RSS Feed
Facebook
Twitter
Top 24 Graphic Novels, Comics & Manga:
July 2021
Hello and welcome, or welcome back. I have selected two dozen books coming into print from this July, or thereafter subject to delays. Firstly, a graphic novel which some people thought might never see the light, Dave Sim’s extraordinary meditation on Alex Raymond and other masters of the realist school of American newspaper strips, now completed by his collaborator Carson Grubaugh.
Going back earlier in time, another fascinating biographic of note is Nathalie Ferlut & Tamia Baudouin’s portrait of Artemisia Gentileschi…
These two neo-realist projects from the U.S. stand out, one on the strains of a father-son relationship, the other on humankind’s relationship with loneliness…
Also wonderful to find an brand-new opus by the singular ‘paintoonist’ Jerry Moriarty and an ambitious graphic memoir by Sabba Khan, an architectural designer, visual artist and Kashmiri Muslim migrant to the UK…
And on the manga front, we finally get the chance to read in print the No. 5 saga by the essential Taiyo Matsumoto, complete in four double-volumes. These are some of the highpoints of my latest PG Tips below. Explore and enjoy! Till next month, take care.
1000 Storms
by Tony Sandoval
Magnetic Press
$24.99
The publisher says:
Lisa is a lonely girl who enjoys wandering nature and collecting odd bones and pebbles. The other kids think she’s kinda weird, maybe a witch, and avoid her. When one day she discovers a tree that allows passage to a parallel world, she finds herself in the middle of a demonic invasion plot, faced with saving the very children who ridiculed her. In this magical tale (set in the same world as Watersnakes), Tony Sandoval takes readers back to his world of mysterious adolescence and surreal beauty. Like Watersnakes, and Doomboy before it, the reader is faced with recognisable feelings of solitude and longing mixed with danger and adventure through a visual wonderland. 144pgs colour hardcover.
Alberto Breccia’s Dracula
by Alberto Breccia
Fantagraphics
$19.99
The publisher says:
In this wordless, full-colour collection of satiric short comics stories, an internationally acclaimed cartoonist chronicles the waning days of the most famous vampire of them all. Alberto Breccia’s Dracula is composed of a series of brutally funny satirical misadventures starring the hapless eponymous antihero. Literally defanged (a humiliating trip to the dentist doesn’t help), the protagonist’s glory days are long behind him and other, more sinister villains (a corrupt government, overtly backed by American imperialism) are sickening and draining the life out of the villagers far more than one creature of the night ever could. This is the first painted, full-colour entry in Fantagraphics’ artist-focused Alberto Breccia Library, and the atmospheric palette adds mood and dimension. It also includes a sketchbook showing the artist’s process. Dracula has no co-author, and so Breccia’s carnivalesque vision is as pure Breccia as it gets. Created during the last of a succession of Argentine military dictatorships (1982–1983), this series of short comics stories ran in Spain’s Comix Internacional periodical in 1984. The moral purpose of Breccia’s expressionistic art style is made explicit; he shows that every ounce of his grotesque, bloated characters’ flesh and blood has been cruelly extracted from the less fortunate. 88pgs colour hardcover.
Artemisia
by Nathalie Ferlut & Tamia Baudouin
Beehive Books
$25.00
The publisher says:
Artemisia Gentileschi was a painter of passions; of rich colours and fraught moments; of women taking command of their own stories. She reversed the classical depictions of female characters in mythology, presenting them with agency, as the protagonists of their own narratives. And she was the hero of her own story, too. Despite working in a male-dominated field at a time when women could not even legally buy painting supplies, Gentileschi created an independent life for herself as a stunning artist of unparalleled power and uncompromised vision. She achieved fame and fortune through her own work, as the one of the first women ever to support herself with her artwork. She often diverged from classical depictions of women as delicate and submissive, carving out her own trail as a fierce proto-feminist thinker. She reinterpreted biblical and mythological scenes through a lens of female agency and empowerment, from the shockingly visceral Judith Slaying Holofernes to her unflinchingly frank depiction of sexual harassment and abuse in Susanna and the Elders. These issues were deeply personal for her: Gentileschi was a survivor of repeated sexual assaults by her tutor. Though the Gentileschi’s brought him to court and won, Artemisia endured torture by thumbscrews in the process of a brutal trial. Finding her reputation in Rome irreparably tarnished after the trial, she left, refusing to allow the abuse in her past to define her. Instead, she reinvented herself in Florence, becoming the first woman to join their prestigious academy of arts and going on to attract a robust international patronage. This gorgeous graphic biography tells her story through the eyes of her daughter Prudentia, as she delves into the vivid, troubled, heroic life story of one of the greatest painters ever to lift a brush. Translated from the French by Marielle Doliveux. Nathalie Ferlut was born in Sète, France on November 26th 1968 and currently resides in the Haute-Savoie region of France. She obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Nîmes, prior to pursuing her studies at the Beaux-Arts school in Angoulême where she obtained a diploma in comics in 1993. After brief stints in various animation related jobs, she returned to her love of comics full time. She began by writing the science-fiction mini-series Ether Glister, illustrated by Yoann and the later by Thierry Leprévost, and then she illustrated the children’s comic, The History of Mrs. Moon, written by Jean-Luc Loyer. Ferlut also both wrote and illustrated many of her own personal works, including Le Bel Inconnu, an adaptation of a medieval novel (published in two volumes by Carabas in 2004 and 2005), Lettres d’Agathe (published by Delcourt), Ève sur la balançoire and Andersen (both published by Casterman). Tamia Bauduoin is a French illustrator and comics artist who lives and works in Japan. She began her art studies at the Emile Cohl school, and continued her education at the ESA Saint Luc in Brussels, Belgium. She is passionate about drawing, both in comics (mainstream and indie comics equally) as well as fashion illustration. Artemisia is her first published comics work, and was soon followed by her second comics collaboration with Nathalie Ferlut, Dans La Foret Des Lilas, also published by Delcourt. Her next book, written by Béatrice Bottet, is Charles Perrault’s Tales, and will be published by Casterman. 100pgs colour hardcover.
Ballad for Sophie
by Filipe Melo & Juan Cavia
IDW / Top Shelf
$24.99
The publisher says:
A young journalist prompts a reclusive piano superstar to open up, resulting in this stunning graphic sonata exploring a lifetime of rivalry, regret and redemption. 1933: in the small French village of Cressy-la-Valoise, a local piano contest brings together two brilliant young players: Julien Dubois, the privileged heir of a wealthy family, and François Samson, the janitor’s son. One wins, one loses, and both are changed forever. 1997: in a huge mansion stained with cigarette smoke and memories, a bitter old man is shaken by the unexpected visit of an interviewer. Somewhere between reality and fantasy, Julien composes, like in a musical score, a complex and moving story about the cost of success, rivalry, redemption, and flying pianos. When all is said and done, did anyone ever truly win? And is there any music left to play? Ballad for Sophie features: sweeping, ambitious storytelling that spans seven decades, from the German occupation of France through the wild 1960s to the modern era; and exquisitely dynamic artwork, bursting with life and perfectly suited to the unique and slightly off-kilter story. Equally appealing to classical piano lovers and fans of sprawling literary/historical fiction. ilipe Melo is a musician, film director and author. He developed a passion for piano and improvisation from an early age. He studied at Hot Clube de Portugal and later at Berklee College of Music. After many years as a pianist, he also became a composer and an orchestrator. He currently teaches music at ESML, a university in Lisbon. In cinema, he developed several cult projects: I’ll See You in My Dreams, Um Mundo Catita and Sleepwalk, as well as commercials and music videos. His books are published in several countries. In the US, he wrote for the Eisner-winning anthology Dark Horse Presents. In 2019, he received a career award from the Amadora BD Festival. Juan Cavia works as an art director and illustrator since 2004. He studied cinema and simultaneously developed skills in illustration and painting from an early age with his mentor, Argentinean artist Carlos Pedrazzini. At the age of 21, he began a career as an art director. Since then, he has made advertisements, TV, music videos, theatre and nine feature films, including The Secret in her Eyes by J. Campanella (Oscar-winner for Best Foreign Film). 320pgs B&W paperback.
Bubble
by Jordan Morris, Sarah Morgan, Tony Cliff & Natalie Riess
First Second
$27.99 / $19.99
The publisher says:
An adult graphic novel with a hilarious and satirical take on the “gig economy” as the residents of Fairhaven constantly hire the nearest monster hunter to keep their lives somewhat peaceful and intact. Based on the smash-hit audio serial, Bubble is a hilarious high-energy graphic novel with a satirical take on the “gig economy.” Built and maintained by corporate benevolence, the city of Fairhaven is a literal bubble of safety and order (and amazing coffee) in the midst of the Brush, a harsh alien wilderness ruled by monstrous Imps and rogue bands of humans. Humans like Morgan, who’s Brush-born and Bubble-raised and fully capable of fending off an Imp attack during her morning jog. She’s got a great routine going — she has a chill day job, she recreationally kills the occasional Imp, then she takes that Imp home for her roommate and BFF, Annie, to transform into drugs as a side hustle. But cracks appear in her tidy life when one of those Imps nearly murders a delivery guy in her apartment, accidentally transforming him into a Brush-powered mutant in the process. And when Morgan’s company launches Huntr, a gig economy app for Imp extermination, she finds herself press-ganged into kicking her stabby side job up to the next level as she battles a parade of monsters and monstrously Brush-turned citizens, from a living hipster beard to a book club hive mind. Jordan Morris is a writer and podcaster living in Los Angeles. He’s worked on projects for Comedy Central, Cartoon Network and Disney. He’s also the co-host of the well-liked but not super popular podcast Jordan, Jesse, Go! He lives with one cat and still knows all the fatalities for the original Mortal Kombat. He is beyond thrilled to be making comics. Seriously, it feels like a dream. Sarah Morgan is a writer for TV and radio. Her credits include Intelligence, the BAFTA Film Awards 2020, Not Going Out, Horrible Histories, the Tracey Ullman Show, That Mitchell And Webb Sound and Bigipedia. She is also the creator and host of a spooky podcast called The Fear. She lives in London with her family and enjoys ales served at the appropriate temperature. Tony Cliff is the New York Times Bestselling author of the critically-acclaimed Delilah Dirk series of adventure graphic novels. He has also written and illustrated Let’s Get Sleepy, a seek-and-find children’s story about cats, a mouse and the value of a day well-lived. He lives in Vancouver, BC, is a veteran of that city’s animation industry, and is a long-time Jordan, Jesse, Go! listener. Natalie Riess is a cartoonist from Pennsylvania. She now lives in Austin, TX, where she makes comics with her girlfriend and gets yelled at by their beautiful cat. She loves to draw food, nature, and horrible plant monsters. Her previous titles include Space Battle Lunchtime and Snarlbear. 272pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
Chivalry
by Neil Gaiman & Colleen Doran
Dark Horse
$19.99
The publisher says:
Another delightfully humorous and sweet fantasy graphic novel adaptation of a Neil Gaiman short story, brought to you by the Eisner-award winning team of Snow, Glass, Apples: Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran. An elderly British widow buys what turns out to be the Holy Grail from a second-hand shop, setting her off on an epic visit from an ancient knight who lures her with ancient relics in hope for winning the cup. From the Hugo, Bram Stoker, Locus, World Fantasy, Nebula award–winning, and New York TimesAmerican Gods) comes this graphic novel adaptation by Colleen Doran (Troll Bridge, Snow, Glass, Apples). 72pgs colour hardcover.
“Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?”
by Eric Powell & Harold Schechter
Albatross Funnybooks
$29.99
The publisher says:
One of the greats in the field of true-crime literature, Harold Schechter, teams with five-time Eisner Award-winning graphic novelist Eric Powell to bring you the tale of one of the most notoriously deranged murderers in American history, Ed Gein. This is an in-depth exploration of the Gein family and what led to the creation of the necrophile who haunted the dreams of 1950s America and inspired such films as Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs. Painstakingly researched and illustrated, Schechter and Powell’s true crime graphic novel takes the Gein story out of the realms of exploitation and gives the reader a fact-based dramatisation of these tragic, psychotic and heartbreaking events. Because, in this case, the truth needs no embellishment to be horrifying. 200pgs colour hardcover.
Hello Adventure
by Alexis Nolla
Centrala
$33 / £23
The publisher says:
In this short story collection, Alexis Nolla tells us of great travellers that really existed – or are totally invented, a bit like Bolaño’s style. We follow the legendary Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott; fathers and sons on a quest to find the Devil’s Island; and monsters with PTSD syndrome. Different genres combine in Nolla’s unique portrayal of dauntless explorers, solitary hunters, melancholic monsters, frozen noses and brave travellers creating a mesmerising hymn to the beauty of discovery and the ancestral power of wilderness. Conxita Herreroy, Spanish comic artist and singer, comments, ‘Alexis Nolla is the best artist on the planet, and when I make this statement I feel I’m still not being categorical enough: what I like most about living in the 21st century is knowing that Alexis Nolla is in his room drawing.’ Alexis Nolla was born in Barcelona in 1987. Besides the three stories collected in Hello Adventure, previously published by Apa-Apa (Escondite/ La Isla del Diablo, 2012; El Polo Sur, 2014; Tre Marineros, 2015), he also published Chico del Antifaz (Diminuta, 2015) and Terra Estraña (Anti, 2012). His work has been featured in fanzines and magazines (Voltio & Perdiz), and collective books (Rubor & Hodoo Vodoo) and he is the most internationally appreciated Spanish comics artist. 128pgs colour hardcover.
Love Me Please: The Story of Janis Joplin
by Nicolas Finet, Christopher & Degreff
NBM
$24.99
The publisher says:
A biography in comics of the amazing rock singer Janis Joplin with the highlights of her journey from childhood after the Second World War to her abrupt death in late 1970. It is one of the most fabulous musical adventures in America of the second half of the twentieth century, yet it lasted only five years. How did a very young, messed up woman, a drug addict filled with doubt, become a planetary icon of rock music in a few years? Thanks to a worldwide movement of emancipation which would consecrate for a long time the ideals and modes of alternative lifestyles from counterculture to the flower power generation, Janis, the ugly duckling, gave free rein to her impulses. Fed by the thirst for freedom of the Beat Generation and the desire for emancipation expressed by American youth in the early 1960s, Janis Joplin left for San Francisco, the epicentre of cultural innovation. There, she abandoned herself to all impulses, overcoming without hesitation all the taboos of the time: bisexuality, alcohol and drugs, doing so not only with delight, but with the taste for excess which came naturally from her spontaneous character. Christopher is an author, illustrator and journalist for a quarter of a century. This Anglo-Marseille native combines his passion for music in general, and rock in particular with such comics work as adapting Bob Dylan and his latest work The Long And Winding Road, with artist Ruben Pellejero, a critically acclaimed “road-comic.” In 2019, he co-authored Forever Woodstock with Nicolas Finet as well. Nicolas Finet, author, publisher, filmmaker, journalist, curator, speaker and translator, has worked in comics for more than three decades. He is the author of more than half a dozen reference works on it. In music, he has just made a documentary on the blues and comics, Mississippi Ramblin, devoted to bluesman Robert Johnson. He is the writer, also with Christopher, of Forever Woodstock. 160pgs colour hardcover.
Meadowlark
by Ethan Hawke & Greg Ruth
Grand Central Publishing
$26.00
The publisher says:
Oscar-nominated actor and writer Ethan Hawke and New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Greg Ruth present a new graphic novel following a father and son as they navigate an increasingly catastrophic day. Set against the quiet and unassuming city of Huntsville, Texas, Jack “Meadowlark” Johnson, and his teenage son, Cooper embark on a journey of epic proportions. Told over the course a single day, this electrifying graphic novel recounts Cooper’s struggle to survive the consequences of his father’s mistakes and the dangers they have brought home to his estranged family. As Cooper and his father desperately navigate cascading threats of violence, they must also grapple with their own combative, dysfunctional, but loving relationship. Drawing on inspiration from the authors’ childhoods in Texas, their relationships with their own sons and from ancient myths that resonate throughout the ages, this contemporary crime noir is a propulsive coming-of-age tale of the shattering transition into manhood. While both father and son strive to understand their place in the world and each other’s lives, tension and resentment threaten to boil over. As emotionally evocative as it is visually stunning, this captivating graphic novel will appeal to fans of Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men and Terrence Malick’s Badlands. Ethan Hawke’s first graphic novel with illustrator Greg Ruth, Indeh, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list in 2016. His other literary works include New York Times bestsellers Rules for a Knight, Ash Wednesday and The Hottest State. He has also acted in more than fifty films and is the director of three feature films and one documentary. He is a four-time Academy Award nominee. Greg Ruth is the New York Times bestselling author/illustrator of The Lost Boy and Indeh and has been making books and comics since 1993. Greg has also created music videos for both Prince and Rob Thomas and children’s picture books including Pure Enduring Spirit (with Barack Obama), Red Kite, Blue Kite (with Ji Li Jiang), A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade (with James Preller) and his latest from Feiwel & Friends entitled Coming Home. His comics work includes Sudden Gravity, Freaks of the Heartland, Conan: Born on the Battlefield, The Matrix and Goosebumps. He lives and works in Western Massachusetts. 256pgs colour hardcover.
No. 5 Vol. 1
by Taiyo Matsumoto
Viz Media
$22.99
The publisher says:
A powerfully imagined vision of the future from Taiyo Matsumoto, creator of the Eisner Award–winning Cats of the Louvre and Tekkonkinkreet. In a world where most of the earth has become a harsh desert, the Rainbow Council of the Peace Corps has a growing crisis on its hands. No. 5, one member of a team of superpowered global security guardians and a top marksman, has gone rogue. Now the other guardians have to hunt down No. 5 and his mysterious companion, Matryoshka. But why did No. 5 turn against the council, and what will it mean for the future of the world? Collects Volumes 1 & 2, originally published in English in 2002-3. Taiyo Matsumoto is best known to English-reading audiences as the creator of Tekkonkinkreet, which in 2006 was made into an animated feature film of the same name directed by Michael Arias. In 2007, Matsumoto was awarded the Japan Media Arts Festival Excellence Award, and in 2020 he won his second Eisner Award for the English publication of Cats of the Louvre. 318pgs B&W/part colour paperback.
Pulp Empire: The Secret History of Comic Book Imperialism
by Paul S. Hirsch
University of Chicago Press
$29.99 / £24.00
The publisher says:
In the 1940s and ’50s, comic books were some of the most popular—and most unfiltered—entertainment in the United States. Publishers sold hundreds of millions of copies a year of violent, racist, and luridly sexual comics to Americans of all ages, until a 1954 Senate investigation led to a censorship code that nearly destroyed the industry. But this was far from the first time the US government actively involved itself with comics—it was simply the most dramatic manifestation of a long, strange relationship between high-level policy makers and a medium that even artists and writers often dismissed as a creative sewer. In Pulp Empire, Paul S. Hirsch uncovers the gripping untold story of how the US government both attacked and appropriated comic books to help wage World War II and the Cold War, promote official—and clandestine—foreign policy, and deflect global critiques of American racism. As Hirsch details, during World War II—and the concurrent Golden Age of comic books—government agencies worked directly with comic book publishers to stoke hatred for the Axis powers while simultaneously attempting to dispel racial tensions at home. Later, as the Cold War defence industry ballooned—and as comic book sales reached historic heights—the government again turned to the medium, this time trying to win hearts and minds in the decolonising world through cartoon propaganda. Hirsch’s groundbreaking research weaves together a wealth of previously classified material, including secret wartime records, official legislative documents and caches of personal papers. His book explores the uneasy contradiction of how comics were both vital expressions of American freedom and unsettling glimpses into the national id—scourged and repressed on the one hand and deployed as official propaganda on the other. Pulp Empire is a riveting illumination of underexplored chapters in the histories of comic books, foreign policy and race. Paul S. Hirsch is a visiting research affiliate at the Institute for Historical Studies in the Department of History at the University of Texas at Austin. His work has received major support from organizations including the Robert B. Silvers Foundation, the National Science Foundation and the Library of Congress. 344pgs part-colour hardcover.
Queen of the Ring: Wrestling Drawings by Jaime Hernandez 1980-2020
by Jaime Hernandez
Fantagraphics
$24.99
The publisher says:
For the past 40 years, acclaimed graphic novelist Jaime Hernandez has been creating a Love and Rockets-adjacent world ― set in the heyday of 1960s and ’70s women’s wrestling and lucha libre! ― with an entirely separate cast of characters who have aged and evolved: the beautiful and brutal Bettie Rey, the I.F.W. Pacific Women’s Champion ― a.k.a. Golden Girl ― as well as former champions Pantera Negra, Miss Kitty Perez and many more. As Hernandez puts it, “It’s my Love and Rockets world that’s not my Love and Rockets world.” This best-of book spotlights the women who are often ignored in pro wrestling in 125 full colour illustrations: pin-ups, action shots, fake wrestling magazine covers, all presented in a large format book that echoes the lucha libre magazines of the 1960s. Hernandez also discusses the work in an interview with fellow cartoonist Katie Skelly. Jaime Hernandez is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning (Will Eisner Hall of Famer; Harvey, Ignatz, and PEN Award-winner; L.A. Times Book Prize) cartoonist and a lifelong Los Angelean. Katie Skelly is a cartoonist who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. 128pgs colour hardcover.
Raining Like Hammers
by Brandon Graham
Image
$17.99
The publisher says:
Eisner Award-winning writer and artist Brandon Graham (King City, Prophet, Multiple Warheads) presents a self-contained graphic novel of distant, far-future science fiction. In Raining Like Hammers, supercriminal Brik Blok journeys to the palace-world of Sky Cradle to rescue El, a young woman who has unknowingly entered a competition for immortality. He disguises himself by transferring his mind into the body of a genetically engineered butler and begins making plans to steal an aristocrat’s finger-keys. But how much of who he was will remain in this new form? Meanwhile, the walking-cities on the desert-world of Crown Majesty are being picked off by an unseen force! An existential crisis, vending machine snacks, and the fate of known space!! 256pgs colour paperback.
Re: Constitutions: Connecting Citizens with The Rules of the Game
by Beka Feathers & Kasia Babis
First Second / World Citizen Comics
$28.99
The publisher says:
Marcus is stumped by a summer assignment: to write an essay on what it means to be a citizen. He’s surprised to hear from people in his community that constitutions play an important role when it comes to citizenship―they can even affect whether you feel like you belong in your country or not. From a Kosovo Albanian neighbour to a Rwandan exchange student, and even in his own family history, Marcus discovers stories of how constitutions ― including the U.S. Constitution ― shape the political landscape and our daily lives. From Beka Feathers, an expert in post-conflict institution building, and Kasia Babis, an accomplished political cartoonist, comes a graphic novel that gives context to the modern issues that arise from constitutions. With historical examples from all over the world, Re: Constitutions examines how this essential document defines a nation’s identity and the rights of its citizens, and explains the role constitutions play in how government is structured and provides context for the modern issues that arise from these documents. In order to coexist peacefully in society, humans must abide by certain norms, laws, and practices. But if we have different, conflicting ideas of who we are, what’s acceptable, and what rights we deserve, how do we agree on anything? By drafting a constitution; a document that lays out “the rules of the game.” Beka Feathers is a legal adviser on political development in conflict-affected states. Her writing is influenced by her work with clients and partners in more than a dozen countries, where she has helped to draft constitutions, design transitional governments, facilitate peace processes, and advocate for improved access to justice. She is a proud alumna of Lewis & Clark College, the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, and American University’s Washington College of Law. She lives with her talented, pun-loving wife and a suspiciously intelligent dog in Portland, Oregon. Kasia Babis is a Polish cartoonist, illustrator and political activist with an online following of over 100,000 fans. Her viral comics succinctly skewer social issues ranging from racism to street harassment from a distinctly feminist perspective. 256pgs colour hardcover.
River of Ink
by Etienne Appert with Edmond Baudoin & Scott McCloud
Humanoids Inc.
$22.99
The publisher says:
A thought-provoking book about the very origins of the art of illustration-what it means and why it exists. The River of Ink flows from the present day back to the very first illustration drawn by a human. Along its shores are tales and wisdom from legendary artists of the past and present exploring the philosophy of communication through drawing. Why do we draw? It’s a simple question with a spellbinding and complex answer in this entirely new and entertaining look at the history of art. Also featured is an illustrated interview between Appert and comics master Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics, The Sculptor) that no reader should miss. In a previous life, Etienne Appert remembers he had a traditional job, trying to avoid his passion for drawing, but in 2009, he surrendered to the call of art. Since then, he spends all his time revelling in the joy of creating illustrations, inventing new ways of mixing texts and pictures in graphic novels (as in the best-seller Reinventing Organizations with Frederic Laloux). His graphic novels are the most personal part of his work. 240pgs colour paperback.
Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness
by Kristen Radtke
Pantheon
$30.00
The publisher says:
There is a silent epidemic in America: loneliness. Shameful to talk about and often misunderstood, loneliness is everywhere, from the most major of metropolises to the smallest of towns. In Seek You, Kristen Radtke’s wide-ranging exploration of our inner lives and public selves, Radtke digs into the ways in which we attempt to feel closer to one another, and the distance that remains. Through the lenses of gender and violence, technology and art, Radtke ushers us through a history of loneliness and longing, and shares what feels impossible to share. Ranging from the invention of the laugh-track to the rise of Instagram, the bootstrap-pulling cowboy to the brutal experiments of Harry Harlow, Radtke investigates why we engage with each other, and what we risk when we turn away. With her distinctive, emotionally-charged drawings and deeply empathetic prose, Kristen Radtke masterfully shines a light on some of our most vulnerable and sublime moments, and asks how we might keep the spaces between us from splitting entirely. Kristen Radtke is the author of the graphic nonfiction book Imagine Wanting Only This. The recipient of a 2019 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant, Radtke is the art director and deputy publisher of The Believer. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Marie Claire, The Atlantic, The Guardian, GQ, Vogue and Oxford American, among many other publications. 352pgs B&W hardcover.
Strange Blood
by Sergi Puyol
Centrala
$33 / £23
The publisher says:
Strange Blood is both a mystery thriller and psychological exploration of what triggers obsession inside the human mind. What exactly does stranger blood stand for? Arnaldo’s life is filled with a pneumatic void. He can’t stand Fridays, can’t stand working, he can’t stand, in general, his sorry postmodern existence. Until one day something random happens. Against his will, his spirit is shaken to the core leading him into an all-consuming obsession. He goes on a compulsive hunt to find answers, and his search will lead him through Russian novels, gallons of beer and into metaphysical questions to finally realise one can escape any place on earth except his mind. Gerardo Vilches, comics critic and curator, comments: ‘Sergi Puyol has put all his visual skills into a story that is both gripping and disturbing, in which we can never be sure of what is true and what is false. Only one thing appears to be true beyond the shadow of doubt: obsession can drag us into insanity.’ Sergi Puyol (Barcelona, Spain, 1980) is a professional letterer and cartoonist. He studied Graphic Design at Elisava School in Barcelona. He works as a graphic designer, but he mainly draws and reads comics in his free time. He is the co-owner of the Spanish comics publishing house Apa-Apa comics together with Toni Mascaró since 2011, where he has released almost all his work, including the most recent Strange Blood. He is co-editor of Colibrí Fanzine, and has also participated in loads of other fanzines and some publications such as Panorama, la novela gráfica española hoy (Astiberri, 2013) and Rubor (La Cúpula, 2015) as well as in the Lithuanian publication Kûs!. 120pgs colour hardcover.
The Comics World: Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and Their Publics
edited by Benjamin Woo & Jeremy Stoll
University Press of Mississippi
$99.00 / $30.00
The publisher says:
The Comics World: Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and Their Publics is the first collection to explicitly examine the production, circulation and reception of comics from a social-scientific point of view. Designed to promote interdisciplinary dialogue about theory and methods in comics studies, this volume draws on approaches from fields as diverse as sociology, political science, history, folklore, communication studies and business, among others, to study the social life of comics and graphic novels. Taking the concept of a “comics world”―that is, the collection of people, roles and institutions that “produce” comics as they are―as its organising principle, the book asks readers to attend to the contexts that shape how comics move through societies and cultures. Each chapter explores a specific comics world or particular site where comics meet one of their publics, such as artists and creators; adaptors; critics and journalists; convention-goers; scanners; fans; and comics scholars themselves. Through their research, contributors demonstrate some of the ways that people participate in comics worlds and how the relationships created in these spaces can provide different perspectives on comics and comics studies. Moving beyond the page, The Comics World explores the complexity of the lived reality of the comics world: how comics and graphic novels matter to different people at different times, within a social space shared with others. Contributions by Bart Beaty, T. Keith Edmunds, Eike Exner, Christopher J. Galdieri, Ivan Lima Gomes, Charles Hatfield, Franny Howes, John A. Lent, Amy Louise Maynard, Shari Sabeti, Rob Salkowitz, Kalervo A. Sinervo, Jeremy Stoll, Valerie Wieskamp, Adriana Estrada Wilson, and Benjamin Woo. 250pgs B&W hardcover / paperback.
The Fly
by Lewis Trondheim
Papercutz
$14.99
The publisher says:
One of the world’s greatest cartoonists, Lewis Trondheim, tells the exciting life story of a common house-fly. From the fly’s birth to his inevitable end, we see everything this creature goes through simply to survive… from the fly’s perspective. We guarantee you’ve never looked at your kitchen the way the fly does. While there’s plenty of humour, there’s thrills and chills as well, especially when the fly meets a spider. You may never have liked flies before, but once you meet this little guy, you may be surprised how much you can like a fly. 112pgs B&W paperback.
The Hand of Black and Other Stories
by Martin Cendreda
Fantagraphics
$24.99
The publisher says:
Martin Cendreda is a gifted comics storyteller who spends most of his days working as an animator (Bojack Horseman, South Park) and therefore hasn’t had a collection of his work… until now! Printed in red, white and black, The Hand of Black and Other Stories collects seven mostly-silent, short stories (most of which have never been published) that are each a chiseled, mini-masterpiece of dark humour and horror, and will resonate with fans of the Twilight Zone or the works of Daniel Clowes. 134pgs black, white & red hardcover,
The Men Who Created Gundam
by Hideki Owada
Denpa Books
$24.99
The publisher says:
In 1978 animation director Yoshiyuki Tomino set forth to change the Japanese animation industry. For decades prior, Japanese science fiction had churned out numerous tales of semi-autonomous robots that would often come to the aide of humanity, but as someone who worked on a number of those works, Tomino came to the realisation that he wanted to see a more realistic robot narrative. His vision was one where the robot, while just slightly more human in appearance, was utilised more as a tool manipulated by man. With renowned artist Yoshikazu Yasuhiko by his side, and occasionally as his artistic rival, Tomino would change the way the whole world came to see Japanese animation and the broader toy and comics industries built around it. This evolution would be a war in its own right! Battles were fought in the offices of the animation studio! Conflicts were equally as heated in the recording booth! 564pgs B&W paperback.
The Roles We Play
by Sabba Khan
Myriad Editions
£18.99
The publisher says:
‘Where is home, Mum?’ From the foothills of the Himalayas in the Kashmiri valleys to bustling Green Street in East London, Sabba Khan researches her identity from the global to the local, covering partition, displacement, and assimilation with humour and courage. Two-thirds of today’s British Pakistani diaspora trace their origins back to Mirpur in Azad Kashmir, a district that saw mass displacement and migration when it was submerged by the waters of a dam built after Partition. Sabba Khan’s debut graphic memoir explores what identity, belonging and memory mean for her and her family against the backdrop of this history. As a second generation Azad Kashmiri migrant in East London, Khan paints a vivid snapshot of contemporary British Asian life and investigates the complex shifts experienced by different generations within migrant communities, creating an uplifting and universal story that crosses borders and decades. Race, gender and class are brought to the forefront in a simple and personal narrative, illuminated by an eloquent minimal style and architectural page design. Khan asks how religion and secularism, tradition and trend, heritage and progression can move toward a common space of love and understanding? Sabba Khan is an architectural designer, artist and maker. She is an advocate of increasing working class Black and Brown representation in the arts and publishing, as well as in architecture and construction. She is one half of architectural practice Khan Bonshek. Sabba was shortlisted for the Myriad First Graphic Novel Competition 2018 with an extract from her work-in-progress, The Roles We Play, which explores what it means to be a second generation Pakistani immigrant living in Britain. The Jerwood New Work Fund is supporting protected time for Sabba to work on The Roles We Play in the lead up to its publication. 208pgs colour paperback.
The Strange Death of Alex Raymond
by Dave Sim & Carson Grubaugh, foreword by Eddie Campbell
Living the Line
$39.99
The publisher says:
Legendary creator Dave Sim is renowned world-wide for his groundbreaking Cerebus the Aardvark. Now, in The Strange Death of Alex Raymond, Sim brings to life the history of comics’ greatest creators, using their own techniques. Equal parts Understanding Comics and From Hell, Strange Death is a head-on collision of ink drawing and spiritual intrigue, pulp comics and movies, history and fiction. The story traces the lives and techniques of Alex Raymond (Flash Gordon, Rip Kirby), Stan Drake (Juliet Jones), Hal Foster (Prince Valiant) and more, dissecting their techniques through recreations of their artwork, and highlighting the metatextual resonances that bind them together. David Victor Sim is the author, cartoonist and publisher of Cerebus the Aardvark, a groundbreaking independent comic which ran from December 1977 to March 2004. In 2018 he was entered into The Guinness Book of World Records for “most consecutive issues of a comic book written and drawn”. The series, which largely followed the life of the titular character, was noted for its exquisitely-rendered art and stylistic flexibility, its novelistic character development and story arcs and bold violations of audience expectations. Throughout his career Sim has advocated for self-publishing as a means of securing both creative and financial freedom for comic creators. His influence, mentoring and advocacy led to a wave of self-publishing throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, prompting such notable (and distinct) self-published works as From Hell (Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell), A Distant Soil (Colleen Doran) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird). Carson Grubaugh earned an MFA in Painting from the Cranbrook Academy of Art as well as BFAs in Fine Art and Philosophy from the University of California at Berkeley. He has shown in the US, Germany, England at venues such as The Cranbrook Museum of Art, Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, ABTART, Virginia Beach Museum of Contemporary Art, The Chrysler Museum, Museum of New Art, Sotheby’s NY and the European Museum of Modern Art among many others. Carson is currently a Full-Time Instructor of Art at Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 320pgs B&W hardcover.
Tokyo: Art and Photography
co-edited by Lena Fritsch & Clare Pollard
Ashmolean Museum
£25.00
The publisher says:
This beautifully designed book is a celebration of one of the world’s most creative, dynamic and fascinating cities: Tokyo. It accompanies a major exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum Oxford with the same title, running from July 29th 2021 to January 3rd 2022. This beautifully designed book is a celebration of one of the world’s most creative, dynamic and fascinating cities: Tokyo. It spans 400 years, with highlights including Kano school paintings; the iconic woodblock prints of Hiroshige; Tokyo Pop Art posters; the photography of Moriyama Daido and Ninagawa Mika; manga; film; and contemporary art by Murakami Takashi and Aida Makoto. Visually bold and richly detailed, this publication looks at a city which has undergone constant destruction and renewal and it tells the stories of the people who have made Tokyo so famous with their insatiable appetite for the new and innovative - from the samurai to avantgarde artists today. Co-edited by Japanese art specialists and curators Lena Fritsch and Clare Pollard from Oxford University, this accessible volume features 28 texts by international experts of Japanese culture, as well as original statements by influential artists. 288pgs colour paperback.
Visual Crime
by Jerry Moriarty
Fantagraphics
$24.99
The publisher says:
This graphic novel is Jerry Moriarty’s tribute to fine artists who make their living in commercial art. Rotart Sulli is a painter who illustrates crime fiction. In the first of two stories that comprise Visual Crime, Sulli gets a call from the publisher who gives him an assignment for Visual Crime Magazine, which comes with a peculiar requirement: Sulli is to stay at Hotel Ace in room 611 until his assignment is finished. He completes the assignment in the basement of the hotel but not without coming to blows with a janitor with a penchant for chucking toys into the furnace. In the book’s second story, Sulli is once again hired to illustrate a crime story; and once again, it comes with a peculiar demand: he’s told to place the finished work “in your back window ― it will be seen.” In between these two stories are a dozen short stories occupying a single page, all illustrated by paintings by Sulli. Painted panel sequences alternate with Moriarty’s rough-hewn, proletarian pen-and-ink panels amidst the luminous, Hopper-esque paintings by Rotart Sulli, creating a portrait of the artist working alone in a mysterious and uncertain world, creating stunning images that transcend the melodramatic stories they illustrate. Jerry Moriarty is a painter and cartoonist (self-described as a “paintoonist”) from New York. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Pratt institute, and his best known work in cartooning is the comic Jack Survives. He taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York City for 50 years. 108pgs colour hardcover.
Zenith
by María Medem
Centrala
$33 / £23
Under an ever-present orange sun illuminating a desert landscape, two artisans, one in glass, the other in clay, meet every day for lunch and chat. Both are sleepwalkers, but experience this phenomenon in drastically different ways. The potter hates his somnambulism, considers it an uncomfortable part of his being as if he shared a body with a stranger. The glassblower, however, is not nearly as bothered by being a sleepwalker. One night, he wakes up startled. Taken over by insomnia, he goes to his workshop and there he will make a horrifying discovery that will trigger the conclusion of this story. With an evocative colour palette ranging from deep blue to bright orange that will certainly remind one of George O’Keeffe’s paintings of the desert, and enigmatic landscapes and atmospheres reminiscent of Giorgio De Chirico’s metaphysical paintings, Zenith is a book that gets under one’s skin and gets to the reader on a deeper, beyond-rational level. Alvaro Pons, comics critic, comments: ‘A conversation between two men about their dreams. A reality that liquifies to become inseparable from the oneiric, like two sides of a coin with which María Medem plays to create a unique narrative. A thriller. Maybe only a dream. Spectacular.’ María Medem (Seville, 1994) began to self-publish her comics after completing her degree in Fine Arts. She published her first long comic with Terry Bleu, a small Dutch publisher. She has participated in anthologies such as NOW (Fantagraphics Books) and Cold Cube 004 (Cold Cube Press) and even created album artwork for Bombay Bicycle Club’s Eat, Sleep, Wake record. She regularly collaborates with various publications such as Medium, The New York Times, Wired and Anxy magazine. She participated in the event The City in Comics in Madrid with a large-format mural comic. 120pgs colour hardcover.
Posted: May 18, 2021
