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Top 20 Graphic Novels, Comics & Manga:
November 2020
I hope this finds you and yours safe and well during the unprecedented uncertainties of this ongoing crisis. It has made me think that older doesn’t necessarily mean wiser, as life can keep challenging us and teaching us all lessons throughout our lives. To help, I find reality-based graphic novels can give us an intimate way to become absorbed in strangers’ experiences and emotions, and sometimes see our own reflected in them.
Among the upcoming November releases I recommend, the major new books by the UK’s Katriona Chapman and South Korea’s Ancco promise to be compelling, eloquent portraits of young adult life…
Similarly, from an older perspective and rooted in autobiography, I’d pick out the latest in Michel Rabagliati’s Paul series, and fellow Canadian Dakota McFadzean’s latest short-story compendium…
And the relationships between parent and child underpin Tardi’s masterwork, the third of his family history trilogy, played out against the tumultuous political backdrop of the aftermath in France and Germany of World War II, while from Japan comes the English-language debut of mangaka Yukari Takinami about her and her mother. Just some of my suggested reads for the months ahead… see you next month for more!
Billionaire Island
by Mark Russell, Steve Pugh & David Pugh
Ahoy
$16.99
The publisher says:
A savage satire reuniting the critically acclaimed team behind DC’s The Flintstones―writer Mark Russell (Second Coming) and artist Steve Pugh (Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass)―in a new graphic novel. Welcome to Billionaire Island, where anything goes…if you can afford it. But the island’s ultra-rich inhabitants are about to learn that their ill-gotten gains come at a VERY high price. 144pgs colour paperback.
Bionic
by Koren Shadmi
IDW/Top Shelf Productions
$19.99
The publisher says:
Bionic is a coming-of-age tale for the digital generation, taking place in the near future. It’s the story of Victor, a geeky teenager on a hopeless quest to win the love of the gorgeous Patricia – but when she returns from a horrible accident with astonishing new robotic parts, both their lives will be changed forever. Koren Shadmi (Highwayman, The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television) presents a hypnotically illustrated story of warm flesh and cold metal. It’s the story of a love that was never meant to be, of overwhelming emotions, trauma, rebellion, loss of innocence and the fear that wanting something may not be enough. Koren Shadmi is a Brooklyn-based illustrator and cartoonist; he studied illustration at the School of Visual Arts in NYC, where he now teaches. His graphic novels have been published internationally and they include Highwayman, The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television, Love Addict: Confessions of a Serial Dater and Rise of the Dungeon Master. His work has been published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Playboy and Wired. 192pgs colour paperback.
Biscuits (Assorted)
by Jenny Robins
Myriad Editions
£16.99
The publisher says:
Every day we pass a thousand people in the street or squash up against strangers in the underground. Like every city, London is teeming with life: diverse, beautiful, messy, incongruous life, and every face seen fleetingly in the crowd carries a story or two. Some are sad, some are funny, some are boring, but none are ever quite what you would guess. In Biscuits, Jenny Robins takes a look at a handful of women’s stories in the city as they defy and comply with our expectations, and as they step out of the cookie cutter mould of what it means to be a woman today. What can a relentlessly positive supermarket employee, a strong-minded mother with a secret, a mistress of distraction (and oversharing) and a miss-adventurer in bi-sexual dating do in one long, hot summer? What can they learn from each other and from the colourful cast of women (and the occasional man) in this book of interweaving stories? Jenny Robins is an illustrator, comics artist and teacher. She was born in Brighton and grew up in Henfield, Sussex. She has a BA in Illustration from Southampton Solent University, followed up by teacher training at the Institute of Education, and then an MA in Art and Design Education in 2014. She now lives in London. An extract from Biscuits won the Myriad First Graphic Novel Competition 2018. 288pgs B&W paperback.
Breakwater
by Katriona Chapman
Avery Hill Publishing
£12.99 / $15.95
The publisher says:
On the South coast of England, in an old art deco picture house, Chris finds a new friend…then has to decide if she has room in her life for one. A loner and an introvert, Chris has worked in Breakwater Picture House for many years. It’s the kind of job that people drift through; friendships flourish for a time, contained within their allotted hours and place…and then fade when people move on. But when Dan joins, Chris finds someone who breaks out of these designated boundaries and gradually becomes a part of her life. Initially the relationship helps her out of a rut and she finds her world starting to open up. But as she learns more about her new friend, she must decide if the solitary life she’s built is the one she’s actually most suited to after all. Dealing with issues of mental health, the joys and drawbacks of choosing a casual job over a career path and the burden that comes with letting other peoples’ problems into your life, Breakwater is a stunning second graphic novel from the creator of Follow Me In. 160pgs colour paperback.
City Monsters
by Reza Farazmand
Plume Books
$17.99
The publisher says:
From New York Times bestselling author and artist Reza Farazmand, his first graphic novel about a young monster who moves to a big city. City Monster is set in a world of supernatural creatures and follows a young monster who moves to the city. As he struggles to figure out his future, his new life is interrupted by questions about his mysterious roommate—a ghost who can’t remember the past. Joined by their neighbour, a vampire named Kim, they explore the city, meeting a series of strange and spooky characters and looking for answers about life, memories and where to get a good beer. With Reza’s signature style and familiar snark, this graphic novel is equal parts irreverent and insightful, the perfect vehicle for conveying the utter absurdity of our bizarre and confusing times. Reza Farazmand lives and draws in Los Angeles. Best known for his comic series Poorly Drawn Lines, his work has been featured in and around such places as televisions, websites, magazines and now this book. When he’s not writing or drawing, Reza enjoys drinking coffee and looking at things on screens. 112pgs colour paperback.
Gamish: A Graphic History of Gaming
by Edward Ross
Particular Books
£20.00
The publisher says:
A thrilling illustrated journey through the history of video games and what they really mean to us. Pac-Man. Mario. Minecraft. Doom. Ever since he first booted up his brother’s dusty old Atari, comic artist Edward Ross has been hooked on video games. Years later, he began to wonder: what makes games so special? Why do we play? And how do games shape the world we live in? This lovingly illustrated book takes us through the history of video games, from the pioneering prototypes of the 1950s to the modern era of blockbuster hits and ingenious indie gems. Exploring the people and politics behind one of the world’s most exciting art-forms, Gamish is a love letter to something that has always been more than just a game. Edward Ross is an Edinburgh based comic artist, illustrator and occasional comic tutor. A movie fan from a young age, Edward was always fascinated by the inner workings of his favourite movies. Pursuing this passion into university and beyond, Edward took his love of film and transformed it into comic form, first for his self-published Filmish minicomics, and later in book form for his debut graphic novel Filmish - A Graphic Journey Through Film. 208pgs colour hardcover.
I, René Tardi, Prisoner of War in Stalag IIB: After the War
by Jacques Tardi
Fantagraphics
$29.99
The publisher says:
The last volume of a powerful tribute to a lost generation of POWs. Wars don’t simply end. Peace treaties may be signed and soldiers may return home, but the personal and national devastation take decades — generations, even — to rebuild. In the third and final volume of I, René Tardi, Prisoner of War, the author’s father René has come home. After five agonising years as a prisoner of war and five months on a gruelling march homeward, the army awards him fifteen days of leave. Like millions of other soldiers, René struggles to rebuild his health, reconnect with his family and imagine his future. With job opportunities limited, René re-enlists as a soldier, despite his disgust with the military. After the birth of his son, Jacques, René receives new orders: return to Germany and help rebuild the country that imprisoned him. In the French Occupation Zone, the story takes an autobiographical turn as the focus shifts from father to son. It’s a fitting tribute to the artist’s father and the lost generation of French POWs, and the triumphant culmination of Jacques Tardi as a master of the form. 164pgs colour hardcover.
I Wish I Could Say “Thank You”
by Yukari Takinami
Fanfare
$22.00
The publisher says:
The creator is telling the story of the loss of her own mother, a difficult and demanding woman, and the strains it places on the individual family members. It is not told in any maudlin manner but rather in an everyday, matter-of-fact way which best describes this all-too-common situation. The cartoon-like depiction of the characters helps remove it from the specific and opens it up to anyone facing the possible demise of a parent. Yukari Takinami was born in Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan in 1980. She is an artist and author of manga, an essayist and a radio broadcaster. She is considered as one of the most original voices in the contemporary female comic world. Her writings portray everyday occurrences in society and her surrounding with humour and honesty. Her manga Motohare Mania (Ex-Boyfriend Mania) (2017 - ) was adapted into a live action TV series in 2019. Also her work Rinshii!! Ekoda-chan (2005 - 2014) has inspired two TV anime series in 2011 and 2019. Arigato-tte Ietanara (I Wish I Could Say “Thank You”) seduced a large public in her native Japan and is set to do so in English. 184pgs B&W paperback.
Marie Duval: Maverick Victorian Cartoonist
by Simon Grennan, Roger Sabin & Julian Waite
Manchester University Press
£80.00 / $120.00
The publisher says:
Marie Duval: Maverick Victorian Cartoonist offers the first critical appraisal of the work of Marie Duval (Isabelle Émilie de Tessier, 1847-1890), one of the most unusual, pioneering and visionary cartoonists of the later nineteenth century. It discusses key themes and practices of Duval’s vision and production, relative to the wider historic social, cultural and economic environments in which her work was made, distributed and read, identifying Duval as an exemplary radical practitioner. The book interrogates the relationships between the practices and the forms of print, story-telling, drawing and stage performance. It focuses on the creation of new types of cultural work by women and highlights the style of Duval’s drawings relative to both the visual conventions of theatre production and the significance of the visualisation of amateurism and vulgarity. Marie Duval: Maverick Victorian Cartoonist establishes Duval as a unique but exemplary figure in a transformational period of the nineteenth century. Simon Grennan is Leading Research Fellow at the University of Chester. Roger Sabin is Professor of Popular Culture at the University of the Arts London. Julian Waite is an independent scholar and former Senior Lecturer in Performing Arts and Programme Leader MA Drama at the University of Chester. 288pgs B&W hardcover.
Muhammad Ali, Kinshasa 1974
by J D Morvan & Rafael Ortiz
Titan Comics
$29.99 / £22.98
The publisher says:
Relive the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’! Award-winning writer JD Morvan and renowned photographer Abbas’ stunning graphic novel masterpiece which uses photos to uniquely illustrate the historical ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. On the 30th October 1974, the most famous boxing match of the 20th Century took place. Nicknamed the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’, it pitted Muhammad Ali, desperate to win back his world champion belt, and George Forman, the current holder, against each other. Foreman had just KO’d the only two boxers to have ever beaten Ali. By his own admission, Ali was terrified about facing him in the ring… Now, the photojournalist Abbas immortalises this legendary meeting, having kept his photos in his personal archives for 36 years before unveiling them to the world. In a cross between a documentary, photo report and graphic novel, this book reveals the context of the most powerful photographs taken by one of the greatest photographers of the Magnum Photos agency. Enriched by the testimony of Abbas himself, Jean-David Morvan’s script is rigorously brought to life by artist Rafael Ortiz. Jean-Davide Morvan started out as a comics artist before realising his masterful talent for storytelling. Born in France, he studied art at the Institut Saint Luc in Brussels. In 2004, he became the writer of classic Franco-Belgian comic, Spirou & Fantasio. Over the years he has produced over 230 comics, winning multiple awards including the Youth Award in 2006 at Angoulême International Comics Festival, and Best Story in 2008 of the Prix Saint-Michel. Abbas is a world renowned photographer, originally from Iran. He dedicated a lot of his work to political and social coverage of developing Southern nations, and from 1970 onwards, many of his works appeared in magazines across the world. After capturing the Iranian revolution, he self-exiled for 17 years before returning. One of his most controversial subjects has been religion, extensively documenting different faiths, from Islam to Buddhism, with accompanying essays. He has produced many books of his photographic works and has held exhibitions all over the globe. In 1981 he joined Magnum Photography Agency and was a governing member until he died in 2018. 136pgs B&W hardcover.
Nineteen
by Ancco
Drawn & Quarterly
$21.95
The publisher says:
At nineteen, the idea that you have your whole life ahead of you with endless possibilities can leave you terrifyingly stiff. Throwing mobility to the wind, you dull yourself with booze. The grown-ups around you are stunted by their own failures so they act out―with alcohol, too, sometimes with violence. What was once the hope of youth quickly spirals into powerlessness and malaise as the days trickle by. Ancco expertly renders the moment of suspension between the desire to grow up and the fear that accompanies it. Autobiography blends with fiction in these coming-of-age stories about people reckoning with their place in their community and women coming to terms with other women. A boy living with HIV tries to decide how he’s going to tell his parents―or whether he should tell them at all. A mother puts pressure on her daughter to pass her exams, and the stress drives them both to drink, fuelling a toxic relationship with a lot of care just below the ugly surface. Another girl keeps getting bruises, but who’s inflicting the damage―herself or a loved one? And dogs―seemingly the only ones capable of unconditional love―offer some reprieve. In Nineteen, Ancco delivers a cutting panorama of contemporary Korean society that’s much darker than one might expect, while also brimming with life and the vitality of youth. Ancco began publishing diary comics in 2002 to quick acclaim, capturing an audience with the immediacy and honesty of her cartooning. Rooted in her lived experience, Ancco’s fiction shares these strengths, bringing an authentic and genuine voice to a generation of Korean youth. Bad Friends won the Korean Comics Today prize and the Prix Révélation at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2016, before being translated into English in 2018. Ancco was born in 1983 just outside of Seoul, Korea. 176pgs B&W paperback.
Parenthesis
by Elodie Durand
IDW / Top Shelf
$19.99
The publisher says:
A triumph of graphic memoir, Parenthesis narrates the author’s experience with tumor-related epilepsy—losing herself, and finding herself again. Julie is barely out of her teens when a tumour begins pressing on her brain, ushering in a new world of seizures, memory gaps and loss of self. Suddenly, the sentence of her normal life has been interrupted by the opening of a parenthesis that may never close. Based on the real experiences of cartoonist Élodie Durand, Parenthesis is a gripping testament of struggle, fragility, acceptance and transformation, which was deservedly awarded the Revelation Prize of the Angoulême International Comics Festival. Élodie Durand is an artist and illustrator, for both children and adults, who has been working for over 15 years. She graduated from the School of Decorative Arts of Strasbourg and the University of Paris VIII. After debuting with the international award-winning graphic memoir Parenthesis, she has also drawn the children’s series Les grandes années, among other projects. 224pgs B&W paperback.
Paris 2119
by Zep & Dominique Bertail
Magnetic Press
$24.99
The publisher says:
Celebrated author Zep (A Story of Men, A Strange and Beautiful Sound) weaves a mystery borne from humanity’s addiction to convenience and technology, and the dangers such addiction can propose. This gorgeously illustrated, poignant sci-fi tale aims a spotlight on current social trends such as over-consumption, climate change, identity theft and transhumanism. Painted in detailed watercolours by Dominique Bertail, this book evokes the classic science fiction styles of Jean “Moebius” Giraud, Enki Bilal and Jean-Claude Mézières. 88pgs colour hardcover.
Patience & Esther
by S.W. Earle
Iron Circus Comics
$20.00 / £14.99
The publisher says:
Patience is a kindhearted country girl, eking out a living in Edwardian England as tremors of social change rock the world around her. When she starts her employment in formal service on the grounds of an opulent country manor, she has no idea that her own personal revolution is about to begin. Cartoonist SW Searle originally hails from spooky New England but currently lives in sunny Perth, Australia. She’s best known for vulnerable memoir and compassionate fiction for a wide range of audiences. Her adult-focused work can be found in the 2014 Smut Peddler anthology from Iron Circus, the Filthy Figments website, and L’Immanquable magazine. Her short comic for The Nib, ‘The Price of Acceptance’, was short-listed for Slate’s 2018 Cartoonist Studio Prize. 280pgs colour paperback.
Paul at Home
by Michel Rabagliati
Drawn & Quarterly
$21.95
The publisher says:
Paul at Home is Quebecois superstar Michel Rabagliati’s most personal book yet, a riveting, emotional and frequently amusing take on the losses and loneliness of being closer to retirement than to university. Paul is in his mid-50s, a successful cartoonist with an achy shoulder, living in a house he once shared with his wife and daughter. The backyard is unkempt, full of weeds. A swing set sits idle, slowly rusting beside a half-dead tree Paul planted with his then-five-year old daughter. The room that belonged to his now-18-year-old daughter is mostly unused, especially once she decides to move overseas. Left unspoken but lingering in the background is Paul’s divorce after a three decade relationship with his high school sweetheart. Amid all of this emotional turmoil, Paul visits his ailing mother in the final months of her life. Like Paul, she divorced in mid-life after a long marriage. She spent most of her remaining years alone or in unfulfilling relationships, which Paul implicitly fears might happen to him. Online dating only seems to make the world worse. Rabagliati doesn’t shy away from these intimate issues, approaching them as much with self-deprecating humour as with sorrow or pain. Characterised by both a deep insight and a willingness to poke fun at life’s shortcomings, Paul at Home is a playful and poetic rumination on loss and the sometimes unsettling changes that come with middle age. Michel Rabagliati was born in 1961 in Montreal. Since 1999, he has become a key figure in Quebec and beyond for his graphic novels starring the titular character Paul against the backdrop of Montreal. His sixth book in the series, Paul à Quebec, earned the Prix du Public at the Angoulême International Comics Festival and was also made into a feature film. Translated into six languages, Rabagliati’s comics have won two Doug Wright Awards for Best Book and a Harvey Award. In 2017, Rabagliati was made a Compagnon des arts et des lettres du Quebec, a distinction awarded in recognition of his contributions to the vitality and influence of Quebec culture. 208pgs B&W paperback.
Plutocracy
by Abraham Martínez
NBM
$24.99
The publisher says:
2051. The world’s largest company, The Company, has seized power on a planetary scale and runs the world as if it were a business. In a plutocracy, the richer one is, the more powerful one is. In this context, an anonymous citizen becomes compelled to uncover how the world came to this situation, without paying any attention to the official version. Several members of the government end up encouraging him to carry out this investigation by giving him access to all information. He decides to discover the true history of The Company and the various interests that are trying to influence his investigation. 144pgs colour hardcover.
Prophet Against Slavery: Benjamin Lay - A Graphic Novel
by David Lester with Marcus Rediker & Paul Buhle
Beacon Press
$16.00
The publisher says:
The revolutionary life of an 18th-century dwarf activist who was among the first to fight against slavery and animal cruelty. Prophet Against Slavery is an action-packed chronicle of the remarkable and radical Benjamin Lay, based on the award-winning biography by Marcus Rediker that sparked the Quaker community to re-embrace Lay after 280 years of disownment. Graphic novelist David Lester brings the full scope of Lay’s activism and ideas to life. Born in 1682 to a humble Quaker family in Essex, England, Lay was a forceful and prescient visionary. Understanding the fundamental evil that slavery represented, he would unflinchingly use guerrilla theatre tactics and direct action to shame slave owners and traders in his community. The prejudice that Lay suffered as a dwarf and a hunchback, as well as his devout faith, informed his passion for human and animal liberation. Exhibiting stamina, fortitude and integrity in the face of the cruelties practiced against what he called his “fellow creatures,” he was often a lonely voice that spoke truth to power. Lester’s beautiful imagery and storytelling, accompanied by afterwords from Rediker and Paul Buhle, capture the radicalism, the humour and the humanity of this truly modern figure. A testament to the impact each of us can make, Prophet Against Slavery brings Lay’s prophetic vision to a new generation of young activists who today echo his call of 300 years ago: “No justice, no peace!” 100pgs B&W paperback.
The Battle Vol. 1 (of 3)
by Patrick Rambaud, Frederic Richaud & Ivan Gill
Cinebook
£10.99
The publisher says:
It’s May 1809. Napolean’s great army is getting ready to cross the Danube on the immense floating bridge that they constructed overnight on the orders of the France’s most famous military genius. On the other side of the river, Archduke Charles and his Austrian army are waiting for them, determined to get their revenge for the humiliating defeat they suffered at Austerlitz. And so the horror begins… Louis-François Lejeune, young colonel attached to the emperor’s staff, meets his old friend Henri Beyne in occupied Vienna. He also meets the beautiful Anna Krauss, with whom he is madly in love with. Nearby, though, Napoleon is attempting to crush the Austrian army, and organising the crossing of the Danube for his troops on a single pontoon bridge hurriedly erected near Essling. Louis-François is forced to abandon his love and return to the front - and the coming firestorm… Based on the novel by Patrick Rambaud (La Bataille). 66pgs colour paperback.
The Big SHE-Bang: The Herstory of the Universe According to God the Mother
as told to Marisa Acocella
Harper Wave
$30.00
The publisher says:
A fierce and clever feminist retelling of humanity’s past—a herstory of the universe—illustrated and written by acclaimed New Yorker cartoonist Marisa Acocella. For centuries, history has been “written about a bunch of men by a bunch of men.” In The Big SHE-Bang, Marisa Acocella challenges our understanding of humanity’s past with her own Big Book. In this gloriously vibrant, clever and hilarious alternate herstory of the world, the true leaders, makers and doers who have been omitted—the women—at last claim their place. Narrated by God the Mother, The Big SHE-Bang celebrates the “shevolutionaries,” from Eve to the Marys—Virgin Mother and Magdalene—from Persephone, Kali, Isis, Delilah to RBG, Gloria, and Tarana. Acocella brilliantly illuminates the way women have been erased, vilified and dominated across eons—blamed for original sin, destruction, betrayals, witchery and other assorted (and false) evils and ills. She sets the story straight from the beginning of time to now. Filled with stunning colour graphic images, this uncompromising and hilarious book opens with a visitation: The Divine Mother appears in Acocella’s studio and takes her on an epic feminist journey that begins at the big SHE-bang. The rest, as they say, is herstsory. Women have been relegated to the sidelines of history for far too long. The Divine Mother, speaking through Acocella, reminds all women of their essential place in the storied past of human civilisation. The Big SHE-Bang celebrates those females who have come before us, and inspires today’s women to claim their equal place now and for the future. Marisa Acocella is a cartoonist for The New Yorker whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Glamour and O, The Oprah Magazine, among other publications. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling graphic novels Ann Tenna (Knopf), Cancer Vixen (Knopf), and Just Who the Hell Is She Anyway? (Crown). Her graphic memoir Cancer Vixen was named one of Time’s top ten graphic memoirs, and a finalist for the National Cartoonists Society Graphic Novel of the Year. A founder and chair of the Marisa Acocella Marchetto Foundation at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Comprehensive Cancer Centre and the Dubin Breast Center at Mount Sinai, she lives in New York City. 256pgs colour hardcover.
The Burning Hotels
by Thomas Lampion
Birdcage Bottom Books
$10.00
The publisher says:
The Burning Hotels is a memoir by Thomas Lampion, centred around his eccentric North Carolina hometown and its bizarre past, while encompassing the mysteries of childhood, adulthood, American History and the importance of where we come from. 104pgs B&W paperback.
The Contradictions
by Sophie Yanow
Drawn & Quarterly
$24.95
The publisher says:
The Eisner Award–winning story about a student figuring out radical politics in a messy world. Sophie is young and queer and into feminist theory. She decides to study abroad, choosing Paris for no firm reason beyond liking French comics. Feeling a bit lonely and out of place, she’s desperate for community and a sense of belonging. She stumbles into what/who she’s looking for when she meets Zena. An anarchist student-activist committed to veganism and shoplifting, Zena offers Sophie a whole new political ideology that feels electric. Enamoured―of Zena, of the idea of living more righteously―Sophie finds herself swept up in a whirlwind friendship that blows her even further from her rural California roots as they embark on a disastrous hitchhiking trip to Amsterdam and Berlin, full of couch surfing, drug tripping and radical book fairs. Capturing that time in your life where you’re meeting new people and learning about the world―when everything feels vital and urgent―The Contradictions is Sophie Yanow’s fictionalised coming-of-age story. Sophie’s attempts at ideological purity are challenged time and again, putting into question the plausibility of a life of dogma in a world filled with contradictions. Keenly observed, frank and very funny, The Contradictions speaks to a specific reality while also being incredibly relatable, reminding us that we are all imperfect people in an imperfect world. Sophie Yanow is an artist and writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Contradictions is her first book with Drawn & Quarterly, the webcomic of which won an Eisner Award and was nominated for the Ringo- and Harvey Awards. Yanow is also the author of What Is a Glacier? and War of Streets and Houses. Her comics have appeared in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Fusion, Los Angeles Review of Books and The Nib. She has been a MacDowell Colony Fellow, and her translation of Dominique Goblet’s Pretending Is Lying received the Scott Moncrieff prize for translation from French. Yanow has taught at the Centre for Cartoon Studies, the New Hampshire Institute of Art and the Animation Workshop in Denmark. 200pgs colour paperback.
The League of Super Feminists
by Mirion Malle
Drawn & Quarterly
$16.95
The publisher says:
This primer on feminism and media literacy teaches young readers why it matters. The League of Super Feminists is an energetic and fierce comic for tweens and younger teens. Cartoonist Mirion Malle guides readers through some of the central tenets including consent, intersectionality, privilege, body image, inclusivity and more; all demystified in the form of a witty, down-to-earth dialogue that encourages questioning the stories we’re told about identity. Malle’s insightful and humorous comics transport lofty concepts from the ivory tower to the eternally safer space of open discussion. Making reference to the Bechdel test in film and Peggy McIntosh’s dissection of white privilege through the metaphor of the “invisible knapsack,” The League of Super Feminists is an asset to the classroom, library and household alike. Knights and princesses present problems associated with consent; superheroes reveal problematic stereotypes associated with gender; and grumpy onlookers show just how insidious cat-calling culture can be. No matter how women dress, Malle explains, there seems to always be someone ready to call it out. The League of Super Feminists articulates with both poise and clarity how unconscious biases and problematic thought processes can have tragic results. Why does feminism matter? Are feminists man-haters? How do race and feminism intersect? Malle answers these questions for young readers, in a comic that is as playful and hilarious as it is necessary. Mirion Malle is a French cartoonist and illustrator who lives in Montreal. She studied comics at the École Superieure des Arts Saint-Luc in Brussels before pursuing a Masters degree in sociology specialising in gender and feminist studies, via Paris Diderot and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Malle has published three books. The League of Super Feminists is her first book to be translated into English and was nominated for the 2020 Prix Jeunesse at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. 60pgs colour hardcover.
The Photographer of Mauthausen
by Salva Rubio & Pedro Colombo
Dead Reckoning
$19.95
The publisher says:
This is a dramatic retelling of true events in the life of Francisco Boix, a Spanish press photographer and communist who fled to France at the beginning of World War II. But there, he found himself handed over by the French to the Nazis, who sent him to the notorious Mauthausen concentration camp, where he spent the war among thousands of other Spaniards and other prisoners. More than half of them would lose their lives there. Through an odd turn of events, Boix finds himself the confidant of an SS officer who is documenting prisoner deaths at the camp. Boix realises that he has a chance to prove Nazi war crimes by stealing the negatives of these perverse photos—but only at the risk of his own life, that of a young Spanish boy he has sworn to protect and, indeed, that of every prisoner in the camp. Salva Rubio is a Spanish author and historian who has been recognised multiple times for his scriptwriting, ranging from short films to feature-length films and graphic novels. Having earned a master’s degree in scriptwriting for film and television, Rubio has worked for several Spanish production companies, including a short film nominated for the Goya awards in 2010, and the feature-length animated film Deep in 2016. Rubio made his debut in the comics field in 2017 with two striking and very different projects: Monet: Itinerant of Light (NBM) and The Photographer of Mauthausen, both of which have met with critical acclaim. Spanish artist Pedro Colombo was born just outside of Barcelona in 1978. With a passion for drawing dating back to his childhood, he went on to attend Escuela Joso, Spain’s most renowned comics institute. Colombo is the creator of Sangre Noctambula and co-creator of Trois . . . et l’ange. 112pgs colour paperback.
To Know You’re Alive
by Dakota McFadzean
Conundrum Press
$20.00
The publisher says:
Award-winning Canadian cartoonist Dakota McFadzean returns with a brilliantly dark collection that offers a glimpse into the cracks between childhood imagination and the disappointing harshness of adulthood. Populated by cruel bullies, exhausted parents and relentless cartoon mascots, the world of To Know You’re Alive renders the familiar into something that is alien and absurd. The characters in these stories long to uncover something uncanny in shadowy attics and beneath masks, only to discover that sometimes it’s worse to find nothing at all. Dakota McFadzean is a Canadian cartoonist who has been published by MAD Magazine, The New Yorker, The Best American Comics and Funny or Die. He has also worked as a storyboard artist for DreamWorks, and is an alumni of The Centre for Cartoon Studies. To Know You’re Alive is McFadzean’s third book with Conundrum Press; other titles include Other Stories and the Horse You Rode in On, and Don’t Get Eaten by Anything, which collects three years of daily comic strips. He is a co-editor/co-founder of the comics and art anthology Irene, and distributes his own short stories in his ongoing mini-comic series, Last Mountain. McFadzean currently lives in Toronto with his wife and two sons. 160pgs B&W paperback.
Who Understands Comics?: Questioning the Universality of Visual Language Comprehension
by Neil Cohn
Bloomsbury Academic
$100.00 / $34.95
The publisher says:
Drawings and sequential images are so pervasive in contemporary society that we may take their understanding for granted. But how transparent are they really, and how universally are they understood? Combining recent advances from linguistics, cognitive science, and clinical psychology, this book argues that visual narratives involve greater complexity and require a lot more decoding than widely thought. Although increasingly used beyond the sphere of entertainment as materials in humanitarian, educational, and experimental contexts, Neil Cohn demonstrates that their universal comprehension cannot be assumed. Instead, understanding a visual language requires a fluency that is contingent on exposure and practice with a graphic system. Bringing together a rich but scattered literature on how people comprehend, and learn to comprehend, a sequence of images, this book coalesces research from a diverse range of fields into a broader interdisciplinary view of visual narrative to ask: Who Understands Comics? Neil Cohn is Associate Professor of Communication and Cognition at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. He is the author of The Visual Language of Comics (2013) and editor of The Visual Narrative Reader (2016). 256pgs B&W hardcover / paperback.
