King of Crooks (featuring The British Spider) PDF Download

Author: Jerry Siegel
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 184576000X
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
From the comics vault comes a classic tale of terror and intrigue introducing a villain equipped with an amazingly versatile exoskeleton and a brain to match — the British comics character, The Spider! His greatest ambition is to become the ‘King of Crime’. To achieve this goal, he organises a gang of criminals including such specialists as ‘Professor’ Pelham, a brilliant crooked scientist, and Roy Ordini, ace safecracker, and embarks on his felonious spree! Reprinted in hardback for the first time in forty years this collection brings together the earliest adventures of devious arch-criminal and twisted mastermind, the “King of Crooks”. Originally created by writer/artists Ted Cowan and Reg Bunn for British comic Lion, he was the ultimate anti-hero. In a time saturated by square-jawed and multi-colour superheroes, the British Spider character was in it for himself. These are extremely rare, long out of print stories not seen since the 1960s, and the collection also contains an introduction by IPC's Andrew Sumner, a story checklist, an article chronicling the history of the character, and a new cover by acclaimed artist Garry Leach. An amazing trip through the Silver Age of British comics, a piece of history every person interested in comics should own!

Author: Chris Murray
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 1496807405
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 319

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Book Description
Chris Murray reveals the largely unknown and rather surprising history of the British superhero. It is often thought that Britain did not have its own superheroes, yet Murray demonstrates that there were a great many in Britain and that they were often used as a way to comment on the relationship between Britain and America. Sometimes they emulated the style of American comics, but they also frequently became sites of resistance to perceived American political and cultural hegemony, drawing upon satire and parody as a means of critique. Murray illustrates that the superhero genre is a blend of several influences, and that in British comics these influences were quite different from those in America, resulting in some contrasting approaches to the figure of the superhero. He identifies the origins of the superhero and supervillain in nineteenth-century popular culture such as the penny dreadfuls and boys' weeklies and in science fiction writing of the 1920s and 1930s. He traces the emergence of British superheroes in the 1940s, the advent of "fake" American comics, and the reformatting of reprinted material. Murray then chronicles the British Invasion of the 1980s and the pivotal roles in American superhero comics and film production held by British artists today. This book will challenge views about British superheroes and the comics creators who fashioned them. Murray brings to light a gallery of such comics heroes as the Amazing Mr X, Powerman, Streamline, Captain Zenith, Electroman, Mr Apollo, Masterman, Captain Universe, Marvelman, Kelly's Eye, Steel Claw, the Purple Hood, Captain Britain, Supercats, Bananaman, Paradax, Jack Staff, and SuperBob. He reminds us of the significance of many such creators and artists as Len Fullerton, Jock McCail, Jack Glass, Denis Gifford, Bob Monkhouse, Dennis M. Reader, Mick Anglo, Brendan McCarthy, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Dave Gibbons, and Mark Millar.

Author: James Chapman
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1861899629
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 451

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Book Description
Arguing that British comics are distinct from their international counterparts, a unique showcase of the major role they have played in the imaginative lives of British youth—and some adults. In this entertaining cultural history of British comic papers and magazines, James Chapman shows how comics were transformed in the early twentieth century from adult amusement to imaginative reading matter for children. Beginning with the first British comic, Ally Sloper—known as “A Selection, Side-splitting, Sentimental, and Serious, for the Benefit of Old Boys, Young Boys, Odd Boys generally, and even Girls”—British Comics goes on to describe the heyday of comics in the 1950s and ’60s, when titles such as School Friend and Eagle sold a million copies a week. Chapman also analyzes the major genres, including schoolgirl fantasies and sports and war stories for boys; the development of a new breed of violent comics in the 1970s, including the controversial Action and 2000AD; and the attempt by American publisher, Marvel, to launch a new hero for the British market in the form of Captain Britain. Considering the work of important contemporary comic writers such as Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Ian Edginton, Warren Ellis, and Garth Ennis, Chapman’s history comes right up to the present and takes in adult-oriented comics such as Warrior, Crisis, Deadline,and Revolver, and alternative comics such as Viz. Through a look at the changing structure of the comic publishing industry and how comic publishers, writers, and artists have responded to the tastes of their consumers, Chapman ultimately argues that British comics are distinctive and different from American, French, and Japanese comics. An invaluable reference for all comic collectors and fans in Britain and beyond, British Comics showcases the major role comics have played in the imaginative lives of readers young and old.

Author: Scott Lynch
Publisher: Del Rey
ISBN: 0593725425
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 641

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Book Description
Fantasy meets crime caper in the first book of a landmark, enduringly popular epic series about a roguish group of conmen, which George R. R. Martin has called “fresh, original, and engrossing . . . gorgeously realized.” An orphan’s life is harsh—and often short—in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But young Locke Lamora dodges relentless danger, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentlemen Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly. Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game—or die trying.

Author: Chibundu Onuzo
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 0571268900
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
Winner of a Betty Trask Award Shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Commonwealth Book Prize Longlisted for the Desmond Elliot Prize The Spider King's Daughter is a modern-day Romeo and Juliet set against the backdrop of a changing Lagos, a city torn between tradition and modernity, corruption and truth, love and family loyalty. Seventeen-year-old Abike Johnson is the favourite child of her wealthy father. She lives in a She lives in a sprawling mansion in Lagos, protected by armed guards and ferried everywhere in a huge black jeep. But being her father's favourite comes with uncomfortable duties, and she is often lonely behind the high walls of her house. A world away from Abike's mansion, in the city's slums, lives a seventeen-year-old hawker struggling to make sense of the world. His family lost everything after his father's death and now he runs after cars on the roadside selling ice cream to support his mother and sister. When Abike buys ice cream from the hawker one day, they strike up an unlikely and tentative romance, defying the prejudices of Nigerian society. But as they grow closer, revelations from the past threaten their relationship and both Abike and the hawker must decide where their loyalties lie.

Author: Gilbert Abbott À Beckett
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : England
Languages : en
Pages : 664

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Book Description
A'Beckett and Leech were original contributors to "Punch, or the London Charivari" magazine, established 1841. It became the famous "Punch" magazine and remained in publication to 2002. A'Beckett also wrote editorials for a similar concept magazine, "Figaro in London" that ceased publication in 1839. "In commencing this work, the object of the Author was, as he stated in the Prospectus, to blend amusement with instruction, by serving up, in as palatable a shape as he could, the facts of English History. He pledged himself not to sacrifice the substance to the seasoning; and though he has certainly been a little free in the use of his sauce, he hopes that he has not produced a mere hash on the present occasion. His object has been to furnish something which may be allowed to take its place as a standing at the library table, and which, though light, may not be found devoid of nutriment."--Preface.

Author:
Publisher: 2000 AD
ISBN: 9781781089422
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 112

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Book Description
Hellman from Hammer Force became as staple of UK war comic, Battle, but reprinted here are his earlier stories published in Action before its cancellation. This isn't your grandad's war comic - never had there been an anti-hero like Hellman of Hammer Force! One of the major highlights of the controversial 1970s comic, Action, Major Kurt Hellman is a Panzer commander in the 1940 German invasion of Belgium. But this man is no Nazi - he avoids taking life wherever possible, all while facing foes without and treachery within! Collected for the first time, and from the very beginning, this groundbreaking series of thrilling combat is written by Gerry Finley-Day (Rogue Trooper) and drawn by Mike Dorey (Ro-Busters).

Author: Alejandro Jodorwosky
Publisher: Titan Comics
ISBN: 1787737217
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
Acclaimed writer Jodorowsky puts a supernatural spin on one of the greatest myths in the history of France, The Man in the Iron Mask, rewritten as a grand, esoteric fable. The 18th century. In a monastery in the North of Spain hides the sacred temple of the Knights of Heliopolis: an assembly of immortal alchemists cut off from the world. As disciple Seventeen prepares to complete his training and integrate order, his master Fulcanelli reveals to the other knights the terrible secret of his origins – Seventeen is actually the hidden son of King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette! Will the young heir remain in the shadows, faithful to the millennial precepts of Alchemy, or reveal himself and claim the throne?

Author: Paul Murray Kendall
Publisher: Read Books Ltd
ISBN: 1447495470
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 692

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Book Description
Richard III (2 October 1452 - 22 August 1485) was King of England from 1483 until his death in 1485 in the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat at Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the subject of the fictional historical play Richard III by William Shakespeare. In 2012, an archaeological excavation was conducted on a city council car park using ground-penetrating radar on the site once occupied by Greyfriars, Leicester. The University of Leicester confirmed on 4 February 2013 that the skeleton found in the excavation is that of Richard III, based on the results of radiocarbon dating, a comparison with contemporary reports of his appearance, and a comparison of his mitochondrial DNA with that of two matrilineal descendants of Richard III's eldest sister, Anne of York.

Author: Mark Millar
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781534308077
Category : Criminals
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
When the market is flooded with competition and the authorities are on your tail, what's an all-American super villain to do? Go to Spain, of course! Johnny Bolt convinces his villainous pals to pull off one last heist but will culture shock get to them before the policia do? And when Johnny's target is revealed as the greatest super villain of all time, things go horribly wrong.