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Top 32 Graphic Novels, Comics & Manga:
June 2024
With their roots deep into the past, the legends, myths and monsters from the Caribbean, and from Singapore and Malaysia, still retain their original power in their fresh retellings today in comics form. So much so that prose-comics hybrid Work-Life Balance won both the Best Literary Work and Book of the Year in the 2023 Singapore Book Awards.
From the UK comes this empathetic allegory, the debut of a sincere and significant British graphic novelist…
While from a versatile Australian cartoonist and graphic recorder comes her compelling compendium of irreverent but informative visual essays.
Having ‘discovered’ Warren Pleece’s work at his art-school degree show and published him in Escape, I’m delighted to see he has a boldly original new book coming out…
And fellow Escape Artist Eddie Campbell gets to share his in-depth research into the cartooning career and life of forgotten American woman and comics pioneer Kate Carew.
Finally, this new art book on the past 60 years of comics, focussed mainly on the USA, Europe (notably France and Belgium) and Japan, is also the catalogue for the first full-scale exhibition of comics in the Centre Pompidou, Paris, from May 29h to November 4th 2024. And yes, I’ve interviewed Joe Sacco for it and also written the Foreword to the English edition. I hope you can visit it yourself, but if not, this is really the next best thing!
Amazonia Episode 1
by Rodolphe, LEO & Bertrand Marchal, translated by Jerome Saincantin
Cinebook
$11.95
The publisher says:
Brazil, 1949. A photographer crawls into a mission deep in the Amazonian rainforest and dies. On one of his films is an extraordinary shot: a man with skin white as snow and an elongated cranium. Deformed human … or extra-terrestrial being? Kathy Austin, having reluctantly become the specialist in such situations, is immediately sent by the crown to investigate. But the British aren’t the only ones with an interest in the bizarre creature… Brazilian artist Leo is best known for his science-fiction, multi-series saga The Worlds of Aldebaran. He also created Canadian Mountie Trent as well as Kenya and its second season Namibia, all three with Rodolphe – a teacher, journalist and writer who’s penned over 150 graphic novels so far and worked with some of the greatest names in Bandes Dessinées. Bertrand Marchal is a regular partner of Rodolphe’s, with whom he has worked on several series such as Frontière and Memphis. 48pgs colour paperback.
And Mankind Created the Gods
by Joseph Béhé, translated by Edward Gauvin
Graphic Mundi / PSU Press
$39.95
The publisher says:
Why does religion exist? Why do people believe? Do all religions start with the same basic idea? These are some of the most fundamental and enduring questions we have about the mysteries of religion, and they may well hold the key to humankind’s future on this earth. In this adaptation of Pascal Boyer’s classic work exploring these concepts, Religion Explained, artist Joseph Béhé harnesses the power of comics to provide clear answers to the basic questions about why religion exists and why people believe. A distinguished scholar, Boyer drew from research in cognitive science, anthropology, psychology, and evolutionary biology to explore why religion exists and why the strength of human beliefs can drive us to be selfless sometimes and, at other times, to be fanatical and intolerant. His erudite book is rich with insight into the endless jumble of ideas that inform religious beliefs and practices across cultures. With detailed, illustrative drawings and carefully adapted prose, Béhé’s graphic novel brings a new perspective to Boyer’s work. An eminently accessible approach to the notoriously thorny topics of belief, cognition, humanity, and religion, And Mankind Created the Gods is a thoughtful, inspiring graphic novel that will further and broaden the conversation with which Boyer’s book engages. With a foreword by Pascal Boyer. 368pgs colour hardcover.
Braba: Brazilian Comics Anthology
by various, curated by Rafael Grampa & Janaina de Luna
Fantagraphics
$29.99
The publisher says:
A showcase of 16 pioneering Brazilian cartoonists, expertly curated by renowned cartoonist Rafael Grampá (Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham) and respected Brazilian comics editor Janaina de Luna. American audiences have grown familiar with international comix through an influx of European bande dessinée and Japanese manga that has been translated into English over the past two decades. But there are vivacious creative scenes happening worldwide, notably in Brazil, the largest country in South America and fifth-largest country in the world. Braba aims to rectify this cultural blind spot with a single-volume showcase of innovative Brazilian comics, curated by acclaimed artist Rafael Grampá and comics editor Janaina de Luna. Produced by Fantagraphics in collaboration with Brazilian publisher MINO, this extraordinary collection of 13 short stories created by 16 pioneering Brazilian cartoonists encapsulates a thriving and thrilling comics scene. Braba unites a diverse array of voices and styles under a unifying theme: deeply personal stories from experimental cartoonists. Each artist has uniquely interpreted this concept, creating all-new work for English readers, resulting in a collection that encapsulates the intensity, political gravitas, and avant-garde spirit of the Brazilian comics community during one of the country’s most challenging socio-political periods. The contributors to Braba include Amanda Miranda, Bruno Seelig, Diego Sanchez, Gabriel Goes, Jefferson Costa, Jéssica Groke, Sirlene Barbosa, Joao Pinheiro, Cris Eiko, Paulo Crumbim, Pedro Cobiaco, Pedro Franz, Rafael Coutinho, Shiko, and Wagner Willian. The term “braba,” a Brazilian slang derived from “brava” meaning angry, has been embraced as a symbol of something impressive and groundbreaking. Originating from Brazil’s edgy youth culture, the term is a compliment for individuals who exhibit unique and daring attitudes ― an attitude exemplified by the bold and vibrant comics in this anthology. 168pgs colour paperback.
Brownstone
by Samuel Teer & Mar Julia
Versify
$26.99 / $18.99
The publisher says:
An exciting teen coming-of-age epic from author Samuel Teer and debut graphic novel artist Mar Julia, Brownstone is a vivid, sweeping, ultimately hopeful story about navigating your heritage even when you feel like you don’t quite fit in. Almudena has always wondered about the dad she never met. Now, with her white mother headed on a once-in-a-lifetime trip without her, she’s left alone with her Guatemalan father for an entire summer. Xavier seems happy to see her, but he expects her to live in (and help fix up) his old, broken-down brownstone. And all along, she must navigate the language barrier of his rapid-fire Spanish—which she doesn’t speak. As Almudena tries to adjust to this new reality, she gets to know the residents of Xavier’s Latin American neighbourhood. Each member of the community has their own joys and heartbreaks as well as their own strong opinions on how this young Latina should talk, dress, and behave. Some can’t understand why she doesn’t know where she comes from. Others think she’s “not brown enough” to fit in. But time is running out for Almudena and Xavier to get to know each other, and the key to their connection may ultimately lie in bringing all these different elements together. Fixing a broken building is one thing, but turning these stubborn individuals into a found family might take more than this one summer. 320pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
Carbon & Silicon
by Mathieu Bablet
Magnetic Press
$24.99
The publisher says:
Carbon and Silicon are the first of a new generation of robots meant to care for the ageing human population. Raised in the protective cocoon of a laboratory, they are eager to discover the outside world but are dramatically separated during an escape attempt. Lost and alone, they will gather three centuries’ worth of experiences, observing the last gasps of humanity facing the ecological, economic, and social disasters that they themselves have created. Faced with this declining world, will Carbon and Silicon manage to find their place? Born in a laboratory in Silicon Valley, two androids named Carbon and Silicon will witness the evolution of humanity. From this dawn of true artificial intelligence, the pinnacle of human achievement, they will directly witness ecological, economic, and cultural crises that alter civilisation as we know it. Through their eyes, we rediscover our planet as it reaches the point of no return. The latest project by celebrated author Mathieu Bablet, this ambitious work addresses themes separating artificial intelligence from humanity. A fable about the ravages of capitalism and the illusion of transhumanism. A cautionary tale spanning 300 years of frighteningly plausible future scenarios. 272pgs colour hardcover.
Comics: 1964-2024
by various, edited by Anne Lemonnier & Emmanuele Payen
Thames & Hudson
£40.00
The publisher says:
A brilliantly illustrated survey of the international comic book landscape over the past sixty years. Published to accompany a major exhibition at Centre Pompidou, Paris opening in May 2024, this is a timely reframing of the international comics landscape over the past six decades. From the mid-1960s, the world of comics rapidly evolved into a highly creative art form for a sophisticated readership: in France, the magazine Hara-Kiri provided new terrains for graphical humour, while the adventures of Jean-Claude Forest’s Barbarella were published in albums by Éric Losfeld; the launch in Japan of Garo in 1964, an avant-garde monthly, presented the concept of auteur comics; and the release of Robert Crumb’s Zap Comix in 1968 established his reputation as the leader of the underground comics movement in the United States. For the first time, this major historical survey of the ninth art establishes a dialogue between the three leading regions of comic book culture – Europe, Asia and America – and offers an immersive odyssey of the medium through its development over six decades ranging from the explosion of the twentieth-century counterculture scene to the most abstract contemporary styles. Built around twelve themes encompassing the many worlds of the comics imagination, Comics: 1964–2024 features artists including André Franquin, Gotlib, Claire Bretécher, Osamu Tezuka, Moebius, Edmond Baudoin, Alison Bechdel, Ulli Lust, Art Spiegelman, Marjane Satrapi and Chris Ware, as well as introductions on each theme by leading authorities of the form, a brand new interview with renowned cartoonist and journalist Joe Sacco and a foreword by Paul Gravett. 288pgs colour hardcover.
Detective Sweet Pea: The Case of the Golden Bone
by Sara Varon
First Second
$22.99 / $14.99
The publisher says:
Can Detective Sweet Pea sniff out the suspect and crack the case? From beloved author Sara Varon comes a new graphic novel series for young readers! Sweet Pea’s got a pretty sweet life. The animals in her hometown of Parkville have always gotten along with one another, and she’s free to spend her days doing what she loves best: making art, hanging out with friends, and digging through the trash for tasty treats. When two new dogs move to town, Sweet Pea is eager to show them the sights and smells of Parkville . . . especially its most famous attraction, the one-of-a-kind Golden Chew Bone! But . . . the Golden Chew Bone has vanished! Parkville needs a detective, and Sweet Pea’s spectacular sense of smell makes her the perfect pup to crack the case. 208pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
Eventually Everything Connects: Eight Essays on Uncertainty
by Sarah Firth
Graphic Mundi / PSU Press
$35.60 / $21.95
The publisher says:
Joyous musings on the meaningful and the mundane for troubled times. In her debut graphic novel, Sarah Firth ponders some of life’s deepest philosophical questions: Why are we here? How are we supposed to get along with one another? What on earth is that slug doing in my bathroom sink? From daydreams and pop culture memes to the teachings of science, philosophy, and history, Firth weaves together a mix of great and silly ideas based on her own lived experience, all tossed together with unique energy, boundless curiosity and humor, and colorful, detailed, kinetic drawings. Through eight autobiographical visual essays, Firth explores how to live better in the modern world; ways to be more compassionate toward oneself, others, and the planet; and how everything does, eventually, connect. Honest, profound, and profane, Eventually Everything Connects is a life-affirming book about the joys and pains of living in a hypercomplex and uncertain world. 288pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
Giant
by Mollie Ray
Faber & Faber
£18.99
The publisher says:
The captivating and affecting graphic novel debut of a major new talent. One morning, a teenage boy wakes to find that he has grown to the size of a giant. Inspired by the journey of the author’s younger brother, this wordless wonder of a book follows the experience of a family as one of their own faces a life-threatening illness. As his health declines, can the family remain resilient on his long journey through treatment? Deeply moving and tender, with gorgeous illustrations created in ball-point pen on cartridge paper, Mollie Ray’s debut graphic novel is a resonant story of empathy, healing and hope. 220pgs B&W hardcover.
Robert Macfarlane says:
“A wonderful, moving, original book. It teaches us a new visual language for love, for worry and for family. It will reach and touch many hearts.”
Happyland Vol. 1
by Shingo Honda
Ablaze Manga
$12.99
The publisher says:
Welcome to Happyland, an extreme amusement park. The Komiya family is not unusual is any way, two parents love each other and their two children, who are healthy, happy, and accomplished at school and with extracurriculars. In appearance, they’re an ideal family that has everything going for them! At least… That’s what they believed until the father decided to take them to spend a day at Happyland Park. In this park with its extreme attractions, the most shameful secrets will emerge in the most literally explosive way possible. A horrifying and gory tale of survival begins in this first of two volumes by Shingo Honda! 186pgs B&W paperback.
Heavyweight: A Family Story of the Holocaust, Empire, and Memory
by Solomon J. Brager
William Morrow
$25.99
The publisher says:
A moving and provocative graphic memoir exploring inherited trauma, family history, and the ever-shifting understanding of our own identities, for readers of Gender Queer and I Was Their American Dream. Solomon Brager grew up with accounts of their great-grandparents’ escape from Nazi Germany, told over and over until their understanding of self was bound up with the heroic details of their ancestors’ exploits. Their great-grandmother related how her husband, a boxing champion, thrashed Joseph Goebbels and cleared beer halls of Nazis with his fists, how she broke him out of an internment camp and carried their children over the Pyrenees mountains. But that story was never the whole picture; zooming out, everything becomes more complicated. Alongside the Levis’ propulsive journey across Europe and to the United States, Brager distills fascinating research about the Holocaust and connected periods of colonial history. Heavyweight asks us to consider how the patterns of history emerge and reverberate, not as a simple chain of events but in haunting layers. Confronting the spectres of violence as both historian and descendent, this book is an exploration of family mythology, intergenerational memory, and the mark the past makes on the present. In conversation with works by Rebecca Hall, Nora Krug, Rutu Modan, and Leela Corman, Heavyweight will contribute to the collective work of Holocaust studies and the chronicle of woven human stories. 336pgs B&W paperback.
Houses of the Unholy
by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips
Image
$24.99
The publisher says:
Houses of the Unholy is a riveting horror thrill-ride from bestselling creators Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, the award-winning team behind Criminal (soon to be a TV series on Amazon Prime), Reckless, Night Fever, andWhere The Body Was. In this new tale, an FBI agent from the cult crime beat and a woman with a past linked to the Satanic Panic are drawn into a terrifying hunt for an insane killer hiding in the shadows of the underworld. This pulse-pounding story asks: can you ever escape your past, or are all your bad decisions just more ghosts to haunt you, wherever you go? 144pgs colour hardcover.
Kate Carew: America’s First Great Woman Cartoonist
by Kate Carew, Eddie Campbell & Christine Chambers
Fantagraphics Underground
$30.00
The publisher says:
Award-winning cartoonist Eddie Campbell writes the first extensive critical biography of this path-breaking pioneer artist. Kate Carew was America’s first great woman cartoonist, drawing for newspapers in the first two decades of the 20th century. She drew Sunday colour comics alongside George Herriman, but it was in the idiom of freestanding caricature that she made her mark. She interviewed and sketched many of the famous celebrities of her time including the Wright brothers, who built and flew the world’s first successful airplane; Marconi, who invented wireless radio; Picasso, the most famous painter of the 20th century; the world champion African American heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson; and the leading figures of the suffragette movement in the years before women won the right to vote in the UK (1918) and the US (1920). Her most endearing achievement was her cartoon alter ego “Aunt Kate,” whom she sketched into the proceedings, turning graphic reportage into her personal adventure from San Francisco and New York to London and Paris. Written and designed by award-winning artist Eddie Campbell along with Carew’s granddaughter, Christine Chambers, this book is an insightful, well researched biography as well as an astonishing archive of Carew’s cartoons and illustrations. 160pgs colour paperback.
Lucky Luke: Untamed
by Blutch
Cinebook
$12.95
The publisher says:
Lucky Luke enters a small town to drop off at the sheriff’s office a young man who tried to steal Jolly Jumper. A few miles down the road, in the middle of nowhere, he suddenly finds himself threatened … by a little girl! Young Rose and her brother are currently alone in their cabin after the mysterious disappearance of their parents. Luke will have to investigate, but also take care of two particularly wild and undisciplined children. 48pgs colour paperback.
The Midnight Order
by Mathieu Bablet & various
Magnetic Press
$39.99 / $24.99
The publisher says:
For hundreds of years, those attuned to the powers of magic and supernaturalism have been ostracised and persecuted as “witches” by those who do not understand them or wish to maintain power over them. And yet these individuals continued to practice their knowledge in secrecy to protect themselves and those around them from occult evils that would invade our reality. The most dedicated of these individuals formed The Midnight Order, an organisation that grew through generations into a secret globe-spanning organisation of agents who protect humanity from unknown demonic forces that could end the world if left unchecked. Created by artist and author Mathieu Bablet, creator of the celebrated, award-winning Shangri-La, Carbon & Silicon, and Adrastea, The Midnight Order is an action-packed series of interlinked short tales set in a shadowy shared universe of witches, witch-hunters, and a menagerie of unimaginable beasts that roam the world unnoticed. Together with a team of 13 other writers and artists, Mathieu weaves an intricate tale around Sheridan and Johnson, two of the Order’s best agents, as they pursue the Seraph, an ancient power that threatens to corrupt their ranks from within. Torn by deeds committed in their pasts, Sheridan and Johnson find themselves on opposite sides of a moral quandary, with the fate of the Order hanging between them. Will they be able to overcome their own ghosts to save the world? Described as “X-Files meets Men in Black with witches,” this premium 272-page graphic novel contains 17 chapters written, illustrated and/or art directed by Mathieu Bablet along with prose articles connecting these fictional events to real-world esotericism by Mathieu’s author-wife, Claire Barbe. While these stories are imaginary, the worldwide practice of witchcraft is not. 272pgs colour hardcover / paperback.
Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz: A Graphic Family Memoir of Trauma & Inheritance
by Ari Richter
Fantagraphics
$34.99
The publisher says:
In this debut graphic memoir, New York-based artist Ari Richter weaves together two haunting stories – his grand- and great-grandparents’ imprisonment in Dachau, Buchenwald, and Auschwitz, and his own awakening to the contemporary rise of authoritarianism and the continuing crisis of anti-Semitism – with delicacy, immediacy, and an attention to surreal detail. Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz is an act of self-discovery and the resuscitation of historical memory. At its heart is the intersection of a genocidal political moment in 20th century history and the author’s own family history. Told from the perspectives of four generations of the author’s family, spanning pre-war Germany to post-Trump America, it is both a celebration of Jewish cultural resilience and a warning of democracy’s fragility in the face of the seductive forces of authoritarianism. Part travelogue, part memoir, part historic retelling, author Ari Richter recreates his family’s journey leading up to and extending beyond the Holocaust. Relying on extensive genealogical research and his family’s archiving, Richter illustrates the lives of his grandparents while reflecting on the burden of a storyteller to carry on these legacies. It is a rare glimpse into the firsthand stories of both Holocaust survivors and their descendants, told as an intertwined tapestry of faith, grief, and ultimately, survival. Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz is an intimate reflection on coming to grips with the past. Harrowing and humorous in equal measure, this evocatively drawn graphic novel will be discussed for generations to come. 256pgs colour hardcover.
Night Stories: Folk Tales from Latin America
by Liniers
Toon Books
$11.99
The publisher says:
Classic Latin American folktales get an update in this new collection by celebrated author Liniers. Eisner Award winner Liniers brings his exuberant cartooning style and irrepressible sense of humour to the spooky folktales of his childhood, telling three from across Latin America: the Iara, a mermaid (or a pink dolphin?) who lures young men to her underwater domain in the Amazon basin; La Lechuza, an enormous owl with the face of a woman, who terrorises people who venture out after dark (a legend found in Mexico, Chile, and Uruguay); and La Luz Mala, a spooky, evanescent light that menaces gauchos and other travellers on the Argentine pampas. Liniers animates these thrilling tales with lighthearted twists. Combined with informative backmatter on their ecological, cultural, and historical background and a bibliography, these old stories will come alive for all young readers, from those who have grown up hearing them to those who are encountering them for the first time. 48pgs colour hardcover.
Proxy Mom: My Experience with Postpartum Depression
by Sophie Adriansen & Mathou
NBM
$19.99
The publisher says:
The first graphic novel that explores postpartum depression. A story of reconstruction and resilience. Marietta and Chuck, madly in love, are expecting a baby. But childbirth marks the end of the fairy tale. Zoe’s birth didn’t go as Marietta imagined, and the maternal instinct is slow to manifest itself. While she no longer recognises her body, Marietta feels herself losing her footing in the face of this vulnerable baby for whom she is now responsible. Will she manage to feel like a mother? To love her baby? To stop thinking that a proxy mom would do better than her? A humourful but realist viewpoint on a problem experienced by a significant number of new mothers, with an insight on how to overcome it. 144pgs colour paperback.
Ready America
by Anna Haifisch
Fantagraphics Underground
$19.99
The publisher says:
Ready America takes us on a ride through a both strangely familiar and quite alien Los Angeles. Dogs in colourful sweatshirts, the glowing signs of a Vietnamese restaurant, solitary palm trees above the pavement. Packaging inscriptions, neon signs, and billboards fuse into an appealing typographic montage while familiar American icons peek out between stores and offices, clinics, and morgues. With her unmistakable wit, Anna Haifisch highlights the idiosyncrasies of a country in which catastrophes seem just as ordinary as the sight of a coyote in the Hollywood Hills. 48pgs colour paperback.
Shangri-La
by Mathieu Bablet
Magnetic Press
$24.99
The publisher says:
A few hundred years in the future, humans live in a space station far from Earth governed by a cultured multinational corporation. On the surface, everyone seems to be satisfied with this “perfect society” and they are set on pushing their own limitations to become equal to gods. They are near to setting up a program aimed at creating life from scratch on Shangri-La, one of the most hospitable regions of Titan, where they intend to rewrite Genesis in their own way. But as tends to happen, mankind’s hubris gets in the way… Spanning a period of a thousand years, this science fiction epic begins after mankind has abandoned earth to live in space stations run by corporate governments. After an introductory sequence amidst the ruins of Earth, it leaps from our desolated planet into this firmly established future, where life is good and all needs are met. But that longevity isn’t enough, and science is ready to use its genetic knowledge to breed the next generation of humans for colonisation. Far from being just another science fiction adventure, author Mathieu Bablet uses this scenario to observe and comment on many core qualities that mankind can’t seem to outgrow: consumerism, jealousy, distrust, entitlement, ambition, curiosity, and – ultimately – violence. Through a cinematic visual style and dramatic pacing, this book proves to be much weightier and thought-provoking than even its 220-page length would suggest. 220pgs colour hardcover.
The Sickness: Chapter One
by Lonnie Nadler & Jenna Cha, & letterer Otsame Elhaou
Uncivilized
$24.95
The publisher says:
A teenager in 1945 is suffocated by post-WWII nationalism. A tireless doctor in 1955 desperately tries to find the origin of a new illness. Though these two people are living seemingly disparate lives, decades apart, they will come to understand that their fates are irrevocably intertwined by a rare, horrifying sickness and an enigmatic figure who follows wherever they go. He is known only as The Man. Confined within their eras, they each race against time to escape The Man and find a cure before The Sickness collapses their worlds. This rich and disturbing comic spans four decades of American history to serve as a reminder that the terrors of yesterday are the terrors of today. A sprawling, ambitious, and genre-bending work exploring the socio-political strife that shaped the nation. It’s the crossbreed of I Love Lucy-era pop culture and bizarre body horror in a historical horror epic. 160pgs B&W paperback.
Silk Cotton
by Colleen Douglas, Jesús C. Gan & Lorenzo Palombo
Rosarium Publishing
$19.95
The publisher says:
Peter has always been told “the stories” like every child in the Caribbean. The tales of the ancients bound to the Silk Cotton tree, the Supernatural monsters of Myths and Legends, whispered in hush tones lest the speaker be heard and meet with an untimely fate. Then the day arrived, when the woman who had been his “mother” is struck down by something that could only have come from his worst nightmares. Now Peter’s once ordered world crashes into stark reality. Grace Silk Cotton, the legendary Supernatural Churlie Queen and enforcer between the worlds, is his real mother. The Monsters are real, Peter is one himself, and the prophetic fight for supremacy, survival, the stories, and Silk Cotton has begun. 224pgs colour paperback.
Stamped from the Beginning: A Graphic History of Racist Ideas in America
by Ibram X. Kendi & Joel Christian Gill
Ten Speed Press
$24.99
The publisher says:
A striking graphic novel edition of the National Book Award-winning history of how racist ideas have shaped American life—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist. Racism has persisted throughout history—but so have antiracist efforts to dismantle it. Through deep research and a gripping narrative that illuminates the lives of five key American figures, preeminent historian Ibram X. Kendi reveals how understanding and improving the world cannot happen without identifying and facing the racist forces that shape it. In collaboration with award-winning historian and comic artist Joel Christian Gill, this stunningly illustrated graphic-novel adaptation of Dr. Kendi’s groundbreaking <>Stamped from the Beginning explores, with vivid clarity and dimensionality, the living history of America, and how we can learn from the past to work toward a more equitable, antiracist future. 288pgs B&W hardcover.
The Sunny-Luna Travelling Oracle
by Warren Pleece
Dark Horse / Berger Books
$24.99
The publisher says:
Esta, a lonely, book-hungry, restless teen, must fight to save the planet in this eco-noir graphic novel thriller that’s part Fahrenheit 451 and part Station Eleven. In the devastated dystopian dust bowl of what was once America, a mesmerising stage show called The Sunny-Luna Travelling Oracle comes to Esta’s town. When Sunny and Luna take an interest in her, it feels like her ticket out. But these mysterious proprietors are secretly members of a harsh authoritarian order, and they have a hidden agenda: scavenge for mythic texts that hold the last hope for reviving a natural world—and destroy them. Esta is the unwitting key to this strange magic, and she soon finds herself literally transported to a supernatural Wonderland—and the twisted plot of Sunny and Luna. From the acclaimed storyteller Warren Pleece (Incognegro, Hellraiser, Deadenders, The Great Unwashed), perfect for fans of dystopian crime and mystery comics such as Sweet Tooth and Paper Girls. 128pgs colour paperback.
Tunis to Sydney
by Meriam & Christian Carnouche & Sam Rapley
Fairsquare
$24.99
The publisher says:
Lilia and Bill enjoy a tranquil life in the heart of Sydney, Australia. Bill is a local, while Lilia hails from Tunisia, making them an unconventional but inseparable pair. Their happiness has always been unshakeable, until that day. When Lilia receives the devastating news of her parents’ tragic death in a car accident, a staggering ten thousand miles away. She’s consumed by a profound sense of shock. The weight of unspoken questions surfaces. Did she fail her parents by not being there for them throughout the years? As they hastily journey to Tunis for the funeral, Bill stands steadfastly by Lilia’s side, offering unwavering support. Yet, this journey unveils the fault lines in Lilia’s life, leading her to confront a cascade of profound questions. 120pgs colour paperback.
Walking Distance
by Lizzy Stewart
Avery Hill
$12.99
The publisher says:
A hybrid prose and comics-format essay on the experience of being a woman out walking. Merging the personal and the political, observation and contemplation, the author examines what her life is and wonders what it should be; what is expected of a thirty year old woman by society, by family and friends and by herself. She walks the streets of her London, creating it and herself—gaining agency by being in control of her own direction, speed and momentum. Walking is both an internal and external experience. It’s a time for self-reflection, for observing others and for imagining how we appear to them. What is expected of a person of our age, sex, and race, and how should that influence what we do and how we feel about ourselves? A poignant and contemporary meditation on gender politics, social commentary, and Eighties movies, all interlaced with shards of autobiography and illustrated with a beautiful series of sequential and non-sequential watercolour images. 56pgs colour paperback.
Wally Wood from Witzend: The Complete Collection
by Wallace Wood, edited by J. David Spurlock
Vanguard Productions
$39.95
The publisher says:
Hall of Fame comics creator Wallace Wood’s revolutionary, self-published Witzend (often spelled in all lower case) has always been hard to define—the birth of the pro-zine, underground, independent… Whatever you call it, Wood’s Witzend was a mid-‘60s milestone event that represented all of the loftiest Fine Art goals of the Underground Movement including art-for-art’s-sake, freedom from censorship, and creator rights. The vast majority of the underground comix movement creators were directly inspired by the EC Comics and Mad work of Wallace Wood and Harvey Kurtzman (as well as psychedelics). Until R. Crumb’s later and eminently notable Zap Comix, no underground had the impact of witzend which combined top-flight comics pros like Wood, Frazetta, Steranko and Ditko side-by-side with up-and-coming undergrounders like Art Spiegelman (Maus) and Vaughn Bodé (Cheech Wizard). For the first time ever, this single volume collects all of Wood’s own contributions to his groundbreaking publication including Animan, Sally Forth, The Rejects, Bucky Ruckus, Pipsqueek Papers, The Wizard King, Snorky, Lunar Tunes, and more. 160pgs B&W hardcover.
The Wendy Award
by Walter Scott
Drawn & Quarterly
$22.95
The publisher says:
Everybody’s favourite party girl Wendy is so back. When Wendy is nominated for the coveted National FoodHut Contemporary Art Prize alongside her friend Winona, all of her millennial dreams seem to be coming true. She lives a post-pandemic, polyamorous fine artist’s lifestyle in the big city and basks in the glory of national attention with the success of her popular comic strip, Wanda. But not even achieving bona fide art star fame can hide the truth: a never-ending struggle with imposter syndrome. After she cracks in an online interview and gets dragged in the comments section, she heads straight to a local watering hole to drown her sorrows. Several lines of coke, too many drinks, and one all night rager with fans later, Wendy is ready to curse Gen Z and confront her addictions. All the while, she and Winona drift apart as a younger Indigenous artist wedges herself between them. Will Wendy’s commitment to change wind up short-lived? The Wendy Award incisively skewers the art world with its corporate overlords, performative activism, generational wealth, and weaponised therapy speak. A showcase of Walter Scotts deft wit and social commentary, The Wendy Award asks the hard questions, like Do they still give awards to men? Should we be grateful for the exposure? and What exactly is Big Auntie Energy? 248pgs B&W paperback.
When the Lake Burns
by Geneviève Bigué, translated by Luke Lagille
Conundrum Press / BDANG
$25.00
The publisher says:
When a local lake catches fire, a group of teens set out to see the spectacle for themselves—but not everything goes as planned. A very rare natural phenomenon is causing quite a stir in Rivière-aux-Corbeaux: Lake Kijikone has caught fire and grown into a veritable inferno. When the disaster occurs, an old local legend re-emerges, and a group of local teens decide to find out if the stories are true. Deep in the woods, one of the teens shares a secret so shocking that the group splits up—and the real nightmare begins. 192pgs colour paperback.
Work-Life Balance: Malevolent Managers & Folkloric Freelancers
by Benjamin Chee & Wayne Ree
Difference Engine
$20.00
The publisher says:
When a menacing multinational arrives on our shores, familiar creatures like pontianaks, manananggals, raksasis, and ba jiao guis are forced out of their jobs. Some give in and sign up for mundane corporate life—but others would rather fight than join the broken-spirited hordes of the (desk)bound. Benjamin Chee’s comics and Wayne Rée’s prose intertwine in this collection to bring you familiar Asian mythology in an even more familiar setting: the realm of dead-end work, glass ceilings, and truly hellish bosses. Winner of Book of the Year and Best Literary Work at the 2023 Singapore Book Awards. 192pgs B&W paperback.
