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After an absence of five years, we have a new Bookery Pulp Price Guide. Taschen takes on the best of Carl Barks’ earliest Duck adventures, collecting the first 15 Donald Duck Four Colors. Artist Mike Hoffman looks at Jack Kirby’s narrative style and art. Plus Vampirella Archives 3, Batman’s very first stories in DC Finest, Cat’s Eye 2, Superman in the Seventies, Johnny Red concludes, a look at Fantastic Adventures in Comics, and the classic Flash Gordon serials. Also – see News and Notes about my Will Eisner Hall of Fame Award, and the changing of the guard here at Bud’s Art Books. |
 Winter 2026 Incredible Catalog Download Now! |
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Click here for last week's new items, and here for 2025's Best Sellers! Click here to see ALL New Arrivals, beginning with the latest and going back 30 days.
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| WALT DISNEY'S CARL BARKS LIBRARY DONALD DUCK Volume 1 1942-1950 XXL Collects Donald Duck Dell Four Colors between #9 and 282, 15 complete adventures. Highly Recommended. Suave yet short-tempered, Donald Duck was Walt Disney’s cartoon bad boy, a more complex foil to the ever-optimistic Mickey Mouse and a box-office draw from his earliest silver screen appearances. It was in comics that Donald continued to soar creatively, thanks to Carl Barks, the self-taught cartoonist whose masterful and imaginative work turned the quarrelsome quacker into a cultural icon. Spanning 1942 to 1950, this deluxe volume collects all of Barks’s earliest and most iconic tales from the Four Color anthology series, including Lost in the Andes, Luck of the North, Donald Duck and the Mummy’s Ring, and Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold plus much, much more. Taschen, 2025. Rush Service and International shipping could require an additional charge....More. Item Code: WDCD01H Hard Cover, 11x16, 636pg, Full Color $200.00 |
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Available by mid-February will be a super deluxe edition [WDCD01D. $650], limited to 1000 with a slipcase, numbered, special cover and more. This is a special order item, so allow extra time to receive it. Here’s much more with Carl Barks. |
Comics & Film History |
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SECRETS OF JACK KIRBY Methods and Techniques Signed With Signed Bookplate. Recommended. By Mike Hoffman. A deep dive into the methods and techniques used by the legendary comic artist Jack Kirby, as interpreted by Mike Hoffman. A seasoned artist and author, Hoffman has been producing art, books, comics, and music for decades. His work includes memorable characters and instructional books on drawing, which have gained popularity worldwide. Now he presents this fascinating and insightful examination of the actual working methods of Jack Kirby's techniques that made him the "King" of comics. Hoffman International, 2025. ...More. Item Code: SECJKHS Hard Cover, 8x11, 77pg, b&w $24.95 |
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ALSO AVAILABLE SECRETS OF FRAZETTA Techniques and Methods of Mike Hoffman Signed Signed by Mike Hoffman! Recommended. Cover by Mike Hoffman. This new art book fully explains how Frank Frazetta used classical painting techniques in his paintings, with numerous examples shown. Also includes a gallery of works by the author describing how the same methods were used in his own work. An invaluable resource for artists and also the viewing audience, it's a pleasure to just look through this and learn how Frazetta used certain techniques to guide the viewer through his best paintings, as well as other illustration tips and lessons. Mike Hoffman, 2025....More. Item Code: SECFHS Soft Cover, 9x11, 76pg, Full Color $35.00 |
| Here’s everything now in stock from artist Mike Hoffman. Every item is either signed or comes with a signed card: Eyrie Magazine and Inksplosion, and also several out of print Hoffman collections in Rare Books. |
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FANTASTIC ADVENTURES IN THE COMICS Rockets, Genies, and Bug-Eyed Monsters 1940's-1980's. Recommended. By William Schoell. This volume scrutinizes the output of publishers such as DC Comics (Strange Adventures and Tales of the Unexpected, etc.); EC comics (Weird Science and Weird Fantasies); Marvel Comics (various series with monsters and grotesque alien creatures); Charlton (Space Adventures, Space War etc); American Comics Group (Forbidden Worlds and Adventures into the Unknown); as well as comics from Dell, Gold Key, Avon, Fiction House, Magazine Enterprises, Prize, Ziff-Davis, and a multitude of smaller, lesser known publishers. Well-illustrated in black and white. McFarland, 2026....More. Item Code: FANADV Soft Cover, 7x10, 260pg, b&w $39.95 |
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ALSO AVAILABLE COMIC BOOK APOCALYPSE! The Death of Pre-Code Comics and Why It Happened 1940-1955 Highly Recommended. By David J. Hogan. Introduction by Maggie Thompson. Comic Book Apocalypse! explores the controversial world of pre-code comics, through 500 examples of cover art, highlighting why some deemed the Code necessary! I love it...here are all the wildest, weirdest, raunchiest, raciest, most violent covers of the 1940s and 1950s comics, from EC Comics to Batman, Fighting Yank to Pep Comics, romance to Planet Comics and Space Adventure. The book also examines who decided what content was acceptable, demonstrating how pre-Code comics reflect the larger story of 1950s America. While compliance was technically voluntary, most publishers followed its strict rules. Those who didn’t faced ruin when wholesalers and distributors refused to handle non-compliant comics, returning them unopened to publishers, who soon self-destructed. Schiffer, 2025....More. Item Code: COMIBOH Hard Cover, 10x11, 256pg, Full Color |
| Here is more on the pre-code horror comics. The new Twomorrows magazine Cryptology has articles on early horror comics in virtually every issue. |
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THE FLASH GORDON SERIALS 1936-1940 Expanded Second Edition. Recommended. By Roy Kinnard, Tony Crnkovich and R.J. Vitone. Flash Gordon, Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe — the most expensive and popular movie serials ever made — have been favorites of film buffs and comics fans for decades. The original 1936 serial, Flash Gordon, designated a culturally significant work, was selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry in 1996. This presents chapter-by-chapter details for the 40 episodes that compose these three films, as well as historical information, nearly 200 images, comments from cast members, select filmographies for 50 of the most prominent actors appearing in them, and a complete list of subsequent film and TV remakes. McFarland, 2026....More. Item Code: FLASG Soft Cover, 7x10, 226pg, b&w $39.95 |
| Here’s more on the classic movie serials, and more on Flash Gordon. |
Comic Book Archives |
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VAMPIRELLA ARCHIVES 3 Collects Vampirella Magazine #15-21, 1972. Recommended. By Archie Goodwin, José Gonzalez, Steve Englehart, Doug Moench, Estebon Maroto, Richard Corben et al. More memorable stories, including the classic yarn "...And To Be a Bride of Chaos" as well as her unforgettable encounter with the O.G. vampire in "Dracula Still Lives!" Also: rare and vintage tales not seen in print since their inception, including "Vampi’s Scarlett Letters," "Vampi’s Feary Tales," and "Vampi’s Flames". Showcasing a wealth of work from a host of acclaimed creators, with an iconic cover by master artist Sanjulian. Dynamite, 2025....More. Item Code: VAM03 Soft Cover, 7x10, 380pg, b&w |
| Volume 1 is in stock; Volume 2 is temporarily out of stock but due any day. Same discounted price. Click here for more Archive editions collecting the Warren magazines Creepy, Eerie, etc. |
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SUPERMAN IN THE SEVENTIES Collects Superman #233, 247, 248, 249, 270, 287, Action Comics #484 and more. Introduction by Christopher Reeve. In this collection of Superman tales from the '70s, the Man of Steel finds himself facing more realistic challenges and issues that are representative of the era. Although he fought against some of his greatest enemies — such as Lex Luthor, Brainiac, and the Parasite — Superman also began to address societal issues and philosophical questions in these stories. Originally published in 2000, this collection includes work by comics legends Jack Kirby, Dennis O'Neil, Elliot S! Maggin, Neal Adams, Curt Swan, José Luis García-López and more. DC Comics, 2026....More. Item Code: SUPSEV Soft Cover, 7x10, 224pg, Full Color $19.99 |
| We’ll be listing a companion Batman in the Seventies as soon as it comes in. |
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DC FINEST BATMAN The Case of the Chemical Syndicate Collects stories from Batman #1-5 and Detective Comics #27-52, 1939-41. Our Highest Recommendation. By Bill Finger, Bob Kane, et al. Art by Kane, Jerry Robinson et al. This DC Finest collection brings together Batman’s first adventures from the Golden Age, featuring the debut of classic villains like The Joker, Catwoman, and Dr. Hugo Strange, along with Dick Grayson's introduction as Robin the Boy Wonder. Follow the Dark Knight as he refines his mission to fight crime, protect the innocent, and strike fear into the hearts of evildoers in this amazing run of every one of Batman's earliest adventures!! DC Comics, 2025....More. Item Code: DCFBCC Soft Cover, 7x10, 616pg, Full Color |
| Click for all the other DC Finest collections available now. |
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CAT'S EYE Omnibus Volume 2 Collects Volumes 3-5. By Tsukasa Hojo. A three-volumes-in-one omnibus; beautifully printed and packed with original color art, including a 6-page full-color insert and a 16-page 2-color insert. Café owners by day, art thieves by night, the three sisters Hitomi, Rui, and Ai have high-risk lives outside of their day jobs. Hitomi especially needs to keep her secret under wraps, since she's dating Toshio — the police officer assigned to catch the Cat's Eye thief! Seeking the truth behind the disappearance of their world-famous artist father, Hitomi and her two sisters will do anything to get a scoop, including using Hitomi's own boyfriend — and clueless police officer — Toshio. Kana, 2026....More. Item Code: CATE02 Soft Cover, 6x8, 584pg, b&w $29.99 |
| We just have two copies of Vol 1 in stock but we’ll bring in more. |
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JOHNNY RED A Couple of Heroes The Final Johnny Red Story Concludes. By Garth Ennis. Art by Keith Burns. In the last year of a long and dreadful war, as vengeful Russian forces reach the German frontier, British-born fighter pilot Johnny Redburn leads Falcon Squadron in deadly strikes against the retreating Nazis. With all his comrades gone and his lover, Nina Petrova, lost somewhere in the maelstrom, the "Red Devil” knows his own doom is only a matter of time. Maybe the next mission, or the one after that — but it’s coming. Rebellion, 2026....More. Item Code: JOHREC Hard Cover, 8x11, 192pg, Full Color $34.99 |
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ALSO AVAILABLE JOHNNY RED The Hurricane Recommended. Written by Garth Ennis (The Boys, Preacher) and drawn by Keith Burns (Battle Action), Hurricane is the first volume of The Treasury of British Comics presentation of the complete adventure of Johnny Red, WWII British pilot. Red leads his Falcon squadron through the battle of Stalingrad where he must defend the city from waves of Nazi Messerschmitts/ Shot down, Red and his fellow pilots become trapped behind enemy lines where they must survive one of the most terrible battles of the whole war. Excellent aerial battles and accuracy of planes. Rebellion, 2025....More. Item Code: JOHREH Hard Cover, 7x11, 208pg, Full Color $32.99 |
| Here’s more World War II graphic novels. |
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| ALLEY OOP IN WITCHLAND 1952 V.T. Hamlin Recommended. Another great selection of V.T. Hamlin dailies from 1952! In this volume, our time-traveling caveman hero is transported to the land of Halloween where he becomes the King of the Pumpkinheads! Later, Alley Oop is ensnared by an evil genie and transformed into a bulldog! Will Degga Degga the witch be able to save him? And will she want to?! Acoustic Learning, 2025....More. Item Code: ALLE52 Soft Cover, 11x7, 158pg, b&w $27.50 |
| Click here for all the Oop collections, and here if you just want to see the V.T. Hamlin books. |
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THE ART OF MILT GROSS Volume 1 Mastering Cartoon Pantomime-Judge 1923-24 Recommended. By Paul C. Tumey. Step back into the roaring '20s and rediscover one of American comics’ lost geniuses. For the first time, this volume gathers his complete Judge magazine work from 1923-24, with annotations and a deep-dive illustrated essay by comics historian Paul C. Tumey (Screwball! The Cartoonists Who Made the Funnies Funny). In 1923, when he was working hard to re-establish himself in the newspaper cartooning industry with a full-time job at The New York World, Gross also broke into the slick, weekly humor magazine market and provided Judge with dozens of superb, dense, funny pages of comics. Not only that, but Gross also challenged himself to master a very difficult form: the pantomime comic. Erratic Press, 2025....More. Item Code: ARTMG01 Soft Cover, 8x12, 194pg, b&w $24.95 |
Pulps & Pulp Reference |
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BOOKERY'S GUIDE TO PULPS & RELATED MAGAZINES Third Edition Highly Recommended. By Tim Cottrill. Introduction by Ed Hulse. Recent years have seen a massive upsurge of interest in vintage pulp-fiction magazines. Attracted to the outré stories and lurid covers that many such periodicals sported, a new generation of collectors has taken to "the bloody pulps." As a result, prices of these fragile collectibles have soared — especially at auction. In January 2024 Heritage Auctions sold a copy of the incredibly rare October 1912 issue of The All-Story (which introduced Tarzan of the Apes) for more than a quarter million dollars. That's the exception, though: perfectly desirable pulp magazines in decent condition can be found for as little as ten and twenty dollars each. You just have to know where to look for them, what significance they have, and how much to spend on them. That's where the new Bookery's Guide to Pulps and Related Magazines comes in. Murania Press, 2025....More. Item Code: BOOKGPU Soft Cover, 8x11, 410pg, Text/b&w $39.95 |
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ALSO AVAILABLE THE PULPSTER #34 Limited Printing. Highly Recommended. The annual published in conjunction with Pulpcon, here with a new issue. Ninety years ago, Dell Publishing introduced the first pulp magazine featuring a villain as its lead. With its February 1935 number, All-Detective Magazine became Doctor Death. Half a year later, Popular Publications hit the stands with The Mysterious Wu Fang, while Weird Tales debuted Doctor Satan. Later in the decade, Shiwan Khan battled The Shadow in four thrilling adventures. You’ll also find a look at the women who wrote for the science fiction pulps, an article on working girls of the pulps, and an interview with Philip José Farmer, conducted by Darrell Schweitzer. PulpFest, 2025....More. Item Code: PULP34 Soft Cover, 8x11, 60pg, Text/Partial Color $25.00 |
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ALSO AVAILABLE RAYGUNS AND ROCKETSHIPS Vintage Science Fiction Book Cover Art 2nd Edition By Rian Hughes. Foreword by Steve Holland. Art by Josh Kirby, Ron Turner, Jack Goggins et al. This is one cool book. We've all seen those wonderful classic pulp covers...on U.S. pulps. But there's another universe of pulp and paperback classics all produced in England and rarely seen in the U.S. Here at last is a full collection! - Bud. Rayguns and rockets! Spacesuited heroes caught in the tentacles of evil insectoid aliens! Who could resist such wonders? Science-fiction paperbacks exploded over the 1940s and ‘50s literary landscape with the force of an alien gamma bomb. Titles such as Rodent Mutation, The Human Bat vs The Robot Gangster, Dawn of the Mutants and Mushroom Men from Mars appeared from fly-by-night publishers making the most of the end of post-war paper rationing. They were brash and seductive — for around a shilling, the future was yours. Korero, 2025....More. Item Code: RAYGRH Hard Cover, 6x9, 456pg, Full Color |
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ALSO AVAILABLE PULP POWER The Shadow, Doc Savage and The Art of The Street & Smith Universe Almost Gone! Our Highest Recommendation. By Neil McGinness with Dan Didio. Foreword by Frank Miller. A brilliant book, the most comprehensive ever devoted to just one pulp publisher. And what a choice, S&S was the most successful of all pulp houses, creating The Shadow, Doc Savage, Detective Story, Nick Carter, The Avenger... Packed with wonderful art from original paintings plus rare interior artwork. Frank Miller's intro is a gem, where he talks about discovering James Bama's Doc Savage paperback covers that inspired his own work. This is a rare glimpse into the pre-war pulp explosion, a period of bold action and adventure storytelling that directly inspired the creation of comic book superheroes. In more than 500 novels written between 1930 and 1940, The Shadow, Doc Savage, and the Street & Smith universe of characters captivated a generation of readers. Packed with wonderful cover art and much more, telling the success story of the most popular hero pulps ever. Abrams, 2022. ...More. Item Code: PULPPH Hard Cover, 10x13, 352pg, Full Color $65.00 |
| We have only four copies left of this excellent art book. We have a very good selection of pulp-related books right now: The Classic Era of American Pulp Magazines (2 copies), Danger is My Business, Pulp Masters (on sale), Pulp Vault and Pulp Era fanzine sets, The Adventure House Guide to the Pulps (2 copies, cover by Steranko), Savage Art, Spicy Zeppelin Stories, The Spider: Robot Titans of Gotham, The Art of Norman Saunders. |
Rare Books This Week! |
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Set of 14 issues! |
Set of seven issues! |
Set of five issues! |
It’s foreign editions week! But wait, we have three Moebius Puzzles—requiring no translation! Plus Blueberry set of 7, Martin Mystere set of 7, the excellent comic art magazine Profili, set of 5, Little Nemo, Topolino (that’s the Italian Mickey Mouse) sets, a Danish Carl Barks biography, Thorkael set (a Conan-style hero), Italian Masters of Comics Art and more! Click here for new arrivals. |
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January Clearance Sale |
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CLASSIC HORROR COMICS Volume 3 Hardcover |
STAR WARS Legends Tales of The Jedi Omnibus |
THE SPIDER Scourge of the Scorpion Hardcover |
On Tuesday we sent out our January Clearance Sale with Underwood Books reduced even further, $5 or less Graphic Novels, and 25% off the entire Almost Gone Section with coupon code GONE25. New sale prices will remain the same on all items, even Flash Sale Items, until further notice or supply is gone. The GONE25 special 25% discount expires this Sunday, February 1, midnite. Click here to see the sale on our blog. |
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2026 Calendars |
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As of this writing, these are the 2026 calendars with stock of 5 copies or less. Once they're gone, they're gone. Alphonse Mucha Poster Art |
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News & Notes |
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Will Eisner Hall of Fame |
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I’m (Bud) being inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame at Comic-Con in July. I’m certainly honored and my thanks go out to the Comic-Con committee and to the judges who chose to select me for this incredible award! "Comic-Con is pleased to announce that 19 individuals have been selected to be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame for 2026. These inductees include 8 deceased comics pioneers and 11 living persons. The deceased choices are Edwina Dumm, Oliver Harrington, Don Heck, Abe Kanegson, Paul S. Newman, Hector German Osterheld, Tom Palmer Sr., and Jimmy Swinnerton. The living choices are Bob Bolling, Gerry Conway, Denys Cowan, Mike Friedrich, Lee Marrs, Go Nagai, Bud Plant, Mike Royer, Dave Sim, Carol Tyler, and Rick Veitch." Click here for more details and particulars about each inductee.
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Our staff will remain the same. New to us is Marty Grosser, former 37-year head editor of Diamond Previews, stepping into my duties here. He’ll be choosing new items to handle, editing descriptions, recommending items, putting together the weekly eblast, editing the print catalog and so on. I (Bud) have been working with Marty to get him up to speed for several weeks now. I will remain on board on a part-time basis over February and March to see that the transition runs smoothly and to help out wherever I can. |
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Bud, Sasha, Anne, Steve, Bill
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Our Catalog and Contact Info We publish a color catalog every two months—if you’ve placed an order in the last 12 months, you will receive it hot off the press. If this is your first order, or if you’d like an extra copy, you can add one to your order: click here. Or call or send us your address and we’ll mail one to you. You can also download it here. Place your order before noon PST, Monday through Friday for SAME DAY shipping (for in-stock items). Note: FREE SHIPPING OVER $300. If your order total is $300 or more and you are in the U.S., we pay the standard shipping cost. Contact us: csr@budsartbooks.com or 530-273-2166 Mon-Fri 9-4 |
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Website IndexSee our website for thousands of books of the Unusual and Hard-to-Find ~ Hundreds on Sale! |
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