RSS Feed
Facebook
Twitter
Top 30 Graphic Novels, Comics & Manga:
October 2020
Through these extraordinarily tumultuous, saddening, challenging times, somehow, through it all, writers, artists, publishers and printers are continuing to bring new comics into this world. Here are the highpoints which I’ve picked from titles due to arrive from October or, of course, maybe somewhat later. Brecht Evens bedazzles with his multi-faceted jewel about urban nightlife, and Shinichi Ichizuka summons up the tones and attack of jazz saxophone through evocative panels and pacing…
Graphic biographies also hit some high notes, from Paul Robeson to Pierre-Auguste and Jean Renoir. As fascinating subjects, I’d also single out the American star of silent movies, Lon Chaney and Czech athletic legend Zátopek…
Another Czech icon, the complex, spuriously Soviet superheroine Octobriana, gets a stylish, playful remix from Jim Rugg, whie Vietnamese American Trung Le Nguyen weaves together an immigrant family through their shared love of books…
And finally two fresh British talents make their big-time debuts, both starting out strong and well worth following. I hope some of these and my other PG Tips pique your interest!
Ballad of an American: A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson
by Paul Buhle, Lawrence Ware & Sharon Rudahl
Rutgers University Press
$49.95 / $19.95
The publisher says:
The first-ever graphic biography of Paul Robeson, Ballad of an American, charts Robeson’s career as a singer, actor, scholar, athlete and activist who achieved global fame. Through his films, concerts, and records, he became a potent symbol representing the promise of a multicultural, multiracial American democracy at a time when, despite his stardom, he was denied personal access to his many audiences. Robeson was a major figure in the rise of anti-colonialism in Africa and elsewhere, and a tireless campaigner for internationalism, peace and human rights. Later in life, he embraced the civil rights and antiwar movements with the hope that new generations would attain his ideals of a peaceful and abundant world. Ballad of an American features beautifully drawn chapters by artist Sharon Rudahl, a compelling narrative about his life and an afterword on the lasting impact of Robeson’s work in both the arts and politics. This graphic biography will enable all kinds of readers—especially newer generations who may be unfamiliar with him—to understand his life’s story and everlasting global significance. Ballad of an American: A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson is published in conjunction with Rutgers University’s centennial commemoration of Robeson’s 1919 graduation from the university. Paul Buhle, retired Senior Lecturer at Brown University, is the authorised biographer of Pan African giant, C.L.R. James and has written or edited many books on the Left in the US and the Caribbean. He has, in recent years, devoted himself to nonfiction graphic novels, including those on Emma Goldman, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eugene V. Debs. Lawrence Ware is a professor of philosophy and co-director of Oklahoma State University’s Center for Africana Studies. He writes widely on race and culture for The Root, Slate and The New York Times. He has been a commentator on race and politics for Huffington Post Live, National Public Radio, and Public Radio International. Sharon Rudahl marched with Martin Luther King as a teenager and began her career as a cartoonist with anti-Vietnam War underground newspapers. She was one of the founders of the 1970s-era feminist Wimmen’s Comix. Rudahl has participated in scores of publications and exhibitions in dozens of countries over the last fifty years. She is best known for her graphic biography, Emma Goldman: A Dangerous Woman. 124pgs part-colour hardcover / paperback
Blue Giant Vols.1-2
by Shinichi Ishizuka
Seven Seas Entertainment
$19.99
The publisher says:
The award-winning manga of one young man’s journey to become the greatest saxophone player in the world. Miyamoto Dai, a student with a taste for basketball, changes his life the first time he sees a live jazz performance. The incredible music strikes a chord deep inside him, and he immediately decides to dedicate himself to the saxophone. He has no skills, no formal training, and no idea what he’s up against, but his obsession drives him to play that instrument day after day. Will passion be enough to become the player of his dreams? This award-winning manga from Shinichi Ishizuka, compiled into five omnibus volumes for its English debut, is a pitch-perfect drama about the power of music. 444pgs B&W paperback.
Blue in Green
by Ram V & Anand RK
Image
$17.99
The publisher says:
The dark and haunting portrayal of a young musician’s pursuit of creative genius― the monstrous nature of which threatens to consume him as it did his predecessor half a century ago. From creators Ram V (Grafity’s Wall, These Savage Shores) and Anand RK (Grafity’s Wall), Blue in Green is an exploration of ambitions, expectations and the horrific depths of their spiralling pursuit. Ram V is an author and comic book writer from Mumbai, India. He makes up stories, sometimes they have pictures. His short stories and comics have appeared in several anthologies and e-zines. In 2012 he began writing Aghori which is now an award nominated ongoing series in India. He has since created Paradiso, these Savage Shores, Grafity’s Wall and Ruin of Thieves and the critically acclaimed graphic novel Black Mumba, and writes the fantasy adventure series Brigands. Ram currently lives in London. Dog person, doodles, argumentative, melancholic.144pgs colour paperback.
Come Home, Indio
by Jim Terry
Street Noise Books
$16.99
The publisher says:
A brutally honest but charming look at the pain of childhood and the alienation and anxiety of early adulthood. In his memoir, we are invited to walk through the life of the author, Jim Terry, as he struggles to find security and comfort in an often hostile environment. Between the Ho-Chunk community of his Native American family in Wisconsin and his schoolmates in the Chicago suburbs, he tries in vain to fit in and eventually turns to alcohol to provide an escape from increasing loneliness and alienation. Terry also shares with the reader in exquisite detail the process by which he finds hope and gets sober, as well as the powerful experience of finding something to believe in and to belong to at the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance at Standing Rock. Jim Terry was born in Southern California and grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. His mother was a Native American from the Ho-Chunk nation of Wisconsin, and his father was an Irish American jazz musician from Chicago. Jim is a prolific comic book artist who has worked on such comics as The Crow: Skinning the Wolves; Sundowners; Alice Cooper vs. Chaos; Vampirella and more. He travels the ComicCon circuit and has self-published several of his own comic books. Jim lives in Chicago with his four cats. 240pgs B&W paperback.
Comics Studies: A Guidebook
edited by Charles Hatfield & Bart Beaty
Rutgers University Press
$74.95 / $34.95
The publisher says:
In the twenty-first century, the field of comics studies has exploded. Scholarship on graphic novels, comic books, comic strips, webcomics, manga and all forms of comic art has grown at a dizzying pace, with new publications, institutions and courses springing up everywhere. The field crosses disciplinary and cultural borders and brings together myriad traditions. Comics Studies: A Guidebook offers a rich but concise introduction to this multifaceted field, authored by leading experts in multiple disciplines. It opens diverse entryways to comics studies, including history, form, audiences, genre and cultural, industrial and economic contexts. An invaluable one-stop resource for veteran and new comics scholars alike, this guidebook represents the state of the art in contemporary comics scholarship. Charles Hatfield is the author of Alternative Comics and Hand of Fire and curated the exhibition Comic Book Apocalypse: The Graphic World of Jack Kirby. He has chaired the International Comic Arts Forum and the MLA Forum on Comics and Graphic Narratives, and cofounded the Comics Studies Society. Bart Beaty is the author, editor and translator of more than twenty books in the field of comics studies, including Twelve Cent Archie and Comics versus Art. He is the general editor of the Critical Survey of Graphic Novels and is the lead researcher on the What Were Comics? project. 322pgs B&W hardcover/paperback.
Drawing Lines: An Anthology of Women Cartoonists
by various artists
Dark Horse
$24.99
The publisher says:
Showcasing stories from some of the comics’ greatest female creators, this anthology features stories that range from mainstream adventures to hilarious comic shorts to heart-wrenching autobiographical stories. Originally published as Sexy Chix in 2006, this new edition is presented in a larger, comic-book size format. Featuring over a dozen stories by top talents like New York Times bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates, Eisner Award-winning illustrator Colleen Doran, Scary Godmother creator Jill Thompson, DC Comics creators Gail Simone and Joëlle Jones, and many more. 104pgs colour hardcover.
Juliet Takes A Breath
by Gabby Rivera & Celia Moscote
Boom! Studios
$14.99
The publisher says:
A new graphic novel adaptation of the bestselling book. Juliet Milagros Palante is leaving the Bronx and headed to Portland, Oregon. She just came out to her family and isn’t sure if her mom will ever speak to her again. But don’t worry, Juliet has something kinda resembling a plan that’ll help her figure out what it means to be Puerto Rican, lesbian and out. See, she’s going to intern with Harlowe Brisbane - her favourite feminist author, someone whose last work on feminism, self-love and lots of other things will help Juliet find her ever elusive epiphany. There’s just one problem—Harlowe’s white, not from the Bronx and doesn’t have the answers. Okay, maybe that’s more than one problem but Juliet never said it was a perfect plan… Critically-acclaimed writer Gabby Rivera adapts her bestselling novel alongside artist Celia Moscote in an unforgettable queer coming-of-age story exploring race, identity and what it means to be true to your amazing self. Even when the rest of the world doesn’t understand. 176pgs colour paperback.
Kusama
by Elisa Macellari
Laurence King Publishing
£14.99
The publisher says:
From rural Japan to international icon, Yayoi Kusama has spent her remarkable life immersed in her art. Follow her incredible journey in this vivid graphic biography which details her bold departure from Japan as a young artist, her embrace of the buzzing New York art scene in the 1960s, and her eventual return home and rise to twenty-first-century super-fame. Elisa Macellari is a Thai-Italian illustrator. Her clients include The New York Times, Corriere della Sera, Mondadori, Feltrinelli and Nobrow Press. Her first graphic novel, Papaya Salad (2018), has been published in Italian, French, Spanish and English. 126pgs colour hardcover.
Leonardo 2
by Stéphane Levallois
NBM / Louvre Collection
$24.99
The publisher says:
Planet Earth, engaged in an intergalactic conflict, owes its salvation to the clone of Leonardo da Vinci and to the rebirth of his genius. Author Stéphane Levallois has created the fantastic universes of many of the big Hollywood blockbusters (Alien, King Kong (Skull Island), Harry Potter and many others). The result of two years of elaboration and work, this space opera exemplifies his talent in two areas that he masters to perfection: the universe of science fiction and art. To build his story and compose his boards, Levallois draws from the painted and drawn work of the Renaissance master, selecting a large number of drawings and paintings by Leonardo to represent the characters, vessels or even the architectures in his story. The grand scale result is stupefying as Leonardo’s everlasting visions are successfully projected into a stunning futuristic setting. Stéphane Levallois was born in 1970 and lives in Paris. In 1988, he entered the Penninghen Graduate School of Graphic Art. Among his teachers, Roman Cieslewicz. He graduated in 1992 first in his class. He taught sketching there for three years. Following his studies, Levallois did computer graphics training, and signed movie posters and illustrations. He joined the Cryo video game publisher as artistic director. At the same time, he became a storyboarder and produced designs for advertising and cinema, working for many directors. 96pgs colour hardcover.
Lon Chaney Speaks
by Pat Dorian
Pantheon Graphic Library
$25.00
The publisher says:
A stunning graphic debut: the life of the legendary silent-film actor Lon Chaney (the original Phantom of the Opera and Hunchback of Notre Dame), as imagined by an artist whose work recalls the style and skill of early-era New Yorker cartoonists.
The artist Pat Dorian says:
‘No one will ever love me!’ I believe it was this near-universal fear that makes Lon Chaney’s characters continue to resonate with us today. On their surface, most of them are distinctly unlikeable: they are monsters, outcasts, criminals. But through his unique magic, Chaney makes them empathetic. He pioneered the craft of makeup artist long before that term ever existed, and he used his expertise to hide himself from public view—what if nobody loved him?”
Pat Dorian is a filmmaker and cartoonist whose illustrations have been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times and other publications. His animation work includes projects for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, AMC’s The Walking Dead and PBS. He founded and ran Grand Comics Festival in Brooklyn for three years. He teaches animation at the Pratt Institute and School of Visual Arts and lives with his wife and a mountain of books in a spacious closet in Queens, New York. 160pgs colour hardcover.
Long Way Down
by Jason Reynolds & Danica Novgorodoff
Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
$19.99
The publisher says:
Jason Reynolds’s Newbery Honor, Printz Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor–winning, #1 New York Times bestselling novel Long Way Down is now a gripping, galvanising graphic novel, with haunting artwork by Danica Novgorodoff. Will’s older brother, Shawn, has been shot. Dead. Will feels a sadness so great, he can’t explain it. But in his neighbourhood, there are THE RULES:
No. 1: Crying. Don’t. No matter what.
No. 2: Snitching Don’t. No matter what.
No. 3: Revenge. Do. No matter what.
But bullets miss. You can get the wrong guy. And there’s always someone else who knows to follow the rules… Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, a two-time National Book Award finalist, a Kirkus Award winner, a two-time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honours. Reynolds is also the 2020–2021 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. His many books include When I Was the Greatest, The Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely), As Brave as You, For Every One, the Track series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny and Lu), Look Both Ways and Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor and a Coretta Scott King Honor. He lives in Washington, DC. Danica Novgorodoff is an artist, writer, graphic designer and horse wrangler from Louisville, Kentucky, currently living in Brooklyn, New York. Her books include A Late Freeze; Slow Storm; Refresh, Refresh (included in Best American Comics 2011); and The Undertaking of Lily Chen. Her art and writing have been published in Best American Comics, Artforum, Esquire, VQR, Slate, Orion, Seneca Review, Ecotone Journal and many others. She was awarded a 2015 New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship in Literature, and was named Sarabande Books’ 2016 writer in residence. She has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony, Blue Mountain Center, VCCA, Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts and Willapa Bay AiR. 208pgs colour hardcover.
Maids
by Katie Skelly
Fantagraphics
$19.99
The publisher says:
The scandalous true crime story about the Papin Sisters, as told by one of comics’ most stylised talents. Christine Papin, an overworked live-in maid, is reunited with her younger sister, Lea, who has also been hired by the wealthy Lancelin family. They make the estate’s beds, scrub the floors, and spy on the domestic strife that routinely occurs within its walls. What starts as petty theft by the maids ― who are flashing back to their tumultuous time in a convent ― shortly turns into something more nefarious. Madame Lancelin’s increasingly unhinged abuse ignites the sisters’ toxic upbringing and social class exploitation and explodes into a ghastly double murder, an event that shocked and fascinated 1930s France and beyond. Maids has high bravura and high intrigue, all drawn in Skelly’s highly stylised manner, which combines the best of pop art, manga and Eurocomics. 112pgs colour hardcover.
Morrison Hotel
by Leah Moore & various artists
Z2 Comics
$19.99
The publisher says:
The Morrison Hotel anthology written by Leah Moore, in collaboration with the surviving members of the legendary rock band and drawn by artists from around the comic book world, will weave the band’s influence into some of the lore that led to their status as the architects of counterculture, influencing artists, poets and outsiders for generations to come, set against the backdrop of the close of the free spirit of the 1960s into the tumultuous 1970s. A decade in which women, African Americans, Native Americans, gays, lesbians and other marginalised people continued their fight for equality, and many Americans joined the protest against the ongoing war in Vietnam. 144pgs colour hardcover.
Mtsyry Octobriana
by Jim Rugg
AdHouse Books
$10.00
The publisher says:
In 1971, the West learned about Octobriana - the outlaw Russian superhero comic. To show solidarity, underground American cartoonists made their own Octobriana comic book. Robot Stalin’s got a new doomsday bomb! Can the Devil-Woman stop him before he destroys us all? Siberian labor camps, PPP secret orgies, motorcycle gunship train chases - this one has it all! Samizdat gone wild - a cross between ‘70s psychedelia and Soviet constructivism!?! You’ve never seen a comic book that looks like this! Revolution forever, bitch. Jim Rugg is an Eisner and Ignatz Award-winning cartoonist based in Pittsburgh. His books include Street Angel , The PLAIN Janes, The Guild, Afrodisiac and Notebook Drawings. Awards and recognition from the Society of Illustrators, AIGA, Communication Arts, Print magazine, American Illustration, SPX and Creative Quarterly adorn his mantle. His studio is pencils, paper, ballpoint pens, ink, Photoshop, cats and comics. 24pgs colour paperback.
Pulp
by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips
Image
$16.99
The publisher says:
A gorgeous original graphic novel from the best-selling creators of Kill Or Be Killed, My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies and Criminal. Max Winters, a pulp writer in 1930s New York, finds himself drawn into a story not unlike the tales he churns out at 5 cents a word - tales of a wild west outlaw dispensing justice with a six-gun. But will Max be able to do the same, when pursued by bank robbers, Nazi spies and enemies from his past? One part thriller, one part meditation on a life of violence, Pulp is unlike anything the award-winning team of Brubaker and Phillips have ever done. A celebration of pulp fiction, set in a world on the brink. And another must-have hardback from one of comics most acclaimed teams. 72pgs colour hardcover.
Ralph Steadman: A Life in Ink
by Ralph Steadman
Chronicle Books
$60.00
The publisher says:
Ralph Steadman: A Life in Ink is the definitive career retrospective of this revered and provocative UK artist. Renowned for his collaborations with iconic American writer Hunter S. Thompson, he formed an unlikely duo that created “Gonzo” journalism. This lifelong collaboration included the legendary Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, originally published in Rolling Stone magazine, which has since become a cult classic. Along with Steadman’s signature ink-splattered style, he is also known for his diverse body of work that includes satirical political illustrations as well as his award-winning children’s books such as Alice in Wonderland. Ralph Steadman: A Life in Ink is a must-have celebration of the artist’s important and influential career. This comprehensive monograph on the life and work of Ralph Steadman collects work from his dozens of books from his 50-plus year career. Satirist, artist, cartoonist, illustrator, writer—Steadman’s prolific and influential career continues to resonate and inspire. His work is synonymous with the counterculture of the 1970s. The ultimate gift and coffee table book for fans of Gonzo journalism, Hunter S. Thompson and political satire. Ralph Stradman is a Welsh-born, UK-based artist who has been creating groundbreaking art for over 60 years. He has published many books and has been featured in numerous publications such as Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, The New York Times and many more. 320pgs colour hardcover.
Raymond Briggs: The Illustrators
by Nicolette Jones
Thames & Hudson
£18.99
The publisher says:
Raymond Briggs has changed the face of children’s picture books, with his innovations of both form and subject. Stylistically versatile, he has illustrated some sixty books, twenty of them with his own text, and first became a household name in the late 1970s and early 1980s with a handful of books – Father Christmas, Fungus the Bogeyman, The Snowman, When the Wind Blows – that were entertaining and subversive and appealed to both children and adults. The refrains of his work are class, family, love and loss. Nevertheless, his default mode of expression is humour. Briggs is always funny, and the balance between this and melancholy is his defining characteristic, though his style ranges from the romantic to the grotesque, from the fanciful to the direct. Encompassing sixty years of Raymond Briggs’s work, from political picturebooks to children’s classics, this study explores his themes of class, family and loss, and how he demonstrates both emotional power and great technical skill. Nicolette Jones, writer, literary critic and broadcaster, has been the children’s books reviewer of the Sunday Times for more than two decades. A Royal Literary Fund Fellow (formerly at UCL and at Kings College London), and a nominee for the 2012 Eleanor Farjeon Award for outstanding service to the world of children’s books. 112pgs colour hardcover.
Rebuilding Story Worlds: The Obscure Cities by Schuiten & Peeters
by Jan Baetens
Rutgers University Press
$75.00 / $29.95
The publisher says:
A collaboration between Belgian artist François Schuiten and French writer Benoît Peeters, The Obscure Cities is one of the few comics series to achieve massive popularity while remaining highly experimental in form and content. Set in a parallel world, full of architecturally distinctive city-states, The Obscure Cities also represents one of the most impressive pieces of world-building in any form of literature. Rebuilding Story Worlds offers the first full-length study of this seminal series, exploring both the artistic traditions from which it emerges and the innovative ways it plays with genre, gender, and urban space. Comics scholar Jan Baetens examines how Schuiten’s work as an architectural designer informs the series’ concerns with the preservation of historic buildings. He also includes an original interview with Peeters, which reveals how poststructuralist critical theory influenced their construction of a rhisomatic fictional world, one which has made space for fan contributions through the Alta Plana website. Synthesising cutting-edge approaches from both literary and visual studies, Rebuilding Story Worlds will give readers a new appreciation for both the aesthetic ingenuity of The Obscure Cities and its nuanced conception of politics. Jan Baetens is a professor of cultural studies at the University of Leuven in Flanders, Belgium. His recent books on comics and visual studies include The Graphic Novel, coauthored with Hugo Frey, The Cambridge History of the Graphic Novel, coedited with Frey and Steve Tabachnick, Novelization: From Film to Novel and The Film Photonovel: A Cultural History of Forgotten Adaptations. 215pgs B&W hardcover / paperback.
Renoir: Father and Son
by Eddy Simon & Jak Lemonnier
Pegasus Books
$25.95
The publisher says:
Through the captivating pages of this new graphic novel, discover the intertwined destinies of a father and son in search of truth through art. “Reality is always magical.” ―Jean Renoir, 1957. Art is a family matter for the Renoirs. The path is carved by Pierre-Auguste, the painter who along with Monet, Cézanne, Degas was at the origin of the impressionist movement and continues with Jean, the poetic avant-garde filmmaker. Indisputably one of the masters of French painting of the 19th century, Pierre-Auguste father one of the greatest cineastes of the twentieth century in Jean Renoir. From the father’s paintings to the son’s films, the artist affiliation reveals a similar pursuit, and a single source of inspiration: an ode to freedom finding its origins in a profound humanity and love of reality. Pierre-Auguste and Jean Renoir, father and son, each marked the history of art―through painting for Pierre-Auguste and film for Jean, with the common thread of a desire to transcribe reality. This graphic novel tells the story of the intertwined lives of these two creators who always sought to draw their inspiration from the “spectacle of life”. But behind their art, there is also the story of the filiation between an old man who is slowly losing his strength and a young man seeking to make his own mark. In fact, it is not until after his father’s death that Jean began his career as a filmmaker and contributed some of the greatest films to the history of the movies: The Grand Illusion, The River and The Rules of the Game. In 1975 he received an Academy Award for lifetime achievement for his body of his work. Eddy Simon is a journalist and script writer for cartoons. Born in 1968 in Le Havre, France, he now lives in Pondichéry. He is the author of a biography of Eiffel, the king of steel, among other books. Jak Lemonnier graduated from the École des Beaux Arts in Le Havre, France. After a few stints in publishing, he contributed to several anthologies and then animated a number of books and television series. Jacques Renoir is a cinematographer, photographer, and author of the novel Le Tableau amoreux. He is the great-grandson of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the grandson of Pierre Renoir and the great-nephew of Jean and Claude Renoir. 124pgs colour hardcover.
Sapiens Vol. 1: Birth of Humankind
by Yuval Noah Harari, David Vandermeulen & Daniel Casanave
Harper Collins
$40.00 / $25.99
The publisher says:
The first volume of the graphic adaptation of Yuval Noah Harari’s smash #1 New York Times and international bestseller recommended by President Barack Obama and Bill Gates, with gorgeous full-colour illustrations and concise, easy to comprehend text for readers of all ages. One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? In this first volume of the full-colour illustrated adaptation of his groundbreaking book, renowned historian Yuval Harari tells the story of humankind’s creation and evolution, exploring the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.” From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens challenges us to reconsider accepted beliefs, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and view specific events within the context of larger ideas. Featuring 256 pages of full-colour illustrations and easy-to-understand text covering the first part of the full-length original edition, this adaptation of the mind-expanding book furthers the ongoing conversation as it introduces Harari’s ideas to a wide new readership. Yuval Noah Harari has a PhD in history from the University of Oxford and now lectures at the Department of History, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, specialising in world history. His first book, Sapiens, was translated into more than forty languages and became a bestseller in the US, the UK, France, China, Korea and numerous other countries. 256pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
Sneeze: Naoki Urasawa Short Story Collection
by Naoki Urasawa
Viz Media
$17.99
The publisher says:
A curated collection of eight short stories and graphic essays by famed manga author Naoki Urasawa, creator of the acclaimed series Monster and 20th Century Boys. Urasawa’s characters confront fantastical elements ranging from psychic powers, to alien visitors to planet Earth, to attacks by giant monsters. On the flip side, the author philosophises about his real-world experiences with the wild and wacky international music scene. Plus, a classic funny animal tale in Urasawa’s inimitable style. 200pgs B&W paperback.
Storyboards: The Unseen Art of Hollywood Storyboards
by Trevor Goring & Joyce Kaskey Goring
Hermes Press
$75.00
The publisher says:
Comic book and storyboard artist Trevor Goring and his partner, the late Joyce Kaskey Goring details the history of film storyboards. This important and long-neglected art is now given its due with this comprehensive history of the art of film storyboards. Featuring a genre-by-genre discussion of over one-hundred great films and their storyboards, this visual tour features a full range of classic and contemporary films with examples of how directors utilise storyboards in the creation of their films. 302pgs colour hardcover.
The Art and History of Popeye: A Masterwork of the Medium
by R.C. Harvey
Hermes Press
$65.00
The publisher says:
When cartoonist Elzie Segar created Popeye, as a minor character ten years into the run of the Thimble Theatre strip in 1929, little did he know that the world’s most famous sailor would still be around over ninety years later and still being offered as a Sunday feature. To celebrate Popeye, the character, the comic strip and his universe, a feature cartoonist Charles M. Schulz described as “perfect… consistent in drawing and humour,” Hermes Press is publishing the definitive art monograph on the subject. This 300 plus page book features a comprehensive essay written by pop culture historian R.C. Harvey accompanied by over 350 illustrations of original strip and comic book art, animation art, illustrations, advertising art, products, the Robert Altman film, and everything Popeye. Every aspect of Popeye is explored, from Olive Oyl and Eugene the Jeep to Wimpy and Bluto. So, if you’ve ever read the strip, watched the cartoons, seen the movie, or ever eaten spinach and wondered if you’ll have super-powers, this new comprehensive history is a must. 300pgs colour hardcover.
The City of Belgium
by Brecht Evens
Drawn & Quarterly
$29.95
The publisher says:
An exquisitely drawn, sinuous exploration of the city after-hours. As night falls in the city of Belgium, three strangers in their late twenties―a most dangerous age―arrive at a popular restaurant. Jona is about to move away; he calls his wife, who’s already settled in Berlin, before trying to make plans with friends for one last night on the town. No one bites―they’re all busy, or maybe they just don’t want to party―but he’s determined to make this night something to remember. Victoria is lively and energetic, but surrounded by friends and family who are buzzkills, always worrying about what is best for her. Rodolphe is consoled by a friend and snaps out of his funk, becoming the life of the party. The three careen through the city’s nightlife spots and underbelly, chasing pleasure―or at least a few distractions from the thrum of the humdrum. Each has a series of adventures that reveal them to be teetering on the edge between lucid dream and tooth-grinding nightmare. Vibrantly rendered in Brecht Evens’s swirling watercolours, The City of Belgium continues the critically acclaimed streak of graphic novels he began with The Wrong Place, The Making Of and Panther. Evens’s darkly comic stories of characters on the verge of personal discovery―people about to become who they will be for the rest of their lives―have never been more beautifully conceived, more intricately planned, than in his magical new graphic novel, The City of Belgium. 336pgs colour hardcover.
The History of EC Comics: Deluxe Hardcover
by Grant Geissman
Taschen
$200.00
The publisher says:
In 1947, Bill Gaines inherited EC Comics, a new venture founded by his legendary father M. C. Gaines, who was responsible for midwifing the birth of the comic book as we know it during his tenure at All-American Comics, bringing the likes of Wonder Woman and Green Lantern to the world. Over the next eight years, Bill Gaines and a “who’s who” of the era including Al Feldstein, Harvey Kurtzman and Wally Wood would reinvent the very notion of the comic book with titles like Tales from the Crypt, Crime SuspenStories, Weird Science and Mad. EC delighted in publishing gory, morbid horror and crime comics that had snap, ironic endings―but they also pioneered the first true-to-life war comics, the first “real” science-fiction stories and a series of tales about such then-taboo subjects as racism, bigotry, vigilantism, drug addiction, police corruption and anti-Semitism. Too good to last, they were eventually caught up by various 1950s guardians of morality, who were convinced that EC’s often over-the-top content was causing juvenile delinquency. A year or so after a full inquiry investigating horror and crime comics, the incredible EC Comics were no more. Taschen presents the full, fascinating story of this fabled company, written and expertly curated by EC-authority Grant Geissman. Even the most die-hard EC Fan-Addicts will find something new within these pages, with the Gaines family archives providing more than 100 rarities that have never seen print. Many of the cover images are reproduced from Gaines File Copies, which are widely regarded as the best surviving copies of the EC Comics. Gathering more than 1,000 illustrations that include the rarest and most notorious covers, interior pages and panels, photos, vintage original artwork and some of the most celebrated stories ever to be printed in four colours for a dime, this is the ultimate EC Comics compendium and a must-have for any comics enthusiast or pop culture historian. Grant Geissman is one of the world’s leading experts on EC Comics and Mad magazine, and the author and designer of four books on the subject, three of them nominated for an Eisner Award. He is also an Emmy-nominated guitarist and composer who co-wrote the music for the hit television series Two and a Half Men and Mike & Molly. He has fourteen albums released under his own name, including the jazz trilogy Say That!, Cool Man Cool and BOP! BANG! BOOM! 592pgs colour hardcover.
The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott
by Zoe Thorogood
Avery Hill Publishing
£12.99
The publisher says:
Billie Scott is an artist. Her debut gallery exhibition opens in a few months. Within a fortnight she’ll be completely blind. Zoe Thorogood’s first graphic novel is a story about what it’s like to get something you want, have it immediately taken away from you and then how you put it all back together again. Set in a world of people down on their luck from Middlesbrough to London, it’s a graphic novel that speaks of post-austerity Britain and the problems facing those left behind. It’s also the debut work of an exciting author who many are tipping to be a great new talent in the world of comics. Zoe Thorogood is a comics creator based in Middlesbrough in the UK. As well as her comics practice Zoe also enjoys doing concept art and character design on a freelance basis. Most recently she’s worked for Image Comics as a cover artist. 168pgs colour paperback.
The Magic Fish
by Trung Le Nguyen
Random House Graphic
$23.99 / $16.99
The publisher says:
Tiến loves his family and his friends…but Tiến has a secret he’s been keeping from them, and it might change everything. An amazing YA graphic novel that deals with the complexity of family and how stories can bring us together. Real life isn’t a fairytale. But Tiến still enjoys reading his favourite stories with his parents from the books he borrows from the local library. It’s hard enough trying to communicate with your parents as a kid, but for Tiến, he doesn’t even have the right words because his parents are struggling with their English. Is there a Vietnamese word for what he’s going through? Is there a way to tell them he’s gay? A beautifully illustrated story by Trung Le Nguyen that follows a young boy as he tries to navigate life through fairytales, an instant classic that shows us how we are all connected. The Magic Fish tackles tough subjects in a way that accessible with readers of all ages, and teaches us that no matter what—we can all have our own happy endings. Trung Le Nguyen, also known as Trungles, is a comic book artist and illustrator working out of Minnesota. He received his BA from Hamline University in 2012, majoring in Studio Art with a concentration in oil painting and minoring in Art History. He has contributed work for Oni Press, BOOM! Studios, Limerence Press and Image Comics. He is particularly fond of fairy tales, kids’ cartoons, and rom-coms of all stripes. The Magic Fish is his debut graphic novel. 256pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
The Third Population
by Aurélien Ducoudray & Jeff Pourquié, translated by Kendra Boileau
Penn State University Press
$24.95
The publisher says:
Founded in 1956, the French psychiatric clinic La Chesnaie is an open and welcoming facility that houses about one hundred people of all ages. It provides traditional forms of care for people with serious mental illness, but it does so in a uniquely supportive environment where patients and caregivers participate equally in the day-to-day operations of the clinic. The driving force of La Chesnaie is the “Club,” a nonprofit organization serving as a liaison between the clinic and the outside world. It arranges cultural and recreational outings for the patients as well as activities like concerts and exhibitions that bring the public to La Chesnaie. As a result, days at the clinic are quite lively and never routine. Author Aurélien Ducoudray and illustrator Jeff Pourquié immersed themselves for a time in the culture of La Chesnaie. Like everyone there, including the patients, supervisors, and caregivers, they took part in the daily chores of the clinic, cooking and cleaning. They participated in group events and even led a comics workshop to teach the residents about their craft. The Third Population is the engaging, inspiring, and often poignantly funny result of this project. The Third Population is a sensitive and uncompromising portrayal of daily life in this singular psychiatric health facility where patients are encouraged to build human relationships in spite of the difficulties that mental illness can pose. As the supervisors and caregivers take part in the daily activities of their patients, differences are erased and empathic bonds are formed, with the result that sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the patients from the caregivers. Aurélien Ducoudray is the author of numerous documentary comics and graphic novels, including the prize-winning Amère Russie, Clichés de Bosnie and Championzé: Une histoire de Battling Siki. Jeff Pourquié is an artist and a gypsy jazz guitarist. He is the illustrator of a number of comics and graphic novels in French. 120pgs colour hardcover.
The Times I Knew I Was Gay
by Eleanor Crewes
Virago / Scribner
£14.99 / $25.00
The publisher says:
A charming, highly relatable graphic memoir that follows one young woman’s adventures in coming out and coming of age. Ellie always had questions about who she was and how she fit in. As a girl, she wore black, obsessed over Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and found dating boys much more confusing than many of her friends did. As she grew older, so did her fears and a deep sense of unbelonging. From her first communion to her first girlfriend via a swathe of self-denial, awkward encounters and everyday courage, Ellie tells her story through gorgeous illustrations—a fresh and funny self-portrait of a young woman becoming herself. The Times I Knew I Was Gay reminds us that people sometimes come out not just once but again and again; that identity is not necessarily about falling in love with others, but about coming to terms with oneself. Full of vitality and humour, it will ring true for anyone who has taken the time to discover who they truly are. Eleanor Crewes is a London-based illustrator, author and graphic artist who graduated from University of the Arts in London in 2016. Her debut graphic memoir The Times I Knew I Was Gay originated as a self-published zine in 2017. It eventually became a small book, published by Good Comics and exhibited at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, Thought Bubble, Brighton Illustration Fair and The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival. This new and expanded version represents her American debut. 320pgs colour hardcover.
We Saw Scenery: The Early Diaries of Merrill Markoe
by Merrill Markoe
Algonquin Young Readers
$24.95
The publisher says:
In her first ever graphic memoir, four-time Emmy-winning comedy writer Merrill Markoe unearths her treasured diaries, long kept under lock and key, to illustrate the hilarious story of her preteen and teen years and how she came to realise that her secret power was her humour. Wielding her layered and comically absurd style, Markoe takes readers back through her time as a Girl Scout, where she learned that “scouting” was really more about learning housewifery skills, to her earliest crushes on uniquely awful boys and her growing obsession with television. Much has changed in our world since Markoe wrote in her diaries, or has it? Climate change wasn’t yet a rallying call, but the growing hole in the ozone preoccupied Markoe’s young mind. No one was flocking to the desert for Burning Man, but Markoe readily partook in the Ken Kesey Acid Test. As she charts the divide between her adolescence and adulthood, Markoe questions and berates her younger self, revealing how much is opaque to us in those young years. Perfect for fans of Roz Chast, Allie Brosh and Lynda Barry, We Saw Scenery is a laugh-out-loud story of a girl growing up, told from the perspective of the woman she became, and it will speak to all who wanted to understand themselves in the midst of their own maturing. 288pgs colour hardcover.
What Cartooning Really Is: The Major Interviews with Charlies Schulz
by Charles Schulz, edited by Gary Groth
Fantagraphics
$24.99
The publisher says:
A collection of insightful interviews with the cartoonist behind the most popular comic strip of all time. Peanuts is beloved by countless readers worldwide for its iconic characters — such as Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and Lucy van Pelt — gentle humour and emotional resonance. The artist behind Peanuts shares the same name recognition as his beloved characters, but among critics and historians, he is far more than a celebrity — he is recognised throughout the world as one of the greatest cartoonists who ever lived. To better understand the man and the artist, Fantagraphics is proud to present four extensive conversations with Charles Schulz conducted by film critic Leonard Maltin, novelist Laurie Colwin, Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth and comics historian Rick Marschall. These interviews delve deeply into the moral, aesthetic, and intellectual foundations of Schulz’s worldview and his art. They reveal a man at once humble and self-deprecating, but also assured of his talents and success. Some days he feels like the hopeless, downtrodden Charlie Brown, while other days he revels in being an artist made rich and famous through the sheer mastery of his art. Copiously illustrated with Peanuts strips and other comics and illustrations, What Cartooning Really Is humanises the complex and charming man who drew Snoopy. 300pgs B&W paperback.
Zátopek
by Jan Novák & Jaromír 99
SelfMadeHero
£14.99 / $22.99
The publisher says:
An intoxicating, visually intense portrait of legendary runner Emil Zátopek, arguably the greatest Olympic champion of all time. The Czech runner’s three gold medals at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympics, for the 5,000 meter, 10,000 meter and marathon is an achievement that has never been matched. His success as a runner made him a national hero, but as a public figure, outspoken and unafraid to take a stand, he was equally impressive. Even before the Helsinki Games, Zátopek had scored a remarkable victory, successfully pressuring the Communist regime to allow his colleague Stanislav Jungwirth, who until then had been excluded on political grounds, to compete. In Zátopek, Jan Novák and Jaromír 99 trace the extraordinary life and times of the great Olympian, from his first meeting with Dana, the love of his life, to the victories that would ensure his lasting legacy. Jan Novák is a Czech-American writer, screenwriter and playwright. He has won the Chicago Maroon’s short story contest, as well as the Carl Sandburg Literary Award from the Chicago Public Library Foundation. Jaromír 99 is a Czech singer, songwriter, and artist who is best known for his work with Jaroslav Rudiš on the comics trilogy Alois Nebel. He is also the author (with David Zane Mairowitz) of The Castle, an adaptation of Kafka’s novel, which is also published by SelfMadeHero. 208pgs colour paperback.
