Shown here are just a few of the many different Cover Designs for George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, or simply, “1984″ . Published in 1948 ( the title is a reversal of those numbers ) this book has become an international classic. Seriously, it should be a “must read” on anyone’s book-reading list. The story is both political fiction and dystopian science-fiction. It has also introduced many terms and concepts still used today, stuff like: Big Brother, Doublethink, Thoughtcrime, etc… In fact, many subjects considered to be Censorship, Mind Control or Government Surveillance is thought of as being “Orwellian”.

The 1st photo shown way up above is the original UK FIRST EDITION Hardback with Dust-Jacket as it appeared in England, 1948. Then, we get to see what the FIRST EDITION US VERSION looked like. Following these, down below, are many examples of the book’s cover over the years ( both hardback & paperback ). Oh, there have been many many more than these, this is just a small sample. The very last cover shown, plain white with a blue eye pupil, is just one of the most recent modern-day versions.

In closing, here is a recent photo taken at the real-life “George Orwell House” in England. The irony of it? Check out the Police Camera, ha!!

Yes! This week’s latest issue of THE NEW YORKER Magazine features a beautiful cover with artwork by Chris Ware. It’s main theme is “Back To School” and, like a lot of his art, it is filled with a sense of Melancholy. So, please be sure to hit your local newsstand soon. We also want to mention that THE NEW YORKER did a short Interview and Story about about Chris Ware where they talk about this cover design and his new Graphic Novel book from Pantheon titled, BUILDING STORIES. You can read that interesting article by clicking RIGHT HERE!

As a side note:

To celebrate the release of BUILDING STORIES, Chris Ware will have two separate Art Gallery Openings that together will exhibit 126 drawings used to create the new book. The events will be held at Adam Baumgold Gallery (New York) and Carl Hammer Gallery (Chicago). The Art Shows open on September 8th, 2012 and run until October 27th.

YES! We’re really proud to announce that over at the super-excellent COMIC BOOK RESOURCES website they just did a Book Review for Chip Kidd & Dave Taylor’s new Graphic Novel, BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN! The article was written by Greg Burgas for their COMICS SHOULD BE GOOD! page and we think he did a very nice job on it. Well done, Sir! So, we want to thank both Greg Burgas and CBR for giving the book some attention & also invite our readers to check it out. Just click HERE!

We’re proud to announce another wonderful Book Review for Chip Kidd & Dave Taylor’s New BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN Graphic Novel. We just noticed it this morning and we were pretty excited about it! You can read it at the COMICS ALLIANCE website. It was written by J. Caleb Mozzocco and he did a very excellent job. You can tell he put a lot of effort into it & we always appreciate that. Also, one cool thing is, they also decided to share some really great graphics from the book showcasing Dave Taylor’s artwork! We want to thank them for giving the book some attention. Hey, what are you doing still here? Go Read It!!

Pantheon Books is set to release BUILDING STORIES by Chris Ware in October 2nd, 2012. It’s an incredible book and we’re all very excited about it! One cool thing happening now is that Book Reviews have already started to surface here and there. Here’s a very excellent one written by Bryony Quinn over at the IT’S NICE THAT website. The photos are incredible too and should give you a very good idea how extremely complex this book is. I mean, it’s more like a Box Gift Set with many goodies inside. Check It Out! ( Thanks Bryony! )

We're thrilled to report that two Pantheon Books won Eisner Awards at the ceremony held recently at the 2012 San Diego Comic Con. Graphic Novelist Craig Thompson ( pictured ) won Best Writer/Artist for Habibi and Art Spiegelman's MetaMaus won Best Comics-Related Book!! Congratulations to both of these amazing Artists, very well deserved!! BRAVO!!

Shown up above is Chris Ware's Poster Art for this year’s SMALL PRESS EXPO, the event of 2012! This show celebrates 200,000 years of Non-Mainstream Publishing Activity. The show starts on Saturday, September 15th, at 11:00am and runs till 7:00pm. Then, it’s open again on Sunday, Sept. 16th from 12:00pm to 6:00pm. Admission for one day is $10.00, or get in both days for $15.00! This year it will be held at the Marriott Bethesda North Hotel and Conference Center in North Bethesda, Maryland.

Some Special Guests of Honor include: Chris Ware, Dan Clowes, Adrian Tomine, Francoise Mouly, Nick Abadzis, Michael DeForge, plus Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez! Also, there will be a special film presentation by Mark Newgarden. For more information, just CLICK HERE!

Blog Reporter Matt Staggs of SUVUDU showed up at the 2012 San Diego Comic Con and did a really great interview with Chip Kidd. They talked about two new releases from Pantheon Books: THE HIVE by Charles Burns and BUILDING STORIES by Chris Ware. They also touched a little bit on Chip Kidd & Dave Taylor’s new DC Comics’ Graphic Novel, BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN. Then, the amazing part, he mentioned this website! OK, the new books are way more important but I was happy about the site getting a little bit of hype, ha ha! ( Thanks to Matt Staggs for sharing the Video ).

OK, We’re sharing a fun photo here from the 2012 San Diego Comic Con event that Chip Kidd is scheduled to be at all weekend ( Please see our NEXT APPEARANCES page for more information ). While there yesterday Chip met the Artist Dave McKean and the main thing he had to say about him was, “Wotta sweetheart!” Of course this is the guy who is a legendary Graphic Artist! Some of his best known work is the amazing Book Covers for Neil Gaiman’s Sandman ( Vertigo ) and Batman’s Arkham Asylum ( DC Comics ). Speaking of Gaiman, Dave McKean also did the illustrations for Coraline (2002) and The Graveyard Book (2008), among others. Actually, he’s done way too many cool things to list here, ha! So, if you want to see more great art from this guy then just please be sure to visit his personal website & blog, CLICK HERE!

Here’s a fun wacky photo from the recent 2012 San Diego Comic Con event. Chip Kidd said he was honored to meet “Ramona Flowers”, a Character from the “Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe” Graphic Novel by Bryan Lee O’Malley. Actually it’s a real-life person named Ari Wells who is a Graphic Designer in San Diego, CA. She was kind enough to pose for this picture. Also, her Cosplay Costume is pretty SWEET! Check out the reference down below.