It's here! It's massive! It's wonderful!

And here's the word from the good folk at TOP SHELF (blurbs well worth reading; links well worth clicking; book wholly worth buying) :

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EDDIE CAMPBELL'S OMNIBUS, ALEC: THE YEARS HAVE PANTS,IS NOW IN STOCK AND HITTING STORES THIS WEEK!

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"My participation in comics originally grew from my personal admiration for the work of Eddie Campbell, both in partnership with Alan Moore (on FROM HELL) and on his own (in the inimitably observant ALEC stories, as well as the irreverent BACCHUS tales). Driven to expose Eddie's work to the widest possible audience, I entered the comics business as Eddie's distributor in the United States, and soon thereafter partnered with Brett Warnock to re-launch Top Shelf. Fifteen years later (!), I'm holding in my hands one of the things I'm most proud of: A gorgeous edition of Eddie's groundbreaking autobiographical comics, collected in a giant 640-page single volume!" — Chris Staros

A brief description: Brilliantly observed and profoundly expressed, the ALEC stories present a version of Eddie's own life, filtered through the alter ego of "Alec MacGarry." Over many years, we witness Alec's (and Eddie's) progression "from beer to wine" — wild nights at the pub, existential despair, the hunt for love, the quest for art, becoming a responsible breadwinner, feeling lost at his own movie premiere, and much more! Eddie's outlandish fantasies and metafictional tricks convert life into art, while staying fully grounded in his own absurdity. At every point, the author's uncanny eye for irony and wry self-awareness make even the smallest occasion into an opportunity for wit and wisdom. Quite simply, ALEC is a masterpiece of visual autobiography. 

Available in two handsome editions:

Softcover with French Flaps:

http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog.php?type=12&title=618

– $35.00 (US), Diamond: JUL091081, ISBN 978-1-60309-025-4

Deluxe Hardcover:

http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog.php?type=12&title=643

– $49.95 (US), Diamond: JUL091082, ISBN 978-1-60309-047-6

Or see both (and more) at EDDIE CAMPBELL's webpage:

http://www.topshelfcomix.com/eddiecampbell

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Here's what people are saying:

"ALEC is magic, and even if I knew how all of it was done I'd be doing you a disservice if I pointed out the wires and mirrors. … It is written by someone who obviously finds being alive an endless source of novelty and conundrum." — Alan Moore 

"Do you need me to tell you how good Eddie Campbell is? Or that ALEC is probably the best book-length comic about art and wine and midlife crises and families and friends and wine and love and art and saying goodbye and terror there is?" — Neil Gaiman

"This impressive collection — a high-water mark in the graphic novel's short history — confirms that no one else in the medium combines emotional truth, literary intelligence, and formal daring with such adroitness and elegance." — Booklist (starred review) 

"Witty and thoughtful … a great and epic comic documentary novel like no other." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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