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August 2013

A cornucopia of previously unreprinted marvels rescued from newsprint limbo fill the pages of Society is Nix, reproduced immaculately in their ‘polychromatic effulgence’ and at the same generous dimensions as they originally appeared around the turn of the 20th century in America’s remarkable Sunday “Funnies” supplements. This is less a coffee-table book, more a coffee table in itself. It’s just one of my PG Tips for new titles due in August or soon after. I hope you find one or a few of them here to tickle your fancy. Join me here each month as I preview my recommendations for treats in store a couple of months in advance - there’s nothing quite like anticipation!


A Bag of Marbles
by Joseph Joffo & Vincent Bailly
Lerner Publishing Group
$9.95

The publishers says:
In 1941 in occupied Paris, brothers Maurice and Joseph play a last game of marbles before running home to their father’s barbershop. This is the day that will change their lives forever. With the German occupation threatening their family’s safety, the boys’ parents decide Maurice and Joseph must disguise themselves and flee to their older brothers in the free zone. Surviving the long journey will take every scrap of ingenuity and courage they can muster. And if they hope to elude the Nazis, they must never, under any circumstances, admit to being Jewish. The boys travel by train, by ferry, and on foot, facing threats from strangers and receiving help from unexpected quarters. Along the way they must adapt to the unfamiliar world beyond their city—and find a way to be true to themselves even as they conceal their identities. Based on an autobiographical novel by Joseph Joffo and adapted with the author’s input, this true story offers a harrowing but inspiring glimpse of a childhood cut short. Read an interview with Vincent Bailly by Peter Howard here.


Amazing Facts & Beyond
by Kevin Huizenga & Dan Zettwoch
Uncivilized Books
$24.95

The publishers says:
Leon Beyond is the know-it-all, relentless-fact-baking brain child of cartoonists Kevin Huizenga and Dan Zettwoch. Part John Hodgman, part garage sale Popular Mechanics, Leon Beyond drops knowledge every week in the comics section of the St. Louis Riverfront Times. Amazing Facts & Beyond collects the comic-strip’s best and most mental adventures. Discover the world of Memory Palaces, Volcano Graffiti, Baseball Slang, Novelty Rap Commercials, and Knee Hole Skirts. Learn new words and concepts: winkaton, piehabitant, optogenerian. Mark your avant garde cat calendar as you travel to the Pancake and Eggs Nebula. Meticulously un-researched and full of dubious knowledge, Amazing Facts & Beyond is the postmodern successor to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. Featuring special guest contributors, a comprehensive Beyondex, and behind- the-scenes special sections. Pre-order here and save 15%.



Amelia Cole and the Unknown World
by Adam P. Knave, D.J. Kirkbride & Nick Brokenshire
IDW
$19.99

The publishers says:
Amelia Cole lives in two worlds - literally. One runs on magic; the other is built on technology. When the barriers between both worlds start to break down, Amelia and her Aunt Dani must take extreme action. It’s the start of a whole new world in adventure, magic, and excitement as Amelia Cole steps forward to do what she knows is right, even when the consequences might be wrong. Now all six issues of Amelia Cole and the Unknown World - written by Eisner and Harvey award winners Adam P. Knave and D.J. Kirkbride, drawn by Nick Brokenshire, lettered by Rachel Deering, and first published in pixels on MonkeyBrain Comics - are collected in print for the first time!



Bad Houses
by Sara Ryan & Carla Speed McNeil
Dark Horse
$19.99

The publishers says:
Lives intersect in the most unexpected ways when teenagers Anne and Lewis cross paths at an estate sale in sleepy Failin, Oregon. Failin was once a thriving logging community. Now the town’s businesses are crumbling, its citizens bitter and disaffected. Anne and Lewis refuse to succumb to the fate of the older generation as they discover - together - the secrets of their hometown and their own families. Bad Houses is a coming-of-age tale about love, trust, hoarding, and dead people’s stuff from award-winning creators Sara Ryan (Empress of the World) and Carla Speed McNeil (Finder).


Black is the Color
by Julia Gfrörer
Fantagraphics
$12.99

The publishers says:
In this graphic novella, a wicked mermaid lures a sailor to his doom. Black is the Color begins with a 17th-century sailor abandoned at sea by his shipmates, and as it progresses he endures, and eventually succumbs to, both his lingering death sentence and the advances of a cruel and amorous mermaid. The narrative also explores the experiences of the loved ones he leaves behind, on his ship and at home on land, as well as of the mermaids who jadedly witness his destruction. At the heart of the story lie the dubious value of maintaining dignity to the detriment of intimacy, and the erotic potential of the worst-case scenario. Julie Gfrörer’s delicate drawing style perfectly complements the period era of Black is the Color, bringing the lyricism and romanticism of Gfrörer’s prose to the fore. Black is the Color is a book as seductive as the sirens it depicts.



Bluesy Lucy: The Existential Chronicles of a Thirty-Something
by Veronique Grisseaux & Catel
Humanoids
$24.95

The publishers says:
Lucy has just turned 30, is single, and works as a graphic designer. Surrounded by a circle of married friends or ones starting families, she feels alone and hopeless. Determined to find “Mr. Right” who will solve all her problems, Lucy begins evaluating different suitors to various degrees of success and amid the often absurd situations that can only result from the quirks of everyday life.
Creators Veronique Grisseaux and Catel paint a touching, humorous, and realistic picture of what it is to be a young independent woman in today’s modern world. Written by Veronique Grisseaux and Catel, with artwork and a cover by Catel, illustrator of Kiki de Montparnasse (SelfMadeHero).



Fashion Beast
by Alan Moore, Malcolm McClaren, Antony Johnston & Facundo Percio
Avatar Press
$32.99 Hardcover / $24.99 Paperback

The publishers says:
Alan Moore, the best-selling graphic novelist of all time, delivers an original dystopian fairy tale set against the backdrop of nuclear winter. Alan Moore’s 1985 time-lost screenplay written with Malcolm McLaren (Sex Pistols) is finally brought to life as a graphic novel. Doll was unfulfilled in her life as a coat checker of a trendy club. But when she is fired from the job and auditions to become a “mannequin” for a reclusive designer, the life of glamour she always imagined is opened before her. She soon discovers that the house of Celestine is as dysfunctional as the clothing that define the classes of this dystopian world. And she soon discovers that the genius of the designer is built upon a terrible lie that has influence down to the lowliest citizen. This unique retelling of Beauty and the Beast was written in 1985 alongside Alan Moore’s comics redefining work on Watchmen. Beautifully illustrated by Facundo Perico (Anna Mercury) and meticulously adapted by Antony Johnston (Yuggoth Cultures), this is another entry in the graphic novel masterworks library by Alan Moore.



Helter Skelter: Fashion Unfriendly
by Kyoko Okazaki
Vertical Inc.
$16.95

The publishers says:
Super-model Ririko has been at the top of her game for what seems like an eternity, at least for the modelling world. And now with a new face rising up to challenge her position as the best, she is willing to alter her entire body to maintain her status, even if it means altering her sense of self in the process.  The manga inspired a live-action film version starring Erika Sawajiri that opened in Japan on July 14 2012. The manga won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Manga Grand Prize in 2004, and was nominated for the “Angoulême Essentials” grand prize award at the Angouleme International Comics Festival in 2008. This is the first manga by Okazaki published in English.



Illustrated British Classics: King Solomon’s Mines
by Rider Haggard, Jesús Blasco & Various Artists
The Book Palace
$28.99 / £15.99

The publishers says:
Three British comic strips that boast the talents of Jesus Blasco, Mike Hubbard, Cecil Doughty, Bill Baker and John Millar Watt. These collected strips are reproduced from original artboards and have never looked better. Gathered together are three classic adaptations behind a Millar Watt cover, each written by the father of the lost world genre. King Solomon’s Mines is one of the most famous of all adventure novels: adventurer Allan Quatermain is asked to help find his friend’s brother who is presumed lost deep in the unexplored interior of Africa whilst looking for the legendary King Solomon’s Mines. The artwork is some of Bill Baker’s best and one wonders why the equally talented C. L. Doughty took over part-way through. Allan Quatermain, in mourning for his only son, persuades his friends (jncluding Zulu chief Umslopogas) to accompany him into Maasai territory. Travelling by canoe, they find themselves in the kingdom of Zu-Vendis, a country ruled by an isolated warlike white race … The artwork in line & wash by Mike Hubbard. Montezuma’s Daughter is superbly adapted and penned by Jesus Blasco. Thomas Wingfield sets off to avenge the murder of his mother. After a brush with the Spanish Inquisition, shipwreck and slavery, his search leads him to the shores of Mexico where he is captured by the Aztecs. He is taken to the emperor who will decide hios fate. Then the Spaniards arrive …  Click here to see sumptuous original artworks for this book and to order directly.



Incidents in the Night Vol. 1
by David B.
Uncivilized Books
$19.95

The publishers says:
In Incidents in the Night David B. (Epileptic, The Armed Garden) sets out to explore the uncharted territories of overflowing and dusty shelves of Paris’ legendary book shops. His journey quickly turns into an obsessive vision quest in pursuit of a mysterious 19th Century journal: Incidents in the Night. Mountains of books become sites of archeological digs as the author excavates layers of myth, fact and fiction in search of the elusive thread that links them all. Along the way he stumbles on fanatical Bonapartists, occult conspiracies and the angel of death. Incidents in the Night is an intricate, ever-expanding web of dream and reality exquisitely translated by novelist Brian Evenson (Immobility, The Wavering Knife, Fugue State). Pre-order here and save 15%.



March Book 1
by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin & Nate Powell
Top Shelf Productions
$14.95

The publishers says:
Top Shelf Productions is proud to present the first volume of March, a graphic novel trilogy co-authored by Congressman John Lewis (GA-5) and Andrew Aydin, with art by Nate Powell (a New York Times bestseller, Eisner Award winner, and finalist for the LA Times Book Prize). March is a vivid, first-hand account of John Lewis’ lifelong struggle for civil and human rights (including his key roles in the historic 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 Selma-Montgomery March), meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. In March, a true American icon teams up with one of America’s most acclaimed graphic novelists. Together, they bring to life one of our nation’s most historic moments, a period both shameful and inspiring, and a movement whose echoes will be heard for generations.  Read a preview here.



Over The Wall
by Peter Wartman
Uncivilized Books
$14.95

The publishers says:
A great wall separates a magnificent metropolis from the surrounding countryside. All humans are banned from ever entering the city. A young girl is determined to enter the forbidden city in search of her lost brother. When she crosses over, fantastic adventures ensue in narrow medieval streets, ancient temples, and abandoned bazars of the haunted city. To save her missing brother, she must grapple with mythical creatures, explore the mystery of the missing inhabitants, and cure the amnesia of an entire civilization. Over the Wall immerses the reader in a richly imagined world of coming of age rituals, lost worlds and the nature of memory. The beautiful two-color art vividly brings to life the fantastical architecture of mysterious metropolis and faintly evokes the crisp lines of Japanese anime. Over the Wall is a stunning debut from a young and talented cartoonist Peter Wartman. Peter Wartman is a designer by day and a cartoonist by night. He lives and works in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Over the Wall is his first graphic novel. Pre-order here and save 15%.



Society Is Nix: Gleeful Anarchy at the Dawn of the American Comic Strip 1895-1915
edited by Peter Maresca, by various artists
Sunday Press Books
$125.00

The publishers says:
From The Yellow Kid to The Captain and the Kids, these are the origins of the American comic strip, created at a time when there were no set styles or formats, when artistic anarchy helped spawn a new medium. This books features the earliest offerings (1895 to 1915) from the famous and also the lesser-known cartoonists who where there when comics were born; over 150 creations from more then 50 superb artists, most reprinted for the first time ever.  And all offered here in the original broadsheet size and brilliant colours. Edited by Peter Maresca, with cover artwork by James Swinnerton. Please note that some of the content may be considered racially offensive to modern readers, but is included in this book as an essential part of comics history of the time. Paul Tumey previews the screwball comics of Dink Shannon here.



The Colonial Heritage of French Comics
by Mark McKinney
Liverpool University Press
£65.00 / $85.50

The publishers says:
Although France has changed much in recent decades, colonial-era imagery continues to circulate widely in comics, in part because the colonial archives are easily accessible, and through the republication of colonial-era comics that are viewed as classics. The latter include the Tintin series of comic books, by the Belgian artist Hergé, and the Zig and Puce series by Alain Saint-Ogan, a Frenchman. In this important new study Mark McKinney situates comics in debates about French colonialism, arguing that cartoonists still use representations of colonial history in their comics as a way of intervening in debates about contemporary France and its current relationships to its former colonies. McKinney argues that comics offer unique opportunities to both reproduce and thereby perpetuate colonial ideologies, images and discourses, as well as to deconstruct and contest them. The ways, and the degree to which, they do one or the other tell us a great deal about the heritage of imperialism and colonialism in French comics and society. Available in the UK previously. 256pp hardcover.



The Compulsory Freedom Collective
by Colin Barr & Various
Rough Cut Comics
$15.99

The publishers says:
The original one-shot Freedom Collective title – which re-imagined the type of comic-books that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby could have created, if they had been born and worked in the 1960s Soviet Union – became a “sleeper hit” in the independent comic-book scene and has attracted fans such as Grant Morrison and Alex Ross. This new 76-page Compulsory Freedom Collective reprints the original 20-page one-shot story and adds three brand new adventures featuring the titular Red Avengers, adding more ’Silver Age’ parodies in the shape of The Siberian Six and Ivan Karnage, Agent of KRUSH. The original teaming of Dom Regan (A1) and Colin Barr are joined in this volume with the art of renowned Kirby enthusiast Dave Golding, award-winning Dave Alexander, Total Fear creator Curt Sibling, and Zenescope Entertainment colourist Derek Dow. Creators Igor Sloano and Barr are again providing the scripts which truly capture the jingoistic style of the House of Ideas back in the 1960s. Check some samples from the original tale here.



The Outliers #1
by Erik Johnson
Alternative Comics
$5.00

The publishers says:
The Outliers is an action-adventure story that follows a speech-impaired 11 year-old boy living in the Pacific North woods who has a very unusual friendship with an 18-foot tall, hairy woodland giant. The comic is produced with a high and unique degree of craft; employing French Paper Company papers, letterpress covers and a color dustjacket; and, it was selected for the Society of Illustrator’s 55th Annual Sequential Art show in New York.



Trillium #1 (of 8)
by
Jeff Lemire
Vertigo
$2.99

The publishers says:
It’s the year 3797, and botanist Nika Temsmith is researching a strange species on a remote science station near the outermost rim of colonized space. It’s the year 1921, and renowned English explorer William Pike leads an expedition into the dense jungles of Peru in search of the fabled “Lost Temple of the Incas,” an elusive sanctuary said to have strange healing properties. Two disparate souls separated by thousands of years and hundreds of millions of miles. Yet they will fall in love and, as a result, bring about the end of the universe. Even though reality is unraveling all around them, nothing can pull them apart. This isn’t just a love story; It’s the LAST love story ever told. Trillium is an 8-issue series that combines rich historical adventure and mind-bending science fiction into a sprawling, unconventional love story by Jeff Lemire. This amazing miniseries kicks off with 28-pages of story in a flip-book with two covers and two separate but connected stories that offer a unique reading experience.



Why We Drive: The Past, Present and Future of Automobiles in America
by Andy Singer
Microcosm Publishing
$13.95

The publishers says:
Taking the position that America’s love affair with cars and highways is not a cultural phenomena but an problem that is entrenched in economic and political forces, this manifesto chronicles the rise of the U.S. highway system, its very orchestrated genesis, and the alarming increase in reliance on automobiles. With a format that incorporates a blend of cartoons, historic photographs, and minimal text, this handbook reveals the players—among them crooked politicians, unscrupulous businessmen, and convoluted tax shenanigans—corruption, and greed that has led to endless miles of asphalt. In addition to analyzing the impact of the cultural bias towards driving and how driving became such a dominant mode of transportation, this comedic treatise offers a blueprint for rebuilding a functional and sustainable public transportation system that would bring wealth, happiness, and freedom.

Posted: June 10, 2013

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Comics Unmasked by Paul Gravett and John Harris Dunning from The British Library

1001 Comics  You Must Read Before You Die edited by Paul Gravett


Comics Art by Paul Gravett from Tate Publishing