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Top 26 Graphic Novels, Comics & Manga:
March 2023
A New Year begins and beckons. What new comics-reading experiences will you encounter and enjoy? For starters, here are a few to intrigue and maybe seduce you — from Korean American Deb JJ Lee’s account of her search for a sense of belonging…
... to Yoshiharu Tsuge’s seminal, deeply symbolic short story, a breakthrough which changed his life, his manga and global comics history…
... to Reinhard Kleist’s inquiry documenting David Bowie’s provocative, formative persona. These and more await your curiosity as we head into 2023 together. I hope you’ll join me month-by-month for more PG Tips.
All Talk
by Bartosz Sztybor & Akeussel
Black Panel Press
$29.99
The publisher says:
Rahim is a suburban kid like any other, a “good kid.” Chilling with his boys, hearing the legends of “Immortal Al,” the greatest gangster who ever lived, it’s hard not to get starry eyed and soon, Rahim starts dreaming of becoming a kingpin, idolising his local gangsters in the hopes of climbing their ranks. But his friends joke that he’s all talk and no action. Until one day, when he sees an opportunity to prove himself… but how far will he take it before there’s no turning back? All Talk is a modern, urban graphic novel exploring the toxic nature of “street cred” and the role it plays in the lives of vulnerable young men. Originally published in French in 2020 by Editions Sarbacane. Bartosz Sztybor was born in the summer of 1984 in Warsaw, Poland. He is a writer of both comic books and movie scripts, a scriptwriter of TV shows and documentaries, and an author of children’s books. He has written dozens of comic books and graphic novels in Poland, including the series for teens Niezła draka, Drapak! with art by Tomasz Kaczkowski; the award-winning autobiographical graphic novel Come Back to Me Again, with art by Wojciech Stefaniec, and a few works without words illustrated by Piotr Nowacki (Tainted, It’s Not About That and Options). Akeussel is a comic book artist and illustrator, originally from Nantes. After studying plastic arts, he participated in self-publishing projects (Skull by Joslin, Monster Maloke by Tarmasz, Turbo Time Travel), turbo media (Atelier Capsule with Félix Elvis) and even a little animation ( animation and video games being two major influences in his work). 128pgs colour hardcover.
Artful Breakdowns: The Comics of Art Spiegelman
Edited by Georgiana Banita & Lee Konstantinou
University Press of Mississippi
$99.00 / $30.00
The publisher says:
A carefully curated, wide-ranging edited volume tracing Art Spiegelman’s exceptional trajectory from underground rebellion to mainstream success, Artful Breakdowns: The Comics of Art Spiegelman reveals his key role in the rise of comics as an art form and of the cartoonist as artist. The collection grapples with Spiegelman’s astonishing versatility, from his [and Françoise Mouly’s] irreverent underground strips, influential avant-garde magazine RAW, the expressionist style of the comics classic Maus, the illustrations to the Jazz Age poem The Wild Party and his response to the September 11 terrorist attacks to his iconic cover art for the New Yorker, his children’s books and various cross-media collaborations. The twelve chapters cut across Spiegelman’s career to document continuities and ruptures that the intense focus on Maus has obscured, yielding an array of original readings. Spiegelman’s predilection for collage, improvisation and the potent protest of silence shows his allegiance to modernist art. His cultural critique and anticapitalist, antimilitary positions shed light on his vocal public persona, while his deft intertextual strategies of mixing media archives, from comics to photography and film, amplify the poignance of his works. Developing new approaches to Spiegelman’s comics―such as the publication history of Maus, the history of immigration and xenophobia and the cartoonist’s elevation of children’s comics―the collection leaves no doubt that despite the accolades his accessible comics have garnered, we have yet to grasp the full range of Spiegelman’s achievements in the realm of comics and beyond. Featuring contributions by Georgiana Banita, Colin Beineke, Harriet Earle, Ariela Freedman, Liza Futerman, Shawn Gilmore, Sarah Hamblin, Cara Koehler, Lee Konstantinou, Patrick Lawrence, Philip Smith and Kent Worcester. 304pgs B&W hardcover / paperback.
By Water: The Felix Manz Story (Heroes of the Radical Reformation, Book 1)
by Richard Mommsen, Jason Landsel & Sankha Banerjee
Plough Publishing House
$19.95
The publisher says:
In a time of social upheaval, in a city astir with dangerous new ideas, the son of a Catholic priest becomes a leader of a nonviolent revolution. Five hundred years ago, in an age marked by war, plague, inequality and religious coercion, there were people across Europe who dared to imagine a society of sharing, peace and freedom of conscience. These radicals were ready to die for their vision. They were executed by the thousands—by water, by fire and by sword—in both Catholic and Protestant states. Their stories come to life in this graphic novel series that dramatically recreates a little-known chapter in the history of the Reformation. By Water is a true story of friendship and betrayal set in the Swiss city of Zurich. It chronicles the conflict between establishment reformer Ulrich Zwingli (1484–1531) and his student Felix Manz (1498–1527), who at first reveres Zwingli as a father figure but ends up drowned on Zwingli’s orders for insisting that only adult believers should be baptised. In this dramatic visualisation of the birth of the Radical Reformation, water is both wonder and weapon, a symbol of new life and a death sentence. This action-packed, historically accurate account of young people standing up for their convictions against the corrupt political and religious leaders of their day will awaken courage and commitment in young readers today.
Richard Mommsen is a scriptwriter, videographer, podcast producer, and director of the Bruderhof’s historical archives. Jason Landsel is a New York-based writer and illustrator with a lifelong fascination with the history of social and religious radicalism. He is a regular contributor to Plough Quarterly and a member of the Bruderhof, an Anabaptist community movement that traces its roots to the Radical Reformation. Sankha Banerjee has illustrated graphic novel adaptations of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Wind in the Willows as well as graphic historical biographies of Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Wright Brothers. His works have been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lyon, France and the India International Centre in Delhi. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Multimedia and Animation, St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, India. 144pgs colour paperback.
Ephemera
by Briana Loewinsohn
Fantagraphics
$24.99
The publisher says:
A debut graphic novel that poignantly blends memoir, magic realism and graphic medicine. Ephemera is a poetic and dreamlike take on a graphic memoir set in a garden, a forest, and a greenhouse. The story drifts among a grown woman, her early memories as a child and the gossamer existence of her mother. A lyrical entry in the field of graphic medicine, Ephemera is a story about a daughter trying to relate to a parent who struggles with mental illness. Gorgeously illustrated in a painted palette of warm, earthy tones, it is a quiet book of isolation, plants, confusion, acceptance and the fog of childhood. Loewinsohn’s debut book is an aching, meditative twist on autobiography, infusing the genre with an ethereal fusion of memory and imagination. Briana Loewinsohn is an American cartoonist. These days she teaches high school art and draws comic books. She lives in Oakland, CA with her husband, daughter, and son. If she doesn’t text you back, she is probably gardening. 200pgs colour hardcover.
Frida Kahlo: Her Life, Her Art, Her Home
by Francisco De La Mora
SelfMadeHero
$18.99
The publisher says:
Endorsed by the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City, this graphic novel explores the public and private faces of iconic artist Frida Kahlo. Remembered as one of the most inspiring personalities of the 20th century, Frida Kahlo was a woman of two intertwined parts: she was both a charismatic and empowered artist exploring themes of resistance, authenticity, cruelty and suffering, and a more private person whose wounded body caused her a lifetime of pain that underpinned the many successes and disappointments that marked her time in the world. Revealing and exploring these two Fridas, Francisco de la Mora’s graphic biography—completed with the endorsement and support of the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City—allows the reader to see just how far ahead of her time this complex artist was in her understanding of gender inequality and the culture of machismo, topics that remain relevant to this day and continue to lend resonance to Kahlo’s painting. Diego Rivera, Kahlo’s husband and fellow artist, described her work as “Acid and tender, hard as steel but delicate and fine as a butterfly’s wing.” His words might apply equally to Frida herself. Francisco de la Mora’s experience as a comics creator, whether as sole author or in collaboration with illustrators from around the world, extends from single-sheet forms to full graphic novels, and from his eight-volume Brief History of Mexico to the monthly piece he has drawn for the Hackney Citizen since January 2018. His most recent graphic novel with long-term collaborator José Luis Pescador is a biography of Diego Rivera, published by SelfMadeHero. 72pgs colour hardcover.
Gull Yettin
by Joe Kessler
New York Review Comics
$19.95
The publisher says:
The life of an orphaned boy is shaped by the devotion of a fantastical Gull in this lovingly rendered, entirely wordless graphic novel by a contemporary comics innovator. Joe Kessler is at the forefront of European comics. Co-founder and art director of UK’s Breakdown Press and winner of the 2020 Angoulême International Comics Festival’s Fauve Révélation for his breakthrough comic book Windowpane, Kessler rejuvenates the form once again with his vivid and moving The Gull Yettin. Told in striking colours and loose but confident lines, The Gull Yettin’s story begins when a young boy awakens late one night to find his home on fire. The boy is saved by a lanky, shapeshifting Gull (who may or may not be real). Orphaned by the fire and now adrift in a boat piloted by the Gull, the boy faces an uncertain future, one that will be both helped and hindered by his new attendant. Without a word, Kessler builds a strange but recognisable world, using it to explore all the forms that grief, jealousy, longing and love can take in our lives, and the compassion and cruelty that can dwell in a single heart. Filled with all the warmth and poignancy of a great folktale, The Gull Yettin proves that Kessler is pushing comics to new heights. Joe Kessler is a cartoonist and co-founder and art director at Breakdown Press, a London-based comics publisher. 216pgs colour paperback.
Hidden Systems: Water, Electricity, the Internet and the Secrets Behind the Systems We Use Every Day
by Dan Nott
Random House Graphic
$23.99 / $17.99
The publisher says:
We use water, electricity and the internet every day—but how do they actually work? And what’s the plan to keep them running for years to come? This nonfiction science graphic novel takes readers on a journey from how the most essential systems were developed to how they are implemented in our world today and how they will be used in the future. What was the first message sent over the internet? How much water does a single person use every day? How was the electric light invented? For every utility we use each day, there’s a hidden history—a story of intrigue, drama, humour and inequity. This graphic novel provides a guided tour through the science of the past and reveals how the decisions people made while inventing and constructing early technology still affect the way people use it today. Full of art, maps and diagrams, Hidden Systems is a thoughtful, humorous exploration of the history of science and what needs to be done now to change the future. Dan Nott is a cartoonist, illustrator and educator living in Vermont. Dan’s short comics and illustrations for investigative journalism have appeared in Spotlight PA, The Nib, Resist! and Seven Days, and in publications for NJ Advance Media and WBUR, among others. Dan graduated with an MFA from the Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) and was the lead writer and cartoonist for its free nationally distributed comic on US government called This Is What Democracy Looks Like. Dan teaches classes about making comics and comics history at CCS. 272pgs dark- & light-blue hardcover / paperback
Homunculus: Omnibus Vol. 1 (Vol. 1-2)
by Hideo Yamamoto
Seven Seas Entertainment
$27.99
The publisher says:
From the creator of Ichi the Killer and Voyeur, this hit supernatural horror tale inspired the live-action film on Netflix and will be available in English for the first time in oversized omnibus editions. Nakoshi Susumu, age 34, is living out of his car. Between spending his days with the homeless and his nights in his vehicle, he has little to his name—but not so little that he’ll agree to be the subject of a scientific experiment. An unnerving medical student is stalking him and offering to pay Nakoshi a significant sum to test trepanation: the ability to draw out a sixth sense by drilling into the skull. Nakoshi refuses. When Nakoshi’s beloved car is towed, though, he finally agrees to cash and the operating table. At first, the experiment seems to bear no fruit, and Nakoshi’s life is unchanged. That is, until Nakoshi realises his vision has warped in his left eye…showing him the twisted homunculus inside every human. Hideo Yamamoto is a prolific manga creator in Japan best known for Ichi the Killer, Voyeur/Voyeurs, Inc. and Homunculus. 672pgs B&W paperback.
House on Fire
by Matt Battaglia
Living the Line
$16.00
The publisher says:
Is she sick, or is it the world itself? House on Fire, the debut graphic novel by writer/artist Matt Battaglia, teases out the difference in a personal-political cruise through a fallen world, where fear is rational and obedience your only refuge. Battaglia depicts the near-future landscape of House on Fire with wild two-colour brushwork reminiscent of the great Paul Pope, and a minimalist writing style that evokes and questions rather than lectures. Matt Battaglia is a video producer and cartoonist. His work in comics began with colouring books at BOOM! Studios and Roche Limit at Image Comics. He collaborated with author Michael Moreci for their book Indoctrination at Z2 Comics. After a multi-year hiatus from publishing comics, he returned with his solo graphic novella Ghosts of the Carousel which was published by Dauntless Stories. 100pgs black-and-orange paperback.
I Escaped a Chinese Internment Camp
by Fahmida Azim, Anthony Del Col & Josh Adams
Lev Gleason / New Friday
$19.99
The publisher says:
This graphic novella recounts the true story of Zumrat Dawut, as originally published in the independent online news organisation, Insider, through interviews conducted by Anthony Del Col and testimony given to the United Nations Human Rights Council. Zumrat Dawut is a mother of three in the Xinjiang autonomous region in China, who was arrested and sent to a detention facility for simply being a Muslim. There she endured brutal living conditions, torture, interrogations, anti-Muslim propaganda and sterilisation. But that was just the beginning of Zumrat’s troubles, who with her husband would soon hatch a plan to escape to America. This story, featuring art by Golden Kit Award-Winner Fahmida Azim (Samira Surfs), and adapted by best-selling writer Anthony Del Col (Kill Shakespeare), was originally published online by Insider. I Escaped a Chinese Internment Camp is a harrowing, evocative and important story that will enthral and enlighten readers worldwide. 88pgs colour paperback.
In Limbo
by Deb JJ Lee
First Second Books
$24.99 / $17.99
The publisher says:
A debut YA graphic memoir about a Korean-American girl’s coming-of-age story―and a coming home story―set between a New Jersey suburb and Seoul, South Korea. Ever since Deborah (Jung-Jin) Lee emigrated from South Kora to the United States, she’s felt her otherness. For a while, her English wasn’t perfect. Her teachers can’t pronounce her Korean name. Her face and her eyes―especially her eyes―feel wrong. In high school, everything gets harder. Friendships change and end, she falls behind in classes and fights with her mom escalate. Caught in limbo, with nowhere safe to go, Deb finds her mental health plummeting, resulting in a suicide attempt. But Deb is resilient and slowly heals with the help of art and self-care, guiding her to a deeper understanding of her heritage and herself. This stunning debut graphic memoir features page after page of gorgeous, evocative art, perfect for Tillie Walden fans. It’s a cross section of the Korean-American diaspora and mental health, a moving and powerful read in the vein of Hey, Kiddo and The Best We Could Do. Deb JJ Lee is a Korean American artist currently living in Brooklyn, NY. They have appeared in the New Yorker, Washington Post, NPR, Google, Radiolab, PBS and more. Books they have illustrated include The Invisible Boy by Alyssa Hollingsworth (Roaring Brook Press, 2020) and The Other Side of Tomorrow by Tina Cho (HarperCollins, 2024). They enjoy reality tv, sparkling water, and pretending to be an extrovert. 352pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
Isabella & Blodwen
by Rachael Smith
Cast Iron Books
£16.99
The publisher says:
A story that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt alone and that the world is against them. Sixteen year-old Isabella has been granted early admission to the prestigious University of Oxford. Academically gifted, but severely lacking in social skills, she finds navigating the hallowed halls a trial she can’t study her way out of. Mixing with older students, and struggling to find her place, she sets her heart on the coveted summer internship with her hero, Professor MacLeod. While wondering how to get the letter of recommendation she needs to be considered, she accidentally drops an exhibit from a museum she’s visiting in her bag and Blodwen, the Witch from the Bottle enters her life! Aimed at a young adult audience, and exploring themes of friendship, growing up and finding your place in the world, Isabella & Blodwen is a story that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt alone and that the world is against them. Rachael Smith is a comic artist and writer based in the UK. She has created numerous critically acclaimed comic books including Wired Up Wrong, Stand in Your Power and Quarantine Comix. Rachael has also worked on Titan Comics’ Doctor Who series, and is a regular contributor to Empathize This, a website which gives a platform to marginalised voices through the medium of comics. She has recently contributed her first comic strip to The New Yorker. 196pgs colour hardcover.
Mimosa
by Archie Bongiovanni
Abrams ComicArts / Surely
$24.99
The publisher says:
Archie Bongiovanni, the comics artist behind the hit A Quick and Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns, explores queerness in this shockingly frank and funny graphic novel. Best friends and chosen family Chris, Elise, Jo and Alex work hard to keep themselves afloat. Their regular brunches hold them together even as the rest of their lives threaten to fall apart. In an effort to avoid being the oldest gays at the party, the crew decides to put on a new queer event called Grind—specifically for homos in their dirty thirties. Grind is a welcome distraction from their real problems: after a messy divorce, Chris adjusts to being a single parent while struggling to reconnect to their queer community. Elise is caught between feelings for her boss and the career of her dreams. Jo tries to navigate the murky boundaries of being a supportive friend and taking care of her own needs. And Alex is guarding a secret that might change his friendships forever. While navigating exes at work, physical and mental exhaustion and drinking way, way too much on weekdays, this chosen family proves that being messy doesn’t always go away with age. Archie Bongiovanni is a comics artist and illustrator who focuses on making work that’s gay and good. They’re the co-creator of the award-winning A Quick and Easy Guide To They/Them Pronouns and the creator of Grease Bats, a serialised comic about two queer BFFs navigating dating and late-stage capitalism. Bongiovanni’s the author of History Comics: Stonewall and their work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Nib, Vice and Autostraddle. They lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota 272pgs black-and-blue hardcover.
Mother Nature
by Jamie Lee Curtis, Russell Goodman & Karl Stevens
Titan Comics
$24.99
The publisher says:
Discover the incredible debut graphic novel from Hollywood horror legend Jamie Lee Curtis, adapted from her script for the Comet Pictures/Blumhouse film. After witnessing her engineer father die in mysterious circumstances on one of the Cobalt Corporation’s experimental oil extraction projects, Nova Terrell has grown up to hate the seemingly benevolent company that the town of Catch Creek, New Mexico, relies on for its livelihood and, thanks to the “Mother Nature” project, its clean water. Haunted by her father’s death, the rebellious Nova wages a campaign of sabotage and vandalism on the oil giant’s facilities and equipment, until one night she accidentally makes a terrifying discovery about the true nature of the “Mother Nature” project and the malevolent, long-dormant horror it has awakened, and that threatens to destroy them all. Jamie Lee Curtis is an American big screen and television actress and writer. Her debut film Halloween where she played the role of Laurie Strode was a hit and established her as a notable actress in the horror genre. Eventually, her remarkable performance in the film landed her other films in the genre including Terror Train, The Fog, Roadgames and Halloween II. She earned the title of ‘scream queen’ for her characterisations in horror films. Later she excelled in the comedy genre with equal success and received favourable reviews which established her as a versatile actress. Some of her finest comedy films are Trading Places, A Fish Called Wanda and True Lies. Her noted work on television includes series such as Operation Petticoat, Anything But Love, NCIS and New Girl. Recently, she played Dean Cathy Munsch, the lead role in the series Scream Queens aired on FOX. She has authored many children’s books including When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old’s Memoir of Her Youth and Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day that received critical acclaim. Jamie Lee Curtis has bagged several awards including the BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, Saturn Award and American Comedy Award. Karl Stevens is a graphic novelist and painter. His first book, Guilty, was published in 2004 with a grant from the Xeric Foundation. He is also the author of Whatever (2008), The Lodger (A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, 2010) and Failure (2013). His comic strips appeared in The Boston Phoenix between 2005 and 2012 until an incident with an advertiser resulted in the strip’s cancellation. The realist comic artist has also co-produced the Phoenix comic Succe$$ with Gustavo Turner. Stevens’s work appears in select art galleries. He is also the Xeric Award Winner, 2004 and received the AAN Best Cartoon Award, 2010. 156pgs colour hardcover.
Mr. Block: The Subversive Comics and Writings of Ernest Riebe
by Ernest Riebe, edited by Paul Buhle & Iain McIntyre
Between the Lines
$23.95
The publisher says:
Before the Golden Age of comic books, there was Mr. Block: a bumbling, boss-loving, anti-union blockhead, brought to life over a hundred years ago by subversive cartoonist Ernest Riebe. A dedicated labour activist and member of the Industrial Workers of the World, Riebe dreamed up his iconic, union-hating anti-hero to satirise conservative workers’ faith in the capitalist system that exploits them. This wickedly funny anthology of Riebe’s writings and comics is a treasure trove of radical 20th-century art and an essential addition to the bookshelves of comics lovers, historians, and labour activists alike. As income inequality skyrockets and the collective power of the working class is undermined, the lessons from Mr. Block’s misadventures and misbeliefs are as relevant today as ever. Building the new world from the ashes of the old demands many tools—and laughter will always be one of them. The Graphic History Collective is a group of activists, artists, writers and researchers interested in comics, history and social change. They produce history projects in accessible formats to help people understand the roots of contemporary social issues. Their projects show that you don’t need a cape and a pair of tights to change the world. Paul Buhle, a labour historian of 1960s vintage, published Radical America Komics in 1969. After an explicable lapse of 35 years, he has produced, since 2005, a number of non-fiction comics, including Wobblies! A Graphic History. He lives in Rhode Island. Iain McIntyre is a Melbourne-based historian, musician and community radio broadcaster who has written a variety of books about activism, culture and music. Recent publications include Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1986; Environmental Blockades: Obstructive Direct Action and the History of the Environmental Movement; and On The Fly!: Hobo Literature and Songs, 1879-1941. 128pgs B&W paperback.
Peter Kuper, founding editor of World War 3 Illustrated and author of Ruins, says:
“Ernest Riebe’s Mr. Block stands alone in cartoon history. He’s a character who votes against his own self-interest and adamantly believes he’s an apprentice to millionaires. If he just does as he’s told by the man on top, he can storm the Capitol and grab those Benjamins. Old Mr. Block remains a hilariously modern knucklehead who reminds us why we need solidarity against oppressive hucksters and to not forget the power of a good laugh along the way.”
Ms Davis: A Graphic Biography
by Sybille Titeux de la Croix & Amazing Améziane, translated by Jenna Allen
Fantagraphics
$24.99
The publisher says:
In this follow-up to their New York Times bestselling graphic biography of Muhammad Ali, the acclaimed French writer and artist duo tell the story of Black activist, professor and prison abolitionist Angela Davis. In Ms Davis, the acclaimed French cartooning duo tell a story of this seminal, revolutionary 1970s icon through an accessible graphic novel narrative. Born in 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama, Angela Davis’ family fought in the civil rights movement against racial segregation enforced by the Ku Klux Klan. In 1968, she joined the Black Communist Party and traveled to Cuba, a journey which left its mark on her forever. In 1971, the FBI put Davis on their 10 Most Wanted List. They accused her of orchestrating a politically motivated Marin County courtroom gunfight because she owned the guns. She went to prison despite her protestations of innocence. The Black People in Defense of Angela Davis formed, and soon the entire world would know her story and demand her freedom. In 1972, she was found not guilty by an all-white jury. Since then, she has dedicated her life to the fight for justice. The graphic biography also includes illustrated educational supplementary material that adds historical context about the various political organisations and programs referred to in the book, such as COINTELPRO, an illegal FBI program dedicated to destroying U.S. political groups it deemed “subversive.” Sybille Titeux de la Croix studied academic drawing, sculpture, photography, video-making and printmaking at the elite professional school ENsAD (École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs) in Paris. Her passion for literature led her to creative writing. Published in seven different languages, her graphic biography, Muhammad Ali, was on the New York Times Best-Seller list. French cartoonist Amazing Améziane worked as an art director, illustrator, and graphic designer before he launched his comics career as a scriptwriter in 2001. Along with Paco Ignacio Taibo II, he has worked on the comic adaptation of Cuatro Manos [Four Hands]. In 2017, he drew the graphic biography Muhammad Ali, written Sybille Titeux de la Croix, which was published internationally and landed on the New York Times Best-Seller list. Now Ameziane splits his time between his own Noir comics, his projects with Titeux de la Croix, his collaboration with Jared Reinmuth on Big Black: Stand at Attica!, and filmmaking.188pgs colour hardcover.
Nejishiki
by Yoshiharu Tsuge, translated by Ryan Holmberg
Drawn & Quarterly
$24.95
The publisher says:
The most critically acclaimed comic of the Japanese counterculture. Nejishiki unveils the most iconic scenes from Yoshiharu Tsuge’s highly respected body of work alongside his most beloved stories. A cornerstone of Japan’s legendary 1960s counterculture that galvanised avant-garde manga and comics criticism, the title story follows an injured young man as he wanders through a village of strangers in search of emotional and physical release. Other stories in this collection follow a series of weary travellers who while away sultry nights and face menacing doppelgängers. Even banal activities like afternoon strolls uncover unsavoury impulses. The emotionally and erotically charged imagery collected in this third volume remains as shocking and vivid today as it did upon its debut fifty years ago. Tsuge’s stories push boundaries, abruptly crossing the threshold of conventional storytelling. Unassuming protagonists venture further into eerie symbolism against a shadowy, perceptibly dreamlike landscape easily mistaken for the real world. The angst that pervades postwar Japanese society threatens to devour his characters and their pastoral sensibilities as each protagonist’s wanderlust turns surreal. Yoshiharu Tsuge was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1937. Influenced by the realistic and gritty manga of Yoshihiro Tatsumi, he began making his own comics and was briefly recruited to assist Shigeru Mizuki in the 1960s. In 1968, while working for Garo magazine, Tsuge published the groundbreaking story “Neji-shiki” (commonly called “Screw Style” by Western readers), which established him as an influential manga-ka and a cultural touchstone in the changing Japanese art world. He is considered the originator and greatest practitioner of the ‘I-novel’ method of comics-making. In 2005, Tsuge was nominated for the Best Album Award at Angoulême International and in 2017 won the Japan Cartoonists Association Grand Award for Yume to tabi no sekai. 284pga B&W hardcover.
Nudism Comes To Connecticut
by Susan Schade & Jon Buller
Fantagraphics
$25.00
The publisher says:
Nudism Comes To Connecticut is a fascinating graphic memoir of optimism, debt, nakedness and real estate scheming in the early 1930s. Frank Mallett, inspired by cooperative colonies he had visited in Europe, returned home envisioning utopian communities of bohemian emigrés and artistic intellectuals proliferating in sylvan harmony. With the crash of 1929 his already floundering enterprises seemed doomed - until he discovered a growing interest in healthy, wholesome nudism. Closely based on actual people and events, Nudism Comes to Connecticut exposes the conflict between the ecstasy of the “exquisite naked plunge” and voyeurism, competitiveness and greed by way of many period writings and letters. Although Frank’s love of nature never falters, he learns that there is more to nudism than meets the eye. Nudism is veteran children’s book authors Jon Buller and Susan Schade’s first published graphic novel, lovingly rendered in delicate, indeed, enticing, pen lines. Originally published in 2015 by Ayre Press. 168pgs two-colour hardcover.
Pandora Perfect
by Roger Langridge & Brett Parson
Rebellion / 2000 AD
$16.99
The publisher says:
Not your regular babysitter! Pandora Perfect, the hilarious criminal mastermind, crash-lands into her very own collection. Hold on to your pearls! For when criminal genius, sometimes babysitter and all round bad ‘un Pandora Perfect is broken out of prison by her faithful robot Gort, no one’s valuables are safe. Pandora and Gort set out on the heist of their lives, stealing fabulous jewels, pickpocketing guffwarblers and investigating the secrets of a moon made of sausage! The breakout star of 2000 AD’s acclaimed Regened specials, Pandora swindles, cheats and lies her way to infamy and riches in this hilarious collection by Roger Langridge (Bill and Ted are Doomed) and Brett Parson (Tank Girl). So, hide your heirlooms, lock up your loot and hold on tight! When Pandora and Gort are around, its sure to be Supercalifragilistic-Twisted-and-Explosive! Roger Langridge is a comic book writer and cartoonist probably best known for his work on Marvel’s Thor: The Mighty Avenger (with Chris Samnee); his web strip and self-published series Fred the Clown; Boom! Studios’ The Muppet Show Comic Book; Jim Henson’s Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow; and his Eisner-winning series, Snarked!, an original adventure inspired by the works of Lewis Carroll. He has also worked on Doctor Who, Popeye, Mandrake the Magician, John Carter of Mars and Rocky and Bullwinkle. Most recently, he has written a short run of Eric Powell’s The Goon and drawn Bill and Ted Are Doomed for Dark Horse. He continues to self-publish his own once-yearly comic book, Zoot!, and produce autobiographical strips for the web. Brett “BlitzCadet” Parson is a Massachusetts-based cartoonist. He is best known for his work on multiple Tank Girl titles with original writer and co-creator Alan Martin. He has also worked with DC/Vertigo, Boom!, 2000 AD, Albatross Funny Books, Warner Bros. Animation, Dream Works TV, Sony Music and more. When not drawing comics, Brett is hanging out with his family, eating pizza and working on their old house. 80pgs colour paperback.
Pixies of the Sixties: You Really Got me Now
by Gihef, Jul Maroh, Christian Lachenal, Giulio Macaione & Alberto Zanon
Humanoids
$22.99
The publisher says:
In the 1960s United Kingdom, as Swinging London is underway, the existence of fairies is exposed to the light of day. Is humanity ready? Contains a story from Jul Maroh, author of New York Times best selling book Blue Is The Warmest Color which was adapted into movie that won Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival, a Golden Globe for best foreign language film and a BAFTA for best non-English film. This volume contains two stories: Annan, the story of a young faerie who, drawn by the lights of Swinging London, leaves her forest to pursue her dreams of becoming a singer. She meets Stella, a human with whom she quickly falls in love. But her lover’s disappearance will make Anann realise that beneath the glitz and glamour of the city, rejection is only a tiny part of what awaits her…And Missing Persons of Imbolc: When she arrives in London to investigate a case of missing persons linked to a strange rite, Ailith gladly accepts help from her childhood friend, Eliott, a police officer who expresses clear anti-fairies opinions and blames them for all the major problems in London. When the investigation entrusted to Ailith leads her to the heart of the forest, she makes the most disturbing discovery, uncovering with it a deeply buried wound. Gihef, whose real name is Jean-François Baudot, was born in Belgium and grew up in France. Following his meeting with the cartoonist Eric Lenaerts, he moved toward a more realistic style of drawing. In 2001, he signed his first album, RIP Limited, with Nucléa. He then published comics at Vents d’Ouest and Dupuis. Gihef then turned to what really fascinates him: comic scenarios like OSS 117, L’Envers des Contes or Mister Hollywood. The origins of his universe is steeped with Nordic mythology which serves as the stage for his series, Sirens and Vikings. Jul Maroh is the author of the graphic novel Blue Is the Warmest Color, the New York Times bestseller that was made into an acclaimed and controversial film that won the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or in 2013. They are also author of the graphic novels Skandalon and Body Music. They live in Angoulême, France. 112pgs colour paperback.
Starman: David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust Years
by Reinhard Kleist
SelfMadeHero
$19.99
The publisher says:
The genesis and near-apocalypse of a rock ’n’ roll messiah. In 1972, the rock ’n’ roll messiah Ziggy Stardust was born. His provocative play on sexual identity and gender roles laid the foundation for David Bowie’s ascent to legendary status as one of the most successful pop musicians of all time. Reinhard Kleist weaves the gripping tale of this dazzling character’s genesis, tracing both Bowie’s hapless efforts on the London music scene before Ziggy’s conception and his struggles with his own creation at the height of his fame. As Bowie transforms himself, ever more dizzyingly, into a self-portrait of an egocentric rock star, his extravagant lifestyle threatens to bring the real world collapsing around his ears. This publication has not been prepared, approved, authorised or licensed by the David Bowie estate or any related entity. Reinhard Kleist, born in 1970 in Hürth, Cologne, has worked and lived as an illustrator and comic book artist in Berlin since 1996. He made his international breakthrough in 2006 with the biographical comic book Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness, which was awarded the renowned Max and Moritz Prize and nominated for both the Eisner and Harvey Awards. With The Boxer in 2013, Kleist became the first cartoonist to receive the German Youth Literature Prize. In 2017, Kleist once again tackled one of music’s great storytellers in Nick Cave: Mercy on Me, which was simultaneously released in many languages. In 2018, Kleist was honoured for his work with the Max and Moritz Prize for Best German Language Comic Book Artist. In 2021, Kleist tackled another extraordinary boxing champion, Emile Griffith, in the comic book Knock Out! 176pgs colour paperback.
The Abolition of Work
by Bob Black & Bruno Borges
Floating World Comics
$15.00
The publisher says:
“No one should ever work. Work is the cause of much of the misery of the world.” The Abolition of Work, a well-know essay written by the anarchist Bob Black in 1985, appears now in a comics edition by Bruno Borges. His expressive cartoons reinforce the strength and pertinence of this groundbreaking text. Originally published in Portugal by Turbina and in Spain by Pepitas de calabaza. Bob Black (Detroit, 1951) is an American writer, very popular in English-speaking libertarian circles. His biography is little known and quite controversial and his work has barely been published in Spanish, among other reasons because it is almost impossible to translate. He is the author of writings such as “Thesis on Groucho-Marxism” or “Anarchism and other obstacles to anarchy.” Bruno Borges (1976) is a painter, illustrator and comic book author who works and lives in Porto, Portugal. He is the author of the comics The Abolition of Work, based on the original text by Bob Black, and Diários do Corona, a personal reflection on paranoia in times of pandemic. In addition, he has participated in several editorial projects in different countries (Chili com Carne, Stripburger, Novo Doba, kuš !, Komikaze and Silent Army, among others). 80pgs B&W paperback.
The Agency
by Katie Skelly
Fantagraphics
$24.99
The publisher says:
Each of the sex-positive short stories in this comics collection stars an agent who will go far-out (real far-out, like outer space) to accomplish her mission. Skelly’s psychedelic sex romp originally appeared on the web (2014–2107) and was collected in a limited paperback edition ― this is a newly expanded hardcover version, featuring an all-new story. In The Agency, Skelly’s agents gather intelligence, meticulously documenting a universe of sass photography, fascist surgery, horny skeletons, yonic portals, thrill-seeking vegetation and multitudinous wry glances and stammered phrases! Each story in The Agency is executed in a different style/colour palette, which taken together create a visually stunning collection greater than the sum of its parts. A must-have for fans who have discovered Skelly’s work more recently, through the hits Maids (2020) and My Pretty Vampire (2018). Katie Skelly is a Los Angeles-based cartoonist whose comics include Nurse Nurse (SparkplugBooks, 2012), Operation Margarine (AdHouse Books, 2014), My Pretty Vampire (Fantagraphics,2017), and Maids (Fantagraphics, 2020). She has written and lectured about comics for outlets such as The Comics Journal, Fantagraphics Books, Japan Society, The Center for Cartoon Studies, Fordham University and The New School. She also co-hosts the podcast Thick Lines with fellow cartoonist Sally Madden. Skelly holds a B.A. in Art History from Syracuse University, and was awarded the Emerging Artist Prize at Cartoon Crossroads Columbus in 2015. 96pgs colour hardcover
The Children of Bathala: A Mythology Class Reunion
by Arnold Arre
Tuttle Publishing
$16.99
The publisher says:
From the author of The Mythology Class comes the long-anticipated sequel. It’s been two decades since the former classmates first met, and the ensuing years have brought their share of changes. Kubin’s strength is weakening with each passing day; Lane’s telepathy is gone; Rey and Misha are nowhere to be found; and the bonds that once held them together are slowly crumbling under their misfortune. Thrown into the mix is Nicole and Kubin’s daughter, Marilag, who has grown distant from her. To add to the problems, doubts about Enkanta’s true purpose are mounting. Nicole, once the heart of the group, now senses a dark spell settling over them, her young daughter included. What the former classmates don’t realise is that a new band of visitors is about to arrive from a magical realm. Will these visitors provide a portal to an enchanting new world or usher in a new age of evil? And will the classmates still be up to the challenge? Arnold Arre won the inaugural graphic novel Philippine National Book Award in 2000 for The Mythology Class. He is the author and illustrator of many other popular works, including Martial Law Babies, After Eden, Andong Agimat, Trip to Tagaytay and The Children of Bathala series. 208pgs B&W paperback.
The Compleat Moscow Calling
by José Alaniz
Amatl Comix
$22.95
The publisher says:
Step back into a pre-Putin Russia of startling beauty and danger! A lost 90s classic of expat life in Russia. Innocent abroad Pepe Pérez finds himself in a vibrant post-Soviet Moscow of colourful personalities, extreme contrasts and a mafiya boss after his head. Worst of all, there’s no Mexican food! José Alaniz’s Moscow Calling, the first ongoing American comic strip in Russia, appeared in the English-language newspaper The Moscow Tribune not long after the wall fell. This collection gathers and concludes the strip along with additional material, including the unfinished sequel Cassie’s Turn and the novella Moscow ‘93. For this collection, Alaniz completed the strip’s storyline as a graphic novella, including the comics short story “Mariupol,” devoted to the ongoing war in Ukraine. José Alaniz, a comics scholar and professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and Comparative Literature (adjunct) at the University of Washington, Seattle, has previously published Komiks: Comic Art in Russia (2010, University Press of Mississippi); Death, Disability and the Superhero: The Silver Age and Beyond (UPM, 2014) and Resurrection: Comics in Post-Soviet Russia (Ohio State University Press, 2022), among other works. He released his first comics collection, The Phantom Zone and Other Stories (Amatl Comix) in 2020. His comics have also appeared in The Stranger, the Seattle anthology Dune, Tales From La Vida: A Latinx Comics Anthology (2018), BorderX: A Crisis in Graphic Detail (2020) and SCARFFF. Alaniz was born and raised in Edinburg, TX. He graduated from the University of Texas in Austin, attended graduate school at the University of California in Berkeley and today works at the University of Washington, Seattle. 209pgs B&W paperback.
The World of Andong Agimat: The Mystery of the Talisman
by Arnold Arre
Tuttle Publishing
$17.99
The publisher says:
A new brand of superhero from the rich lore of Philippine myth. In this spellbinding action-adventure from Arnold Arre—the great master of the graphic novel—the age-old divide between good and evil widens. Catch a glimpse of a Manila privy to only a few of the supernatural and magically inclined, while following a superhero born and raised by its streets in The World of Andong Agimat. In a world yearning for stability, a renegade force arrives, spreading chaos amidst the populace in the form of a gruesome plague. This is when the world needs Andong Agimat—an ex-gang leader turned vigilante with superpowers bestowed unto him by his mysterious amulet. He co-operates with the police and helps them keep Manila’s underground, steeped in magic and the supernatural, in check, but the people of Manila live in growing fear as acts of terrorism are committed by a cult growing within the city. Follow Andong as he uncovers this violent cult’s scheme, which threatens the very balance of the world. He trudges through the underbelly of Manila, teaming up with old friends, and even old rivals, to put an end to this cult’s evil plans. Can Andong Agimat and his talisman’s secret powers repel the forces of chaos? Arnold Arre won the inaugural graphic novel Philippine National Book Award in 2000 for The Mythology Class. He is the author and illustrator of many other popular works, including Martial Law Babies, Halina Filipina, After Eden, Trip to Tagaytay and The Children of Bathala series. 232pgs B&W paperback.
Tits & Clits 1972-1987
by Joyce Farmer, Lyn Chevli, edited by Samantha Meier
Fantagraphics
$59.99
The publisher says:
The groundbreaking, women-edited comics anthology that served as an antidote and rebuke to male-dominated underground comix is now collected in a single volume for the first time. In 1972, underground cartoonists Joyce Farmer and Lyn Chevli produced Tits & Clits ― a funny, rowdy, raucous underground comix series about female sexuality that one reviewer described as “the ultimate in vaginal politics” ― and became the first American women ever credited with writing, drawing and publishing their own comic books. A feminist answer to Zap, Tits & Clits quickly became an anthology showcase for other women cartoonists, featuring the work of Mary Fleener, Roberta Gregory, Krystine Kryttre, Lee Marrs, Carel Moiseiwitsch, Trina Robbins and Dori Seda, among others. Like other underground comix, Tits & Clits leaned into being lewd in order to satirise women’s experiences with so-called sexual liberation. Featuring stories about birth control, abortion, menstruation, masturbation and more, Tits & Clits featured intimate politics which occasionally clashed with contemporaneous feminist concepts about sex and sexuality. As Chevli put it: their work had something to offend everyone. In 1973, conservative legal authorities in Orange County deemed their work pornographic and even threatened the two editors with arrest on obscenity charges. Now, for the first time in half a century, a new generation of readers will be shocked, entertained, enlightened and scandalised by the bold satirical cartoonists that comprised the band of sisters in Tits & Clits. In addition to reprinting the seven-issue run of the Tits & Clits series, this collection also includes in their entirety two classic solo comics from 1972 written and drawn by Farmer and Chevli ― Abortion Eve and Pandora’s Box. Also included is an introductory essay providing context to Tits & Clits’ place in the history of women’s cartooning by the book’s editor, Samantha Meier.
Joyce Farmer co-created the series Tits & Clits Comix (1972-1987), long beloved by comic lovers and more recently by feminists. She has also appeared in Wimmen’s Comix (1975-1987), Wet Satin (1976-1978), ZeroZero (2000), What Right (2002), No Straight Lines (2012), Best American Comics (2012), Graphic Reproduction (2018), Drawing Power (2019) and Menopause (2020). Farmer documented her parents’ ageing in the graphic novel Special Exits (2010), for which she won Reuben and Inkpot awards and was nominated for the Eisner. That book has been translated into five languages. She lives in Laguna Beach, CA. Lyn Chevli (1931-2016) was born Marilyn Keith in Milford, Connecticut. She (and her then-husband Dennis Madison) opened the bookstore Fahrenheit 451 in Laguna Beach in 1970. She subsequently partnered up with Joyce Farmer and formed Nanny Goat Productions. During her career as an underground cartoonist, Chevli romped in the surf with feminist Kate Millet, entertained Sergio Aragones and partied with Gilbert Shelton, R. Crumb, S. Clay Wilson, Harvey Kurtzman and others. Lyn was also a sculptor, first welding on the balcony of her Park Ave apartment in a bikini and later working with mixed media, mostly bones. Her novel, Alida: An Erotic Novel appeared in 1981. She contributed essays to Words in Our Pockets: The Feminist Writers Guild Handbook (1981) and Herotica (1988). Roberta Gregory is an American comic book writer and artist best known for the character Bitchy Bitch from her Fantagraphics Books series Naughty Bits. She is a prolific contributor to many feminist and underground anthologies, such as Wimmen’s Comix and Gay Comix. Retired underground cartoonist and current comics historian Trina Robbins has been writing graphic novels, comics and books for almost half a century. Her subjects have ranged from Wonder Woman and The Powerpuff Girls to her own teenage superheroine, GoGirl!, and from women cartoonists and superheroines to women who kill. She’s won an Inkpot Award and was inducted in the Will Eisner Hall of Fame at the San Diego Comic-Con. She lives in a mouldering, 100+-year-old house in San Francisco with her cats, shoes and dust bunnies. Lee Marrs is an American cartoonist and animator, and one of the first female underground comix creators. She is best known for her comic book series The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge, Girl Blimp and is one of the founders of the Wimmen’s Comix collective. In 1982, she received the comics industry’s Inkpot Award.368pgs B&W/colour hardcover.
Tombs
by Junji Ito
Viz Media
$22.99
The publisher says:
Three-time Eisner Award winner Junji Ito invites you to the horrific Tomb Town and beyond. Countless tombstones stand in rows throughout a small community, forming a bizarre tableau. What fate awaits a brother and sister after a traffic accident in this town of the dead? In another tale, a girl falls silent, her tongue transformed into a slug. Can a friend save her? Then, when a young man moves to a new town, he finds the house next door has only a single window. What does his grotesque neighbour want, calling out to him every evening from that lone window? Fresh nightmares brought to you by horror master Junji Ito. Junji Ito made his professional manga debut in 1987 and since then has gone on to be recognised as one of the greatest contemporary artists working in the horror genre. His titles include Tomie and Uzumaki, which have been adapted into live-action films; Gyo, which was adapted into an animated film; and his books Black Paradox, Deserter, Fragments of Horror, Frankenstein, Lovesickness, No Longer Human, Remina, Sensor, Shiver, Smashed, The Liminal Zone and Venus in the Blind Spot, all of which are available from VIZ Media. He is a four-time Eisner Award winner. In 2019 his collection Frankenstein won in the “Best Adaptation from Another Medium” category, and in 2021 he was awarded “Best Writer/Artist,” while Remina received the award for “Best U.S. Edition of International Material (Asia).” Lovesickness won “Best U.S. Edition” in 2022. 344pgs B&W hardcover.
Wildheart: The Daring Adventures of John Muir
by Julie Bertagna & William Goldsmith
Yosemite Conspiracy
$18.99 / $12.99
The publisher says:
Told for the first time in a graphic novel, this is the exciting life story of John Muir—who sailed to America as a boy and ended up changing the world. John Muir led an adventurous life, starting with his wild and playful boyhood in Scotland and culminating in his legendary exploits in America, where he became an inventor, an explorer, a bold champion of wilderness—and even made friends with a president. His heart was always in the outdoors and he aimed to experience all he could. Most importantly, though, John Muir told the world about the wonders of nature. His words made a difference and inspired people in many countries to start protecting planet Earth— and they still do. Julie Bertagna is an award-winning author of acclaimed books and short stories for children and young adults. Exodus has won various awards including a Friends of the Earth Eco Prize for Creativity and a Santa Monica Public Library Green Prize for Literature. Five of her young adult novels have been nominated for the United Kingdom’s prestigious Carnegie Prize and other major shortlists, such as the Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year and the Booktrust Teenage Prize. Awards in her native Scotland include the Children’s Book of the Year and the Catalyst Book Prize. William Goldsmith is a British writer and illustrator based in Moscow, where he teaches illustration at the British Higher School of Art and Design. His work has appeared in a range of publications and exhibitions in the United Kingdom and overseas. His other graphic novels are The Bind and Vignettes of Ystov. 128pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
