Top 23 Graphic Novels, Comics & Manga (original) (raw)

August 2024

As the latest comics releases confirm, the form of graphic memoir is constantly experimenting and expanding in subjects and approaches. Among this month’s entries are British transmasculine creator Leo Fox’s fantastical allegory about finding his true self against the odds…

And from British artist Miriam Gold, a granddaughter records her remarkable grandmother’s life surviving the turbulent 20th century…

Eric Drooker returns with an ambitious journey in which three New Yorkers question what it takes to succeed as an artist.

So many great international comics await their first-time translations into English. Three outstanding international comics auteurs are finally available this month. From the Netherlands with a 1960s Pop Art trip come Dutch duo, Lo Hartag Van Banda and Thé Tjong-Khing…

From Japan, Shirakawa Marina’s nightmarish alien invasion manga from 1976 still has the power to shock…

And Italy’s maestro Attilio Micheluzzi delivers a WWII romantic adventure in his exquisite chiaroscuro, initially serialised in 1980-81 in the mythic Alter Alter magazine. These and plenty more hand-picked publications await your discerning eye!

Amalgam; : An Immigrant, His Labor Union, and His American Family in Brooklyn
by Francis Jetter
Fantagraphics
$60.00

The publisher says:
In a uniquely told immigrant story, visual artist Frances Jetter connects her own life to her ancestors’ and their interweaving ties to the 20th century labor movement. The narrative thread unspools with Abram, a Polish Jew who immigrates to America for economic opportunity and ― much like his namesake ― takes on a new name, ‘Abe’. He is a passionate arbitrator and advocate in his union but an unyielding patriarchal tyrant at home. Throughout, readers uncover the convictions and contradictions that make up the tapestry of his life and so many others. Amalgam is populated by impressionistic figures, rendered with piercing faces staring down the reader, as if out of an old photograph. Some pages are mini epics depicting the struggle of workers, others are haunting vignettes of abandoned dolls and forgotten friends. It’s also a love letter to Jetter’s mother, Rose, who hovers in the artist’s mind like a ghost ― forever impressed upon the stairs, at once ephemeral and pervasive, like Rose’s lost paper doll. One’s life is not only one’s own, but hinges on every other. Twelve years in the making, Amalgam, true to its name, takes a multimedia approach to its story. Presented as a meditation on memory and legacy, a kind of summoning occurs out of the loving patchwork of linocuts, keyholes, and hinges ― and the presence of the dead is felt once again. There is a profound, understated moral power in Jetter’s remembrance of loved ones, etching their essences in the same linoleum material that made up the floors of her childhood. 160pgs B&W hardcover.

Blurry
by Dash Shaw
New York Review Comics
$34.95

The publisher says:
By the author of Discipline, one of the New York Times Best Comics of 2021, a warm and quietly inventive new graphic novel about a group of characters whose lives interconnect in subtle, often unseen ways—and the seemingly mundane choices that bring them together or draw them apart. A man can’t decide between two dress shirts for a wedding. A woman questions the style of her new glasses. A teacher considers quitting teaching. A figure-drawing model considers quitting modelling. A man drives into a fog bank and is unsure how to get home. From Dash Shaw comes a new graphic novel, Blurry. Shaw renders doubts around everyday decisions as startling cliffhangers, presenting us with the kinds of choices that can make a life expand or contract in equal measure. Drawn in clear lines and washes, Shaw captures the humour and anxiety of life in a one-of-a-kind structure that bends back to a thrilling, lyrical finish. Blurry is more evidence that Shaw is one of our greatest contemporary cartoonists. 480pgs colour hardcover.

Boy Island
by Leo Fox
Silver Sprocket
$29.99

The publisher says:
“Poor Lucille. You are in the elbow of your life, the place where it bends. What will you do?” Your name is Lucille. You live on Girl Island, one of two islands created when the world was cleft in twain by an entity bigger and more powerful than you. But you have a secret. Your secret is that despite living on Girl Island, you are a boy. You fear deep down in your insides, that you may have been a boy for a very long time. And so you leave your home and your mother and begin the journey to Boy Island. For although it may be treacherous, it is the only way forward. A modern transgender fable in graphic novel form, Boy Island weaves its way along the path of becoming with humour and insight, channeled through Leo Fox’s iconic art and storytelling style. Leo Fox is a UK-based cartoonist and painter. He is transmasculine and makes work about it sometimes. His graphic novel and comic book work also includes Prokaryote Season and My Body Unspooling, published by Silver Sprocket. 168pgs colour hardcover.

BrainStorm!
by Bryan Talbot
About Comics
$20.00

The publisher says:
Before Luther Arkwright, One Bad Rat, and Grandville, 2024 Eisner Hall of Fame inductee Bryan Talbot launched his comics career as an underground artist. He produced the lead serial about Psychedelic Alchemist Chester P. Hackenbush for Brain Storm Comix, as well as various short pieces. Now these works, which have not seen print during this century, are coming back in the About Comics edition of BrainStorm!. In his four-page introduction (updated from the 1999 edition) Bryan explains how he got his chance to start drawing comix from the one of the suppliers for the White Rabbit headshop he worked at in his college days. The work proved time-intensive but an education by doing, and led him down the path he still follows today. In addition to the Hackenbush material (which was inspiration for the character “Chester” in Swamp Thing), the book includes a noir story of hardboiled rock reporter Ace Wimslow, Talbot’s pothead strip Smokey Bears, and more. The large 8.5 inch by 11 inch size displays the art well, with Talbot often bringing the same level of detail that he famously brought to later work, while keeping a freer, loose hand that fits the counterculture material. 108pgs B&W paperback.

Einstein in Kafkaland: How Albers Fell Down the Rabbit Hole and Came Up with the Universe
by Ken Krimstein
Bloomsbury
$32.00

The publisher says:
From the award-winning New Yorker cartoonist, a graphic narrative revealing the pivotal year in Prague when Einstein became “Einstein,” Franz Kafka became “Kafka,” and the world changed forever. During the year that Prague was home to both Albert Einstein and Franz Kafka from 1911-1912, the trajectory of the two men’s lives wove together in uncanny ways—as did their shared desire to tackle the world’s biggest questions in Europe’s strangest city. In stunning words and pictures, Einstein in Kafkaland reveals the untold story of how their worlds wove together in a cosmic battle for new kinds of truth. For Einstein, his lost year in Prague became a critical bridge set him on the path to what many consider the greatest scientific discovery of all time, his General Theory of Relativity. And for Kafka, this charmed year was a bridge to writing his first masterpiece, The Judgment. Based on diaries, lectures, letters, and papers from this period amid a planet electrifying itself into modernity, Einstein in Kafkaland brings to life the emergence of a new world where art and science come together in ways we still grapple with today. 224pgs colou hardcover.

Elena: A Hand Made Life
by Miriam Gold
Jonathan Cape
£25.00

The publisher says:
A heartfelt graphic memoir of love, family and fearless women. Lives were bent in the furnaces of the twentieth century, but Granny was unbroken. With a stethoscope, a jar of herring and a hearing aid occasionally switched on, she forged an extraordinary life. Elena Zadik ran through the twentieth century without looking back. A refugee twice before she was 17, training in medicine in Sheffield during World War 2, she was as brilliant a doctor as she was terrible a driver (she never took a test). Following her childhood in Ukraine during the Russian civil war in a tiny Jewish family (her parents were first cousins) to a briefly peaceful childhood in Germany, then to the UK as lone teenage refugee in 1937, the story shows Elena breaking glass ceilings to become a doctor. Practising in working class Sheffield she sees terrible deprivation and rejoices at the founding of the NHS, to which she gives 40 years’ service. She finds belonging in a Lancastrian mill and mining town as a GP, witnessing the destruction of the 1980s on the industry and culture of the town, as her own career and life wanes. Her parents die in Auschwitz, she spends decades fighting for restitution, and then shares the money she finally receives among her nine grandchildren. Miriam, her eldest granddaughter, tells her story reflecting on their unconventional relationship and how trauma travels down through the generations. Elena was an unintentionally hilarious woman, often difficult, always opinionated and deeply resourceful. Her hands (minus her left index finger which she slammed in garage doors) were always busy and form the heart of this timely graphic story of the ordinary extraordinary resilience of women. Miriam Gold is an artist and teacher from London. She has completed international residencies and been commissioned by the V&A and the Barbican, and was selected for the Emerging Writer’s Programme at the London Library for her first book. Miriam holds an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins and a BA in History and Politics from the University of Liverpool. She teaches Art and Photography in a large secondary school in East London. 184pgs colour hardcover.

The Farewell Song of Marcel Labrume
by Attilio Micheluzzi
Fantagraphics
$24.99

The publisher says:
The first 21st century English-language translation of Italian master Attilio Micheluzzi, a rousing adventure story that takes place in the Middle East during World War II. The first act of this thrilling two-part adventure tale takes place in Beirut in 1941, when renegade journalist Marcel Labrume crosses paths with the beautiful and mysterious American millionaire Carol Gibson, who the Germans suspect of being a spy. With the help of Labrume, the young woman works to deliver a Jewish man wanted by the Germans to Palestine. Then, in 1942, Marcel Labrume is captured during the Battle of Bir Hacheim and becomes a prisoner of war. With his usual style and aplomb, and by the skin of his teeth, Labrume manages to narrowly escape death. The Farewell Song of Marcel Labrume is Fantagraphics’ first entry in its planned Micheluzzi library, which will reprint all of his most significant works. Micheluzzi is one of the most iconic graphic stylists of the European comics scene known for his elegant line and stunning draftsmanship. He drew many graphic novels between 1974 and 1990, mostly of adventurous stories grounded in historical reality with a patina of romanticism, in the tradition of Milton Caniff and Hugo Pratt. Micheluzzi’s artwork in these Fantagraphics editions has been meticulously and lovingly restored by the artist’s daughter Agnese Micheluzzi and will be the finest reproductions in the artist’s career. 144pgs B&W hardcover.

Hanami, You Me and 200 Sq Ft
by Julia Cejas
Humanoids / Life Drawn
$24.99

The publisher says:
Is there a better place than Japan for a comic artist and a video game composer? Join Julia and Marc as their year in Japan unfolds in a series of short adventures, both heartfelt and hilarious. Julia and Marc are your average creative millennial couple, full of the anxieties and optimism of their generation. When the economy takes a downturn and Marc loses his engineering job, the pair realise that their relative lack of ties means they can pool their savings and his severance to embark on a new adventure: Moving to Japan! (Until the money runs out, anyway…) The pair move into a tiny apartment and enrol in a local Japanese school as they begin to acclimate to the local culture. Whether learning about the local fire patrol or the beautiful terror of Japanese toilets, the pair embrace their new surroundings with equal parts fear and wonder. Their journey is documented lovingly by Julia herself. Fans of anime and manga will notice the cheeky influence of noted mangaka (manga artists) like Akira Toriyama (DragonBall), Rumiko Takahashi (Ranma 1/2), and many more throughout the book, alongside thoughtful and heartfelt cultural observation. Join Julia and Marc as they explore many aspects of Japan, from the culture to the natural wonders, all while growing as people and partners. This English language release includes bonus pages by Julia reflecting on her time in Japan years later. 136pgs two-colour paperback.

How It All Ends
by Emma Hunsinger
Greenwillow Books 25.99//25.99/ / 25.99//15.99

The publisher says:
Thirteen-year-old Tara lives inside the nonstop adventure of her imagination. It’s far more entertaining than dull, everyday life. But when she’s bumped from seventh grade directly to high school, she gets a dramatic jolt to reality. Now Tara is part of a future she doesn’t feel at all ready for. She’s not ready to watch the racy shows the high school kids like, or to listen to the angsty music, or to stop playing make-believe with her younger brother. She’s not ready to change for PE in front of everyone, or for the chaos of the hallways, or for the anarchy of an English class that’s overrun with fourteen-year-old boys. But then there’s Libby. Tara doesn’t know whether she’s ready for Libby. She can’t even explain who Libby is to her because she doesn’t know yet. She just knows that everything’s more fun when she and her new classmate are together. But what will happen next? How will it all end? This debut graphic novel is a clever and candid portrait of a young girl grappling with the pressures of fitting in, finding your people, and sorting through confusing feelings. Emma Hunsinger has a pitch-perfect ear for the awkward yet endearing moments that accompany growing up, and her illustrations are downright hilarious. She brilliantly captures the humour and the horror of self-discovery and the first blushes of having a crush. How It All Ends deftly explores how unbearable—but exciting!—it is to grow up. 304pgs colour hardcover / paperback.

Alice Oseman, bestselling author of Heartstopper, says:
“How It All Ends is hilarious, inventive, smart, and silly, and perfectly captures the overwhelming confusion, anxiety, and joy of a young gay crush.”

In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers: The Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years after the 9/11 Attacks
by Don Brown
Clarion Books
$11.99

The publisher says:
Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist. A graphic novel chronicling the immediate aftermath and rippling effects of one of the most impactful days in modern history: September 11, 2001, from the Sibert Honor- and YALSA Award–winning creator behind The Unwanted and Drowned City. The consequences of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, both political and personal, were vast, and continue to reverberate today. Don Brown brings his journalistic eye and attention to moving individual stories to help teens contextualise what they already know about the day, as well as broaden their understanding of the chain of events that occurred in the attack’s wake. Profound, troubling, and deeply moving, In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers bears witness to our history—and the ways it shapes our future. 128pgs colour hardcover.

Iris: A Novel for Viewers
by Lo Hartag Van Banda & Thé Tjong-Khing
Fantagraphics
$24.99

The publisher says:
Available for the first time in English, this first-ever Dutch graphic novel is a tour-deforce in all its 1960s psychedelic, pop art, and playfully erotic glory. The characters’ emotions drive the anti-capitalist, dystopian narrative in Iris: A Novel for Viewers, the earliest graphic novel produced in the Netherlands. A young woman, Iris, has her heart set on a singing career, and, despite her boyfriend Mark’s warnings, is seduced by the capitalist producer, “dream lover M.G.” He molds her into a megastar, which leaves Mark peddling her merch: a life-sized Iris (sex) doll. Attempts to rescue Iris come to nothing; all they accomplish is allowing the dream lover to go on playing his games. Thé Tjong-Khing’s Iris marks the peak of his career as a comics artist. He and scriptwriter Lo Hartog van Banda wanted to reach the socially motivated young people of the late 1960s, who were growing up with comics and television. Khing’s style here, drawn with virtuoso élan, shows an affinity with his contemporaries, such as Guy Peellaert, and Iris herself is reminiscent of Barbarella. This edition includes an afterword by graphic designer and colourist Rudy Vrooman, which provides fascinating context about the historical and artistic significance of the work and its restoration process. 136pgs colour paperback.

Jack Kirby Eternals: Pencils & Inks Artisan Edition
by Jack Kirby
IDW
$49.99

The publisher says:
A treasure trove of unseen material from the King of Comics, whose impact continues to resonate with fans today. Explore side-by-side presentations of restored photocopies of Jack Kirby’s pencils next to the finished inks scanned from the original art. Several complete stories featuring The Eternals, including covers, will give a keen insight into the creative process of Jack Kirby, making this book a must-have for any fan of the artist, or any fan of the artform. An Artisan Edition collects stories, covers and pages that have been reproduced from the original art. While appearing to be in black and white, these images have been scanned in colour, allowing the reader to view them as closely as possible to the original art. Ink gradients, blue pencil, corrections, and more are all clearly visible, all the wonderful subtle nuances that make original art so special and unique. The only way to better view these pages is if you were standing over the artist’s shoulder as they were drawn. 176pgs colour hardcover.

The Last Starry Night
by Jamison Odone
Black Panel Press
$29.99

The publisher says:
After his release from the Saint-Paul asylum in 1890, Vincent Van Gogh wandered the French countryside before stumbling on the Auberge Ravoux, a quaint little inn in Auvers-sur-Oise. Although still plagued by mental illness, he found some peace there among his adoptive family, painting over 75 works of art in just three months. A 132-page colour graphic novel by Jamison Odone, based on the first-hand account of Adeline Ravoux, the innkeeper’s daughter, with whom Vincent shared a special bond. Jamison Odone is a professor at Frostburg State University in Maryland. He is an author/illustrator and creator of comics and children’s books including Honey Badgers, The Bedtime Train, and Mole Had Everything. 132pgs colour hardcover.

Little Moons
by Jen Storm, Ryan Howe, Alice RL & Nickolej Villiger
HighWater Press
$20.95

The publisher says:
In this moving graphic novel, thirteen-year-old Reanna grieves the loss of her older sister. Can she find comfort through her family’s Ojibwe traditions? It’s been a year since Reanna’s sister, Chelsea, went missing on her way home from school. Without any idea of what happened, Reanna and her family struggle to find closure. Driven from her home by memories, Reanna’s mom moves to the big city. Left behind on the reserve, Reanna and her little brother go to live with their dad. Reanna is hurt and angry that her mom has run away. She feels lonely and abandoned…but she is not alone. Lights turn on in empty rooms, and objects move without being touched. There are little moons everywhere. 64pgs colour paperback.

Naked City
by Eric Drooker
Dark Horse
$29.99

The publisher says:
In this long-awaited graphic comedy from an esteemed illustrator and storyteller, three bohemians struggle to answer the question: “Is it possible for an artist to survive in the 21st Century?”A young singer poses for a painter who has shifted from landscapes to nudes, and both of them learn a thing or two about the purpose of art and the meaning of success. The original graphic novel Naked City takes us inside the head of native New York artist, Eric Drooker (frequent cover artist for The New Yorker). His award-winning graphic novels—beginning with _Flood_—have charted new terrain for the form, and Blood Song is soon to be a major motion picture. Don’t miss this epic meditation on art and life. 336pgs colour hardcover.

Peter Bagge, author of Hate, says:
“Stunning artwork, beautifully executed. Naked City is a master class in graphic storytelling!”

Neo Faust
by Osamu Tezuka
Ablaze Manga
$19.99

The publisher says:
After years of failure to discover the meaning of the universe, Professor Ichinoseki decides to end his own life, but he is interrupted by the sorceress Mephist. They strike a bargain: in exchange for Ichinoseki’s soul, Mephist will grant his wish for a fulfilled life… Originally published over the course of 1988, NEO FAUST is the final of three adaptations of the classical Faust legend by “The Godfather of Manga,” Osamu Tezuka, which ABLAZE is proud to present in English for the first time. According to the official Tezuka website, Neo Faust was serialised in Asahi Shimbun. Part 1: From January 1, 1988 to November 11, 1988; and Part 2: From December 9, 1988 to December 16, 1988. Shortly after that, he developed stomach cancer and was forced to give up writing, so “Neo Faust” ended with the second episode of Part II. 416pgs B&W paperback.

No Future
by Eric Corbeyran & Jef
Magnetic Press
$24.99

The publisher says:
Stella Corp is the leading provider of space tourism, a trillion-dollar enterprise that led mankind to settle the stars. Corruption along the way can be assumed, but no one could possibly know the depths of it, not as rigidly as they police their own secrets. When a lone thief manages to steal secret documents, however, they call in mercenary bounty hunter Halen Brennan to track him down, retrieve the stolen material, and eliminate the culprit. Her cold, callous demeanour is put to the test, however, when she finds the target: Jean-Claude Belmondeau, a down-on-his-luck thief with seemingly noble intentions…128pgs colour hardcover.

The Outsider
by Albert Camus, adapted by Ryota Kurumado
Penguin
£16.99

The publisher says:
The exquisite manga adaptation of one of the world’s greatest 20th century fiction classics. ‘My mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.’ A stranger to society, a stranger to his own life, Meursault seems indifferent to everything. In The Outsider, Camus explores the alienation of an individual who refuses to conform to social norms. When his mother dies, he refuses to show his emotions simply to satisfy the expectations of others. And when he commits a random act of violence on a sun-drenched beach near Algiers, his lack of remorse compounds his guilt in the eyes of society and the law. Yet he is as much a victim as a criminal. A first in Penguin Modern Classics, Camus’ classic existentialist novel is told through Ryota Kurumado’s powerful artwork. Unlike previous editions of Camus’ novel, Meursault and other characters’ emotions are drawn out through stunning illustrations and seen for the first time. A rare and challenging feat, Kurumado’s manga adaptation makes a novel first published in 1942 feel contemporary. 304pgs B&W paperback.

Pearl
by Sherri L. Smith & Christine Norrie
Graphix 24.99/24.99 / 24.99/12.99

The publisher says:
In a beautifully crafted and captivating graphic novel from award-winning writer Sherri L. Smith and Eisner-nominated artist Christine Norrie, a Japanese-American girl must survive years of uncertainty and questions of loyalty in Hiroshima during World War II. Amy is a thirteen-year-old Japanese-American girl who lives in Hawaii. When her great-grandmother falls ill, Amy travels to visit family in Hiroshima for the first time. But this is 1941. When the Japanese navy attacks Pearl Harbor, it becomes impossible for Amy to return to Hawaii. Conscripted into translating English radio transmissions for the Japanese army, Amy struggles with questions of loyalty and fears about her family amidst rumours of internment camps in America — even as she makes a new best friend and, over the years, Japan starts to feel something like home. Torn between two countries at war, Amy must figure out where her loyalties lie and, in the face of unthinkable tragedy, find hope in the rubble of a changed world. 144pgs colour hardcover / paperback.

Pink Floyd in Comics
by Nicolas Finet, Tony Lourenco, Thierry Lamy & various
NBM
$32.99

The publisher says:
Do you really know Pink Floyd? This comics documentary retraces the history of the group, from their meeting to the solo adventures of the artists. A great opportunity to revisit famous episodes in the life of the mythical group and explore what made their approach to music absolutely inimitable. 28 comprehensive chapters to explore all of their musical and cultural heritage. As for all bestselling volumes in this series, this is a mix of articles illustrated with photos providing the facts and comics chapters providing the feel. Get the behind-the-scenes real story and trip on Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Wish You Were Here, Money, Time and so many other ex-temporal albums and hits which simply never fade! 232pgs colour hardcover.

Processing: 100 Comics that got me through it
by [Drawn & Quarterly](https://www.tarabooth.clubTara Booth
<a href=)
$24.95

The publisher says:
Riotous bodies abound in these deeply honest comics that will get you through it (or at least help). “When you order CBD gummies for your anxiety but forget to consider your eating disorder.” Known for her buzzing colours, delightful patterns, sharp humour, and unflinching vulnerability, Tara Booth does not miss any mark in this exquisitely woven collection of pure and nasty magic. Part advice column and exhibit, exploration of psychic pollution and tranquility, Processing is―quite simply―intrepid: in its honesty; its unapologetic grossness; its unrivalled and frank portrayal of life with a body that bleeds. In the grand tradition of underground women cartoonists like Julie Doucet and Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Booth draws a horne-up woman laying rose petals on the bed, to distract from the bedbugs before her hookup arrives. She bears witness to the reality of wearing a t-shirt with no bra―when you stretch, your boobs, sometimes, pop right out. This is all just life but we don’t often see it on the page. Undaunted, Booth draws it. When advice from spiritual gurus like Tara Brach and Ram Dass just aren’t cutting it, take solace in the genuine arms of Tara Booth: a fearless cartoonist who is unafraid to put her existential angst, blemishes, and stains right on the page, and who―with relentless relatability―makes us all feel a bit more at home in our too-human vessels. With colour that vibrates and fluids that impose, Processing lays Booth bare―literally and figuratively. 396pgs colour paperback.

Space Junk
by Julian Hanshaw
IDW / Top Shelf
$19.99

The publisher says:
In the shattered remnants of a doomed planet, the last shuttles are leaving soon… So why do these misfits want to stay behind? Faith has a metallic mystery bolted to her head. Hoshi keeps his rage in check with an emotional support chicken. On a dying world where most adults have already left and the remaining kids are training for their turn, these two are starting to wonder “what’s the point?” Gradually, a cluster of lonely souls who’ve spent their lives emotionally adrift are pulled into one another’s orbits as they try to stay in place in a universe that is moving all too quickly. With Space Junk, the startling imagination of award-winning graphic novelist Julian Hanshaw explores profound questions of past and future, trauma and recovery, staying grounded and taking flight. 176pgs paperback.

Special Topics in Being a Parent: A Queer and Tender Guide to Things I’ve Learned About Parenting, Mostly the Hard Way
by S. Bear Bergman & Saul Freedman-Lawson
Arsenic Pulp Press
$22.95

The publisher says:
An illustrated guide of practical parenting advice informed by queer experiences for anyone doing the work of parenting, from the author and the illustrator of Special Topics in Being a Human. Being a parent is enormously joyful, but it is also an enormous amount of work. Parenting requires you to make dozens of decisions a day, every one of which in some way shapes the person your child will grow into. It can be difficult to know in these moments whether you’re on the right track. Progressive parents especially can feel adrift when caregiving in ways that were not modelled for them. From S. Bear Bergman—advice columnist, educator, and queer dad with fifteen years of parenting under his belt—comes Special Topics in Being a Parent, a witty and insightful collection of child-rearing tips for those in search of realistic ideas about screens and lunches that don’t come with a side order of judgment. Using his own choices—and errors—by way of example, Bergman offers suggestions for various stages of the parenting journey, from asking “Are we ready to have a kid?” to talking with children about diversity and difference, to questioning gender expectations placed on both kids and parents. With plenty of humor and compassion, and featuring charming illustrations by Saul Freedman-Lawson, this guide helps parents to live their parenting values while enabling their kids to grow their capacities, understand the world, and above all, feel connected and loved. 328pgs colour paperback.

UFO Mushroom Invasion
by Shirakawa Marina, translated by Ryan Holmberg
Living the Line / Smudge
$19.95

The publisher says:
“UFOs are one of the world’s greatest mysteries…and I hope they stay that way. For the day that aliens reveal themselves may very well become the beginning of the end of life on Earth as we know it!” A flying saucer crashes deep in the mountains of Japan. Wary of the hyper-intelligent beings they find inside, the government hides from the public all news of the alien craft. But it’s not the strange visitors themselves that they should be afraid of―the real danger is the parasitic spores smuggled aboard! Will Earth survive the UFO Mushroom Invasion?! Originally published in 1976, Shirakawa Marina’s UFO Mushroom Invasion is a masterpiece of sci-fi horror. Drawing on his deep knowledge of Japanese folklore and the supernatural, Shirakawa created one of manga history’s cult classics and an unforgettably creepy entry in the canon of spore-horror. With an essay by weirdologist Udagawa Takeo, UFO Mushroom Invasion is the second volume of SMUDGE, a line of vintage horror, occult, and dark fantasy manga, curated and translated by award-winning historian Ryan Holmberg. 204pgs B&W paperback.

What We Mean By Yesterday
by Fantagraphics
$29.99

The publisher says:
The story of a man driven to the edge ― and beyond ― by the world around him. But if he’s the good guy, then who is the bad guy? Bruce Barnes is a schoolteacher having yet another shit day. His students are a disrespectful nightmare, gleefully relishing the misery they put him through. But today is even worse than usual, and after a particularly grim run-in with a student, he heads to the break room to bum a smoke off another member of the faculty. After lighting up, he’s told the cigarette is laced with amphetamines. From there, Bruce rides his “rage snake” from the classroom to the ends of the cosmos and back ― fighting, fucking, shooting, racing, and tripping his way from one impulsive move to the next. Reminiscent of films like Falling Down and shows like Breaking Bad, What We Mean By Yesterday is a black comedy descent into madness, a revenge horror/fantasy that gives new meaning to the phrase “bad trip.” What We Mean By Yesterday began as a daily comic strip, one page per day, posted on Marra’s Instagram (@benjamin_marra). Originally begun as an experiment in drawing faster and looser, it quickly became one of the more popular pandemic era webcomics, followed by over 20,000 readers daily. 380pgs B&W paperback.

Woman & Man+
by Craig Yoe
Clover Press
$49.99

The publisher says:
Woman & Man+ is a wildly surreal autobiographical telling of its artist, Yoe, losing his love, his country, and, some say, his sanity—and his struggle to reinvent himself. His passion for drawing comics was sidetracked for over a half a century by a career as a creative director for Jim Henson and The Muppets, Disney, Nickelodeon, and MTV. Coming back to his roots, he now dives deep into sex, horror, and drama, with a hint of humour and a whiff of hope. This highly anticipated, loudly wordless graphic novel Woman & Man+ has a revolutionary approach that breaks all the rules of conventional comic storytelling. Steranko meets Hieronymus Bosch by way of R. Crumb and Dali. The unique art style has been deemed, “Yoe-Brow”! 160+pgs B&W hardcover.

Posted: June 1, 2024