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Top 31 Graphic Novels, Comics & Manga:
October 2022
Top of my personal list for this October is the publication at last of one Germany’s most significant modern graphic novels. Years ago it figured among a wish list I helped compile with Mark Nevins and Bart Beatty of remarkable European graphic novels crying out to be translated. So it’s wonderful to see this gem coming out and my pal Mark translating it.
Grappling with our troubled, troubling zeitgeist, these impassioned comics dare to speak up and speak out…
Korea has a plethora of intoxicating storytellers in manhwa, so especially pleased to see this arrive in English…
LGBTQ+ comics are flourishing as never before, allowing us to read this Dutch treat of a frank graphic memoir…
This stands out to me as excitingly ambitious, formally inventive and an utterly fresh way to engage with an ancient Greek poet’s tale of nothing less than the birth of the gods and humankind.
And to blow my own trumpet just a little bit, this month also brings my latest book, a monograph of Tove Jansson, the creatrix of The Moomins and so much more. As well as the English edition, this is also being simultaneously published in German, Italian, Japanese and Korean, followed by Finnish, Chinese and other editions in Spring 2023.
In all, I have narrowed down no less than thirty-one new titles for you this month, one a day (to keep the doctor away?!) and ranging widely across genres, styles, subjects and approaches. Join me month by month as the comics medium continues to unfold and confound all expectations!
A Fade of Light
by Nate Fakes
West Margin Press
$19.99
The publisher says:
An intimate and moving graphic memoir by cartoonist Nate Fakes, dedicated to his stepdad Ron, a larger-than-life personality who gradually becomes affected by a rare form of dementia. The first time Nate met his future stepdad in the summer of 1994, he thought Ron was nice, goofy and kind, the type of guy who wasn’t afraid to be himself. Ron liked to honk at other Jeeps while driving his own, bang on the drums without abandon and order practically the whole menu at drive-thrus. It was alternatively embarrassing, annoying and funny, though one thing was for sure: life with Ron was never dull. But as years passed, Nate noticed Ron’s behaviour becoming erratic and strange. He forgot obvious things and seemed more stubborn and irritable than before. Finally Ron received a diagnosis: he has frontotemporal dementia, a progressive disorder that affects about 10 percent of all dementia cases. There is no cure. Stylised in black-and-white drawings, A Fade of Light is a graphic memoir capturing the fullness of a life well lived—the ups and downs, the laughter and tears, the joys and heartaches, and the treasured moments that will always be cherished, if not remembered. Nate Fakes sold his first cartoon in fifth grade, and throughout middle and high school he drew all day instead of paying attention in class. Now he is a storyboard artist, commercial illustrator, cartoonist and book author. His work has been published in publications like MAD Magazine and the New York Times, and in numerous books, greeting cards and advertisements. He is the author of Break of Day, a syndicated comic series that has been read worldwide in print and online. Nate lives near Los Angeles, California. 232pgs B&W paperback.
Brian Fies, Eisner Award–winning author of Mom’s Cancer, says:
“A Fade of Light is a rare story that is both deeply heartbreaking and heartwarming. Nate Fakes is an observant writer and artist, with a good memory and an eye for small, revealing details. In his clear cartooning style, Fakes shows he and his family navigating a rare disease imperfectly but as well as they can. He captures the confusion and frustration of knowing something’s wrong but not what, of desperately wanting to fix something that can’t be fixed.”
All Your Racial Problems Will End Soon
by Charles Johnson
New York Review Comics
$34.95
The publisher says:
Years before he wrote his National Book Award–winning novel Middle Passage, Charles Johnson created these sidesplitting and subversive gag comics about Black life in America, now collected for the first time in nearly half a century. Before Charles Johnson found fame as a novelist and won the National Book Award for Middle Passage in 1991, he was a cartoonist, and a very good one. Taught via correspondence course by the comics editor Lawrence Lariar, mentored by the New Yorker cartoonist Charles Barsotti, and inspired by the call of the poet Amiri Baraka to celebrate and depict Black life in America, Johnson crafted some of the fiercest and funniest cartoons of the twentieth century. Reimagining the gag comic as a powerful and incendiary tool, Johnson tackled America’s mid-century afflictions—segregation, inner-city poverty, police brutality and white supremacy—by craftily subverting stale gag tropes. He populated them with bullet-dodging Black Panthers, doubt-filled Klansmen, militant babies, self-serving politicians and complacent suburban liberals. This collection, Johnson’s first in nearly fifty years, brings together work from across his career: college newspaper gags, selections from his books Black Humor and Half-Past Nation Time, his unpublished manuscript Lumps in the Melting Pot and uncollected pieces. Taken together, this volume reveals Johnson as long overdue for appreciation as a cartoonist of the first order. Charles Johnson is a novelist, essayist, literary scholar, philosopher, cartoonist, screenwriter and professor emeritus at the University of Washington in Seattle. A MacArthur Fellow, he won the National Book Award for his novel Middle Passage in 1990. He is one of the artists and contributors featured in It’s Life as I See It: Black Cartoonists in Chicago, 1940–1980, published by New York Review Comics. 280pgs B&W hardcover.
Artist
by Yeong-Shin Ma
Drawn & Quarterly
$39.95
The publisher says:
The satirical saga of three artists seeking recognition. But there can be only one Artist. A novelist, single, forty-four years old. A painter, divorced, forty-six years old. A musician, single, forty-two years old. On the outer limits of relevancy in an arts culture that celebrates youth, these three men make up the artist group Arcade. Caught in circular arguments about what makes real art and concerned about the vapid interests of their younger contemporaries, none of them are reaping the benefits of success. But there’s always another chance to make it. When it comes time, out of the three, who will emerge as an acclaimed artist? More important, when one artist’s star rises, will he leave the rest behind? Following Yeong-shin Ma’s hit manhwa, Moms, this plunge into artistic friendships is as hilarious and infuriating as it is real. With absurdist style and off-beat humour, Artist simultaneously caricatures and complicates the figure of the artist. The friendships between the three are impassioned and mercurial, resulting in conflicts about fashion choices, squabbles with foreign children, and changes in one another’s artistic fortunes for better and worse. As the story progresses we see the ways that recognition―or lack thereof―moulds each character’s outlook, whether they will be changed by the scene or end up changing it to fit their ideals. Yeong-shin Ma was born in Seoul in 1982. He made his debut in 2007 and began publishing webtoon comics in 2015. Though comics publishing has moved from print to digital in Korea, he still prefers to work with pen and paper. Recently, he started running the label Bookmark for Kakao Webtoon, creating and producing webtoons, as well as working as a story artist. He has published eleven works to date. Moms, his first book to be published in English, received the Harvey Award for Best International Book and is set to be adapted as a TV series. 636pgs colour paperback.
Beethoven: A Stand for Freedom
by Régis Penet
Humanoids / Life Drawn
$22.99
The publisher says:
Through an important episode in the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Régis Penet paints the portrait of a humanist genius who refused to submit to the powerful. “Tell the French that there is still one man in Austria who is not subject to them, and that he does not bear any title!” 1806. The great Napoleonic conquests are underway and Austria is now occupied by French troops. Ludwig van Beethoven, by now a towering figure in Austrian culture, resides in the palace of Prince Alois von Lichnowsky, his friend and patron. One fateful night, von Lichnowsky demands Beethoven play for his guests to show “what remains of a prince of Austria.” But Beethoven refuses. A striking portrait of the “bear of the salons”: a genius sure of his talent, indomitable, and devoted to freedom. Régis Penet got his first lessons in drawing from his grandfather, who was a sculptor. He followed some mail courses, and obtained a degree in Plastic Arts. He took on several comics projects, but couldn’t find a publisher. He then went to study in Lyon, and began illustrating for roleplaying games. He eventually got his turn on comics, when he was assigned by Soleil Productions. There, he began the series Fleurs Carnivores with texts by Dijan in 2001. In 2004, he teamed up with L’Homme to create Marie des Loups.128pgs B&W hardcover.
Comics and Graphic Novels (Readers’ Guides to Essential Criticism)
by Julia Round, Rikke Platz Cortsen & Maaheen Ahmed
Bloomsbury Academic
£65 / £21.99
The publisher says:
Providing an overview of the dynamic field of comics and graphic novels for students and researchers, this Essential Guide contextualises the major research trends, debates and ideas that have emerged in Comics Studies over the past decades. Interdisciplinary and international in its scope, the critical approaches on offer spread across a wide range of strands, from the formal and the ideological to the historical, literary and cultural. Its concise chapters provide accessible introductions to comics methodologies, comics histories and cultures across the world, high-profile creators and titles, insights from audience and fan studies, and important themes and genres, such as autobiography and superheroes. It also surveys the alternative and small press alongside general reference works and textbooks on comics. Each chapter is complemented by list of key reference works. Julia Round is Associate Professor of English and Comic Studies at Bournemouth University, UK. Rikke Platz Cortsen is Assistant Professor at University College Copenhagen, Denmark. Her research focuses on time and space in comics and the way identity is intertwined with place in contemporary Nordic comics. She co-edited the research anthology Comics and Power (2015). Maaheen Ahmed is Associate Professor at Ghent University, Belgium and principal investigator of COMICS, a multi-researcher project funded by the European Research Council. 280pgs B&W hardcover / paperback.
Dancing on the Volcano
by Floor De Goede
Oni Press
$29.99
The publisher says:
Dancing on the Volcano is a dramatic and original story of gay relationships for fans of Howard Cruse’s Stuck Rubber Baby or Alison Bechdel’s Dykes To Watch Out For. When cartoonist Flo travels the globe for the first time without his boyfriend, Bas, he is too preoccupied with feeling homesick to really see any of the beauty around him. Even after many years together, do you still need distance between you in order to miss each other—or can you occupy the same space and still feel disconnected? Dancing on the Volcano is an autobiographical story about the painful but recognisable sides of love. We all know that a long relationship has many stages, but never before has someone portrayed all those different facets of love as beautifully as Floor de Goede in the original graphic memoir. Floor de Goede is a Dutch comic artist and children’s book illustrator. In 2004, he started his autobiographical comic, Flo, and gained a loyal fan base with his stories about his life, relationships and the world around him. Dancing on the Volcano is his first work to be published in the U.S. 264pgs colour paperback.
Dandadan Vol. 1
by Yukinobu Tatsu
Viz Media
$9.99
The publisher says:
A nerd must fight powerful spirits and aliens all vying for the secret power of his “family jewel,” so who better to fight alongside him than his high school crush and a spirit granny?! Momo Ayase and Okarun are on opposite sides of the paranormal spectrum regarding what they’ll believe in and what they won’t. Their quest to prove each other wrong leads them down a path of secret crushes and paranormal battles they’ll have to participate in to believe! Momo Ayase strikes up an unusual friendship with her school’s UFO fanatic, whom she nicknames “Okarun” because he has a name that is not to be said aloud. While Momo strongly believes in spirits, she thinks aliens are nothing but nonsense. Her new friend, however, thinks quite the opposite. To settle matters, the two set out to prove each other wrong—Momo to a UFO hotspot and Okarun to a haunted tunnel! What unfolds next is a beautiful story of young love…and oddly horny aliens and spirits? 208pgs B&W paperback.
First There Was Chaos: Hesiod’s Theory of Creation
by Uncivilized Books
$34.95
The publisher says:
Greek myth has inspired stories and art for millennia. And yet some stories and characters remain unfamiliar. First There Was Chaos explores the formless, primordial and extraordinary forces that preceded the Olympian gods. These tales of Creation illustrate the creative process, giving cosmic form to the universal struggles of all creators. Based on Hesiod’s Theogony and other classic sources, First There Was Chaos synthesises fragmentary myths into a compelling narrative accessible to a contemporary audience. Joel Priddy is the creator of Pulpatoon: Pilgrimage (AdHouse Books) and The Gift of the Magi (HarperCollins). He has won several industry awards, including the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Debut, and has been nominated for several Eisner Awards, including Best Graphic Novel and Best Single Issue Comic. His work was included in The Best American Comics and The New York Times. 232pgs colour hardcover.
I Am The Law: How Judge Dredd Predicted Our Future
by Michael Molcher
Rebellion / 2000 AD
$19.99
The publisher says:
An in-depth examination of the ways in which the comic strip Judge Dredd published in 2000 AD, has predicted the changing face of policing in Britain over the last 45 years. He is the law - and you better believe it! Judge, jury and executioner, Judge Dredd is the brutal comic book cop policing the chaotic future urban jungle of Mega-City One, created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra and launching in the pages of 2000 AD in 1977. But what began as a sci-fi action comic quickly evolved into a searing satire on hardline, militarised policing and ‘law and order’ politics, its endless inventiveness and ironic humour acting as a prophetic warning about our world today— and with important lessons for our future. Blending comic book history with contemporary radical theories on policing, I Am The Law takes key Dredd stories from the last 45 years and demonstrates how they provide a unique wake up call about our gradual, and not so gradual, slide towards authoritarian policing. From the politicisation of policing to ‘zero tolerance’, from violent suppression of protest to the rise of the surveillance state, I Am The Law examines how a comic book warned us about the chilling endgame of today’s ‘law and order’ politics. Michael Molcher is a journalist, publicist and podcaster. Previously a local newspaper reporter and then a government shill, he has been the publicity manager for 2000 AD for more than a decade. He has written extensively about comics for SFX, Comic Heroes, politics.co.uk, 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine, and has interviewed in-depth many of the writers and artists who have worked for 2000 AD over its forty-five year history. Between 2015 and 2018 he produced an extensive series of critical pieces on Judge Dredd for Hachette Partwork’s Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection series. 208pgs B&W paperback.
It’s Lonely At The Centre of the Earth
by Zoe Thorogood
Image
$12.99
The publisher says:
Cartoonist Zoe Thorogood records six months of her own life as it falls apart in a desperate attempt to put it back together again in the only way she knows how. It’s Lonely At The Centre of the Earth is an intimate and metanarrative look into the life of a selfish artist who must create for her own survival. A poignant, slice-of-life-style story perfect for fans of Adrian Tomine’s The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist. Zoe Thorogood is a comic creator based in the UK. Her most recent works include The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott (Avery Hill) and HaHa. She also frequently works as a cover artist and concept artist. 120pgs colour paperback.
Je Ne Sais Quoi: The Adventures of a French Woman in London
by Lucie Arnoux
Jonathan Cape
£20.00
The publisher says:
A funny, heartfelt graphic memoir about living in foreign countries, and finding one’s place both at home and abroad. In this delightful graphic novel, Lucie Arnoux chronicles her adventures around the world. Growing up in Marseille as a misfit with a passion for drawing, she decides to settle in London to pursue her dream career as a comics writer. Je Ne Sais Quoi shows us London through the eyes of a mischievous and clear-sighted young French woman, the joys and pains of being an outsider and, ultimately, how to live life to its fullest. Lucie is a French artist living in London. She started drawing comics 14, when she joined the Studio Gottferdom. First published at 17 in Lanfeust Magazine, she produced monthly autobiographical stories in its pages for six years. She studied in Paris before finally moving to the UK. She graduated from Kingston University in Illustration and Animation, has settled in London for good. A compulsive sketcher, Lucie has tried her hands at all sorts of painterly things. Designing theatre backdrops and prop painting with Olivier award-winning designer Tim Bird, live sketching as artist-in-residence for Sidmouth Folkweek, Womad and the Rose Theatre, illustrating comics and children’s books published internationally. She is at present working on various projects, and she hopes the mad creative juggling never stops. 96pgs colour hardcover.
Last Man Vol. 1
by Balak, Michael Sanlaville & Bastien Vivès
Image
$24.99
The publisher says:
The hit French fight comic comes to Skybound! Adrian Velba has trained all year to fight in the Valley of the Kings’ legendary tournament. However, despite his ambition, he has no chance of winning. Not only is his partner unable to compete, but at 12 years old, Adrian is the longest of longshots. That is, until a mysterious, powerful stranger enters town, offering to join forces with Adrian. But who is Richard Aldana? And why in a world of magic does he rely solely on his fists? The multi-volume, action-packed Lastman series starts here. Perfect for readers of Invincible and Ultramega!. 416pgs B&W paperback.
Leonardo Vol. 2
by Stéphane Levallois
NBM / Louvre Editions
$29.99
The publisher says:
Planet Earth, engaged in an intergalactic conflict, entrusts 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). In this tribute on the occasion of the massive retrospective of Leonardo da Vinci at the Louvre, he builds his story and composes his boards selecting a large number of drawings and paintings by the maestro 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. A visual experience not to be missed in an oversized hardcover. Stéphane Levallois was born in 1970 and lives in Paris. In 1988, he entered the Penninghen Graduate School of Graphic Art. Among his teachers was 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 including Marc Caro, Jan Kounen, Louis Leterrier, Peter Weber, Wong Kar Wai and on such blockbuster movie franchises as Alien, Harry Potter and King Kong. He designs for Stark, John Galiano, Jean Baptiste Mondino and Hedi Slimane. He also does character studies for the Time Warner companies and Marvel Studios. 96pgs colour hardcover.
Lucy
by Tanino Liberatore
Heavy Metal
$19.99
The publisher says:
In this comic book with a romantic breath, remarkable for its scientific veracity, we follow the timid footsteps of our ancestor in his awakening to consciousness. A journey made of dangers and discoveries, rocked by the starry night where all the mystery of the world is hidden. At the end of the 1970s, a discovery changed the face of the world: the almost complete skeleton of a specimen of Australopithecus, the oldest common ancestor of mankind, was unearthed in the Afar Triangle in Ethiopia. But who was this woman named “Lucy” after the Beatles song? In this comic book with a romantic breath, remarkable for its scientific veracity, we follow the timid footsteps of our ancestor in his awakening to consciousness. A journey made of dangers and discoveries, rocked by the starry night where all the mystery of the world is hidden. Poetically narrated by Patrick Norbert, carried by the breathtaking ultra-realism of Tanino Liberatore (RanXerox, Heavy Metal Magazine) and produced under the supervision of Yves Coppens (author of a very beautiful afterword), Lucy is an album for dreaming and reflecting on ourselves. A wonderful album to go back to the sources of our history. Contains a special sketchbook section by artist Tanino Liberatore. 96pgs colour hardcover.
Manga: A Critical Guide
by Shige (CJ) Suzuki & Ronald Stewart
Bloomsbury Comics Studies
$90.00 / $29.95
The publisher says:
A wide-ranging introductory guide for readers making their first steps into the world of manga, this book helps readers explore the full range of Japanese comic styles, forms and traditions from its earliest texts to the internationally popular comics of the 21st century. In an accessible and easy-to-navigate format, the book covers: the history of Japanese comics, from influences in early visual culture to the global ‘Manga Boom’ of the 1990s to the present; case studies of texts reflecting the range of themes, genres, forms and creators, including Osamu Tezuka, Machiko Hasegawa and Katsuhiro Otomo; key themes and contexts – from gender and sexuality, to history and censorship; and critical approaches to manga, including definitions, biography and reception and global publishing contexts. The book includes a bibliography of essential critical writing on manga, discussion questions for classroom use and a glossary of key critical terms. Shige (CJ) Suzuki is Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature at Baruch College, City University of New York, USA. Ronald Stewart is Professor at Daito Bunka University, Japan. He has published widely on comics and manga, including as a columnist for Japan’s largest national newspaper, the Yomiuri Shinbun.
Miracleman Omnibus
by ‘The Original Writer’, Mick Anglo, Garry Leach, Alan Davis, John Totleben & others
Marvel
$100.00
The publisher says:
Middle-aged reporter Michael Moran always knew he was meant for something more. When an unexpected series of events leads him to reclaim his destiny, Miracleman is reborn. But Miracleman’s return threatens to unravel Moran’s life. Their connections to Dr. Emil Gargunza and Project Zarathustra bring with them disturbing revelations and trigger the return of a childhood friend who, beneath his sinister smile, has become something terrifying. Pushing the concept of the super hero to its logical conclusion, Miracleman is nothing short of a revelation. The series reinvented the super hero and 40 years later stands as one of the influential works in the comic book artform. This first-ever Omnibus edition collects Miracleman Books 1, 2 and 3, complete with a massive trove of covers, original artwork and rare features. Variant covers by Garry Leach, Alan Davis and Kevin Nowlan. 808pgs colour hardcover.
Miracleman: The Silver Age #1
by Neil Gaiman & Mark Buckingham
Marvel
$4.99
The publisher says:
Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham’s unfinished storyline “The Silver Age” begins. Young Miracleman - the lost member of the Miracleman Family - is back. His last memories were of a 1963 world of joy and innocence. Now, he’s been thrust into the 21st century, where his best friends have become gods and monsters. Remastered with stunning new artwork by Mark Buckingham. Including material originally presented in Miracleman (1985) #23, plus bonus content. Multiple variant covers. 32pgs colour comic book.
Movements and Moments
by Drawn & Quarterly
$29.95
The publisher says:
An ambitious feminist anthology chronicling Indigenous rebellions around the world. In 1930s Bolivia, self-described Anarchist Cholas form a libertarian trade union. In the Northern Highlands of Vietnam, the songs of one girl’s youth lead her to a life of activism. In the Philippines, female elders from Kalinga blaze a trail when pushed into impromptu protest. Equally striking accounts from Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, India, Nepal, Peru and Thailand weave a tapestry of trauma and triumph, shedding light on not-too-distant histories otherwise overlooked. Indigenous Peoples all over the world have always had to stand their ground in the face of colonialism. While the details may differ, what these stories have in common is their commitment to resistance in a world that puts profit before respect, and western notions of progress before their own. Movements and Moments is an introductory glimpse into how Indigenous Peoples tell these stories in their own words. From Southeast Asia to South America, vibrant communities must grapple with colonial realities to assert ownership over their lands and traditions.This project was undertaken in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Indonesien in Jakarta. These stories were selected from an open call across 42 countries to spotlight feminist movements and advocacies in the Global South. 308pgs colour hardcover.
Never Satisfied
by Taylor Robin
Seven Seas
$17.99
The publisher says:
The full-colour, critically acclaimed graphic novel series that started as a webcomic! In a seaside city flanked by towering statues, a diverse group of magicians live and work with their familiars-animal companions unique to themselves. To young magicians, there is one job coveted more than any: representative champion of their city. Lucy Marlowe is a non-binary apprentice out to prove themself to an apathetic master. The other apprentice magicians reach out to Lucy and each other, but as the competition heats up, it’s unclear if friendship can bloom when they are all pitted against each other. Can anybody truly understand anyone else? And at what cost does glory come? Taylor Robin is an illustration grad from RISD, best known for his award-winning webcomic Never Satisfied. 256pgs colour paperback.
Numb To This: Memoir of a Mass Shooting
by Kindra Neely
Little Brown
$24.99 / $17.99
The publisher says:
This searing graphic memoir portrays the impact of gun violence through a fresh lens with urgency, humanity, and a very personal hope. Kindra Neely never expected it to happen to her. No one does. Sure, she’d sometimes been close to gun violence, like when the house down the street from her childhood home in Texas was targeted in a drive-by shooting. But now she lived in Oregon, where she spent her time swimming in rivers with friends or attending classes at the bucolic Umpqua Community College. And then, one day, it happened: a mass shooting shattered her college campus. Over the span of a few minutes, on October 1, 2015, eight students and a professor lost their lives. And suddenly, Kindra became a survivor. This empathetic and ultimately hopeful graphic memoir recounts Kindra’s journey forward from those few minutes that changed everything. It wasn’t easy. Every time Kindra took a step toward peace and wholeness, a new mass shooting devastated her again. Las Vegas. Parkland. She was hopeless at times, feeling as if no one was listening. Not even at the worldwide demonstration March for Our Lives. But finally, Kindra learned that—for her—the path toward hope wound through art, helping others and sharing her story. Kindra Neely is an artist and writer based in southern Oregon. Her art journey began with the amazing community and encouragement she received at Umpqua Community College. She took her first drawing class Drawing Nature at UCC and still likes to hike the trails regularly to sketch flowers and ferns. Numb to This is her debut graphic novel. 304pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
Open Bar
by Eduardo Medeiros
Oni Press
$24.99
The publisher says:
Lenny and Beardo are two childhood friends with a lot of road behind them. When Beardo’s deadbeat dad dies and leaves them his old bar, they make a go of it as business partners. Easy enough, right? Maybe not. Running a business in a low-traffic area of town isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, but luckily for the boys, the one-two punch of viral media attention when their neighbour gets crushed by a 747 engine that falls from the sky and a sorta suspect (but very potent) beer recipe they stumble into catch the public’s imagination at just the right time. Things get even more complicated when Lenny’s ex-girlfriend Amanda shows up again, pregnant. Can our two heroes weather the ravages of success any better than they dealt with being losers? Can Lenny level up and be a good dad? Can Beardo forgive his dead, absentee father? Will the general public run them out of town when they find out what was in that beer? These questions and more are answered inside! Eduardo Medeiros is a comic book author well known for his acidic humor and unique art style. Eduardo has several books published in Brazil and United States, including: Mondo Urbano (Devir/OniPress), Sopa de Salsicha (Cia das Letras), Marvel Strange Tales (Marvel), Gotham Academy (DC Comics), Open Bar (Panini Books), Joker 80th (DC Comics), and Funny Creek (ComiXology). 272pgs colour paperback.
Sennen
by Shanti Rai
Avery Hill Publishing
$14.95
The publisher says:
Sennen’s life is mostly perfect—spending her days tending the fields in her idyllic village and her evenings with her beloved family, all tucked into the crook of a green and beautiful valley. And if it wasn’t for the masked figures descending from the hills with increasing regularity to take their harvested food to deliver to their Gods, she’d have no worries at all. But when the demands for tribute strike closer to home, Sennen is forced to flee the paradise of her valley and venture into the home of the Gods to save her family and their way of life—only to discover that those we worship are not always what they seem, and the lives we lead are not always so simplistic after all. Sennen, the debut graphic novel from exciting new British author and artist Shanti Rai, tells a timeless tale of adventure, and the discoveries we make as we explore beyond the boundaries of our childhood, into the uncertainty of the adult world. Shanti Rai is an illustrator and comics creator from London who graduated from Camberwell College of Arts in 2017 with a degree in Illustration. She has self-published her own work previously, including the comics Day Dreams, KO and Persephone, with Sennen being her debut full-length work. 100pgs colour paperback.
Shuna’s Journey
by Hayao Miyazaki, translated by Alex Dudok de Wit
$27.99
First Second
The publisher says:
From legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki comes a new manga classic about a prince on a quest for a golden grain that would save his land, never before published in English. Shuna, the prince of a poor land, watches in despair as his people work themselves to death harvesting the little grain that grows there. And so, when a traveler presents him with a sample of seeds from a mysterious western land, he sets out to find the source of the golden grain, dreaming of a better life for his subjects. It is not long before he meets a proud girl named Thea. After freeing her from captivity, he is pursued by her enemies, and while Thea escapes north, Shuna continues toward the west, finally reaching the Land of the God-Folk. Will Shuna ever see Thea again? And will he make it back home from his quest for the golden grain? Born in 1941 in Tokyo, Japan, Hayao Miyazaki co-founded Studio Ghibli in 1985 with Isao Takahata. Among his eleven animated features, Spirited Away (2001) broke every box-office record in Japan, and won the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival and the 75th Academy Award for Animated Feature Film. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) received the Golden Osella award at the 2004 Venice International Film Festival. Miyazaki was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 2005 Venice International Film Festival. The Wind Rises (2013) was nominated for the 86th Academy Award for Animated Feature Film. In 2014, the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented him with a Governors Award for lifetime achievement. He is currently working on a new production. 160pgs colour hardcover.
Sophie’s World: A Graphic Novel About the History of Philosophy Vol 1: From Socrates to Galileo
by Jostein Gaarder, Vincent Zabus & Nicoby
SelfMadeHero
£18.99
The publisher says:
One day, Sophie receives a cryptic letter posing an intriguing question: “Who are you?” A second message soon follows: “Where does the world come from?” It is the beginning of an unusual correspondence between our curious young heroine and her mysterious penpal. As the questions begin to pile up, Sophie is propelled headlong into a startling adventure through the history of Western philosophy. Her search for answers will see her explore each of the major schools of thought, as she tries to uncover the true nature of the letters, her secretive teacher… and, above all, herself! In this witty comics adaptation, Zabus and Nicoby have reinvented Jostein Gaarder’s novel of ideas – a beloved bestseller that has already won the hearts of over 50 million readers around the world – to bring Sophie’s charming exploration of meaning and existence to a whole new medium. Jostein Gaarder was born in Oslo, Norway, in 1952. After teaching philosophy and the history of ideas in Bergen, he devoted himself to writing. His worldwide bestseller Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy was hailed as a masterpiece by critics and readers alike. He put a significant portion of his rights earnings towards establishing a foundation for sustainable environmental development. Playwright and comics writer Vincent Zabus lives in Namur, Belgium. He became well-known penning children’s series for the long-running and beloved Spirou magazine. He went on to create the prizewinning tales Les Ombres and Incroyable!, which debuted as plays and then became graphic novels in collaboration with the artist Hippolyte. His adaptation of Sophie’s World combines his passions for storytelling and philosophy. A product of the mid-1970s, artist Nicoby has published over 40 works in a variety of genres, styles and formats, ranging from memoir to humour to adventure to reportage to observations of social foibles, both in book form and in periodicals such as La Revue Dessinée and Spirou, to which he is a regular contributor. He lives in the Breton countryside near Rennes, far from car exhaust and electric scooters. 264pgs colour paperback.
Super Trash Clash
by Edgar Camacho
IDW / Top Shelf Productions
$14.99
The publisher says:
Nostalgia for the world’s worst video game brings a girl back to her childhood in an action-packed indie graphic novel about friendship, family, and three-hit combos. It’s an age-old story: for her birthday, Dul wanted the hottest new video game, but her mom accidentally bought her Super Trash Clash—one of the worst games ever made. But years later, when an older Dul finds a cartridge in a vintage store, memories come flooding back: simpler times when she could disappear into electronic worlds or spend hours battling with friends and enemies, and the love and sacrifices that bound her family together. This vivid and action-packed graphic novel from Mexican rising star Edgar Camacho is a heartwarming reflection on what gaming means to kids, crammed full of Easter eggs and tributes to the games that shaped our culture. Edgar Camacho is a comics writer/artist who was born in 1989 in Metepec, Mexico. After winning various comic and illustration awards in his homeland (including the 2014 SecuenciArte prize for Summon’s Alley and Mexico’s first National Young Graphic Novel Award for Onion Skin), he has also built a devoted fanbase with the webcomic series Tiras sin Sentido (Senseless Strips). After Onion Skin, Super Trash Clash is his second English-language graphic novel. 96pgs colour paperback.
Temudjin
by Antoine Ozanam & Antoine Carrion
Magnetic Press
$34.99
The publisher says:
A child is born in an ancient distant land, celebrated by the shaman Ozbeg who senses the spirit of greatness inside him. This boy, Temudjin, must be guided to listen to the voices of nature around him, for one day, he will lead the Mongol clans to glory as the reborn Genghis Khan. A lush, lyrical, almost operatic fable speculating on the youth of the first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. Filled with mysticism and surreal visions, this grand epic takes on a fantasy quality lightly infused with just enough nuggets of history to set in time. Torn between a destiny he is told to have and a life he would otherwise chose for himself, the mind of a legendary warlord is laid bare to readers in a cinematic and poetic narrative breathtakingly illustrated by Antoine Carrion. Antoine Carrion aka Tentacle Eye is French comic book artist, previously working in video games and illustration, who names among his influences Nicolas de Crécy, Milo Manara, Katsuhiro Otomo, Katsuya Terada and Sergio Toppi. 200pgs colour hardcover.
The Golem of Venice Beach
by Chanan Beizer, Vanessa Cardinali, Nick Pitarra, Bill Sienkiewicz, Michael Allred, Stephen R. Bissette, Jae Lee & Paul Pope
Clover Press
$40.00
The publisher says:
Eisner-award winning artists Michael Allred, Stephen R. Bissette, Jae Lee, Paul Pope and Bill Sienkiewicz, artist Nick Pitarra (co-creator of The Manhattan Projects), artist Vanessa Cardinali (Image Comics’ Slumber), letterer Clem Robins (Hellboy) and debut comic book writer Chanan Beizer have teamed up to create an all-new graphic novel, The Golem of Venice Beach. This 152-page epic about the adventures of a 400-year-old Golem spans from 16th century Europe to the horrors of World War II to modern-day Venice Beach, where the Golem becomes entangled in a war between a gang and the police. The Golem of Venice Beach is both a riveting narrative and a celebration of Southern California. It features a wrap-around cover and a seven-page prologue by artist Bill Sienkiewicz (Moon Knight) that showcases the Golem’s creation in the year 1580. Jae Lee (The Inhumans) and colourist June Chung provide a ten-page flashback sequence that depicts how the Golem was resurrected during World War Two. Award-winning artists Michael Allred and Laura Allred (Madman) have designed a visual map of Venice Beach that captures everything weird and wonderful about the bohemian spirit that permeates the neighbourhood. Paul Pope, Nick Pitarra, and (returning to comics!) Stephen R. Bissette provide amazing additional pages of art to round out this hardcover from Clover Press. 152pgs colour hardcover.
The Journey of Marcel Grob
by Philippe Collin & Sébastien Goethals
Dead Reckoning
$27.95
The publisher says:
In the dead of night, eighty-three-year-old Marcel Grob is sequestered by an investigating judge who questions him about his past. Particularly beginning on June 28, 1944, the day when “Marzell”, like ten thousand of his German-speaking peers from the French borderland province of Alsace, became a member of the Nazis’ infamous Waffen SS. But did the teenager volunteer, or was he conscripted by the Nazis? Was he a “Malgré-nous,” one of those forced to comply, or was he a war criminal? To establish the truth of his troubled past, Marcel Grob will have to revisit painful memories as an adolescent forced to fight in Italy with the sinister Reichsführer division. Determined to prove his innocence, Marcel begins the story of a long journey into night. Philippe Collin holds a master’s degree in contemporary history devoted to the purging of collaborators during the Liberation. Since 1999, he has been a producer and author of programs for television and radio, including the now-cult Panique au Mangin Palace on France Inter, and Personne ne bouge broadcast by ARTE. Today, his weekly program on France Inter, L’oeil du tigre, combines sport and history. Cartoonist and author of comics, Sébastien Goethals is known for his work in adapting detective stories and genre stories, including Le Temps des sauvages, based on Thomas Gunzig’s novel, Manuel de survie à l’usage des incapables. He published, in collaboration with Philippe Collin, Le Voyage de Marcel Grob, which was awarded the Prix Historia 2019 and the Prix Découverte 2020 at the Angoulême International Festival. 192pgs colour paperback.
The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law That Changed Women’s Lives
by Kelcey Ervick
Avery
$27.00
The publisher says:
A beautifully illustrated coming-of-age graphic memoir chronicling how sports shaped one young girl’s life and changed women’s history forever. Growing up playing on a top national soccer team in the 1980s, Kelcey Ervick and her teammates didn’t understand the change they represented. Title IX [of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity) discrimination in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance] was enacted in 1972 with little fanfare, but to seismic effect; between then and now, girls’ participation in organised sports has exploded more than 1,000 percent. Braiding together personal narrative, pop culture, literature and history, Ervick tells the story of how her adolescence was shaped by this boom. Ervick also explores her role as a goalkeeper—a position marked by outsider status and observation—and reveals how it has drawn some of the most famed writers of our time. With wit and poignant storytelling, The Keeper brings to life forgotten figures who understood the importance of athletics to help women step into their confidence and power—and push for equality. Full of 1980s nostalgia and heart, The Keeper is a celebration of how far we have come and a reminder of how far we have to go. Kelcey Ervick was a goalkeeper for nationally ranked soccer teams as a girl. These days, she is an author, artist, mother, and professor of creative writing at Indiana University in South Bend. 336pgs colour paperback.
The Last Mechanical Monster
by Brian Fies
Abrams ComicArts
$24.99
The publisher says:
From Brian Fies, the acclaimed graphic novelist of Mom’s Cancer, Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? and A Fire Story, comes a classic comic book adventure for all ages. Decades after being imprisoned for threatening his city with an army of giant robots, an elderly scientist reenters society, only to discover he needs help navigating life in the 21st century. Experiencing real kindness and friendship for the first time ever, his new relationships challenge the inventor’s single-minded devotion for vengeance―just as his plans threaten to spiral out of his control. An homage to the classic cartoons of the 1940s, The Last Mechanical Monster is about ambition, creativity, mortality, friendship, and legacy. How do we want to be remembered? And what will we leave behind? This latest graphic novel from Brian Fies already has a fanbase and a considerable history of accomplishment. Initially published online as a webcomic, it was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic in both 2014 and 2015. It is also a pivot from Fies’s more serious graphic novels, created at a time when he was between large, demanding projects, and needing to remind himself that comics could and should be fun and provide a joyful escape―something we can all use a little more of these days. Brian Fies is a writer and cartoonist. His widely acclaimed first graphic novel, Mom’s Cancer, won the Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic in 2005 (the first webcomic to win this award and the inspiration for the category), the 2007 Lulu Blooker Prize for Best Comic, the 2007 Harvey Award for Best New Talent, and the 2007 German Children’s Literature Award. He is also the author of the acclaimed, award-winning graphic novels A Fire Story, which received four starred reviews, and Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?, winner of the American Astronautical Society’s 2009 Eugene M. Emme Award for Best Young Adult Literature. He lives in Santa Rosa, California. 192pgs colour hardcover.
The Shonen Jump Guide to Making Manga
by Various
Viz Media
$16.99
The publisher says:
The people who make the World’s Most Popular Manga share their tricks, advice, and secrets! From Dragon Ball to Demon Slayer, from One Piece to My Hero Academia and beyond, Weekly Shonen Jump has published some of the finest manga to grace the earth. Now, the creators and editors behind several of the most popular manga in Shonen Jump sit down to discuss how to craft exciting stories, how to use your tools to the best of your abilities, and more. Whether you’re getting started on your artistic path or a veteran looking for new tips, The Shonen Jump Guide to Making Manga is the perfect book to sharpen your skills. Featuring commentary and advice from Eiichiro Oda (One Piece), Tite Kubo (Bleach), Shun Saeki (Food Wars), Kaiu Shirai & Posuka Demizu (The Promised Neverland), Yusei Matsui (Assassination Classroom), Kohei Horikoshi (My Hero Academia) and more! 178pgs B&W paperback.
Thieves
by Lucie Bryon
Nobrow Press
£14.99 / $20.99
The publisher says:
Ella can’t seem to remember a single thing from the party the night before at a mysterious stranger’s mansion, and she sure as heck doesn’t know why she’s woken up in her bed surrounded by a magpie’s nest of objects that aren’t her own. And she can’t stop thinking about her huge crush on Madeleine, who she definitely can’t tell about her sudden penchant for kleptomania… But does Maddy have secrets of her own? Can they piece together that night between them and fix the mess of their chaotic personal lives in time to form a normal, teenage relationship? That would be nice. Lucie Bryon is a cartoonist and illustrator. She studied graphic design in Orléans, France and comics at the ESA St Luc Brussels, Belgium. She now lives in France and works for children’s publishing, video game companies and various publications as an illustrator and comic artist. Her work has been published by ShortBox, Éditions Milan, BDkids, Kaboom Studios, Cicada Magazine, and France Inter. 208pgs colour paperback.
Tove Jansson: The Illustrators
by Paul Gravett
Thames & Hudson
£19.99
An appreciation of the life and art of Tove Jansson, creator of the Moomin books, which are adored by children and adults across the globe. This book provides fresh insights and a deeper appreciation of the life and art of Tove Jansson (1914-2001), one of the most original, influential and perennially enjoyed illustrators of the 20th century. Jansson’s flourishing Moomin books are examined in detail, as are her interpretations of such classics as Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Hunting of the Snark, and J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Born in Helsinki among the Swedish-speaking Finnish minority, Jansson was brought up with a love for making art and stories in a supportive artistic family. Her first illustrated tales were published when she was fourteen years old. From a year later until 1953, she drew humorous and political cartoons as well as striking front covers for the satirical magazine Garm, responding to the Second World War and its aftermath as she developed from art student to painter and muralist, bohemian and lesbian. This book also explores the emergence of her Moomin world, appearing in her first children’s book in 1945 and then in newspaper strips. These would lead to her being headhunted by the London Evening News, the world’s biggest-selling evening paper, to write and draw a daily Moomin newspaper cartoon. This body of work is one of her great achievements, expanding her stories, settings and cast and invigorating her drawing and writing. Jansson also wrote many novels, documented here along with personal commentaries from her own writings. Paul Gravett is a writer, critic, curator, publisher and broadcaster who has worked in the comics industry since 1981. He is author of many books, including Graphic Novels: Stories to Change Your Life, Comics Art and Mangasia, the latter published by Thames & Hudson in 2017. He is also the author of Posy Simmonds in The Illustrators series. 112pgs colour hardcover.
W The Whore
by Katrin De Vries & Anke Feuchtenberger, translated by Mark Nevins
New York Review Comics
$39.95
The publisher says:
The experiences of womanhood are heightened and transformed in these eerie, fairy tale-like comics by a gifted artist-writer duo. Soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the West German-born Katrin de Vries read a magazine featuring the drawings of the East German-born Anke Feuchtenberger. De Vries wrote to ask Feuchtenberger if she might want to collaborate, and together they’ve produced some of the most striking German comics of the last thirty years, most notably W the Whore. Collected here in English for the first time, W the Whore, W the Whore Makes Her Tracks and W the Whore Throws the Glove present the shared vision of de Vries and Feuchtenberger at its most ambitious. The titular heroine, W the Whore, drawn in a shifting guise by Feuchtenberger, navigates the tedious rituals of womanhood, the unsettling mysteries of male desire and the strangeness of motherhood, all while moving through a familiar but hostile everyday landscape of houses, factories, rail yards and other ominous structures. An intimate and captivating work of comics, W the Whore is a testament to the challenges of existing in the bodies that we have been fated to inhabit, and what we do to persevere. Anke Feuchtenberger is a German artist. She studied at the Kunsthochschule Berlin. Since 1997 she has held a professorship in drawing and graphic narration at the University of Applied Science in Hamburg. Feuchtenberger emerged as a comic artist and started exhibiting and publishing internationally in the 1990s. She lives in Hamburg and Vorpommern, Germany. Katrin de Vries is a German writer. She lives with her family in Bunde, Germany. Mark David Nevins is an occasional writer on and translator of comics. For more than two decades he has been the American Correspondent for the Swiss comics journal STRAPAZIN. His comics translations include Lone Racer, The Exlibris, Tango with Death and The Man Who Didn’t Sweat. Professionally he advises CEOs and boards on leadership, strategy and governance. Madeleine Schwartz is a journalist and editor based in Paris whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The London Review of Books and The New York Review of Books. 240pgs B&W hardcover.
We The People!: Big Ideas That Changed The World
by Don Brown
Amulet Books
$14.99
The publisher says:
Award-winning author Don Brown explores the history of democracy in the United States in this instalment of the Big Ideas That Changed the World series. The Greek word democracy comes from demos (people) and kratos (rule)—meaning “the people hold power.” In this timely graphic novel, acclaimed author-illustrator Don Brown explores the history of democracy—from civilisation’s beginnings as hunter-gatherers to the birth of monarchies and vast empires, and from the earliest republics to our present-day government. Narrated by Abigail Adams, We the People! explores how Athenian and Greek assemblies inspired our legislative and judiciary branches; how Enlightenment ideals of reason, toleration and human progress shaped our founding fathers’ thinking; how Mali’s Manden Charter and England’s Magna Carta influenced our Bill of Rights; and how the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy directly shaped the US Constitution. Explaining the fundamentals of democracy—liberty, equality, and justice for all—in a kid-friendly way, We the People! is a powerful reminder that power rests in the people’s hands. Big Ideas That Changed the World is a graphic novel series that celebrates the hard-won succession of ideas that ultimately changed the world. Humour, drama and art unite to tell the story of events, discoveries and ingenuity over time that led humans to come up with a big idea and then make it come true. Don Brown is the award-winning author and illustrator of many nonfiction graphic novels and picture books. His books have been called “masterful” and “a must for youth graphic collections.” Brown has received an Eisner nomination, two Sibert Honors, a Horn Book Best Book honour, a YALSA award and multiple starred reviews, among other awards and notices. He lives in Hudson Valley, New York, with his family. 128pgs colour hardcover.
Who Will Make the Pancakes
by Megan Kelso
Fantagraphics
$29.99
The publisher says:
Who Will Make the Pancakes collects five deeply social stories by the acclaimed cartoonist Megan Kelso, exploring the connective tissue that binds us together despite our individual, interior experience. These stories, created over the past 15 years—roughly contemporaneously with the author’s own journey as a mother—wrestle with the concept of motherhood and the way the experience informs and impacts concepts of identity, racism, class, love and even abuse.The book opens with “Watergate Sue,” originally serialised in The New York Times Magazine over six months in 2007. Spanning two generations of mothers/daughters, Eve’s obsession with Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal throughout 1973 heightens her self-doubt about whether she wants to raise more children (resonantly mirroring the anxiety many of us had while doom scrolling our way through the Trump administration). Some 30 years later, her daughter, Sue, is now grown and beginning her own family and attempting to reconcile her mother’s experience with her own. “Cats in Service” is a contemporary fable about how a death in the family leads a young couple to adopt several cats who have been expertly trained to tend to their every need. “The Egg Room” profiles middle-aged Florence, caught bet
