Best of
Bande-Dessinée

2018

Through a Life


Tom Haugomat - 2018
    Told through a series of poignant vignettes, Through a Life is a sweeping story of dreams, expectations, nature, and loss. Rodney spends his life looking through. Windows give way to screens as he comes of age dreaming of what lies beyond Earth's atmosphere. "This nearly wordless graphic novel . . . is like one extended gut punch over the course of 200 pages . . . Constructed of gorgeous, flat screen-print style drawings, a whole life comes to pass without a line of narration or dialogue—love and its failings, depression, and a tragedy in space that keeps the protagonist tethered forever to earth." —Kristen Radtke, The Believer

The City of Belgium


Brecht Evens - 2018
    Jona is about to move away; he calls his wife, who’s already settled in Berlin, before trying to make plans with friends for one last night on the town. No one bites—they’re all busy, or maybe they just don’t want to party—but he’s determined to make this night something to remember. Victoria is lively and energetic, but surrounded by friends and family who are buzzkills, always worrying about what is best for her. Rodolphe is consoled by a friend and snaps out of his funk, becoming the life of the party. The three careen through the city’s nightlife spots and underbelly, chasing pleasure—or at least a few distractions from the thrum of the humdrum. Each has a series of adventures that reveal them to be teetering on the edge between lucid dream and tooth-grinding nightmare.Vibrantly rendered in Brecht Evens’s swirling watercolors, The City of Belgium continues the critically acclaimed streak of graphic novels he began with The Wrong Place, The Making Of, and Panther. Evens’s darkly comic stories of characters on the verge of personal discovery—people about to become who they will be for the rest of their lives—have never been more beautifully conceived, more intricately planned, than in his magical new graphic novel, The City of Belgium.

The Emotional Load: And Other Invisible Stuff


Emma - 2018
    And, once more, she hits the mark.

The Legend of Korra: Lost Pets


Michael Dante DiMartino - 2018
    First, Avatar Korra pairs up with an unlikely sidekick for a super-important, top-secret mission to track down a pack of lost pets in a story written by The Legend of Korra co-creator Michael Dante DiMartino with art by Jayd Ait-Kaci and Vivian Ng.In a story based on Nintendo's exclusive fighting game ARMS, a young fighter trains tirelessly to reach the top in the ARMS League Grand—Prixbut first, he must defeat 599 other contenders! ARMS is written by Ian Flynn (Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man) with art by Joe Ng (Street Fighter, Overwatch: Binary).

I Choose You (Every Day & Always)


Danielle Leduc McQueen - 2018
    It is a heartfelt choice you make every day. Celebrate the ordinary moments that create your one-of-a-kind love story. I Choose You combines contemporary illustrations and thoughtful sentiments to honor the life you have built togetherand the commitment you make over and over again.

Hexed Omnibus


Michael Alan Nelson - 2018
    From possessed teddy bears to haunted paintings to ancient otherworldly demons, Lucifer will need to use every trick up her sleeve to protect her surrogate family and combat the monsters of her seedy city.Written by lauded horror author Michael Alan Nelson (Day Men, 28 Days Later), Hexed is a lyrical horror adventure series featuring the debut American comics work by superstar illustrators Emma Rios (Pretty Deadly) and Dan Mora (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Collects all 16 issues of the original Hexed limited series and its sequel series Hexed: The Harlot and the Thief.

Poochytown


Jim Woodring - 2018
    Poochytown takes a deep dive into the psychedelic, ever-twisting reality of Woodring’s boundless universe, the Unifactor.

Dirty Plotte: The Complete Julie Doucet


Julie Doucet - 2018
    Her comic book series Dirty Plotte was visionary both for the medium and for storytelling. Her stories are candid, funny and intimate, plumbing the depths of the female psyche while charting the fragility of the men around her. Her artwork is dense and confident, never wavering in the wit and humour of its owner. Doucet was active in comics for fifteen years before she moved on to other mediums. Her influence casts a long shadow over the medium, Dirty Plotte is quite simply one of the most iconic comic book series to have ever been created.Dirty Plotte: The Complete Julie Doucet collects the entire comic book series, including the acclaimed My New York Diary, as well as rare comics and previously unpublished material; a reproduction of the first Dirty Plotte mini comic; essays about her comics legacy and feminist influence by curator Dan Nadel and academic Martine Delvaux respectively; an interview by comics scholar Christian Gasser; and personal anecdotes from Jami Attenberg, Adrian Tomine, and more.Doucet uses the covers of this two-book box set to present an all-new comic that explores her complicated relationship with femininity and the importance of her relationships with female readers. Astonishingly honest, brutal, and funny, Dirty Plotte is a revelatory journey into a legendary cartoonist’s oeuvre.

Windowpane


Joe Kessler - 2018
    The book contains new work, and reprints Windowpane 3 and Windowpane 4.Four stories told with elastic styleA mouth-watering, dizzying feast for the eyesCharacters yanked from one panel to the nextthrough relentless tall tales of magic and deathdomestic bliss and sudden wealthAs Joe builds his layers of movement and colouryour mind starts to melt and believes it's discoveredAn unparalleled work of cartooning genius"It's the book of the year!""Oh please, are you serious?"

Wash Day


Jamila Rowser - 2018
    The story follows Kimana, a 26-year-old woman living in the Bronx, as she cares for her long, thick hair. As Kim goes through her Sunday morning rituals, we see the highs and lows of her day—fresh coffee, rising rent, girl talk and catcalls.

All the Sad Songs


Summer Pierre - 2018
    Through mix tapes, boyfriends, late nights in Boston folk clubs, and ill-fated cross-country road trips, Pierre weaves a moving meditation on music, memory, and identity.

The Fall


Jared Muralt - 2018
    Nations fall into chaos. Disease, poverty and misery take over the industrial states. But an even greater threat lurks in the dark: in the heat of the summer it spreads through a society that is already at the edge of the abyss. Surrounded by chaos, daily life goes on for a family caught in the pull of the apocalypse. The first volyme of the post-apocalyptic series contains: Issues 1-3

The Metabaron Vol. 6: No Name, The Techno-Baron


Alejandro Jodorowsky - 2018
    The Metabaron character was created by legendary artist Moebius and writer Alejandro Jodorowsky in The Incal, and was later spun-off into his own international bestselling series, The Metabarons, with art by Juan Gimenez. The new series The Metabaron is a collaboration between Alejandro Jodorowsky and Jerry Frissen, exhibiting the work of talented artists including Valentin Secher, Niko Henrichon and Esad Ribić. Writer/director/ producer David S. Goyer (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) called The Metabarons: "The greatest work of graphic fiction ever produced," and it has sold millions of copies globally.

Moon Face Vol. 3: The Zenith's Stone


Alejandro Jodorowsky - 2018
    PUBLICATION IN 5 VOLUMES - COMPLETED WORK. Known as the "wave tamer," a young boy turns the tiny island of Damanuestra upside down, threatening the oppressive political and religious hierarchies. Comic book legends Alejandro Jodorowsky and Francois Boucq (Bouncer) join forces once more in this uplifting and surreal satirical tale of strange magic and revolutionary freedom.