The Man Behind The Quill

How does it feel to be deemed guilty before trial? To be held in a cutthroat Panamanian prison while suffering from terminal lung cancer? How does it feel to rise to the top of the medical and public arenas in your adopted country, only to crash miserably to earth under allegations of fraud and money laundering? In short: What is it like to be Dr. Arthur Porter? There are few contemporary figures in Canada more intriguing and controversial than the former spy watchdog of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. A physician by trade, Porter, always in his iconic bow tie, has been described as intelligent, charismatic, and relentless in his ambitions. Others have called him deceitful, manipulative, and unscrupulous.

Collects Old Man Quill #1-6. Peter Quill finally grew up. He used to be Star-Lord, but it's been some time since he's gone by that name. Taking over for his father as the emperor of Spartax, Quill put a life of spacefaring adventure behind him for one of leadership and responsibility. But things didn't go as planned. Decades have passed, and Peter is haunted by tragedy. Down and out, his existence means nothing - until the former Guardians of the Galaxy drag him out of his funk for one last mission! The heist of a lifetime - and Quill's harrowing last shot at redemption - takes him back to a transformed Earth. But the Wastelands are a dangerous place, with Gladiator and the Universal Church of Truth closing in! And the shadow of Doom hangs over the Guardians' every move.

Gather round for soup fit for the king in this vibrant twist on a classic fable. With brightly colored art and engaging characters, this retelling of the well-known Stone Soup story will captivate young readers. Noko the traveling porcupine arrives in a village. He's denied food and a place to sleep by all the animals he meets. Finally he's granted a fire and a large pot of water. He adds a few of his quills to make his famous quill soup, which he says the king loves! Slowly but surely, everyone contributes ingredients--carrots, beans, and more. Will the soup feed them all?

In this first book featuring the breadth of Barbara Van Cleve's subject matter, readers experience her other themes, including Rodeo as Dance, striking night scenes, the Great Montana Centennial Cattle Drive series, and documentation of the Spanish Mission Trail in Baja California, Mexico.

Presents a guide to writing and speaking expressively, offering advice on such topics as high energy verbs, figures of speech, syntax, word patterns, and vocabulary.

Rome, 1600. In the shadowed cellars of Cardinal Del Monte’s palazzo, a shaft of light illuminates the face of Luca Passarelli. Across the room, behind an enormous canvas, the brilliant, mercurial artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio paints with sure brushstrokes Luca’s likeness into a new masterpiece. Caravaggio is both revered and reviled by his patrons as well as his fellow artists. His innovative paintings and his blazing temper have made him powerful friends, but also powerful enemies—enemies who are determined to quench the flame of his talent. What Caravaggio does not know is that Luca is a professional assassin, a bitter and spiteful man who, in his dark past, has ‘breathed in death’ and has committed murder on multiple occasions. What the artist does not know is that when next they meet it will not be a canvas that brings them together, but rather revenge ... and death.

The fate of empire is to crumble from within. A heinous murder in a small village reveals a terrible truth. Sorcery, once thought dead in Enhover, is not. Evidence of an occult ritual and human sacrifice proves that dark power has been called upon again. Twisting threads of clues lead across the known world to the end of a vast empire, and then, the trail returns home. Duke Oliver Wellesley, son of the king, cartographer, and adventurer, has better things to do than investigate a murder in a sleepy fishing hamlet. For Crown and Company, though, he goes where he's told. As the investigation leads to deeper and darker places, he'll be forced to confront the horrific spectres rising from the shadows of his past. When faced with the truth, will he sacrifice what is necessary to survive? Samantha serves a Church that claims to no longer need her skills. She's apprenticed to a priest-assassin that no one knows. Driven by a mad prophecy, her mentor has prepared her for a battle with ultimate darkness, except, sorcery is dead. When all is at stake, can she call upon an arcane craft the rest of the world has forgotten? The fate of empire is to crumble from within. Do not ask when, ask who.

Collects Old Man Quill #7-12. He’s not done with heroics just yet! Once he was the legendary hero called Star-Lord, leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Now, decades later, Peter Quill has undertaken a mysterious quest, and its shocking goal will finally be revealed. He has reached the Baxter Building — but with a hidden weapon almost in his grasp, a stunning revelation turns everything on its head! Plus: The Guardians face their final mission — but what fate awaits them? And what is the secret message Quill wishes he could forget? Galactus has arrived, and now the only thing standing between the World-Devourer and Earth’s destruction is Peter Quill! Earth is in major trouble.