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Top 33 Graphic Novels, Comics & Manga:
May 2025
I last met Alison Bechdel at The Lakes International Comic Art Festival in Bowness-on-Windermere, where she was completing a residency working on her new graphic novel. And now it’s about to come out, a sparkling gem of autofictional satire and surely among this year’s best…
I also had the good fortune to meet Marc Torices from Spain, a guest at the Lodz Comics Festival in Poland last September. This is his daring standout debut…
Reinhard Kleist will be launching this English edition of the second concluding part of his David Bowie graphic biography in London at a Comica London event on May 30th at The Century Club, Soho…
And two more graphic bios to look out for, of two legends of Hollywood and much more besides.
Korean artist Yudori is living in the UK now and her debut translation is on my radar…
And two more rewarding works reassessing the past - this one exploring a hidden history in Canada…
And this ‘exposé’ of the double standards in the art museum world. I hope you find one graphic novel, maybe more, to become part of your life among these and others below!
Acception Vol. 1: #Losers
Coco Ouwerkwerk
Webtoon Unscrolled
$18.99
The publisher says:
For fans of high school comedy drama with quirky, lovable characters, this is a comic from debut author Colourbee about love, acceptance, and surviving high school (while keeping your secrets intact). It’s the start of a new school year at Apollo High and Arcus just moved from England to the Netherlands. With his rainbow-coloured hair and love of all things fashion, Arcus is anything but your average teenager. He’s an upbeat independent thinker, proud fashionista, and like the rest of us, is looking for a few friends to call his own. This won’t be easy for Arcus, because his best options for friends are prickly goth Maud and self-centred queen bee Iris. Plus, he has to navigate being bullied for his unique brand of self-expression while balancing school life and his secret identity as a super popular fashion designer and blogger. But leave it to the always-optimistic Arcus to find the silver (and glittery) lining in everything. This volume collects Season 1 (episodes 1 to 42) of the charming WEBTOON comic Acception. Coco Ouwerkerk, aka Colourbee, is a Dutch comic artist/animator/writer who specialises in YA comics. 288pgs colour paperback.
The Adventures of Lion Man
by John Jennings, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, Bill Campbell, David Brame & Damian Duffy
Rosarium
$12.95
The publisher says:
The Legend of Lion Man Lives Again. In 1947, Orrin C. Evans created one of the world’s first Black superheroes, Lion Man! Appearing in the only issue of All Negro Comics, superhero history was forever changed. And now Lion Man is back. Re-adapted and remixed for modern times, the award-winning visionary team of John Jennings and David Brame (After the Rain) create a mind-blowing Afrofuturistic tale of cosmic splendour, while Bill Campbell (The Day the Klan Came to Town) and up-and-coming Zimbabwean writer, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu (Drinking from Graveyard Wells) deliver a Bond-ian African spy thriller full of plot twists, conspiracy thrillers, and political intrigue. In The Adventures of Lion Man, our hero steps bravely out of the past into a bold new future. 124pgs colour paperback.
Alice in Cryptoland: Bitcoin, NFT and Other Curiosities
by Daniel Villa Monteiro & Nicolas Balas
NBM
$22.99
The publisher says:
Dive with Alice into the mysterious and controversial world of cryptocurrencies. We are on the eve of Covid confinement when the young woman received an inheritance from her grandmother and wonders what to do with this money that her banker wants to invest for her. By chance, she discovers that parallel currencies open the door to another world. Misunderstood by her family and friends, she nevertheless threw herself into it wholeheartedly. Her online comics on her experience make her quite the influencer, explaining crypto’s intricacies in simple terms but with eyes wide open as to its dangers. We even travel with her to El Salvador, the first country to accept Bitcoin as a national currency, and its cryptocurrency farms, to understand the power and perils of Bitcoin, NFTs, blockchains and other curiosities. 112pgs colour hardcover.
Audrey Hepburn: An Illustrated Biography
by Eileen Hofer & Christopher Longé
Abrams ComicArts
$25.99
The publisher says:
A graphic novel biography of actor, humanitarian, and style icon Audrey Hepburn—best known for Breakfast at Tiffany’s and one of the most enduring and beloved celebrities of the 20th century. Author Eileen Hofer and illustrator Christopher Longé peel back the myth of Audrey Hepburn in this graphic novel exploring the life behind her legacy. From the trauma of abandonment and war to her dizzying rise to stardom and her commitment to charity work in her retirement, Hofer and Christopher show Hepburn as she was—and how she came by the strength and grace that made her so much more than a movie star. Born into privilege, Audrey Hepburn lived an incredible riches-to-rags-to-riches life as her childhood was swiftly upended by World War II. During the course of her incredible career, she was a muse of Givenchy, only the third woman to win the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award), and an activist whose work for UNICEF earned her a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. Her inimitable charisma, deep empathy, and dedication to her craft built a lasting legacy—one that stands out among her peers during Hollywood’s golden era. Decades later, a cottage industry of books about how best to emulate her, a robot named Sophia that is based on her, and even a digital likeness (which was featured in an ad for Galaxy chocolate), all speak to her enduring legacy. Hepburn’s skill as a performer and her magnetism won her generations of fans worldwide. Her name is synonymous with elegance and a certain kind of movie stardom given the impeccable image she so carefully curated during her lifetime—an image which hid incredible resilience and strength. 320pgs B&W hardcover.
Black Cohosh
by Eagle Valiant Brosi
Drawn & Quarterly
$24.95
The publisher says:
A heartfelt, comedic coming-of-age debut from a bright new talent. When we meet Eagle Valiant Brosi, he is a long-haired commune kid, bullied by other kids, teachers, and his neighbours. And because of his speech impediment, Eagle observes silently and often. Mom―a classic earthy, free spirit prone to discursive lectures on natural medicine and the efficacy of certain plants―is the only one who really cares. So Eagle lets others talk and talk and talk, revealing their true natures and selfish (sometimes even selfless) motivations. In Black Cohosh, Eagle pieces together the puzzling and hurtful things he has been told as he takes his first, tragic steps into adulthood. While things may seem grim, Brosi’s drawings are loose and limber, stretching and falling across each page. His cast of hippie archetypes come with iconic thatches of hair, bushy beards, and scrawny, gesticulating arms. Black Cohosh is a captivating debut from a natural storyteller with the expert timing of a veteran comedian and the soothing empathy of a death doula. 360pgs B&W paperback.
Call Me Emma: One Chinese Girl Finds Her Way in America
by Makee
Street Noise Books
$23.99
The publisher says:
After immigrating from China to New York City, a teenage girl and her family struggle to adjust to the new world they’ve found themselves in. Yixuan Liu is a 16-year-old Chinese girl, just moved from China to America with her family. To try to fit in to a new school, a new city, and a new culture, Yixuan chooses an English name, Emma. As she works to succeed in school and make friends, Yixuan/Emma is confused by the anti-Asian and anti-Black racism she hears from her teachers and her friends. She must learn to be herself and stop striving to please everyone else in order to make sense of it all. Balancing chaotic school life with divorcing parents, her sister’s mental illness, and a new crush, Emma must ask herself, “How do I know who I really am?” 246pgs B&W paperback.
Cornelius: The Merry Life of a Wretched Dog
by Drawn & Quarterly
$39.95
The publisher says:
Horrifying and hilarious, Cornelius the dog is a spectacular train wreck―you just can’t look away. Cornelius is a fumbling loser, the butt of everyone’s jokes. When his friend Alspacka is kidnapped, the subsequent criminal investigation turns into a dramatic and emotional ordeal, upending Cornelius’s life. Torn between his desire to be a writer and his immense guilt over his cowardly role in Alspacka’s abduction, Cornelius is a classic Faustian figure: an aspiring artist so hungry for success that he will pay any price. Rarely does a book so delightfully defy categorisation. Cornelius is an experience: a farcical collage that reads like a drug-fuelled fever dream, an intense emotional pendulum oscillating between psychological horror and slapstick comedy―a real roller coaster. And truthfully, Cornelius is all this and more: a brand, a phenomenon, a way of life. From the singular mind of Marc Torices comes a surreal, carefully curated universe, complete with its own icons, mythology, and metanarratives. Exquisitely drawn, Cornelius’s kaleidoscope of styles pays homage to the comics medium, an unabashed love letter to the form itself. Translated from the Spanish by Eisner Award-winner Andrea Rosenberg, Marc Torices’s critically acclaimed and award-winning Cornelius is mesmerising in its originality. 384pgs colour hardcover.
A Cure for Chaos
by Mencius, translated with commentary by Brian Bruya
Princeton University Press
$22.95 / £18.99
The publisher says:
Filled with unforgettable stories and shrewd insights, A Cure for Chaos is a marvellous and inviting edition of a timeless classic. You cannot understand Chinese philosophy without understanding Mencius (fourth century BCE), who is known as the Second Sage, after Confucius, and whose ideas were for many centuries part of the standard Confucian curriculum. A Cure for Chaos is a playful and accessible comic that brings alive the clever stories and thought experiments that Mencius uses to convey his ideas. Through conversations with potentates and colourful episodes involving tigers, chicken thieves, and bear paws, this vivid graphic narrative shows Mencius arguing for a government that puts the people first, for morality over fame or fortune, and for the need of each person to cultivate their innate goodness—all of which is a prescription to cure chaos in the world. C. C. Tsai is one of Asia’s most popular cartoonists, and his graphic editions of the Chinese classics have sold more than 40 million copies in over twenty languages. In A Cure for Chaos, he uses his virtuosic artistic skill and sly humour to create an entertaining and enlightening illustrated version of key selections from the Mencius, a profoundly influential work of Chinese philosophy. Translated and introduced by Tsai’s longtime collaborator Brian Bruya, a philosopher and scholar of ancient Chinese thought, A Cure for Chaos also features the original Chinese text on the margins of each page, enriching the book for readers and students of Chinese without distracting from the English-language cartoons. With a Foreword by Christine Gross-Loh. 128pgs B&W paperback
Denniveniquity: A Comic Memoir
by D. Boyd
Conundrum Press
$25.00
The publisher says:
A candid and personal exploration of junior high in the 1970s, with enough vulnerability to make readers squirm, laugh, and maybe even fall in love (but only for now). From awkward first kisses to changing bodies with an agenda all their own, puberty is not for the faint of heart. But hitting puberty in a small Canadian city where your father knows everyone and your on-again-off-again boyfriend quite literally lives on “the wrong side of the tracks”? That comes with an extra set of super-charged emotions and embarrassing moments—and Dawn is no stranger to any of it. Denniveniquity is a darkly humorous coming-of-age graphic memoir by D. Boyd, creator of the award-nominated Chicken Rising. For this new tale, Boyd mined her old diaries and brought her 1970s teen years back to life, rekindling the excitement, joy, and anguish of these formative life experiences. 160pgs colo’ur paperback.
Done with Demons
by Dora Grents
Silver Sprocket
$12.99
The publisher says:
The mayor of Hell, a reclusive grandma, and her tiny dog try to coexist in this debut graphic novel, perfect for fans of mayhem and mischief! Boris was the mayor of Hell, but after he was run out of the netherworld by his assistant, he finds himself mistakenly crawling out of a little old lady’s oven. With nowhere else to go, Boris moves in with Granny and Son (her dog) to gather his strength. Could it be that part of this grumpy demon’s heart actually enjoys baking biscuits and making prank calls with Granny? In time, Boris will have to face a dire choice: return to claim his throne in Hell, or stay and call this new place home. A delightfully funny collection of comic strips about finding acceptance and belonging where you least expect it. 80pgs colour paperback.
Everything Is Fine, I’ll Just Work Harder: Confessions of a Former Badass
by Cara Gormally
Street Noise Books
$19.99
The publisher says:
One queer person bravely and creatively uses therapy to navigate the healing from the trauma of a past sexual assault. One day, during an ordinary early-morning run, Cara’s watch dinged with a Facebook friend request. But when they checked the message, the photo slammed them backward in time and froze them in fear. Their rapist wanted to “friend” them. Cara always had a long to-do list; always had many projects; always was busy. But as their rapist continued to send friend requests and tried to reconnect with them, they began to lose their grip on their work, projects, and relationships. But then Cara connects with a therapist who guides them through a long but powerful process of healing. And Cara works to desensitise, reprocess, excavate and relive the old wounds in order to move past them and heal. 144pgs black-and-teal paperback.
Everyone Sux But You
by K. Wroten
Henry Holt
$27.99 / $19.99
The publisher says:
A bold young adult graphic novel about the highs and lows of growing up, queer love, and learning to accept yourself for who you are, perfect for fans of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, Daria and Ladybird. High school senior Carson Flynn doesn’t give a damn―about you, about school, or about her future. The only thing she cares about is jumping into mosh pits at concerts with her best friend Ash. But when Ash and Carson’s friendship becomes something more, a lot of complicated feelings enter the pit swinging: the unresolved grief they share over the loss of Carson’s mother, the realities of growing up queer in small-town America, and the biggest bruiser of all: what does it mean to love and be loved? As Carson discovers new corners of her heart, she sees that her too-cool approach to life may have been keeping her closed off from her potential. Maybe there is something greater out there, a bright future full of promise . . . if only she could convince Ash to see it too. Everyone Sux But You, the first young adult graphic novel from award-winning comics creator K. Wroten, defines what being a teen feels like while redefining what a graphic novel for teens can be. 368pgs black-and-mauve hardcover / paperback.
Face Meat
by Bonten Taro, translated by Ryan Holmberg
Living the Life / Smudge
$19.95
The publisher says:
A headless busty blonde, a face-stealing psychopath, a sleazy serial-killer sculptor, a horny handsome hunchback, a vengeful caterpillar cuckold, a torturous hangover in the pits of hell. Welcome to the raunchy and gristly world of Face Meat, from the decadent imagination of outlaw polymath Bonten Taro―ex-kamikaze, ex-yakuza, singer, songwriter, actor, world-famous tattooist, husband of seven, and underappreciated pioneer of “pinky violence” femme fatales and adult horror manga. While Mizuki Shigeru and Umezz Kazuo were paving the way for horror in shonen and shojo magazines in the 1960s, Bonten was secretly doing the same in erotic men’s rags―and the results are as trashy as you’d expect. With an essay by Bonten booster and B-gekiga expert Kunisawa Hiroshi, Face Meat includes fourteen hair- and pants-raising stories that have never before been assembled under a single cover in any language! Face Meat is the fourth volume of Smudge, a line of vintage horror, occult, and dark fantasy manga, curated and translated by award-winning historian Ryan Holmberg. 240pgs B&W paperback.
Fitting Indian
by Jyoti Chand & Tara Anand
Harper Alley
$26.99 / $18.99
The publisher says:
This debut teen graphic novel from social media influencer Jyoti Chand and rising star illustrator Tara Anand follows one girl’s journey navigating high school and her mental health within a traditional South Asian family. Perfect for fans of Netflix’s Never Have I Ever and Tillie Walden’s Spinning. All Nitasha’s parents want is for her to be the perfect Indian daughter—something she is decidedly not. Everything she does seems to disappoint them, especially her mom. They just don’t get that she’ll never be like her doctor older brother. To make matters worse, she’s never quite felt like she belongs at school either, and lately, her best friend, Ava, and her crush, Henry, seem to be more interested in the rich new girl than in her. Alcohol takes the edge off, but when that doesn’t work, Nitasha turns to cutting. She can’t stop asking herself: Will she ever be enough for her friends or her family? Or even for herself? This authentic and powerful teen graphic novel shines a light on how harmful the stigma of mental illness is and how lifesaving a community that is honest about mental health can be. 288pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
Gangrene
by Carlos Trillo & Juan Gimenez
Alien Books
$12.99
The publisher says:
A world full of garbage! The world as we knew it no longer exists, and garbage has become a regular part of people’s lives. Most of humanity survives in the wastelands, and the few pieces of culture from before this era comes from “the ancients”. Meanwhile, every resource and technological advancement is used to preserve the life of a select elite in the heights of White City, completely distanced from the garbage below. Carlos Trillo (Borderline, Vampire Boy) and Juan Giménez (Black Star; I, Dragon; The Metabarons) join forces to tell the story of the beginning of a rebellion, one that promises to take the filth up to the clouds. Gangrene was originally published in 1989 in Spanish and is making its English debut from Alien Books. 56pg colour oversize paperback.
The Giant: Orson Welles, The Artist & The Shadow
Youssef Daoudi
23rd St.
$29.99
The publisher says:
From graphic novelist Youssef Daoudi comes a radically new look at the director of Citizen Kane and Touch of Evil: legendary filmmaker Orson Welles. Long after his death in 1985, the shadow of Orson Welles still looms over Hollywood. By twenty-three, Welles had revolutionised theatre and radio with The War of the Worlds; by twenty-five, he had secured his place in history with his debut film, Citizen Kane. Yet four films and less than a decade later, his career suffered a spectacular collapse, and Welles, once the most promising director in America, was written off as a “would-be genius”―a bad bet in an increasingly money-conscious industry. In The Giant, Youssef Daoudi weaves together reality and mythology to create a radical new look at one of Hollywood’s most legendary figures and poses a question as timeless as Orson Welles himself: What happens when a true artist comes up against the rest of the world? 272pgs black-and-yellow hardcover.
Go Figure: Figurative Social Surrealist Paintings
by Guy Colwell
Fantagraphics
$29.99
The publisher says:
An intricate monograph for a major retrospective of fine artist and cartoonist Guy Colwell’s figurative paintings, each teeming with life, sparkling with colour, rich in observational and sharp social commentary. Go Figure collects 44 “social surrealist” figurative paintings, spanning 1987–2023. All are in eye-popping colour: many depict a crowd in observational tableaux, each figure a character by virtue of dress, body language, and interactions with each other, animals, and their setting. Other paintings reflect Colwell’s wide travels, and still others are surreal ― such as “Junior and the Legs” (2023), which shows a young man strumming a guitar on stage, accompanied by disembodied women’s limbs. Each image has a narrative and a moral purpose―often, one figure bravely moves forward, despite a hostile crowd. In Guy Colwell’s world, no individual could ever be an island, just another part of a rich ecosystem. Thematically, then, it is fitting that this book was made possible by a group of his collectors, who are sponsoring the Guy Colwell retrospective Imaginary Reality, from which this book is created, in an independent space. Go Figure is in an 11” x 11” format, to best feature the high-quality reproductions of these numerous critically praised works. 96pgs colour hardcover.
The Haunting of Jilly Johnson
by Rafael Busom Clua
Rebellion / 2000AD
$17.99
The publisher says:
From the very first night in her new flat, Jilly Johnson is haunted by nightmares and calls out the name of a man who Jilly does not know. Spooked by a fortune teller, and by what she sees as the flat itself sending her messages, she becomes determined to find out more about the previous tenants, and the accident that led to the death of one of them. And then in The Island of Stones, two English tourists on holiday on a Greek island meet a modern master sculptor, known for his stone statues of the human form, and discover the secret of his success—the head of Medusa. This story acts as a showcase for Rafael Busom Clua, who initially caught the reader’s eye with his incredibly stylish work on Sugar Jones. 80pgs B&W paperback.
Heartcore
by Štěpánka Jislová, translated by Martha Kuhlman
Graphic Mundi / PSU Press
$29.95
The publisher says:
Where does love come from? What is at the core of romantic attachment? Does our upbringing play a part, or is falling in love a magical, uncontrollable process? Are we doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over, or can we break unhealthy cycles and learn new ways to love? These are the questions asked in Heartcore, an award-winning graphic memoir from comics creator Štěpánka Jislová. In this empowering story of self-discovery, the author reflects on her troubled experiences in dating and love and finally seeks to understand the reasons behind her many toxic relationships. She explores topics such as normative gender roles, online dating and casual sex, alcohol abuse, sexual violence, and the psychology behind interpersonal attachment, all in an engaging graphic-novel format. By confronting her unhealthy behaviours and seeking help to come to terms with her trauma, the author provides an inspiring example of how people can change for the better. Štěpánka Jislová is an award-winning comics artist based in Prague and the cofounder of the Czech branch of Laydeez do Comics, an international organization that promotes female comic artists and their work. Jislová collaborated with Czech writer Tereza Čechová on the 2021 Muriel prize–winning Bez vlasů, later published by Graphic Mundi in English as Bald. Srdcovka (the original Czech edition of Heartcore) received the Muriel Award in three categories in 2024, including the main prize. 236pgs colour paperback.
The History of Jerusalem: An Illustrated Story of 4,000 Years
by Vincent Lemire & Christophe Gaultier
Abrams ComicArts
$29.99
The publisher says:
The 4,000-year history of the city of Jerusalem unfolds in an exceptional graphic narrative that touches on the birth of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, as well as famous conquerors and mighty empires, and more. Four thousand years ago, Jerusalem was a small, isolated village perched on a ridge line between the Mediterranean and the desert. Today it is a bustling metropolis with almost one million inhabitants, attracting visitors from all over the world. The story of Jerusalem is in many ways the story of the development of Western civilisation―religions were born on its streets, famous conquerors laid siege to it, and great empires clashed over it. Considered the cradle of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam―the three major monotheistic religions―and a spiritual capital for more than half of humanity. Tracing its history gives us a unique perspective into the histories of these different religious identities. In this 256-page graphic novel, written by renowned historian Vincent Lemire and illustrated by cartoonist and animator Christophe Gaultier, readers will meet Abraham, King Herod, Empress Helena (the mother of Constantine I), Queen Melisende of Jerusalem, Saladin, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, General Edmund Allenby, Palestinian nationalist Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni, former Mayor Teddy Kollek, and many other famous people who have helped build the story of Jerusalem. But it takes many hands to make a city, and the history of the city is the history of the residents who lead lives both great and small within its walls. As Lemire and Gaultier guide us through the lives of Jerusalem’s most famous residents, so too do they introduce us to the people, priests, craftsmen, architects, and residents who have built the history of Jerusalem over the last five millennia. 256pgs colour hardcover.
Huxley Vol. 1
by Ben Mauro
Read Only Memory
$35.00
The publisher says:
A gripping, post-apocalyptic sci-fi graphic novel from acclaimed universe-builder Ben Mauro, perfect for fans of Dune, Blade Runner, Halo, and Fallout. In this boundary-breaking new graphic novel, a once-thriving world, buried in the ashes of a nuclear holocaust and ruined by generations of planetary wars, now lies in perpetual waste. To save humanity from itself, the remaining AI bred and cloned elite humans as workers, soldiers, and enforcers―armoured warriors known as Ronin―to help keep order and give humanity a purpose in this brave new world. After a certain age, the clones start to think for themselves and are sent on increasingly dangerous missions until they are killed or “retired,” replaced by younger and more compliant clones, until the cycle repeats itself. While humanity limps on, the lives of two soldiers, Max and Kai, become intertwined on a routine mission upon discovering an ancient sentient robot known as Huxley, and soon find themselves caught up in a mystery of galactic scale, as the robot’s true purpose is revealed… This thrilling sci-fi debut by artist and world-builder Ben Mauro sets the stage for an immersive post-apocalyptic adventure that will leave you captivated and hungry for more. 240pgs colour paperback.
Insectopolis: A Natural History
by Paul Kuper
W.W. Norton & Co.
$35.00 / £25.00
The publisher says:
Award-winning cartoonist Peter Kuper transports readers through the 400-million-year history of insects and the remarkable entomologists who have studied them. This visually immersive work of graphic nonfiction dives into a world where ants, cicadas, bees, and butterflies visit a library exhibition that displays their stories and humanity’s connection to them throughout the ages. Kuper’s thrilling visual feast layers history and science, colour and design, to tell the remarkable tales of dung beetles navigating by the stars, hawk-size prehistoric dragonflies hunting prey, and mosquitoes changing the course of human history. Kuper also illuminates pioneering naturalists, from well-known figures like E. O. Wilson and Rachel Carson to unheralded luminaries like Charles Henry Turner, the Black American scholar who documented arthropod intelligence, and Maria Sybilla Merian, the seventeenth-century German regarded as the mother of entomology. Galvanized by the sixth extinction and the ongoing insect crisis, Kuper takes readers on an unforgettable journey. Peter Kuper wrote the Eisner Award–winning Ruins and critically acclaimed adaptations of Alice in Wonderland, Heart of Darkness, and Metamorphosis. He founded the political anthology World War 3 Illustrated, writes and draws Mad magazine’s Spy vs. Spy, and taught Harvard University’s first class dedicated to graphic novels and comics. 256pgs colour hardcover.
Invisible Differences: A Story of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Adulting, and Living Life in Full Color
by Mademoiselle Caroline & Julie Dachez
Oni Press
$19.99
The publisher says:
Marguerite feels awkward, struggling every day to stay productive at work and keep up appearances with friends. She’s sensitive, even irritable at times. She makes her environment a fluffy, comforting cocoon, alienating her boyfriend. The everyday noise and stimuli assaults her senses, the constant chatter of her coworkers working her last nerve. Then, when one big fight with her boyfriend finds her frustrated and dejected, Marguerite finally investigates the root of her discomfort: After a journey of tough conversations with her loved ones, doctors, and the internet, she discovers that she has Autism Spectrum Disorder. As a result, her life is profoundly changed—for the better. Previously published n hardcover in 2020. 196pgs B&W paperback.
Low: David Bowie’s Berlin Years
by Reinhard Kleist
SelfMadeHero
£16.99 / $19.99
The publisher says:
David Bowie’s legendary time in West Berlin as he searches for inspiration and records his 1977 album Low. The graphic novel Low traces the aftermath of David Bowie’s groundbreaking tour of America and the iconic “Berlin years” that followed. Hot on the platform heels of Starman: Bowie’s Stardust Years (SelfMadeHero, 2023), Reinhard Kleist masterfully concludes his two-part biography of David Bowie. In 1976, Bowie escaped the frantic madness and substance abuse of his life in Los Angeles for the Wall of the divided city of Berlin. With his friend Iggy Pop in tow, Bowie quit drugs and created LOW, the first album of his “Berlin Trilogy.” But even here, in some of the happiest days of his life, Ziggy Stardust would not let him go… Low follows Bowie’s forays through West Berlin’s revolutionary music scene and wild club life, and takes us deep into his recording sessions at Hansa Studios. The friendship between Bowie and Iggy drives both artists to new creative heights, while Bowie’s relationship with the cabaret artist and drag icon Romy Haag illuminates his fascination with Berlin as a city on the brink. Kleist’s Low is both a retelling of Bowie’s Berlin years and a vibrant portrait of the city itself. [This publication has not been prepared, approved, authorised, or licensed by the David Bowie estate or any related entity.] 176pgs colour paperback.
Motherlover
by Lindsay Ishihiro
Iron Circus Comics
$25.00
The publisher says:
Imogen has an exciting new neighbour! Alex just moved from the big city back into her late parents’ house, and she seems to have it all: she’s a cool single mom with a thriving career, a fun look, and a cosmopolitan life of adventure. Imogen certainly has dreams of a more carefree life, but being a stay-at-home mom of four is a more-than-full-time job—one that doesn’t pay very well—and that’s all she can handle. How does Alex do it? She’s captured Imogen’s imagination. But what we see on the surface isn’t always the whole story. Alex’s return has given her a lot to ponder. Her parents are gone, and she’s just starting to realise her privileged childhood wasn’t as happy as it seemed. Now she’s adrift, learning how to relate after a lifetime of pushing everyone away. Chance brought these two fast friends together… and everything that happens next is unlike anything they could have planned! 320pgs colour paperback.
Night Drive
by Richard Sala
Fantagraphics
$19.99
The publisher says:
This extremely rare, long out-of-print comic book of macabre and mysterious short stories launched the career of one of the medium’s most distinctive stylists. Originally self-published in 1984 and never reprinted, this expanded hardcover re-presents the original Night Drive with rare art and other bonus material. When Richard Sala passed away in 2020, he left behind a uniquely eldritch body of graphic novels and illustrations, fuelled by macabre whimsy and a love of dark mysteries and vintage monsters. Like David Lynch, Sala was a painter who turned to a storytelling medium that allowed him to create inventive narratives inspired by such disparate influences as French crime fiction, the grim humour of Charles Addams, the surreal poetry of Jorge Luis Borges, and his own penchant for all things gleefully ghoulish and sinister. Originally self-published in an edition of 500 copies in 1984, Night Drive collects several short stories inspired directly by pulp magazines, film noir, and André Breton―sinister and creepy pieces heavy on the atmosphere and signalling the creative emergence of a singular talent finding his footing with the surety of an artist equipped with the innate mastery of his craft and vision. Night Drive directly led to Sala contributing to Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly’s Raw and the adaptation of Night Drive‘s “Invisible Hands” for MTV’s Liquid Television, sparking an almost 40-year career as one of comics’ finest creators and idiosyncratic creators. Edited by longtime Sala friend Dana Marie Andra (Web of Horror) and designed by Sala’s friend and fellow cartoonist Daniel Clowes (Monica, Ghost World), who also contributes the Afterword, this graphic novella is rounded out with rare artwork, interviews with Sala about the book, and an essay by Andra. 64pgs B&W hardcover.
Not on Display
by Zelba, translated by Alice Yang
Helvetiq
$24.95
The publisher says:
An entertaining satire of nudity in the Louvre, Not on Display is a deeply serious, award-winning graphic novel examining the history of the female body in art and our society. When one of the greatest museums in the world gave the illustrator Zelba free rein to make a graphic novel about great art, she knew exactly what she would do: address a double standard. She’d seen the Louvre’s halls filled with sexualised female bodies, ogled at by crowds and sometimes even groped, and wanted to turn the tables. What if, she dreamed, those naked bodies refused to be the objects of our gaze? What if the female nudes in the Louvre went on strike? The result, a co-edition with Editions Louvre, is a critique of great artists and great museums. Awarded the prestigious Prix Scenario and the Prix Artemisia in France, the pages are filled with unforgettable characters, such as a heroic cleaner who can speak to statues and a museum director who secretly offloads his work onto his sister. Featuring well-known masterpieces, this entertaining romp displays one of the world’s greatest art collections in a whole new light. Wiebke Petersen, aka Zelba, was born in West Germany in 1973. Before becoming an illustrator, she was world junior rowing champion. In 2019, she published her first book, Dans le même bateau, an autobiographical account of her experience as a top sportswoman in East Germany at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Two years later, she returned with another autobiographical story, Mes mauvaises filles, about the right to die with dignity. With Not on Display (originally published in French as Le Grand Incident) she offers us a “fantasticomic” tale of the sexualisation of the female body in art. 128pgs black-and-red hardcover.
The Novel Life of Jane Austen: A Graphic Biography
by Janine Barchas & Isabel Greenberg
Black Dog & Leventhal / Greenfinch
$28.00 / £20.00
The publisher says:
A brilliant collaboration between internationally acclaimed Jane Austen expert, Janine Barchas, and New York Times bestselling graphic novelist, Isabel Greenberg. The Novel Life of Jane Austen is a one-of-a-kind, impeccably researched, ecstatically drawn graphic biography of one of the world’s most beloved literary icons. Combining deep scholarship and serious whimsy, The Novel Life of Jane Austen presents this literary icon as the starring character in her own graphic novel. Told in three parts (Budding Writer 1796-1797; Struggling Artist 1801-1809; Published Author 1811-1817), the gritty circumstances of Austen’s own genteel poverty and the small daily injustices so often borne by creative women at this time, are told against the backdrop of Georgian England and reflect, down to the smallest detail, many of the plots and characters woven into Austen’s greatest works. All the settings and scenarios presented here are based upon the historical record, including the clothing, architecture, decor, and Regency locations. Sprinkled throughout, the Easter eggs and clever references to popular film adaptations of Austen’s novels will satisfy the casual and avid Austen fan alike. 144pgs colour hardcover.
One Crazy Summer: The Graphic Novel
by Rita Williams-Garcia & Sharee Miller
Quill Tree Books
$24.99 / $15.99
The publisher says:
“I wish I didn’t know that I was marching my sisters into a boiling pot of trouble cooking in Oakland…” Eleven-year-old Delphine is like a mother to her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern. She’s had to be, ever since their mother, Cecile, left them seven years ago for a radical new life in California. But when the sisters arrive from Brooklyn to spend the summer with their mother in Oakland, Cecile is nothing like they imagined. While the girls hope to go to Disneyland and meet Tinker Bell, their mother sends them to a day camp run by the Black Panthers. Unexpectedly, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern learn much about their family, their country, and themselves during one truly crazy summer. This beloved Newbery Honor Book, National Book Award finalist, and Coretta Scott King Award–winning novel about the three unforgettable Gaither sisters has been adapted into a beautiful full-colour graphic novel for a new generation, with vibrant art by Sharee Miller. 304pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
The Other Jay & Eve
by Emma Jayne with colours by Ashanti Fortson
Silver Sprocket
$15.99
The publisher says:
Two women and their clones are thrown into crisis in this queer sci-fi graphic novel by Ignatz Award-winning cartoonists Emma Jayne and Ashanti Fortson. In a society where human cloning became the best way to make some quick cash, reluctant roommates Jay and Eve didn’t hesitate to donate their genes. However, when the two attend a reunion with their counterpart homunculi six years later, an evening to be tolerated becomes a nightmare. Existing tensions between the four women escalate to new heights at the news that, to the original Jay and Eve’s horror, the two clones are engaged to be married. Once the fallout begins, will any of them make it through the night unscathed? 80pgs colour paperback.
Raging Clouds
by Yudori
Fantagraphics
$34.99
The publisher says:
In this period drama set in the 16th-century Netherlands, the unlikely pair of a proper Dutchwoman and her husband’s slave mistress collaborate on a scientific discovery that could free them from the bounds of patriarchal society. The print debut of Korean manga artist Yudori is a richly imagined, erotic, feminist graphic novel. Amélie is a brilliant woman trapped in the restricting social mores of high Dutch society in the mid-16th century. Her marriage to Hans, a swashbuckling merchant, is a terrible match. While he charms the townsfolk, at home he is her intellectual inferior and treats her with cruelty and sexual violence. Expected to be a devoted housewife, Amélie can only be her true, free-spirited self when Hans travels away on business―when she can explore the town alone, lose herself in literature, and study winged animals to learn about the mechanics of flight. She looks to the skies and dreams of flying far away. Her life changes when Hans returns from his journey with Sahara, a slave mistress from a distant land. The two women are drawn to each other―each recognising their confinement in a world dominated by men―and work together to seek their freedom. Told as a fiercely feminist story and spectacularly illustrated, Raging Clouds is the dazzling graphic novel debut of Korean comic book artist Yudori. In her lush manga style, Yudori imagines the period in rich detail with careful attention to settings and costumes, while evoking the cultural and societal standards of the time. She creates complex women characters who grapple with indignity over their social position, engage in lustful fantasies, and ultimately relish in seizing agency in their lives. Raging Clouds is a powerful story about the role of women in society, the reality of existing within a non-consensual relationship, and the struggle to push back against the boundaries these women have been boxed into. 364pgs B&W hardcover.
The Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane, adapted by Steve Cuzor
Abrams ComicArts
$25.99 / $19.99
The publisher says:
A powerful graphic novel adaptation of the classic and genre-defining war novel The Red Badge of Courage, which has been continuously in print since 1894. Steve Cuzor’s stark yet detailed artwork perfectly capture the realistic prose of the original novel, presenting a lushly illustrated, unflinching depiction of war through the eyes of a young, inexperienced soldier. By illustrating the story, Cuzor pulls readers into the midst of the action, making Henry Fleming’s experience feel all the more visceral. Literary aficionados and students alike will find another layer of this classic story to appreciate in this new adaptation of Crane’s magnum opus. Written by Stephen Crane when he was just 24, The Red Badge of Courage is a Civil War story that captured the imaginations of readers worldwide and made its author an overnight literary icon. A groundbreaking and realistic examination of the psychological effects of war, the novel draws from firsthand accounts and research. Crane’s depiction of his main character, Henry Fleming, and his internal monologue, ring so true that many readers mistook Crane for a veteran himself. The realistic prose and visceral descriptions of battle that Crane used marked the first shift away from uncritical patriotism in war literature. It would take until at least the 1920s and the wake of the horror of the First World War for the rest of the genre to catch up. In the years following its publication, The Red Badge of Courage was hailed by Crane scholar Henry Wertheim as “unquestionably the most realistic novel about the American Civil War,” and Ernest Hemingway called the novel an “American classic.” 160pgs black-and-one colour hardcover / paperback.
Red Night
by Hanawa Kazuichi, translated by Ryan Holmberg
Breakdown Press
£14.99
The publisher says:
Breakdown Press is honoured to publish another classic of underground manga in the shape of Red Night by Hanawa Kazuichi. A wild entry into a violent world of obsession, madness and the perversity of the gods. In Hanawa’s work cruelty and decadence go hand in hand, and desire is accompanied by a macabre twist. Hanawa Kazuichi is one of the true pioneers of manga—his trailblazing work in erotic grotesquerie and folk horror has made him one of Japan’s most revered and imitated mangaka. Since his debut in the legendary alt manga magazine Garo in 1971, Hanawa has been skewering the morals of Japanese society through chilling tales of debauched medieval aristocracy, many of which are collected in this volume. First published in 1985, Red Night was Hanawa’s breakout book in Japan. This translation of the expanded edition is his first collection in English since his 2006 manga Doing Time, about the artist’s imprisonment for illegal possession of a firearm. 224pgs B&W paperback.
Saint Catherine
by Anna Meyer
23rd St.
$27.99 / $17.99
The publisher says:
A relatable adult graphic novel about a woman who skips Sunday mass for the first time in her life only to discover she’s possibly being possessed by a demon. In her 20-something years of existence, Catherine never skipped mass once. As a recovering Irish American Catholic, she has mostly traded the world of communion and confessionals for the “city-girl” struggle of work-life balance, family, and her relationships. The only thing she has not been able to shake is her fear that something bad will happen if she misses Sunday mass. But her fears become a reality when she skips mass for the first time and discovers she is now being possessed by a demon claiming to be the prince of hell. As she takes matters into her own hands and attempts to exorcise these demons (both the paranormal and emotional kind), Catherine must face her buried guilt and what it truly means to be good. A cathartic and engaging view into the messy life of an urban women in her early twenties, Anna Meyer’s Saint Catherine is truly a story of letting go of guilt and taking responsibility for your desires, hopes, and mistakes. Anna Meyer was born in Northeast Ohio. She enjoys climbing, congregating in the kitchen, and coffee made by a loved one. Anna currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her partner, Bryan, and their two cats, sweet Ysif and not-so-sweet Oscar. Saint Catherine is her first graphic novel. 368pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
Salt Green Death
by Katarina Thorsen
Conundrum Press
$30.00
The publisher says:
The documented experiences of Joseph O’Dwyer, a young man who was institutionalised at one of Canada’s most notorious historic psychiatric institutions. On November 21, 1948, Joseph O’Dwyer’s suicide attempt was interrupted when a bystander pulled him out of the Kitsilano Pool in Vancouver. This set a series of events in motion that ends with O’Dwyer’s institutionalisation at British Columbia’s first forensic psychiatric facility, Colquitz Hospital. Still reeling from the untimely wartime deaths of O’Dwyer’s siblings, O’Dwyer’s parents reach out to the institution repeatedly, requesting permission to bring him home. When they finally succeed in their request, the visit takes an unexpected turn. O’Dwyer is sent away once again, to an institution that used procedures that were considered unconscionable even then. But what circumstances brought O’Dwyer to the Kitsilano Pool in the first place? In Salt Green Death, researcher and artist Katarina Thorsen delves into 15 years of Joseph O’Dwyer’s life via patient files and other historical documents. This is her attempt at piecing together meaning and context in the experiences of the O’Dwyer family―a small slice of historical graphic medicine brought to life in coloured pencil and graphite. 196pgs colour paperback.
Sliced
by Rafael Scavone & Guilherme Grandizolli
Ablaze
$19.99
The publisher says:
Powered by passion for the craft and familial obligation, respectively, Silvio Zampini and Pietro Pizzutti are two pizzaiolos who’ve shared an animosity since childhood, fuelled by the long-ago desolation of their families’ friendship. They both have their struggles, however, and these are only magnified when a new pizza joint opens right across the street: glitzy, high-tech, and backed by some serious cash. Forced to work together to oust this new competitor, they’ll uncover both the underbelly of the corporation in question and the truth of their own pasts. Originally released by Comixology Originals and Stout Club, the creative powerhouse composed by comic creators Eduardo Medeiros, Mateus Santolouco, Rafael Albuquerque, and Rafael Scavone, Sliced offers a beautifully illustrated exploration of generational grudges and the effect of economic powerhouses on small business, presented in print for the first time by Ablaze. 144pgs colour paperback.
Spent: A Comic Novel
by Alison Bechdel
Mariner / Jonathan Cape
$29.99 / £20.00
The publisher says:
The celebrated and beloved New York Times bestselling author of the modern classic Fun Home presents a laugh-out-loud, brilliant, and passionately political work of autofiction. In Alison Bechdel’s hilariously skewering and gloriously cast new comic novel confection, a cartoonist named Alison Bechdel, running a pygmy goat sanctuary in Vermont, is existentially irked by a climate-challenged world and a citizenry on the brink of civil war. She wonders: Can she pull humanity out of its death spiral by writing a scathingly self-critical memoir about her own greed and privilege Meanwhile, Alison’s first graphic memoir about growing up with her father, a taxidermist who specialised in replicas of Victorian animal displays, has been adapted into a highly successful TV series. It’s a phenomenon that makes Alison, formerly on the cultural margins, the envy of her friend group (recognisable as characters, now middle-aged and living communally in Vermont, from Bechdel’s beloved comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For). As the TV show Death and Taxidermy racks up Emmy after Emmy—and when Alison’s Pauline Bunyanesque partner Holly posts an instructional wood-chopping video that goes viral—Alison’s own envy spirals. Why couldn’t she be the writer for a critically lauded and wildly popular reality TV show…like Queer Eye...showing people how to free themselves from consumer capitalism and live a more ethical life?!! Spent’s rollicking and masterful denouement—making the case for seizing what’s true about life in the world at this moment, before it’s too late—once again proves that “nobody does it better” (New York Times Book Review) than the real Alison Bechdel. 272pgs colour hardcover.
Stardust Family
by Aki Poroyama, translated by airco airco, lettered by Rachel J. Pierce
Yen Press
$30.00
The publisher says:
In the midst of a declining birth rate and rampant reports of child abuse, Japan has required prospective parents to pass a test for the right to conceive. The test’s evaluators are children themselves, deliberately behaving badly to provoke couples into an aggressive response and disqualify them on the spot. Hikari is one such evaluator in this system, and he thinks he’s seen it all― that is, until he’s assigned to the Hirokawa family… Single volume, originally serialised in Enterbrain’s seinen manga magazine Comic Beam from April 2022 to January 2023, then collected in two tankōbon volumes in 2023. 450pgs B&W paperback.
The Stoneshore Register
by G. Willow Wilson & M.K. Perker
Dark Horse Comics / Berger Books
$24.99
The publisher says:
When refugee and aspiring journalist Fadumo arrives to work at The Stoneshore Register, she is entering a far stranger place than she realises. At first, the colossal stone giant overlooking the rundown, seemingly ordinary Pacific Northwest fishing town seems like the only remarkable element. But he is not the only strange surprise: changelings, selkies, cursed ships—the bizarre has a home in Stoneshore, yet no one gives it a second thought. But Fadumo doesn’t just want to cover these odd occurrences. She wants to dig deeper. And what she discovers is a land so steeped in mysterious history, it will change all who dare to explore it. 128pgs colour paperback.
Trans History: From Ancient Times to the Present Day
by Alex L. Combs & Andrew Eakett
Candlewick Press
$24.99 / $16.99
The publisher says:
An essential introduction to trans history, from ancient times to the present day, in full-colour graphic nonfiction format. Deeply researched, highly readable, and featuring a broad range of voices. What does “trans” mean, and what does it mean to be trans? Diversity in human sex and gender is not a modern phenomenon, as readers will discover through illustrated stories and records that introduce historical figures ranging from the controversial Roman emperor Elagabalus to the swashbuckling seventeenth-century conquistador Antonio de Erauso to veterans of the Stonewall uprising Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. In addition to these individual profiles, the book explores some of the societal roles played by trans people beginning in ancient times and shows how European ideas about gender were spread across the globe. It explains how the science of sexology and the growing acceptance of (and backlash to) gender nonconformity have helped to shape what it means to be trans today. Illustrated conversations with modern activists, scholars, and creatives highlight the breadth of current trans experiences and give readers a deeper sense of the diversity of trans people, a group numbering in the millions. Extensive source notes provide further resources. Moving, funny, heartbreaking, and empowering, this remarkable compendium from trans creators Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett is packed with research on every dynamic page. 384pgs two-colour hardcover / paperback.
Tsunami
by Ned Wenlock
Pow Pow Press
$26.95
The publisher says:
At school, being right isn’t always the right answer. Peter is a misfit, an awkward 12-year-old who’s mercilessly bullied in school and quietly ignored at home. Peter’s lonely life in small-town New Zealand is upended by the arrival of Charlie, a badass girl who might just be the friend Peter has been needing… But when Peter’s bull-headed commitment to the truth brings him into conflict with Gus, a troubled and violent classmate, things quickly spiral out of control and the two boys find themselves in a terrifying situation neither of them could have ever imagined. Drawn in a charming and disarmingly cartoony style and full of pitch-perfect dialogue, Tsunami is a devastating and hilarious coming-of-age story, a nuanced examination of adolescent alienation and the unpredictable consequences of our actions. Winner of the New Zealand Society of Authors Best First Book Award. Ned Wenlock is an award-winning designer, animator, and comic creator based in Wellington, New Zealand. He was born in the UK and moved to New Zealand on his thirteenth birthday. His short films and videos have played in festivals around the world, and his comics have appeared in the respected anthologies Faction and Bristle, and he was a featured artist in From Earth’s End: The Best New Zealand Comics. 273pgs B&W paperback.
