The Big Book of
Encyclopedia
The Big Book Of is an Eisner Award-winning series of graphic novel
anthologies
published by the DC Comics
imprint
Paradox Press
.
and John Wagner
), with Jonathan Vankin
taking over the writing of the later volumes.
A wide range of artists worked on the stories. Notably it was the first American work for Frank Quitely
. Rick Geary
reckons he is the only artist to contribute to all seventeen volumes. E.C. alums Joe Orlando
, George Evans and Marie Severin
are present as are Russ Heath
and Gray Morrow
. The Big Books were the last stands of masters of horror Tom Sutton
and Pat Boyette
. Other artists who were regular contributors to the series as a whole include Bob Fingerman, Eric Shanower
, Lennie Mace, Randy DuBurke, James Romberger
, Salgood Sam, Steve Leialoha
, Joe Sacco
and Roger Langridge
.
, B-movie
goddess Tura Satana
, presidential candidate Victoria Woodhull
, 19th century sex star Lola Montes
, legendary seductress Cleopatra, scandalous writer Anaïs Nin
, and kinky pin-up icon Bettie Page
. According to DC, however, the book is in a perpetual "pre-production" — even though much of the work on the book was completed by the contributing artists.
, Jan Harold Brunvald, and Robert Loren Fleming
; the Big Book of Urban Legends won the 1995 Eisner Award
for Best Anthology. Collected by Brunvand, the two hundred tales in this volume are folklore for our times.
, Thomas Edison
, Henry Ford
, Henrietta Howland Robinson, Harry Houdini
, and the Marquis de Sade
. The book features an introduction by Gahan Wilson
.
, the Big Book of Conspiracies won the 1996 Eisner Award
for Best Anthology. It focuses on plots and cover-ups, including the Watergate scandal
, Silkwood
, the Iran-Contra scandal, and the assassinations of John F. Kennedy
, Malcolm X
, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King
. This book explores all these schemes and more, using a stream of real and imagined "facts" to explain how shadowy forces — including the CIA, the Freemasons, the Holy See
, the Trilateral Commission
, and even extraterrestrials — may be conspiring to shape world events.
, the Big Book of Freaks features an introduction from stage magician-turned-film star and "scholar of the unusual" Ricky Jay
, who has written a number of books on related subjects.
The book features stories on all manner of odd and interesting people, from sideshow
freak
s to legendary creatures, (including giant
s), the subjects of Tod Browning
's famous film
and exhibitors including P. T. Barnum
.
forgeries, and a crook who nearly succeeded in buying Portugal.
and his get-rich-quick schemes, the infamous "Princess Caraboo
," the Hitler Diaries
, and a plan to saw Manhattan
in half.
, the Big Book of Thugs documents criminals who get what they want not through any sort of cleverness, but through direct action and pure force, including the Thuggee
of India, and the "Ohio Gang
," which disgraced the Harding Administration.
, the Big Book of Losers proves that the misfortunes of others (such as Elisha Gray
, who invented a telephone prototype before Alexander Graham Bell
) really can be funny.
, the Big Book of the Unexplained features an introduction and narration by the ghostly image of Charles Fort
(a deceased writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena). Stories of impossible animals, lost continents, and bizarre phenomena, such as the mummy's curse, living dinosaurs, the Loch Ness Monster
, Bigfoot
, alien abductions, and rains of frogs.
, the Big Book of Martyrs examines the lives and deaths of Christian
martyr
s, including Saint Valentine
, Joan of Arc
, Saint Ursula
, and Saint George
. The last chapter deals with people who have been tortured for their faith in more recent history, demonstrating that religious fervor is not a thing of the past.
, the Big Book of Scandal features an introduction & afterword by Stephen DeStefano. The twelfth Big Book wallows in the lurid world of tabloid news. Fatty Arbuckle
, Charlie Chaplin
, John DeLorean, Richard Nixon
, Oliver North
, and O.J. Simpson are all examined.
, and Paul Kirchner
.
The thirteenth Big Book examines evil, like Heinrich Himmler
, the architect of the Nazis' "Final Solution;" the depraved emperors of ancient Rome; and various serial killer
s. Then there are proponents of the banal, like poet Rod McKuen
and real estate developer William Levitt
. Finally, there are fictional villains like Professor Moriarty
, Lady Macbeth
, and Dracula
.
, "The Prince of Hangmen;" homosexuality among macho cowboys; and the various ghosts that haunted the American West.
, to sexual slavery
, to pinball machines.
, the Big Book of Grimm examines fairy tales. Writer Vankin transcribes the original, unsanitized folk tales that the Brothers Grimm
collected in the mid-19th century, detailing child abuse, incest, cannibalism, severed limbs and gouged-out eyes.
, the Big Book of the '70s documents ten years of "tackiness and tumult." From disco
to polyester
fashion, the final Big Book itemizes the fads, personalities, slang, and social insanity that infected the 1970s (as well as the Vietnam War
and some classic films).
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
anthologies
Comics anthology
Comics anthologies collect works in the medium of comics that are too short for standalone publication.- U.S. :- UK :British comics have a long tradition publishing comics anthologies, often weekly...
published by the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
Paradox Press
Paradox Press
Paradox Press was a division of DC Comics formed in 1993 after editor Mark Nevelow departed from Piranha Press. Under the initial editorship of Andrew Helfer and Bronwyn Carlton the imprint was renamed. It is best known for graphic novels like A History of Violence and Road to Perdition...
.
Publication history
The Big Books were published between 1994 and 2000. Just over half of them (ten out of seventeen) were written by a single author (including Doug MoenchDoug Moench
Douglas Moench , better known as Doug Moench, is an American comic book writer notable for his Batman work and as the creator of Black Mask, Moon Knight and Deathlok.-Biography:...
and John Wagner
John Wagner
John Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since.He is best known for his work on...
), with Jonathan Vankin
Jonathan Vankin
-Biography:Vankin was formerly a news editor of San Jose, California's Metro newspaper and is the author of several books and comics. He has also written for the TV series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven. His graphic novel, Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights was published in January, 2009...
taking over the writing of the later volumes.
A wide range of artists worked on the stories. Notably it was the first American work for Frank Quitely
Frank Quitely
Vincent Deighan, better known by the pen name Frank Quitely, is a Scottish comic book artist. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with Grant Morrison on titles such as New X-Men, We3, All-Star Superman, and Batman and Robin, as well as his work with Mark Millar on The...
. Rick Geary
Rick Geary
Rick Geary is an American cartoonist and illustrator.-Biography:Rick Geary was born on February 25, 1946 in Kansas City, Missouri. Geary was initially introduced to comics readers with his contributions to the Heavy Metal and National Lampoon magazines...
reckons he is the only artist to contribute to all seventeen volumes. E.C. alums Joe Orlando
Joe Orlando
Joseph Orlando was a prolific illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades...
, George Evans and Marie Severin
Marie Severin
Marie Severin is an American comic book artist and colorist best known for her work for Marvel Comics and the 1950s' EC Comics....
are present as are Russ Heath
Russ Heath
Russell Heath, Jr. is an American artist best known for his comic book work — particularly his DC Comics war stories for several decades and his 1960s art for Playboy magazine's Little Annie Fanny featurettes — and for his commercial art, two pieces of which, depicting Roman and...
and Gray Morrow
Gray Morrow
Dwight Graydon "Gray" Morrow was an American illustrator of paperback books and comics.-Biography:Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Morrow is best known as art director of Spider-Man between 1967 and 1970 and as illustrator of the syndicated Tarzan, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and Prince Valiant comic...
. The Big Books were the last stands of masters of horror Tom Sutton
Tom Sutton
Tom Sutton was an American comic book artist who sometimes used the pseudonyms Sean Todd and Dementia...
and Pat Boyette
Pat Boyette
Pat Boyette Pat Boyette Pat Boyette (July 27, 1923, San Antonio, Texas – January 14, 2000, was an American broadcasting personality and news producer, and later a comic book artist best known for two decades of work for Charlton Comics, where he co-created the character The Peacemaker...
. Other artists who were regular contributors to the series as a whole include Bob Fingerman, Eric Shanower
Eric Shanower
Eric James Shanower is an American comics artist and writer, best known for his Oz novels and comics and the on-going retelling of the Trojan War as Age of Bronze.-Biography:...
, Lennie Mace, Randy DuBurke, James Romberger
James Romberger
James Romberger is an American fine artist and cartoonist known for his depictions of New York City's Lower East Side.Romberger's pastel drawings of the ravaged landscape of the Lower East Side and its citizens are in many public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art...
, Salgood Sam, Steve Leialoha
Steve Leialoha
Steve Leialoha is an American comic book artist whose work first came to prominence in the 1970s. He has worked primarily as an inker, though occasionally as a penciller, for several publishers, including Marvel Comics and later DC Comics.-Biography:Leialoha's professional career began in 1975...
, Joe Sacco
Joe Sacco
Joe Sacco is a Maltese-American comics artist and journalist. He achieved international fame through the 1996 American Book Award-winning Palestine, and his graphic novel on the Bosnian War, Safe Area Goražde.- Biography :...
and Roger Langridge
Roger Langridge
Roger Langridge is a New Zealand-born comics writer/artist/letterer, currently living in Britain.-Biography:Langridge originally came to public prominence most notably with the Judge Dredd Megazine series The Straitjacket Fits , a surreal, hallucinatory, convention-bending strip set in an insane...
.
Wild Women
Slated for a 2001 release, Paradox had planned to publish the 18th book in the series, The Big Book of Wild Women. The book is narrated by "Susie the Floozie," and was to profile notable women throughout history who had made an impact on our culture while pushing the envelope of unconventional behavior. Among the women to be profiled were risqué nightclub singer-comic Rusty WarrenRusty Warren
-Early life:Warren was born Ilene Goldman in New York City and adopted six months later by a couple from Milton, Massachusetts. She studied piano at the New England Conservatory of Music and then taught there briefly after obtaining her degree...
, B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
goddess Tura Satana
Tura Satana
Tura Satana was an American actress and former exotic dancer. She was best known for her role as "Varla" in Russ Meyer's 1965 cult film, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!.-Early life:...
, presidential candidate Victoria Woodhull
Victoria Woodhull
Victoria Claflin Woodhull was an American leader of the woman's suffrage movement, an advocate of free love; together with her sister, the first women to operate a brokerage in Wall Street; the first women to start a weekly newspaper; an activist for women's rights and labor reforms and, in 1872,...
, 19th century sex star Lola Montes
Lola Montes
Lola Montes may refer to:* Lola Montez, the stage name of Elizabeth Rosanna Gilbert , the Irish-born Spanish dancer and courtesan* Lola Montès , feature film based on the life story of the above...
, legendary seductress Cleopatra, scandalous writer Anaïs Nin
Anaïs Nin
Anaïs Nin was a French-Cuban author, based at first in France and later in the United States, who published her journals, which span more than 60 years, beginning when she was 11 years old and ending shortly before her death, her erotic literature, and short stories...
, and kinky pin-up icon Bettie Page
Bettie Page
Bettie Mae Page was an American model who became famous in the 1950s for her fetish modeling and pin-up photos. She has often been called the "Queen of Pinups"...
. According to DC, however, the book is in a perpetual "pre-production" — even though much of the work on the book was completed by the contributing artists.
Urban Legends
Published in 1994 with writers Robert BoydRobert Boyd
-Noblemen:* Robert Boyd, 1st Lord Boyd , Scottish statesman* Robert Boyd, 4th Lord Boyd , Scottish nobleman, grandson of the 1st Lord Boyd* Robert Boyd, 5th Lord Boyd , Scottish nobleman* Robert Boyd, 7th Lord Boyd...
, Jan Harold Brunvald, and Robert Loren Fleming
Robert Loren Fleming
Robert Loren Fleming is an American comic book writer.-Biography:Fleming worked for DC Comics initially as a proofreader and later writer, creating Thriller, and was writing an Aquaman limited series and one-shot special in 1989 with plotter/breakdown artist Keith Giffen and artist Curt Swan.He is...
; the Big Book of Urban Legends won the 1995 Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
for Best Anthology. Collected by Brunvand, the two hundred tales in this volume are folklore for our times.
Weirdos
Published in 1995 and written by Carl Posey, the Big Book of Weirdos illustrates the biographies of sixty-seven of the world's greatest eccentrics. Among those covered are CaligulaCaligula
Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
, Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
, Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
, Henrietta Howland Robinson, Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
, and the Marquis de Sade
Marquis de Sade
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...
. The book features an introduction by Gahan Wilson
Gahan Wilson
Gahan Wilson is an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations...
.
Death
Published in 1995 and written by Bronwyn Carlton, the Big Book of Death begins by providing the inside story on execution methods — from drawing and quartering to the electric chair. From there it moves on to bizarre suicides, weird deaths, burial methods, and the great beyond. The reader learns the origin of the guillotine, visits cryogenically preserved bodies, and even sees how cheese can be used as a murder weapon.Conspiracies
Published in 1995 and written by Doug MoenchDoug Moench
Douglas Moench , better known as Doug Moench, is an American comic book writer notable for his Batman work and as the creator of Black Mask, Moon Knight and Deathlok.-Biography:...
, the Big Book of Conspiracies won the 1996 Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
for Best Anthology. It focuses on plots and cover-ups, including the Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
, Silkwood
Karen Silkwood
Karen Gay Silkwood was an American labor union activist and chemical technician at the Kerr-McGee plant near Crescent, Oklahoma, United States. Silkwood's job was making plutonium pellets for nuclear reactor fuel rods...
, the Iran-Contra scandal, and the assassinations of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
, Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination
Martin Luther King, Jr., a prominent American leader of the African-American civil rights movement and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at the age of 39...
. This book explores all these schemes and more, using a stream of real and imagined "facts" to explain how shadowy forces — including the CIA, the Freemasons, the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, the Trilateral Commission
Trilateral Commission
The Trilateral Commission is a non-governmental, non-partisan discussion group founded by David Rockefeller in July 1973 to foster closer cooperation among the United States, Europe and Japan.-History:...
, and even extraterrestrials — may be conspiring to shape world events.
Freaks
Published in 1996 and written by Gahan WilsonGahan Wilson
Gahan Wilson is an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations...
, the Big Book of Freaks features an introduction from stage magician-turned-film star and "scholar of the unusual" Ricky Jay
Ricky Jay
Richard Jay Potash , better known by the stage name Ricky Jay, is an American stage magician, actor, and writer. He is a sleight-of-hand expert and is notable for his card tricks, card throwing, memory feats, and stage patter.-Life and career:...
, who has written a number of books on related subjects.
The book features stories on all manner of odd and interesting people, from sideshow
Sideshow
In America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair or other such attraction.- Types of attractions :There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions:...
freak
Freak
In current usage, the word "freak" is commonly used to refer to a person with something unusual about their appearance or behaviour. This usage dates from the so-called freak scene of the 1960s and 1970s. "Freak" in this sense may be used either as a pejorative, a term of admiration, or a...
s to legendary creatures, (including giant
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
s), the subjects of Tod Browning
Tod Browning
Tod Browning was an American motion picture actor, director and screenwriter.Browning's career spanned the silent and talkie eras...
's famous film
Freaks
Freaks is a 1932 American Pre-Code horror film about sideshow performers, directed and produced by Tod Browning and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with a cast mostly composed of actual carnival performers. The film was based on Tod Robbins' 1923 short story "Spurs"...
and exhibitors including P. T. Barnum
P. T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum was an American showman, businessman, scam artist and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus....
.
Little Criminals
Published in 1996, the Big Book of Little Criminals details some of the world's most incompetent felons, such as Shanghai Kelly, who kidnapped men and forced them to work on ships. Also stories of U.S. Senators caning their colleagues, colonial counterfeiters, the Hitler DiariesHitler Diaries
In April 1983, the West German news magazine Stern published excerpts from what purported to be the diaries of Adolf Hitler, known as the Hitler Diaries , which were subsequently revealed to be forgeries...
forgeries, and a crook who nearly succeeded in buying Portugal.
Hoaxes
Published in 1996, The Big Book of Hoaxes illustrates history's great hoaxes, pranks, and scams, including such notable put-ons as Mary Toft, the "Bunny Mommy," who convinced the court of England that she had given birth to at least sixteen rabbits. Other scams from the book include Charles PonziCharles Ponzi
Carlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo Ponzi, , commonly known as Charles Ponzi, was a businessman and con artist in the U.S. and Canada. Born in Italy, he became known as a swindler in North America for his money making scheme. His aliases include Charles Ponei, Charles P. Bianchi, Carl and Carlo...
and his get-rich-quick schemes, the infamous "Princess Caraboo
Princess Caraboo
Mary Baker was a noted impostor who went by the name Princess Caraboo. She pretended to be from a faraway island and fooled a British town for some months.-Biography:...
," the Hitler Diaries
Hitler Diaries
In April 1983, the West German news magazine Stern published excerpts from what purported to be the diaries of Adolf Hitler, known as the Hitler Diaries , which were subsequently revealed to be forgeries...
, and a plan to saw Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in half.
Thugs
Published in 1996 and written by Joel RoseJoel Rose
Joel Rose is an American novelist.Rose has co-authored and edited graphic novels for DC Comics. His journalism has appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, New York Newsday, Marie Claire, Paper, Details, Bomb, Los Angeles Times, and Black Book, among others. He has written for several...
, the Big Book of Thugs documents criminals who get what they want not through any sort of cleverness, but through direct action and pure force, including the Thuggee
Thuggee
Thuggee is the term for a particular kind of murder and robbery of travellers in South Asia and particularly in India.They are sometimes called Phansigar i.e...
of India, and the "Ohio Gang
Ohio Gang
The Ohio Gang was a group of politicians and industry leaders who came to be associated with Warren G. Harding, the twenty-ninth President of the United States of America.-Background:...
," which disgraced the Harding Administration.
Losers
Published in 1997 and written by Paul KirchnerPaul Kirchner
Paul Kirchner is an American writer and illustrator who has worked in diverse areas, from comic strips and toy design to advertising and editorial art....
, the Big Book of Losers proves that the misfortunes of others (such as Elisha Gray
Elisha Gray
Elisha Gray was an American electrical engineer who co-founded the Western Electric Manufacturing Company...
, who invented a telephone prototype before Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
) really can be funny.
The Unexplained
Published in 1997 and written by Doug MoenchDoug Moench
Douglas Moench , better known as Doug Moench, is an American comic book writer notable for his Batman work and as the creator of Black Mask, Moon Knight and Deathlok.-Biography:...
, the Big Book of the Unexplained features an introduction and narration by the ghostly image of Charles Fort
Charles Fort
Charles Hoy Fort was an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena. Today, the terms Fortean and Forteana are used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold well and are still in print today.-Biography:Charles Hoy Fort was born in 1874 in Albany, New York, of Dutch...
(a deceased writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena). Stories of impossible animals, lost continents, and bizarre phenomena, such as the mummy's curse, living dinosaurs, the Loch Ness Monster
Loch Ness Monster
The Loch Ness Monster is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next....
, Bigfoot
Bigfoot
Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is an ape-like cryptid that purportedly inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid...
, alien abductions, and rains of frogs.
Martyrs
Published in 1997 and written by John WagnerJohn Wagner
John Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since.He is best known for his work on...
, the Big Book of Martyrs examines the lives and deaths of Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s, including Saint Valentine
Saint Valentine
Saint Valentine is the name of several martyred saints of ancient Rome. The name "Valentine", derived from valens , was popular in Late Antiquity...
, Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
, Saint Ursula
Saint Ursula
Saint Ursula is a British Christian saint. Her feast day in the extraordinary form calendar of the Catholic Church is October 21...
, and Saint George
Saint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
. The last chapter deals with people who have been tortured for their faith in more recent history, demonstrating that religious fervor is not a thing of the past.
Scandal!
Published in 1998 and written by Jonathan VankinJonathan Vankin
-Biography:Vankin was formerly a news editor of San Jose, California's Metro newspaper and is the author of several books and comics. He has also written for the TV series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven. His graphic novel, Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights was published in January, 2009...
, the Big Book of Scandal features an introduction & afterword by Stephen DeStefano. The twelfth Big Book wallows in the lurid world of tabloid news. Fatty Arbuckle
Fatty Arbuckle
Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. Starting at the Selig Polyscope Company he eventually moved to Keystone Studios where he worked with Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd...
, Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
, John DeLorean, Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, Oliver North
Oliver North
Oliver Laurence North is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, political commentator, host of War Stories with Oliver North on Fox News Channel, a military historian, and a New York Times best-selling author....
, and O.J. Simpson are all examined.
Bad
Published in 1998, the Big Book of Bad is written by Anina Bennett, Jonathan VankinJonathan Vankin
-Biography:Vankin was formerly a news editor of San Jose, California's Metro newspaper and is the author of several books and comics. He has also written for the TV series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven. His graphic novel, Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights was published in January, 2009...
, and Paul Kirchner
Paul Kirchner
Paul Kirchner is an American writer and illustrator who has worked in diverse areas, from comic strips and toy design to advertising and editorial art....
.
The thirteenth Big Book examines evil, like Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
, the architect of the Nazis' "Final Solution;" the depraved emperors of ancient Rome; and various serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
s. Then there are proponents of the banal, like poet Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen
Rod McKuen is an American poet, songwriter, composer, and singer. He was one of the best-selling poets in the United States during the late 1960s. Throughout his career, McKuen produced a wide range of recordings, which included popular music, spoken word poetry, film soundtracks, and classical music...
and real estate developer William Levitt
William Levitt
William Jaird Levitt was an American real-estate developer widely credited as the father of modern American suburbia. He came to symbolize the new suburban growth with his use of mass-production techniques to construct large developments of houses selling for under $10,000...
. Finally, there are fictional villains like Professor Moriarty
Professor Moriarty
Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was...
, Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth may refer to:*Lady Macbeth, from William Shakespeare's play Macbeth**Queen Gruoch of Scotland, the real-life Queen on whom Shakespeare based the character...
, and Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
.
The Weird Wild West
Published in 1998 and written by John Whalen, the Big Book of the Weird Wild West offers up over sixty stories of the unusual, the bizarre, and the downright creepy stuff that happened on the American frontier. Stories of Western characters like George MaledonGeorge Maledon
George Maledon was a hangman aptly nicknamed "The Prince of Hangmen", who served in the federal court of Judge Isaac Parker.-Early life:...
, "The Prince of Hangmen;" homosexuality among macho cowboys; and the various ghosts that haunted the American West.
Vice
Published in 1998, and written by Dave Stern and Steve Vance, the Big Book of Vice examines alcohol, drugs, tobacco, sex, and gambling. Subjects range from the history of tobaccoTobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, to sexual slavery
Sexual slavery
Sexual slavery is when unwilling people are coerced into slavery for sexual exploitation. The incidence of sexual slavery by country has been studied and tabulated by UNESCO, with the cooperation of various international agencies...
, to pinball machines.
Grimm
Published in 1999 and written by Jonathan VankinJonathan Vankin
-Biography:Vankin was formerly a news editor of San Jose, California's Metro newspaper and is the author of several books and comics. He has also written for the TV series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven. His graphic novel, Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights was published in January, 2009...
, the Big Book of Grimm examines fairy tales. Writer Vankin transcribes the original, unsanitized folk tales that the Brothers Grimm
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
collected in the mid-19th century, detailing child abuse, incest, cannibalism, severed limbs and gouged-out eyes.
The '70s
Published in 2000 and written by Jonathan VankinJonathan Vankin
-Biography:Vankin was formerly a news editor of San Jose, California's Metro newspaper and is the author of several books and comics. He has also written for the TV series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven. His graphic novel, Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights was published in January, 2009...
, the Big Book of the '70s documents ten years of "tackiness and tumult." From disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
to polyester
Polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...
fashion, the final Big Book itemizes the fads, personalities, slang, and social insanity that infected the 1970s (as well as the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and some classic films).
Awards
- 1995:
- Big Book of Urban Legends won "Best Anthology" Eisner AwardEisner AwardThe Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
- Andy HelferAndy HelferAndrew Helfer , usually credited as Andy Helfer, is an award-winning comic book creator best known for his work as an editor and writer at DC Comics, where he founded the Paradox Press imprint.-Biography:...
nominated for "Best Editor" Eisner Award, for Big Book of Urban Legends
- Big Book of Urban Legends won "Best Anthology" Eisner Award
- 1996:
- Big Book of Conspiracies won "Best Anthology" Eisner Award
- Bronwyn Taggart won "Best Editor" Eisner Award, for The Big Book of Weirdos and The Big Book of Conspiracies
- 1997: Andy Helfer nominated for "Best Editor" Eisner Award, for Big Book of Little Criminals
External links
- The Wonderful Wizards Of Odd, Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, May 5, 1995 - Reviews of The Big Book of Urban Legends and Grimm, Marvels & Tales, Volume 17, Number 2, 2003, pages 269-275