Top 10 Flesk Books in 2025! Happy New Year!

Hi, everyone,

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!

—John

#1 — The Art of Daniel Warren Johnson

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 The New 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.

#2 — Portfolio: The Complete Various Drawings by Mark Schultz

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.

#3 — Fiendish Monsters: The Horror Art of Bruce Timm

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!

#4 — Xenozoic by Mark Schultz

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.

#5 — Franklin Booth: Silent Symphony

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.

#6 — Spectres by Tran Nguyen

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.

#7 — The Last Battle at the End of the World by Jeffrey Alan Love

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.

#8 — The Art of Arthur Adams

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.

#9 — Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm

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.

#10 — Ambedo by Tran Nguyen

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.

Enjoy,

John

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June 4, 2025July 15, 2025

Bruce Timm Signed Vampirella #1 Exclusive Variant Cover Now Available!

Hi, everyone,

Welcome to Bruce Timm’s first signed variant comic event! We are offering a new exclusive Vampirella #1 cover featuring a new color piece by Bruce!

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!

Here is the link to see all of the goodies and to read the descriptions. Sorry, no international orders.

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.

“Nosferetta” and “Slime Thing” 13 x 19” signed prints by Bruce Timm!

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!

Enjoy,

John

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January 28, 2025January 28, 2025

Flesk January 2025 Upcoming Book Updates

Hello, everyone,

We’re just one week away from launching our new Jeffrey Alan Love Kickstarter campaign. This event is to celebrate Jeff’s new graphic novel, The Last Battle at the End of the World. There will be a hardcover and a deluxe signed hardcover available. We are also releasing expanded editions of Notes From the Shadowed City and The Thousand Demon Tree. All three books will include a behind the scenes section that features sketches and commentary revealing how each book was made. The campaign will launch next Tuesday, February 4th at 9:00AM PST. We have a pre-launch page online where you can click on the “Notify me on launch” button. We’ll also send out a newsletter reminder that morning.

In other news, we returned from a short trip to the LA area last Sunday evening. It has been heartbreaking to see how the fires continue to affect people in certain areas. William Stout and his wife were evacuated at one point. They are safe and back in their house. We were glad to see the rain on Saturday and Sunday while we were there.

We had a nice get-together with Bruce Timm where we went over the second round of his new book together. Bruce’s original art is so valuable at this point that we stopped mailing packages years ago. Since we make a handful of trips to the LA area each year, we make a point to pick up and drop off material as we pass through. This is my favorite method since we can take our time photographing and scanning the art at home. Once the new material is organized, I drop the pieces into the appropriate book (we’re currently jugging three different themed books) and tighten up the book maps. Once I’m happy with the latest revision I print out a hard copy for Bruce and hand write or type any thoughts or notes that may be useful for him to see. I then mail this copy to Bruce. During our next visit I pick it back up from him. The printout will have his notes and sketch guides written and drawn all throughout to help guide the next revision. I have the second revision for one book in my hands. I will begin to make the appropriate improvements over the next few weeks. Bruce is an absolute joy to work with. He’s always pushing to improve the books, while being easygoing and thoughtful with his communication. We’ll keep going back and forth like this until a book is done. As soon as we are done with the first title, I’ll announce what it is. I’ll give you one themed book hint… HORROR.

On another topic, I had a few productive days working on the Daniel Warren Johnson book last week. I emailed and talked with Dan to fine tune the final art picks for his collection. There are a few recently completed pieces that we slipped into the book. I’m doing a little shuffling around to adjust the flow slightly. I tend to come up with new ideas often. It’s not unusual for me to make small or drastic changes all throughout the book map and design process. I’ve been having some recorded conversations with Dan to ask questions. I capture the relevant portions of our talks that I then transcribe into commentary. I send off the text to Dan who gives his words a final look to make sure his voice is captured correctly. I then insert the commentary on the relevant page. The artists like this method since they can draw while we talk, and they don’t have to write anything. I never plan my questions. Instead, we let the conversation go in any direction. In this way we get interesting and natural dialogue for the book.

I’m also working out some details with the printer for the two new Tran Nguyen books, Ambedo and Spectres. And I’m doing the same with the Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea revised art book by Mike Mignola and Gary Gianni. These details include obtaining the pricing, reviewing and ordering paper, and looking into some production options. This lets us review our budget, set the cover price for the books, fine tune the release schedules, and gather the final details for when we officially promote and offer the book to you all. This is typically a 2-3 week process depending on how much specialty work goes into the book. I have ongoing conversations with Tran, Gary and Mike to keep them up to date and to get their input and approval on everything. All our books are a collaboration and involve a lot of communication.

Besides the three Love books, the two Tran titles, the Gianni/Mignola collection, the DWJ and B.T. books, we still have the three-volume William Stout Comics set on the schedule to be released late this year. This Stout collection is stunning. I can’t wait to tell you more about it.

2025 will be our best year yet! We already have our 2026 and 2027 schedules mapped out as well. We are not considering taking on any new books or artists for the next five years. This is how long it will take for us to get fully caught up on all the upcoming books that are on our existing plate. I’m grateful that we are in this position. Thank you for supporting us so that we can continue.

Enjoy,

John

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September 4, 2024

Our Flesk 2024 to 2025 Book Release Schedule

New Flesk Books! Our schedule for over a dozen titles coming in 2024 through 2025.

Hi, everyone,

Vicky asked for me to map out a schedule for the rest of this year and into 2025 for her to see. I thought I would share all of these details with you at the same time. There is a lot of information here and I hope you will find this as helpful as Vicky does. After all, we’re all in this together. It’s always very clear to me that none of this could happen with you supporting us along the way.

We’re in an unusual position–one in which we are grateful for. We’ve never had this many books in a nearly completed stage before. We spent years putting these all together. We like to take our time, we never rush, and we let the books tell us when each is ready for the printer. I can safely announce the following books since most are either done, or almost completed.

Please continue to read below to learn about the next books with Arthur Adams, Jeffrey Alan Love, Tran Nguyen, Gary Gianni, Daniel Warren Johnson, and William Stout. The Flesk Direct date referenced is our estimated time when the book will ship to those who order direct from us on our website. This date may shift slightly, but my hope is not by much.

2024 Releases

Portfolio by Mark Schultz
Flesk direct ship date: October 1, 2024

This 432 page collection of Schultz art will be arriving at our warehouse toward the end of this month. We look forward to shipping your pre-orders at that time. All of the details about this book are shown on our website.

ElfQuest Covers 1978-2022
Flesk direct ship date: November 4, 2024

Collecting each ElfQuest comic book cover from the entire 46-year run, with the inside scoop on each one! We have the full details about the book editions on our website. The book has been printed and will be shipping to our warehouse from the printer soon.

Arthur Adams Preliminary Studies
Flesk direct ship date: December 2, 2024

Surprise! We have a new Adams art book done and on the press. Have you seen those beautiful blue pencil preliminaries that Arthur shares on his Instagram page once in a while? We grabbed a big stack of originals from his studio and made this 224 page 5 x 7.5″ book collecting a bunch of our favorites. This format is the same size as the easy to carry and hold Manga books that we enjoy so much. And almost all pieces are shown at the original size.

-Pre-order on our Flesk website in November (day to be announced later)
-Shipping begins on December 2nd
-Paperback Edition $24.95 cover price
-Hardcover edition with jacket $34.95 cover price
-The paperback Flesk direct price will be only $19.95 for the paperback and $29.95 for the hardcover.
-5 x 7.5”
-224 pages
-Hardcover copies will come signed!

2025 Releases

The following Flesk titles are scheduled for next year

The Last Battle at the End of the World by Jeffrey Alan Love
The all new graphic novel by the celebrated JAL! This moving story will come with an additional 48 pages of bonus material with sketches and commentary giving you insight into how this book was made.
Notes From the Shadowed City by Jeffrey Alan Love
New printing with 32 page bonus sketchbook and process section!
The Thousand Demon Tree by Jeffrey Alan Love
New printing with 32 pages bonus sketchbook and process section!

Flesk direct release date for all three titles: March 2025

We are releasing Jeff’s new book along with new printings of the sold out Notes From the Shadowed City and Thousand Demon Tree. During a visit to Jeff’s studio we had the chance to view his sketches and preliminaries. This inspired us to make process sections that take you into Jeff’s mind. We’ll be running a Kickstarter campaign for this trio. The launch date will be announced late this year.

Spectres by Tran Nguyen
An all new collection highlighting the painting studies by Tran. We are looking forward to sharing these treasures in this exciting new collection. This will be a 9 x 12″ hardcover book.
Ambedo by Tran Nguyen
This long sold out book had a much too small print run. We’re bringing this back with a new cover to re-highlight the first decade of Tran’s career. This will be a 9 x 12″ hardcover book.

Flesk direct release date: April 2025

Tran’s star continues to rise and we are honored to showcase her works in these two upcoming collections.

Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea Art Book–by Mike Mignola and Gary Gianni
Flesk direct release date: May 2025

With Mike’s support, we have finished working with Gianni on an updated trade edition of the Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea art book. This collection goes into great detail about how this comic was made. We’ve introduced some new insight and details that didn’t make it into the original edition. We originally advertised this book as a fall 2024 release, but solely due to our workload being a little heavier than expected, we ran out of time to get it out this year. We decided to push this book to next year when we can best promote it. This beautiful book is done and ready for the printer.

View the Gary Gianni library of books on our website.

The Art of Daniel Warren Johnson
Flesk direct release date: August 2025

This book is amazing! Much of it is done and well mapped out. We originally planned on having this book come out in late-2024, but decided to push it to 2025 since DWJ has so much material from other publishers coming out in 2024. This gives us more time to fine tune this book by adding more commentary and recent art.

William Stout Comics
The big three-volume set that will total over 800 pages!
The Playing Card Art of William Stout
A two-volume set collecting Bill’s playing card art.

Flesk direct release date: October 2025

Five magnificent books packed with Stout art. In addition to hundreds of Stout pieces, the Comics collection has a substantial amount of text that shares stories about Bill’s career and those who he worked with. These legends include Harvey Kurtzman, Russ Manning, Bill Elder, and many more. We’ve been teasing this massive collection for years. It’s finally coming–next year! As a bonus, we have the two-volume playing card books to enjoy.

“Art of Bruce Timm” titles
A series of new books!

Flesk direct release date: To be determined

There are no B.T. titles or dates that we can announce at the moment. But rest assured that we are working with Bruce on a new series of books that collects his art. These are a blast to produce and we are eager to share the details once we are able to. We’ll reprint The Big Tease alongside the next new book.

Thanks for reading! We hope you are excited as we are about the new fifteen books that we have coming out between the remainder of 2024 and throughout 2025. We sure do appreciate you all for allowing us to make books for a living.

Enjoy,

John

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June 6, 2024June 12, 2024

June 2024 Flesk Book Updates

Hi, everyone,

We had a nice time visiting with William Stout, Bruce Timm, and Allen and Vicki Williams recently in Southern California. We met with all of them to say hello and to go over upcoming projects. Updates on each artist can be found below, along with some details on more upcoming titles.

William Stout

We have numerous books in the works with Bill. We are getting close to finishing his massive three volume William Stout Comics set. The three books come to over 750 pages combined. Volume one and two are designed. Volume three is mapped out and just needs to have the design finalized. We don’t have a release date set yet. We’ll be sure to make a big announcement when we are ready to start taking pre-orders. We also have The Playing Card Art of William Stout two volume set completely done. This set will be released sometime in the future.

Bruce Timm

We also have numerous new books in the works with Bruce Timm. We’re not ready to announce what any of them are yet. But trust us, you will be happy to hear what we will be releasing. The Big Tease and Naughty and Nice books will be reprinted in the future as well. A lot of B.T. is coming!

Allen Williams

What a joy it was to see Allen and Vicki. It was a delightful experience to work with the pair when we published Covenant: The Art of Allen Williams. We will have more books featuring Allen’s art in the future. Allen shared an idea with us that we are eager to support him with and publish.

Jeffrey Allen Love

Jeff’s new book, The Last Battle at the End of the World, is in the final stages of its design. Our goal is to launch a Kickstarter for this new graphic novel in August. We will also reprint Notes From the Shadowed City and The Thousand Demon Tree at that time. We’re very excited to release this new book along with his previous titles.

Tran Nguyen

We have a new book of Tran’s studies that is close to being done. We will release this collection along with a new printing of her previous art book collection, Ambedo.

Gary Gianni

The updated trade edition of Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea art book by Mike Mignola (plot and script) and Gary Gianni (art and script) is coming! This collection goes into great detail about how this 49-page comic was made. We’ve introduced new insight and details that didn’t make it into the original edition. It has been a lot of fun retooling this book to hit a new audience. We’ll share more details in the coming months.

Mark Schultz

The all new edition of Portfolio by Mark Schultz is coming this August. We will begin to take pre-orders in July. The original printing back in 2015 was 272 pages. This new version is 432 pages at 7.5 x 10″!

Portfolio compiles the drawings found in the original five Various Drawings volumes as well as the cover illustrations and special bookplates. Plus, an additional 160 pages worth of material adds dozens of works not previously collected in the Various Drawings or Carbon books. Found within are nearly 450 fully rendered drawings executed in brush-and-ink, carbon or graphite pencil.

Enjoy,

John

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August 12, 2022

Highlighting Bruce Timm! New Timm Books in the Works

Hi, everyone,

Back in June, Bruce Timm emailed me about a fresh stack of originals that he pulled together for me to scan for possible upcoming projects. When he mentioned that there was over 400 pieces we both got nervous about shipping them in the mail.

Vicky and I drove down to the LA area to scan and photograph the originals to make the process smoother. We arrived back home with enough material for three new Timm books. Pretty exciting!

This picture is of our makeshift office at the hotel. You can see a stack of originals on the scanner, and even more in the binder. There is another full binder that you can’t see in this picture. Bruce makes all of his art on standard copy paper. This is his favorite type of paper to work on.

Since this trip, Bruce has discovered more artwork. Another photography trip is in our future!

The first all-new book of three is planned for the fall 2023 at the earliest. I will share the details about exactly what each of these titles will focus on in the future. In the meantime, we hope you continue to enjoy The Big Tease and Naughty and Nice.

Enjoy,

John

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July 9, 2021July 25, 2021

Flesk July Update!

It has been quite the week! Here’s a breakdown of some of the things that we have accomplished this week.

Thanks to Kathy and Vicky, plus our summer helper Rachel, all of the Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm and Pencil and Ink by Frank Cho books have been packed. The last of the U.S. orders ships today. The international orders all go out early next week.

Vicky and I worked with Tyler Jacobson to build and launch his art book Kickstarter campaign that went live last Tuesday. It’s been amazing to see so much support for Tyler.

Link to The Art of Tyler Jacobson Kickstarter campaign.

I’ve been working with an artist and writer to finish a new book that is going to the printer today. This is an unannounced project with two new people who I have never worked with before. I’ll share the news about who they are and what the book is in the coming months.

Kathy even managed to squeeze in some Arthur Adams scanning.

I’d say we have had a productive week!

Next week we will continue to work on Tyler’s book, plus we have another book that has not been announced that is almost done. I’m also starting to think about getting started on the next Al Williamson book. There’s plenty going on to keep us going throughout the summer.

Please feel free to visit our website to learn more about our most recent books.
https://www.fleskpublications.com/

Thanks to you all for keeping us busy.

Enjoy,

–John

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March 23, 2021March 25, 2021

The Big Tease by Bruce Timm–Low Stock Alert

Hi, everyone,

The Big Tease by Bruce Timm is sold out from our distributor. We still have some copies of the paperback and the exclusive Flesk direct hardcover on our online store.

Here’s the link with more information:

https://www.fleskpublications.com/bruce-timm

Enjoy,

John

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November 14, 2020November 25, 2020

New printing of Naughty and Nice by Bruce Timm is coming!

Back in 2012 we released Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm. The original printing is shown at left. The revised Big Pocket edition is shown at right. Both sold out quickly.

People have been asking for years if we would reprint this book. Well, good news, we will bring this book back back in print in the fall of 2021. We’re currently wrapping up 5 other books before we can turn our attention to Naughty and Nice.

We’ll be using the Big Pocket cover, which is our favorite image of the two options. The new printing will be 9 x 12″ and we will have a hardcover and paperback edition. More news about this coming in the spring of 2021!

Enjoy,

John

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November 13, 2020November 25, 2020