Lee Konstantinou examines irony in American literary and political life, showing how it migrated from the countercultural margins of the 1950s to the 1980s mainstream. Along the way, irony was absorbed into postmodern theory and ultimately become a target of recent writers who have moved beyond its limitations with a practice of “postirony.”

One of the world's leading cartoon artists shows readers how to capture the retro look of Sponge Bob, Dexter, and other popular comics, revealing how to recapture the 1950s in cartoons.

Original publication and copyright date: 1987.

Over the last few decades, character-based criticism has been seen as either naive or obsolete. But now questions of character are attracting renewed interest. Making the case for a broad-based revision of our understanding of character, Character rethinks these questions from the ground up. Is it really necessary to remind literary critics that characters are made up of words? Must we forbid identification with characters? Does character-discussion force critics to embrace humanism and outmoded theories of the subject? Across three chapters, leading scholars Amanda Anderson, Rita Felski, and Toril Moi reimagine and renew literary studies by engaging in a conversation about character. Moi returns to the fundamental theoretical assumptions that convinced literary scholars to stop doing character-criticism, and shows that they cannot hold. Felski turns to the question of identification and draws out its diverse strands, as well as its persistence in academic criticism. Anderson shows that character-criticism illuminates both the moral life of characters, and our understanding of literary form. In offering new perspectives on the question of fictional character, this thought-provoking book makes an important intervention in literary studies.

From The Bad Seed and The Good Egg creators, Jory John and Pete Oswald, comes a story about a dinosaur who loves to ROAR. William the dinosaur likes to roar. At the park?“ROAR.” At the bus stop?“ROAR!” At the farm? You bet. ROARRR! William never lets the chance to roar pass him by, even if others find it rather bothersome. That's until William gets a sore throat and the doctor warns him not to roar for a WHOLE week. But can this overexcited, boisterous, giant lizard not do what dinosaurs are meant to do?! In his humorous and insightful style, Jory John creates an epic story about unapologetically and happily being yourself, no matter the cost. Another side-splitting combination of John’s brilliant text and Pete Oswald’s expressive and lively illustrations, That’s What Dinosaurs Do is a read-aloud that young readers will roar for again and again.

Describes how to draw different types of archetypal characters, including scientists, robots, zombies, vampires, adventurous women, witches, and monsters, including drawing their faces, bodies, and clothing and putting them in conflict.

The ultimate book of baby names for comic book nerds, sci-fi fans and more—with the meanings and stories behind more than 1,000 names! Having trouble finding a baby name that celebrates your favorite fandom? Whether you want your child’s name to stand out in a crowd or fit in on the playground, Naming Your Little Geek is here to save the day! This ultimate guidebook is complete with every name a geek could want to give their baby—from Anakin and Frodo to Indiana and Clark; and from Gwen and Wanda to Buffy and Xena—plus their meanings, and a list of all the legends who have borne them. Naming Your Little Geek covers everything from comic book superheroes to role-playing game icons, Starfleet officers to sword and sorcery legends with characters who have appeared on film and TV, in novels and comic books, on the tabletop, and beyond. With nearly 1,100 names referencing more than 4,400 characters from over 1,800 unique sources, it's the perfect resource for parents naming a child or anyone looking for a super cool and meaningful new name.