Concrete

Part man, part ... rock? Over seven feet tall and weighing over a thousand pounds, he is known as Concrete but is in reality the mind of one Ronald Lithgow, trapped inside a shell of stone, a body that allows him to walk unaided on the ocean's floor or survive the crush of a thousand tons of rubble in a collapsed mineshaft ... but prevents him from feeling the touch of a human hand. These stories of Concrete are as rich and satisfying as any in comics: funny, heartbreaking, and singularly human. Depths, the first in a series of collections reprinting the classic early Concrete stories along with never- before-collected short stories, includes the Eisner-nominated Orange Glow and Vagabond, Paul Chadwick's autobiographical account of a cross-country hitchhiking trip.

Big as a boulder and strong as an ox, he's Concrete, seven feet of stony celebrity. That he's a government-created cyborg is the cover story, but in truth he's the mind of one Ronald Lithgow trapped inside a rocky shell of alien origin. Possessing powers allowing him to scale the highest mountain unaided or peel back the roof of a car like a pull-tab, he is yet denied the simple human pleasures of fragile flesh. The return of Paul Chadwick's award-winning Concrete ushered in a resurgence of interest in the acclaimed series that Harlan Ellison called probably the best comic being published today by anyone, anywhere. This value-priced volume collects Concrete #6-#10, Concrete Color Special, a selection of short stories, and a gallery of hard-to-find Concrete illustrations.

When you're over seven feet of walking, talking stone, you're bound to draw the media spotlight, especially when you live in Tinseltown. Concrete's celebrity status is sometimes a pain in the buttress ... but it does bring the occasional paycheck gig. When the producer of a low-budget science-fiction film approaches Concrete to use his prodigious strength to help save money on the film's FX budget, the siren call of Hollywood draws Concrete like a moth to a flame ... a seven-thousand-dollar-a-week flame, that is. • Concrete is a multiple Eisner and Harvey Award winner.

Standing in the shadow of celebrity has its ups and downs, as Concrete's personal assistant, Larry Munro, knows all too well. But there are darker places than any shadow, as Larry learns the hard way when he is taken hostage by a psychotic gunman who forces Larry to be his chauffeur on a road trip destined to end in disaster...unless Larry can muster the courage to act. The return of Paul Chadwick's award-winning Concrete ushered in a resurgence of interest in the acclaimed series, and Killer Smile is Chadwick's darkest Concrete work, a harrowing tale Frank Miller called edge-of-your-seat suspense, full of unpredictable twists and turns.

Being a celebrity has its benefits...and its costs. Due to his status as the world's most unusual travel writer—being a thousand pounds of walking, talking rock will do that—Concrete is approached by a group of radical ecowarriors to see firsthand and write about their efforts to save old-growth forest. What begins as a lark soon turns into a harrowing struggle, and Concrete must decide whether to dispassionately observe or to join these people who would risk anything, even life itself, to save the planet. Called the best comic being published by anyone, anywhere, Paul Chadwick's critically acclaimed Concrete is at once rousing fantasy and grounded reality, as thought provoking and challenging as it is entertaining. Think Like a Mountain collects the 1996 Parents' Choice Award-winning series, along with bonus short stories, some collected here for the first time.

A troubled man seeking spiritual renewal in the wilderness experiences a wholly unexpected rebirth—as a walking monolith, half a ton of animate stone able to perform astonishing feats of strength and endurance but forever denied many of life's fundamental pleasures. As Concrete, Ronald Lithgow becomes an overnight celebrity and the focus of dark government operatives desperate to keep the secret of his metamorphosis from the public. Concrete must struggle with the loss of his humanity while discovering, perhaps for the first time, what it truly means to be human.

Life, as Concrete knows it, is about to change forever. Former speechwriter Ron Lithgow returns as the title character in Paul Chadwick's critically acclaimed and award-winning miniseries. Trapped in an alien's rock-hard body, Lithgow is an accidental celebrity whose high profile is being courted by a front-page CEO. Though Concrete believes overpopulation to be an important issue, does he want to become the spokesperson for a controversial population-control program? While Concrete mulls this generous proposition over with his biologist, Maureen, his longtime aide Larry Munro mulls over an entirely different sort of proposal.