Ok, the world may be upended right now, but what better time to hunker down with a good book? If you’ve already gone through our list of Winter 2020’s books, these 75 highly-anticipated graphic novels for Spring 2020 should fit into your reading list. As we shelter at home, publishers have lots to offer, covering national politics, autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Want an escape from reality? There are breezy fantasies on the list as well!

Please note that release dates have been pushed back on some of these due to these uncertain times, however all of these books will be out in 2020 – and deserve your attention

April kicks off with reflections on the Chinese Cultural Revolution by EMEI BURRELL, as well as comics and art collections from TOM GAULD and JUNJI ITO. YOSHIHARU TSUGE has a busy Spring with two forthcoming titles, while ADRIAN TOMINE and PACO ROCA contemplate the challenges facing cartoonists. LUCY KNISLEY returns with a new children’s series and BOX BROWN delves into the tragic lives of child stars in his first fiction graphic novel. RALPH NADER takes on the rats of Congress while BONG JOON HO shares artwork and behind-the-scenes commentary on his Academy Award-winning film, Parasite. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg as we head into (what will hopefully be) a busy summer convention season.

Without further ado, here are 75 highly-anticipated graphic novels for Spring 2020 to check out, sorted by release date.

APRIL

Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio

Cartoonist: Derf Backderf

Publisher: Abrams ComicArts

Release Date: Apr. 7 Pushed back to Fall

List Price: $24.99

On May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard gunned down unarmed college students protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University. In a deadly barrage of 67 shots, 4 students were killed and 9 shot and wounded. It was the day America turned guns on its own children—a shocking event burned into our national memory. A few days prior, 10-year-old Derf Backderf saw those same Guardsmen patrolling his nearby hometown, sent in by the governor to crush a trucker strike. Using the journalism skills he employed on My Friend Dahmer and Trashed, Backderf has conducted extensive interviews and research to explore the lives of these four young people and the events of those four days in May, when the country seemed on the brink of tearing apart. KENT STATE: FOUR DEAD IN OHIO, which will be published in time for the 50th anniversary of the tragedy, is a moving and troubling story about the bitter price of dissent—as relevant today as it was in 1970.

Art Life

Cartoonist: Catherine Ocelot

Translated By: Aleshia Jensen

Publisher: Bdang

Release Date: Apr. 7

List Price: $20.00

Catherine Ocelot wonders about her place as an artist, digging into the layers of what it means to live this Art Life. In her search for answers, she talks with seven artists from different disciplines who express their doubts, their struggles, their ambitions and their sometimes-wise and sometimes-funny observations. The author stages these encounters with finesse and wit, and echoes them with scenes from her own life. Art Life is a tragicomic tale tinged with fantasy that explores the impact of others on oneself, led by an artist who slowly comes to understand herself.

Talking to Strangers: A Memoir of My Escape from a Cult

Cartoonist: Marianne Boucher

Publisher: Doubleday Canada

Release Date: Apr. 7

List Price: $19.00

Welcome to a place where you are valued. Where everyone is kind. Where you can be your truest self. It was the summer of 1980, and Marianne Boucher was ready to chase her figure skating dream. Fuelled by the desire to rise above her mundane high-school life, she sought a new adventure as a glamorous performer in L.A. And then a chance encounter on a California beach introduced her to a new group of people. People who shared her distrust of the status quo. People who seemed to value authenticity and compassion above all else. And they liked her. Not Marianne the performer, but Marianne the person. Soon, she’d abandoned school, her skating and, most dramatically, her family to live with her new friends and help them fulfill their mission of “saving the world.” She believed that no sacrifice was too great to be there–and to live with real purpose. They were helping people, and they cared about her . . . didn’t they? TALKING TO STRANGERS is the true story of Marianne Boucher’s experiences in a cult, where she was subjected to sophisticated brainwashing techniques that took away her freedom, and took over her mind. Told in mesmerizing graphic memoir form, with vivid text and art alike, Marianne shares how she fell in with devotees of a frightening spiritual abuser, and how she eventually, painfully, pulled herself out.

The Machine Never Blinks: A Graphic History of Spying and Surveillance

Writer: Ivan Greenberg

Artists: Everett Patterson & Joe Canlas

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Release Date: Apr. 7

List Price: $22.99

In THE MACHINE NEVER BLINKS, the story of surveillance is presented from its earliest days, to help you more fully understand today’s headlines about every-increasing, constant, and unrelenting monitoring and global data collection. It’s a threat to your rights, privacy, dignity, and sanity. This book spans surveillance from the Trojan Horse, through 9/11 and to the so-called War on Terror, which enabled the exponential growth of government and corporate intercepts and databases. It also explains spying as entertainment (reality TV) and convenience (smart speakers). Take a look around… Who’s watching you right now?

Portrait of a Drunk

Writers: Olivier Schrauwen, Jerome Mulot, Florent Ruppert

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Release Date: Apr. 7

List Price: $29.99

In this graphic novel, three cutting-edge, world-renowned cartoonists team up to tell a tale of an 18th-century pirate — one who’s more gallows fodder than a Hollywood swashbuckler. Guy is no master mariner, with a clipped red (or black) beard. He’s just an ordinary member of the crew — able enough, but also a lazy, cowardly liar, a drunkard, and a thief. His story is told in two allegorical parts: “The Blowout” and “The Hangover.” Three contemporary comics titans, Belgian Olivier Schrauwen (Parallel Lives) and the French duo Ruppert and Mulot (The Perineum Technique) collaborate to bring you the best pictorial and narrative elements of the great tales of the sea — bright colors, grand battles, gallows humor — in this tour de force of black comedy.

Nat Enough

Cartoonist: Maria Scrivan

Publisher: Graphix

Release Date: Apr. 7

List Price: $24.99

Natalie has never felt that she’s enough — athletic enough, stylish enough, or talented enough. And on the first day of middle school, Natalie discovers that things are worse than she thought — now she’s not even cool enough for her best friend, Lily! As Natalie tries to get her best friend back, she learns more about her true self and natural talents. If Natalie can focus on who she is rather than who she isn’t, then she might realize she’s more than enough, just the way she is.

Little Josephine: Memory In Pieces

Writer: Valérie Villieu

Artist: Raphaël Sarfati

Publisher: Life Drawn

Release Date: Apr. 7

List Price: $17.99

When Valérie first met Josephine, she knew she would be embarking on a unique journey. Though vastly different in age, their connection was instantaneous. Humor quickly became their language, their playground, and despite the debilitating disease that Joséphine faced every single day, they were able to form a beautiful friendship that transcended the reaches of modern medicine.

Spit Three Times

Cartoonist: Davide Reviati

Translated By: Jamie Richards

Publisher: Seven Stories Press

Release Date: Apr. 7

List Price: $28.95

In a forsaken corner of the Italian countryside, Guido and his friends Moreno and Katango spin out their days in languor and boredom intermixed with desire and, occasionally, violence. Nearby live the Stančič, a family of Romani who escaped the communist regime of Marshal Tito and settled here just after World War II. Guido’s coming-of-age is changed by the evolving relationship that the rural town has with this group of outsiders, these “gypsies.” The author is unsparing in his depiction of the townspeople’s cruelty. And yet, there are also many instances of solidarity between Guido’s community and the Stančič. Reviati’s first book in English, SPIT THREE TIMES is an extraordinary story of young men, disillusioned and trying to find their way, caught in the breach between post-war exuberance and the stagnation of the early twenty-first century.

A Radical Shift of Gravity

Writer: Nick Taplansky

Artist: Kate Glasheen

Publisher: Top Shelf

Release Date: Apr. 7

List Price: $24.99

The world is changing. Gravity, a force everyone takes for granted, has begun to disappear. As a young journalist, Noah spends his days documenting the wondrous and terrifying shifts in the world around him. But Noah’s life is changing, too. Falling in love and raising a rebellious daughter adds new meaning to life in this mysterious floating world. As he covers the invention of new sports, interviews experts, and even journeys into space, each experience shapes how Noah views the world and, in turn, his relationship with his family. And as his daughter grows older, Noah faces the challenge every parent dreads and dreams of: letting go.

Labyrinth: An Existential Odyssey with Jean-Paul Sartre

Cartoonist: Ben Argon

Publisher: Abrams ComicArts

Release Date: Apr. 14

List Price: $16.99

As graduates embark on the next phase of their lives, what better way to get them accustomed to the rat race they are about to enter than by introducing them to the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre? Cleverly told through the story of a pair of rats trapped in the labyrinth of existence, this allegory humorously conveys the key ideas of Sartre’s existential philosophy in graphic-novel form—accessible for students and readers of all ages. In addition, two reputable Sartre scholars have contributed the introduction and afterword: Gary Cox, a British philosopher with a doctorate from the University of Birmingham, and Christine Daigle, professor of philosophy at Brock University in Canada.

I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf

Cartoonist: Grant Snider

Publisher: Abrams ComicArts

Release Date: Apr. 14

List Price: $16.99

It’s no secret, but we are judged by our bookshelves. We learn to read at an early age, and as we grow older we shed our beloved books for new ones. But some of us surround ourselves with books. We collect them, decorate with them, are inspired by them, and treat our books as sacred objects. In this lighthearted collection of one- and two-page comics, writer-artist Grant Snider explores bookishness in all its forms, and the love of writing and reading, building on the beloved literary comics featured on his website, Incidental Comics. With a striking package including a die-cut cover, I WILL JUDGE YOU BY YOUR BOOKSHELF is the perfect gift for bookworms of all ages.

Bronx Heroes in Trumpland

Cartoonists: Tom Sciacca and Ray Felix

Publisher: Arsenal Pulp

Release Date: Apr. 14

List Price: $11.95

Drumpf is a toupee-wearing scoundrel plotting to use mind control to vanquish America after first conquering the five boroughs of New York. With his help of the evil prince Putin and his MAGA hat-wearing goon named Gorka, Drumpf is determined to build walls, create divisiveness, and destroy the media. Astron Star Soldier and Black Power resolve to defeat Drumpf and restore order but are hypnotized into helplessness by Drumpf’s scheming FLOTUS. Can the Bronx Heroes succeed where Mueller, Hilary Clinton, and the US congress failed, and save the nation from itself? Outlandish and recklessly funny, BRONX HEROES IN TRUMPLAND is a comic book that will make you believe in America again.

The EC Archives: Impact

Writers: Al Feldstein, Bill Gaines

Artists: Jack Davis, Jack Kamen, Reed Crandall, George Evans, Bernie Krigstein, Joe Orlando, Graham Ingel

Colorist: Carlos Badilla

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Release Date: Apr. 1 (Comics Shops), Apr. 14 (Bookstores)

List Price: $49.99

A twist in every tale! This hardcover volume collects the complete run of Impact, including the famous ”Master Race” story, and features art by legendary comics talents Jack Davis, Jack Kamen, Reed Crandall, George Evans, Bernie Krigstein, Joe Orlando, and Graham Ingels!

Department of Mind-Blowing Theories

Cartoonist: Tom Gauld

Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly

Release Date: Apr. 14

List Price: $21.95

Gauld’s DEPARTMENT OF MIND-BLOWING THEORIES presents one hundred and fifty comic strips topical and funny enough to engage any layperson with a rudimentary recall of their old science classes as well as those who consider themselves boffins of the contemporary physical and natural world. A dog philosopher questions what it means to be a ‘good boy’ while playing fetch! A virtual assistant and a robot-cleaner elope! The undiscovered species and the theoretical particle face existential despair! Facebook commenters debunk Darwin’s posting of On the Origin of Species! Why are there poodles pouring out of this wormhole?! One could hypothesize how Gauld is able to command such quick-witted knowledge of the scientific world however, as these strips prove, Gauld would retaliate with the sharpest of punchlines to that hastily cobbled postulate. Gauld won an Eisner for Best Humor for Baking With Kafka and DEPARTMENT OF MIND-BLOWING THEORIES is sure to cement his reputation as the foremost authority on joke generating technology.

Witchlight

Cartoonist: Jessi Zabarsky

Publisher: Random House

Release Date: Apr. 14

List Price: $24.99

Lelek is a witch. That’s all Sanja knows when she meets Lelek in the marketplace. But Lelek is hiding something — and as her life begins to intersect with Sanja’s, all that she’s kept to herself starts to come to light. Secrets, friendship, and magic all come together as Lelek gets closer and closer to uncovering the truth about her past. . . WITCHLIGHT is a wonderful adventure filled with friendship, family, falling in love, and dealing with the hardest bits of your past all along the way.

Drawing The Vote: An Illustrated Guide To Voting In America

Writer: Tommy Jenkins

Artist: Kati Lacker

Publisher: Abrams ComicArts

Release Date: Apr. 21

List Price: $24.99

Coinciding with the 2020 US presidential election, DRAWING THE VOTE, an original graphic novel, looks at the history of voting rights in the United States and how it affects the way we vote today. Throughout the book, the author, Tommy Jenkins, identifies events and trends that led to the unprecedented results of the 2016 presidential election that left American political parties more estranged than ever. To balance these complex ideas and statistics, Kati Lacker’s original artistic style makes the book accessible for readers of all ages. At a time when many citizens are experiencing challenges and apathy about voting and skepticism concerning our bitterly divided government, DRAWING THE VOTE seeks to offer some explanation for how we got here and how every American can take action to make their vote count.

Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land

Cartoonist: Lauren Redniss

Publisher: Random House

Release Date: Apr. 21

List Price: $30.00

Oak Flat is a serene high-elevation mesa that sits above the southeastern Arizona desert, fifteen miles to the west of the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. For the San Carlos tribe, Oak Flat is a holy place, an ancient burial ground and religious site where Apache girls celebrate the coming-of-age ritual known as the Sunrise Ceremony. In 1995, a massive untapped copper reserve was discovered nearby. A decade later, a law was passed transferring the area to a private company, whose planned copper mine will wipe Oak Flat off the map—sending its natural springs, petroglyph-covered rocks, and old-growth trees tumbling into a void.

Camp Spirit

Cartoonist: Axelle Lenoir

Publisher: Top Shelf

Release Date: Apr. 21

List Price: $19.99

Summer camp is supposed to be about finding nirvana in a rock garden… But Elodie prefers Nirvana and Soundgarden. Can she confront rambunctious kids, confusing feelings, and supernatural horrors all at once? Summer 1994: with just two months left before college, Elodie is forced by her mother to take a job as a camp counselor. She doesn’t know the first thing about nature, or sports, of kids for that matter, and isn’t especially interested in learning… but now she’s responsible for a foul-mouthed horde of red-headed girls who just might win her over, whether she likes it or not. Just as Elodie starts getting used to her new environment, though — and close to one of the other counselors — a dark mystery lurking around the camp begins to haunt her dreams.

The Art of Junji Ito: Twisted Visions

Cartoonist: Junji Ito

Publisher: Viz Signature

Release Date: Apr. 21

List Price: $34.99

Enter the world of Junji Ito’s art––an abyss of horror and sublime beauty. A first-ever collection of Junji Ito’s artworks, featuring over 130 images from his bestselling manga titles along with rare works. This sublime collection includes all of Ito’s unforgettable illustrations in both black-and-white and color, from Tomie’s dreadful beauty to the inhuman spirals of Uzumaki. Includes an interview focused on Ito’s art technique as well as commentary from the artist on each work.

My Video Game Ate My Homework

Cartoonist: Dustin Hansen

Publisher: DC Comics

Release Date: Apr. 28

List Price: $9.99

Meet Dewey Jenkins, a 13-year old school kid who’s about to fail science class. Follow Dewey on an amazing adventure that leads him and his friends to a virtual world where they will have to overcome all sorts of digital creatures and solve a number of puzzles in order to get home. MY VIDEO GAME ATE MY HOMEWORK is a funny, fast-paced adventure that shows the importance of cooperation and teamwork and the importance of using your own unique abilities to solve problems. It’s illustrated in Hansen’s light-hearted, cartoony style, and filled with lots of sight gags and nods to videogaming conventions.

We Served the People: My Mother’s Stories

Cartoonist: Emei Burell

Publisher: Archaia

Release Date: Apr. 28

List Price: $24.99

In China, an entire generation’s most formative years took place in remote rural areas when city-kids were sent to the countryside to become rusticated youth and partake in Mao’s mandated Great Leap Forward. Debut cartoonist Emei Burell breathes new life into the stories her mother shared with her of growing up during mid-1960s Communist China. In an inspiring tale, her mother recounts how she ended up as one of the few truck-driving women during the Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside movement, which sought to increase agricultural outreach and spur social and ideological change amongst youth. Burell’s stunning illustrations honor her mother’s courage, strength, and determination during a decade of tremendous political upheaval, where millions of lives were lost, and introduces us to a young Burell in a new era of self-discovery.

The Swamp

Cartoonist: Yoshiharu Tsuge

Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly

Release Date: Apr. 28

List Price: $24.95

Yoshiharu Tsuge is one of the most influential and acclaimed practitioners of literary comics in Japan. THE SWAMP collects work from his early years, showing a major talent coming into his own. Bucking the tradition of mystery and adventure stories, Tsuge’s fiction focused on the lives of the citizens of Japan. These mesmerizing comics, like those of his contemporary Yoshihiro Tatsumi, reveal a gritty, at times desperate postwar Japan, while displaying Tsuge’s unique sense of humor and point of view.

Bix

Cartoonist: Scott Chantler

Publisher: Gallery13

Release Date: Apr. 28

List Price: $29.99

Told in stunning illustrations, BIX is a near-wordless graphic biography highlighting the career of Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke, one of the most innovative jazz soloists of the 1920s next to the legendary Louis Armstrong. Composing and recording some of the landmark music in the early history of genre, Bix struggled with personal demons, facing the disapproval of his conservative parents and an increasing dependence on alcohol. Told mostly in silent panels to reflect his outsider quality and inability to communicate in anything other than musical terms, BIX tells the story of the rapid rise and tragic fall of a musical legend—a metaphor for the glories and risks inherent in the creative life.

MAY

Langosh and Peppi: Fugitive Days

Cartoonist: Veronica Post

Publisher: Conundrum

Release Date: May 5

List Price: $20.00

This debut graphic novel tells the story of the 2015 European “migrant crisis” in Budapest, Hungary through the perspective of Langosh and Peppi, a vagabond and his faithful dog. The pair brings to mind an older, down-on-their-luck Tintin and Snowy with adventures to match. A semi-autobiographical work based on Post’s own experiences, Langosh and Peppi escape the pressures of conformity by exploring out-of-the-way places, where they stumble on the vestiges of the war torn region’s hidden past. We follow them through streets, alleys, tunnels, train stations, cheap rooms, abandoned buildings and the countryside and witness the effects of various social, political and interpersonal situations through their eyes.

Topp: Promotor Gary Topp Brought Us the World

Cartoonist: David Collier

Publisher: Conundrum

Release Date: May 5

List Price: $20.00

As with all of Collier’s work, his latest graphic novel is a combination of memoir and biography. This time, he explores his involvement in the cultural landscape of Toronto in the 1970s and 80s, specifically focusing on the life of Gary Topp, a concert promoter and founder of the pioneering Canadian repertory cinema. Topp emerged from an immigrant background, abandoned the family textile business, and became an influential figure in the lives of an entire community. He was also Collier’s first boss. Though outspoken and opinionated, Gary Topp inspired love and devotion, not only in those who worked for him, but also in the acts he booked—including The Ramones, The Police, and the Dixie Chicks.

The Art of Drag

Writer: Jake Hall

Artists: Sofie Birkin, Helen Li, Jasjyot Singh Hans

Publisher: Nobrow

Release Date: May 5

List Price: $22.95

The history of drag has been formed by many intersections: fashion, theatre, sexuality and politics–all coming together to create the show stopping entertainment millions witness today. In this extensive work, Jake Hall delves deep into the ancient beginnings of drag, to present day and beyond. Vibrant illustrations enhance the rich history from Kabuki theatre to Shakespearean, the revolutionary Stonewall riots to the still thriving New York ballroom scene. Nothing will go undocumented in this must-have documentation of all things drag.

Stepping Stones

Cartoonist: Lucy Knisley

Publisher: Random House

Release Date: May 5

List Price: $12.99

Jen did not want to leave the city. She did not want to move to a farm with her mom and her mom’s new boyfriend, Walter. She did not want to leave her friends and her dad. Most of all, Jen did not want to get new “sisters,” Andy and Reese. As if learning new chores on Peapod Farm wasn’t hard enough, having to deal with perfect-at-everything Andy might be the last straw for Jen. Besides cleaning the chicken coop, trying to keep up with the customers at the local farmers’ market, and missing her old life, Jen has to deal with her own insecurities about this new family . . . and where she fits in.

Giant

Cartoonist: Mikaël

Publisher: NBM

Release Date: May 12

List Price: $24.99

New York, early 1930s. A mysterious, laconic Irish colossus known as ‘Giant’ sweats blood, along with his fellow immigrants, to build the skyscrapers of Rockefeller Center. For a while, he has not received a reply to the typewritten letters he continues to send, as well as money, to the other side of the ocean, to Mary Ann, the wife of one of his colleagues who died accidentally. Giant, who seems to be afraid of nothing, still has not found the courage to reveal to the young woman that she is a widow … What does her silence mean? An entrancing everyday working-class tale with the majestic background of the rising skyscrapers of New York.

Paying the Land

Cartoonist: Joe Sacco

Publisher: Metropolitan Books

Release Date: May 12

List Price: $29.99

In PAYING THE LAND, Joe Sacco travels the frozen North to reveal a people in conflict over the costs and benefits of development. The mining boom is only the latest assault on indigenous culture: Sacco recounts the shattering impact of a residential school system that aimed to “remove the Indian from the child”; the destructive process that drove the Dene from the bush into settlements and turned them into wage laborers; the government land claims stacked against the Dene Nation; and their uphill efforts to revive a wounded culture. Against a vast and gorgeous landscape that dwarfs all human scale, Paying the Land lends an ear to trappers and chiefs, activists and priests, to tell a sweeping story about money, dependency, loss, and culture—recounted in stunning visual detail by one of the greatest cartoonists alive.

Fire On The Water

Writer: Scott MacGregor

Publisher: Abrams ComicArts

Release Date: May 12

List Price: $24.99

This original graphic novel imagines the lives of blue-collar workers involved in the real-life Lake Erie tunnel disaster of 1916 in Cleveland. Author Scott MacGregor and illustrator Gary Dumm tell the intersecting stories of a brilliant African American inventor, Ben Beltran (based on the real-life Garrett Morgan, Sr.), desperate immigrants tunneling beneath Lake Erie, and corrupt overseers who risk countless lives for profit. As historical fiction, Fire on the Water sheds light not only on one of America’s earliest man-made ecological disasters but also on racism and the economic disparity between classes in the Midwest at the turn of the century.

Nori

Cartoonist: Rumi Hara

Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly

Release Date: May 12

List Price: $24.95

One day Nori runs off to be met by an army of bats—the symbol of happiness. Soon after, she is at school chasing a missing rabbit while performing as a moon in the school play, touching on the myth of the Moon Rabbit. A ditch by the side of the road opens a world of kids, crawfish, and beetles, not to mention the golden frog and albino salamander. That night, her grandma takes to the Bon Odori festival to dance with her ancestors. When Nori wins a trip to Hawaii, she finds herself swimming with a sea turtle, though she doesn’t know how to swim.

Battle Born: Lapis Lazuli

Cartoonist: Maximilian Uriarte

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Release Date: May 12

List Price: $28.00

Lapis Lazuli is a rich blue semiprecious gemstone found deep in the Sar-i-sang mountains of Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province. For thousands of years it has sustained the nearby mining villages, whose inhabitants lived peacefully in the mountainous landscape–until the Taliban, known in the region as the Horsemen, came to seek the riches stored deep beneath the earth. Taliban rule has turned the stone into a conflict mineral, as they steal and sell it for their own gain. At the behest of the fledgling Afghan government, seeking to wrest back control of the province, United States Marines are sent into the mountains. A platoon led by their eager and naive commander, First Lieutenant Roberts, and a stoic, fierce squad leader, Sergeant King, must overcome barriers of language and culture in this remote region to win the locals’ trust, and their freedom from Taliban rule. Along the way, they must also wrestle with their demons–and face unimaginably difficult choices.

Little Victories: Autism Through a Father’s Eyes

Cartoonist: Yvon Roy

Publisher: Titan Comics

Release Date: May 12

List Price: $19.99

A beautiful visual exploration of the highs and lows experienced by a parent learning how to adapt to his son’s autism. Faced with a challenging road ahead, the author uses creative flair and ingenuity in order to connect with his son, enabling him to reach his fullest potential and prepare him for the transition into adulthood. This stunning insight into the nature of autism and the daily struggles of a parent uses humor and compassion to convey its message. This is the perfect creative outlet for anyone – from parent to teacher – looking for detailed information on the subject with a more personal touch.

Free Comics: The Giveaways That Fought Commies, Sold Cars and Cigars, Showed How to Buy A TV And Avoid VD!

Editor: Craig Yoe

Publisher: Yoe Books

Release Date: May 12

List Price: $49.99

Learn how free comics taught us, saved us, and sold things to us in this collection full of rare covers and a fun-filled, fascinating, and generous selection of stories!

The Harrowing of Hell

Cartoonist: Evan Dahm

Publisher: Iron Circus Comics

Release Date: May 12

List Price: $15.00

In THE HARROWING OF HELL, Evan Dahm draws upon a wide array of texts both ancient and modern, religious and historical, to create a brand new window into the life and death of Christ, a vision of a dying man’s revolutionary drive and fervent belief in humanity’s salvation from all manner of jailers. Discarding the heroic, demon-smiting Christ that has taken hold in the popular imagination, this story gives us a peaceable and contemplative Christ, defiantly at odds with the ancient and modern desires of His flock. A richly symbolic, densely illustrated allegorical tale that echoes back to us from ancient times, THE HARROWING OF HELL is a fascinating reinterpretation of one of the most important religious figures in history, before He was the god of the wealthy and powerful, before He was recast as the warrior worshipers preferred.

Mary Pickford, Queen of the Silent Film Era: A Life in Stills

Cartoonist: George A. Walker

Publisher: Porcupine’s Quill

Release Date: May 15

List Price: $22.95

In this wordless biography, wood engraver George A. Walker provides a fitting stage to explore the life of Mary Pickford, a silent film star whose groundbreaking contributions to the motion picture industry earned her the title Queen of the Movies’.

Parasite: A Graphic Novel in Storyboards

Cartoonist: Bong Joon Ho

Publisher: Hachette

Release Date: May 19

List Price: $30.00

With hundreds of mesmerizing illustrations, PARASITE: A GRAPHIC NOVEL IN STORYBOARDS is a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the making of one of the best films in years and a brand-new way to experience a global phenomenon. Drawn by Bong Joon Ho himself before the filming of the Palme d’Or Award-winning, Golden Globe®-nominated film, these illustrations, accompanied by every line of dialog, depict the film in its entirety. Director Bong has also provided a foreword which takes the reader even deeper into the creative process which gave rise to the stunning cinematic achievement of Parasite.

Suncatcher

Cartoonist: Jose Pimienta

Publisher: Random House

Release Date: May 19

List Price: $16.99

If life wasn’t already hard enough for Beatriz — being a teenager, trying to start a band, and going to school — then she discovers that her grandfather’s soul has been trapped in an old guitar, and that the only way to free him is to play the perfect song . . . his perfect song, a song that he never actually wrote down. She’s determined to save her grandfather, but as music slowly takes over her life, she soon finds herself growing obsessed with his song, and making it absolutely flawless, at the expense of her friendships, her band, and her health. Beatriz won’t let anything stop her, not even her own limitations. Creating a magical song is already a lot of pressure, but Beatriz will have to make some hard choices before it’s too late for her grandfather . . . and for herself.

The Grot: The Story of Swamp City Grifters

Cartoonist: Pat Grant

Publisher: Top Shelf

Release Date: May 19

List Price: $19.99

Penn and Lipton Wise have set out to Falter City to make their fortune. It’s the future, obviously, and things are pretty grim. The Australian landscape is traumatized. Plague is rampant. Machines only work as well as the poor sod pedaling them. Things are hotter and wetter than they used to be, giving the whole place the vibe of a sweaty armpit. Lippy and Penn are hoping to set up shop in this grimy boom-town, but they’ve got to stay frosty, because it’s teeming with hustlers, swindlers, and scoundrels. It’s the sort of place where a lucky moron could make an outrageous fortune in an afternoon and lose it all before bedtime. The sort of place where two enterprising teenagers could really make something of themselves. Or so they say.

The Mueller Report: The Graphic Novel

Cartoonist: Shannon Wheeler

Writer: Steve Duin

Publisher: IDW

Release Date: May 26

List Price: $15.99

Fight the spin spewing forth from both parties and political pulpits and check out this graphic novel that brings a 400-page legal document down to size. Wheeler and Duin, in graphic form, bring to life scenes detailed in the report: from the infamous Drumpf Tower Meeting of 2016 to Drumpf exclaiming “I’m f*cked” upon finding out he was the subject of investigation. It’s in the report and it’s in the graphic novel! THE MUELLER REPORT: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL borrows style from classic private detective yarns, complete with a villainous rogues’ gallery, nail-biting cliffhangers, and a lone lawman standing proud against the wave of crime.

The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

Cartoonist: Adrian Tomine

Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly

Release Date: May 26

List Price: $29.95

When a sudden medical incident lands Tomine in the emergency room, he begins to question if it was really all worthwhile: despite the accolades and opportunities of a seemingly charmed career, it’s the gaffes, humiliations, slights, and insults he’s experienced (or caused) within the industry that loom largest in his memory. Tomine illustrates the amusing absurdities of how we choose to spend our time, all the while mining his conflicted relationship with comics and comics culture. But in between chaotic book tours, disastrous interviews, and cringe-inducing interactions with other artists, life happens: he fumbles his way into marriage, parenthood, and an indisputably fulfilling existence. A richer emotional story emerges as his memories are delineated in excruciatingly hilarious detail. In a bold stylistic departure from his award-winning Killing and Dying, he distills his art to the loose, lively essentials of cartooning, each pen stroke economically imbued with human depth. Designed as a sketchbook complete with placeholder ribbon and an elastic band, THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG-DISTANCE CARTOONIST shows an acclaimed artist at the peak of his career.

JUNE

Once Upon a Space-Time!

Cartoonist: Jeffrey Brown

Publisher: Crown Books

Release Date: Jun. 2

List Price: $13.99

Jide and Petra are just two normal kids until they are selected to leave Earth and join their new alien classmates on an intergalactic research mission to Mars. Too bad Petra has no idea how she ended up in the program, seeing as the closest she wants to get to space is being a sci-fi writer. Jide, on the other hand, is the brains of the mission, but his helicopter parents make it clear he hasn’t left their gravitational pull behind quite yet. What is meant to be an intra-species bonding experience soon turns to hijinx as the kids discover The Potato orbiting around their new space classroom and accidentally launch a mission of their own without any adult commanders around to supervise–or help! From New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Brown comes an out-of-this-world adventure perfect for the astronaut-in-training in your life.

Sweet Time

Cartoonist: Weng Pixin

Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly

Release Date: Jun. 2

List Price: $24.95

SWEET TIME is an intimate rumination on love, empathy, and confidence. Singaporean cartoonist Weng Pixin delicately explores strained relationships with a kind of hopefulness while acknowledging their inevitable collapse. Her stories are like a series of snapshots in a photo album or the brightest highlights from an Instagram profile. Gorgeous image follows gorgeous image in a delicate quest to find connection. A night out turns into a chance encounter that is at first ecstatic and then quickly descends into awkwardness. A round of “he loves me, he loves me not” becomes a way of reading every action taken by a distant love interest. A couple find themselves in an artificially beautiful landscape, but the relationship can’t survive their difference of opinion on the illusion of its beauty. In SWEET TIME, thick and bold strokes of color mingle with delicate lines. Weng combines colorful realism with a gentle wit and introspection, crafting infinitely relatable stories of everyday life and love now.

Donut the Destroyer

Cartoonists: Sarah Graley and Stef Purenins

Publisher: Graphix

Release Date: Jun. 2

List Price: $14.99

A hilarious and unique graphic novel of friendship, family, and what happens when you defy and exceed expectations. Donut (middle name: The; last name: Destroyer) has a heart of gold and incredible strength. She lives in a world where everyone is born with a special ability and can choose whether to develop it for good or evil. Donut has just received the best news of her life — she’s been accepted to Lionheart School for Heroes! But her parents are the most infamous villains around, and her best friend, Ivy, can’t understand why Donut would choose a life of boring heroism and ruin their plans to cause chaos. Donut is determined to prove that, despite her last name, she’s meant to go her own way and be a hero. Meanwhile, Ivy cooks up a plan to get Donut kicked out of Lionheart — and back on track to villainy!

Tiananmen 1989: Our Shattered Hopes

Writer: Lun Zhang & Adrien Gombeaud

Artist: Ameziane

Publisher: IDW

Release Date: Jun. 2

List Price: $19.99

Over 30 years ago, on April 15th, 1989, the occupation of Tiananmen Square began. As tens of thousands of students and concerned Chinese citizens took to the streets demanding political reforms, the fate of China’s communist system was unknown. When reports of soldiers marching into Beijing to suppress the protests reverberated across Western airwaves, the world didn’t know what to expect. Lun Zhang was just a young sociology teacher then, in charge of management and safety service for the protests. Now, in this powerful graphic novel, Zhang pairs with French journalist and Asia specialist Adrien Gombeaud and artist Ameziane, to share his unvarnished memory of this crucial moment in world history for the first time. Providing comprehensive coverage of the 1989 protests that ended in bloodshed and drew global scrutiny, Zhang includes context for these explosive events, sympathetically depicting a world of discontented, idealistic, activist Chinese youth rarely portrayed in Western media. Many voices and viewpoints are on display, from Western journalists to Chinese administrators. Describing how the hope of a generation was shattered when authorities opened fire on protestors and bystanders, TIANANMEN 1989 shows the way in which contemporary China shaped itself.

The Great Gatsby: The Graphic Novel

Created By: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Writer: Fred Fordham

Artist: Aya Morton

Publisher: Scribner

Release Date: Jun. 2

List Price: $30.00

First published in 1925, The Great Gatsby has been acclaimed by generations of readers and is now reimagined in stunning graphic novel form. Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, Daisy Buchanan, and the rest of the cast are captured in vivid and evocative illustrations by artist Aya Morton. The iconic text has been artfully distilled by Fred Fordham, who also adapted the graphic novel edition of To Kill a Mockingbird. Blake Hazard, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s great-granddaughter, contributes a personal introduction. This quintessential Jazz Age tale stands as the supreme achievement of Fitzgerald’s career and is a true classic of 20th-century literature. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy is exquisitely captured in this enchanting and unique edition.

Windows on the World

Writer: Robert Mailer Anderson and Zack Anderson

Artist: Jon Sack

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Release Date: Jun. 2

List Price: $24.99

Set in a New York City in mourning, this poignant graphic novel explores the push-and-pull between love and obligation. On the morning of September 11, 2001, an undocumented worker named Balthazar busses tables at New York City’s famous Windows on the World restaurant. Back in Mexico, his family watches their TV screen in horror as the Twin Towers collapse. Refusing to give up hope that Balthazar is alive, his son Fernando embarks on a treacherous journey across the border to New York to find him. Along the way, Fernando learns what it means to be undocumented in America — encountering at turns an indifferent bureaucracy and a supportive group of fellow immigrants who help guide him through his quixotic mission to bring his family back together.

Dancing After TEN

Writer: Vivian Chong

Artist: Georgia Webber

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Release Date: Jun. 2

List Price: $24.99

The inspirational journey of a woman who strives to live a vital and fulfilling artistic life after a rare disease leaves her without sight. In late 2004, Vivian Chong’s life was changed forever when a rare skin disorder, TEN (Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis), left her with scar tissue that left her without sight. In the wake of this traumatizing experience, Chong was forced to learn a new way of being in the world. She not only survived but thrived, forging a new identity and discovering anew how to express herself creatively.

Monkey vs. Robot: The Complete Epic

Cartoonist: James Kochalka

Publisher: Top Shelf

Release Date: Jun. 9

List Price: $29.99

Since the dawn of time, the eternal struggle of Monkey Vs. Robot has captivated the hearts of comics fans everywhere. Now, creator James Kochalka and Top Shelf Productions celebrate the 20th anniversary of this timeless epic with a jaw-dropping deluxe collection. Both of the original black & white graphic novels, Monkey Vs. Robot and Monkey Vs. Robot and the Crystal of Power, have been fully colored by James Kochalka for this edition! In addition, Kochalka completes the trilogy with a brand-new graphic novel appearing here for the first time, Monkey Vs. Robot in Love. That’s right, this book has it all… brutal combat and tender moments alike.

The Winter of the Cartoonist

Cartoonist: Paco Roca

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Release Date: Jun. 9

List Price: $21.99

In 1957, Editorial Bruguera was one of Spain’s largest publishing houses, putting out hugely popular weekly magazines and comics for young and old — while retaining all rights and creative control of their artists’ work. Spanish comics superstar Paco Roca investigates the true story of five cartoonists who, spurred by poor working conditions, arbitrary editorial edicts, and nationwide dictatorial rule, went on a quest for creative freedom. Little did they know that the corporation had begun actively trying to thwart their distribution and publishing efforts, turning their battle into a real-life David and Goliath tale. THE WINTER OF THE CARTOONIST provides historical context and short profiles of these artists as they serve as everyday heroes for all of those who have chased a dream, no matter how high the obstacles that stand in front of them.

Doodleville

Cartoonist: Chad Sell

Publisher: Knopf Books

Release Date: Jun. 9

List Price: $12.99

Drew is just a regular artist. But there’s nothing ordinary about her art. Her doodles are mischievous . . . and rarely do they stay in Doodleville, the world she’s created in her sketchbook. Instead, Drew’s doodles prefer to explore the world outside. But after an inspiring class trip to the Art Institute of Chicago–where the doodles cause a bit too much trouble–Drew decides it’s time to take her artistic talents to the next level. Enter the Leviathan–Levi, for short. He’s bigger and better than anything Drew has ever created before. He’s a monster, but a friendly one. That is, until Levi begins to wreak havoc on Drew’s other doodles–and on the heroes her classmates have dreamt up. Levi won’t be easily tamed, and it seems there is a link between the monster’s bad behavior and Drew’s feelings. With the help of her loyal art club friends, will she be able to save Doodleville–and Levi–before it’s too late?

Eight-Lane Runaways

Cartoonist: Henry McCausland

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Release Date: Jun. 10

List Price: $24.99

A sublime debut about a group of runners searching for their place in the world. Right from the starting block, you’ll realize that Eight-Lane Runaways is not like any graphic novel you’ve read before. As you’re thrown into a fantastical world of endless tracks, you meet a team of young people briskly attempting to complete their calling, whether it be finding their lost cats, earning one last self-made merit badge, or flying a kite to the moon. One runner relies on her poncho to give her direction. Another deals with a suddenly missing appendage. There’s also algebra dogs, a juice institute, and a helping network that consists of miles of string that proves that no matter how far apart, the friends you can rely on are the ones you met while pacing life’s twisty-turny trails.

The Red Mother With Child

Cartoonist: Christian Lax

Publisher: NBM

Release Date: Jun. 15

List Price: $27.99

A red Mother with Child, a 14th century African sculpture, is saved from the destructive madness of Islamists by Alou, a young honey hunter. In the company of other migrants, sisters, and brothers of misfortune, Alou goes all out to reach Europe. His goal and obsession: entrust the precious statuette to the Louvre Museum! A new and exciting addition to the ever-expanding Louvre collection that commissions graphic novels from leading world artists to spin tales around the famous museum.

Against Hope

Cartoonist: Victor Santos

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Release Date: Jun. 3 (Comics Shops), Jun. 16 (Bookstores)

List Price: $19.99

It has been years since an insane family of neo-Nazi’s murdered her boyfriend and almost killed Hope, now she is tracking them down and exacting her bloody revenge. Trained by her father in martial combat, Hope grew from an angry and grieving teenage girl into a cold-hearted bounty hunter. When she discovers the family who brutalized her is now running for public office and controlling a cabal of violent white nationalists from the shadows, Hope gears up and hits the road with the intent to slaughter every single Nazi that stands against Hope.

Wendy, Master of Art

Cartoonist: Walter Scott

Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly

Release Date: Jun. 16

List Price: $24.95

Wendy is an aspiring contemporary artist whose adventures have taken her to galleries, art openings, and parties in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Toronto. In WENDY, MASTER OF ART, Walter Scott’s sly wit and social commentary zero in on MFA culture as our hero hunkers down to complete a master of fine arts at the University of Hell in small-town Ontario. Finally Wendy has space to refine her artistic practice, but in this calm, all of her unresolved insecurities and fears explode at full volume—usually while hungover. What is the post-Jungian object as symbol? Will she ever understand her course reading—or herself? What if she’s just not smart enough? As she develops as an artist and a person, Wendy also finds herself in a teaching position, mentoring a perpetually sobbing grade-grubbing undergrad. Scott’s incisively funny take on art school pretensions isn’t the only focus. Wendy, Master of Art explores the politics of open relationships and polyamory, performative activism, the precariousness of a life in the arts, as well as the complexities of gender identity, sex work, drug use, and more. At its heart, this is a book about the give and take of community—about learning to navigate empathy and boundaries, and to respect herself. It is deeply funny and endlessly relatable as it shows Wendy growing from millennial art party girl to successful artist, friend, teacher—and Master of Art.

Kodi

Cartoonist: Jared Cullum

Publisher: Top Shelf

Release Date: Jun. 16

List Price: $14.99

The gorgeous story of two friends separated by everything in the world — except love. Readers and animal-lovers of every age will want to relive this journey over and over again. Katya and her Meema are spending another summer at their cottage in Alaska, when a chance accident leaves Katya face-to-face with the biggest creature she’s ever seen… an enormous kodiak bear with a gentle heart and a knack for fishing. But when Katya must suddenly return home to Seattle, the two are torn apart, leaving Kodi to do whatever it takes to reunite with his fragile human friend. It’s a wild journey packed with breathtaking views, brave new companions, and adventure around every turn.

The Day The Rats Vetoed Congress

Writer: Ralph Nader

Artist: Mr. Fish

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Release Date: Jun. 16

List Price: $21.99

When a Congressional reporter breaks the news that “Rats have invaded the toilet bowls” of the halls of Congress, it sparks a national news frenzy. Activists see the rats upending “business as usual,” and turn the invasion into a symbol against the lobbyists who hold Congress in their sway. A massive citizen uprising follows that threatens to sweep Congress clean of Wall Street’s chokehold of corruption — but the corporate titans have ways of fighting back!

Barbarella

Created By: Jean-Claude Forest

Adapted By: Kelly Sue DeConnick

Publisher: Humanoids

Release Date: Jun. 16

List Price: $22.99

Jean-Claude Forest’s timeless Erotic Sci-Fi series recounting the spatial adventures of the beautiful titular character is now available in a brand new English-language adaptation. Barbarella’s spaceship breaks down, she finds herself trapped on the planet Lythion. There, she has a series of adventurous, and bawdy, encounters with a variety of strange beings, from robots to angels. Featuring a brand new, contemporary English-language adaptation by writer Kelly Sue DeConnick.

Nymph

Cartoonist: Leila Marzocchi

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Release Date: Jun. 17

List Price: $29.99

Outside the Western Ruins, in the Burnt Spruce Forest, an assembly of talking birds and trees has convened. Their order of business: the lone, defenseless pupa that rained down from the sky. They name this small life form Bitsy, and agree to protect her from centipedes, rats, and other evil critters. Bitsy slowly begins to evolve — but into what? When a maniac spider tries to kidnap Bitsy, the plant dwellers soon realize that they’re in a new world of mystical myth they never accounted for.

Atlas At War!

Editors: Dr. Michael Vassallo and Allan Harvey

Publisher: Dead Reckoning

Release Date: Jun. 17

List Price: $65.00

ATLAS AT WAR! collects fifty hard-hitting stories from Atlas Comics, the company that became Marvel Comics and published more war titles than anyone in the industry between the years 1951 and 1960. Comics historian Dr. Michael J. Vassallo has chosen the best of the best, many of which are coming back into print for the first time, from sixteen different Atlas war titles and featuring the artwork of twenty different artists; giants of the genre, including Russ Heath, John Severin, Bernie Krigstein, Joe Maneely, Jerry Robinson, Steve Ditko, and Jack Kirby. Each page has been meticulously restored from its first printing by comic art restorer Allan Harvey. Atlas at War! covers the brutal pre-code period where graphic depictions of war action were rendered by artists who were World War II veterans themselves, as well as the post-code period, where code restrictions forced creators to tell stories without graphic violence but produced some of the most beautiful comic art of the genre. In addition to the artists, stories cover all aspects of war, from famous campaigns, weaponry, and personal soldier stories to political topics, Nazi atrocities, and even one story tinged with pre-code horror! Often overlooked in favor of its competitors, Atlas at War! will finally show that Atlas war titles were second to no one.

The Emotional Load: And Other Invisible Stuff

Cartoonist: Emma

Translated By: Uma Dimitrijevic

Publisher: Seven Stories

Release Date: Jun. 23

List Price: $19.95

After the success of The Mental Load, Emma continues in her new book to tangle with issues pertinent to women’s experiences, from consent to the “power of love,” from the care and attentiveness that women place on others’ wellbeing and social cohesion, and how it constitutes another burden on women, to contraception, to the true nature of gallantry, from the culture of rape to diets, from safety in public spaces to retirement, along with social issues such as police violence, women’s rights, and green capitalism. And, once more, she hits the mark.

Diary Comics: Tara Booth

Cartoonist: Tara Booth

Publisher: 2dCloud

Release Date: Jun. 23

List Price: $24.95

Tara chronicles the first months of her sobriety — visiting the coasts, reaching out to an ex, nature, friends and family. Humor, honesty, and astonishingly uncensored scenarios drawn in vivid color. The book includes her diary and sketchbook drawings, writing, and closes with a poignant short story.

Cuisine Chinoise: Five Tales of Food and Life

Cartoonist: Zao Dao

Translated By: Diana Schutz

Artist: Adam Pruett

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Release Date: Jun. 10 (Comics Shops), Jun. 23 (Bookstores)

List Price: $24.95

From the mind of prodigy cartoonist Zao Dao comes CUISINE CHINOISE: FIVE TALES OF FOOD AND LIFE featured here in English for the first time! From insects looking for a meal made of ghosts to a man named Yuzi whose passion for cooking is the only hope of maintaining a family legacy, these wonderfully illustrated stories explore the rich and humorous lives of the characters within. This volume showcases the wonderful relationship between Chinese folklore and culture and food!

Primer

Writer: Thomas Krajewski, Jennifer Muro

Artist: Gretal Lusky

Publisher: DC Comics

Release Date: Jun. 23

List Price: $9.99

Ashley Rayburn is an upbeat girl with a decidedly downbeat past. Her father is a known criminal who once used Ashley to help him elude justice, and in his attempt to escape, a life was taken. He now sits in federal prison, but still casts a shadow over Ashley’s life. In the meantime, Ashley has bounced from foster home to foster home and represents a real challenge to the social workers who try to help her–not because she’s inherently bad, but because trouble always seems to find her. Ashley’s latest set of presumably short-term foster parents are Kitch and Yuka Nolan. Like Ashley, Kitch happens to be an artist. Yuka, on the other hand, is a geneticist working for a very high-level tech company, one that’s contracted out to work for the government and the military. And it’s Yuka’s latest top secret project that has her very concerned. Developed for the military, it’s a set of body paints that, when applied to the wearer, grant them a wide range of special powers. Fearful that this invention will be misused, Yuka sneaks the set of paints home, substituting a dummy suitcase with an ordinary set of paints in their place. From here, signals get crossed. Ashley comes home from school one day with her new friend Luke and, thinking that the Nolans have purchased a surprise gift for her upcoming birthday, finds the set of paints. Being an artist, Ashley naturally assumes these are for her. It isn’t long before she realizes that she’s stumbled upon something much bigger and a lot more dangerous. Although she uses her newly discovered powers for good, it’s not long before the military becomes wise to what happened to their secret weapon. And this spells big trouble not only for Ashley, but for her newfound family and friends as well.

Moms

Cartoonist: Yeong-Shin Ma

Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly

Release Date: Jun. 23

List Price: $29.95

Lee Soyeon, Myeong-ok, and Yeonjeong are all mothers in their mid-fifties. And they’ve had it. They can no longer bear the dead weight of their partners or the endless grind of menial jobs where their bosses control everything, down to how much water they can drink. Although Lee Soyeon divorced her husband years ago after his gambling drove their family into bankruptcy, she’s found herself in another tired and dishonest decade-long relationship with Jongseok, a slimy waiter at a nightclub. Meanwhile, Myeong-ok is having an illicit affair with a younger man, and Yeonjeong, whose husband suffers from erectile dysfunction, has her eye on an acquaintance from the gym. Bored with conventional romantic dalliances, these women embrace outrageous sexual adventures and mishaps, ending up in nightclubs, motels, and even the occasional back-alley brawl. With this boisterous and darkly funny manhwa, Yeong-shin Ma defies the norms of the traditional Korean family narrative, offering instead the refreshingly honest and unfiltered story of a group of middle-aged moms who yearn for something more than what the mediocre men in their lives can provide. Despite their less than desirable jobs, salaries, husbands, and boyfriends, these women brazenly bulldoze their way through life with the sexual vulnerability and lust typically attributed to twenty-somethings.

And Now, Sir? Is This Your Missing Gonad?

Cartoonist: Jim Woodring

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Release Date: Jun. 23

List Price: $21.99

A unique detour into the deepest corners of the Unifactor. AND NOW, SIR? IS THIS YOUR MISSING GONAD? brings to your fun-hungry hands over 113 choice and previously unpublished images created by cartooning visionary Jim Woodring between 2009 and 2019 for his private amusement. Featuring Woodring’s familiar cast of characters from such canonical graphic novels as Congress of the Animals and Poochytown, but with a twist!

The Marvel Art of the Brothers Hildebrandt

Writer: Greg Hildebrandt & Glenn Herdling

Artist: Greg & Tim Hildebrandt

Publisher: IDW

Release Date: Jun. 23

List Price: $59.99

Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, collectively known as the Brothers Hildebrandt, have been at the forefront of fantasy illustration for six decades. In the 1970s their wildly popular and universally acclaimed J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings calendars helped to reintroduce new generations to this seminal fantasy work. Over the decades, the Brothers have created iconic images for Star Wars, Harry Potter, Magic The Gathering, and many more. And then came Marvel. In 1994, Greg and Tim began an amazing relationship with Marvel Comics, producing the incredible Marvel Masterpieces trading card set, featuring all of The House of Ideas’ most incredible characters: Spider-Man, Captain America, Black Panther, X-Men, Fantastic Four and so many others! That entire set is reproduced here, as well as showcasing model photos and preliminary drawings of the paintings. Also included is the X-Men 2099 painted graphic novel by the Brothers (written by John Francis Moore), as well as a treasure trove of their entire output for Marvel, all illustrations from 1994 to today–more trading cards, posters, and others, and with insightful commentary, amusing anecdotes, and candid reminisces by the one and only Greg Hildebrandt.

Ditko Is Strange

Writers: Stan Lee, Don Rico, Roy Tomas, Dennis O’Neil

Artist: Steve Ditko

Publisher: Marvel

Release Date: Jun. 10 (Comic Shops), Jun. 23 (Bookstores)

List Price: $100.00

Steve Ditko is an inimitable talent dedicated to a singular vision. Steve Ditko is one of the greatest storytellers of all time. Steve Ditko is the visual master who created other dimensions beyond imagining and eerie worlds beyond compare. Steve Ditko is…strange! Doctor Strange! Dr. Stephen Strange was a world-renowned surgeon until the night a car accident crippled his hands. Broken and destitute, he journeyed to Tibet to seek a cure from a legendary healer. There, he found not a man of medicine but the path to the mystic arts. This King-Size edition presents Steve Ditko and Stan Lee’s complete “Doctor Strange” stories at a massive size, so big that each page is like falling into another dimension. Lose yourself in the first appearances of such iconic characters as Baron Mordo, Wong, Eternity, Clea, Dormammu, the Mindless Ones and more.

Political Suicide: The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party

Cartoonist: Ted Rall

Publisher: Seven Stories Press

Release Date: Jun. 23

List Price: $18.95

Ted Rall’s latest is a no-holds-barred look at the civil war raging within the Democratic Party in the graphic style of his national bestseller, Bernie. There’s a split in the Democratic Party. Progressives are surging with ideas and candidates like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 72 percent of Democratic voters are progressives. But centrists like Tom Perez and the Clintons still run the DNC party apparatus—and they don’t want to compromise. Intraparty warfare exploded into the open in 2016. It’s even bigger now. The struggle goes back decades, to the New Left and the election of Richard Nixon over George McGovern. It continued with the Democratic establishment’s quashing of insurgent progressives like Jesse Jackson, Ralph Nader and Howard Dean. The vast scale of the DNC’s secret conspiracy to stop Bernie Sanders in 2016 nomination came out courtesy of WikiLeaks. Will Democrats again become the party of the working person? Or will the corporatists win and continue their domination of electoral politics? Ted Rall gets to the bottom of the story neither the Democrats nor the Republicans want you to know: how the civil war in the Democratic Party poses an existential threat to the two-party system.

Unfinished Business

Writer: Paul Levitz

Artist: Simon Fraser

Colorist: Gary Caldwell

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Release Date: Jun. 17 (Comic Shops), Jun. 30 (Bookstores)

List Price: $19.99

A priest, a minister and a rabbi walk into a bar . . . except they’re all dead. Not a zombie apocalypse (sorry, Walking Dead fans), but a bit of UNFINISHED BUSINESS that heaven needs the departed clerics to address, if they can. But what awaits them if they succeed–life, afterlife, or oblivion?

Constitution Illustrated

Cartoonist: R. Sikoryak

Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly

Release Date: Jun. 30

List Price: $14.95

THE MASTER OF THE VISUAL MASH-UP RETURNS WITH HIS SIGNATURE IDIOSYNCRATIC TAKE ON THE CONSTITUTION. He employs his magic yet again to investigate the very framework of the country with CONSTITUTION ILLUSTRATED. By visually interpreting the complete text of the supreme law of the land with more than a century of American pop culture icons, Sikoryak distills the very essence of the government legalese from the abstract to the tangible, the historical to the contemporary.

A Story

Cartoonist: Gipi

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Release Date: Jun 30.

List Price: $22.99

ONE STORY is actually made up of two intricately entangled tales. Silvano Landi is a successful writer, who, at the age of 50, sees his family leaving him and his life harshly falling apart. Landi’s great-grandfather, Mauro, is an anxious soldier being fed to the maw of carnage in the First World War. Alternating between past and present, a psyche ward and the bloody trenches, and told through revealing repetition and complex clues — a lone gas station, an apathetic baroness, found love letters — One Story documents the origins of pain that serve as the roots of a twisted family tree and allows the reader to trace the branches.

Child Star

Cartoonist: Brian “Box” Brown

Publisher: First Second

Release Date: Jun. 30

List Price: $19.99

Child star Owen Eugene had it all: a hit sitcom on prime time, a Saturday morning cartoon, and a memoir on the bestseller list. The secret to his success was his talent for improvisation . . . and his small size. On screen he made the whole world laugh, but behind the scenes his life was falling apart. Hollywood ate him alive. Inspired by real-life child stars, bestselling author Brian “Box” Brown created Owen Eugene, a composite character whose tragic life is an amalgam of 1980s pop culture.

Everything Is An Emergency: An OCD Story in Words & Pictures

Cartoonist: Jason Adam Katzenstein

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Release Date: Jun. 30

List Price: $19.99

EVERYTHING IS AN EMERGENCY is a comic about all the self-destructive stories someone tells himself, over and over, until they start to seem true. In images surreal, witty, and confessional, Jason shows us that OCD can be funny, even when it feels like it’s ruining your life.

The Flower of the Witch

Cartoonist: Enrico Orlandi

Translated By: Jamie Richards

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Release Date: Jun. 17 (Comic Shops), Jun. 30 (Bookstores)

List Price: $14.99

Tami has traveled long and far from his home in the south, forbidden to return until he has become a man, in this coming-of-age story. Defeating monsters and saving princesses has not been enough, and now he must find the fabled flower of the witch, but in his quest, Tami inadvertently sparks a feud between the villagers who shelter him and the demon Yabra! And when the conflict comes to a head, Tami will have to choose between proving himself as a man, and protecting the villagers he’s come to love.