Bücher veröffentlicht von Andrews McMeel Publishing

"Crankshaft has touched on a raft of senior concerns with humor and often poignancy, including illness, mortality, making out a will, literacy, physical deterioration, vulnerability, security, and, recently, muggings and Alzheimer''s disease." -The Telegraph, Alton, IllinoisCranky Ed Crankshaft is at it again, gunning his school bus so he can outdistance the little Johnson girl, backing over the Keestermans'' mailbox, and holding up a record-breaking line of cars. It''s just another day for the sixty-something curmudgeon who''s earned a soft spot in the hearts of millions of readers.Originally spun off from the popular Funky Winkerbean strip, Crankshaft is an enormously popular character in his own right. Writer Tom Batiuk and artist Chuck Ayers combine their talent and insights into a strip that deals with aging in a heartfelt and funny way. "After sixty, it''s just patch, patch, patch," says Crankshaft as he waits at the doctor''s office.In this Crankshaft book, I''ve Still Got It!, readers can follow their beloved grandfather figure as he struggles with new challenges, from a friend with Alzheimer''s disease to another friend who''s been mugged. Along the way, Crankshaft continues his quest to finally read all the Popular Mechanics magazines daughter Pam has given him over the years.Although readers love Crankshaft because the strip makes them laugh, they also cherish the panel''s honesty about issues faced by people of all ages, from literacy to illness to crime. They also appreciate the real feelings that linger just below the surface between Crankshaft and his housemates-daughter Pam, son-in-law Jeff, and their kids Max and Mindy, his stray cat, Pickles, and his girlfriend, Grace.

This strip is the culmination of a life''s worth of dreams. I''m using the opportunity to entertain, enlighten, and be the trembly voice of the socially awkward everywhere." -Cory Thomas An edgy and nuanced strip-chronicling the demanding but reflective lives of six urban teens at Oliver Otis University.More Watch Your HeadCory Thomas''s Watch Your Head is presented through the eyes of Cory, an academically brilliant but socially inept college student. His friends at Otis U. include Omar, a recluse who seems umbilically tied to his computer; Quincy, Omar''s friend (and therefore Cory''s friend by default); and Kevin, who, as both a Canadian and one of the few whites on a predominantly black campus, feels like a foreigner times two. Robin, the object of Cory''s crush, and Jason, Cory''s roommate and polar opposite, round out the cast. Through this diverse group, Thomas provides a raw critique on current social issues while perfectly relating the amusements, angst, and growth that come with the college experience. Watch Your Head currently appears in papers stretching from New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston to Chicago, Dallas, and St. Petersburg. This inaugural book offering collects more than 40 weeks of strips.

Is your face suffering from a lack of exercise? Readers rely on John McPherson's Close to Home cartoon to contort their facial muscles into an unstoppable grin each day. Not even Botox can stop you from smiling at this latest collection of Close to Home.How do you measure a cartoon's popularity? The true measure of a comic panel's popularity is how often it is posted on a refrigerator, cubicle, break room bulletin board, or office door. By that standard, Close to Home wins the comic panel popularity contest hands down.Close to Home captures the humor in all facets of life. From home to hospitals, from classrooms to courtrooms, from boardrooms to backyards--there's a Close to Home panel that hits us where we live and work and play.A Million Little Pieces of Close to Home features hilarious panels first published in newspapers in the year 2000, the year of the Y2K scare that never materialized. Of course, that's just the kind of thing you'd expect from a Close to Home world.

This zany strip enters the comic-collection scene with circus-like zeal. All that''s missing is a parade of elephants and a clown-car escort.Gary and Glenn McCoy''s delightfully absurd comic panel blends superheroes, office humor, huggable animals, and twisted relationships in a bizarre marriage of Gary Larson, the New Yorker, Conan O''Brien, and Mad Magazine. Put succinctly, the brothers McCoy present "comics for a bold new world." Creating a world where greeting cards heal hospital patients, police officers pull over children driving bumper cars, babies use the patch to quell the pacifier habit, and nudists find out what constitutes a streaker in their colony, the St. Louis area natives alternate writing and drawing duties for the daily panel.The brothers each have been nominated for multiple National Cartoonists Society awards, and Glenn has won in three categories. Gary McCoy''s past as a comedian (he won HBO''s Stand-Up Stand-Off contest for the St. Louis area in 1995) also shines through in the strip''s offbeat humor.Their impressive freelance client list reads like a who''s who in cartooning: Disney, DreamWorks, and Hyperion, to name just a few.

Dogs and comic strips enjoy a long history together. But leave it to the highly creative mind of cartoonist Steve Watkins to come up with a "dawg" like no other. Watkins''s pooch is none other than DJ Dog, a down-on-his-luck, ex-rap star canine forced by circumstances beyond his control to become a permanent houseguest in a suburban family household. Talk about culture shock! Watkins pulls off this unlikely scenario in his hot comic strip, Housebroken, which captures fans everywhere it appears.

Soccer is the hottest trend in years, and Bill Hinds''s comic strip Cleats finds endless humor in the sport''s rowdy but lovable players, coaches, and parents. Cleats follows the trials and tribulations of a thoroughly contemporary team: Abby Harper, a competitive but kind 11-year-old on a select soccer team; Jack Dooley, Abby''s 10-year-old neighbor, who''s determined to move up from his recreational team to a select team; Armando "Mondo" Ruiz, a talented player who continues his family''s tradition in the sport but prefers to remain on a rec team; Coaches "Bull" Tippit, a granite-jawed retired military man, and earnest Chester Nordling. Given soccer''s soaring popularity, Who Tracked Soccer Through the House? A Cleats Collection is sure to score.

Somewhere between here and anywhere, in a trailer park called "The People''s Court," lives a bespectacled, floppy-footed girl named Agnes. Her age falls exactly between the wide-eyed times when fairy tales are embraced as truth and the darker, later years when cynicism starts to take its toll. The other players in this small sideshow are Grandma, a hardworking, underpaid Golden Ager who worries that she may be a little too old for the challenge of raising a granddaughter, and Trout, Agnes''s best friend. Trout was named after one of her father''s biggest passions and, according to her, she was only three numbers from being christened Powerball. Trout tries to temper Agnes''s stigmatism of hope with her own doctrine of realism. Together they weather the major tribulations that only childhood can make so monumental. Trout aspires to pilot a soft-serve ice cream machine so all the kids will laugh and yell "Hey, Ice Cream Lady!" Agnes merely wants to be crowned lord queen of the unknown universe. They will probably end up on different bowling leagues.

Ferociously Close to Home delivers McPherson's trademark take on the absurdities of everyday life. To say that his solutions to these perplexing situations is 'out there' is an understatement. Consider Gina, who decides a branding iron will be the ideal memory aid for her birthday date-challenged husband. And poor Lanny, whose treadmill session is interrupted when he inadvertently triggers the health club's offensive odor alarm. McPherson has long walked the line between grotesque and goofy. But somehow, his figures with big noses and bulging eyes connect with readers with a surefire magnetic precision. Whether it's health care or parenting, dating or car repairs, Close to Home delivers McPherson's warped world without fail.

The little kid with the giant personality is back! Hey, James! is the second collection of acclaimed comic strips from the award-winning pen of cartoonist Mark Tonra. James may or may not be the center of the universe-as he thinks-but there''s no arguing that he is indeed at the heart of one of the most inventive "kid" strips to hit the funny pages in almost a decade.With his equally lovable and quirky conspirators along for the ride, James explores the world and himself-laying bare the fragile and eccentric humanity in all of us. In a neighborhood where shirt gerbils prance and hungry shadows raid refrigerators, James chugs life like a summertime slurpy-without the brain freeze.Using his clean spontaneous pen line, Mark Tonra again marries insight and whimsy to deliver a book that''s both hilarious and enlightening. Hey, James! is a satisfying celebration of every reader''s inner and outer child. Enjoy!

Start with an everyday occurrence, add several helpings of absurdity, a few cups of silliness, and a dash of sickness and you get Close to Home. The goofy people and brilliant humor of this single-panel strip have put smiles on the faces of readers. This kooky collection, Close to Home Exposed, captures the hilarity of some of its best cartoon panels. As the comic's name suggests, Close to Home provides humor that's comfortable and familiar; yet the strip also has a palpable element of danger or nonsense. Topics vary widely, from health care and parenting to car repairs and shopping. But whether it's addressing dating or death--or just as likely, dating and death--Close to Home always delivers the off-center laughs its readers have come to expect."Close to Home is always a scream, and I love the goofy people that you draw. Truth is, I work with a lot of these folks." --Tom D."Where do you come up with these comics'! They are totally stupendous and are a big part of my stupid and nauseating life. You're the best!" --Sleepless in New York"Every day you make me laugh!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" --An Online Fan

Cartoonist Jerry Van Amerongen is an intellectual cartoonist with a loopy sense of humor and a richly subtle drawing style.In Minnows in the Bath, Van Amerongen gathers together his best canine cartoons. The droll dogs of Ballard Street are often hailed as among the cartoonist''s strongest characters. Dogs who wear hats, dogs that catapult from trampolines, and dogs that outthink their human counterparts highlight Van Amerongen''s humorous way with hounds.Through his comedic canines, Van Amerongen wants to share his world."Some of the messages are profound; some are just plain silly. Some are geared for big laughs; others a quiet smile," the cartoonist says. "It''s what''s rattling around in my brain at the time."In 1980, Jerry Van Amerongen left a successful career in corporate America to work full-time on his cartoon The Neighborhood. After a decade, he decided it was time for a change, so he began developing Ballard Street. A graduate of Ferris State College, Van Amerongen lives in Minneapolis.

Whether working through the daily disorders of home, school, or office, the Fox family manages to put its special spin on the rigors of the world. Setting the comic tone are mom Andy, whose heroic efforts to make tofu into the fifth food group are legend, and dad Roger, who is a human hazard on the golf course and a threat to the workings of all technologically driven devices. Filling out the cast are the younger Foxes: the eldest and football star wanna-be Peter, shopping guru Paige, and last-but never least-Jason, the family brain trust and his trusty iguana friend, Quincy. Each sports his or her own eccentricities, from Jason''s Internet stock, Jasonzonbayhoo dot com, to Peter''s teeth-chattering coffee addiction to Paige''s harrowing adventures in baby-sitting.

Where there is stress, humor is not far behind," holds Close to Home creator John McPherson. And thanks to his stressed-out cast of characters, readers everywhere find something laughable, hilarious, and oftentimes downright knee-slapping in McPherson's single-panel snapshots of a loony world.Take the soberness of a former circus performer's funeral, the idea that a health club would have an Offensive Odor Alarm, or absurd hospital insurance policies. McPherson has the eye-and the twisted mind-to capture such scenes in ways that both shock and amuse his readers.McPherson does it with The Close to Home Survival Guide, an aggregation of his lumpy figures, with their long faces, protruding noses, and bulging eyeballs, parading down that fine line between grotesque and certifiably goofy. Everything from family life and dating to car repair and medical emergencies provide fodder for the wackiness in this essential collection and guide. 

Everyone can relate to having a family member with an unusual hobby or habit. The Fox clan is no different. The youngest Fox is Jason, whose best friend is an iguana named Quincy. His sister, Paige, is a shopaholic. The oldest Fox sibling is Peter, whose stomach is a bottomless pit. But perhaps the most unusual of all is level-headed mom and official family mediator, Andy, who is working through her obsession with the movie Titanic. A slave to her emotions, she is brought to tears at a mere hint of the soundtrack and attends multiple movie screenings each day. This leaves well-meaning husband, Roger, struggling to live up to her new romantic expectations. All of this is par for the course in the hilarious but hectic Fox household.What makes the Fox clan so entertaining? They''re just like us-only funnier-with no sappy sentimentality. Readers can''t help but recognize a little bit of themselves in this family strip with its good-hearted, if not eccentric, characters. The Foxes deal with everything from sibling rivalry to marital disagreements over golfing habits to sharing time on the computer, always making us laugh in the process.FoxTrot has amassed a colossal audience of fans of all ages who eagerly turn to this hilarious strip, whether in newspapers or on the Web. New fans and loyal readers alike will enjoy I''m Flying, Jack . . . I Mean, Roger, a FoxTrot collection. Together, the Fox family provides a witty window on the realities of home life today.

Housebroken comes with a hip attitude and sharp sense of humor that appeal to younger audiences, yet it has crossover appeal to readers of all ages who identify with the off-the-wall antics.The worlds of hip-hop and suburbia couldn't seem further apart . . . and that's just what makes Housebroken so doggone funny. Cartoonist Steve Watkins plunks down DJ Dog, his plucky ex-rap star canine, into the middle-class Watson family, and a whole lot of grumbling, growling, and cultural ""enlightenment"" takes place. Gangsta Yoga with DJ Dog is the second regular collection of Watkins's nationally syndicated strip, and this book promises the same successful combination of hilarious laughs and crossover sales as its predecessor. DJ Dog may be a warm and fuzzy puppy at heart, but his ""ruff"" edges leave something to be desired when it comes to harmonizing with Mya, the nine-year-old daughter of the Watson family and CEO wannabe. DJ often teams up with Mya's seven-year-old brother, Malik, to oppose her get-rich schemes, which include selling Girl Scout cookie-backed securities. Whether he's teaching yoga positions, such as ""Duck from Driveby,"" or taking over the elementary school orchestra and renaming them the ""Murderers Bows,"" this hip-hop pup is bound to be funny.

As the American mainstream tilts gradually right, Prickly City takes its place as a humorous voice for the masses. Creator Scott Stantis' first collection captures the issues and arguments of the George W. Bush political era era from the viewpoint of a little girl and a cute coyote. Never shy about commenting on sensitive and controversial political and social events, Prickly City is timely and humorous. This collection of the conservative strip draws from today's political current and gives readers plenty of reasons to laugh. Carmen, a straightforward, sensible kid, and her unlikely best friend, Winslow the innocent coyote pup, frolic and tussle in the American Southwest while discussing hot-button issues such as condoms in schools, violent video games, gay marriage, and highly contested presidential campaigns. As Carmen might say, ""We may not be correct but we will always be right.""Prickly City creator Scott Stantis has emerged as an up-and-coming conservative social and political voice.

""Monkeys are uniquely suited for cocktail parties. They are able to hold a beverage in one hand, hors d'oeuvres in the other, and greet fellow guests with their feet. And yet they get invited to surprisingly few cocktail parties.""-Bo Nanas It's a jungle out there, so . . . bring your copy of Bo Nanas: Monkey Meets World. This hilarious collection of comic strips chronicle the adventures of Bo Nanas, a three-foot-tall talking monkey, who swings through life with wit and a gentle perspective. Tackling whatever life throws him-be it strange jobs, weird relationships, or even genetically engineered bananas-our hero maintains a wry sense of humor. As Bo handles everything from annoying cell phone users to teething babies, readers are sure to see a bit of their own lives in this boldly drawn, prize-winning comic strip. Who, for example, hasn't tried to do an act of kindness only to have it blow up in their face? Bo spies a sad little puppy tied up in a yard and decides to treat him to a day of movies and amusement parks only to find himself in the back of a police car for his troubles. Work can also be a challenge. When Bo takes an office job he finds himself to be the only available male in the building and thus the center of attention for a bevy of single female coworkers, sizing him up to see if he'll ""take to domestication."" After winning the FineToon Fellowship in 2002, Bo Nanas began syndication in May 2003 through the Washington Writers Group. Bo Nanas: Monkey Meets World is a must have for anyone who loves monkey business.

A Boomer's Guide to Grandparenting welcomes baby boomers to the grandparenting game. The Zullos have tapped fellow boomer grandparents and leaders in the child care and grandparenting fields to share their expertise and help recent grandparents find success and enjoyment in their new relationships with their children and grandchildren. We are your typical boomer nana and papa," say authors Kathryn and Allan Zullo, "younger, healthier, wealthier, and better educated than our grandparents. We are more active and less formal than our own parents were at our age. We no longer fit the traditional image of our elderly kin." That description signals the need for a new kind of grandparenting, a role that The Boomer's Guide to Grandparenting fills to perfection. The experts and grandparents cited throughout the book tailor their guidance and recommendations to fit the boomer sensibility, covering topics such as: * Defining your role and image as a grandparent* Understanding the latest trends in child care* Achieving harmony with your children and their spouses* Engaging in high-tech grandparenting* Coping with stepgrandparenting* Dealing with grandchildren in nontraditional households* Caring for great-grandchildren Filled with expert advice, A Boomer's Guide to Grandparenting provides a smooth transition into grandparenting and sets the stage for successful relationships and experiences for the entire family.

For more than 30 years, WonderWord has delighted and challenged puzzle players every day. Each puzzle is built by hand from legendary puzzle creator David Ouellet. Each puzzle is also themed, often bringing in pop culture and trending topics. Monday through Saturday puzzles are a 15x15 grid, and on Sunday the puzzle jumps to a 20x20 version for even more game play. Get lost in the most essential, habitual, and enthralling puzzle! WonderWord is great for all ages.

For more than 30 years, WonderWord has delighted and challenged puzzle players every day. Each puzzle is built by hand from legendary puzzle creator David Ouellet. Each puzzle is also themed, often bringing in pop culture and trending topics. Monday through Saturday puzzles are a 15x15 grid, and on Sunday the puzzle jumps to a 20x20 version for even more game play. Get lost in the most essential, habitual, and enthralling puzzle! WonderWord is great for all ages.

No one walks away from a Close to Home cartoon unscathed. John McPherson's lumpy characters and bizarre situations are tailor-made for gut-splitting laughs. And then there are the cartoons that leave readers shaking their heads, sputtering, "Oh my gosh" as a guilty smile passes across their faces. The Scourge of Vinyl Car Seats delivers what fans expect from McPherson: jokes about everything from parenting to dating to car repairs. McPherson takes his readers on a journey that's very Close to Home.

A collection of cartoons about the Fox family, featuring parents Roger and Andy, siblings Peter, Paige, and Jason, Quincy the pet iguana, and other friends.

What would road rage in Beverly Hills look like? From the whimsical perspective of The Other Coast creator Adrian Raeside, it would involve a prim-and-proper hurling of a jar of Grey Poupon at the offending driver. The Other Coast: Road Rage in Beverly Hills is the first collection of Adrian Raeside's strip featuring his off-kilter view of contemporary life. Raeside's lighthearted look at culture, politics, fashion, society, and life in general is both insightful and hilarious. Whether it's taking a clever poke at our obsession with wireless phones, our inability to maintain a workout program, or the witty banter of married life, The Other Coast is a bastion of original thinking, wry wit, and out-loud laughs. Much of the humor comes at the expense of Toulose, the eccentric screenwriter, and his cause-seeking wife, Vicki. But the strip also features a colorful cast of repair people, kids, contractors, tech-support goons, agents, pets, and much more. Those enjoying strips that provide more than the "same ol' schtick" are sure to relish a visit to The Other Coast, where folks aren't deep enough to be shallow.

The harassed mom and dad characters from the Fox household continue their pursuit of health and happiness while raising three energetic and rivaling kids, in a collection that introduces the family's pet iguana.

Features the continuing adventures of Wanda, Darryl, and newborn Zoe.

Chronicles the continuing crises in Cathy's life, as well as the misadventures of Baby Zenith, Andrea's daughter; Electra, the puppy; Mr. Pinkley, the boss; and her friend Charlene.