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Top 32 Graphic Novels, Comics & Manga:
November 2024
The word ‘robot’ was coined in 1920 by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) which premiered in 1921. In its initial sense, a robot was not our modern definition of a metallic, mechanised substitute for a human being, but an artificially-created factory labourer who never needed to eat, sleep or be paid, the perfect workforce to maximise profits. Over a century later, the original play remains sharply relevant and Kateřina Čupová‘s graphic novelisation of it brilliantly captures the urgency of its themes to our present day.
Equally pressing and connected are the ecological repercussions of the total disregard of those who make greed their creed addressed in Toxic Tropics...
While in Anzuelo (Spanish for ‘hook’ or ‘bait’), Emma Rios plunges us into a sea-flooded future where the fraught struggle to survive triggers still more repercussions.
Tina Cho interviewed many North Korean refugees to research her deeply touching account of how two kids escape through the Asian Underground Railroad.
That fateful day, August 31st 1997, of Princess Diana’s death unravels through one family and the three very different love stories of parents, daughter and son.
American strip cartoonist James Swinnerton gets his overdue turn in the spotlight at last, proving his stature among the pioneers of the medium…
And other classic, Popeye, sets sail on an unexpected new voyage - it’s the ‘Sailor Man’ but as you’ve never seen him before.
To wrap up my highlights, over ten years and 300 pages of Judith Gfrörer’s piercing comix, self-published in tiny editions, can reach a wider readership in this compendium. These and more of my PG Tips await your discernment - time to get exploring!
2000AD Annual 2025
by various
Rebellion
£25.00 / £30.00
The publisher says:
From 1977 to 1990 the 2000 AD Annual was a staple of Christmas stockings across the length and breadth of the UK. And now…it’s back! This landmark annual contains all-new stories featuring Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Rogue Trooper and more. It also brings back into print selected strips from 2000 AD’s extensive archive. It includes brand-new stories from an amazing line-up of some of the brightest stars of the comics world including Chris Condon (That Texas Blood), Si Spurrier (The Dreaming), Alex Paknadel (All Against All), Dan Abnett (Aquaman), Fernando Blanco (w0rldtr33), Jake Lynch (Sinister Dexter), Hayden Sherman (Dark Spaces) and Phil Winslade (Bodies). Regular cover by Jake Lynch, special direct online cover by Brian Bolland which can be ordered here… 96pgs colour hardcover.
The Adventures of Munich in Marcel Duchamp
by Roman Muradov
Uncivilized Books
$29.99
The publisher says:
In the summer of 1912, Marcel Duchamp took a train to Munich and stayed there for three months. Very little direct knowledge remains about that trip. Immediately afterward, Duchamp gave up on painting and later in his life referred to Munich as the site of his ‘complete liberation.’ Roman Muradov’s highly unreliable narrator attempts to reconstruct this period, interrogating from different angles the fundamental futility of retelling another person’s life. The result is a fabulist satire that questions Duchamp’s legacy, his silence and sexuality, and the sources of the work that made him famous. At once meticulously researched and wildly irreverent, The Adventures of Munich in Marcel Duchamp is an anti-biography worthy of the great trickster. 116pgs colour paperback.
All Princesses Die Before Dawn
by Quentin Zuttion
Abrams ComicArts
$24.99
The publisher says:
A beautifully illustrated graphic novel focusing on a single day in the life of a family whose issues reach a breaking point on the day following the death of Princess Diana. Three love stories, from budding desire to fading passion, play out within one family on a late summer’s day—a day that will change all their lives forever. August 3, 1997. In the bathroom of his suburban home, eight-year-old Lulu is trying on his mom’s lipstick. He dreams of kissing his best friend, a neighbourhood boy. Meanwhile, his teenage sister, Cam, covers her much-older boyfriend sneaking up to her bedroom by blasting the latest summer hits. In the kitchen, their mother is waiting for their father, who didn’t come home last night. On TV, newscasters are announcing the death of Princess Diana… All Princesses Die Before Dawn is a devastating and richly illustrated slice-of-life graphic novel that has already found critical success in France. Topical and relevant to the issues many families in the United States and worldwide face today, it doesn’t shy away from addressing homophobia, emotional abuse, and broken families, but remains quietly optimistic about the strength of love and the human spirit as it does so. 160pgs colour hardcover.
Anzuelo
by Emma Rios
Image Comics
$24.99
The publisher says:
A gorgeous and brutal story that revolts against the notion of violence as the only response to a life without hope. The Sea, secretly more complex than anyone imagined, rises one day. The horizon folds as the Sea absorbs the world and transforms everything that’s been pulled inside it. Three kids find themselves unmoored and lost, but brought together by the physical and mental changes wrought by the tides and a desire to avoid harming any living creature. Anzuelo is the new graphic novel by the Eisner award-winning cartoonist Emma Ríos (Pretty Deadly, Mirror, I.D.). 304pgs colour hardcover.
Audrey Hepburn
by Michele Botton & Drilys Giachetto
NBM
$24.99
The publisher says:
‘Everyone has their own Audrey, for some she is always twenty years old, for others she is in black and white and for others in colour. Sometimes she is a European princess, a tipsy New Yorker or a UNICEF ambassador. Here you will discover her differently, made of ink and paper in a much more intimate and unvarnished dimension, without a soundtrack and with the voice you prefer. I sincerely hope that you will discover her as yours.’ From the preface by Luca Dotti, Hepburn’s son. When Audrey Hepburn is mentioned, one thinks of her being beautiful and elegant, of her films, or of how her image is used to recall something immortal and fashionable. But Audrey was also a little girl who saw the Second World War with her own eyes, a woman who was at times fragile at work and in her private life, with a strong desire for motherhood and, above all, a boundless love for children that would lead her to find her true vocation, far from dancing or acting: she will in fact become a UNICEF ambassador to raise awareness in the world and help minors in difficulty. ‘When I started acting I didn’t have a method, on set and on stage I just pretended to be someone else, like little girls can do for fun. And I won an Oscar!’—Audrey Hepburn. 176pgs colour hardcover.
B. Traven: Portrait of a Famous Unknown
by Golo, translated by Donald Nicholson-Smith
PM Press
$19.95
The publisher says:
His life belonged to him, only. His books belonged to the public. B. Traven: Portrait of a Famous Unknown is a graphic biography that tells the larger-than-life story of the German revolutionary, actor, and writer known as B. Traven (1882–1969). Despite his commercial success as a best-selling writer, Traven managed to keep his identity a secret during his lifetime. It is now generally accepted that Traven was in fact “Ret Marut” (another psudonym), a German stage actor and editor of an anarchist newspaper in Germany called Der Ziegelbrenner (The Brickburner). As Marut he was a major participant in the short-lived Bavarian Council Republic of 1919–20. Barely escaping execution, he fled Germany and lived incognito for the remainder of his life. His entire literary work, a great commercial success in its day, combines lively and often humorous storytelling with radical critique of capitalism and nationalism. His best-known work, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, from 1927, was adapted for film in 1948 by John Huston. Golo’s account of Traven’s life, rendered with stunning artwork, begins and ends with his ashes being dropped from a plane over the Lacandon jungle in Chiapas, Mexico, just a quarter century before the explosive uprising of the Zapatistas seemed to echo his deepest wishes. Guy Nadaud, known as Golo, was born in 1948 in Bayonne, France. He began his artistic career in 1973 as an illustrator for the music magazine Best. In the same year he visited Egypt for the first time and fell in love with Cairo, where he has lived for many years beginning in the 1990s. A prolific cartoonist and comic-book creator, Golo has contributed to many French and Egyptian periodicals, among them Hara-Kiri, Charlie Hebdo, Libération, Cairo Times, L’Association: Cairo, and Charlie Mensuel. In the 1980s his regular collaborator was the late Frank Reichert (“Frank”). His countless comic albums include adaptations of Albert Cossery, travelogues on Taiwan, and a two-volume graphic biography of the Romanian revolutionary vagabond Panaït Istrati. 144pgs colour paperback.
Blue Sky Through the Window of a Moving Car: Comics for beautiful, awful and ordinary days
by Jordan Bolton
Ebury Press
£14.99
The publisher says:
Jordan Bolton’s Blue Sky Through The Window of A Moving Car is a poignant collection of comics that explore universal experiences and emotions through art and poetry. Small yet powerful, and equal parts heart-breaking and heart-warming, these poetic comics are intensely relatable and go straight to the heart of what it means to be human. This first comic collection from artist Jordan Bolton explores the fleeting details that unite us. Jordan brings together the visual language of comics with the heartfelt language of poetry, to express moments of love and heartbreak, embarrassment and shame, hope and disappointment, grief and happiness. Split into sections that reflect where we spend the majority of our time ― In Public, In Transit, and At Home ― Bolton shines spotlights on the lives and stories unfolding around us every day that we might otherwise ignore. With the addition of new and unseen comics, Blue Sky Through The Window of A Moving Car is a gentle reminder that everything is ordinary, everything is extraordinary, and everything is connected. 128pgs colour hardcover.
Brian Blomerth’s Lilly Wave
by Brian Blomerth
Anthology Editions
$35.00
The publisher says:
A visual biography of the infamous ketamine researcher John C. Lilly. Since 2019, graphic novelist Brian Blomerth’s stunningly original comix histories have combined detailed research and riotous visual wit to illuminate the discovery of LSD (in Brian Blomerth’s Bicycle Day) and the popularisation of psilocybin mushrooms (in Brian Blomerth’s Mycelium Wassonii). Now, in the third entry in his ongoing series, Blomerth opens a porthole on the life, experiments, and addictions of John C. Lilly—the man whose development of the isolation tank, controversial studies in dolphin cognition, and ketamine-fuelled dives into the nature of consciousness made him perhaps the most notorious researcher of the psychedelic era. Featuring alien visitations, interspecies encounters, and no shortage of concerned onlookers, Brian Blomerth’s Lilly Wave sees a beloved artist working from an expanded palette of industrial ink-splatter and oceanic airbrushing to bring readers a story that’s equal parts cosmic and paranoid, transcendent and tragic. 220pgs colour paperback.
The British Invasion
by Hervé Bourhis
NBM
$34.99
The publisher says:
A “ little square book” focused on English pop culture since 1962 when the country began its revolution! Because it was in 1962, 60 years ago, that the ‘ole Albion’, that of the monarchy, tea and crumpets and bowler hats took a resolutely modern turn, thanks to a sexy secret agent, a band from Liverpool, and a mini (skirt and car). From the eccentric to the ultra-conservative, from James Bond to AstraZeneca, from Bowie to Banksy, including After Eights and the Teletubbies, year after year, all things Brit are covered! 272pgs colour hardcover.
Cities Made Differently
by David Graeber & Nika Dubrovsky
MIT Press
$19.95
The publisher says:
Full of playful graphics, provocative questions, and curious facts, this book asks what makes a city and how we might make them differently. What makes a city a city? Who says? Drafted over decades out of a dialogue between artist and author Nika Dubrovsky, the late anthropologist David Graeber, and Nika’s then four-year-old son, this delightful and provocative book Cities Made Differently opens a space for invention and collaboration. Fusing anthropology, literature, play, and drawing, the book is essentially a visual essay that asks us to reconsider our ideas about cities and the people who inhabit them. Drawing us into a world of history and myth, science and imagination, Graeber and Dubrovsky invite us to rethink the worlds we inhabit—because we can, and nothing is too strange or too wonderful to be true. With inspired pictures and prompts, Cities Made Differently asks what a city is, or could be, or once was. Sleeping at the bottom of the ocean? Buried in lava? What were those cities of long ago, and what will the cities of the future be? They might be virtual, ruled by AI, or islands of beautiful architecture afloat in seas of greenery. They might be utopian places of refuge or refugee camps as far as the eye can see. On land, underground or aloft, excavated or imagined, cities, this book tells us in provocative and funny ways, can be anything we want them to be—and what we want them to be can tell us something about who we are, what it is to be human, and what’s possible when we make way for wonder. Cities Made Differently exists in two versions, one for reading and thinking, the other, downloadable at a4kids.org, for drawing and dreaming. 120pgs colour paperback.
Dante’s Inferno
by Dante Alighieri, Paul Brizzi & Gaëtan Brizzi
Abrams ComicArts
$25.99
The publisher says:
Acclaimed French animators Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi adapt Dante’s literary classic Inferno in the sweeping, dramatic style that brought The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Fantasia 2000 to life. Literary aficionados will appreciate this decadent graphic novel adaptation, which does not seek to sand down the source material. Likewise, adults whose imaginations were fuelled by films like Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame as children, which the Brizzi brothers animated sequences for, will be swept up in this lushly illustrated adult fable, unfettered by the demands of corporate animation studios. Guided by the poet Virgil, Dante crosses the nine circles of Hell to find his beloved, Beatrice, in Paradise. Along the way, he must recognise and reject each of the incarnations of sin. In each circle of Hell, Dante confronts both sinners and demons, from Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Achilles, and Paris, whose loves were famously their downfall, to the Greek Furies and Medusa, to heretics like Epicurus, whose teachings claimed that the soul died with the body, now forced to writhe in a flaming tomb for eternity. Each layer of Hell reveals monsters, gods, historical and mythological kings, philosophers, queens, and hordes of the miserable, faceless damned, all culminating in a confrontation with Lucifer himself. Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi make this famously dense literary classic accessible without distorting it and betraying the spirit of the Italian genius. They deftly translate it into comics while taking care to preserve the heart of the story: a taste for excess, dramatic tension, and the inevitable darkness of the subject matter. 160pgs B&W hardcover.
Den Vol. 5: The Price of Memories
by Richard Corben
Dark Horse
$39.99
The publisher says:
The fifth volume presenting the long-out-of-print masterpiece Den, by fantasy legend Richard Corben. This special edition features art pages restored by long-time Corben collaborator José Villarrubia, re-lettered by Nate Piekos of Blambot, and an introduction by Christos Gage, all presented in a gorgeous hardcover with a dust jacket. An amnesic Den encounters an unexpected woman from his past. Sienna is a medium that takes Den on a memory journey starting at birth, where he will meet old friends and future enemies and get closer to understanding his journey. This last volume of Den connects all four previous parts of the story and takes Den on perhaps his wildest adventure on the floating Island of Heaven, where an idyllic existence hides a horrifying secret. Den Volume 5: The Price of Memories is the next book in a series of deluxe graphic novels from renowned creator Richard Corben’s library to be published by Dark Horse Comics. 120pgs colour hardcover.
Distant Ruptures: A Selection of Comics 2000-2010
by CF
New York Review Comics
$32.95
The publisher says:
Goblins, wizards, superheroes, talking animals, and an assortment of fantastical shapeshifting characters populate this book of never-before-collected comics and illustrations, many of them drawn on incidental materials such as scrap paper and notepads. Pulling from pulp, sci-fi, gag cartoons, fantasy, and thrillers, and populated by goblins, astronauts, magical thieves, and talking owls, CF’s comics break apart genres and forms, then reassemble them into one-of-a-kind stories that reveal an immense imagination and boundary-pushing talent. Christopher Forgues (better known as CF) roared onto the indie comics scene in the early 2000s, producing some of the most exciting and influential work of the decade. His output was startlingly original and impressively prolific: his collaboration with Ben Jones, Paper Radio; his multi-part epic, Powr Mastrs; and the shorter comics and zines now collected for the first time in Distant Ruptures. These comics—created using scratchy pencil and brilliant colour, smudged Xeroxes and scraps of notepaper—capture the extraordinary range of CF’s work. Fellow cartoonist Sammy Harkham has gathered the best of them into this new collection, which also includes an introduction by Gabriel Winslow-Yost and a new interview with CF. Distant Ruptures offers readers their first chance to see the full scope of this remarkable era of CF’s comics. 176pgs colour hardcover.
The Forgotten Frontier
by Tristan Jones & Alexander Bumbulut
At Bay Press
$24.95
The publisher says:
The Western Frontier is arguably one of the most widely misrepresented histories, rife with inaccuracies and stereotypes. Author Tristan Jones (who identifies as both Black and Indigenous) powerfully and critically reimagines a historical retelling of the Frontier through the lens of Truth and Reconciliation. With a focus on the historically missing Indigenous narrative, Jones manages the enormous feat of creating a link to the past while imagining a path forward for the future. Lavishly illustrated by master sequential artist Alexander Bumbulut, this new title is poised to revolutionise the graphic novel medium. Tristan Jones is a classically trained writer and lifelong comics fan. He was born in Toronto, Canada, and is a multiracial Indigenous person of Black Mi’kmaq heritage and Anishinaabe ancestry. Having obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English Literature from Toronto Metropolitan University, he excelled in his creative writing classes. Out of a desire to study and write about Indigenous culture, he chose to focus his efforts on re-contextualising the American western genre with his debut work, The Forgotten Frontier. Alexander Bumbulut is an illustrator, painter and graphic designer. Coming from a Hungarian family living in Romania, he immigrated to Germany at the age of 13. Alexander spent much of his time drawing and reading comic books. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Design from Georg-Simon-Ohm University. He made his debut to the graphic medium in 2020 with an 8-page contribution to the book Mars: Space Barbarian ― Myths and Legends. He then started work on the graphic novel The Forgotten Frontier. He currently resides in Nuremberg, Germany, and enjoys staying up way too late to draw pages. 140pgs colour paperback.
Hilda and Twig: Hide from the Rain
by Luke Pearson
Flying Eye Books
£12.99 / $17.99
The publisher says:
Hilda and Twig would never let a bit of rain get in the way of an adventure, but it’s different when your forest exploration is interrupted by a BIG storm. Sheltering in a mysterious mound in the earth, Twig quickly realises that trouble is afoot, and that his best blue-haired friend is in danger. Unfortunately, he’s never really thought of himself as the brave one, but it looks like he’s going to have to step up and save Hilda from a whole load of big, scaly trouble! Dive into this magical comic as we follow our lovable pair on a soggy adventure. 56pgs colour hardcover.
How Could You
by Ren Strapp
Oni Press
$17.99
The publisher says:
Falling in love? Scary. Falling for your best friend? Terrifying. Naming all the ways your heart hurts? Impossible. College upperclassman Molly Song is set on getting over her ex this semester, but it’s hard when she dumps you via email and posts all over social media about cozying up with her study-abroad roommate. After convincing her friend, Lou Kingston, that they should go to parties and find rebound girlfriends, Molly learns she should be careful what she wishes for when she starts to develop real feelings for someone she’s not sure feels the same way. Meanwhile, Molly and Lou’s exes, Yona and Olene, have left their pasts behind as they study abroad in France. Together they see springtime in Marseille, find new friendships, and uncover new personal truths. Will their whirlwind trip bloom into a whirlwind romance, or will their journeys to self-discovery put them on different paths entirely? College is a time to find yourself, but what could you stand to lose along the way? Lessons of the heart abound inHow Could You, a queer debut graphic novel from Ren Strapp, perfect for fans of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me and Heartstopper. 234pgs colour paperback.
In The Garden of Earthly Delights: A Tea Leaves Caper
by Rich Tommaso
Floating World Comics
$12.00
The publisher says:
Why can’t Trina Catanzaro ever catch a break? She and her partner-in-crime, Dina just got away with millions in diamond necklaces and other sexy jewels. But their scheme to fence the stolen goods came up empty. Now the plan is to pull another job, a fine art heist, and use the goods to burn the people who burned them. This is where things really start to go south… In The Garden Of Earthly Delights is Rich Tommaso’s debut novel with the dynamic duo, Trina and Dina—also known as The Tea Leaves! tbcpgs tbc paperback.
Jimmy! The Comic Art of James Swinnerton
by James Swinnerton, edited by Peter Maresca & Michael Tisserand
Sunday Press Books / Fantagraphics
$100.00
The publisher says:
James Swinnerton is one of the most creative, respected, and prolific comic artists from the first half of the 20th century. Yet to the disappointment of classic comics lovers, his work has seen little reproduction. Until now. This sumptuous volume covers Swinnerton’s six-decade career in comics, from his beginnings as a sports/editorial cartoonist for William Randolph Hearst in San Francisco to his years in the America’s Southwest desert, where his love for the land and its people came through in his comics and illustration. Swinnerton is an excellent storyteller offering a cinematic style with humour that is both slapstick and sophisticated. At the forefront is his long-running Little Jimmy comic strip. This namesake character began by mixing satire of New York society with stories of rural America. He then took the characters on the road to South America, Mexico, and then settling for many years in Swinnerton’s beloved Southwest. Also included in this book are his early one-shots and series like the rakish Mr. Jack and the anthropomorphic Mt. Ararat, and his 1940s stylized comic of the modern West, Rocky Mason. Swinnerton was famous for more than just comics. He wrote and illustrated the charming feature The Canyon Kiddies and similar titles for weekly magazines. In his later years he became known as a premier painter of desert landscapes. All of these are featured in this book. Jimmy! includes an illustrated biography by Paul C. Tumey and essays by co-editor Michael Tisserand, Eddie Campbell, and Donald Phelps. The comic strips in this volume are carefully restored to their original colours and printed at near-full size. As a bonus, the book also includes a set of four Swinnerton postcards featuring his main characters, facsimiles of the originals from 1906, ready for mailing. Swinnerton lovers will be delighted by the richness and variety of the works seen here. Those new to this uniquely American artist will likely join the growing numbers who appreciate his important role in the history of the comics. 160pgs colour oversized hardcover.
Joe Galaxy Comics: Space Wonders & Horrors
by Massimo Mattioli
Fantagraphics
$34.99
The publisher says:
In a galaxy far, far away, swashbuckling space adventurer Joe Galaxy is out raising hell. Whether smuggling contraband alien porn, cheating at interstellar poker with bug-eyed monsters, or contending with the wicked lizards of Calisto IV, our wisecracking antihero always finds himself embroiled in one outrageous scenario after another. Launched in the late-’70s, this satirical space opera showcases the twisted genius of its creator, Italian underground cartoonist Massimo Mattioli. Gleefully unhinged, Joe Galaxy swirls together pop culture parody, fourth wall breaks, formal inventiveness, and oodles of over-the-top sex and violence into a crazy comic cosmic gumbo. This complete collection includes every episode in the 14-year run of the Joe Galaxy universe, plus a bonus short penned by Mattioli in 2018, as well as a spirited intro by Coconino Press editor Oscar Glioti. 192pgs colour flexibound.
The José Muñoz Collection
drawn by Treasury of British Comics
£16.99 / $19.99
The publisher says:
Rebellion presents three action-packed stories from the legendary Lion comic, all featuring the work of one of Agentina’s most influential comic book artists, the master of chiaroscuro-style black-and-white art, José Antonio Muñoz. In 1973, Muñoz worked on three short-lived strips in Lion. A Stitch in Time follows the adventures of a young boy named Stitch Cotton and his alien friend, Varl, after they steal a time machine from the sinister space-master, Mr. Universe. Lost in Limbo Land (written by 2000 AD regular Chris Lowder), follows Barry Smith—a studious bookworm who is struck by lightning and flung into a world of Norse myth and legend. The final strip, Sark the Sleeper, sees a starship commander accidently woken from hypersleep by two boys who are completely unaware that they are passengers flying through deep space in search of a new home. 128pgs B&W paperback.
Leap
by Simina Popescu
Roaring Brook Press
$24.99 / $17.99
The publisher says:
A coming-of-age graphic novel following two dancers at a conservative performing arts school—exploring friendship, first love, and what it means to fall out of step with your own dreams. Ana has been studying contemporary dance since she was little, but her heart isn’t in it anymore. Instead her focus is on Carina—a beautiful, ambitious ballerina whose fear of being outed keeps Ana in the closet and their fragile relationship from seeing the light of day. Risking her own career, Ana gives up more and more in order to fit into the shadows of Carina’s life. Sara, on the other hand, is fielding whispers she may be the best dancer their school has produced in years. Much of that is thanks to her mentor and instructor, Marlena, who plucked Sara from the classical track and encouraged her to blossom as a contemporary dancer. Sara has always been in awe of Marlena, but recently, that admiration has sparked into something more, and Sara’s not sure what to do about it. As junior year at their performing arts school begins, Ana and Sara are assigned as roommates. What starts off as a tentative friendship soon becomes a much-needed anchor. 304pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
The Marvel Comics Covers of Jack Kirby Vol. 1 1961-1964
by Jack Kirby, edited by Vincent Iadevala & Mike East
Dark Horse
$49.99
The publisher says:
Jack Kirby (1917–1994) remains one of the most influential and revered comic book creators of all time, and his cover work for Marvel Comics is particularly celebrated. The Marvel Comics Covers of Jack Kirby collects Kirby’s cover art in a hardcover format. The first volume of this series contains more than 175 classic Kirby covers from 1961 to 1964, including cover art from the earliest issues of The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Journey into Mystery, Strange Tales, Tales to Astonish, and The X-Men, alongside commentary by multiple contributors. Kirby’s legacy continues to inspire current and future generations of artists, designers, and fans. Long live the KING! 184pgs collour hardcover.
No Remorse: The Illustrated True Stories of Lemmy Kilmister and Motörhead
by various
Z2 Comics
$35.00
The publisher says:
To celebrate the upcoming 50th anniversary of the legendary Motörhead, Z2 has gathered some of the greatest living musicians (Ozzy Osbourne, Lars Ulrich, Slash, Chrissie Hynde, Dave Navarro), writers (Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock), pro-wrestlers (Triple H, Corey Graves). TV & Film (Matt Pinfield, Penelope Spheeris) and bandmates (Phil Campbell, Mickey Dee, Slim Jim Phantom) to their personal stories of encounters with the man who truly defined what it meant to be the living embodiment of Rock & Roll, Lemmy Kilmister. Featuring a brand-new foreword by his dear friend Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), this 176-page book pairs 28 rockstars with 28 acclaimed illustrators including Dave Chisholm, Bob Fingerman, Brent Engstrom, Joe Simko, and Jim Mahfood to bring these incredible True Tales of Lemmy Kilmister to life. 180pgs colour hardcover.
The Obscure Cities: The Return of Captain Nemo
by Benoît Peeters & François Schuiten, translated by Stephen D. Smith
Alaxis Press
$35.00 / $100.00
The publisher says:
The legendary Captain Nemo, as he awakens from his eternal slumber, finds himself being transported around the world under the sea aboard a freakish hybrid of Octopus and his infamous submarine, the Nautilus, referred to as the Nauti-Octopus. Through the story, the sea captain is transported towards Amiens, the home of his creator, Jules Verne. This is the 40th anniversary of the first book in the critically acclaimed graphic novel series, Les Cites Obscures (The Obscure Cities). By the 2022 Will Eisner Comics Industry Award-winning creative team of Benoît Peeters, François Schuiten, and translator, Stephen D. Smith. Also available with a signed limited-edition print. 96pgs colour hardcover.
The Other Side of Tomorrow
by Tina Cho & Deb JJ Lee
Harper Alley
$24.99 / $15.99
The publisher says:
Perfect for fans of Illegal and When Stars Are Scattered, this poignant and moving graphic novel in verse captures the dangers and hope that come with fleeing North Korea and reaching for a brighter future through the lives of Yunho and Myunghee. From never knowing where they’ll find their next meal to avoiding soldiers lurking at every corner, many North Koreans have learned that sticking around can be just as deadly as attempting to flee… almost. Both shy, resourceful Yunho and fierce, vibrant Myunghee know this. So when they each resolve to run away from the bleak futures they face, it’s with the knowledge that they could be facing a fate worse than death. Tina Cho is the author of Rice from Heaven: The Secret Mission to Feed North Koreans, Korean Celebrations: Festivals, Holidays and Traditions, My Breakfast with Jesus: Worshipping God Around the World, The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story, and God’s Little Astronomer. After living in South Korea for ten years and meeting North Koreans, Tina, her husband, and her two kids reside in Iowa, where Tina also teaches kindergarten. Deb JJ Lee (they/them) is a trans nonbinary artist based in Brooklyn, New York. They have appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, NPR, Google, Radiolab, and more. They are known for their award-winning graphic memoir, In Limbo, about mental illness and difficult relationships with trauma. The Other Side of Tomorrow is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. 224pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
The Panharmonion Chronicles Vol. 1: Times of London
by Henry Chebaane & Stephen Baskerville
Shift Presents
$27.99
The publisher says:
Will her story end history? Alex Campbell is a Canadian musician struggling with a conflicted identity, a tragic past and repressed supernatural abilities. She is a primed time-bomb in the making. Orphaned at a young age, life has never been easy and is about to get a lot worse. Following the inheritance of a decaying 19th century London house from a mysterious ancestor, she moves to England, hoping for a fresh start and a better future. Soon, her renovation plans are being thwarted by agents of a shadowy corporation with ancient roots and a malevolent agenda. While fighting against their mounting hostility, Alex makes some shocking discoveries about her family and herself that alters her grip on reality. Times of London is an original graphic novel written and directed by Henry Chebaane, from his alternative history saga The Panharmonion Chronicles. Driven by a strong female character, the multi-layered narrative is a gritty thriller set between 19th and 21st century across England, Scotland, Ontario, Quebec, Ohio and Nova Scotia. This first volume contains 168 pages of masterful sequential art from veteran graphic artist Stephen Baskerville (Spider-Man, Transformers, Judge Dredd), bringing to life a heady blend of mystery thriller, science-fiction, horror and alternative history; spliced through with wry humour, pop culture and homage to music lovers of all genres. 168pgs colour paperback.
Popeye: Man Overboard
by Antoine Ozanam & Lelis
Ablaze
$16.99
The publisher says:
Visually stunning and poetic – the story of Popeye before he became Popeye! Everyone knows him, the loud-mouthed one-eyed sailor man who shows off his biceps after gobbling canned spinach. He’s funny, Popeye. His way of speaking, and his ready-made expressions. And what’s more, he’s a courageous guy, a good guy. A true hero. But this isn’t exactly the Popeye you know. In this graphic novel there are other layers. A melancholy and beauty that only the exuberant watercolour art of Lelia, and the sharp and sensitive script of Antoine Ozanam, could express. Unlike the famous cartoons, Popeye in this comic is an unlikely hero who could be found in any port around the world. In the story, a strange girl with flowery language arrives to hit him in his healthy eye. He is too old for her. But Olive is his girl, without a doubt. Like any man in love, reason disappears and Popeye agrees to go on an adventure with Olive’s brother…in search of a fabulous treasure. Ablaze is proud to bring this acclaimed work by Frenchman Ozanam and multi-award-winning Brazilian artist Lelis to English readers worldwide. A brilliant reinterpretation of the origin of the character. And a magnificent adventure story! 116pgs colour hardcover.
Redrawing the Western: A History of American Comics and the Mythic West
by William Grady
University of Texas Press
$50.00
The publisher says:
Redrawing the Western charts a history of the Western genre in American comics from the late 1800s through the 1970s and beyond. Encompassing the core years in which the genre was forged and prospered in a range of popular media, Grady engages with several key historical timeframes, from the origins of the Western in the nineteenth-century illustrated press; through fin de siècle anxieties with the closing of the frontier, and the centrality of cowboy adventure across the interwar, postwar, and high Cold War years; to the revisions of the genre in the wake of the Vietnam War and the Western’s continued vitality in contemporary comics storytelling. In its study of stories about vengeance, conquest, and justice on the contested frontier, Redrawing the Western highlights how the “simplistic” conflicts common in Western adventure comics could disguise highly political undercurrents, providing young readers with new ways to think about the contemporaneous social and political milieu. Besides tracing the history, forms, and politics of American Western comics in and around the twentieth century, William Grady offers an original reassessment of the important role of comics in the development of the Western genre, ranking them alongside popular fiction and film in the process. 304pgs B&W hardcover.
The Retirement Party
by Teddy Goldenberg
Floating World Comics
$15.00
The publisher says:
Teddy Goldenberg returns to the liminal world of City Crime Comics in this full-length graphic novel. A group of colleagues gather to celebrate Fred’s retirement party. The celebration takes a turn as each guest tells increasingly strange stories of menacing duplications. Are they all telling the same story? The book contains the longest dance sequence in comic book history! Teddy Goldenberg was born in Israel in 1985. He lives in Berlin with his wife, the artist Noa Münster. ?pgs tbc
R.U.R. The Karel Čapek Classic
adapted by Kateřina Čupová, translated by Julie Nováková
Rosarium Publishing
$27.99
The publisher says:
Long before there was Terminator and Skynet, there was R.U.R., the Czech classic that gave us the word “robot”. The R.U.R. Factory, far from humanity on its own island, has produced the perfect product: Robots! Devoid of pain, love, and all human emotion, never tiring, never bored, unfazed by death they are the ideal worker for modern-day society! All of this is about to change, and only Helena can see it. She is condemned to remain alone in her dread, as all of society embraces the robots and the automatons’ presence increases. However, there has been a glitch in the programming. All of our assumptions may have been wrong. The robots may indeed feel pain. They may harbour passions and hatred, and the Robot Revolution may be near! 256pgs colour hardcover.
The Seeker
by Rachel Fuller & Emilia Wharfe
4wdhouse
£35.00
The publisher says:
The Seeker is a musical and accompanying illustrated book adaptation of Hermann Hesse’s classic novel, Siddhartha, that has captivated readers for over 100 years. Now vividly retold by composer and author, Rachel Fuller, The Seeker follows the quest of the young Siddhartha as he embarks on a journey of self-discovery and enlightenment during the time of the Gautama Buddha. Siddhartha’s adventures and search for wisdom are brought to new life by the striking artwork of Emilia Wharfe, alongside the complete lyrics and narrative from the album The Seeker includes access via a QR code to original music composed by Rachel Fuller, narration by the late Christopher Plummer, and features a dazzling array of performances from Pete Townshend, Sir Elton John, Nakhane, Emeli Sandé, Layton Williams, Sunidhi Chauhan and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Lifetime followers of this timeless story and a new generation of seekers alike will be enchanted by this magical reimagining. 128pgs colour oversized hardcover.
Tell Me A Story Where The Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund
by Caitlin McGurk & Barbara Shermund
Fantagraphics
$45.00
The publisher says:
Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins doubles as an official biography and coffee table art collection honouring the life and art of pioneering cartoonist Barbara Shermund, an unheralded early master of magazine cartooning whose career spanned the heyday of American magazines from the 1920s-1960s. Her sharp wit and loose style boldly tapped the zeitgeist of first-wave feminism with vivid characters that were alive and astute. Shermund’s women spoke their minds about sex, marriage, and society; smoked cigarettes and drank; and poked fun at everything in an era when it was not common to see young women doing so. Shermund left behind a body of work that was ahead of its time and remains insightful, witty, relevant, and contemporary. As one of the first women cartoonists to work for The New Yorker the year of its launch in 1925, she created nine covers and more than 600 cartoons for the magazine, in addition to countless spot illustrations, giving the nascent publication its unique visual brand. Shermund later became a mainstay at Esquire; contributed to Life, Colliers, Judge, and more; had a syndicated newspaper cartoon published by King Features; and illustrated a variety of books. In 1950, Shermund was among the first three women to be accepted as a member of the male-dominated National Cartoonist Society. A compelling facet of Shermund’s work is her frequent nods to queer audiences, which appeared in her work more than that of any of her contemporary New Yorker cartoonists. There are indications in her personal files that she also may have been queer, including love letters and other personal archives that McGurk has unearthed. Readers will discover Shermund’s unique and vibrant life and art and gain an understanding of how women’s place in the history of cartooning has been controlled and sublimated by greater societal and cultural allowances. Through close readings, archival research, reproductions of original art, correspondence and photographs, this volume uncovers and celebrates a trailblazing female magazine cartoonist, and rightfully places her in the canon of cartoon art history. 350pgs colour hardcover.
Toxic Tropics: A Horror Story of Environmental Injustice
by Jessica Oublié, Nicola Gobbi, Ktherine Avraam & Vinciane Lebrun
Street Noise Books
$23.99
The publisher says:
An in-depth piece of comics journalism exploring the persistent use of the deadly chemical Chlordecone to support the banana crops in Martinique and Guadeloupe. In 1975, pesticide producer LifeSciences closed their plant that produced the chemical chlordecone, after numerous employees had toxic chemical poisoning, and the local river had been polluted. But in the French Antilles, farmers continued to use the pesticide. Even after it was banned in 1993, planters continued to illegally import and use it. Chlordecone use became so widespread that it was in almost everything people on the islands ate and drank. Today, 95% of the inhabitants of Guadeloupe and 92% of the inhabitants of Martinique are contaminated by the chemical, and the islands have one of the highest cancer rates in the world. In this richly illustrated work, the author brings her personal experience and connection to the story as she interviews scores of local people as well as scientists and government officials to uncover the true story behind the decision to continue poisoning the water and the soil for the sake of global commerce. We, as global citizens, are urged to consider the decisions we are making through our consumer choices and how they affect the health of the planet and the survival of communities throughout the world. 204pgs colour paperback.
True Weird
by James Tynion IV & various
Dark Horse
$24.99
The publisher says:
Collecting the ambitious, non-fiction comic book series depicting some of the world’s strangest true tales. From James Tynion IV, New York Times bestselling and multi-Eisner award-winning co-creator of Something is Killing the Children, The Nice House on the Lake, and The Department of Truth. True Weird is a black-and-white anthology series featuring stories of ordinary people going head to head against the extraordinary, based on true accounts. Featuring an all-star lineup of writers and artists, describing encounters with cryptids, ghosts, paranormal phenomena, medical oddities, and all manner of the strange. This volume features twelve of the strangest “true” stories from the world around us with some of the most exciting creators including James Tynion IV, Michael Avon Oeming, Klaus Janson, Ming Doyle, John McCrea, Genevieve Valentine, Aditya Bidikar, Anand RK, Gavin Fullerton, and many more. Collects backup stories from Blue Book series I and II. 128pgs B&W paperback.
Vaughn Bodé’s Complete Deadbone Erotica
by Vaughan Bodé
Image Comics
$39.99
The publisher says:
“Vaughn was one of the lights of America.” —Moebius. Collecting for the first time, in chronological order, underground comix legend Vaughn Bodé’s charmingly risqué strips and Bodé Broads from Cavalier magazine (“the kind men like.”) Originally written and drawn in the 1970s, this volume represents a time capsule in erotic humour as only a master of the form could create it. This beautiful hardbound book also collects Bodé’s hard-to-find three-page strips and other rarities. With a foreword and additional new art from Vaughn’s son, Mark Bodé. Underground comix enthusiasts, Bodé aficionados and fans of adult humour won’t want to miss this uncensored and digitally remastered omnibus. 272pgs colour hardcover.
Visitations
by Corey Egbert
Farrar, Straus and Groux
$25.99 / $17.99
The publisher says:
Inspired by true events, this haunting yet hopeful young adult graphic novel weaves together family dynamics, mental illness, and religion—perfect for fans of Hey, Kiddo.Corey’s mom has always made him feel safe. Especially after his parents’ divorce, and the dreaded visitations with his dad begin. But as Corey grows older, he can’t ignore his mother’s increasingly wild accusations. Her insistence that God has appointed Corey as his sister’s protector. Her declaration that Corey’s father is the devil. Soon, she whisks Corey and his sister away from their home and into the boiling Nevada desert. There, they struggle to survive with little food and the police on the trail. Meanwhile, under the night sky, Corey is visited by a flickering ghost, a girl who urges him to fight for a different world—one outside of his mother’s spoon-fed tales, one Corey must find before it’s too late. Drawing inspiration from his own upbringing in the Mormon church, Corey Egbert welcomes readers on an emotionally stirring, nuanced journey into the liminal spaces between imagination and memory, faith and truth. 336pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
World Within The World: Collected Minicomix & Short Works 2010-2022
by Julia Gfrörer
Fantagraphics
$39.99
The publisher says:
Julia Gfrorer is quietly one of the most influential cartoonists of her generation. Emerging from the Portland scene at the height of the Obama era, her comics augured the dark times to come, using graphic sex, pitch-black horror, a hunger for exploring the past, and a line cruel as a whip to create her own unmistakable sense of millennial melancholy. Reflecting her DIY ethos, much of her work has only been available in self-published zines or independent anthologies, many of them rare or out-of-print—until now. World Within the World features 30 of Gfrorer’s short stories, culled from a decade of writing and drawing at the bleeding edge of the art form. Her tales of desire, despair, and the universal need for connection span centuries, continents, and cultures from prehistoric teenagers in love to Christian martyrs in the making to modern-day vampires on the make. Along the way her bold, confident work leads the reader to some unexpected places, whether erotica inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe or a post-apocalyptic parody of Frasier. In World Within the World, there is no distinction between the realistic and the fantastic, the psychological and the supernatural, the modern and the medieval, the mundane and the sublime - just the artist’s unflinching vision of how it feels to be human, no matter when or where. 336pgs B&W hardcover.
