Top 30 Graphic Novels, Comics & Manga (original) (raw)

May 2019

The past may be forgiven but should never be forgotten. Graphic memoirs of injustices come to the fore this month - from Japanese internment camps during America’s war years, to Korean women’s suffering at the hand of Japanese invaders, from Brazil’s 16th century kingdom of runaway slave to the Manchester massacre of Peterloo, 200 years ago this year.

The graphic biography also delivers in style, with life stories illustrated about Eileen Gray, Jean-Michel Basquiat (with two books out this month about him) and Serena Katt’s father, a member of the Nazi Youth movement as a boy.

And confused feelings and dangerous obsessions seethe through these tales of what desires can do to us….

Finally, in a bit of unabashed trumpeting of my own new book. this month brings my latest title, the first ever monograph-biography-art book on Britain’s inimitable cartooning genius, Posy Simmonds, in time for two exhibitions which I am curating, one at PULP Festival in Paris from April 5th to 28th 2019, the other at House of Illustration, London from May 24th to September 15th 2019.

Angola Janga
by Marcelo D’Salete
Fantagraphics Books
$39.99

The publisher says:
Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Marcelo D’Salete boldly recreates a long-overlooked history of black resistance against oppression. Founded in late sixteenth-century Brazil, Angola Janga was a beacon of freedom. For over a hundred years, this community of runaway slaves thrived in fierce opposition to the Dutch and Portuguese colonial powers. In the stunning follow-up to his critically acclaimed graphic novel debut, Run for It, D’Salete brings the history of this precarious kingdom to life-the painful stories of fugitives, the brutal raids by colonial forces, and the tense power struggles among its inhabitants. At turns empowering and heartbreaking, Angola Janga is a stark reminder that the fight for justice is an eternal battle. Brazilian cartoonist Marcelo D’Salete is a graduate of the University of Sao Paulo with a degree in fine arts. He is an acclaimed illustrator, teacher, and historical author who lives in Italy. 432pgs B&W hardcover.

Aurora Borealice
by Joan Steacy
Conundrum Press
$20.00

The publisher says:
A memoir of triumph over the education system. When Joan Steacy graduated from High School in 1974, she left her small town behind to embark on a lifelong quest for education. In Aurora Borealice, Steacy explores her personal journey through alter-ego Alice, a functional illiterate with a creative mind and an astonishing amount of artistic skill. The book is a lesson in perseverance and ultimately believing in yourself regardless of the challenges thrown your way. Joan Steacy is a visual artist who has worked in a variety of disciplines, including sculpture, illustration and digital painting. She grew up in southern Ontario and moved to Victoria in 1987. A graduate of Sheridan College, The Ontario College of Art & Design and The University of Victoria, she currently teaches at Camosun College in Comics and Graphic Novels, a programme she co-created with partner Ken Steacy. She is also the author/illustrator of So, That’s That!. the biography of her father, a scrap-metal dealer who lived to be 100. Most recently, she illustrated a short story for A Minyen Yidn by Trina Robbins. 250pgs B&W paperback.

Bags (or a story thereof)
by Pat McHale & Gavin Fullerton
Boom! Studios
$12.99

The publisher says:
This is the tale of John Motts. He is a man who had a dog, but now that dog is gone. John searches his house, his street, and his town, but the dog is nowhere to be found. John soon realises that he must travel further, past the road and into the trees if he ‘s ever to find out the truth of what happened to his dog. Bags (or a story thereof) is a journey of love and suspense as John Motts searches through the world he knows, and a world he doesn’t, weaved together beautifully by Pat McHale, creator of the Emmy Award-winning Cartoon Network series Over The Garden Wall, and Gavin Fullerton (Disney’s Space Chickens in Space). 96pgs colour paperback.

Basquiat
by Julian Voloj & Søren Glosimodt Mosdal
SelfMadeHero
£14.99 / $19.99

The publisher says:
The dazzling, provocative work of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) would come to define the vibrant New York art scene of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Punk, jazz, graffiti, hip-hop: his work drew heavily on the cultural trappings of lower Manhattan. Today, Basquiat’s influence can be seen not only in fine art but in fashion, design, and music. This stunning graphic novel captures the dramatic life and exhilarating times of this archetypal New York artist, covering everything from the SAMO graffiti project to his first solo show, from his relationship with Andy Warhol to the substance abuse that would cost him his life. This playful, authoritative biography shows Basquiat’s work to be more important, his themes more urgent, than ever before. Julian Voloj is the author of numerous graphic novels, including the acclaimed Ghetto Brother (NBM). Born in Germany, he lives in New York City. Søren Mosdal is a Danish comics artist and newspaper illustrator. Born in Nairobi, he now lives in Copenhagen. 136pgs colour paperback.

Basquiat
by Paolo Parisi
Laurence King Publishing
£14.99 / $19.99

The publisher says:
Cool, talented and transgressive, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s life is just as fascinating as the work he produced. Delve into 1980s New York as this vivid graphic novel takes you on Basquiat’s journey from street-art legend SAMO to international art-scene darling, up until his sudden death. Told through cinematic scenes, this is Basquiat as seen through the eyes of those who knew him, including his father, Suzanne Mallouk, Larry Gagosian and, most importantly, the man himself. Basquiat is a moving depiction of a troubled artist’s life for those interested in both the art and the man who made it. Paolo Parisi is an Italian illustrator and cartoonist. He has previously written and illustrated graphic novels on the lives of Billie Holiday and John Coltrane. 270pgs colour paperback.

Bezimena
by Nina Bunjevac
Fantagraphics Books
$29.99

The publisher says:
A piercing psychological exploration of the delusional mind of a sexual predator. Drawing on her own traumatic memories of sexual assault, Ninja Bunjevac explores the warped psyche of a sexual predator. Told through a noirish lens, Bezimena is the story of a man who develops a disturbing sexual obsession with a former classmate, steadily losing his grasp on reality. As his fantasies become increasingly lurid, the book’s imagery grows ever more surreal; in her masterfully lush, stippled technique, Bunjevac conjures mesmerising dreamscapes and eerie allusions to the Greek myth of Artemis and Siproites. Refusing to shy away from the morally grotesque, Bezimena seeks to discover what compels people to commit acts of evil. Nina Bunjevac is best known for her internationally acclaimed books Heartless (2012) and Fatherland (2014). She lives in Toronto where she draws and teaches. 248pgs B&W hardcover.

Classmates Vol. 1
by Asumiko Nakamura
Seven Seas
$12.99

The publisher says:
The touching Boys’ Love story that inspired a hit animated film, in an all-new translation. Hikaru always thought his classmate Rihito was kind of a snob, until he stumbles across Rihito secretly practicing a song in an empty classroom. Hikaru agrees to become Rihito’s music tutor, and with each lesson the two boys grow closer. But when Hikaru realises that he’s fallen for Rihito, will they stay classmates or become something more? Asumiko Nakamura is an acclaimed manga creator known in English for Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist and her contribution to the Neo Parasyte f anthology, but she’s best known for her Boy’s Love stories, especially Classmates. 180pgs B&W paperback.

Comic Shop: The Retail Mavericks Who Gave Us A New Geek Culture
by Dan Gearino
Ohio University Press
$17.95

The publisher says:
Award-winning business journalist Dan Gearino expands on his 2017 book, Comic Shop: The Retail Mavericks Who Gave Us a New Geek Culture, with a revised paperback edition. Gearino interviewed more than 100 people, including luminaries such as Steve Geppi, Bud Plant and Chuck Rozanski; top comics creators; and the people behind trend-setting shops. In a new epilogue, Gearino tells how comics retailers fared in 2017 and 2018, a time when shops struggled to stay afloat at the same time that comics reached new heights as an art form,. The new paperback edition also includes an expanded look at the market of the early 2000s, and profiles of nearly fifty comics shops, including several new additions and key updates. Cover by Sebastian Biot and Foreword by Tom Spurgeon. 264pgs B&W paperback.

Eileen Gray: A House Under The Sun
by Charlotte Malterre-Barthes & Zosia Dzierzawska
Nobrow
$19.95 / £15.99

The publisher says:
Meet Eileen Gray, the queer, Irish architect behind the world-renowned E-1027 house and a pioneer of the Modern Movement in architecture. In 1924, her work began in earnest on a small villa by the sea in the south of France. Nearly a century later, this structure is a design milestone. But like so many gifted female artists and designers of her time, Eileen Gray’s story has been eclipsed by the men with whom she collaborated. Dzierzawska’s exquisite visuals illuminate the previously overlooked struggles and triumphs of a young queer Irish designer, whose work and life came to bloom during the Années Folles of early 20th-century Paris. Charlotte Malterre-Barthes is a French architect and urban designer who graduated from ENSA-Marseille and TU Vienna. She is currently Director of Studies of the MAS in Urban Design at the ETH Zurich, where she now lives. Zosia Dzierzawska is a Polish illustrator and comic author. Architecture and living/urban space have always been important in her work, as in her short story Waiting Rooms. She also authored the full-length autobiographical novel, A Testa in Giu. She lives in Zurich. 128pgs colour hardcover.

Gender Queer Memoir
by Maia Kobabe
Lion Forge
$17.99 / £15.99

The publisher says:
In Gender Queer Memoir, Maia Kobabe has crafted an intensely cathartic autobiography about eir path to identifying as nonbinary and asexual, and coming out to eir family and society. By addressing questions about gender identity – what it means and how to think about it – the story also doubles as a much-needed, useful and touching guide. 240pgs B&W paperback.

Grass
by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim
Drawn & Quarterly
$29.95 / £22.50

The publisher says:
Grass is a powerful anti-war graphic novel, offering up firsthand the life story of a Korean girl named Okseon Lee who was forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, a disputed chapter in 20th century Asian history. Keum Suk Gendry-Kim emphasises Lee’s strength in overcoming the many forms of adversity she experienced. Grass is a landmark graphic novel that makes personal the desperate cost of war and the importance of peace. 496pgs B&W paperback.

Island Book
by Evan Dahm
First Second
$22.99 / £17.99

The publisher says:
Sola is cursed. At least, that’s what everyone tells her. It all started the day the Monster came to the island. While others fled, Sola stood before the creature, alone and unafraid. Since then she’s been treated like an outcast. Shamed and feared for an event she doesn’t understand, Sola sets out to sea looking for answers. In an endless ocean far from home, she discovers that her island isn’t alone-and the Monster isn’t the only life to be found in these uncharted waters. Boundless adventure awaits in Island Book, an epic tale of friendship, teamwork, and the wisdom we gain when we face the unknown with bravery and an open heart. 288pgs colour hardcover.

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me
by Mariko Tamaki & Rosemary Valero O’Connell
First Second 17.99/£13.99−17.99 / £13.99 - 17.99/£13.99−24.99

The publisher says:
From This One Summer co-creator Mariko Tamaki comes a hilarious and poignant story of teen heartbreak and friendship. Laura Dean, the most popular girl in high school, was Frederica Riley’s dream girl: charming, confident and SO cute. There’s just one problem: Laura Dean is maybe not the greatest girlfriend. Reeling from her latest break up, Freddy’s best friend, Doodle, introduces her to the Seek-Her, a mysterious medium who leaves Freddy some cryptic parting words: Break up with her. But Laura Dean keeps coming back, and as their relationship spirals further out of her control, Freddy has to wonder if it’s really Laura Dean that’s the problem. Maybe it’s Freddy, who is rapidly losing her friends, including Doodle, who needs her now more than ever. Fortunately for Freddy, there are new friends and the insight of advice columnists like Anna Vice to help her through being a teenager in love. 304pgs two-colour paperback / hardcover.

Life Drawing: A Life Under Lights
by Jessica Martin
Unbound
£14.99

The publisher says:
The lure of the spotlight can be intoxicating, and Jessica Martin was captured by it early on. The daughter of a bandleader, she came of age in the jazz clubs of London’s Soho before going on to forge a career as a West End regular, Spitting Image impressionist and Doctor Who actor. Now entering a new phase of her performing life, Jessica Martin looks back on the parts and people that contributed to her success in this honest and revealing autobiography, which shows the true grit beneath the greasepaint. Featuring a cast of diverse characters and guest appearances from some very recognisable personalities, Life Drawing is the story of a woman living a fully creative life. 160pgs B&W hardcover.

Manfried Saves The Day
by Caitlin Major & Kelly Bastow
Quirk Books
$14.99 / £11.99

The publisher says:
Get ready for an all-new adventure starring web-comic sensation Manfried, the crabby but lovable pet man of slacker tomcat Steve Catson. Things are finally looking up for average tomcat Steve Catson and his pet man Manfried. But when the local man shelter is short of funds, Steve’s purrfriend Henrietta has to find a solution or close the shelter down forever. Can Manfried save the day? Or is he too busy fighting with his new roommate Garfield, a stray man Steve adopted? Can Steve and Henrietta resolve their differences and raise the cash to save the shelter? 224pgs B&W paperback.

Manga
by Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere
& Matsuba Ryoko
Thames & Hudson
£25.00

The publisher says:
Translated literally as ‘pictures run riot’, manga refers to a form of Japanese narrative art that has grown over the centuries to become a global phenomenon. Initially referring to graphic prints, novels and comics, manga has expanded beyond its original forms to include animation, art, fashion and new media such as film and gaming, and has international reach. Immensely popular with people of all ages, manga is big business, with a turnover of £3 billion in Japan in 2016.
Arranged into six broadly chronological, thematic chapters, this book traces the origins of manga, from its beginnings to the present day. Each section opens with an essay, followed by interviews, features and manga selections. The first chapter focuses on understanding manga through reading, drawing and producing. The second explores the power of storytelling, examining manga’s presentation of reality through printed formats and subject matter. The third chapter centres on the power of the seen and the unseen worlds. Chapter four shifts the attention from the art form directly to its role in society, starting with manga’s grass roots and moving on to fandom, education and the future of manga in an uncertain world. The penultimate chapter highlights the works of sixteen select manga artists, forming a visual timeline of seminal works. The final chapter examines manga’s expanding boundaries, including the avant-garde, media crossover and manga’s growing international reach and influence. Offering a revealing insight into the world of manga, this book will appeal to manga fans and to all those interested in graphic art, in all its forms. This book accompanies the Manga Exhibition at The British Museum, London. 256pgs colour hardcover.

Meat And Bone
by Kat Verhoeven
Conundrum Press
$25.00

The publisher says:
A queer slice-of-life drama about dating and eating. Anne needs a fresh start but then she meets Marshall, the girl downstairs. Their friendship will trigger body image issues she thought she had left behind. Meanwhile, her roommate Gwen tries out polyamorous dating and Jane practically moves into the gym. In Meat and Bone, Kat Verhoeven winds these threads into an unflinching exploration of how women define themselves. 340pgs colour paperback.

Midnight Radio
by Iolanda Zanfardino
Lion Forge
$14.99

The publisher says:
Four individuals living in San Francisco are released from the frustrations of their everyday lives by a late night radio broadcast suddenly hijacked by someone with a message for the world. The passion and honesty of the message steers these four lives in dramatic new directions . . . An intriguingly interwoven tale of four lives changed by a mysterious late-night radio broadcast that wakes them up from their mundane existences. Each tale speaks to different social issues without pandering to a political agenda: LGBT+ rights, racism, social network addiction, and the difficult decision between settling down versus following your dreams. Each tale is told in a vivid, polychromatic illustration style that flows from one character to another and back again in a uniquely identifiable fashion. 160pgs colour paperback.

Motel Universe
by Joakim Drescher
Secret Acres
$21.95

The publisher says:
Check in to Motel Universe, a dystopian, casino galaxy of tasteless hedonism! On a macabre jungle planet, the Skins, a slave race, are hunted for their precious hides by tycoon dictator, Barton Flump. Join the Skins as they run for their lives, but when there’s nowhere left to run, it might just be time for a little revolution… Joakim Drescher was born in Denmark and raised in Indonesia, New Zealand and China. He is the eldest son of illustrator and author Henrik Drescher and artist Lauren Drescher. Joakim studied fine arts in Amsterdam at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, where he was a part of the now defunct tape label So Obsolete Records and one part of the DIY publishing outfit Stalking Cat Editions with artist and illustrator Marie Boye Thomsen. 96pgs colour hardcover.

Nocturne: The Walled City Trilogy Vol.2
by Anne Opotowsky & Angie Hoffmeister
IDW / Top Shelf
$39.99

The publisher says:
In 1905, a child is kidnapped and brought to Hong Kong, growing into a clever and reckless young man looking for answers. In the 1930s, the British are shaping that island into the free-trade playground for which it will soon become famous… while China’s internal strife borders on chaos. The eccentricities of Hong Kong rub off on everyone, the greed is more palpable, the lust and caution herd on both the young and old. Within the Walled City itself, the population has grown by leaps and bounds, despite attempts to clear them out. Both the British and the Chinese now declare it a lawless ghetto, a legal No Man’s Land… so the city evolves into an astonishing world of its own. In this chaotic yet harmonious world, the three boys from Book One-Song, Xi, and Yubo-are finding three very different ways to become men. Abductions, obsessions, refugees, and star-crossed lovers intertwine throughout this staggeringly ambitious and gorgeously illustrated saga… while the undercurrents of power, manipulation, and loss begin to show terrible cracks in the walls. Anne Opotowsky, the creator of The Walled City Trilogy, is a screenwriter and graphic novelist. Her film credits include work for Miramax, Disney and Fox, among others. She lives and works in California. Angie Hoffmeister lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany. Since graduating from the famous Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 2016, she has participated in several art shows in and around Europe. She currently teaches at Philipps-University of Marburg, working with both children and young adults. Illustrations, sketchbooks, picture books and graphic novels are her main mediums. She loves creating enormous dry point prints along with other printmaking techniques. 460pgs colour paperback.

Our Dreams At Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare Vol. 1
by Yuhki Kamatani
Seven Seas Entertainment
$12.99

The publisher says:
The beloved coming-out and coming-of-age manga about a broad LGBT+ community. Not only is high schooler Tasuku Kaname the new kid in town, he is also terrified that he has been outed as gay. Just as he’s contemplating doing the unthinkable, Tasuku meets a mysterious woman who leads him to a group of people dealing with problems not so different from his own. In this realistic, heartfelt depiction of LGBT+ characters from different backgrounds finding their place in the world, a search for inner peace proves to be the most universal experience of all. 180pgs B&W paperback.

Peterloo: Witnesses To A Massacre
by Polyp, Eva Schlunke & Robert Poole
New Internationalist
£11.99

The publisher says:
The explosive tale of Peterloo, told ‘verbatim’ style through the voices of those who were there. More than 15 people died and 600 were severely wounded by sabre-wielding troops at a peaceful pro-democracy rally. This is a visual account of the 16 August, 1819 massacre, to be published as part of the 200th anniversary commemorations. The entire narrative is drawn exclusively from the direct testimony of the time much of it newly unearthed by leading historian Professor Robert Poole, including letters, memoirs, journalists accounts, spies’ reports and courtroom evidence. These have been carefully woven together into rich, vivid illustrations by professional cartoonist, illustrator and graphic novelist Polyp. At a time when democracy is under siege, the memory of Peterloo is all the more crucial, and challenges the reader to ask what we have done with the legacy passed on by those who died. Robert Poole of the University of Central Lancashire is consultant historian to the Peterloo 2019 anniversary programme. He is also author of Peterloo: the English Uprising. Polyp (Paul Fitzgerald) is a full-time political cartoonist. He is the author of Speechless (a wordless world history), The Co-operative Revolution and co-author of Little Worm’s Big Question. Eva Schlunke is an artist, writer, activist and campaigner. She co-authored Little Worm’s Big Question and was the key artist behind the mass-participation Peterloo public events of 2015/2016. 112pgs colour paperback.

Posy Simmonds (The Illustrators)
by Paul Gravett
Thames & Hudson
£18.95 / $29.95

The publisher says:
In the course of a career spanning more than fifty years, Posy Simmonds has become one of Britain’s best-known satirical cartoonists. She is also as a much-loved author and artist of widely translated children’s books and graphic novels. These include Fred, animated in 1996 into the Oscar-nominated short film Famous Fred, and Gemma Bovery and Tamara Drewe, both adapted into films, increasing her international fame. Simmonds once described her job on a census form as ‘a visual engineer’. Her extraordinary precision of drawing, her powers of observation and her sharp but well-tempered wit have made her one the Britain’s most sophisticated innovators, renowned especially for expanding the scope and subtlety of comics. This is the first book to explore Simmonds’s life and work from her early childhood to the present day. In a series of interviews with Paul Gravett she offered insights into her creative process and provided unprecedented access to her ‘workroom’ and archives containing sketchbooks and rare or never-before-seen artworks. A portrait emerges of Posy Simmonds as a chronicler and critic of contemporary British society and a storyteller in words and pictures of rare perception and humanity. 112pgs colour hardcover.

Rust Belt
by Sean Knickerbocker
Secret Acres
$18.95

The publisher says:
We love to blame the people we don’t know and never see. Meet the forgotten people of America’s Rust Belt. Some people aren’t invited to the Resistance. They meet no definition of the Other. Identity politics excludes them. They’re called unlucky when they fall victim to economic injustice. They even take the blame for our national crises - but who are these people? Rust Belt looks right at the underemployed, the working poor and the dreamers of America’s changing, post-industrial cities. Sean Knickerbocker is a cartoonist, illustrator, and printer. He graduated from the Centre For Cartoon Studies in 2012. His comics have appeared in Ecotone, Irene, and the Nib among other publications. He is a native of West Valley, New York and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 112pgs colour paperback.

A Shining Beacon
by James Albon
IDW / Top Shelf Productions
$19.99

The publisher says:
Pictures at a revolution: acclaimed graphic novelist James Albon (Her Bark and Her Bite) explores the role of the artist in a frighteningly familiar near-future of tyrannical regimes and popular revolts. Francesca Saxon, artist and loyal citizen of the nation, is thrilled when she receives a commission to design the central mural of an epic new swimming pool: the jewel in the crown for an insecure regime obsessed by propaganda. Leaving the comfort of her coastal hometown for the lap of luxury of the capital, she is swept up in the paranoia of a government threatened by underground revolutionaries, whose promise of a freer, happier future looks increasingly appealing. Torn between rival factions and her personal loyalties, she realises that when ideology has a stranglehold on art, the picture is rarely pretty. James Albon is a British illustrator living in Lyon, France. His clients include the Folio Society, The Guardian, the Wall Street Journal and WIRED. He studied illustration at Edinburgh College of Art, went on to a postgraduate scholarship at the Royal Drawing School in London, and was awarded the Gwen May award from the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in 2012. 224pgs colour paperback.

Stalingrad: Letters From The Volga
by Daniel Ortega & Antonio Gil, translated by Jeff Whitman
$19.95
Dead Reckoning

The publisher says:
Stalingrad. From August 1942 to February 1943 this model industrial city, bathed by the waters of the Volga, was home to the bloodiest battle of World War II. Stalingrad: Letters from the Volga offers a fast-paced depiction of this titanic struggle: explicit, crude and without concessions – just as the war and the memory of all those involved demand. Military and civilians alike paid with their lives for the personal fight between Stalin and Hitler, which materialised in long months of primitive conflict among the smoking ruins of Stalingrad and its surroundings. Take a chronological tour of the massacre, relive the fights and feel the drama of trying to survive in a relentless hell of ice and snow. Antonio Gil is a Spanish illustrator and comic author who specialises in military culture. His work can be seen in more than 100 publications in specialised magazines and books focusing on different periods of history, from Ancient Rome to the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is a frequent guest at conferences, speaking about the Eastern Front in World War II, and mainly about the German operations in Stalingrad, of which he is a specialist. Daniel Ortega is a Spanish author of a series of novels published about a group of German soldiers surviving the horrors of World War II and of the German army. He is a specialist in the structure of the German army and the European theatre in World War II. 120pgs colour paperback.

States Of Mind
by Patrice Guillon, Emilie Guillon & Sébastien Samson
Humanoids / Life Drawn
$14.95

The publisher says:
In constant flux between the transient euphoria and utter despair of bipolar disorder, Camille attempts to decode her mind and treat her illness. However, she discovers that the will of the patient is not always enough to cure the ills of the mind, and the only way she can find a semblance of peace is when surrounded and supported, if not understood. It is this compassion which allows her to stay anchored in life, a buoy ebbing and flowing with the ocean. _States of Mind_‘s strength is in its unabashed and unapologetic account of the destruction and desolation that the disorder causes, but more importantly, the beautiful humanity and compassion that blossom in its wake. 112pgs colour paperback.

Sunday’s Child
by Serena Katt
Jonathan Cape
£16.99

The publisher says:
Serena Katt’s grandfather, whom she knew as Opa, was a ‘Sunday’s Child’, one of the lucky ones for whom everything always went right. Opa left a brief account of his childhood and teenage years, but it is opaque, a story of prizes won and boyish adventures. In Sunday’s Child, Serena Katt interrogates Opa’s version of his life. Was it really so innocent? Did he really not know what the Nazis were doing? He joined the Hitler Youth at the age of ten, swearing an oath of loyalty to the Fuhrer. From then on the games he played were actually military training, designed to produce a ‘new German youth … violent, domineering, unafraid, cruel … which the world will fear’. At seventeen, in the final desperate days of the war, he is called up but his luck holds. He is sent home and thus survives the war. Sunday’s Child marks the debut of a remarkable graphic novelist. Serena Katt’s book is powerful, eloquent and moving, and her drawing is superb. 176pgs B&W hardcover.

The Book of Weirdo
edited by Jon B. Cooke
Last Gasp
$39.95

The publisher says:
The Book of Weirdo is the definitive and hugely entertaining examination of Weirdo magazine, renowned underground comix cartoonist Robert Crumb’s legendary humour comics anthology, which was originally published throughout the 1980s. A “low-brow” counterpoint to Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly’s rather high-faluttin’ RAW comix publication, Weirdo influenced an entire generation of alternative and neo-underground artists. This hardcover anthology features the complete story of the well-recalled comics magazine, along with testimonials from over 130 of the publication’s contributors and interviews with _Weirdo_’s three editors: R. “Keep On Truckin’” Crumb, Peter “_Hate_” Bagge, and Aline “The Bunch” Kominsky-Crumb. 288pgs B&W hardcover.

The Handbook to Lazy Parenting
by Guy Delisle
Drawn & Quarterly
$12.95

The publisher says:
The Handbook to Lazy Parenting is bestselling cartoonist Guy Delisle’s final tribute to the frequently hilarious and absurd situations that any parent will find themselves in when raising young children, all told with Delisle’s trademark sarcastic wit. But even as Delisle’s children grow older, wiser and less interested in their father’s antics, Delisle has no shortage of bad parenting stories, only now, sometimes, the joke is on him. Delisle tells relatable stories of parenthood, the mistakes we have trouble admitting to, and the impulse that we all sometimes have to give a comically serious answer to a child’s comically serious question. 204pgs B&W paperback.

The Structure is Rotten, Comrade
by Viken Berberian & Yann Kebbi
Fantagraphics Books
$34.99

The publisher says:
A young man’s arrogance and ambition collide with revolutionary politics in a visually groundbreaking graphic novel. Meet Frunz, a starry-eyed disciple of the pioneering architect Le Corbusier, a fervent advocate of the Brutalist movement, a contender to become the urban visionary of our time. His greatest love is cement—simple, stable, teeming with possibility. If only life were built on such a solid foundation. Enter Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, a city in ruins. Wrecking balls swing wildly, cranes punctuate the skyline, and cement trucks race through congested streets. Frunz and his father, the renowned builder known as Mr. Cement, plan to level Yerevan’s historic landmarks and flood the city with Trumpian high-rises. But when outraged citizens revolt against them and the city’s corrupt regime, the young architect reconsiders his ambitions. Amid the chaos of the Revolution, only one thing is certain: Frunz must brave the streets swarming with rebels in search of the Golden Mean. Written by Viken Berberian with his signature originality and verve and drawn with audacious compositions, delirious colours and a kinetic expressionistic technique by the acclaimed painter and illustrator Yann Kebbi, The Structure is Rotten, Comrade is a formally innovative and politically resonant work, by turns prescient, punchy, cautionary and fearless. 320pgs colour hardcover.

They Called Us Enemy
by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steve Scott & Harmony Becker
IDW / Top Shelf
$19.99

The publisher says:
George Takei has captured hearts and minds worldwide with his captivating stage presence and outspoken commitment to equal rights. But long before he braved new frontiers in Star Trek, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth-country at war with his father’s – and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future. In a stunning graphic memoir, Takei revisits his haunting childhood in American concentration camps, as one of over 100,000 Japanese Americans imprisoned by the U.S. government during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon, and America itself, in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty and love. 192pgs colour paperback.

This Land is My Land: A Graphic History of Big Dreams, Micronations, and Other Self-Made States
by Andy Warner & Sofie Louise Dum
Chronicle Books
$19.95 / £13.99

The publisher says:
Tired of your country’s bad politics? Feeling powerless to change things? Start your own utopia instead! This nonfiction graphic novel collects the stories of 30 self-made places around the world built with a dream of utopia, whether a safe haven, an inspiring structure, or a better-run country. From the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands to the Indian rock garden of Nek Chand, the micronation of Sealand to the pirate-founded, anti-slavery community of Libertatia, here are the empowering and eccentric visions of creators who struck out against the laws of their homelands, the approval of their peers, and even nature itself to reshape the world around them. Andy Warner is the New York Times bestselling author of Brief Histories of Everyday Objects. He lives in San Francisco. Sofie Louise Dam is a cartoonist and illustrator based in Viborg, Denmark.

Titan: Mother of Monsters
by Colleen Douglas, André Stahlschmidt & Wesllei Manoel
Amigo Comics
$19.99

The publisher says:
The Elder Gods only have one rule: “None Shall Be Greater Than Another.” Titan is an astronaut and the reincarnation of The Mother of Monsters. Her uncle wants control of her cosmic power. To get it he will blow up her home, murder her mother and lobotomise her father… and yet, he is just a pawn. 120pgs colour paperback.

Your Turn, Adrian
by Helena Öberg & Kristin Lidström
Groundwood Books
$18.95

The publisher says:
Nearly every day, Adrian goes to school with knots in his stomach. He feels different and alone. Whenever the teacher calls on him, his heart pounds and time stops. But he finds respite in his rich imagination, a world full of colour and joy in which he is a circus performer, capable of spectacular feats. One day Adrian encounters a huge wolfhound that seems to be lost. He names her Heidi, takes her home and the two become inseparable. Heidi’s presence provides friendship and tranquility, and even enables Adrian to read aloud in front of the class. This brief period of happiness ends when Heidi is reunited with her owner and Adrian finds himself alone again, until a chance meeting leads to a heartwarming discovery. Helena Öberg has written many highly acclaimed children’s books since her debut in 1994. She and illustrator Kristin Lidström were nominated for Sweden’s August Prize for the original edition of Your Turn, Adrian. Helena has a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and teaches creative writing at Berghs School of Communication. She lives in Västerås, Sweden. 72pgs colour hardcover. Posted: March 2, 2019