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November 2013

As we start slipping into the autumn, November 2013 brings us still more delights including new graphic novel projects from the likes of Matteo Farinella, Charles Forsman, Howard Hardiman, Ilya, Roman Muradov and Jesse Reklaw and others, and very welcome translations of some outstanding bandes dessinées and manga and no less than two new books about Alan Moore as well as Trina Robbins’ ultimate ‘her-story’ of America’s women cartoonists and deluxe monographs on Rube Goldberg and Hergé. Now I won’t trumpet my own brand new book from Tate Publishing and Yale University Press, Comics Art, as my pick of the month, that would be a bit too self-promotional of me!

What I will choose as my November pick is Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlman and Kerascoët from Drawn & Quarterly, which I’ve been looking forward to seeing in English for ages. In 2010 I selected this as a particular favourite after it was first published by Dupuis in 2009 and nominated for an Angoulême award. Back then I wrote: “The single stand-out book I have read and re-read, that horrified and charmed me and haunts me still, is Jolies Ténèbres [its French title, literally ‘Pretty Shadows’]. This is exquisitely drawn by Kerascoët (pen-name of Marie Pommepuy and Sébastien Cosset taken from her home town) and co-written with Fabien Vehlmann. You might have come across Kerascoët’s Miss Don’t Touch Me with writer Hubert in English from NBM. Good though that is, Jolies Ténèbres is exceptional.

“This is such a unique, unsettling amorality tale, from its opening sequence in which charming Aurore and her friends find their tea unfortunately interrupted as the large dollops of red gloop start falling onto them. A mass exodus follows, and it is only then that we we see them pour out onto the forest floor, leaving behind them the decomposing body of a little girl. The fantasy realm of Richard Dadd’s feverish fairy paintings collides here with the murder mystery puzzle of who killed this child and will they get away with it. Your moral compass goes all over the place and loses you, as you look for some guidance to the actions and motives of these mercurial, cute yet cruel little woodland creatures.

“Lizzie Spratt from Walker Books shared my enthusiasm: ‘This has to be one of the most compelling works of moral philiosophy. I want to discuss! I want others to discuss! It’s so cleverly conceived and put together - the mixture of beautiful watercolours and realism combined with these charming cartoon characters with their bulging innocent eyes, but with all their self-concern, their hunger and the grimmest view of what makes nice and what makes nasty.’

“Or as I put it, ‘Shadows have never been prettier, or darker’.” 


AAMA: The Smell of Warm Dust Vol. 1
by Frederik Peeters
SelfMadeHero
£12.99

The publisher says:
In the distant future, Verloc Nim wakes up in the middle of nowhere suffering from complete amnesia. He remembers nothing of his former life. But when Verloc is handed his diary by a robot-monkey called Churchill, he is able to revisit his past. His life, he discovers, has been a miserable one. He lost his business, his family and his friends, simply because he refused the technological advancements pushed on him by society: the pharyngeal filter, the eye implants, the genetic modifications - Verloc went without all these. He had been astray in a society he deeply resented - until his brother, Conrad, took him to another planet to retrieve a mysterious biorobotic experiment called AAMA… 88pp colour hardcover. See three French pages analysed here…


Alan Moore and The Gothic Tradition
edited by Matthew J. Green
Manchester University Press
$95.00 / £65.00

The publisher says:
The first book-length study to address Moore’s significance to the Gothic, this volume is also the first to provide in-depth analyses of his spoken-word performances, poetry and prose, as well as his comics and graphic novels. The essays collected here identify the Gothic tradition as perhaps the most significant cultural context for understanding Moore’s work, providing unique insight into its wider social and political dimensions as well as addressing key theoretical issues in Gothic Studies, Comics Studies and Adaptation Studies. Scholars, students and general readers alike will find fresh insights into Moore’s use of horror and terror, homage and parody, plus allusion and adaptation. The international list of contributors includes leading researchers in the field and the studies presented here enhance the understanding of Moore’s works while at the same time exploring the ways in which these serve to advance a broader appreciation of Gothic aesthetics. 288pp hardcover.


Anything That Loves
by various artists, edited by Charles ‘Zan’ Christensen
Northwest Press
$29.99

The publisher says:
“Why don’t you just come out already?” “How can you be bi if you’re married?” “You’ll do it with anything that moves.” For all their differences, gay and straight people are often united in their problems with bisexuality. People who follow their hearts wherever they lead, regardless of gender, are still usually met with disbelief and suspicion. From confessional, personal accounts to erotic flights of fancy to undersea identity politics, this collection of comics invites the reader to step outside of the categories and explore the wild and wonderful uncharted territory between “gay” and “straight”. Featuring comics and illustrations by Adam Pruett, Agnes Czaja, Alex Dahm, Amy T. Falcone, Ashley Cook & Caroline Hobbs, Bill Roundy, Ellen Forney, Erika Moen, Jason A. Quest, Jason Thompson, John Lustig, Jon Macy, Josh Trujillo & Dave Valeza, Kate Leth, Kevin Boze, Leanne Franson, Leia Weathington, Lena H. Chandhok, Margreet de Heer, MariNaomi, Maurice Vellekoop, Melaina, Nick Leonard, Powflip, Randall Kirby, Roberta Gregory, Sam Orchard, Sam Saturday, Stasia Burrington, Steve Orlando, Tania Walker, and Tara Madison Avery & Mike Sullivan. Featuring an introduction by editor Charles “Zan” Christensen and a foreword by PoMoSexuals author Carol Queen, PhD. Royalties from the sale of this book are being donated to Prism Comics, the nonprofit organization that’s been helping LGBT comics, creators, and readers for over ten years! 216pp full-colour paperback. Northwest offer 8 preview pages here…


Beautiful Darkness
by Fabien Vehlmann & Kerascoët
Drawn & Quarterly
$22.95

The publisher says:
A dark fairy tale about surviving the human experience

Aurora’s having a tea party with Hector, the prince she’s been dreaming about, when a sudden deluge forces them to take shelter elsewhere. They emerge from the skull of a dead girl into the woods at night and find themselves among a crowd of tiny people, all of whom are milling about. Aurora quickly takes charge of the situation, and at first things seem to be going well for most of her friends. Despite a few injuries and deaths and a lot of hunger, they forage successfully and befriend a mouse that lives in the neighborhood. But as time goes by, more and more of the little people begin to lose hope, turning against one another in brutal ways. Beautiful Darkness is a harrowing look at the human psyche and the darkness that hides behind the routine politeness and meaningless kindness of civilized society. The sweet faces and bright leaves of Kerascoët’s joyful watercolors only serve to highlight the evil that dwells beneath, as characters allow their pettiness, greed, and jealousy to take over. Beautiful Darkness presents a bleak allegory on the human condition; Kerascoët’s and Fabien Vehlmann’s work is a searing condemnation of our vast capacity for evil writ tiny. 96pp full colour hardcover. See the book’s opening sequence here…


Celebrated Summer
by Charles Forsman
Fantagraphics
$16.99

The publisher says:
This original graphic novella is a funny and moving story of escalating humor and tension between two disaffected teens, Mike and Wolf, who take a spontaneous summer road trip after dropping acid. As the stark black and white of Forsman’s cartooning indicates, however, this is not a psychedelic, Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby kind of trip. Instead of the escapism they crave from their fragile home lives, the LSD only heightens their sense of ennui, exacerbates their fears about the world they’re about to enter as adults, and creates doubts about everything they think they know. Though not entirely what they bargained for, will Mike and Wolf look back on their adventure as part of the “celebrated summer” of their never-to-be recaptured youth, or a carelessly wasted part of the best years of their lives? Or both?  68pp B&W softcover. Watch the trailer here…


Comics Art
by Paul Gravett
Tate Publishing / Yale University Press
£18.99 / $35.00

The publisher says:
No longer confined to juvenile escapism or genre formulas, comics have never been a more dynamic and challenging art form than in the 21st century. The phenomenal growth of graphic novels and manga and the explosion of comics on the internet and other platforms have given their creators unprecedented freedom to innovate. Many can enjoy widespread acclaim in the art world, literary circles and through their multimedia adaptations. Comics Art takes an international approach by tracing lines of influence around the world to give historical contexts and contemporary perspectives for this huge current interest in the medium. Richly illustrated with many images taken from original artwork and rare artefacts, Comics Art gives a fascinating, accessible guide to some of the special properties of sequential art, such as panels, page layouts, speech balloons and wordless or silent narration. It addresses concerns about how comics perpetuate stereotypes and support the status quo, while assessing their growing significance, notably through autobiography and reportage, as vehicles for provocative voices often silenced in other media. Comics Art also explores the diversity of styles, media and approaches now possible in the medium and exciting developments in digital comics and in comics conceived for galleries and installations. 144pp full-colour hardcover.


Couch Tag
by Jesse Reklaw
Fantagraphics
$26.99

The publisher says:
Jesse Reklaw’s graphic memoir, told through conceits like cat histories and card games, is about his childhood and involves family, death, mental illness, sex and drug use. Veteran alternative cartoonist Jesse Reklaw, creator of the long-running weekly comic strip Slow Wave, delivers this tragicomic graphic memoir, his first long-form work. Presented as a series of comic novellas that together comprise a thoughtful, sometimes dark and often hilarious memoir about childhood, family, death, mental illness, sex and drug use, the entire book is told through cleverly inviting conceits like cat histories and card games. The graphic novel is told in five parts: In “Thirteen Cats” (featured in The Best American Comics), Reklaw discovers coping mechanisms that mimic his family pets; “Toys I Love” relates the author’s pre-pubescent brushes with deviant sexual activity, and the way innocence converges with real sexual trauma; “The Fred Robinson Story” tells the story of Reklaw’s period stalking perfect strangers; “The Stacked Deck,” in which hereditary influences towards criminal behavior, drug use and depression are explored via card games the author played with his family; and “Lessoned,” a family history of mental illness. 176pp B&W hardcover. Here’s an interview with Reklaw…


(In A Sense) Lost and Found
by Roman Muradov
Nobrow
£12.99

The publisher says:
(In a Sense) Lost and Found, the first graphic novel by rising star Roman Muradov, explores the theme of innocence by treating it as a tangible object - something that can be used, lost, mistreated. Muradov’s crisp, delicate style conjures a world of strange bookstores, absurd conspiracies and harming wordplay. A suureal table told in the mould of the best American comics, In a Sense retains its distinctly Eastern perspective. 68pp colour hardcover. For a foretaste browse Muradov’s Tumblr here…


Magic Words: The Extraordinary Life of Alan Moore
by Lance Parkin
Aurum Press
$29.95 / £20.00

The publisher says:
or three decades comics fans and creators have looked to Alan Moore to map out the state of the art of the medium. In works such as Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell he has redefined the possibilities of the genre, attracting literary plaudits and a mainstream audience far removed from his cult origins. His standing in popular culture is so high that some of the biggest names in Hollywood vie to adapt his books for cinema. Yet his career is a perfect illustration of grand imagination smashing headlong into corporate mediocrity. A principled eccentric, rooted in a very English counter-culture, to this very day he lives in the town of his birth – Northampton – professing greater interest in performance art, magic and erotica than he does a business he regards as exploitative and derivative. Moreover, his journey from the punky art labs of the 1970s to the bestseller lists has seen him embroiled in fierce feuds with some of the entertainment industry’s biggest companies. Now, in anticipation of his 60th birthday, Moore aficionado Lance Parkin goes in search of this extraordinary gentleman, and reveals a writer quite unlike any other working today. 400pp part-colour hardcover.


Missing: Have You Seen The Invisible Man?
by Dave West & Joe Campbell
Accent UK
$5.00

The publisher says:
In the second comic of our Blessed/Cursed imprint, James Williams develops a formula for making a man invisible, and then goes missing. It deals with the duality of any special ability, in that there will always be a downside. 32pp B&W comic book. Check out some preview pages here…

 

 



Neurocomic
by Matteo Farinella
Nobrow
£14.99

The publisher says:
Welcome to Neurocomic, a visually captivating adventure through the brain. Neurocomic is populated by quirky creatures, bizarre landscapes and famous neuroscientists. Our nameless protagonist evades vindictive colossal squid, negotiates mysterious trap doors, battles Boschean narcotic demons and navigates forests of neurons to take you on an enrapturing journey through the most complex organic structure in the universe. Neurocomic makes a baffling, mysterious subject approachable for the layman but it’s also a wonnderful object in it’s own right, one that cries out to be picked up and read. Produced in association with the Wellcome Trust, the largest medical charity in the world, Neurocomic is a wonderful introduction to the complexities of the brain. 128pp B&W hardcover. Watch this Guardian video report.


Pink
by Kyoko Okazaki
Vertical Inc.
$14.95

The publisher says:
Yumi, a beautiful twenty-something. By day, Yumi works at a regular office job, but at night she works as a call-girl as she needs the additional funds to make ends meet. She also needs the extra income to feed her unusual pet, a crocodile, which she keeps in her apartment. 256pp B&W softcover.

 

 


Pretty In Ink: North American Women Cartoonists 1896-2013
by Trina Robbins
Fantagraphics
$29.99

The publisher says:
Trina Robbins updates her seminal historical survey of female cartoonists for the 21st century — when female cartoonists such as Alison Bechdel, Lynda Barry, and Kate Beaton are at perhaps their highest profile. With the 1896 publication of Rose O’Neill’s comic strip The Old Subscriber Calls in Truth Magazine, American women entered the field of comics, and they never left it. But, you might not know that reading most of the comics histories out there. Trina Robbins has spent the last thirty years recording the accomplishments of a century of women cartoonists, and Pretty in Ink is her ultimate book, a revised, updated and rewritten history of women cartoonists, with more color illustrations than ever before, and with some startling new discoveries (such as a Native American woman cartoonist from the 1940s who was also a Corporal in the women’s army, and the revelation that a cartoonist included in all of Robbins’s previous histories was a man!) In the pages of Pretty in Ink you’ll find new photos and correspondence from cartoonists Ethel Hays and Edwina Dumm, and the true story of Golden Age comic book star Lily Renee, as intriguing as the comics she drew. Although the comics profession was dominated by men, there were far more women working in the profession throughout the 20th century than other histories indicate, and they have flourished in the 21st. Robbins not only documents the increasing relevance of women throughout the 20th century, with mainstream creators such as Ramona Fradon and Dale Messick and alternative cartoonists such as Lynda Barry, Carol Tyler, and Phoebe Gloeckner, but the latest generation of women cartoonists—Megan Kelso, Cathy Malkasian, Linda Medley, and Lilli Carré, among many others. Robbins is the preeminent historian of women comic artists; forget her previous histories: Pretty in Ink is her most comprehensive volume to date. 200pp B&W with 80pp in full colour.


Renée
by Ludovic Debeurme
Top Shelf Productions
$29.95

The publisher says:
French graphic novelist Ludovic Debeurme returns with a devastating sequel to his prize-winning graphic novel Lucille. While Lucille moves back in with her overbearing mother and Arthur serves time in prison for murder, new character Renée becomes obsessed with a married jazz musician twice her age. Debeurme’s haunting border-less panels follow these three lovers between dreams and reality, twining their stories together into a poignant and universal search for love. A deluxe 544-page graphic novel with French flaps. Comics Beat have a preview page and background…



Room For Love
by Ilya
SelfMadeHero
£14.99

The publisher says:
Patricia Green is a middle-class, middle-aged romance novelist with writer’s block. William Crowney, aka “Cougar”, is a teenage runaway who has been surviving life on London’s streets as a rent boy. Their lives couldn’t be more different. But when, under extraordinary circumstances, William is invited into Patricia’s suburban home, they realise they have more in common than loneliness and desperation: both have a desire for love. Through a twisted hell of home truths, William and Patricia slowly begin to understand, even respect, each other. An unlikely friendship forms - one that gives both the strength to carry on. 128pp colour hardcover.


Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan
by Shigeru Mizuki
Drawn & Quarterly
$24.95

The publisher says:
A fascinating period in Japanese history explored by a master of manga, Showa 1926–1939: A History of Japan is the first volume of Shigeru Mizuki’s meticulously researched historical portrait of twentieth-century Japan. This volume deals with the period leading up to World War II, a time of high unemployment and other economic hardships caused by the Great Depression. Mizuki’s photo-realist style effortlessly brings to life the Japan of the 1920s and 1930s, depicting bustling city streets and abandoned graveyards with equal ease. When the Showa era began, Mizuki himself was just a few years old, so his earliest memories coincide with the earliest events of the time. With his trusty narrator Rat Man, Mizuki brings history into the realm of the personal, making it palatable, and indeed compelling, for young audiences as well as more mature readers. As he describes the militarization that leads up to World War II, Mizuki’s stance toward war is thoughtful and often downright critical—his portrayal of the Nanjing Massacre clearly paints the incident (a disputed topic within Japan) as an atrocity. Mizuki’s Showa 1926–1939 is a beautifully told history that tracks how technological developments and the country’s shifting economic stability had a role in shaping Japan’s foreign policy in the early twentieth century. 560pp B&W softcover. Download a five-page PDF sampler here…


The Art of Rube Goldberg
by Jennifer George co-edited by Charles Kochman and Paul Tumey
Abrams ComicArts
$60.00

The publisher says:
Not many of us make it into the dictionary as an adjective. But then again, Rube Goldberg was no ordinary noun. He was a cartoonist, humorist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor, and in a 72-year career he wrote and illustrated nearly 50,000 cartoons. Goldberg (1883–1970) was the most famous cartoonist of his time, best known for his comical inventions, which were syndicated in daily newspapers throughout the world. Author Jennifer George celebrates all aspects of her grandfather’s career, from his very first published drawings in his high school newspaper and college yearbook to his iconic inventions, his comic strips and advertising work, and his later sculpture and Pulitzer Prize–winning political cartoons. Also included are essays by noted comics historians, rare photographs, letters, memorabilia, and patents, many reproduced here for the first time. Brilliantly designed and packaged to capture the inventiveness of Rube Goldberg’s work, The Art of Rube Goldberg is a coffee table book the whole family can enjoy. With original essays by Jennifer George, Adam Gopnik, Andrew Baron, Brian Walker, Al Jaffe, Carl Linich, Peter Maresca, and Paul Tumey. 192pp full-colour hardcover. Discover some of Goldberg’s zany genius here…

Adam Gopnik, from his introduction, says:
Goldberg’s cartoons touch the edge of modern art.



The Best of Wonder Warthog
by Gilbert Shelton
Knockabout Comics
£24.99

The publisher says:Gilbert Shelton is the creator of the multi-million selling Freak Brothers and Fat Freddy’s Cat. Wonder Wart-Hog was his earliest creation and probably still his favourite. The character has appeared over the years in publications varying from Drag Cartoons to Zap Comix as well as several comics of his own. There is even a Wonder Wart-Hog motocross team! 464pp part-colour paperback. Read a Comics Journal interview with Shelton in his Paris Studio here…



The Cute Girl Network
by Greg Means, MK Reed & Joe Flood
First Second
$17.99 / £12.99

The publisher says:
Jane’s new in town. When she wipes out on her skateboard right in front of Jack’s food cart, she finds herself agreeing to go on a date with him. Jane’s psyched that her love life is taking a turn for the friskier, but it turns out that Jack has a spotty romantic history, to put it mildly. Cue The Cute Girl Network — a phone tree information-pooling group of local single women. Poor Jane is about to learn every detail of Jack’s past misadventures… whether she wants to or not. Will love prevail? In this graphic novel from Greg Means, Americus author MK Reed, and Joe Flood, the illustrator of Orcs, comes a fast, witty, and sweet romantic comedy that is actually funny, and actually romantic. 192pp B&W softcover. Read an extract here…


The Joyners in 3D
by R.J. Ryan & David Marquez
Archaia Entertainment
$29.95

The publisher says:
In mid-21st century Northern California, prosperous technology executive George Joyner stands on the brink of revolutionizing life in America (again) with his latest high-flying invention. But just as business booms, George’s private life begins to implode, with devastating consequences, for his wife Sonya, their children Rochester and Michelle, and Sonya’s ailing father, David. Brought to life in stunning anaglyph 3D (two pairs of glasses come enclosed with each book), The Joyners in 3D details a story of personal betrayals, industrial intrigue, and sexual desire in uncompromising and visually impeccable terms. The Joyners in 3D reunites writer R.J. Ryan and New York Times best-selling illustrator David Marquez (Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, All-New X-Men), collaborators on Archaia’s acclaimed graphic novel Syndrome, for which Marquez earned a 2011 Russ Manning Award nomination. 128pp two-colour hardcover, the longest original 3D comic ever. Read an interview with Ryan and Marquez here… and watch the trailer here…


The Lengths
by Howard Hardiman
Soaring Penguin
£17.99

The publisher says:
It’s hard being someone’s Mister Right when for a hundred pounds an hour, you’re anyone’s Mister Right Now. Young ex-art student Eddie has abandoned his course, his family, his lover and his friends to follow a male escort into a world of sex, drugs and unrequited love. Now that he is beginning a tentative romance with an old friend, he will have to face the challenge of being honest about what he’s doing in the weird hours he works; and the lengths he’s willing to go to try to please everyone around him. 208pp B&W hardcover. Forbidden Planet International have some preview pages here…

The New Statesman says:
The Lengths is an important work. It covers topics largely passed over even in prose literature, let alone the diversity-challenged world of comics.



The Mysterious Underground Men
by Osamu Tezuka
PictureBox
$24.95

The publisher says:
The influence of Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989) on Japanese cartoons and animation is comparable only to a Walt Disney or an Art Spiegelman. Now, manga fans can finally enjoy the first full-color Tezuka work to be published in English. While Tezuka’s New Treasure Island (1946-47) was the first major hit for the “god of manga,” the artist himself regarded this later publication as the first of his signature “story manga.” Originally published in Osaka in 1948, The Mysterious Underground Men tells the story of Mimio the talking rabbit, as he struggles to prove his humanity while helping his friends save Earth from an invasion of angry humanoid ants. Inspired by Bernhard Kellermann’s Der Tunnel (1913), and drawing widely on European and American science fiction as well as Milt Gross’ own pioneering graphic novel, He Done Her Wrong (1930), this full-color edition of The Mysterious Underground Men will not only introduce to English-language readers a founding father of modern Japanese comics, but will also offer a rare glimpse of the wide-ranging Western cultural sources that made up young Tezuka’s world. This is the second volume in PictureBox’s Ten Cent Manga series, edited by Ryan Holmberg, which aims to explore that mysterious nether-realm where Japanese and American popular culture overlap. 176pp colour hardcover. Eight colour pages are previewed here…


Tintin: The Art of Hergé
by Michel Daubert
Abrams ComicArts
$45.00 / £30.00

The publisher says:
Since Tintin first appeared in 1929, he has captivated generations of children and adults alike. Millions followed Tintin’s journeys from the wilds of the Congo to the streets of Prague, Moscow and New York. Tintin: The Art of Herge offers new insight into this iconic character, with incredible access to original sources from the Herge Museum in Belgium. Designed by Christian de Portzamparc, the Herge Museum opened in 2009 to celebrate Tintin creator Georges Remi, later known as Herge. The museum features hundreds of original plates, photographs and documents displaying the work and inspiration of the famed comic artist. Illustrated by images of this unparalleled collection, Tintin: The Art of Herge provides a rare glimpse into Tintin and Herge’s world. Previously unpublished drawings depict how the beloved characters were created and offer fresh insight into the stories of all twenty-two Tintin books. Michel Daubert was a journalist for the French daily Le Figaro and for the magazine Telerama. His writings on Herge have appeared in Telerama and Formule 1. 480pp full-colour hardcover.


Tune: Still Life
by Derek Kirk Kim & Les McClaine
First Second
$16.99

The publisher says:
In the second installment of the Tune series of graphic novels, our hapless hero Andy Go is settling into life in an alien zoo…as one of the exhibits. It’s not so bad: the food is good, and his environment is a perfect copy of his house back on Earth. But everything falls to pieces when Andy realizes he’s been tricked: there will be no weekend visits back to Earth, as he was promised, and his contract doesn’t last one year…it lasts a lifetime. Funny, sweet, and incredibly goofy, Tune is Derek Kirk Kim writing at the top of his talents. Tune: Still Life introduces artist Les McClaine, who brings a new level of sensitivity to the story. Fans of the first volume will be delighted by this new entry in the series. 208pp B&W softcover. Take a sneak peek at early copies here…


Twisted Light
by Neil Gibson & various artists
T-Publications
£10.99

The publisher says:
From the mind behind Kindle’s number one bestseller Twisted Dark comes something a little… lighter. Mirroring its darker sister’s universe of interconnecting characters, all the stories here link to give you a taste of Gibson s trademark twisted mind but unlike most of his work, Twisted Light is designed to make you smile… 136pp B&W softcover.

 



Unforgotten
by Tohby Riddle
Berkley Inklit
$19.95

The publisher says:
Nobody knows where they come from.
But they come.
Impossible birds of the big sky
and the long night…
So begins this timely and timeless story, told in magnificent images and words by master storyteller, Tohby Riddle. A triumph of quiet beauty. Tohby Riddle is an award-winning writer, illustrator, cartoonist, designer and sometime editor based in Sydney, Australia. He has written and illustrated numerous well-loved picture books; written a novel (published as a young adult book); was the cartoonist for Good Weekend (the Saturday magazine of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age) for nearly ten years; and is a former editor of the The School Magazine, a literary magazine for children published by the New South Wales Department of Education since 1916. 128pp colour hardcover. Visit the dedicated Unforgotten site…


Wraith: Welcome To Christmasland #1 (of 5)
by Joe Hill & Charles P. Wilson
IDW
$3.99

The publisher says:
In a brand-new limited series that will serve as a prequel to his New York Times bestselling novel, NOS4A2, Joe Hill will be taking readers on a dark plunge into the dizzying world of Christmasland. The first comic that Hill has written since the stunning conclusion of his award-winning masterpiece Locke & Key, Wraith: Welcome to Christmasland is equal parts mystery and horror. Hill is joined by illustrator Charles Paul Wilson III (Stuff of Legend), who provides interior art and creepy Christmasland-themed covers, as well as by his Locke & Key partner Gabriel Rodriguez, who is providing covers for each issue. Issue 1 (re)introduces the reader to Charlie Manx, his world, and his car, a vintage 1938 Rolls Royce Wraith that runs on human souls instead of gasoline. When a luckless child falls into Charlie’s grasp, her new best friend soothes her with a story: his story. From there, the series introduces a new cast of characters to Christmasland, and fully delves into its wonderfully devilish delights, as the sound of sleigh-bells ring in the background… 32pp colour comic book.

Posted: August 31, 2013

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My Books

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