As we head into the final stretch of 2020, it seems like many of us have lived a lifetime of misery since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic

In the span of just six months, the economy nosedived and our democracy has fallen into existential crisis. Yet out of the ashes comes glimmers of hope, as always, in these 68 graphic novels for Fall 2020.

New and emerging voices like Lily LaMotte, Waka Hirako, the husband-wife team of Yehuda and Maya Devir, and Ariella Elovic speak to our collective emotional, physical, and social anguish. Jerry Craft returns with a sequel to his Newberry Award-winning graphic novel, New Kid. David Chisholm, whom The Beat recently interviewed, delves into one of the darker chapters in the life of Charlie Parker. And speaking of oldies but goodies, look for collected editions of comics by Jack Kirby and Milt Gross, as well as a manga adaptation of Rainbow Rowell‘s Fangirl by Sam Maggs & Gabi Nam. Finally Roxane Gay, Tracy Lynne Oliver and Rebecca Kirby have teamed together to adapt Gay’s short story about a world where the sun no longer shines.

Without further ado, let’s dive into the graphic novels for Fall 2020.

Twins

Writer: Varian Johnson

Artist: Shannon Wright

Publisher: Graphix

Release Date: Oct. 7 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 6 (Bookstores)

List Price: $12.99

Coretta Scott King Honor author Varian Johnson teams up with rising cartoonist Shannon Wright for a delightful middle-grade graphic novel! Maureen and Francine Carter are twins and best friends. They participate in the same clubs, enjoy the same foods, and are partners on all their school projects. But just before the girls start sixth grade, Francine becomes Fran — a girl who wants to join the chorus, run for class president, and dress in fashionable outfits that set her apart from Maureen. A girl who seems happy to share only two classes with her sister!

Class Act

Cartoonist: Jerry Craft

Publisher: HarperCollins

Release Date: Oct. 7 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 6 (Bookstores)

List Price: $22.99

Eighth grader Drew Ellis is no stranger to the saying “You have to work twice as hard to be just as good.” His grandmother has reminded him his entire life. But what if he works ten times as hard and still isn’t afforded the same opportunities that his privileged classmates at the Riverdale Academy Day School take for granted? To make matters worse, Drew begins to feel as if his good friend Liam might be one of those privileged kids. He wants to pretend like everything is fine, but it’s hard not to withdraw, and even their mutual friend Jordan doesn’t know how to keep the group together. As the pressures mount, will Drew find a way to bridge the divide so he and his friends can truly accept each other? And most important, will he finally be able to accept himself?

Monograph



Cartoonist: Chris Ware

Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications

Release Date: Oct. 7 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 6 (Bookstores)

List Price: $29.98

For the first time in his career, Chris Ware presents a comprehensive, behind-the-scenes autobiographical visual monograph, and opens a revealing window into the worlds he inhabits. Similar to Chip Kidd Book One and Shepard Fairey Covert to Overt, this book serves as a personal chronicle of a contemporary iconic illustrator, and is a must-have for those interested in illustration, graphic novels, and pop culture. The first and much-anticipated monograph by multi-award-winning cartoonist and graphic novelist Chris Ware, chronicling his influential twenty-five-year career.

Kimiko Does Cancer: A Graphic Memoir

Writer: Kimiko Tobimatsu

Artist: Keet Geniza

Publisher: Arsenal Pulp

Release Date:  Oct. 6 (Bookstores)

List Price: $16.95

At the age of twenty-five, Kimiko Tobimatsu was a young, queer, mixed-race woman with no history of health problems whose world was turned upside down when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In an instant, she became immersed in a new and complicated life of endless appointments, evaluations, and treatments, and difficult conversations with her partner and parents. Kimiko knew that this wasn’t what being twenty-five was supposed to be like … but then, she didn’t have a choice.

Lon Chaney Speaks

Cartoonist: Pat Dorian

Publisher: Pantheon

Release Date: Oct. 7 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 6 (Bookstores)

List Price: $25

A stunning graphic debut: the life of the legendary silent-film actor Lon Chaney (the original Phantom of the Opera and Hunchback of Notre Dame), as imagined by an artist whose work recalls the style and skill of early-era New Yorker cartoonists.

The Times I Knew I Was Gay

Cartoonist: Eleanor Crewes

Publisher: Scribner

Release Date: Oct. 7 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 6 (Bookstores)

List Price: $25

Ellie always had questions about who she was and how she fit in. As a girl, she wore black, obsessed over Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and found dating boys much more confusing than many of her friends did. As she grew older, so did her fears and a deep sense of unbelonging. From her first communion to her first girlfriend via a swathe of self-denial, awkward encounters, and everyday courage, Ellie tells her story through gorgeous illustrations—a fresh and funny self-portrait of a young woman becoming herself.

A Cat Story

Cartoonist: Ursula Murray Husted

Publisher: Quill Tree Books

Release Date: Oct. 7 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 6 (Bookstores)

List Price: $12.99

A vibrant, heartwarming graphic novel about two irresistible cat friends on a journey to find their forever home—a journey inspired by the magic of art and storytelling.

Thing: Inside the Struggle for Animal Personhood

Cartoonists: Sam Machado & Cynthia S. Machado

Co-Writer: Steven Wise

Publisher: Island Press

Release Date:  Oct. 6 (Bookstores)

List Price: $26

Happy has lived at the Bronx Zoo for most of her 48 years, and for more than a decade has remained largely isolated and lonely. Like all elephants, Happy has a complex mind and a deep social, intellectual, and emotional life; she desires to make choices and has a sense of self-recognition. But like all nonhuman animals, Happy is considered a thing in the eye of the law, with no fundamental rights. Due to a series of groundbreaking legal cases, however, this is beginning to change—and Happy’s liberation is at the forefront. A vibrant and personal graphic novel, Thing: Inside the Struggle for Animal Personhood traces this moving story and makes the legal and scientific case for animal personhood.

Blue Period 1

Cartoonist: Tsubasa Yamaguchi

Publisher: Viz Media

Release Date: Oct. 14 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 13 (Bookstores)

List Price: $12.99

Winner of the 2020 Manga Taisho Grand Prize! A manga about the struggles and rewards of a life dedicated to art. The studious Yatora leaves a dry life of study and good manners behind for a new passion: painting. But untethering yourself from all your past expectations is dangerous as well as thrilling…

The League of Super Feminists

Cartoonist: Mirion Malle

Translator: Aleshia Jensen

Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly

Release Date: Oct. 14 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 13 (Bookstores)

List Price: $16.95

The League of Super Feminists is an energetic, fierce, and disruptive comic wherein cartoonist Mirion Malle guides young readers through some of the central tenets of feminism. Issues of consent, intersectionality, privilege, inclusivity, body image, and gender identity are demystified in the form of a witty, down-to-earth dialogue. Malle’s insightful and humorous comics effectively transport lofty concepts from the ivory tower to the eternally safer space of open discussion. Making reference to historical feminism as well as newer developments like the Bechdel test in film and Peggy McIntosh’s dissection of white privilege through the metaphor of the “invisible knapsack,” The League of Super Feminists is an asset to the classroom, library, and household alike.

Okay, Universe: Chronicles of a Woman in Politics

Writer: Valérie Plante

Translator: Helge Dascher

Artist: Delphie Côté-Lacroix

Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly

Release Date: Nov. 25 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 13 (Bookstores)

List Price: $21.95

Valerie Plante stood up to the patriarchal power system of her city, took down an incumbent, and became the first woman elected Mayor of Montreal. Her origin story comes alive in Okay, Universe. This captivating graphic novel—created in a true collaboration with Governor-General Award-winner Delphie Côté-Lacroix—follows her journey from community organizer and volunteer to municipal candidate, and the phone call from the local social justice political party that changed her life forever.

The Magic Fish

Cartoonist: Trung Le Nguyen

Publisher: Random House Graphic

Release Date: Oct. 14 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 13 (Bookstores)

List Price: $16.99

Tiến loves his family and his friends…but Tiến has a secret he’s been keeping from them, and it might change everything. An amazing YA graphic novel that deals with the complexity of family and how stories can bring us together.

Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel

Created By: Jason Reynolds

Writer: Jason Reynolds

Artist: Danica Novgorodoff

Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy

Release Date: Oct. 14 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 13 (Bookstores)

List Price: $19.99

Jason Reynolds’s Newbery Honor, Printz Honor, and Coretta Scott King Honor–winning, #1 New York Times bestselling novel Long Way Down is now a gripping, galvanizing graphic novel, with haunting artwork by Danica Novgorodoff.

Chasin’ the Bird: Charlie Parker in California

Cartoonist: Dave Chisholm

Colorist: Peter Markowski

Publisher: Z2 Comics

Release Date: Sep. 30 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 13 (Bookstores)

List Price: $24.99

The graphic novel tells the story of Bird’s time in L.A. starting in December 1945, where Bird and Dizzy Gillespie brought frenetic sounds of bebop from the East Coast jazz underground to the West Coast for a two-month residency at Billy Berg’s Hollywood jazz club. This marked the beginning of a tumultuous two year-stint for Bird bumming around L.A., showing up at jam sessions, crashing on people’s couches, causing havoc in public places, and recording some of his most groundbreaking tracks, “A Night in Tunisia” and “Ornithology,” as well as “Relaxin’ At Camarillo,” inspired by the end of his time in SoCal at the Camarillo State Hospital. The novel explores Bird’s relationship with the characters and events he encountered during his time in L.A. including recording some of his signature songs with Dial Record founder Ross Russell, a brief but influential stay at the home of famed jazz photographer William Claxton, a party for the ages at the ranch home of artist Jirayr Zorthian, and others who found themselves in the orbit of the jazz genius. Chasin’ the Bird is named for Charlie Parker’s 1947 standard, and adapts one of the sunnier, but darker chapters in the life of Bird, beautifully told by Dave Chisholm

Dracula, motherf***ker

Dracula, Motherf**ker
Writer: Alex De Campi

Artist: Erica Henderson

Publisher: Image Comics

Release Date: Oct. 7 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 13 (Bookstores)

List Price: $16.99

Vienna, 1889: Dracula’s brides nail him to the bottom of his coffin. Los Angeles, 1974: an ageing starlet decides to raise the stakes. Crime scene photographer Quincy Harker is the only man who knows it happened, but will anyone believe him before he gets his own chalk outline? And are Dracula’s three brides there to help him… or use him as bait? A pulpy, pulse-pounding graphic novel of California psych-horror from acclaimed creators ALEX DE CAMPI and ERICA HENDERSON.

Fangirl, Vol. 1

Created By: Rainbow Rowell

Writer: Sam Maggs

Artist: Gabi Nam

Publisher: Viz Media

Release Date: Oct. 14 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 13 (Bookstores)

List Price: $16.99

The manga adaptation of the beloved novel by #1 Bestselling author Rainbow Rowell!

Come Home, Indio: A Memoir

Cartoonist: Jim Terry

Publisher: Street Noise Books

Release Date:  Oct. 13 (Bookstores)

List Price: $16.99

A brutally honest but charming look at the pain of childhood and the alienation and anxiety of early adulthood. In his memoir, we are invited to walk through the life of the author, Jim Terry, as he struggles to find security and comfort in an often hostile environment. Between the Ho-Chunk community of his Native American family in Wisconsin and his schoolmates in the Chicago suburbs, he tries in vain to fit in and eventually turns to alcohol to provide an escape from increasing loneliness and alienation. Terry also shares with the reader in exquisite detail the process by which he finds hope and gets sober, as well as the powerful experience of finding something to believe in and to belong to at the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance at Standing Rock.

Victory Point

Cartoonist: Owen D. Pomery

Publisher: Avery Hill Publishing

Release Date: Sep. 16 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 13 (Bookstores)

List Price: $24.99

On a summer’s day, Ellen returns to the coastal town she grew up in, the picturesque, yet architecturally strange, Victory Point. Revisiting old haunts and people from her past, she feels increasingly disconnected from her previous life, and exhausted by the constant struggle of trying to forge the path ahead. Exploring a town, which itself is an experiment in how to live, Ellen searches for some comfort in her own history that might just give her the strength to move forward.

The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott

Cartoonist: Zoe Thorogood

Publisher: Avery Hill Publishing

Release Date:  (Comics Shops) / Oct. 13 (Bookstores)

List Price: $16.95

Zoe Thorogood’s first graphic novel is a story about what it’s like to get something you want, have it immediately taken away from you and then how you put it all back together again. Set in a world of people down on their luck from Middlesbrough to London, it’s a graphic novel that speaks of post-austerity Britain and the problems facing those left behind.

Zebedee and the Valentines

Cartoonist: Abs Bailey

Publisher: Avery Hill Publishing

Release Date: Sep. 16 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 14 (Bookstores)

List Price: $15.95

1982. A pub, somewhere in a small suburban town in the South of England. Zebedee and The Valentines have just played the gig of their lives. The seven people watching them agree. With a big battle of the bands approaching, lead singer Zebedee and his motley crew of punks seem ready to blow up. But when the Devil is booking your gigs and the competition is fierce, was it ever really going to be that easy? The debut graphic novel from incredible new creator Abs Bailey, ‘Zebedee and The Valentines’ is a psychedelic tale of betrayal, tragedy and triumph told through the lens of the 80s, and with amps turned up to 11.

Maids

Cartoonist: Katie Skelly

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Release Date: Oct. 14 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 13 (Bookstores)

List Price: $19.99

The scandalous true crime story about the Papin Sisters, as told by one of comics’ most stylized talents. Christine Papin, an overworked live-in maid, is reunited with her younger sister, Lea, who has also been hired by the wealthy Lancelin family. They make the estate’s beds, scrub the floors, and spy on the domestic strife that routinely occurs within its walls. What starts as petty theft by the maids — who are flashing back to their tumultuous time in a convent — shortly turns into something more nefarious. Madame Lancelin’s increasingly unhinged abuse ignites the sisters’ toxic upbringing and social class exploitation and explodes into a ghastly double murder, an event that shocked and fascinated 1930s France and beyond.

Ginseng Roots: Part One

Cartoonist: Craig Thompson

Publisher: Uncivilized Books

Release Date: Nov. 3 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 13 (Bookstores)

List Price: $34.95

From ages 10 to 20, Craig Thompson (author of Blankets, Goodbye Chunky Rice, Habibi, Carnet De Voyage, Space Dumplins) and his little brother Phil, toiled in Wisconsin farms weeding and harvesting ginseng. The medicinal herb fetched huge profits in China and funded Craig’s youthful obsession with comic books. Comics, in turn, allowed him to escape his rural, working-class trappings. For the first time in his career, Thompson is serializing his story. Part memoir, part travelogue, part essay— all comic book—Ginseng Roots is a sweeping narrative that unearths surprising connections between class divide, agriculture, holistic healing, the 300-year-long trade relationship between China and North America, childhood labor, and the bond between two brothers.

We Saw Scenery: The Early Diaries of Merrill Markoe

Cartoonist: Merrill Markoe

Publisher: Algonquin Books

Release Date: Oct. 28 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 20 (Bookstores)

List Price: $24.95

In her first ever graphic memoir, four-time Emmy-winning comedy writer Merrill Markoe unearths her treasured diaries, long kept under lock and key, to illustrate the hilarious story of her preteen and teen years and how she came to realize that her secret power was her humor. Perfect for fans of Roz Chast, Allie Brosh, and Lynda Barry, We Saw Scenery is a laugh-out-loud story of a girl growing up, told from the perspective of the woman she became, and it will speak to all who wanted to understand themselves in the midst of their own maturing.

The Prophet

Created By: Kahlil Gibran

Cartoonist: Pete Katz

Publisher: Canterbury Classics

Release Date: Oct. 21 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 20 (Bookstores)

List Price: $19.99

An enduring and moving commentary on the human condition since its publication in 1923, Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet has been adapted as a graphic novel by award-winning illustrator Pete Katz. In this elegant thread-bound edition, Gibran’s classic poem is transformed into a narrative that shows how the words of the prophet Al Mustafa can help modern readers overcome personal struggles. Gibran’s original poems are incorporated into full-color scenes so that readers can gain a deeper appreciation for one of the most popular books of the twentieth century.

My Broken Mariko

Cartoonist: Waka Hirako

Publisher: Yen Press

Release Date: Oct. 7 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 20 (Bookstores)

List Price: $18

Shiino is an ill-tempered office assistant, but when her friend Mariko dies unexpectedly, she becomes determined to get to the bottom of this mystery. Portraying the soulful connection between girls, this is a striking story of sisterhood and romance.

Spirits of San Francisco: Voyages Through the Unknown City

Writer: Gary Kamiya

Artist: Paul Madonna

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Release Date:  Oct. 20 (Bookstores)

List Price: $28

Gary Kamiya’s Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco was a #1 bestseller and an award winner. Now he joins forces with celebrated, bestselling artist Paul Madonna to take a fresh look at this one-of-a-kind city. Marrying image and text in a way no book about this city has done before, Kamiya’s captivating narratives accompany Madonna’s masterful pen-and-ink drawings, breathing life into San Francisco sites both iconic and obscure.

Invisible Differences

Writer: Julie Dachez

Artist: Mademoiselle Caroline

Publisher: Oni Press

Release Date: Oct. 21 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 20 (Bookstores)

List Price: $19.99

Translated for the very first time in English, Invisible Differences is the deeply moving and intimate story of what it’s like to live day to day with Asperger Syndrome.

When I Came Out

Cartoonist: Anne Mette Kærulf Lorentzen

Publisher: SelfMadeHero

Release Date: Oct.7 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 20 (Bookstores)

List Price: $22.99

Forty-something Louise is married to Peter, with whom she has four children. They live in a big house, and on paper everything looks fantastic. But Louise has a secret that she barely dares to admit to herself: a burning desire for women. When I Came Out is the story of a woman who has met society’s expectations throughout her life but finally realizes that she has not been true to herself. From first-time creator Anne Mette Kærulf Lorentzen, this bold and elaborate piece of autobiographical work addresses personal anxieties about coming-out later in life and documents her jump from a safe, well-established, heteronormative, middle-class life to living openly as a lesbian.

Sneeze: Naoki Urasawa Story Collection

Cartoonist: Naoki Urasawa

Translator: John Werry

Publisher: Viz Media

Release Date: Oct. 21 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 20 (Bookstores)

List Price: $17.99

A curated collection of eight short stories and graphic essays by famed manga author Naoki Urasawa, creator of the acclaimed series Monster and 20th Century Boys! Urasawa’s characters confront fantastical elements ranging from psychic powers, to alien visitors to planet Earth, to attacks by giant monsters. On the flip side, the author philosophizes about his real-world experiences with the wild and wacky international music scene. Plus, a classic, funny animal tale, in Urasawa’s inimitable style!

The Phantom of the Opera: The Graphic Novel

Created By: Gaston Leroux

Cartoonist: Varga Tomi

Editor: Tyler Chin-Tanner

Publisher: A Wave Blue World, Inc.

Release Date: Oct. 7 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 20 (Bookstores)

List Price: $16.99

Everyone has heard the whispered tales of the phantom who lives beneath the opera house, the mysterious trickster behind all the little mishaps and lost things. But no one has ever seen the monster . . . until now. When the promise of blossoming love lures him out from his intricately constructed hideaways in the labyrinthine building’s walls and cellars, a hideously disfigured artist trains the lovely Christine to be the opera’s next star for a steep price. Does she choose her newfound success or her beloved Count Raoul? This doomed love triangle threatens to combust when a tragic death, a series of betrayals, and increasingly dangerous accidents cast the players of The Palais Garnier into a heart-wrenching horror story that will echo through the ages.

Great Naval Battles of the Twentieth Century: Tsushima, Jutland, Midway

Cartoonist: Jean-Yves Delitte, Giuseppe Baiguera

Publisher: Dead Reckoning

Release Date:  Oct. 21 (Bookstores)

List Price: $24.95

In the history of civilizations, sea power has always played a preponderant role. This symbol of a nation’s scientific and military genius has very often been the deciding factor during major conflicts, putting the names of several clashes down into legend. With this collection, Jean-Yves Delitte and Giuseppe Baiguera plunge you into the heart of three of the twentieth century’s greatest naval battles.

The Sacrifice of Darkness

Writers: Roxane Gay, Tracy Lynne Oliver

Artists: Rebecca Kirby, James Fenner

Publisher: BOOM Studios/Archaia

Release Date:  Oct. 21 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 27 (Bookstores)

List Price: $24.99

Roxane Gay, Tracy Lynne Oliver, and Rebecca Kirby adapt Gay’s New York Times bestselling short story “We Are the Sacrifice of Darkness” as a full-length graphic novel, expanding an unforgettable world where a tragic event forever bathes the world in darkness. Follow one woman’s powerful journey through this new landscape as she discovers love, family, and the true light in a world seemingly robbed of any. As she challenges notions of identity, guilt, and survival she’ll find that no matter the darkness, there remains sources of hope that can pierce the veil.

Plutocracy: Chronicles of a Global Monopoly

Cartoonist: Abraham Martínez

Publisher: NBM

Release Date: Nov. 18 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 27 (Bookstores)

List Price: $24.99

2051. The world’s largest company, The Company, has seized power on a planetary scale and runs the world as if it were a business. In a plutocracy, the richer one is, the more powerful one is. In this context, an anonymous citizen becomes compelled to uncover how the world came to this situation, without paying any attention to the official version. Several members of the government end up encouraging him to carry out this investigation by giving him access to all information. He decides to discover the true history of The Company and the various interests that are trying to influence his investigation.

American Utopia

Writer: David Byrne

Artist: Maira Kalman

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Release Date: Oct. 28 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 27 (Bookstores)

List Price: $24

A joyful collaboration between old friends David Byrne and Maira Kalman, American Utopia offers readers an antidote to cynicism, bursting with pathos, humanism, and hope–featuring his words and lyrics brought to life with more than 150 of her colorful paintings.

Sapiens: A Graphic History: The Birth of Humankind

Writer: Yuval Noah Harari

Artists: David Vandermeulen, Daniel Casanave

Publisher: Signal

Release Date: Oct. 28 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 27 (Bookstores)

List Price: $40

One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? In this first volume of the full-color illustrated adaptation of his groundbreaking book, renowned historian Yuval Harari tells the story of humankind’s creation and evolution, exploring the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.” From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens challenges us to reconsider accepted beliefs, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and view specific events within the context of larger ideas.

Measuring Up

Writer: Lily LaMotte

Artist: Ann Xu

Publisher: HarperAlly

Release Date: Oct. 28 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 27 (Bookstores)

List Price: $12.99

Twelve-year-old Cici has just moved from Taiwan to Seattle, and the only thing she wants more than to fit in at her new school is to celebrate her grandmother, A-má’s, seventieth birthday together. Since she can’t go to A-má, Cici cooks up a plan to bring A-má to her by winning the grand prize in a kids’ cooking contest to pay for A-má’s plane ticket! There’s just one problem: Cici only knows how to cook Taiwanese food. And after her pickled cucumber debacle at lunch, she’s determined to channel her inner Julia Child. Can Cici find a winning recipe to reunite with A-má, a way to fit in with her new friends, and somehow find herself too?

Gorillaz Almanac

Cartoonist: Gorillaz

Publisher: Z2 Comics

Release Date: Oct. 28 (Comics Shops) / Oct. 27 (Bookstores)

List Price: $24.99

Inspired by the great British tradition of the hardback annual, the Gorillaz Almanac is a full colour, one-of-a-kind, fun-packed, 120+ page, sideways homage to two glorious decades of Gorillaz. Jammed with exclusive new artwork, including the first ever strip to star 2D, Noodle, Murdoc Niccals and Russel Hobbs; puzzles, games and more; plus a raft of special guest appearances from Gorillaz collaborators past and present, the Gorillaz Almanac is a compendium of delights which finally puts the most real band around on the printed page.

Under-Earth

Cartoonist: Chris Gooch

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions

Release Date: Nov. 4 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 3 (Bookstores)

List Price: $29.99

The inmates of an extensive underground prison struggle to build meaningful lives in a broken system, in the most ambitious graphic novel to date from rising indie star Chris Gooch (Bottled and Deep Breaths).

Bionic

Cartoonist: Koren Shadmi

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions

Release Date: Nov. 4 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 3 (Bookstores)

List Price: $19.99

Bionic is a coming-of-age tale for the digital generation, taking place in the near future. It’s the story of Victor, a geeky teenager on a hopeless quest to win the love of the gorgeous Patricia — but when she returns from a horrible accident with astonishing new robotic parts, both their lives will be changed forever.

Please Don’t Step on My JNCO Jeans

Cartoonist: Noah Van Sciver

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Release Date: Dec. 30 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 3 (Bookstores)

List Price: $14.99

From 2017 to 2019, cartoonist Noah Van Sciver was creating short stories and illustrations for local magazines and alt-weeklies, in order to serve as what he calls a personal “survival mechanism.” All of these comics are collected for the first time in Please Don’t Step On My JNCO Jeans. When do you know you’re too old to trick-or-treat? What’s the best way to effectively dispose of those teenage ode-filled journals? Where do cherished cereal box prizes go when you grow up? JNCO Jeans, mostly told through one-pagers, holds observations, reflections, and breakthroughs from one of the most prolific and inspirational cartoonists of his generation.

Gross Exaggerations: The Meshuga Comic Strips of Milt Gross

Cartoonist: Milt Gross

Editor: Peter Maresca

Publisher: Sunday Press

Release Date: Nov. 4 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 3 (Bookstores)

List Price: $85

Presenting a comprehensive collection of the major comic strips from Milt Gross: Nize Baby, Count Screwloose, and Dave’s Delicatessen, along with other comic strips and offerings from books and magazines.

Mashima Hero’s 1

Cartoonist: Hiro Mashima

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: Nov. 4 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 3 (Bookstores)

List Price: $10.99

A delightful gift to every Hiro Mashima fan! Discover HERO’S, the ultimate crossover, the new manga that brings together wizards, warriors, and spacefarers from every corner of the Hiro Mashima universe, including characters from FAIRY TAIL, RAVE MASTER, and EDENS ZERO. This is Mashima’s victory lap! Don’t miss it!

7 Good Reasons Not to Grow Up

Cartoonist: Jimmy Gownley

Publisher: Graphix

Release Date: Nov. 11 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 10 (Bookstores)

List Price: $12.99

The kids at prestigious Greycliff Academy are in for a surprise when their hero, Kirby Finn, turns out to be something he’s not. To the students at exclusive Greycliff Academy, Kirby seems to have it all: charm, brains, and a lucky streak that won’t quit. He’s also the notorious mastermind behind the snarky videos, “7 Good Reasons Not to Grow Up,” which expose how being an adult isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Why would any kid want to become one of them? But there’s also a mystery about Kirby. And when his best friend, Raja, finds out that Kirby isn’t the person he’s pretending to be, Kirby, Raja, and their friends may be forced to grow up sooner than they think and face the world head-on.

Unicorns Aren’t Horny, Vol. 1

Cartoonist: Semi Ikuta

Publisher: Seven Seas

Release Date: Nov. 11 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 10 (Bookstores)

List Price: $13.99

Emuko is a twenty-something virgin–in fact, she’s never even had a boyfriend. Her roommate, a unicorn named Uni, adores her purity, but sometimes Emuko yearns for the romance she’s been missing. And does Uni love Emuko a little too much?

One of Those Days

Cartoonist: Yehuda Devir, Maya Devir

Publisher: Random House

Release Date: Nov. 11 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 10 (Bookstores)

List Price: $30

Yehuda and Maya Devir began illustrating their life in comics when they moved into their first apartment together in Tel Aviv as newlyweds. In the years since, One of Those Days has become one of the biggest webcomics on the Internet, with millions of followers around the world. Yehuda Devir grew up on superhero comic books, and the Devirs’ visual style is downright kinetic and bursting with life.

Odessa

Cartoonist: Jonathan Hill

Publisher: Oni Press

Release Date: Nov. 11 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 10 (Bookstores)
List Price: $19.99

Eight years ago an earthquake—the Big One—hit along the Cascadia fault line, toppling cities and changing landscapes all up and down the west coast of the United States. Life as we know it changed forever. But for Vietnamese-American Virginia Crane, life changed shortly after the earthquake, when her mother left and never came back. Ginny has gotten used to a life without her mother, helping her father take care of her two younger brothers, Wes and Harry. But when a mysterious package arrives for her eighteenth birthday, her life is shaken up yet again. For the first time, Ginny wants something more than to survive. And it might be a selfish desire, but she’s determined to find out what happened to her mother—even if it means leaving her family behind.

Forever People

Cartoonist: Jack Kirby

Publisher: DC Comics

Release Date: Nov. 11 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 10 (Bookstores)

List Price: $29.99

For the first time in 20 years, Jack Kirby’s Forever People reprints the amazing comic book writer and artist’s fantastical black-and-white tales of a group of young, otherworldly adventurers. This book introduces Big Bear, Mark Moonrider, Serafin, Beautiful Dreamer, and Vykin, five young heroes who, with the help of the Mother Box, have the ability to morph into the mighty Infinity Man. Included in this volume are major battles with Darkseid, Desaad, and Glorious Godfrey as well as memorable team-ups with Superman and Deadman.

Desperate Pleasures

Cartoonist: M.S. Harkness

Publisher: Uncivilized Books

Release Date: Dec. 2 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 11 (Bookstores)

List Price: $16.95

In M.S. Harkness’ (Tinderella) second graphic novel, she weaves in and out of non-relationships, drug dealing, and sex work with the subtlety of a blunt axe. She’s constantly searching for care and fulfillment, but never quite gets it right. Desperate Pleasures is a fearless autobiographical account that contextualizes the inter-relational difficulties of a young woman with years of trauma and abuse. Uncomfortably close-up, filled with dark humor, Desperate Pleasures is an unrelenting read and M.S. Harkness’ best work to date.

The Photographer of Mauthausen

Writer: Salva Rubio

Artists: Pedro J. Colombo, Aintzane Landa

Publisher: Dead Reckoning

Release Date:  Nov. 11 (Bookstores)

List Price: $19.99

This is a dramatic retelling of true events in the life of Francisco Boix, a Spanish press photographer and communist who fled to France at the beginning of World War II. But there, he found himself handed over by the French to the Nazis, who sent him to the notorious Mauthausen concentration camp, where he spent the war among thousands of other Spaniards and other prisoners. More than half of them would lose their lives there. Through an odd turn of events, Boix finds himself the confidant of an SS officer who is documenting prisoner deaths at the camp. Boix realizes that he has a chance to prove Nazi war crimes by stealing the negatives of these perverse photos–but only at the risk of his own life, that of a young Spanish boy he has sworn to protect, and, indeed, that of every prisoner in the camp.

Paul At Home

Cartoonist: Michel Rabagliati

Translator: Helge Dascher

Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly

Release Date: Oct. 21 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 17 (Bookstores)

List Price: $21.95

Paul at Home is Quebecois superstar Michel Rabagliati’s most personal book yet, a riveting, emotional, and frequently amusing take on the losses and loneliness of being closer to retirement than to university. Paul is in his mid-50s, a successful cartoonist with an achy shoulder living in a house he once shared with his wife and daughter. The backyard is unkempt, full of weeds. A swing set sits idle, slowly rusting beside a half-dead tree Paul planted with his then-five-year-old daughter. The room that belonged to his now-18-year-old daughter is mostly unused, especially once she decides to move overseas. Left unspoken but lingering in the background is Paul’s divorce after a three decade relationship with his high school sweetheart. Amid all of this emotional turmoil, Paul visits his ailing mother in the final months of her life. Like Paul, she divorced in mid-life after a long marriage. She spent most of her remaining years alone or in unfulfilling relationships, which Paul implicitly fears might happen to him. Online dating only seems to make the world worse.

The Book Tour

Cartoonist: Andi Watson

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions

Release Date: Oct. 14 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 17 (Bookstores)

List Price: $24.99

A page-turning, Kafkaesque dark comedy in brilliant retro style, this graphic novel watches one man try to keep it together while everything falls apart. Upon the publication of his latest novel, G. H. Fretwell, a minor English writer, embarks on a book tour to promote it. Nothing is going according to plan, and his trip gradually turns into a nightmare. But now the police want to ask him some questions about a mysterious disappearance, and it seems that Fretwell’s troubles are only just beginning…

A Wealth of Pigeons: A Cartoon Collection

Writer: Steve Martin

Artist: Harry Bliss

Publisher: Celadon Books

Release Date:  Nov. 17 (Bookstores)

List Price: $28

“I’ve always looked upon cartooning as comedy’s last frontier. I have done stand-up, sketches, movies, monologues, awards show introductions, sound bites, blurbs, talk show appearances, and tweets, but the idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me. I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny. You can understand that I was deeply suspicious of these people who are actually funny.” So writes the multitalented comedian Steve Martin in his introduction to A Wealth of Pigeons: A Cartoon Collection. In order to venture into this lauded territory of cartooning, he partnered with the heralded New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss. Steve shared caption and cartoon ideas, Harry provided impeccable artwork, and together they created this collection of humorous cartoons and comic strips, with amusing commentary about their collaboration throughout. The result: this gorgeous, funny, singular book, perfect to give as a gift or to buy for yourself.

Patience & Esther: An Edwardian Romance

Cartoonist: S.W. Searle

Publisher: Iron Circus Comics

Release Date: Nov. 18 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 17 (Bookstores)

List Price: $20

Patience is a kindhearted country girl, eking out a living in Edwardian England as tremors of social change rock the world around her. When she starts her employment in formal service on the grounds of an opulent country manor, she has no idea that her own personal revolution is about to begin. Selfless, dutiful, and just a touch naive, she takes to both her place as a parlor maid and to her new roommate, the bookish and progressive lady’s maid, Esther. In another time, the two women would have kept one another’s company forever in their little attic bedroom, living out their days in the employ of a Lord. But it’s now the dawn of a new age. The expanding empire has brought with it not only plundered wealth, but worldliness and new ideas. Suffragists agitate in the street, idle-rich bohemians challenge sexual mores, and Patience and Esther slowly come to realize the world is wider and full of more adventure and opportunity than they ever imagined . . . so long as they find the will to seize it.

Aster of Pan

Cartoonist: Merwan

Translator: M.B. Valente

Publisher: Magnetic Press

Release Date: Nov. 4 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 17 (Bookstores)

List Price: $29.99

The year is 2068. The place, Fontainebleau forest, ancient home of some of France’s mightiest monarchs on the outskirts of what was once Paris. The post-apocalyptic society of Pan survives by growing rice and scavenging among the ruins of a destroyed civilization. Their precarious existence comes under threat when the powerful, technologically advanced Federation of Fortuna forces them into a dangerous choice―submit to Fortuna’s rule, or try to best them in a barbaric, ritualized game known as Celestial Mechanics. Pan’s only hope? A hot-headed outcast they’d rejected for being “un-Pan”: a girl named Aster.

City Monster

Cartoonist: Reza Farazmand

Publisher: Plume

Release Date: Nov. 18 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 17 (Bookstores)

List Price: $20

City Monster is set in a world of supernatural creatures and follows a young monster who moves to the city. As he struggles to figure out his future, his new life is interrupted by questions about his mysterious roommate—a ghost who can’t remember the past. Joined by their neighbor, a vampire named Kim, they explore the city, meeting a series of strange and spooky characters and looking for answers about life, memories, and where to get a good beer. With Reza’s signature style, and familiar snark, this graphic novel is equal parts irreverent and insightful, the perfect vehicle for conveying the utter absurdity of our bizarre and confusing times.

Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West

Cartoonist: Lauren Redniss

Publisher: Random House

Release Date:  (Comics Shops) / Nov. 17 (Bookstores)

List Price: $30

A powerful work of visual nonfiction about three generations of an Apache family struggling to protect sacred land from a multinational mining corporation, by MacArthur “Genius” and National Book Award finalist Lauren Redniss, the acclaimed author of Thunder & Lightning.

Fantastic Tales of Nothing

Cartoonists: Alejandra Green, Fanny Rodriguez

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Release Date: Oct. 14 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 17 (Bookstores)

List Price: $12.99

In the first book of this full-color fantasy graphic novel series filled with humor and hijinks, the fate of the land of Nothing hinges on Nathan and an unlikely team of magical beings to save the day—perfect for fans of Amulet and Estranged.

The Big She-Bang: The Herstory of the Universe According to God the Mother

Cartoonist: Marisa Acocella

Publisher: Harper Wave

Release Date: Nov. 18 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 17 (Bookstores)

List Price: $32.50

For centuries, history has been “written about a bunch of men by a bunch of men.” In The Big SHE-Bang, Marisa Acocella challenges our understanding of humanity’s past with her own Big Book. In this gloriously vibrant, clever and hilarious alternate herstory of the world, the true leaders, makers, and doers who have been omitted—the women—at last claim their place. Narrated by God the Mother, The Big She Bang celebrates the “shevolutionaries,” from Eve to the Marys—Virgin Mother and Magdalene—from Persephone, Kali, Isis, Delilah to RBG, Gloria, and Tarana. Acocella brilliantly illuminates the way women have been erased, vilified, and dominated across eons—blamed for original sin, destruction, betrayals, witchery, and other assorted (and false) evils and ills. She sets the story straight from the beginning of time to now. Filled with stunning color graphic images, this uncompromising and hilarious book opens with a visitation: The Divine Mother appears in Acocella’s studio and takes her on an epic feminist journey that begins at the big SHE-bang. The rest, as they say, is herstsory.

Dune the Graphic Novel: Book One

Created By: Frank Herbert

Writer: Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson

Artist: Raúl Allén, Patricia Martín

Publisher: Abrams ComicArts

Release Date: Nov. 25 (Comics Shops) / Nov. 24 (Bookstores)

List Price: $24.99

Dune, Frank Herbert’s epic science-fiction masterpiece set in the far future amidst a sprawling feudal interstellar society, tells the story of Paul Atreides as he and his family accept control of the desert planet Arrakis. A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism, and politics, Dune is a powerful, fanstastical tale that takes an unprecedented look into our universe, and is transformed by the graphic novel format.

Barely Functional Adult: It’ll All Make Sense Eventually

Cartoonist: Meichi Ng

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Release Date:  Nov. 24 (Bookstores)

List Price: $17.99

Wielding her trademark balance of artful humor, levity, and heartbreaking introspection, Meichi Ng’s indisputably relatable collection of short stories holds a mirror to our past, present, and future selves. Featuring a swaddled Barely Functional Adult as its protagonist who says all the things we think but dare not say, this book is equal parts humorous and heartbreaking as it spans a spectrum of topics from imposter syndrome, therapy, friendships, first loves, letting go of exes, to just trying to find your purpose in the world. Prepare to excitedly shove this book in your friend’s face with little decorum as you shout, “THIS IS SO US!”

Cat Kid Comic Club

Cartoonist: Dav Pilkey

Publisher: Graphix

Release Date: Dec. 2 (Comics Shops) / Dec. 1 (Bookstores)

List Price: $12.99

Welcome to the Cat Kid Comic Club, where Li’l Petey (LP), Flippy, and Molly introduce twenty-one rambunctious, funny, and talented baby frogs to the art of comic making. As the story unwinds with mishaps and hilarity, readers get to see the progress, mistakes, and improvements that come with practice and persistence.

Juliet Takes a Breath: Graphic Novel

Created By: Gabby Rivera

Writer: Gabby Rivera

Artist: Celia Moscote

Publisher: BOOM Studios/BOOM! Box

Release Date: Nov. 25 (Comics Shops) / Dec. 1 (Bookstores)

List Price: $14.99

A NEW GRAPHIC NOVEL ADAPTATION OF THE BESTSELLING BOOK! Juliet Milagros Palante is leaving the Bronx and headed to Portland, Oregon. She just came out to her family and isn’t sure if her mom will ever speak to her again. But don’t worry, Juliet has something kinda resembling a plan that’ll help her figure out what it means to be Puerto Rican, lesbian, and out. See, she’s going to intern with Harlowe Brisbane—her favorite author, whose latest book on feminism and finding power in your body has Juliet ready to stomp the patriarchy and fall forever in love with herself. There’s just one problem—Harlowe’s clueless, not from the Bronx, and doesn’t have the answers. Okay, maybe that’s more than one problem but Juliet never said it was a perfect plan…

The Eternaut 1969

Writer: Héctor Germán Oesterheld

Artist: Alberto Breccia

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Release Date: Dec. 2 (Comics Shops) / Dec. 1 (Bookstores)

List Price: $19.99

This is a psychedelically drawn, boldly political retelling of the 1950s graphic novel The Eternaut, whose imagery is still used as a symbol of resistance in Latin America to this day. In the 1950s, pioneering comics writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld authored the serialized science-fiction adventure story The Eternaut, now a seminal Argentine graphic novel. In 1969, Oesterheld rebooted his narrative as a dark warning for a mature readership; Alberto Breccia manifested the tonal shift with an expressionistic, disorienting art style.

Cheeky: A Head-to-Toe Memoir

Cartoonist: Ariella Elovic

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Release Date: Dec. 8 (Bookstores)

List Price: $26

Too tall. Too short. Too fat. Too thin. The message is everywhere–we need to pluck, wax, shrink, and hide ourselves, to not take up space, emotionally or literally; women are never “just right.” Well, Ariella Elovic, feminist and illustrator extraordinaire, has had enough. In her full-color graphic memoir Cheeky, she takes an inspiring and exuberant head-to-toe look at her own body self-consciousness, and body part by body part, finds her way back to herself.

The Complete Hate

Cartoonist: Peter Bagge

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Release Date: Dec. 9 (Comics Shops) / Dec. 8 (Bookstores)

List Price: $119.99

The Complete Hate is a three-volume set that includes the original 1990-1998 30-issue run, the nine subsequent Hate Annuals, and tons of other Hate-related comics, illustrations, and ephemer
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