ALEC: The Years Have Pants

For the first time ever, the pioneering autobiographical comics of master cartoonist Eddie Campbell (From Hell) are collected in a single volume!

Brilliantly observed and profoundly expressed, the ALEC stories present a version of Campbell's own life, filtered through the alter ego of "Alec MacGarry." Over many years, we witness Alec's (and Eddie's) progression "from beer to wine" — wild nights at the pub, existential despair, the hunt for love, the quest for art, becoming a "responsible breadwinner," feeling lost at his own movie premiere, and much more! Eddie's outlandish fantasies and metafictional tricks convert life into art, while staying fully grounded in his own absurdity.

This Life-Size Omnibus edition of ALEC includes all the stories from The King Canute Crowd, Three-Piece Suit, How to be an Artist, and After the Snooter, as well as the very early, out-of-print ALEC stories and a staggering amount of bonus material.

Published BooksKenneth GerleveAugust 21, 2017Alec, The Years Have Pants, Eddie Campbell, 2010, Bookstore

The Playwright

The Playwright rather enjoys a quiet moment in the local park. It is a good place to mentally sort his ideas, and is often frequented by pretty young ladies. He once saw a pigeon defecate onto a businessman's shoulder. It struck him as absurd that such an event is often considered lucky. Surely the luck lay with passers-by who, statistically, were far less likely to be similarly soiled, at that precise moment. Similarly, the Playwright always derived an almost perverse sense of relief whenever he received news that an old friend had developed prostate cancer. Because statistically, he reasoned, such news significantly reduced the chances of him being similarly afflicted. And to be honest, at his age, his prostate needed all the statistical support he could muster."

The Playwright: a dark, romantic comedy about the sex life of a celibate, middle-aged man.

Published BooksKenneth GerleveAugust 21, 2017The Playwright, Eddie Campbell, Darren White, 2010, Bookstore

A Disease of Language

Originally a performance piece by Alan Moore and Tim Perkins, The Birth Caul is a shamanism of childhood, a journey from the present to the past, back into the womb and beyond. The magical creation theory story of love, death and resurrection Snakes and Ladders was also a performance, entwining the disinterment of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Siddal, the visionary nature of Arthur Machen's experiences after the death of his wife and Alan Moore's magical traveller, John Constantine.