| The Big Book Of | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Paradox Press (DC Comics) |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Publication date | 1994–2000 |
| No. of issues | 17 |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Doug Moench John Wagner Paul Kirchner Jonathan Vankin |
| Artist(s) | Rick Geary Bob Fingerman Eric Shanower Lennie Mace Randy DuBurke Roger Langridge Frank Quitely Alec Stevens |
| Editor(s) | Andy Helfer Bronwyn Taggart Jim Higgins |
The Big Book Of is a series ofgraphic novelanthologies published by American companyDC ComicsimprintParadox Press.
TheBig Books were published between 1994 and 2000. Just over half of them (ten out of seventeen) were written by a single author (includingDoug Moench andJohn Wagner), withJonathan 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 forFrank Quitely.[1]Rick Geary believes he is the only artist to contribute to all seventeen volumes.[2] E.C. alumsJoe Orlando,George Evans andMarie Severin are present as areRuss Heath andGray Morrow.The Big Books were the last stands of masters of horrorTom Sutton andPat Boyette. Other artists who were regular contributors to the series as a whole includeBob Fingerman,Eric Shanower,Lennie Mace,Randy DuBurke,James Romberger,Salgood Sam,Steve Leialoha,Joe Sacco,Roger Langridge, andAlec Stevens.
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 American culture, while pushing the envelope of unconventional behavior. Among the women to be profiled were risquénightclub singer-comicRusty Warren,B-movie goddessTura Satana, presidential candidateVictoria Woodhull, 19th century sex starLola Montes, legendary seductressCleopatra, scandalous writerAnaïs Nin, and kinky pin-up iconBettie Page.DC Comics stated at the time that the book was in a perpetual "pre-production", even though much of the work on the book was completed by the contributing artists.[3]
Published in 1994 with writers Robert Boyd,Jan Harold Brunvand, andRobert Loren Fleming,[4]The Big Book of Urban Legends won the 1995Eisner Award forBest Anthology.[5] Collected by Brunvand, the two hundred tales in this volume are folklore for modern times.
Published in 1995 and written by Carl Posey,[6] theBig Book of Weirdos illustrates the biographies of sixty-seven of the world's greatest eccentrics. Among those covered areCaligula,Thomas Edison,Henry Ford,Henrietta Howland Robinson,Harry Houdini, and theMarquis de Sade. The book features an introduction byGahan Wilson.
Published in 1995 and written byBronwyn Carlton,[7] theBig Book of Death begins by providing the inside story on execution methods — fromdrawing and quartering to theelectric 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, visitscryogenically preserved bodies, and even sees how cheese can be used as a murder weapon.
Published in 1995 and written byDoug Moench,[8] theBig Book of Conspiracies won the 1996 Eisner Award for Best Anthology.[9] It focuses on plots and cover-ups, including theWatergate scandal,Silkwood, theIran-Contra scandal, and the assassinations ofJohn F. Kennedy,Malcolm X,Robert Kennedy, andMartin Luther King. This book explores all these schemes and more, using a stream of real and imagined "facts" to explain how shadowy forces — including theCIA, theFreemasons, theHoly See, theTrilateral Commission, and evenextraterrestrials — may be conspiring to shape world events.
Published in 1996 and written byGahan Wilson,[10] theBig 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, fromsideshowfreaks to legendary creatures (includinggiants), the subjects ofTod Browning's famousfilm and exhibitors includingP. T. Barnum.
Published in 1996,[11] theBig Book of Little Criminals details some of the world's most incompetent felons, such asShanghai Kelly, who kidnapped men and forced them to work on ships. It also contains the stories of U.S. Senators caning their colleagues, colonial counterfeiters, theHitler Diaries forgeries, and a crook who nearly succeeded in buying Portugal.
Published in 1996[12] and written by Carl Sifakis,The Big Book of Hoaxes illustrates history's great hoaxes, pranks, and scams, including such notable put-ons asMary 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 includeCharles Ponzi and hisget-rich-quick schemes, the infamous "Princess Caraboo", the Hitler Diaries, and a plan to sawManhattan in half.
Published in 1996 and written byJoel Rose,[13] theBig Book of Thugs documents criminals who get what they want not through any sort of cleverness, but through direct action and pure force, including theThuggee of India, and the "Ohio Gang", which disgraced theHarding administration.
Published in 1997 and written byPaul Kirchner,[14] theBig Book of Losers proves that the misfortunes of others (such asElisha Gray, who invented a telephone prototype beforeAlexander Graham Bell) really can be funny.
Published in 1997 and written byDoug Moench,[15] theBig Book of the Unexplained features an introduction and narration by the ghostly image ofCharles Fort (a deceased writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena). The book contains the stories of impossible animals, lost continents, and bizarre phenomena, such as the mummy's curse, living dinosaurs, theLoch Ness Monster,Bigfoot,alien abductions, and rains of frogs.
Published in 1997 and written byJohn Wagner,[16] theBig Book of Martyrs examines the lives and deaths ofChristian martyrs, includingSaint Valentine,Joan of Arc,Saint Ursula, andSaint 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.
Published in 1998 and written byJonathan Vankin,[17] theBig Book of Scandal features an introduction & afterword byStephen DeStefano. The twelfthBig Book wallows in the lurid world of tabloid news.Fatty Arbuckle,Charlie Chaplin,John DeLorean,Richard Nixon,Oliver North, andO. J. Simpson are all examined.
Published in 1998,[18] theBig Book of Bad is written byAnina Bennett, Jonathan Vankin, and Paul Kirchner.
The thirteenthBig Book examines evil, likeHeinrich Himmler, the architect of the Nazis' "Final Solution"; the depraved emperors of ancient Rome; and various serial killers. Then there are proponents of the banal, like poetRod McKuen and real estate developerWilliam Levitt. Finally, there are fictional villains likeProfessor Moriarty,Lady Macbeth, andDracula.
Published in 1998[19] and written by John Whalen, theBig 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. It containsWeird West stories and the stories of Western characters likeGeorge Maledon, "The Prince of Hangmen"; homosexuality among macho cowboys; and the various ghosts that haunted the American West.
Published in 1998,[20] and written by Dave Stern and Steve Vance, theBig Book of Vice examines alcohol, drugs, tobacco, sex, and gambling. Subjects range from the history oftobacco, to sexual slavery andpinball machines.
Published in 1999 and written by Jonathan Vankin,[21] theBig Book of Grimm examinesfairy tales. Writer Vankin transcribes the original, unsanitized folk tales that theBrothers Grimm collected in the mid-19th century, detailing child abuse, incest, cannibalism, severed limbs, and gouged-out eyes.
Published in 2000 and written by Jonathan Vankin,[22] theBig Book of the '70s documents ten years of "tackiness and tumult". Fromdisco topolyester fashion, the finalBig Book itemizes the fads, personalities, slang, and social insanity that infected the 1970s (as well as theVietnam War and some classic films).