Step inside the early comics career of legendary artist William Stout with rare art and firsthand stories in this 304-page 9×12″ art book!
William Stout’s Comics Volume 1 is the first installment in a three-volume celebration of the legendary artist’s comics career, focusing on his formative years and early professional work. Featuring more than 75 complete comic pages, over 370 comic-style illustrations and personal works, and rare historical photographs, this volume is a visual treat for his fans and comics historians alike.
Please note that those who are outside of the US will be able to order the book direct on our Flesk website closer to when the books arrive with us.
This collection is offered as a paperback and as a signed deluxe hardcover edition. We also have three premium signed 13 x 19″ prints available. Every book pledge comes with a Kickstarter exclusive 8.5 x 11″ signed print (one for each copy of the book).
Written and narrated by Stout himself, the book traces his journey from childhood obsessions and early superhero creations to his time at the Chouinard Art Institute, where influential mentors helped shape his artistic voice. It explores his pivotal time as an assistant to Russ Manning on Tarzan of the Apes, the impact of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ stories, and Stout’s wide-ranging early output, from car and motorcycle comics to his unexpected entry as a sports cartoonist.
We also have luxurious prints that feature three of Stout’s favorite images. Each is made using 300 gsm acid free matt paper that is printed with archival inks. All are signed by Stout.
Welcome to our top 10 list of Flesk books sold in 2025. This ranking was calculated by the actual number of copies sold rather than by the total funds collected. The number of people holding a copy in their hands is our favorite way to measure the success of a title.
Last night, I flipped through some of the pictures that we took throughout 2025 and it made me realize how amazing the year was.
Vicky and I had the chance to see many of our friends throughout the year. We had a wonderful time meeting people at the handful of events where we exhibited. We released eight new books that we are very proud of. We even managed to take a pair of trips where we could fully get lost in nature and recharge. I’m grateful to everyone who makes it possible for Vicky and myself to make books on these amazing artists. I consider ourselves to be very lucky. We have all of you to thank for allowing us to continue to do what we love.
We have some big plans that we will be kicking into motion this month. We’ve also mapped out our book schedule for this year. I’ll share all of these details soon.
For now, I will offer some insight into our top 10 books in 2025. This helps to remind myself about the many positive things that happened over the past few years while also looking forward to what 2026 will bring.
I hope you all had a wonderful New Year day with many more great days to come!
When I first met DWJ I didn’t quite realize how big of a superstar he was becoming. As I read his comics for the first time, I had that same feeling wash over me that I had when first reading Frank Miller’s run on Daredevil, and also Darwyn Cooke’s TheNew Frontier. It’s rare to have such an impactful writer/artist/storyteller all in one person. Daniel has cemented himself as one of the most defining creators of his generation. It was a blast to work with him to make this book. We are incredibly proud of how it turned out. The Art of DWJ easily took the number one spot this year. I expect it will continue to be popular throughout 2026. For those who want the signed hardcover, it will eventually sell out. Fair warning.
This one surprised me since this book has been out since 2024. Portfolio was number 3 last year and moved up a spot for 2025! Our stock on the paperback, hardcover and signed hardcover are getting low. The success of this book has encouraged us to work on The Carbon Collection (coming in 2026). Our goal with Portfolio was to make a book packed with Schultz art at an easy to hold size. It has proven very popular and I’m thrilled to see it in the #2 spot! We’ve published more books on Schultz than on any other artist. He is a wonderful guy and amazing to work with.
We released this book on December 2 and within less than a month it almost made the #2 spot. Bruce was very active in the design and tone of this book. The “Monsters” title and chapter titles were all hand lettering by him. He provided a bunch of commentary, and had his hand in each page of the design as well as the color adjustments for his art. It was an amazing experience to work with Bruce on this. It’s obvious to see how much passion he has for this genre. We’re currently working on the next book in the series that will collect his noir/crime/hard-boiled art. After that, we have a fantasy themed book coming. After these, even more collections are planned!
Can we all take a moment to give Mark a standing ovation? Two books in the top 4 and this one has been in print from us since 2010! Xenozoic proves time and again that people love this series. The story is just as relevant today as it was when it was initially released. It is constantly being discovered by new people. We’re just about sold out of this latest printing and have some copies on our website. We’ll print more copies and restock our distributor later this year.
It feels so good to see this book continue to sell at a brisk pace. An absolute master of pen-and-ink, Franklin Booth’s drawings continue to make people happy. As many of you know, Booth was the subject of the first book that I published back in 2002. It was titled Painter with a Pen. Silent Symphony was meant as a 20th year celebration of our publishing books. I loved every minute of working on this book. It brings me great joy to see Booth capture the #5 spot.
I still remember seeing Tran’s paintings for the first time and being completely mesmerized. She has a grace to her works that constanlty moves me. It’s such an honor to work with her. This is her second book that we published. It’s filled with her captivating experimental paintings that I can’t get enough of.
Jeff is one of the most unique and powerful storytellers out there. This is the fourth JAL book that we have published. Like the previous titles, The Last Battle at the End of the World has limited text, yet each page carries so much depth and wonder that adding more text would only be a distraction. I have yet to see anyone else who can tell a story the way Jeff can. A true individual and a wonderful person.
This book was a huge hit when it was released in 2023. It remains the biggest Kickstarter campaign that we’ve ever ran. We ran out of copies for our distributor, but still have some copies on our website. I’ve been following Arthur since the original Longshot series was released. Making this book was a dream. And like the others, Arthur is such a pleasure to work with.
Yay! A second B.T. book on the list! Like Mark Schultz’s Xenozoic, Bruce’s Naughty and Nice collection has been selling nonstop since its initial printing 15 years ago. I actually need to reprint this, along with The Big Tease. We will, but I need to wait until later this year when I can focus on them. I still love looking through this book and am happy to see it on this list.
Along with Mark Schultz and Bruce Timm, Tran Nguyen has the honor of having two books on our top ten list! As an intersting aside, back when Tran was at SCAD, she took a class that Mark was teaching. Small world! Ambedo is a new edition with a new cover. The previous edition had a small print run and sold out quickly. I’ve always been eager to bring this back to print and am so happy we did. It’s another lovely book that I am honored to have published.
I’d like to also mention Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea Revealed by Gianni and Mignola. The initial pre-orders did really well for this title too. I’m sure this will be on the top 10 list next year once the distributor sales reports are made available to us.
I’m sure you are eager to hear all about what we will be releasing in 2026. I’m just as eager to share! I’ll save the details for a future newsletter. At the moment we are putting the final touches on the William Stout Comics Volume One book. I’m looking at the calendar and will lock in a Kickstarter launch date in late-January or early-February. I’ll get that date finalized soon to share with you all.
We are thrilled to bring you the latest art book collection from Flesk! The Art of Daniel Warren Johnson showcases the majority of his kinetic career since his start in 2013. There are a multitude of sections covering his favorite comic-book covers and pages, along with rarely seen commissions and personal works, preliminaries and cover thumbnails. Full access was given to his personal sketchbooks, allowing for a deep look at over 200 sketches that are presented in a dynamic and exciting way.
This art book is offered as a paperback and as a signed deluxe hardcover edition. We also have two premium signed 13 x 19″ prints available. Every book pledge comes with a Kickstarter exclusive 8.5 x 11″ signed print.
This sizable book reveals great detail by sharing extended commentary covering DWJ’s thoughts and pathos for almost every piece. This collection has been methodically put together from the original art and through numerous interview sessions with DWJ over the span of four years.
DWJ is the writer/artist who brought us Space-Mullet, Extremity, Murder Falcon, Do A Powerbomb!, The Moon is Following Us, along with Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, Beta Ray Bill: Argent Star, and a magnificent run on Transformers. And let’s not forget his short Wolverine and Superman stories, and his many variant covers. It’s unbelievable what he has accomplished in the last decade. His high-quality output is nothing short of spectacular. We’re all big fans of DWJ and are honored to showcase his work.
We had an absolutely spectacular time together at Heroes Con. Nine creative giants who we work with were at the show. Nothing beats being together in person. We had so many great moments during our time together on the showroom floor and at our dinners. We got to meet many wonderful people who stopped by our booth and even some legendary pros for the first time. It felt more like a vacation with family than an event. A big thanks to Shelton Drum, Karla Southern and the entire Heroes crew for treating us with such kindness. We’ll be back!
In this picture, from left to right: Vicky, John, Joe Dragunas, Gary Gianni, Mark Chiarello, and Mark Schultz. William Stout, Richard and Wendy Pini, Daniel Warren Johnson, Jeffrey Alan Love, and Arthur Adams were also there!
Another Heroes Con high note was spending extended periods of time with Richard and Wendy Pini, along with David Mizejewski at our Flesk booth. Vicky and I consider ourselves to be the luckiest people in the world to have their friendships.
We also sat down with our friend Jeffrey Alan Love to view the original art for the first four issues of News From the Fallout. The originals are stunningly beautiful! Issue #1 of this new comic, written by Chris Condon and drawn by Jeff, is now available from Image Comics. Go grab yourself a copy! Jeff’s new book, The Last Battle at the End of the World and expanded editions of Notes From the Shadowed City and The Thousand Demon Tree were hits at the show!
Check out this recently completed drawing by Mark Schultz! Mark has enough pieces for an all-new collection. We’re working on a fresh title for the first volume of his next series. This book will be released in 2026.
We also have limited quantities of Bruce’s previous signed sketchbooks that he self-published in the 2000s. Plus, a small number of various signed Naughty and Nice books and Teasers. Plus, two signed prints!
Each signed item is limited to 1 per person. This is to help ensure that the most people possible can get something signed by Bruce at a fair price. Many of these books and sketchbooks are from Bruce’s personal stock. Most of these items are available in limited quantities.
Bruce has no foreseeable plans to appear at any events. This is a great chance to get something signed by this amazing producer/director/writer/animator/comic artist and co-creator of Harley Quinn!
There are still unsigned copies of the latest edition of Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm and some unsigned prints that are available at affordable prices.
There are 150 signed copies with the title on the cover and 100 signed copies with no title (virgin cover) available direct from Flesk.
Bruce Timm’s previous signed sketchbooks that he self-published in the 2000s are available in very low quantities. These are direct from Bruce’s personal stock and his last copies.
Our Flesk B.T. Teasers from 2011 to 2013. These were limited to 1000 copies and sold out a decade ago. These are copies from Bruce’s personal stock.
Warehouse finds! A handful of copies of the two Big Tease hardcover editions and some first edition paperback copies of the original Naughty and Nice book are available. All come signed by B.T. on the title page!
Making books, even after publishing for nearly 25 years, always takes more time than we expect. I was looking back at our email exchanges with Tran about Spectres and came to the realization that this has been a three-year project. If you add the time that Tran put into making the art, Spectres is over a decade in the making.
“Study No. 1,” the painting that would spark this series by Tran was done in 2014. I was already well-aware of Tran at this time and marveled at each new painting that she created. It was in early 2018 that I first broached the idea of publishing a book on her paintings. Thankfully Tran said yes! This led to the release of Ambedo in December of 2019. The\is book had a limited print run and was never available to stores. It quickly sold out directly from us.
The experience of working with Tran was so enjoyable, and I continued to see her growth and creation of her “Study” series, I was eager to work with her again one day. In early 2022 we started discussing a new edition of Ambedo and a new book collecting her experimental studies–Spectres.
As with Ambedo, this opportunity to publish a second collection of Tran’s work has been an absolute privilege. Tran is very kind, creative and professional with smooth communication. She is very involved with the designs and packaging of both books. The cover designs are all by Tran. The look and feel of the book are very much guided by her feedback. This is a book that not only collects her art, but the covers serve as her own hands to hold the book together.
While it is a long process, the time is worth it. We never set a schedule when making a book. The time needed is dictated by the book, not by us.
We tried something new with this campaign. In the past we had stretch goals. Instead, this time we launched as an all-or-nothing approach. The gilt edges, the foil for the cover stamps, the spot color inside the book are all elegant features. We wanted to make sure you knew from the beginning that these books are luxurious.
Your pledge and trust in us, and our faith in you to support us, has made something especially beautiful. Thank you.
The campaign ends this Thursday. As we noted in our last update, the book is with the printer. The proofs have been approved and the book is on the press. As soon as we have our advance copies, we will share pictures in a future update. We will also update the shipping schedule once the books are on the way from Hong Kong.
We look forward to getting Spectres and Ambedo into your hands and onto your library shelves.
On behalf of Tran and everyone here at Flesk, thanks!
These two art books are offered as a hardcover edition for only $39 (the cover price is $49.95). In addition, we have a signed edition of Spectres that comes in a slipcase and is limited to 500 copies. We also have two premium signed prints available.
I have good news to share!
We had Spectres and Ambedo done and ready for the printer before this campaign was launched. With the successful backing by you all, we went ahead and sent the books to the printer right away. The printer then made a set of proofs for us to review. We always request high quality proofs for all books that we publish. It’s costly but guarantees that the press team has a visual guide on hand to compare the pages coming off the press to. It also gives us a chance to tweak or adjust any colors that may not look exactly the way we expected before the book goes to press. We have approved the proofs and sent these sheets back to the printer.
At this point the books are entirely in the hands of the printer. They will be printing, binding, applying the gilt edges, spot colors, foils, and making the slipcase for the Spectres deluxe edition over the next 4-5 weeks. Once they are done, the printer will send us two copies of each edition for us to review and approve. Once approved, the books will be packaged and shipped to us from Hong Kong. The transit times are typically another 6-7 weeks. We’ll keep you updated on how everything goes.
Thank you so much for supporting us! We’re grateful to you all for helping to make these books a reality.
Our Flesk bumps sale runs from today until Friday, March 14th. This is your chance to get some of our books for up to 70% off the cover price. We normally run this sale during the holiday season in December, but we were too busy shipping the Portfolio by Mark Schultz, ElfQuest Covers, and Arthur Adams Preliminary Studies books throughout the last three months of 2024. Throughout January and February, we were focused on finishing the new Jeffrey Alan Love, Gary Gianni, Tran Nguyen books. All six of these books are 100% done. We’re finally caught up and ready to launch this big sale!
These sale books all have slight marks, or a bump on them. Whenever a new book comes in we set aside any copies that may have a slight scuff. We save these for our big yearly sale. In this way you have this chance to load up on our books at a greatly reduced price for one week out of the year. We may have anywhere from 2-40 copies of each book offered. You can expect many of these discounted copies to sell out within the first day or two. We love packing and shipping these books to you and look forward to having a busy week.
Another thing that this sale helps us with is to free up some space in our warehouse for new titles. These sales also help us to add to our emergency fund—an important thing for us to do. Especially this year with the unknowns regarding tariffs, as well as the Diamond Comic Distributors bankruptcy. Unfortunately we are affected by their bankruptcy. The ElfQuest Covers books delivered to Diamond last December remain unpaid and we have no idea if we will receive any funds or not. Luckily, we are not in any trouble. This is because I run this business with no debt and with an emergency fund. You never know how outside forces will try and challenge you. This strategy of not taking on debt and having savings got us through the pandemic, and I’m confident it will move us forward through this year as well.
I heard the sad news of Jim Silke’s passing last Sunday evening. Jim was the consummate gentleman. He was always dressed well. He had an impeccable way of speaking, with a gentle laugh and he loved to smile. Jim was very engaging and curious, and had a flair for perfection in all that he was involved in. Just looking at him, I imagined he was the living embodiment of a Hollywood actor from the golden age. It’s inspiring to see how his career as an artist started so late in his life. It was my honor to work directly with him on his Jungle Girls and Jim Silke Sketchbook titles that we were lucky to publish. He will be missed.
