Graphic Novels & Manga Books

Book SynopsisIn a world where Luck can be measured and has tangible effects on the world, the only people that might be able to restore balance are those that don’t have any.Luck might be worth more than gold. What if it could actually be weighed in the same way?. Artie, Cherry, Hilde, and Joseph are The Unfortunates, a group of teens with absolutely no Luck. When the world is mysteriously plunged into chaos and reality itself is threatened, they may be our only hope. Together they are part of a government program dedicated to understanding the Constellations, mysterious beings who can seemingly control the very nature of Luck and its cosmic effects on reality. Their mission: return the world back to some semblance of order not dictated by Luck. Of course, with zero Luck, the odds aren’t exactly in their favor. A bold new graphic novel by rising stars Matthew Erman (Power Rangers: Sins of the Future) and Stefano Simeone (Mega Man: Fully Charged) about defying fate against impossible odds. Collects Good Luck #1-5.

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Book SynopsisWhen the rich and powerful are literal cannibals, how can regular people avoid being on the menu?WELCOME TO CRESTFALL BLUFFS! With law school and her whole life ahead of her, Joey plans to spend the summer with her boyfriend Astor at his seemingly perfect family home. But beneath all the affluent perfection lies a dark, deadly rot… something all the locals live in quiet fear of. As summer lingers, Joey uncovers the macabre history of Crestfall Bluffs, and the ruthlessness and secrecy lying in wait behind the idyllic lives of the one percent. Who can Joey save? Who wants to be saved? And can she even survive to tell the tale? The bold, horrifying psychological thriller from Hugo Award-winning author Sarah Gailey (The Echo Wife, Magic For Liars) and artist Pius Bak (Firefly, The Magicians) with colorist Roman Titov and letterer Cardinal Rae. Collects Eat the Rich #1-5.

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Book SynopsisIt’s the ‘Burb Defender vs the Negatrixes in this new graphic novel from New York Times bestselling author Shea Fontana and acclaimed artist Celia Moscote!Dizzy is a fifteen year old who wants to be the best! The best at what? She hasn't figured that out just yet. When one idea after another fails, she’s ready to even give up roller skating—until the Negatrixes attack! Under the mantle The ‘Burb Defender, Dizzy finally has a chance to be the best, but only with the help of her skating crew: Chippe, Scarlett, Payton, and Av. But first, she’ll need to learn how to use her colorful powers endowed by the Blaster Bracelet, overcome her self-doubt, and the negative Negatrix energy affecting her crew, not to mention her own personal Negatrix… an emerging Chosen One complex! But, will the ‘Burb Defender and her crew be enough to defeat the Mega-Negatrix? Find out with this new graphic novel from New York Times bestselling writer Shea Fontana (Monster High, DC Superhero Girls), artist Celia Moscote (Juliet Takes A Breath), colorist Natalia Nesterenko (League of Legends), and letterer Jim Campbell (Giant Days). Collects Getting Dizzy #1-4.

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Book SynopsisWhat strange secrets lie in the mysterious town of Buckhead, USA?An astonishing Afrofuturist series from Shobo Coker (Outcasts of Jupiter) and George Kambadais (The Black Ghost) that blends the immigrant experience, African myth, and weird science in Small Town USA. Toba and his mother, a renowned scientist, have just immigrated to the US from Nigeria. But instead of living in the Big City like Toba always dreamed, they've moved to a sleepy little town in the Pacific Northwest called Buckhead. Hidden away in the basement of the school, Toba and his newfound friends discover a strange video game--a perfect replica of Ancient Benin and its people. Soon, Toba is on the run from men in black after witnessing strange experiments, disappearances, and a mind-controlling tattoo that everyone in town seems to have. As Toba and his friends chase down a vast conspiracy with connections to another world in the fight to save their parents, they soon uncover the ancient terror that’s behind it all. Will they be able to work together and save their parents (and Buckhead) before it’s too late? Collects Buckhead #1-5.

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Book SynopsisThe FLAVOR GIRLS are the new Magical Girls that Sailor Moon fans have been waiting for!Naoko, Camille, and V are the FLAVOR GIRLS, Sacred Fruit Guardians of Earth! They defend the earth from the threat of ever-looming Agarthians, whose motives regarding earth and humanity are still unknown. Sara, just a U.N. applicant trying her best to help, finds herself in over her head when she’s thrown into this crisis in a way she never could have imagined! As the Flavor Girls hone their sacred fruit powers with their master Himiko, can their newest member help them save the planet from impending destruction? From writer and artist Loïc Locatelli-Kournwsky (Persephone), comes a new Magical Girl all-ages adventure with an environmental twist for fans of Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Power Rangers! Collects Flavor Girls #1-3.

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Book SynopsisThe Next Chapter of the Bestselling Supernatural Series Unveiling More Secrets of the Afterlife! In her continuing macabre journey as a grim reaper, Jessica Harrow is still trapped in Las Vegas with fellow reapers Eddie and Marcel, where they encounter a fabulous twist on mythical Greek figures, as well as someone with the authority to get them out of their phantasmal dilemma. Jess’ means of moving between the world of the living and the realm of the dead has also gone amok. When everyone becomes marked for death but no one is dying, the consequences could be catastrophic! Will Jessica find a way to return to the Afterlife and take her rightful place atop the throne? Or will Adira solidify her control, now that she’s finally in possession of Death’s scythe? From acclaimed writer Stephanie Phillips (Harley Quinn) and fan favourite artist Flaviano (New Mutants) comes a bold new vision of what comes after, and the nature of death itself! Collects Grim #6-10.

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Book SynopsisThe Awl is a story of ordinary folks struggling to be treated as humans.Set in the latter half of the 2000s, against the backdrop of Pureumi, a fictional superstore chain in South Korea, the work unfolds with a focus on two protagonists: Yi Su-in, who has been instructed by the corporation to dismiss workers unjustly; and Gu Go-sin, a labor activist. A man of principles, Su-in is someone who cannot restrain outspoken criticism and is constantly at odds with the world. Though he has quit a career in the armed forces to live quietly and chosen an ordinary job, he once again clashes against the world because the company has ordered him to drive out employees by force. Aiding Su-in is Go-sin, a cool-headed and deft labor activist who runs a labor counseling center near the Pureumi chain. Unlike Su-in, who has difficulty getting along with people and sternly sticks to rules, he approaches others without hesitation and even resorts to extreme meas

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Book SynopsisInspired the hit anime! And don't miss the spin-off manga series about Kanna, Elma, and Fafnir (also from Seven Seas)! Miss Kobayashi is your average office worker who lives a boring life, alone in her small apartment--until she saves the life of a female dragon in distress. The dragon, named Tohru, has the ability to magically transform into an adorable human girl (albeit with horns and a long tail!), who will do anything to pay off her debt of gratitude, whether Miss Kobayashi likes it or not. With a very persistent and amorous dragon as a roommate, nothing comes easy, and Miss Kobayashi's normal life is about to go off the deep end!

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Book SynopsisWhether they’re part cat, part horse, or part spider, Daisuke has always been fascinated with the uniquely exotic beauty of monster girls. When he finds himself whisked away to a fantastic world full of all manner of demihuman life, he swiftly gets to work meeting (and analysing!) as many as he can. There’s really only one logical thing for this stranded scientist to do: he’s going to become the creature girl harem king!!

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Book SynopsisFor generations, a shrine has stood in the mountain village of Kadono, and for each generation the shrine has had an Itsukihime—its shrine maiden—and the maiden has had her guardian. During the Edo period, a young man named Jinta protects the town and the Itsukihime. When he confronts a strange demon in the nearby forest, it tells him that in the distant future a Demon God will threaten all people, everywhere, and it claims that the Demon God's rise to power springs from this very time and place, in the village of Kadono. So begins the centuries-spanning journey of a man tainted by demons, hunting through time to seek justice for what he's lost, and to find a reason to keep on fighting.

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Book SynopsisIt’s a new year and love is in the air… Between the Duke and his maid, of course, but also at the circus, where Zain has to contend with a little boy crushing on Cuff! The ringmaster, a mysterious man who never asks about the witches’ past, pushes him to admit his feelings. Then, the head witch Daleth sends a sea witch to the manor try to cure the Duke’s curse…for a price. Will he have to pay it?

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Book SynopsisIt’s hard for Luke to make a name for himself as an adventurer with all the competition—especially when he’s a perpetually low-ranked adventurer whose only skill is [repair]. But when Luke is abandoned by his party and uses that same [repair] skill to survive and escape the dungeon, a new world of possibilities opens up. Suddenly, his despised skill allows him not only to survive but to stand out in a crowded field!

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Book SynopsisAfter getting involved in a turf war, Hibiki gets drafted by delinquents and ends up participating in a fierce battle against a bunch of big, tough ladies! Is she out of her mind, or just out of her league? Plus, tons of new workout routines that will strengthen your body from your core to your fingertips!

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Book SynopsisSeigi Nakata, a Japanese economics student, is working at the shop of the beautiful jeweller, Richard Ranasinghe de Vulpian. Today’s customers are an elderly couple, the Tamuras. To celebrate their thirtieth anniversary, they came to Richard’s shop to find an imperial topaz. But something seems off about this cute couple…

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Book SynopsisThere are powerful beings whose spirits dwell within old objects: tsukumogami. Hyoma is a young man who despises these evil spirits for robbing him of something precious. His mission: to use the supernatural powers granted to him to dispatch these tsukomogami back to their own world, no matter what it takes. But when Hyoma’s grandfather sends him to live with Botan, a kind-hearted girl who peacefully shares a house with an assortment of overprotective tsukumogami, it’s more than Hyoma can bear. Can Botan help Hyoma overcome his rage, or will his thirst for vengeance lead him down a dark and violent path? The supernatural battle action fantasy manga that inspired the anime!

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Book Synopsis“I admit it. You are the leader.” “Thank you, Diablo. I will do everything to answer the trust you’ve placed in me.” As it just so turns out, the former prime minister Noah Gibun is an outsider—a Cross Reverie player who was pulled into this world—just like Diablo! She desperately wants to defeat the Gelmed Empire, but due to their overwhelming power, she has to recruit Diablo and the young Demon Lord Klem. The antisocial Diablo wants no part of this! Will he be able to deal with fighting alongside a party for the first time ever? Will he finally overcome his social anxiety? This is the fourteenth volume of the adventures of an earth-shakingly powerful Demon Lord (or at least someone who acts like one) taking on another world!

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Book SynopsisIt’s been ten years since Rentt Faina, a luckless Bronze-class adventurer, set his eyes on becoming Mithril-class. Unfortunately, he finds himself helpless when confronted by a legendary dragon in the Water Moon Dungeon...and is summarily eaten. But Rentt has miraculously reawakened...as a skeleton?! Making his way back to civilization is going to be a challenge when he can barely walk, let alone hold a sword. And the good people of Maalt won’t take kindly to a monster in their midst. Can some magic techniques and a chance encounter provide Rentt’s salvation?

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Book SynopsisIn the city of the dead, long since ruined and far from human civilization, lives a single human child. His name is Will, and he’s being raised by three undead. The three pour love into the boy, and teach him all they know. But one day, Will starts to wonder: “Who am I?”Will must unravel the mysteries of this faraway land, and unearth the secret pasts of the undead. He must learn the love and mercy of the good gods, and the bigotry and madness of the bad. And when he knows it all, the boy will take his first step on the path to becoming a Paladin.

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Book SynopsisLutz’s parents refuse to accept him becoming a merchant and he runs away from home after they argue. News of the dispute quickly reaches the Gilberta Company, and only when Myne and the High Priest arrange a mediation between the involved parties do they reach a resolution.With peace finally restored, Myne can focus on making books again... Or can she? After taking Wilma and Rosina as attendants, she finds herself dealing with yet another war of words!Follow Myne’s latest adventures in this biblio-fantasy by book lovers, for book lovers!

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Book SynopsisAs the High Priest battles a trombe alongside the Knight's Order, Myne glimpses the terrors of noble society. She completes the Healing Ritual and demonstrates her worth as an apprentice blue shrine maiden, but even then, there are those who remain doubtful... Is she a grave threat to Ehrenfest or a most valuable asset?Find out in this biblio-fantasy by book lovers, for book lovers!

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Book SynopsisSurrounded by the hate-filled gazes of her people, the selfish princess of the fallen Tearmoon Empire, Mia, takes one last look at the bleeding sun before the guillotine blade falls…Only to wake back up as a twelve-year-old! With time rewound and a second chance at life dropped into her lap, she sets out to right the countless wrongs that plague the ailing empire. Corrupt governance? Check. Border troubles? Check. Natural calamities and economic strife? Check.My, seems like a lot of work.Hard work and Mia don’t mix, so she seeks out the aid of others, starting with her loyal maid, Anne, and the brilliant minister, Ludwig. Together, they strive day and night to restore the Empire. Little by little, their tireless efforts begin to change the course of history, pushing the whole of the continent toward a new future.And why did the selfish princess have a change of heart, you ask? Simple—she didn’t. She’s just terrified of the guillotine. They hurt like hell, and Mia hates pain more than work.

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Book SynopsisBEST OF THE YEAR NODS FROM THE GLOBE & MAILL, AMAZON.COM, QUILL & QUIRE!"The Toronto cartoonist''s first full-length graphic novel follows a clutch of misfit ants, trying to maintain some semblance of civilization in the shadow of war. Psychedelically gorgeous, uncomfortably funny."-Sean Rogers, Globe & Mail Best Books of 2014The debut graphic novel from a dazzling newcomer with a singular, idiosyncratic styleIn the few short years since he began his pamphlet-size comic book series Lose, Michael DeForge has announced himself as an important new voice in alternative comics. His brash, confident, undulating artwork sent a shock wave through the comics world for its unique, fully formed aesthetic.From its opening pages, Ant Colony immerses the reader in a world that is darkly existential, with false prophets, unjust wars, and corrupt police officers, as it follows the denizens of a black ant colony under attack from the nearby red ants. On the surface, it''s the story of this war, the destruction of a civilization, and the ants'' all too familiar desire to rebuild. Underneath, though, Ant Colony plumbs the deepest human concerns-loneliness, faith, love, apathy, and more. All of this is done with humor and sensitivity, exposing a world where spiders can wreak unimaginable amounts of havoc with a single gnash of their jaws.DeForge''s striking visual sensibility-stark lines, dramatic color choices, and brilliant use of page and panel space-stands out in this volume.

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Book SynopsisWorkplace stresses may be killer in this off-the-rails office satireRichard thinks he''s in luck when he snags a job at the cuckoo-clock factory, but things start to go wrong right off the bat. First of all there''s his boss, who doesn''t seem to have the strongest grip on reality and has an odd penchant for silly hats. Then there are his coworkers, who are alternately evasive and idiotic when asked about anything pertaining to actually getting work done. Finally there''s George, the employee Richard''s replacing, who supposedly quit but whose family has just appeared on national TV pleading for his safe return. It''s all adding up to a very strange workplace, and when the company goes on a retreat, everything spools quickly out of control.From the author of Anna and Froga comes a wry, offbeat whodunnit that centers on office life. Anouk Ricard''s subtle, sardonic humor undermines the characters'' desperate attempts to be taken seriously, as they bungle kidnappings, misunderstand social cues, and let petty disagreements become feuds. Ricard''s dim-witted characters aspire to deviousness but miss their mark, remaining firmly in the domain of slapstick. With cleverly observed dialogue, charming artwork, and brilliantly over-the-top plotting, Benson''s Cuckoos will delight the adult fans of Ricard''s comics for kids.

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Book SynopsisEver wanted to know how to be awarded the Best Dad in the Whole World? Guy Delisle has all the answers for you in these light-hearted, entertaining tales of parental mishaps and practi--cal jokes gone wrong. Whether he's helping remove a pesky, wob--bly, but not quite loose tooth or trying to win at hide-and-seek, his antics will resonate with every parent who has ever wanted to give a sarcastic answer to a funny question from their kid. Even More Bad Parenting Advice marks Guy Delisle's second foray into the world of offering bad advice to parents, and a sec--ond opportunity to express the minor frustrations and many joys of parenting. Delisle's skilful hand at illustration and ironic way with words, which helped to popularize his travelogues about daily life in faraway places, are just as much the stars here as he or his children are. His sense of comic timing shines through in these simply told stories; with their lively flow, a change in facial expression or a few words can serve as the anecdote's punch line. Even More Bad Parenting Advice celebrates the reality that parenting isn't all first steps and gold-starred report cards; it's stinky diapers and never-ending drives to the grocery store too.Trade ReviewA User's Guideis a funny and truthful book about being a parent.- Boing Boing

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Book SynopsisAfter losing both his fortune and his girlfriend, Moomin has hit rock bottom. Luckily, in his darkest moment, he stumbles across the beloved family he lost as a child Moominmamma and Moominpappa and together, the Moomins embark on their first adventure. Moominmam- ma struggles to balance her husband s desire for danger with her own homebody sensibilities, while Moomin fears his new parents will even- tually tire of him. A poignant story of love and reunion unwinds in this classic Moomin caper from Tove Jansson.

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Book SynopsisLiving on the moonWhatever were we thinking? ...It seems so silly now. The lunar colony is slowly winding down, like a small town circumvented by a new super highway. As our hero, the Mooncop, makes his daily rounds, his beat grows ever smaller, the population dwindles. A young girl runs away, a dog breaks off his leash, an automaton wanders off from the Museum of the Moon. Each day that the Mooncop goes to work, life gets a little quieter and a little lonelier. As in Goliath, Tom Gauld's retelling of the Bible story, the focus in Gauld's science fiction is personal-no big explo-sions or grand reveals, just the incremental dissolution of an abandoned project and a person's slow awakening to his own uselessness. Depicted in the distinctive, matter-of-fact style of his beloved Guardian strips, Mooncop is equal parts funny and melancholy. Gauld captures essential truths about humanity, making this a story of the past, present, and future, all in one.Trade ReviewTo read a Tom Gauld cartoonis to be entertained, but also to be affected on a deeper level, where timeless truths about the human condition wait for talents such as Gauld to tap a line into them and provide lesser mortals like me with a chance to taste them.-Boing Boing

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Book SynopsisAs the Moomins prepare to hibernate through what is going to be the worst winter yet, several unwelcomed guests take advantage of the Moomins generosity and keep the family awake throughout the long winter. Their quirky but needy guests prevent the Moomins from hibernating and the chaos only increases with the arrival of a little nibling determined to find out everyone s secrets. One by one, the nibling sees what the Moomins and each of their houseguests do when no one else is looking. But everyone is ashamed of what the nibling has seen and is determined to keep their secret activities, well, a secret!

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Book SynopsisPeter Bagge returns with a biography of another fascinating twentieth-century trailblazer the writer, feminist, war correspondent, and libertarian Rose Wilder Lane. Following the popularity and critical acclaim of Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story and Fire!! The Zora Neale Hurston Story, Credo: The Rose Wilder Lane Story is a fast-paced, charming, informative look at the brilliant Lane. Highly accomplished, she was a founder of the American libertarian movement and a champion of her mother, Laura Ingalls Wilder, in bringing the classic Little House on the Prairie series to the American public. Like Sanger and Hurston, Lane was an advocate for women s rights who led by example, challenging norms in her personal and professional life. Anti-government and anti-marriage, Lane didn t think that gender should hold anyone back from experiencing all the world had to offer. Though less well-known today, in her lifetime she was one of the highest-paid female writers in America and a political and literary luminary, friends with Herbert Hoover, Dorothy Thompson, Sinclair Lewis, and Ayn Rand, to name a few. Bagge s portrait of Lane is heartfelt and affectionate, probing into the personal roots of her rugged individualism. Credo is a deeply researched dive into a historical figure whose contributions to American society are all around us, from the books we read to the politics we debate.

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Book SynopsisSometimes I dream about myself and in my dream I m someone else But also, I am me becoming the horse that I want to be. Was it always like this? What if your self portrait was a collection of weird shapes? Have you ever felt like an abstract painting? Do you ever simultaneously wish and worry that the boundaries of your body will melt away and you ll become a magnificent horse? Becoming Horses is a book about squinting hard and looking from the right angle to find that everything around you sparkles just a little and the shapes of things are not firm but fuzzy. The You you know may shift and take form as a beautiful horse, a sunset, or something so special, so huge that you could never describe it.

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Book SynopsisHannah is a thirty-something wife, home- health worker, and antiwar activist. Her husband, Johnny, is a stay-at-home pot- head working or working on building them a house before the winter chill sets in. They re currently living and screw-ing in the back of a truck, hoping for a pregnancy, which seems like it will never come. Legs in the air, for a better chance at conception, Hannah scans fertility Reddits while Johnny dreams about propagating plants kale, tomatoes to ensure they have sufficient sustenance should the end times come, which, given their fragile democracy strained under the weight of a carceral state and the risk of horrible war, doesn t seem so far off. Helping Hannah in her fight for the future is her best friend Gabby, a queer naturalist she idolizes and who adores her. Helping Johnny build the house is Tyler, an off-the-grid conspiracy theorist driven sick by his own cloudy notions of reality. Told with tenderness and care in an undefined near future, Eleanor Davis s The Hard Tomorrow blazes unrestrained, as moments of human connection are doused in fear and threats. Her astute projections probe at current anxieties in a cautionary tale that begs the question: What will happen after tomorrow?

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Book SynopsisYear of the Rabbit tells the true story of one family s desperate struggle to survive the murderous reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge seizes power in the capital city of Phnom Penh. Immediately after declaring victory in the war, they set about evacuating the country s major cities with the brutal ruthlessness and disregard for humanity that characterized the regime ultimately responsible for the deaths of one million citizens. Cartoonist Tian Veasna was born just three days after the Khmer Rouge takeover, as his family set forth on the chaotic mass exodus from Phnom Penh. Year of the Rabbit is based on firsthand accounts, all told from the perspective of his parents and other close relatives. Stripped of any money or material possessions, Veasna s family found themselves exiled to the barren countryside along with thousands of others, where food was scarce and brutal violence a constant threat. Year of the Rabbit shows the reality of life in the work camps, where Veasna s family bartered for goods, where children were instructed to spy on their parents, and where reading was proof positive of being a class traitor. Constantly on the edge of annihilation, they realized there was only one choice they had to escape Cambodia and become refugees. Veasna has created a harrowing, deeply personal account of one of the twentieth century s greatest tragedies.

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Book SynopsisA mat-leave murder mystery, complete with post-partum physiotherapy and suspicious grocery store footage. Rebecca s got an eight-month-old baby and a mystery to investigate! Late one summer night as she s breastfeeding Lucie, she spots two men carrying something heavy into a white minivan. It s probably nothing serious, but when Rebecca hears that a home healthcare provider named Eduardo Morales disappeared from the neighborhood that very night, she puts her detective hat on and gets to work. Over the course of the subsequent weeks, Rebecca juggles motherhood and detective work alternating between unproductive visits with the Simard family for whom the missing Eduardo worked and tearful visits to potential daycares for Lucie. She faces down inconclusive interviews with evasive subjects and inconveniently timed diaper changes. Pascal Girard s observational humor and perfect timing shine, highlighting how Rebecca s (over)confident, brash approach gets results, not just with the troublesome Simards but with everyone in her life. Rebecca and Lucie in the Case of the Missing Neighbor is a light-hearted maternity leave mystery that centers a new mother in all her post-partum glory.Trade ReviewYou won t find another book as cheerful, or as beautifully told, as Petty Theft. Stranger. [In] Petty Theft, Pascal Girard offers up a dry, humorous, and neurotic look at his own dating life. AV Club. Drawn with simple, expressive linework, [Petty Theft] s trials and travails are full of humor. Bitch Media

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Book SynopsisAn immigrant weaves a new, surreal americana, complete with bubblegum fights and bomb queens. Rarely does a new talent arrive in the medium as unmistakably distinct as Rumi Hara. With immersive art and a clear-eyed storytelling rhythm, her uncategorizable debut, Nori, put her playful cartooning on display. Her new collection, The Peanutbutter Sisters and Other American Stories, delights with equal mischievousness. The Peanutbutter Sisters is a glorious balance of contradictions, at once escapism and realism; science fiction and slice of life. Two students explore the urban landscape while following Newton Creek, the polluted Queens-Brooklyn border. As they do, they plan a traditional Japanese play with contemporary pop culture. Another story features an intergalactic race of all living things set in the year 2099 and is a dazzling treatise on the environment and journalism. Yet, sometimes the fantastical collides with the quotidian in the same story. A man struggling with vertigo during quarantine encounters a world of sexual revelry whenever he has a dizzy spell. The Peanutbutter sisters ride a hurricane into NYC and yet aren t able to hitch a ride back with a whale due to a heavily polluted ocean. Hara s magical realist tendencies and diverse cast of characters all contort the tropes of the American comics canon. Yet above all else, her innate control of the comics language her ability to weave the absurd with the real on such a charming and commanding level is refreshingly unrivaled.Trade ReviewRumi Hara s The Peanutbutter Sisters is a celebration of the power, imagination, and ingenuity of women, expressed as a fever dream. In one story, two girls face off in a bubble gum-chewing contest and blow bubbles so big that they consume them; in another, a goddess merely needs to point to trigger a swarm of Bombadonnas to create destruction and chaos. The short stories are punctuated by surreal imagery of the Builders at work at a lumberyard, dressed in matching crotchless suits made of fur. Reading it feels like you re going on a psychedelic trip with Hara, and she s taking you by the hand deeper and deeper into her beautiful, magical, fantastical world. Malaka Gharib, author of I Was Their American Dream and the forthcoming graphic memoir, It Won t Always Be Like This. Striking stories that are precious but not polite, mysterious but inviting, untethered to reality but also the realest thing you could read. Lisa Hanawalt, author of I Want You. What a pleasure it is to lose oneself in Rumi Hara s world one both familiar yet strange with so many delicious details that you ll never want to leave. A delight! Sarah Glidden, author of Rolling Blackouts

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Book SynopsisAre we not all criminals eating our take-out, foraging for mushrooms, lapping at puddles? What happens when sleep becomes commodified? What if all the people at your local cafe were piloting drone strikes? What is the hidden cost and darkness of the society we must all engage with? Mr. Colostomy opens up cans of worms faster than they can restock the Goya on your bodega shelves. Who is Mr. Colostomy? Why, he s a manifestation of a searching consciousness, a marginally employable horse detective who sleeps outside, standing up. As he attempts to unravel a ridiculous plot that follows the disappearance of a couple of brats who turn into atomic particles after sundown, Mr. Colostomy remains always alien, a mutant mustang, an eccentric equus who might just be trying to make a buck in Babytown, the Babylon built by babes or, is a more sinister plot a-hoof? The surreal comedy of Mr. Colostomy is enhanced by Thurber s process of creating the comic through parapraxis, meaning with no forethought or pencilling. This comic honours the mistake as the desired or hidden expression of the unconscious. All that matters is that the comic is funny or real or neither! All comics were created in a public space in order to swim in or feel the audience.Trade Review[Art Comic is a] raw, bizarre meditation on why we idiot humans bother to create anything. Vulture. A blistering take on the art world, rife with cameos from Robert Rauschenberg to Matthew Barney. Thurber s absurd narrative takes to task the often farcical nature of a notoriously self-aggrandizing industry. Artsy

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Book SynopsisMaybonne and Marlys Mullen endure the mortifying highs and lows of middle school in this Lynda Barry classic. Collected from the strip Ernie Pook s Comeek, which was serialized in alternative weeklies across the continent, My Perfect Life captures the moment when Lynda Barry finding the perfect balance in longer form storytelling between the belly aching laughs and the brutal reality checks. Along with the 2022 release Come Over Come Over, this collection continues to spotlight the life of teenager Maybonne Mullen. She suffers through the utterly relatable insults of junior high and the excruciating embarrassment caused by her little sister Marlys. Hovering in the background, however, is a broken home, parents struggling with addiction, a grandmother who takes her granddaughters from the diverse big city to a bewilderingly bland small town. Yet fitting into the new school and surroundings is, of course, paramount to a young teenager. Maybonne begins September full of life and excitement. As the school year progresses, she experiences bullying, her first boyfriend, family drama, drinking, and more. The book ends with Maybonne withdrawn and jaded as the reality of her world outweighs the magic.Trade ReviewMy Perfect Life is [Barry s] finest, funniest, most affecting graphic novel to date, partly because she s perfected her draughtsmanship, but also because it observes the Aristotelian dramatic unities, sort of. Entertainment Weekly Barry s carefully chosen words and scribbly drawings capture the melodramatic fantasies and insecurities of adolescence more accurately than most conventional novels do. Los Angeles Times

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Book SynopsisA funny and insightful retrospective collection from a celebrated cartoonist. Universally beloved cartoonist Guy Delisle showcases a career-spanning collection of his work with a sly sense of humour and warm characterization. Before Delisle became an international superstar with his globe-hopping travelogues, he was an animator experimenting with the comics form. Always aware of the elasticity of the human form and honing his keen observer s eye, young Delisle created hilarious set pieces. World Record Holders ranges from wistful childhood nostalgia to chagrined post-fame encounters, touching on formally ambitious visual puns and gut-busting what-ifs. Delisle again and again shows how life is both exhilarating and embarrassing. Delisle visits an exhibition of his work in another country and is confronted by an angry spouse who blames him for destroying her marriage. A juvenile game of Bows and Arrows turns menacing as arrows shot straight up in the air turn into barely visible missiles of death. A coded message from space creates different reactions from different people debates, dance festivals, gallery shows. Translated by Helge Dascher and Rob Aspinall.Trade ReviewPraise for Guy Delisle: 'One of the greatest modern cartoonists.' The Guardian

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Book SynopsisA boldly drawn, unforgettable memoir about trauma and the barriers to gender affirming health care. In the winter of 2004, a shy woman named Emma sits in Toby s office. She wants to share this wonderful new book she s reading, but Toby, her therapist, is concerned with other things. Emma is transgender, and has sought out Toby for approval for hormone replacement therapy. Emma has shown up at the therapy sessions as an outgoing, confident young woman named Katina, and a depressed, submissive workaholic named Ed. She has little or no memory of her actions when presenting as these other two people. And then Toby asks about her childhood..As the story unfolds, we discover clues as to Emma s troubled past and how and why these other two people may have come into existence. As Toby juggles treating three separate people, each with their own unique personalities and memories, he begins to wonder if Emma is merely acting out to get attention, or if she actually has Dissociative Identity Disorder. Is she just a troubled woman in need of help? And is the third person in her brain protecting her, or derailing her chances of ever finding peace? The Third Person is a riveting memoir from newcomer Emma Grove. Drawn in thick, emotive lines, with the refined style of a comics vet, Grove has created a singular, gripping depiction of the intersection of identities and trauma. The Third Person is a testament to the importance of having the space to heal and live authentically.Trade ReviewEmma Grove has written a beautiful, vulnerable, exquisite book that offers an uncommonly clear look at a mind learning to know itself. - Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby

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Book SynopsisLynda Barry s Ernie Pook s Comeek... made the world look wild, ugly, joyful, and mysterious.' The New Yorker. Maybonne Mullen is 'riding on a bummer' according to her little sister, Marlys. As much as teenage Maybonne prays and tries she just can t connect to the magic of living. How can she when there s so much upheaval at home and school, not to mention the world at large? And yet Marlys always seems able to tap into it. In It s So Magic, the Mullen family dynamics are in flux. Uncle John makes a brief return to town to the delight of the girls. Freddy is finally reunited with his sisters. Marlys falls in love for the first time. And after they finally settle into a routine at their grandmother s, the Mullen siblings find out that their mother might be ready to take them back in. With war in the background and precarious parental support, the siblings long for peace, finding it in the small things like grocery-store turkey-drawing contests and fishing trips. Narrated by Maybonne, Marlys, and Freddy, It s So Magic captures Lynda Barry s unparalleled ability to depict the magic of youth experiencing firsts in a world that contains as much humor as it does hardship.Trade ReviewBarry captures the voice of a young person so stunningly brilliantly.' Autrostraddle. 'Barry [explores] the strange geometries of childhood that moment when someone can simultaneously be friend, rival, and crush.' The Guardian

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Book SynopsisA crisis of faith follows mother and daughter in this beautifully rendered, harrowing WWII memoir. With the heartrending We Are on Our Own, Miriam Katin recounts the story of her escape from German-occupied Hungary as a child, led by her determined mother. The two fled Budapest near the end of WWII and at the age of sixty-three Katin enshrined her memory in these extraordinary pages, originally published in hardcover more than fifteen years ago. In 1944, Miriam is a toddler beloved by her dog Rexy, but when her mother is forced to give up their Jewish dog to the German authorities, Miriam s world begins to unravel. The two flee to the countryside after faking their deaths and traversing lands blanketed with snow. Miriam s fragmented childhood memories of forests, chocolate, strange men, and the noise of war are reconstituted in this beautifully told epic journey where the innocence of a child is set against unthinkable violence. Another crisis, one of faith, haunts the severed family on their path. Struggling to reunite with Miriam s father who has been conscripted to the Hungarian army, mother and daughter contemplate God, wondering how He could allow such destruction. Poetic words of the Torah combine with images of war as Miriam examines the theological dilemma both victims as well as survivors of the Shoah. When Miriam and her mother hide with a winemaker, they soothe their nerves with the tonic, reciting God is red. God is in the glass. God, they understand, is in the very human will to survive, and in that pursuit of survival, we are truly on our own.Trade ReviewRichly illustrated in pencil, this book should not be missed by anyone with an interest in history, love or faith so anyone, really. Time

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Book SynopsisThe very first Drawn and Quarterly Kitaro collection, now back in print with a lush new cover. Kitaro seems just like any other boy. Of course, he isn t what with his one eye and jet-powered geta sandals, and the fact that he can shape shift like a chameleon. It s all a part of being a 350 year-old yokai, a Japanese spirit monster. Against a backdrop of photorealistic landscapes, Kitaro and his otherworldly cartoon friends plunge into the depths of the Pacific Ocean and forge the oft-unseen wilds of Japan s countryside. The twelve stories in this special collection include more works published in the golden age of GeGeGe no Kitaro between 1967 and 1969. It is a must-have for Kitaro s most devoted fans and features one of the earliest battles of monster versus giant robot battles seen in print. In another very special episode, our titular good guy even battles vampires, werewolves, and witches alongside creepy compatriots and occasional foes. Kitaro, as seen on TV and played in video games, is now a cultural touchstone for several generations. This updated and newly released edition is a wonderful companion to the classic all-ages Kitaro series that blends the eerie with the comic. The Eisner-Award winner Shigeru Mizuki s offbeat sense of humor and genius for the macabre make for a delightful, lighthearted romp where bad guys always get what s coming to them.

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Book SynopsisA portrait of flourishing desire in a body ever-changingAs she examines her life experience and traumas with great care, Delporte faces the questions about gender and sexuality that both haunt and entice her. Deeply informed by her personal relationships as much as queer art and theory, Portrait of a Body is both a joyous and at times hard meditation on embodiment?a journey to be reunited with the self in an attempt to heal pain and live more authentically.Delporte''s idyllic colored pencil drawings contrast with the near urgency that structures her confessional memoir. Each page is laden with revelation and enveloped in organic, natural shapes?rocks, flowers, intertwined bodies, women''s hair blowing in the wind?captured with devotion. The vitality of these forms interspersed with Delporte?s flowing handwriting hold space for her vivid and affecting observations.Skillfully translated by Helge Dascher and Karen Houle, Portrait of a Body provokes us to remain open to the lessons our bodies have on offer.

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Book Synopsis'If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough.' - Robert Capa. 'Robert Capa: A Graphic Biography' is a brilliant portrayal of the career of the great war photographer who, at the time of his death in 1954, had only one wish: to be an unemployed war photographer. 'It is not always easy' he said, 'to stand aside and be unable to do anything except record the suffering.' Born in 1913 to a Jewish family in Budapest, Endre Friedmann left home at 18 for Germany where he studied journalism and political science and worked in a photo agency darkroom. In 1933, Friedmann went to Paris where he shared a darkroom with Henri Cartier-Bresson and lived with Gerda Taro, also a photographer. Together they contrived the name and image 'Robert Capa, famous American photographer'. Capa made several trips to document the Spanish Civil War, where he took the seminal image, 'Death of a Loyalist Soldier' for which he was heralded as 'the greatest war photographer in the world'. By the start of World War II, Capa was in New York freelancing for LIFE, Time, and other publications. He went abroad with the US army to record Allied involvement in WWII, including D-Day on Omaha beach. Disembarking from a landing boat, he took the only images of the invasion. He went on to cover the war in Leipzig, Nuremberg, Berlin, London and Paris. Even now, it is the D-Day images that marked him as the world's greatest war photographer. 'Robert Capa: A Graphic Biography', written in the first person, follows his personal and professional life and through his eyes, the social upheaval and earth-shattering wars of the 20th century. It shows his intimate life and his relationships with the day's larger-than-life personalities: Ingrid Bergman, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso and many others. Sepia watercolours wash the book in the fog of war and recall Capa's generation on the cusp of colour film. They show his professional work, his personal battles, his victories and struggles, and his legacy: the founding of the Magnum, a cooperative photo agency which gives photographers control of their work. In 1954, having sworn off war photography but in need of money, he left to cover his fifth war, in Indochina. Driven by his conviction that 'if your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough,' he was with a French patrol when he stepped on a landmine and was killed, camera in hand.

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Book SynopsisThis beautifully woven series of vignettes from the brilliant Aimee De Jongh are a necessary and poignant reminder of our common humanity. Joe SaccoOne of the great young cartoonists in the world. Comic Book ResourcesAimée de Jongh, one of the brightest new talents in Europe, creates her first autobiographic work, focusing on taxi rides from four cities: Los Angeles, Paris, Jakarta, and Washington, DC.Despite the stunning and detailed streetscapes she passes, de Jongh discovers she's more interested in the cab drivers than the view from the backseat. As the drivers slowly open up about their personal lives, de Jongh does tooeven when it means challenging her own ideas and prejudices. Through these vulnerableand often humorousmoments, de Jongh finds common ground with the people driving her. Taxi is an ode to taxi drivers everywhere.Aimée de Jongh is a Dutch graphic novel author, animator, and illustrator. After creating comics for a daily newspaper for nearly five years, she left in 2017 to make graphic novels full time. Her debut, The Return of the Honey Buzzard, won the Prix St Michel and was adapted to a live-action film. Her second book, Blossoms in Autumn, written by the acclaimed Belgian writer Zidrou, was awarded the Prix Atomium. She works and lives in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

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