The Bakers: Do These Toys Belong Somewhere? - Hardcover

Kyle Baker is the greatest cartoonist of all time. He has bestowed his gifts upon such fortunate institutions as DISNEY, WARNER BROTHERS FEATURE ANIMATION, HBO, DREAMWORKS, CARTOON NETWORK, MARVEL COMICS, DC COMICS, SAATCHI AND SAATCHI, WATSON-GUPTILL, RCA/BMG, RANDOM HOUSE, NICKELODEON MAGAZINE, RUGRATS, SCHOLASTIC GOOSEBUMPS and others. Baker has authored thirteen Graphic Novels: YOU ARE HERE, WHY I HATE SATURN, THE COWBOY WALLY SHOW, KING DAVID, I DIE AT MIDNIGHT, UNDERCOVER GENIE and two PLASTIC MAN books for Vertigo/DC Comics and NAT TURNER, CARTOONIST VOLUME 1 & 2 and THE BAKERS color hardcover collection: DO THESE TOYS BELONG SOMEWHERE through his own company, Kyle Baker Publishing. For Christmas 2006, Dark Horse published JINGLE BELLE MEETS THE BAKERS, written by Paul Dini, with Baker art. In 2007, IMAGE COMICS will be publishing NAT TURNER, THE BAKERS: BABIES & KITTENS, IMPORTANT LITERARY JOURNAL, and two other books. Baker illustrated BIRTH OF A NATION, a graphic novel written by Aaron McGruder & Reginald Hudlin, published by Crown Books, Baker's one of the illustrators of MICHAEL CHABON'S THE ESCAPIST, from Dark Horse Publishing. Baker co-created TRUTH for Marvel Comics, illustrating the WWII story of the first Black Captain America. The comic book received much media attention, including CNN, NPR, TIME, THE NEW YORK TIMES, and other outlets too numerous to mention. Baker's cartoons are translated into various languages throughout the world, including Norwegian, French, Italian, and Spanish. He recently was a featured guest art director on Cartoon Network's CLASS OF 3000 television show. He is a writer and artist on Disney Channel's PHINEAS AND FERB show. At Warner Brothers Animation, he wrote and directed LOONEY TUNES theatrical shorts, and wrote for the LOONEY TUNES BACK IN ACTION feature film. He directed the animated music video, "BREAK THE CHAIN", which aired on MTV and BET and featured KRS-ONE as the voice of BIG JOE KRASH. The video wa

"Baker, the outrageously talented Eisner- and Harvey Award-winning artist behind such diverse projects as KING DAVID, PLASTIC MAN and cult classic WHY I HATE SATURN, has turned his attentions to more personal matters with this full-color collection of cartoon vignettes about family life. The family in question, based on Baker's own, consists of three irrepressible children and the harried couple who are their parents. In this world of alternatively angelic and screaming kids, no detail of domestic life is too petty for good-natured skewering. Feeding techniques, getting kids dressed, and secret tips for frustating parents all make an appearance. No surprise that Daddy Baker, who comes complete with dreadlocks and credit card, is frequently depicted with a smile bordering on a grimace. The tumult and confusion of this world is implied rather than spelled out. The brief comics are virtually text-free, with exaggeratedly cartoonish yet expressive artwork doing double duty as both explication and illustration. The physical comedy of the family's silent movie exploits gives the cartoons a silent retro feel that echoes the antic humor found in MAD magazine. This combination of Baker's inventive visual gags and chuckling familiarity makes the project endlessly appealing." --Publishers Weekly

"Kyle Baker may be too good and too funny for the good of comics. How else to explain the lack of real competition for Baker s humor efforts than that Baker s so good no one wants to compete with him in any way, shape or form? This book is full of short, mostly silent and very funny tales of Baker s life as a father trying to get some rest, convince his kids there aren t monsters under the bed, and most frightening of all, taking the brood to the mall to find a gift for his wife. Grade: A" --Tom McLean, Variety.com

"Now I m not a family man, but man did I love this book. [...] With an animator s sense of timing, Baker exposes the pains of fatherhood, from being booted off the couch to make room for the kids to trying to keep a leash on all his rugrats when he goes shopping. [...] I really enjoyed seeing something a little warmer and grounded in the familiar (but still packed with plenty of paternal suffering). Much goodness!" --Dave Farabee, Aintitcool.com