The Trial of Colonel Sweeto, and Other Stories: A Collection of the Comic Strips of The Perry Bible Fellowship

Book signing Thursday, December 13, 7 p.m., Barnes & Noble, Pittsford Plaza

Release party Friday, December 14, 8 p.m., Boulder Coffee, 100 Alexander St

For more information visit pbfcomics.com.

The colorful cover of "The Trial of Colonel Sweeto" lures you right in, a charming, Candyland-esque scene filled with lovable gumdrop men and lollipop ladies. But look a little closer and you'll see the darker edges, as the sugary mob calls for the death of a traitorous candy soldier bound to a candy-cane stake, gummy bears readying their torches.

It's that bit of sour mixed into sweet-looking illustrations that has made Rochester artist Nicholas Gurewitch's Perry Bible Fellowship stand out in a crowded field of comic strips. PBF runs every week in City (you can find it this week on page 47) and nearly two dozen other publications across the country. What started as a cartoon in Syracuse University's student newspaper evolved into an internet sensation, with Gurewitch winning the prestigious Ignatz Award for Outstanding Online Comic in 2005 and 2006 and a Harvey Award this year. And now, after six years, the strip has been collected into its first book courtesy of Dark Horse Comics.

Dark Horse is a big deal. It's one of the biggest publishers in the industry, right behind superhero factories Marvel and DC, and it publishes a host of well-regarded titles, including the Hellboy and Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. Gurewitch says that Dark Horse was one of a number of publishers that approached him about collecting his strip in the last two years. When the publisher offered him the best terms, that's where he took the book.

Gurewitch says he's pleased with how the book came out, and he should be. It's a gorgeous collection, well put together, and it shows off the best the strip has to offer. It's also been well received by readers. The original print run of 6,000 sold out via pre-order before the book even shipped, and a second print run of 36,000 has nearly sold through since it was released on November 13. The book is currently No. 2 on Amazon.com's Cartooning best-seller list, and is Dark Horse's second highest-selling book after the "300" hardcover that inspired the summer blockbuster movie. A third print run is in the works, Gurewitch says.

Gurewitch says that he's not all that surprised by the book's success. "I've gotten a number of e-mails over the years, so I knew there was an interest in it," he says. "I'm just letting it run its course. I like the book a lot."

Picking stripsfor the collection wasn't as difficult as you might think. Most of his archive fit into the 96 pages, Gurewitch says, and since the internet is such a key component to PBF's success, he has a good deal of reader feedback as to which ones are fan favorites. His most popular strip, he says, is probably "Unicorn Power," in which the mythical creature aids a young boy in his hour of need. The cartoon has such a following that it has been turned into a T-shirt, and Gurewitch says his website sells upwards of five a day to people all over the world.

Gurewitch says Dark Horse has expressed interest in a follow up, and he's toying with the notion of doing a long-form original story, but nothing's certain at this point. (One of the issues readers have with the current collection is that, despite the fact that it's called "The Trial of Colonel Sweeto," the traitorous candy appears in only one strip; Gurewitch says that he was merely following in the footsteps of Far Side cartoonist Gary Larson, who would often title his collections after a single strip.) In the meantime, you can meet the artist in person at a book signing Thursday at Barnes & Noble in Pittsford, or head to Boulder Coffee on Friday for a book-launch event in which Gurewitch will display large prints of his strips as well as some original artwork.