Ever since Rose is Rose began, I have been one of its most ardent admirers." -Charles Schulz

Nominated as Best Newspaper Comic Strip five times Rose is Rose is the strip where daydreams and reality meet and mingle.

Life in the Gumbo family is anything but ordinary. A toe-biting monster dwells in the bathtub drain, awaiting Pasquale's bath time. Family-minded Rose occasionally morphs into her wild alter ego, Vicki the biker. Rose's love-note-writing husband Jimbo never disappoints as the always hopelessly hopeful romantic. The creation of Pat Brady and Don Wimmer, this Rose is Rose collection features more than 40 weeks of Gumbo family high jinks.

After two decades of sketching every Rose is Rose strip himself, Brady shifted the writing and drawing duties to Don Wimmer. This Rose is Rose collection features the talents of Wimmer as based on Brady's creation.

The success of For Better or For Worse "can be attributed to Johnston's uncanny ability to see into the heart of daily life so accurately that readers feel she is speaking directly to them." --Chicago Tribune

* For Better or For Worse, syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate, appears in more than 2,000 newspapers in over 20 countries, and is translated into eight languages for a devoted readership of more than 220 million.More About Senior's Discount

Lynn Johnston's For Better or For Worse is the world's most popular family strip in which characters evolve through age and experience, rather than remaining frozen in time. Readers appreciate the daily doings of the Patterson family, which often mirror their own.

* Senior's Discount: A For Better or For Worse Collection follows John and Elly as retirement looms, Grandpa Jim celebrates his 85th birthday and suffers a stroke, Mike and Deanna adjust to the demands of parenthood, Elizabeth accepts a teaching position that brings her back home, and April strains for more and more independence.

* Simultaneous to the publication of this collection, Johnston makes an unprecedented move within the newspaper cartooning community-developing a new format by using former plot lines as a jumping-off point for new ones.

* For Better or For Worse has been syndicated since 1979 and has been named Best Syndicated Comic Strip. The strip boasts a lively Web presence at www.fborfw.com

LIO is brilliant! In this post-Calvin and Hobbes and post-Far Side world, this is the brass ring for cool! " --Dallas Morning News

* LI O is a pantomime strip featuring a curious young boy whose daydreams embark from reality destined for the dark chasm where wit and sarcasm collide.

Drawn in the age-old style of pantomime strips, LIO offers a decidedly new and edgy twist to the wordless comic format. That's right, LIO is so crafty it doesn't need word balloons, dialogue boxes, or clever captions. Mark Tatulli's cartoon also employs a unique drawing style influenced by cartooning greats Gahan Wilson, Charles Addams, and 19th-century satirist A. J. Volck.

* In describing his strip, Tatulli explains he was eager "to bring something truly different to the comics pages . . . something to appeal to all ages, drawn in pictures only. To tell a story without text, while updating the pantomime concept with a modern audience in mind."

* The result is a mind-bendingly humorous and astute journey into the darkly detailed world of young LiO--where a spit wad can put a school bus out of commission faster than a spider can hamper the efforts of the U.S. Postal Service.

Jim Toomey is "a breath of fresh water." --Washington Post

* Lauded for promoting marine conservation, Sherman's Lagoon appears in 250 newspapers in 30 countries in six languages.

More About Yarns and Shanties (And Other Nautical Baloney)

Collecting more than 42 weeks of Jim Toomey's Sherman's Lagoon, this collection transports readers to an imaginary lagoon near the South Pacific island of Kapupu, where a cast of coral reef critters battles the encroachment of civilization.

* Inhabitants of this nautical neighborhood include Sherman, an always hungry and otherwise typical great white shark and his witty, pearl-wearing wife, Megan, along with friendly Fillmore the turtle, geeky fish Ernest, macho hermit crab Hawthorne, and salty old Captain Quigley, who remains vengeful after losing his leg to Sherman.

The Duncans remind us of how families are created, how they can drive us out the door one minute and drag us back in the next, offering laughter, love, and inspiration." -Cincinnati Enquirer

* Twice honored as the Best Newspaper Comic Strip, Zits appears in more than 1,100 newspapers and is read daily by more than 45 million fans.

When contemplating what to name their strip, Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman sought the insight of Charles Schulz, who told them that Zits was "the worst name for a comic strip since Peanuts." It makes perfect sense then that Zits has achieved Peanuts-like notoriety.

* Equally enjoyed by teens and their parental counterparts, Zits appealingly tackles teen issues with equal parts grace and wit. Parents Connie and Walt masterfully guide fifteen-year-old Jeremy Duncan through the pratfalls of teenagedom accompanied by his girlfriend Sara and best friends Hector and Pierce.

So far this century, there have arguably been three breakout hits on the comics page-The Boondocks, Get Fuzzy, and Pearls Before Swine." -San Francisco Chronicle

More Info About Da Brudderhood of Zeeba Zeeba Eata: A Pearls Before Swine Collection

You're invited to the most whacked-out party of the year. Bring your togas, your appetite, and your attitude to the first-ever fraternity "zee-ba-cue" by the Da Brudderhood of Zeeba Zeeba Eata. A small cover charge is required, but zebras always get in free. Getting out is a different story. . .

In this, the fifth collection of the wildly popular Pearls Before Swine comic strip, Stephan Pastis's original creations Rat, Pig, Goat, and Zebra join the sophomoric cast of crocodilian cutthroats in Pastis's funniest work yet.

The New York Daily News proclaims that Lynn Johnston is worthy of the "MVC (Most Valuable Comic) Award. . . . Her genius is recognizing that 'normal' is actually a little off-center.

* For Better or For Worse appears in more than 2,000 newspapers in 23 countries and has a readership of more than 220 million.

Lynn Johnston's award-winning For Better or For Worse comic strip is the world's most popular strip in which characters evolve through age and experience, rather than remaining frozen in time. Fans appreciate that the daily doings of the Patterson family often closely resemble their own.

* Featuring more than 43 weeks of strips, with Sundays in color, this collection features Elizabeth's developing teaching skills working in a northern First Nation's community, Mike and Deanna's move to Mrs. Saltzman's upstairs apartment, April's confrontation of teenage issues like acne and self-image, while John and Elly face middle-age ailments and the possibility of retirement.

* For Better of For Worse has been syndicated since 1979 and has been named Best Syndicated Comic Strip by the National Cartoonists Society. The strip boasts a lively Web presence at www.fborfw.com.

Appearing in nearly 1,400 newspapers today, Zits has been a runaway success on the funny pages since its July 1997 debut. Creators Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman have won praise from fans and fellow cartoonists alike for their gently accurate portrayal of the angst, concerns, and questions that arrive during adolescence.

Creators Scott and Borgman understand the plight and subtle hilarity of being a teenager and parenting a teenager, which is why in 1998 and 1999, Zits won the Best Newspaper Comic Strip Award by the National Cartoonists Society, and the Max and Moritz Award for Best International Comic Strip in 2000. Zits strikes a universal nerve.

Zits is one of only 18 comic strips throughout history to top the thousand-newspaper mark. It appears in nearly 1,400 newspapers across the country and around the world, and is beloved by fans and fellow cartoonists alike. Zits brilliantly confronts issues affecting teens and their families, providing humor and perspective to everyone.

This Zits collection, with strips that appeared in print from April 2005 to February 2006, delivers the strip's usual mix of knowing humor and insight.

In 1991, I wanted another baby," writes creator Lynn Johnston. "Since it wasn't possible to do in reality, I made one up! Baby April appeared April 1st of that year and has added a great deal of creative fun to the strip. . . ."

The Pattersons have never exactly been all "sweetness and light." As any For Better or For Worse fan can attest, this entertaining family endures just as many of life's downs as ups, but they always seem to keep moving forward. Now, however, parents Elly and John experience life in all directions as their youngest daughter, April, becomes a teenager!

In true For Better or For Worse style, the best-selling strip examines all the good and bad of "teenagedom," while keeping it in context of the rest of the family's other joys and challenges. Readers will smile knowingly as John and Elly try to decipher teen-speak, deal with their own protective parental tendencies, and struggle to give their maturing daughter the independence she wants and needs. Then just when the wide, wide world of 13-year-olds is at its most intense, everything from fired coworkers to another new grandbaby vie for everyone's attention.

This collection of daily and Sunday strips demonstrates once again that Johnston's ability to intertwine the lives of all her characters with the reader's own is remarkable. She's Turning into One of Them! will have them laughing, crying, and shaking their heads in the best For Better or For Worse fashion. Life? Bring it on!

Some believe that the key to humor is timing. Others think it lies in a slightly distorted presentation of the familiar. E. B. White thought that humor ceased to exist upon close examination. But if anyone has humor figured out, it's Stephan Pastis. His philosophy is written in black felt pen on the bulletin board in his home office. It reads: 'When in doubt, kill cute things.'"

Lock up your valuables. Stockpile your ammunition. Sandbag your bunker. The familiar foursome of Rat, Pig, Goat, and Zebra-joined now by the fraternity of Zeeba Zeeba Eata crocodiles are here to storm the ramparts of humor in The Ratvolution Will Not Be Televised.

In this fourth collection from the award-winning comic strip Pearls Before Swine, Stephan Pastis deploys all the weapons of his comic arsenal in an all-out attack on the animal (and human) imperfections he sees around him. The result is a collection jam-packed with the sharp-edged humor that has made Pearls Before Swine one of the most successful comic strips running in newspapers today.

Just remember: As The Ratvolution Will Not Be Televised makes clear, Pearls Before Swine takes no prisoners.

We warned you.

'The comics pages have no shortage of family strips, but For Better or For Worse distinguished itself from the start. . . . This success can be attributed to Johnston's uncanny ability to see into the heart of daily life so accurately that readers feel she is speaking directly to them."Art imitating life. That's what happens in Lynn Johnston's perennially popular comic strip, For Better or For Worse. By reflecting on her own family and experiences, she created the Pattersons: Elly, John, Michael, Elizabeth, and April, along with grandparents, grandchildren, friends, and coworkers and the everyday situations they deal with.

In Never Wink at a Worried Woman, life is progressing for each character. Elly and John tenuously think of retirement while still being preoccupied parents of a preteen. Michael and Deanna grow into their roles as new parents while Michael's career gets a new boost. Elizabeth takes more steps to adulthood, by beginning her student teaching and facing the fact that Anthony is marrying another. April is racing to turn 13, busy with her band and also helping out at Lilliput's, where she makes a painful discovery about a coworker. Add in Grampa Jim's quest to maintain his aging dignity and baby Meredith's burgeoning curiosity, and you get a full dose of life.

For Better or For Worse has appealed to readers for more than 25 years. It runs in more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S., Canada, and 20 other countries and is translated into eight languages besides English.

In Zits, countless readers relish Jim Borgman and Jerry Scott's right-on look at teenage life, as told through the eyes of perpetually ambivalent, yet lovable, teenager Jeremy Duncan. Here's a 15-year-old kid who seems to speak for teenagers everywhere, even if it's with a withering look or a nonchalant shrug. As Jeremy himself might say: "Adolescence bites! "

Zits has attracted an enormous following of fans, teenagers and adults alike. This Zits sketchbook, Don't Roll Your Eyes At Me, Young Man! , warmly chronicles the growing pains of the Duncan household and follows Jeremy as he navigates his way through his perpetual freshman year of high school. Caring, funny, impatient, self-absorbed, and bored silly, Jeremy is the charming essence of adolescence today.