Maria M.: Book One


Gilbert Hernández - 2013
    from Latin America to escape her shady past, only to fall into a new shady life. After a go at the adult entertainment business, Maria marries a drug lord and her dangerous past is nothing compared to her new life in America. The drug lord's son, Gorgo, secretly falls in love with her and he watches over her like a guardian angel. Danger and corruption (and of course sex) drive the first half of this love story. Long-time Love and Rockets readers will find the storyline familiar... and that's because, in an Adaptation-style meta twist, Maria M. is actually the B-movie film adaptation of the life story of Luba's mother Maria, as previously seen in its "real" version in the classic graphic novel Poison River (available in the Beyond Palomar collection) -- starring Maria's own daughter playing her own mother. Confused? Don't be! Maria M. will work perfectly on its own terms as the kind of violent, sexy pulp tale that Gilbert Hernandez has proven so adept at these past several years, and the "source material" for the story will just provide an extra layer of delight for the cognoscenti. Part two of Maria M. will be released in 2014.

Transports of Love


Nicolas de Crécy - 2005
    The privacy, as it turns out, is to build a mode of transportation that can get him through earth and seas to his beloved far, far away. As unpredictable and totally original as 'Glacial Period,' this is a Plymptonesque tale filled with absurd, irresistible bittersweet humor.

Steven Universe (2017-) #1


Melanie Gillman - 2017
    Based on Cartoon Network’s Emmy Award-nominated animated series created by Rebecca Sugar about a boy with magical powers who goes on adventures with The Crystal Gems, a team of beings who safeguard the universe. The show is approaching its fourth season and has earned millions of fans of all ages worldwide. In this kickoff issue, Steven, Lapis, and Peridot rescue a baby songbird on the ground outside the barn and work together to reunite it with its mother.

Baby Bjornstrand


Renée French - 2014
    A wasteland becomes fertile ground for fantasy as the book's graphite grotesqueries are brought to life by Renee French's adroit hand; her elegant shading seemingly wringing her wondrous worlds out of the page itself.Renee French has been making comics that revel in the killer side of cute and the horrors that lie within and without since the early '90s. Her past work includes The Ticking (Top Shelf Productions, 2006), Micrographica (Top Shelf Productions, 2007),H Day (PictureBox, 2010), and Hagelbarger and That Nightmare Goat (Yam Books, 2013).

FIELDHOUSE


Scott Novosel - 2016
    while re-inspiring yourself!" - Rick "Shaq" Goldstein, author of 669 reviews for Amazon "Novosel's autobiographical narrative of self-determination inspires and delights, in large part because it isn't a lofty tale of grandiose achievement but a humble one; he merely wants, and earns, a chance to show what he's got." - Publisher's Weekly Based on actual events, FIELDHOUSE is a story of embracing adversity through challenges, teamwork, perseverance, grit, determination, and a positive attitude! Fieldhouse follows Scotty Novosel on his journey to play basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks. What he lacks in size he makes up for in heart, but countless obstacles and a devastating setback push his dream further and further out of reach... With incredible persistence, positive energy, and help from a cast of endearing characters, Scotty discovers just what it takes to transform vision into reality! In March 1995, Scott Novosel started for the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 8 Championship game. For the next 20 years, through endless determination and a mantra of never giving up, Scott completed the all ages graphic novel FIELDHOUSE with the help of the Eisner Award nominated artist Sam Sharpe. Together the duo produced an instant classic! The story of the making of the book was featured on Sports Illustrated. Find out why parents, teachers, librarians, parents, and grandparents are declaring FIELDHOUSE a "MUST READ!"

The Great Big Book of Tomorrow: A Treasury of Cartoons


Tom Tomorrow - 2003
    With an ever increasing fan base, an expanding number of publications who regularly feature his work, one of the most popular and most visited web-logs (www.thismodernworld.com), the time is now for The Great Big Book of Tomorrow. This massive collection of Tomorrow's greatest hits, unseen gems and obscurities, new material and color section is the so far definitive collection of one of the most popular 'underground' cartoonists ever--a delight to long-time fans and new readers alike.

Intruders


Adrian Tomine - 2019
    Between his second and third tours of duty, a soldier returns home.To his former home, that is, using an old key while the new tenant is at work. Is he re-entering his old life or borrowing someone else's? Where is the line he will not cross? Each day is the same: he exists in a state of suspension, barely knowing how he passes the time - until someone else intrudes on the intruder.Adrian Tomine, graphic master of alienation and regret, expertly expands the form to express the unsaid and the unbearable in this unforgettable evocation of a post-traumatic life.Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.

Amy and Jordan


Mark Beyer - 2004
    Mark Beyer was breathing delirious, heartbreaking, otherworldly life into it by means of Amy and Jordan. Obviously, you weren’t reading New York Press. But I sure was. Voraciously. Back in 1989, when I discovered that Beyer’s strips were appearing regularly in this new “alternative weekly” paper, I quickly became hooked, and a thought seized me: I had to clip and save them–they were exquisite poems of urban despair, dreamy and nightmarish. I was already a fan of Beyer’s talent based on his book Agony (Pantheon, 1988), but these new strips revealed, week by week, a whole new dimension to his work–an ingenious reinvention of panel-design that redefined what a comic strip could be. As with Peanuts, it helps to try and picture these in the context which they first appeared in order to appreciate just how profoundly they emerged from anything else on the newspaper page. Even the “outré” NYP ads and listings which often ran alongside them were hopelessly dull by comparison. One of its most impressive aspects was the way Form served the Content–no matter how eccentric the layout got, it somehow never confused the narrative. And what narrative: it was as if Candide had been transported to the East Village and split in two like an amoeba and holed up in a squat on Avenue C. Along with giant bugs from outer space. So I did clip and save them, and put them into an envelope, which was then placed in a shoebox with a lot of other envelopes (receipts, receipts!), which was shoved to the back of the closet of my sixth-floor walk-up studio apartment, which I moved out of three years later and in the process I unwittingly threw them all away. Which frankly is just the sort of thing that Amy and Jordan would do. Drat. “Oh well,” I thought, once I’d realized it, “at some point someone will collect and publish them, and I’ll get them back that way.” And that was that. Fast forward more than ten years, to the spring of 2002. During a panel of cartoonists I was chairing in Philadelphia, a member of the audience asked what Mark was working on and where he was. No one seemed to know. The discussion was transcribed and published in The Comics Journal that summer, and in the fall Mark contacted me with the best possible news: He’d read the panel transcript and wanted to publish again. And the Amy and Jordan strips had never been comprehensively collected. So now, as an editor, I was able to grant my own wish. Amy and Jordan ran from 1988 through early 1996. After that, Beyer put cartooning aside to pursue other projects. This book signals his return to the realm of comics, which he says he wants to start making again. We can only hope he does. For now, I’m just thankful I finally have my Amy and Jordan collection back. –Chip Kidd, NYC, 10/03

Pistolwhip


Matt Kindt - 2001
    Set in an exotic atmosphere of a by-gone era, Pistolwhip is a marvelous tale crafted with a crime noir feel and an artistic style reminiscent of the best European graphic novelists.

The Last Lonely Saturday


Jordan Crane - 2000
    Dishes are piled up in the sink, a full pot of coffee burns on the counter; it's a quiet scene of existential despair. The man is a widower, and today is the day to visit his departed wife's gravesite. Little does he know that what the day holds for him will result in this being his last lonely Saturday. Both sweet and bitter, realistic and fantastic, The Last Lonely Saturday is an evocative, romantic novella told in a beautiful two-color, red and yellow palette. His economical images waste not a line, and his narrative flows effortlessly from panel to panel in this heartwarming story of love and love lost.

Too Much Coffee Man Omnibus


Shannon Wheeler - 2009
    Who would have ever guessed that ten years later, he would have multiple volumes of critically acclaimed cartoons under his belt and a rich, satisfying career? The Too Much Coffee Man Omnibus gathers all of the cartoons from four hilarious volumes of work, bringing together all of Wheeler's signature satire and sweetness in one convenient package. Essential for Too Much Coffee Man fans, and sure to convert new ones!

The Cage


Martin Vaughn-James - 1975
    Considered an early masterpiece of the genre, the Canadian cult comic has been out of print for decades. The new edition includes an introduction by Canadian comics master and Lemony Snicket collaborator Seth (Palookaville; It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken).Cryptic and disturbing, like Dave Gibbons (Watchmen) illustrating a film by Ozu, The Cage spurns narrative for atmosphere, guiding us through a series of disarrayed rooms and desolate landscapes, tracking a stuttering and circling time and a sequence of objects: headphones, inky stains, bedsheets. It's not about where we're going but how – if – we get there.

해골병사는 던전을 지키지 못했다 1 [Gaikotsu heishi wa Danjon o mamorenakatta 1]


Sosori - 2018
    And yet he was powerless to protect her, being crushed by the hero. But fate has more in store for him as he gets another chance to protect his master once more and try to change his destiny despite all odds.

I Left The House Today!


Cassandra Calin - 2020
    This beautifully illustrated compendium of first-person comics about the trials of the single life, school, stress, junk food, shaving, and maintaining a healthy self-image. Cassandra Calin's comics frequently highlight the humorous gap between expectations and reality, especially when it comes to appearance and how much she can accomplish in one day.

Raw Volume 2 Number 2: Required Reading for the Post-Literate


Art Spiegelman - 1990
    This graphic fantasy novel is the second of its kind, following on from "Raw" volume 1.