 | Cartoon Animation (The Collector's Series) by Preston Blair
Buy new: $16.47 / Used from: $12.34 Great reprint compiling two classics by Preston Blair-- who drew for both Disney and Tex Avery at MGM!
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 | The Animator's Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles, and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion, and Internet Animators by Richard Williams
Buy used from: $21.05 This is really the best advanced book on animation technique. I got burned out on looking at all the examples of walk cycles, but have recently picked this up and started rereading it, and it's really just an incredible wealth of information. -A lot more than they'll teach you in some high-priced schools!
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 | Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators, Second Edition by Mike Mattesi
Buy new: $16.74 / Used from: $20.21 A real inspiration. Gives you the loose, energetic gesture line you need for animation.
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 | Cartooning the Head and Figure (Perigee) by Jack Hamm
Buy new: $10.36 / Used from: $2.86 Great book on retro style-- from before it was retro!
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 | Draw Comics with Dick Giordano by Dick Giordano
Buy new: $17.09 / Used from: $2.00 This is a really fine book, whether or not you're a fan of golden age comics. Probably my favorite drawing teacher was Andrew Loomis, but sadly all his books are out of print and pricey. Giordano demonstrates most of Loomis's techniques very quickly. This is a wealth of information that can be adapted to any style.
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 | Creating Characters with Personality: For Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Graphic Novels by Tom Bancroft
Buy new: $13.57 / Used from: $10.00 Very solid design principals that gives you characters that read and move very well. Bancroft is a Disney vet, and very successful cartoonist today.
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 | Batman Animated by Paul Dini
Buy new: $22.79 / Used from: $10.47 Maybe the best "art of" book on an animated television series to date. From the wonderfully noirish 90s Batman cartoon. Bruce Timm and company (starting with this show) have been a really great retro, stream-lining influence on both animation design and comic books.
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 | Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in 1950s Animation by Amid Amidi
Buy new: $26.40 / Used from: $18.26 Cool survey of 50s animation styles, including some of Maurice Noble's great Warner Brothers work.
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 | Weirdo Deluxe: The Wild World of Pop Surrealism & Lowbrow Art by Matt Dukes Jordan
Buy used from: $29.71 Another huge source of inspiration for fellow crackpots.
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 | Haunted Paradise: The Art of Glenn Barr by Glenn Barr
Buy new: $25.55 / Used from: $19.95 This is a wonderful art book by my favorite of the "lowbrow" artists-- or, as I like to call them, Exploitation Painters. His technique is at once cartoony (he used to do some of the shock paintings for the first season of Ren & Stimpy) and very painterly. His subject matter is a kind of a mix of Tex Avery and Bob Clampett, Jack Hill blaxploitation flicks, with a little early David Lynch.
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 | Story CD: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert Mckee
Buy new: $19.77 / Used from: $16.95 Dramatic (or comedic) story telling is at the root of what you do whether it's animated cartoons or comic books. This is the most solid piece of work on the craft side of it that I know of. Get the audio book, and listen while you draw.
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 | Film Directing Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen (Michael Wiese Productions) by Steve Katz
Buy new: $21.80 / Used from: $8.93 This manages to be a good book on theory and technique, and a very good book on storyboarding. It has examples from a wide variety of films. From Citizen Kane to Blade Runner.
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 | Popeye the Sailor: 1933-1938, Vol. 1
Buy new: $44.49 / Used from: $9.99 A reason to rejoisk! Though he's only known to cartoon officianados today due to the films being so obscure because of copy write laws, the plucky little one-eyed sailor was more popular than Mickey Mouse in the 30s, when they were both on the big screen. This is actually just the first volume of a set that should set the record straight!
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 | The Complete Superman Cartoons - Diamond Anniversary Edition
Buy new: $9.49 / Used from: $5.08 On a lot of levels, some of the best animation ever done. Dave Fleischer and crew demonstrate an understanding of the visual language of film comparable to anything Hitchcock was doing at the time.
It's style has been deeply influencial to a lot of cool shows since-- from the 90s Batman to The Incredibles. Really timeless stuff!
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 | The EC Archives: Shock Suspenstories Volume 1 (v. 1) by Al Feldstein
Buy new: $32.97 / Used from: $29.18 My favorite EC title. Kind of a blue print for The Twilight Zone. With wonderful artwork from Jack Davis, Wally Wood, Bernie Krigstein, "Ghastly" Graham Ingels, etc.
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 | Comic Book Confidential
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $8.96 A very nice overview of comic books. Good mix of Eisner, EC & Mad, Stan Lee, Crumb and the underground guys. And the annoying Bill Griffith.
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 | Looney Tunes - Golden Collection, Volume Two
Buy new: $49.99 / Used from: $7.99 Hidden behind the Sylvester and Tweety cartoons on disk three are a few of Bob Clampett's best, and a doc about him. In fact, this set has several of his cartoons scattered around here and there. The stuff he did in the mid-forties rates right up there with the Fleischer's Superman cartoons. Just extremely vital and imaginative.
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 | The Incredibles (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $6.50 Proof that not all CG characters have to move like Disneyland animatronics. This might be my favorite animated feature in terms of pure emotional involvement and general coolness. And the extras on the double disc are a great primer on making an animated film!
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 | The Venture Bros. - Season One
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $13.98 I'm shocked by how much I enjoy this cartoon! It's a satire/modernization of Johnny Quest, but goes way beyond that. Most of the humor ranges from dark to pitch-black, and revolves around themes like failure and insanity.
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 | Creepy Archives by Various
Buy new: $32.97 / Used from: $21.00 WOW! I have the complete Archie Goodwin runs of both Creepy and Eerie. I collected them all on e-bay in their original form (they haven't been reprinted until now) and I have to say they're some of my favorite comics! And it looks like Dark Horse is going to do them justice. I can't wait!
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 | Simplified Anatomy for the Comic Book Artist: How to Draw the New Streamlined Look of Action-Adventure Comics! by Christopher Hart
Buy new: $13.57 / Used from: $9.12 I'm generally not too fond of Christopher Hart books. They tend to be bland, and he's not that good an artist. But this one's a solid break-down of the Bruce Timm approach to simplifying comic book heroes for animation. The above-mentioned Batman Animated book's a hell of a lot better. But this is very good reference, if you dig the style as much as I do.
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