, and a resurrection of Classics Illustrated. Featuring the recollections of founders Mike Gold, Joe Staton, and dozens more, this book continues Richard J. Arndt and Jon B. Cooke’s exhaustive “carpet-bombing” approach to documenting comics history in fascinating detail—first, last, and always, THE definitive account! Featuring new Chaykin cover art!

2024 EISNER AWARD NOMINEE Author Stephan Friedt shares the story of the meteoric rise of the Schanes brothers’ California-based imprint Pacific Comics, which published such legends as Jack Kirby, Sergio Aragonés, Steve Ditko, Neal Adams, Mike Grell, Bernie Wrightson, and Dave Stevens. From its groundbreaking 1981 arrival in the fledgling direct sales market, to a catastrophic, precipitous fall after only four years, The Pacific Comics Companion reveals the inside saga, as told to Friedt by Bill and Steve Schanes, David Scroggy, and many of the creators themselves. It also focuses on the titles and the amazing array of characters they introduced to an unsuspecting world, including The Rocketeer, Captain Victory, Ms. Mystic, Groo the Wanderer, Starslayer, and many more. Written with the editorial assist of Eisner Award-winning historian Jon B. Cooke, this retrospective is the most comprehensive study of an essential publisher in the development of the creator’s rights movement. Main cover illustration by Dave Stevens.

An all-new definitive history of Connecticut’s notorious all-in-one comic book company! Often disparaged as a second-rate funny-book outfit, Charlton produced a vast array of titles that span from the 1940s Golden Age to the Bronze Age of the ’70s in many genres, from Hot Rods to Haunted Love. The imprint experienced explosive bursts of creativity, most memorably the “Action Hero Line” edited by Dick Giordano in the 1960s, which featured the renowned talents of Steve Ditko and a stellar team of creators, as well as the unforgettable ’70s “Bullseye” era that spawned E-Man and Doomsday +1, all helmed by veteran masters and talented newcomers—and serving as a training ground for an entire generation of comics creators thriving in an environment of complete creative freedom. From its beginnings with a handshake deal consummated in county jail, to the company’s accomplishments beyond comics, woven into this prose narrative are interviews with dozens of talented participants, including Giordano, DENNIS O’Neil, Alex Toth, Sanho Kim, Tom Sutton, Pat Boyette, Nick Cuti, John Byrne, Mike Zeck, Joe Staton, Sam Glanzman, Neal Adams, Joe Gill, and even some Derby residents who recall working in the sprawling company plant. Though it gave up the ghost over three decades ago, Charlton’s influence continues today with its Action Heroes serving as inspiration for Alan Moore’s cross-media graphic novel hit, Watchmen. By Jon B. Cooke with Michael Ambrose & Frank Motler.

COMIC BOOK ARTIST BULLPEN collects all seven issues of the little-seen labor of love fanzine published in the early 2000s by JON B. COOKE (editor of today's Comic Book Creator magazine), just after the original CBA ended its TwoMorrows run. Featured are in-depth interviews with some of comics' major league players, including GEORGE TUSKA, FRED HEMBECK, TERRY BEATTY, and FRANK BOLLE—and an amazing all-star tribute to Silver Age great JACK ABEL by the Marvel Comics Bullpen and others. That previously unpublished all-comics Abel appreciation (assembled by RICK PARKER) includes strips by JOE KUBERT, WALTER SIMONSON, KYLE BAKER, MARIE SEVERIN, GRAY MORROW, ALAN WEISS, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, MORT TODD, DICK AYERS, and many more! Plus a new bonus feature on JACK KIRBY's unknown 1960s baseball card art, and a 16-page full-color section, all behind a Jack Kirby cover!

For its 80th issue, the Jack Kirby Collector magazine presents a double-sized 50th anniversary examination of Kirby’s magnum opus! Spanning the pages of four different comics starting in 1970 (New Gods, Forever People, Mister Miracle, and Jimmy Olsen), the sprawling “Epic for our times” was cut short mid-stream, leaving fans wondering how Jack would’ve resolved the confrontation between evil Darkseid of Apokolips, and his son Orion of New Genesis. This companion to that “Fourth World” series looks back at Jack Kirby’s own words, as well as those of assistants Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman, inker Mike Royer, and publisher Carmine Infantino, to determine how it came about, where it was going, and how Kirby would’ve ended it before it was prematurely cancelled by DC Comics! It also examines Kirby’s use of gods in Thor and other strips prior to the Fourth World, how they influenced his DC epic, and affected later series like The Eternals and Captain Victory. With an overview of hundreds of Kirby’s creations like Big Barda, Boom Tubes and Granny Goodness, and post-Kirby uses of his concepts, no Fourth World fan will want to miss it! Compiled, researched, and edited by John Morrow, with contributions by Jon B. Cooke.