Brian Cunningham - Böcker

These days, a nice original Vauxhall Viva costs an arm and a leg, but back in the 1970s, £100 bought you a ‘good little runner’, with the rust, bald tyres and dodgy MOT thrown in for free. All you needed was someone who knew how to fix it when it broke down!Brian Cunningham is that someone – or, at least, he used to be. Under the Bonnet is the totally true* story of being a car mechanic in the old days, when fixing a car was one thing, but keeping it fixed was something else entirely. These are the tales of a bygone age, full of secret scams, chaotic characters and cars almost bursting with personality.* some tales may be taller than others

Brian Cunningham’s popular first book, Under the Bonnet, was a colourful and humorous collection of memories of his time as a car mechanic in the 1970s and ‘80s. When he wrote it, he was sure he had put everything of interest down, but it turns out there were quite a few escapades he’d forgotten to mention. Time, then, for part two . . .When the Wheels Come Off is a joyous return, covering what he missed first time round: cars fixed and some broken, fads and crazes, crashes and scrapes and near misses, evolutionary dead-ends in technology, underhanded practices and downright skulduggery, run-ins with management, the tools used, the cars ‘stolen’ and scrapyards visited. A lively and engaging trip back to the workshop.

While Steve Ditko and Stan Lee may have created Spider-Man, it was JohnRomita Sr. who defined him, bringing his clean, romantic style of illustrationto the book. From his days before Marvel, through the Sliver Age and on intodesigning and creating the characters we know and love still today (includingWolverine, the Punisher and many, many more), Romita: Generations coversit all.

While Steve Ditko and Stan Lee may have created Spider-Man, it was JohnRomita Sr. who defined him... Romita came to the book as a replacement forSteve Ditko, bringing his clean, romantic style of illustration to the book. Romita once expected Ditko to return to the book within a few months and when hedidn't, history was truly made. A history that is now fully explored bywriter Tom Spurgeon and this presentation of the definitive book - lavishlyillustrated with classic and unseen art -- starring Jazzy John Romita! From hisdays before Marvel, through the Sliver Age, and his days designing and creatingthe characters we know and love still today (including Wolverine, the Punisherand many, many more), Romita: Generations covers it all. Spurgeon's exhaustiveinterview includes not only Romita Sr., but the second beloved artist in thefamily, John Romita Jr.! About Tom SpurgeonTom Spurgeon is one of NorthAmerica's best-known experts on the comic strip and comic book art forms and theindustries that service them. The son of a newspaperman in East CentralIndiana, Tom and his brothers helped their father select new strips for thepaper's comic-book page, making the Muncie Star-Press one of the firstpublications to carry "Calvin and Hobbes" and "The Far Side," as well as sone ofthe few to carry "Rudy."After receiving a broad education at Washington andLee University and a focused one at Garrett seminary on the campus ofNorthwestern University, Tom worked briefly for QVC, Inc. Drawing on experiencein his nepotism-fueled career as a beat writer, editor and entertainmentreporter, Tom in 1994 took the position of managing editor at The Comics Journalin Seattle, Washington. Tom edited the Journal for five years, first asmanaging editor and then as executive editor. During that time, the magazinewon multiple industry awards, increased its focus on world comics and encouragedthe comics community to see small press and mini-comics as legitimate artisticoutlets rather than a training ground for traditionally published works. Inforcing the magazine to build on the breadth and depth of its coverage, Tomhelped improve the magazine's general mainstream profile as one of AmericanArts' most unique and valuable publications. When literary comics began to makea major impact in the late 1990s, the Journal was the gateway publication formany editors and writers to understand the phenomenon. Tom also edited themagazine's infamous "Stan Lee issue" (October 1995) and helped launch itspopular companion Web site. In 1999, Tom left the magazine to become afreelancer. He remains a columnist, reviewer and occasional newsman for thepublication he previously edited. He has written about comics and a variety ofarts-related subjects for Suck.com, Feed, The Stranger, and more than a dozennewspapers and regional magazines. From 1999 to 2002, he wrote the criticallylauded newspaper comic strip "Wildwood," which enjoyed a daily presence in morethan 18 million homes. He currently lives in Silver City, New Mexico.