Comics & Graphic Novels

The A Word provides a feminist perspective on the history of abortion, working to end the taboos that surround this procedure—and the word itself.
The A Word champions the women advocating for free and legal access to the seventy-three million abortions performed around the world every year, more than half of which require women to resort to underground procedures that put their lives at risk. This global history defines the term and the practice of abortion as it exists today and tells the stories of women all over the world engaged in the fight to take back control of their bodies.

From the Indigenous use of abortive plants before colonization to the complicated legacy of Margaret Sanger, to modern advocates like Maria Antonieta Alcalde Castro, Wendy Davis, and Simone Veil, the book shines a light on pivotal moments and figures of the abortion struggle and asks: Why do poor women fare worse when trying to access abortion? How was abortion criminalized? Who profits from its illegality?

The A Word reflects on how the struggle for reproductive justice became a movement that has defined our time. It is a fight that has united feminists across continents and decades to secure safe access to a choice that recent history has shown we cannot take for granted.

The A Word provides a feminist perspective on the history of abortion, working to end the taboos that surround this procedure—and the word itself.
The A Word champions the women advocating for free and legal access to the seventy-three million abortions performed around the world every year, more than half of which require women to resort to underground procedures that put their lives at risk. This global history defines the term and the practice of abortion as it exists today and tells the stories of women all over the world engaged in the fight to take back control of their bodies.

From the Indigenous use of abortive plants before colonization to the complicated legacy of Margaret Sanger, to modern advocates like Maria Antonieta Alcalde Castro, Wendy Davis, and Simone Veil, the book shines a light on pivotal moments and figures of the abortion struggle and asks: Why do poor women fare worse when trying to access abortion? How was abortion criminalized? Who profits from its illegality?

The A Word reflects on how the struggle for reproductive justice became a movement that has defined our time. It is a fight that has united feminists across continents and decades to secure safe access to a choice that recent history has shown we cannot take for granted.

A contemporary political allegory of power, to remind us of the dangers of following a dictator and surrendering your freedom.

Life is simple for the pigeons. They have no desire to contemplate their future or take control of it. Free from responsibility, they are all too willing to submit to a strong authority. This is precisely what a cruel and power-hungry crow was waiting for—a perfect opportunity to wield his natural talents as a tyrant. The crow enforces law and order, but also terror and arbitrary rules. Everyone seems to accept this situation—or maybe, they are too scared to resist. Until an idealistic seagull steps in, determined to challenge the system through debate and free elections.

A fun way to learn about China in a visual, informative comic-style history.

Who founded China? Are Chinese people religious? What is Chinese culture and how has it changed over time? The accessible and fun Understanding China Through Comics series answers those questions and more.

For all ages, Foundations of Chinese Civilization covers China's early history in comic form, introducing philosophies like Confucianism and Daoism, the story of the Silk Road, famous emperors like Han Wudi, and the process of China's unification.

Includes a handy timeline. This is volume one of the Understanding China Through Comics series.

Jing Liu is a Beijing native now living in Davis, California. A successful designer and entrepreneur who helped brands tell their stories, Jing currently uses his artistry to tell the story of China.

This fun, comic-style series that explores China's relationship with its barbarian neighbors. The Mongols!

Who founded China? Are Chinese people religious? What is Chinese culture and how has it changed over time? The Understanding China Through Comics series answers these questions and more.

The third volume of the Understanding China Through Comics series, Barbarians and the Birth of Chinese Identity, tells of the founding of the Song Dynasty and its attempts to reinvigorate a flagging economy and government while defending against barbarians and the eventual invasion of China by Genghis Khan and the Mongols.

The fourth volume in this fun, comic-style series that explores China's move to modernization!

Who founded China? Are Chinese people religious? What is Chinese culture and how has it changed over time? The Understanding China Through Comics series answers these questions and more.

The fourth volume in the Understanding China Through Comics series The Making of Modern China, covers the stunningly productive Ming dynasty and its fall to the Manchus under the Qing, the last Chinese dynasty. The book also addresses Wang Yangming's School of Mind and the painful process of modernization and conflict with the West and Japan, including the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion.

"Impressive, exhaustive, labyrinthine, and obsessive—The Anime Encyclopedia is an astonishing piece of work." —Neil Gaiman

With over 10,000 entries nothing comes close . . . from classics to hidden gems, all the anime you love is finally at your fingertips.

This 3rd edition of The Anime Encyclopedia brings the landmark reference work up to date with six additional years of information on Japanese animation, its practitioners and products, as well as incisive thematic entries on anime history and culture. Even the most diehard anime fans will come away with new facts about their favorite anime and hidden gems to watch.

More than just generic listings, these reviews have snark, intelligence, and a discerning point of view. Data-obsessed fans will relish the extensive credits, online links, and cross-references, and parents and librarians will appreciate the content advisories.

How China became the China we know today, through war and societal transformation.

China entered the 20th century as an agrarian society, weakened under internal and external pressures. Revolutionaries came together to bring down the last imperial dynasty but quickly split over the direction of reconstruction. Civil wars ensued, followed by WWI. 

The fate of the country appeared to be in the hands of industrial powers like Britain, Germany, Japan, the Soviet Union, and the United States. All seemed lost when Japan seized all Chinese seaports, railways, industries, and fertile farmland. Yet Chinese resistance continued for eight years and the entire society was mobilized. After decades of struggling, China finally regained independence that laid the foundation for its own modernization.

Llega el bestseller de los exitosos dibujantes de @dinosaurcouch

Terapia para dinosaurios es mucho más que un libro de humor gráfico. A través de estas viñetas llenas de ternura, los dinosaurios nos enseñan, de forma original y divertida, cómo enfrentarnos a las paradojas de la vida moderna. En este libro podrás reflexionar sobre el estrés, la soledad o la ansiedad desde un prisma diferente, pero también te reirás con los irónicos comentarios de los dinosaurios sobre problemas comunes a cualquier ser humano.

Terapia para dinosaurios te hará pensar, reír y sentir. Aprenderás a afrontar los aspectos negativos de la vida con esperanza y sentido del humor, y a recibir los positivos sin cinismo y con el corazón abierto. Además, te recordará la importancia de cuidar nuestra salud mental y de hablar de ello sin tapujos. Sin duda, algo necesario en estos tiempos tan complicados. Únete a los dinosaurios en esta aventura terapéutica y disfruta de la vida con humor y sabiduría.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

Presenting the bestseller from the successful illustrators of @dinosaurcouch

Dinosaur Therapy  is much more than a graphic humor book. Through these heartwarming cartoons, the dinosaurs teach us, in an original and fun way, how to face the paradoxes of modern life. In this book, you can reflect on stress, loneliness, or anxiety from a different perspective, but you'll also laugh at the dinosaurs' ironic comments on problems common to any human being.

Dinosaur Therapy  will make you think, laugh, and feel. You'll learn to face the negative aspects of life with hope and a sense of humor, and to receive the positive ones without cynicism and with an open heart. Moreover, it will remind you of the importance of taking care of our mental health and talking about it openly. Undoubtedly, something necessary in these complicated times. Join the dinosaurs on this therapeutic adventure and enjoy life with humor and wisdom.

When Marvel publisher Martin Goodman asked Stan Lee to deliver another new team book for his line of comics, he had no idea he’d be getting something like The X-Men. In fact, nobody could have imagined the extraordinary phenomenon the X-Men would eventually grow into—not Goodman, not Lee, not even the forward-thinking futurist Jack Kirby. What they started out as was a charming, ragtag team of misfits, devised by Lee and Kirby to be mutants—youngsters born with “X-tra” powers thrust upon them not by accidentally crossing paths with cosmic rays or a nuclear blast, but by the fate of birth—led by a no-nonsense professor who trained them to become heroes that could protect the world from menaces, mutant and otherwise.

The first years of storytelling laid the foundation for much of what has put the X-Men at the crossroads of comics and popular culture: Hounded by a public that fears and misunderstands them, mutantkind find themselves at the heart of their own civil rights struggle; Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast, and Iceman found safety amongst themselves despite the challenges that set them apart from others in society; and Professor Xavier lined up against his ideological foe, Magneto, who had assembled a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to take the fight for their self-preservation directly to humankind.

Along the way, Lee and Kirby—who were on fire taking comics into the Marvel Age—introduced a menagerie of villains and supporting characters that would become mainstays of Marvel and its lore: the super-powered siblings Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch; the formidable Blob; the unstoppable Juggernaut; the jungle dweller from the Savage Land, Ka-Zar; the demigod from the stars, the Stranger; and Bolivar Trask and his army of mutant-hunting Sentinels. And as Lee and Kirby gave way to new talents so they could move on to new corners of the Marvel Universe, Atlas era art veteran Werner Roth teamed with writing newcomer and future X-Men legend Roy Thomas to begin their long run on the title.

Close in size to the original artworks, this XXL-sized edition features the first 21 stories of our favorite oddball super heroes from 1963–1966. The most pristine pedigreed comics have been cracked open and photographed for reproduction in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company. Each page has been photographed as printed more than half a century ago, then digitally remastered using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s inexpensive, imperfect printing—as if hot off of a world-class 1960s printing press. A custom paper stock was exclusively developed for this series to simulate the feel of the original comics.

In addition to these seminal tales are an original foreword by modern X-Men mastermind Chris Claremont, reliving the heyday of Lee and Kirby’s foundational years, and an in-depth essay by X-Men writer Fabian Nicieza alongside original art, photographs, and memorabilia from the early years of X.

Also available in a Collector’s Edition of 1,000 numbered copies



© 2023 MARVEL 

The second Marvel character to spring from the legendary creative collaboration of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the early 1960s was a far cry from the Fantastic Four’s recognizable family dynamics and globe-trotting super heroics. The Hulk was a Monster! The alter ego of puny human scientist Bruce Banner unleashed when an experimental bomb douses the hapless scientist in Gamma radiation, and thereupon unleashed every time the mild-mannered Banner lost his temper, the Hulk exploded from comics stands into an unsuspecting world…and he hasn’t stopped since.

Unquestionably one of the strangest, strongest, and most evocative archetypes to come from Marvel Comics, the Hulk defies all explanation. At times at war with other superheroes, villains, the United States military, humanity, and even his alter-ego Bruce Banner himself, he stands as an avatar of unbridled fury, primal instincts, the destructive potential of the atomic bomb and humanity’s hubris all at once. A modern Prometheus, imbued by atomic fire, who will never stop raging, never stop smashing.

Now, TASCHEN brings you the Hulk as you’ve never seen him before, in an XXL-size volume worthy of his name. Collecting The Incredible Hulk Issues 1–6, along with his appearances in Tales to Astonish. All issues have been photographed using TASCHEN’s sterling reproduction methods, resembling the way these comics first looked when initially published, while also being digitally remastered using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s inexpensive, imperfect printing.

An introduction by pop-culture and comic scholar Douglas Wolk, meticulously researched and adorned with rarely seen original art, photos, and paraphernalia showcasing the Hulk’s lasting impact on global culture, rounds out this massive package to honor of the biggest, meanest, and greenest superheroes of all time.

Also available in a Collector’s Edition of 1,000 numbered copies

© 2025 MARVEL

The mostly true tale of Stan Lee, the one and only Godfather of Comics. From his childhood in Depression-era New York, to transforming Marvel into the number one comics publisher in the world, to his 21st-century reinvention as Chief Creative Officer of global entertainment company POW! Entertainment, Stan “the Man” Lee stands the test of time as the most legendary name in comicbook history.

Stanley Lieber began working at Timely Comics in 1940 at the age of 17 and found himself at the helm of the bullpen as its top editor just two years later. But it wasn’t until 1961 that he ignited a revolution known as the “Marvel Age of Comics.” With a legendary stable of art partners including Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita, and Jim Steranko, Lee unleashed a dizzying cascade of seminal comicbook creations—the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, the X-Men, and the Avengers to name a few. After moving to Hollywood in 1980, he did it again, developing TV and film projects that laid the groundwork for the “Marvel movie.” Stan’s constant cameo presence in these billion-dollar worldwide events was a testament to his influence. As the man behind POW! Entertainment, he became a master of all media—working with rock stars and professional sports leagues, movie mavens and reality TV shows—reinforcing his creative stature the world over.

First published as a signed Collector’s Edition and sold out within a week, the book was written and edited with Lee himself. His tale is told by his successor at Marvel, renowned comics writer, editor, and historian Roy Thomas, who brings “you are there” insights and wide-eyed clarity to key moments of Lee’s journey to pop culture immortality. Featuring hundreds of treasures of comicbook art, intimate photographs sourced straight from his family archives, a foreword written by Lee himself, a novel-length essay and new epilogue by Thomas, and an appendix with complete reprints of Stan’s comics from throughout the decades, this is a titanic tribute worthy of the Man.

All Marvel characters are © MARVEL

By early 1963 the foundations of the Marvel Universe had been laid. Following the introduction of the Fantastic Four in 1961 came the amazing (Spider-Man), the astonishing (Ant-Man), the strange (Doctor, that is), the incredible (Hulk), the invincible (Iron Man) and the mighty (Thor). Still, Marvel editor in chief Stan Lee realized something was missing. “I was writing these characters and I thought it would fun to put them together in a team,” he recalled. So Lee and artist Jack Kirby assembled Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Thor, and the Hulk to create the Avengers.Right away it was clear this team was different. If the Fantastic Four were family, then the Avengers were the co-workers you didn’t choose. Not everyone got along—the Hulk fought with everyone—but working together they could defeat the baddest of Marvel’s bad guys, like Loki, Kang the Conqueror, the Masters of Evil, and Immortus. The lineup was ever changing: The Hulk departed, Captain America joined, and Ant-Man grew up to become Giant-Man. Then, remarkably, villains Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch became heroes—and Avengers—and the group’s founding members shockingly departed, leaving Captain America to lead the newly minted heroes.Relive the classic early adventures of Avengers Nos. 1–20 now available as a compact trade edition. TASCHEN has attempted to create an ideal representation of these books as they were produced at the time of publication. The most pristine pedigreed comics have been cracked open and photographed for reproduction in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company. Each page has then been digitally remastered using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s inexpensive, imperfect printing—as if hot off a world-class 1960s printing press.Accompanying the stories are an original foreword by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and an in-depth history by the Eisner Award-winning writer Kurt Busiek that’s illustrated with original art, little-seen photographs, and rare documents. This mighty collection about Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is worthy of Tony Stark’s library—or yours.
© 2024 MARVEL

Their collaboration on Spider-Man couldn’t last forever—but the five-years of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s remarkable partnership lasted long enough for their character to evolve into a timeless icon and create a fandom that would last generations. TASCHEN’s second volume of Amazing Spider-Man stories collects the latter half of the duo’s magnum opus, featuring brand new arch-villains the Scorpion, Molten Man, and the Crime-Master, return engagements with Kraven the Hunter and the Green Goblin—and the three-part “Master Planner Saga” that reignited a feud with an iconic mystery villain, and left behind what many comics critics declare to be the greatest super hero story of all time. 
Beyond the action that faced Spider-Man—all choreographed with aplomb by the master stylist Ditko—there was also the matter of Peter Parker’s maturation during a decade of social upheaval and change. With Stan Lee’s blend of soap opera melodramatics and finger-on-the-pulse social sensitivities, Peter graduated from high school to college and started to deal with a myriad of adult struggles, mirroring the life experiences of the book’s readership. A scrawny teenager no more, Lee and Ditko would widen his network of friends and frenemies, debuting Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, and, in a series of hilarious cameos, Mary Jane Watson—all characters that would develop into one of the deepest and most substantive supporting casts in all of comics. Also introduced is Harry’s father, Norman Osborn, the short-tempered industrialist who would later be revealed as Spider-Man’s most dreaded foe. Meanwhile, Peter’s up-and-down romance with Betty Brant would reach its culmination with both changed forever. 
Collected in an XXL-size volume that closely simulates the size and proportions of the original comic artboards, all individual issues have been sourced from the collection of Bob Bretall, holder of the Guinness World Record for largest comics collection. Bretall’s pedigreed collection has been photographed using TASCHEN’s sterling reproduction methods, resembling the way these comics first looked when initially published in 1965 and 1966, while also being digitally remastered using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s inexpensive, imperfect printing. A custom paper stock was exclusively developed for this series to simulate the newsprint feel and color holding of the original comics. The Marvel Comics Library has earned well-deserved raves from comic collecting diehards for combining an old school comic book reading experience with a luxurious oversized book format, winning the industry’s coveted Eisner Award for Best Publication Design. 
Complementing the comics is an incisive and often side-splitting essay by British TV and radio host Jonathan Ross. Accompanying his essay is a gallery of original art, photographs, rarities, and other ephemera of the era.



© 2023 MARVEL

In the years 1965 through 1967, Stan Lee and his art partner Don Heck guided the Avengers through their “Kooky Quartet” era with unbridled adventures and important character development. Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Captain America took on all comers, often in multi-part epics that pitted the Avengers against foes old and new, like the Enchantress, Doctor Doom and Kang.

The Avengers of 1965–1967 also featured change within the ranks of the team and its creative stable. The Wasp and Giant-Man would rejoin Earth’s Mightiest–the latter adopting a new costume and codename–and Black Widow and Hercules would join as guest stars. Lee would depart as writer in the summer of 1966, handing the keys to the Avengers over to newcomer Roy Thomas, whose earliest stories set the stage for his future glories carrying the title to a legacy filled with milestone after milestone.

Avengers Nos. 21–40 are collected here in a volume that closely simulates the size and proportions of the original comic artboards; with comics sourced from the collection of Bob Bretall, holder of the Guinness World Record for largest comics collection, meticulously photographed to resemble the way these comics looked when first published, while also being digitally remastered using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s imperfect printing. A custom paper stock was developed exclusively for this series to replicate the newsprint feel and color holding of the original comics. The Marvel Comics Library has earned well-deserved raves for combining an old school reading experience with a luxurious oversized book format, winning the industry’s coveted Eisner Award for Best Publication Design.

Complementing the comics is an essay by Black Panther writer Christopher Priest, whose lively style merges with a deep and abiding love for the comic book artform and its history. Accompanying his essay is a gallery of original art, photographs, rarities, and other ephemera of the era.Also available in a Collector’s Edition of 1,000 numbered copies

Introduced by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the fertile pages of The Fantastic Four, the Silver Surfer quickly established himself as one of Marvel’s most far-out characters. Enslaved by Galactus to prowl the cosmos for the demi-god’s next planet-sized meal, the Surfer was as tragic a figure as any in comics—and he looked impossibly cool at the same time! A smash hit with fans and a regular supporting character in Fantastic Four, the character struck a creative nerve with Lee, who couldn’t wait to begin to tell some Surfer solo stories, but the timing had to be right.

In the spring of 1968, things came together for both writer and character, with Lee giving the Surfer Marvel’s very first ongoing double-sized book. Lee also recruited artist John Buscema, who had recently been lending his extraordinary pencils to The Avengers. Together, they spun off a run of legendary tales that helped define the character forevermore.
The feature stories from the entire 18-issue run of the 1968 Silver Surfer series are collected in this cosmic-sized XXL tome from the Eisner Award-winning Marvel Comics Library series. The most pristine pedigreed comics have been cracked open and photographed for reproduction in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company. Each page has been photographed as printed more than half a century ago, then digitally remastered using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s inexpensive, imperfect printing—as if hot off a world-class 1960s printing press. A custom paper stock was exclusively developed for this series to simulate the feel of the original comics.
Texts by author and critic Douglas Wolk and Marvel artist and brother of John Buscema, Sal Buscema, accompany original artwork, photographs, and rare memorabilia.



© 2023 MARVEL

When Marvel publisher Martin Goodman asked Stan Lee to deliver another new team book for his line of comics, he had no idea he’d be getting something like The X-Men. In fact, nobody could have imagined the extraordinary phenomenon the X-Men would eventually grow into—not Goodman, not Lee, not even the forward-thinking futurist Jack Kirby. What they started out as was a charming, ragtag team of misfits, devised by Lee and Kirby to be mutants—youngsters born with “X-tra” powers thrust upon them not by accidentally crossing paths with cosmic rays or a nuclear blast, but by the fate of birth—led by a no-nonsense professor who trained them to become heroes that could protect the world from menaces, mutant and otherwise.

The first years of storytelling laid the foundation for much of what has put the X-Men at the crossroads of comics and popular culture: Hounded by a public that fears and misunderstands them, mutantkind find themselves at the heart of their own civil rights struggle; Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast, and Iceman found safety amongst themselves despite the challenges that set them apart from others in society; and Professor Xavier lined up against his ideological foe, Magneto, who had assembled a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to take the fight for their self-preservation directly to humankind.

Along the way, Lee and Kirby—who were on fire taking comics into the Marvel Age—introduced a menagerie of villains and supporting characters that would become mainstays of Marvel and its lore: the super-powered siblings Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch; the formidable Blob; the unstoppable Juggernaut; the jungle dweller from the Savage Land, Ka-Zar; the demigod from the stars, the Stranger; and Bolivar Trask and his army of mutant-hunting Sentinels. And as Lee and Kirby gave way to new talents so they could move on to new corners of the Marvel Universe, Atlas era art veteran Werner Roth teamed with writing newcomer and future X-Men legend Roy Thomas to begin their long run on the title.

Close in size to the original artworks, this XXL-sized edition features the first 21 stories of our favorite oddball super heroes from 1963–1966. The most pristine pedigreed comics have been cracked open and photographed for reproduction in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company. Each page has been photographed as printed more than half a century ago, then digitally remastered using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s inexpensive, imperfect printing—as if hot off of a world-class 1960s printing press. A custom paper stock was exclusively developed for this series to simulate the feel of the original comics.

In addition to these seminal tales are an original foreword by modern X-Men mastermind Chris Claremont, reliving the heyday of Lee and Kirby’s foundational years, and an in-depth essay by X-Men writer Fabian Nicieza alongside original art, photographs, and memorabilia from the early years of X.

Also available in a Collector’s Edition of 1,000 numbered copies



© 2023 MARVEL 

Hoping to break out of a sales slump at Marvel in the early 1960s, veteran comic creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby hit on the idea of doing a super team. Kirby, who thought superheroes were due for a revival after 15 years of being pushed aside by romance, horror, and war comics, saw it as smart business. Lee just once wanted to “do the type of story I myself would enjoy reading.” The Fantastic Four forever changed their careers, their lives, and the comic book industry.

Some of the most iconic moments in Marvel history are here, starting with Reed Richards, his girlfriend Sue Storm, his best friend Ben Grimm, and her little brother Johnny Storm crash landing their rocket after it has been hit cosmic rays and discovering they have been transformed into Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, the Thing, and the Human Torch in issue No. 1. They were emotionally complex characters, who weren’t always sure whether their powers were a benefit or burden. Stories were set in New York City, not some fictional stand-in, and Marvel heroes regularly crossed over into each other’s books. The art was dynamic and the writing conversational and engaging. Lee and Kirby were like the Lennon and McCartney of comic books. Where the talents of one ended and the other began was not always clear, but together one plus one equaled three.

Collected here in an XXL-size volume are the first 20 issues reproduced from the most pristine pedigreed original comics, which were cracked open and photographed in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company.

Featured alongside the comics is an in-depth essay by acclaimed Marvel writer Mark Waid, a foreword by former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, and original art, photographs, and other rarities. Welcome true believers to the Marvel Age of Comics.



© 2022 MARVEL

Their collaboration on Spider-Man couldn’t last forever—but the five-years of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s remarkable partnership lasted long enough for their character to evolve into a timeless icon and create a fandom that would last generations. TASCHEN’s second volume of Amazing Spider-Man stories collects the latter half of the duo’s magnum opus, featuring brand new arch-villains the Scorpion, Molten Man, and the Crime-Master, return engagements with Kraven the Hunter and the Green Goblin—and the three-part “Master Planner Saga” that reignited a feud with an iconic mystery villain, and left behind what many comics critics declare to be the greatest super hero story of all time. 
Beyond the action that faced Spider-Man—all choreographed with aplomb by the master stylist Ditko—there was also the matter of Peter Parker’s maturation during a decade of social upheaval and change. With Stan Lee’s blend of soap opera melodramatics and finger-on-the-pulse social sensitivities, Peter graduated from high school to college and started to deal with a myriad of adult struggles, mirroring the life experiences of the book’s readership. A scrawny teenager no more, Lee and Ditko would widen his network of friends and frenemies, debuting Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, and, in a series of hilarious cameos, Mary Jane Watson—all characters that would develop into one of the deepest and most substantive supporting casts in all of comics. Also introduced is Harry’s father, Norman Osborn, the short-tempered industrialist who would later be revealed as Spider-Man’s most dreaded foe. Meanwhile, Peter’s up-and-down romance with Betty Brant would reach its culmination with both changed forever. 
Collected in an XXL-size volume that closely simulates the size and proportions of the original comic artboards, all individual issues have been sourced from the collection of Bob Bretall, holder of the Guinness World Record for largest comics collection. Bretall’s pedigreed collection has been photographed using TASCHEN’s sterling reproduction methods, resembling the way these comics first looked when initially published in 1965 and 1966, while also being digitally remastered using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s inexpensive, imperfect printing. A custom paper stock was exclusively developed for this series to simulate the newsprint feel and color holding of the original comics. The Marvel Comics Library has earned well-deserved raves from comic collecting diehards for combining an old school comic book reading experience with a luxurious oversized book format, winning the industry’s coveted Eisner Award for Best Publication Design. 
Complementing the comics is an incisive and often side-splitting essay by British TV and radio host Jonathan Ross. Accompanying his essay is a gallery of original art, photographs, rarities, and other ephemera of the era.



© 2023 MARVEL

When Stan Lee first pitched the idea of Spider-Man in 1962, his boss was full of objections: People hate spiders. Teenagers aren’t lead characters; they’re sidekicks. He should be glamorous and successful, not a friendless loser. But Stan persisted and Martin Goodman let him give the unlikely hero a tryout in Amazing Fantasy, which was already slated for cancellation. With Spider-Man on the cover, No. 15 shot to the top of Marvel’s best-seller list for the year, and the rest is history.Amazing Spider-Man, which debuted seven months later, broke the comics mold. Peter Parker lived in uncool Queens, was always broke, continually worried about his Aunt May, was unlucky in love, and was constantly getting yelled at by his boss, Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson. Spider-Man had the quips and confidence that Parker lacked, but learning to use his powers wasn’t always easy. He often seemed on the verge of defeat against the rogue’s gallery of classic foes that debuted in the first couple of years: Vulture, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Lizard, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, and the Green Goblin. Much of the credit for Spider-Man’s greatness goes to cocreator and artist Steve Ditko, who had a knack for portraying teenagers and their problems. His artwork infused Spider-Man with a loose-limbed energy, and, while maybe everyone was scared of spiders, Ditko made swinging through New York seem like the coolest adventure ever.First available as an XXL-sized collector’s dream, close in size to the original artworks, this compact edition features the first 21 stories of the world’s favorite web slinger from 1962–1964. Rather than recolor the original artwork (as has been done in previous decades’ reprints of classic comics), TASCHEN has attempted to create an ideal representation of these books as they were produced at the time of publication. The most pristine pedigreed comics have been cracked open and photographed for reproduction in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company. Each page has been photographed as printed more than half a century ago, then digitally remastered using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s inexpensive, imperfect printing—as if hot off a world-class 1960s printing press.With an in-depth historical essay by Marvel editor Ralph Macchio, an introduction by uber-collector David Mandel, and original art, rare photographs, and other gems, this robust collection of wall-crawling wonder will make anyone’s spider-sense tingle with anticipation.© 2024 MARVEL

Hoping to break out of a sales slump at Marvel in the early 1960s, veteran comic creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby hit on the idea of doing a super team. Kirby, who thought superheroes were due for a revival after 15 years of being pushed aside by romance, horror, and war comics, saw it as smart business. Lee just once wanted to “do the type of story I myself would enjoy reading.” The Fantastic Four forever changed their careers, their lives, and the comic book industry.

Some of the most iconic moments in Marvel history are here, starting with Reed Richards, his girlfriend Sue Storm, his best friend Ben Grimm, and her little brother Johnny Storm crash landing their rocket after it has been hit cosmic rays and discovering they have been transformed into Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, the Thing, and the Human Torch in issue No. 1. They were emotionally complex characters, who weren’t always sure whether their powers were a benefit or burden. Stories were set in New York City, not some fictional stand-in, and Marvel heroes regularly crossed over into each other’s books. The art was dynamic and the writing conversational and engaging. Lee and Kirby were like the Lennon and McCartney of comic books. Where the talents of one ended and the other began was not always clear, but together one plus one equaled three.

Collected here in an XXL-size volume are the first 20 issues reproduced from the most pristine pedigreed original comics, which were cracked open and photographed in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company.

Featured alongside the comics is an in-depth essay by acclaimed Marvel writer Mark Waid, a foreword by former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, and original art, photographs, and other rarities. Welcome true believers to the Marvel Age of Comics.



© 2022 MARVEL

By early 1963 the foundations of the Marvel Universe had been laid. Following the introduction of the Fantastic Four in 1961 came the amazing (Spider-Man), the astonishing (Ant-Man), the strange (Doctor, that is), the incredible (Hulk), the invincible (Iron Man) and the mighty (Thor). Still, Marvel editor in chief Stan Lee realized something was missing. “I was writing these characters and I thought it would fun to put them together in a team,” he recalled. So Lee and artist Jack Kirby assembled Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Thor, and the Hulk to create the Avengers.

Right away it was clear this team was different. If the Fantastic Four were family, then the Avengers were the co-workers you didn’t choose. Not everyone got along—the Hulk fought with everyone—but working together they could defeat the baddest of Marvel’s bad guys, like Loki, Kang the Conqueror, the Masters of Evil, and Immortus. The lineup was ever changing: The Hulk departed, Captain America joined, and Ant-Man grew up to become Giant-Man. Then, remarkably, villains Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch became heroes—and Avengers—and the group’s founding members shockingly departed, leaving Captain America to lead the newly-minted heroes.

Relive the classic early adventures of Avengers Nos. 1–20 in an XXL-sized edition that’s bigger than the Hulk’s fist, weightier than Thor’s hammer, and with more extras than Iron Man’s armor. TASCHEN has attempted to create an ideal representation of these books as they were produced at the time of publication. The most pristine pedigreed comics have been cracked open and photographed for reproduction in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company. Each page has then been digitally remastered using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s inexpensive, imperfect printing—as if hot off of a world-class 1960s printing press.

Accompanying the stories are an original foreword by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and an in-depth history by the Eisner Award-winning writer Kurt Busiek that’s illustrated with original art, little-seen photographs, and rare documents. This mighty collection about Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is worthy of Tony Stark’s library—or yours.

Also available in a Collector’s Edition of 1,000 numbered copies.



© 2022 MARVEL

When Bill Gaines inherited EC Comics from his father, the legendary publisher M. C. Gaines, at just 25 years old, no one could predict the impact he would have—not only on comics, but on global pop culture at large.

Inspired by the pulp sci-fi stories and weird fiction of their youth, Bill Gaines and artist Al Feldstein drafted the initial issues of what would become the first true serialized science fiction magazine, delivering stories, creatures, and worlds unlike anything readers had ever seen.
Far from the simplistic space adventures of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, the high-concept, morally ambiguous, and often-chilling tales of Weird Science resonated deeply with readers growing up in the Atomic Age under the shadow of the mushroom cloud. Nuclear threats, the ravages of science unshackled from ethics, and the creeping authority of world governments locked in a Cold War had begun seeping into the fabric of American life.

The first issue of Weird Science appeared on newsstands in the spring of 1950, its cover boldly daring readers to pick it up. Subsequent bimonthly releases pulled audiences into an ever-changing kaleidoscope of “Scientific SuspenStories,” featuring Martian invasions, murderous androids, time travel gone awry, planets inhabited entirely by women, and more.

Bolstered by a growing stable of soon-to-be comic art legends like Harvey Kurtzman, Wally Wood, and Joe Orlando, Weird Science shaped the collective imagination of a generation. Gaines and Feldstein boldly tackled themes that were rarely addressed in serialized comics, while visionary artists like Wood went on to define the aesthetic and societal impact of the genre, depicting futuristic vistas and impossible technology with a level of detail as if not merely imagining them, but glimpsing into the very future itself.

In Volume 1, TASCHEN presents the first eleven issues of Weird Science, meticulously recreating the comics in their original glory. Rather than recolor the artwork, this edition works with super-high-resolution photographs of each page as it was printed more than half a century ago, using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s inexpensive, imperfect printing. The result is a pristine product, keeping the character and feel of the classic pulp comic magazines, but freshly printed by a world-class press, produced without the economic or time constraints of the past.

Complete with an introductory essay by EC authority Grant Geissman, which illustrates the historical, cultural, and artistic context of the stories and their creators, this collection is a must-have for fans of the weird, the strange, and the fantastical.

Also available in a Collector’s Edition of 1,000 numbered copies

Introduced by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the fertile pages of The Fantastic Four, the Silver Surfer quickly established himself as one of Marvel’s most far-out characters. Enslaved by Galactus to prowl the cosmos for the demi-god’s next planet-sized meal, the Surfer was as tragic a figure as any in comics—and he looked impossibly cool at the same time! A smash hit with fans and a regular supporting character in Fantastic Four, the character struck a creative nerve with Lee, who couldn’t wait to begin to tell some Surfer solo stories, but the timing had to be right.

In the spring of 1968, things came together for both writer and character, with Lee giving the Surfer Marvel’s very first ongoing double-sized book. Lee also recruited artist John Buscema, who had recently been lending his extraordinary pencils to The Avengers. Together, they spun off a run of legendary tales that helped define the character forevermore.
The feature stories from the entire 18-issue run of the 1968 Silver Surfer series are collected in this cosmic-sized XXL tome from the Eisner Award-winning Marvel Comics Library series. The most pristine pedigreed comics have been cracked open and photographed for reproduction in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company. Each page has been photographed as printed more than half a century ago, then digitally remastered using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s inexpensive, imperfect printing—as if hot off a world-class 1960s printing press. A custom paper stock was exclusively developed for this series to simulate the feel of the original comics.
Texts by author and critic Douglas Wolk and Marvel artist and brother of John Buscema, Sal Buscema, accompany original artwork, photographs, and rare memorabilia.



© 2023 MARVEL

In 1947, Bill Gaines inherited EC Comics, a new venture founded by his legendary father M. C. Gaines, who was responsible for midwifing the birth of the comic book as we know it during his tenure at All-American Comics, bringing the likes of Wonder Woman and Green Lantern to the world. Over the next eight years, Bill Gaines and a “who’s who” of the era including Al Feldstein, Harvey Kurtzman, and Wally Wood would reinvent the very notion of the comic book with titles like Tales from the Crypt, Crime SuspenStories, Weird Science, and MAD.

EC delighted in publishing gory, morbid horror and crime comics that had snap, ironic endings—but they also pioneered the first true-to-life war comics, the first “real” science-fiction stories, and a series of tales about such then-taboo subjects as racism, bigotry, vigilantism, drug addiction, police corruption, and anti-Semitism. Too good to last, they were eventually caught up by various 1950s guardians of morality, who were convinced that EC’s often over-the-top content was causing juvenile delinquency. A year or so after a full inquiry investigating horror and crime comics, the incredible EC Comics were no more.

TASCHEN presents the full, fascinating story of this fabled company, written and expertly curated by EC-authority Grant Geissman. Even the most die-hard EC Fan-Addicts will find something new within these pages, with the Gaines family archives providing more than 100 rarities that have never seen print. Many of the cover images are reproduced from Gaines File Copies, which are widely regarded as the best surviving copies of the EC Comics.

Gathering more than 1,000 illustrations that include the rarest and most notorious covers, interior pages and panels, photos, vintage original artwork, and some of the most celebrated stories ever to be printed in four colors for a dime, this is the ultimate EC Comics compendium and a must-have for any comics enthusiast or pop culture historian.

This is the century of homeland security. 

The federal government created a monster. They said it would keep us safe. The monster hatched in November 2002. It was named the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). An appetite for control and conquest was in its DNA. Its early influences, in the years after 9/11, were paranoia and vengeance. 

The DHS is the only new department the United States has spawned in this century. With its birth, issues that were previously seen as separate—immigration control, policing, and counter-terrorism—were brought into a single, sprawling entity. Twenty-two preexisting agencies were absorbed into what became the nation’s third largest government department. Today it has a budget of over $100 billion and employs a quarter of a million people. Every danger is now conceived of as a threat to “homeland security,” and as the 9/11 Commission said in 2003, “the American homeland is the planet.”

This gripping graphic novel tells the story of the 1891 Coal Creek War—one of the most significant yet overlooked labor and abolitionist uprisings in the history of the United States.

Told through the eyes of a young Welsh immigrant, Trouble! at Coal Creek is the epic story of a cross-racial struggle to abolish the system of convict-leasing in the mines. Austin Sauerbrei's evocative black-and-white illustrations and masterful storytelling show the personal battles and motivations that led thousands of miners to repeatedly take up arms against the powerful companies, their militias, and politicians.

Lured by coal companies’ promises of good pay, stability, and opportunity, the narrator’s father brought their family across the Atlantic Ocean for work in the mine. The job, however, was deadly, and life grew unbearable as the coal companies immiserated miners and their families. Meanwhile, slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, racist terror, and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan were still fresh memories for most. Coal companies relied increasingly on the forced labor of mostly Black prisoners who were loaned out from the state, an extremely profitable continuation of the old system of racist brutality. As Ida B. Wells noted at the time, "The Convict Lease System and Lynch Law are twin infamies which flourish hand in hand."

The miners of Coal Creek, however, set fire to the edifice of convict-leasing and inspired similar rebellions throughout the South. In this captivating graphic novel, Saurbrei brings their overlooked story to life for new generations of organizers.

Anarchy in the Big Easy is an anarchist graphic history of the quest for freedom in radical and revolutionary New Orleans.

The story begins with the anarchic forces of nature creating the land and the cooperative indigenous communities that thrived before the European conquest. Next we see the revolt against domination through the Enslaved Peoples’ Uprising of 1811, the rise of maroon communities, the work of figures such as anarchist geographer Elisée Reclus and utopian revolutionary Joseph Déjacque, and the moving history of labor militancy—exemplified by the First International, the General Strike of 1892, and the rise of the Industrial Workers of the World. The anarchic aspects of jazz are explored, including its birthplace, the famous red-light district of Storyville. Other episodes recount the history of the Black Panthers, including the legendary shootout in the Desire Project, and the important role anarchists played in the grassroots recovery after Hurricane Katrina. The often-subversive People’s Carnival is depicted, from the history of the Mardi Gras Indians through today’s anarchist marching Krewes. The book concludes with the recent struggle to take down the confederate monuments, and the growth of a decentralized, autonomous mutual aid movement.

These stories are recounted by surregionalist writer Max Cafard and brought vividly to life through the striking images of comix artist Vulpes.

Down by Law: Criminalization, Solidarity, and Survival in Europe is a collaborative graphic novel by ethnographers, artists, and activists that starkly and honestly illuminates people’s stories of those whose lives have been shaped by the social and political implications of criminalization across Europe.

The near-total ban on abortion in Poland, new hate speech laws across Europe, a de facto ban of sea rescue in the Mediterranean, and the criminalization of sex work—these trends toward a harsher politics of criminalization, securitization, and threat are spreading throughout the continent. In eight moving, illustrated vignettes, readers encounter everyday people involved in search-and-rescue activism, sex work, internet content moderation, abortion activism, drug use. We set sail with civilians who take action to save the lives of migrants at sea who face increasingly militarized borders, follow the journey of a woman jailed for a bus fare she couldn’t pay, see the impact of state neglect and violence on people who use drugs in Poland, and follow a migrant woman navigating the challenges of sex work policing who finds resilience in her community, and more.

These ethnographic stories not only bring to life alarming insights into criminalization across Europe but the hope and solidarity of everyday people in the face of increasing repression. The criminalized don’t stay put. They adapt, resist, and survive. Their personal stories are rarely seen or heard, until now.

With contributions from Agata Chełstowska, Agata Dziuban, Aleksandra “Sasza” Stachowska, Asia Bordowa, Beate Binder, Friederike Faust, Florian Krynicki, Carmen Grimm, H-P Lehkonen, Janita-Marja Juvonen, Jan Peukert, Jérémy Geeraert, Joris Bas Backer, Justyna Struzik, Juulia Kela, Katarzyna Urbaniak, Monique Horstmann, Salla Sariola, Sylvain Adam, Todd Sekuler, Valerie Assmann.

In the early-20th century, strikes and union battles were common in industrial centers throughout the US. But nothing compared to the class warfare of the West Virginia Mine Wars. The origins of this protracted rebellion were in the dictatorial rule of the coal companies over the proud, multi-racial, immigrant and native-born miners of Appalachia.

Our illustrated history begins with Mary Harris “Mother” Jones's arrival at the turn of the century. White-haired, matronly, and fiercely socialist, Jones became known as the “miners’ angel,” and helped turn the fledgling United Mine Workers into the nation’s most powerful labor union. “Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living,” was her famous battle cry.

In 1912, miners led by stubborn Frank Keeney struck against harsh conditions in the work camps of Paint and Cabin Creeks. Coal operators responded by enlisting violent Baldwin-Felts guards. The ensuing battles and murderous events caused the governor to declare and execute martial law on a scale unprecedented in the US.

On May 19, 1920, in response to evictions by coal company agents, gunshots rang through the streets of a small-town in “Bloody Mingo” county. In an event soon known as the “Matewan Massacre”; the pro-union, quick-draw chief of police Smilin’ Sid Hatfield became an unexpected celebrity—but also a marked man.

Events climax with the dramatic Battle of Blair Mountain that pitched the spontaneous Red Neck Army of 10,000 armed strikers against a paid army of gun thugs in the largest labor uprising in US history and the largest armed uprising since the American Civil War.

This graphic interpretation of people’s history features unforgettable main characters while also displaying the diverse rank and file workers who stood in solidarity during this struggle.

Addicted to War takes on the most active, powerful, and destructive military in the world.

Hard-hitting, carefully documented and heavily illustrated, it reveals why the United States has been involved in more wars in recent years than any other country. Read Addicted to War to find out who benefits from these military adventures, who pays and who dies. Over 450,000 copies of the previous editions are in print.

This edition is substantially reworked and fully updated including Barack Obama's drone wars, Chelsea Manning and WikiLeaks, statistics on military spending, and the ongoing costs and consequences of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The explosive tale of Peterloo, told through the voices of those who were there. This is a vivid, original and historically accurate 'comic book' visual account of the 1819 Manchester massacre, to be published as part of the 200th anniversary commemorations. More than 15 people died and 600 were severely wounded by sabre-wielding troops at a peaceful pro-democracy rally.

The entire narrative is drawn exclusively from the direct testimony of the time (letters, memoirs, journalist's accounts, spies' reports, courtroom evidence...) carefully woven together by rich, vivid, graphic-novel style illustrations created by professional cartoonist, illustrator and graphic novelist Polyp.

This a vital record of working-class history by Manchester-based authors and artists who have been central in reviving the long-suppressed memory of this shocking and world-changing event.

Before the Golden Age of comic books, there was Mr. Block: a bumbling, boss-loving, anti-union blockhead, brought to life over a hundred years ago by subversive cartoonist Ernest Riebe.

A dedicated labour activist and member of the Industrial Workers of the World, Riebe dreamed up his iconic, union-hating anti-hero to satirize conservative workers’ faith in the capitalist system that exploits them. This wickedly funny anthology of Riebe’s writings and comics is a treasure trove of radical 20th-century art and an essential addition to the bookshelves of comics lovers, historians, and labour activists alike.

As income inequality skyrockets and the collective power of the working class is undermined, the lessons from Mr. Block’s misadventures and misbeliefs are as relevant today as ever. Building the new world from the ashes of the old demands many tools—and laughter will always be one of them.

What do Superman, Prince Valiant, Cerebus the Aardvark, and Spawn have in common? Their creators — Joe Shuster, Harold Foster, Dave Sim, and Todd McFarlane are Canadians. And while many of the cutting-edge talents of contemporary comix and graphic novels are also from Canada — artists such as Chester Brown, Seth, Dave Cooper, and Julie Doucet — far too few Canadians realize their country had a remarkable involvement with the "funnies" long before.

Invaders from the North profiles past and present comic geniuses, sheds light on unjustly neglected chapters in Canada’s pop history, and demonstrates how this nation has vaulted to the forefront of international comic art, successfully challenging the long-established boundaries between high and low culture. Generously illustrated with black-and-white and colour comic covers and panels, Invaders from the North serves up a cheeky, brash cavalcade of flamboyant and outrageous personalities and characters that graphically attest to Canada’s verve and invention in the world of visual storytelling.

Before the Golden Age of comic books, there was Mr. Block: a bumbling, boss-loving, anti-union blockhead, brought to life over a hundred years ago by subversive cartoonist Ernest Riebe.

A dedicated labour activist and member of the Industrial Workers of the World, Riebe dreamed up his iconic, union-hating anti-hero to satirize conservative workers’ faith in the capitalist system that exploits them. This wickedly funny anthology of Riebe’s writings and comics is a treasure trove of radical 20th-century art and an essential addition to the bookshelves of comics lovers, historians, and labour activists alike.

As income inequality skyrockets and the collective power of the working class is undermined, the lessons from Mr. Block’s misadventures and misbeliefs are as relevant today as ever. Building the new world from the ashes of the old demands many tools—and laughter will always be one of them.

2020 Bram Stoker Awards Finalist

In the vein of Flatliners and Ghost meets The Bourne Identity and La Femme Nikita, a diverse team of black ops “Spectres”—elite soldiers who died in the line of duty only to be reanimated by military scientists and brought back as actual ghosts—carry out illicit missions for the United States government in exchange for day passes to haunt their old lives and fulfill their unfinished business.

Spectre Deep 6 is a paranormal sci-fi graphic novel that centers on six reanimated spectres who have the tactical precision and paranormal abilities to carry out the most important and clandestine missions for our government. Missions that are too dangerous, illegal, and secretive to leave any trace—assassinations, regime toppling, technology theft, halting nuclear weapons programs, and more.

When the Spectre Team assassinates a target, they literally scare the victim to death, making it look like they had a stroke or heart attack, so the target appears to die from natural causes. Then they ghost from the scene, leaving no trace they were ever there. They’re the perfect weapons. The downside to spectre soldiers? They’re like batteries that need to be recharged, or they’ll disperse and pass on. That’s why they have to stay locked in containment most of the time, a glorified ghost prison located in a secret military bunker under Area 51 and powered by a nuclear reactor (it takes a lot of energy to charge a ghost). Oh, and ghost soldiers can get a bit … testy. They don’t always get along or follow orders. After all, they didn’t ask to be brought back.

2020 Bram Stoker Awards Finalist

“Spectre Deep 6 is awesome! Horror, science-fiction, great characters, devious twists, rampant weirdness and a heck of a lot of fun! Highly recommended!” -Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of V-Wars, Rot & Ruin and Black Panther: Doomwar”

In the vein of Flatliners and Ghost meets The Bourne Identity and La Femme Nikita, a diverse team of black ops “Spectres”—elite soldiers who died in the line of duty only to be reanimated by military scientists and brought back as actual ghosts—carry out illicit missions for the United States government in exchange for day passes to haunt their old lives and fulfill their unfinished business.

Spectre Deep 6 is a paranormal sci-fi graphic novel that centers on six reanimated spectres who have the tactical precision and paranormal abilities to carry out the most important and clandestine missions for our government. Missions that are too dangerous, illegal, and secretive to leave any trace—assassinations, regime toppling, technology theft, halting nuclear weapons programs, and more.

When the Spectre Team assassinates a target, they literally scare the victim to death, making it look like they had a stroke or heart attack, so the target appears to die from natural causes. Then they ghost from the scene, leaving no trace they were ever there. They’re the perfect weapons. The downside to spectre soldiers? They’re like batteries that need to be recharged, or they’ll disperse and pass on. That’s why they have to stay locked in containment most of the time, a glorified ghost prison located in a secret military bunker under Area 51 and powered by a nuclear reactor (it takes a lot of energy to charge a ghost). Oh, and ghost soldiers can get a bit … testy. They don’t always get along or follow orders. After all, they didn’t ask to be brought back.

A Kirkus Reviews Best YA Book of 2022 

A USBBY 2023 Outstanding International Book

A 2022 Foreword INDIES Bronze Winner (Graphic Novels & Comics Category)

Honorable mention, 2023 Children's Africana Book Awards

2022 VLA Graphic Novel Diversity Award Overfloweth honoree

Nominated for the TLA Maverick List

 All Rise: Resistance and Rebellion in South Africa revives six true stories of resistance by marginalized South Africans against the country’s colonial government in the years leading up to Apartheid. In six parts—each of which is illustrated by a different South African artist—All Rise shares the long-forgotten struggles of ordinary, working-class women and men who defended the disempowered during a tumultuous period in South African history. From immigrants and miners to tram workers and washerwomen, the everyday people in these stories bore the brunt of oppression and in some cases risked their lives to bring about positive change for future generations.

This graphic anthology breathes new life into a history dominated by icons, and promises to inspire all readers to become everyday activists and allies. The diverse creative team behind All Rise, from an array of races, genders, and backgrounds, is a testament to the multicultural South Africa dreamed of by the heroes in these stories—true stories of grit, compassion, and hope, now being told for the first time in print.

A quietly powerful graphic novel of hope, separation, and perseverance in the journey to reunite with those you love.

"Set in a near future of apocalyptic threat and space colonization, Fiona Ostby's debut graphic novel, Space Story, is a queer love story full of wistful longing. . . Refreshingly, most characters are women or nonbinary and are matter-of-factly represented as queer. Many particularly touching spreads create parallels: a left-hand panel in red, opposite one in blue, show Leah and Hannah in separate beds, facing each other across an impossible divide. The simple layouts and focus on relationships turn a cosmic dystopia into something universal."
—Shelf Awareness, featured as one of the Best Books of the Week

"This is a story filled with bitter-sweet moments (but with a happy ending), and I am in love with it."
—BookRiot

"Economical and poignantly told, Ostby’s debut graphic novel sets a queer family’s separation drama against an apocalyptic backdrop. . . This is a touching love story for hard times."
—Publishers Weekly

Two women fall in love and start a family on a dying Earth.

Only one escapes to space.

Her family is still on the planet.

They won't give up until they find each other again.

From debut author Fiona Ostby, Space Story weaves an interstellar tale of discovering love and finding strength, courage, and hope—even in the darkest moments.

A graphic novel that confronts our habits, narratives, and fantasies head-on to help
break our petroleum dependency

What if the biggest barriers to responding to climate change are not technological or governmental but, rather, cultural? In other words, what if we ourselves could help to enact change through a deeper understanding of our petroleum dependency? In a provocative graphic format that draws widely from history, critical theory, and popular culture, Gasoline Dreams explores and challenges the ways fossil fuels have shaped our identities, relationships, and our ability to imagine sustainable, equitable futures.

As our rapidly warming planet is pushed toward ecological collapse, we might often feel helpless or paralyzed by the enormity of the challenges confronting us. However, reflecting upon the cultural dimensions of our predicament helps reveal the great potential for social transformation inherent in the multiplying crises. Author and artist Simon Orpana engages with contemporary scholarship in the emergent field of Energy Humanities to confront the habits, narratives, and fantasies that support our attachment to fossil fuels. By revealing the many ways petroculture repeatedly fails to deliver on its promises of “the good life,” Gasoline Dreams calls us to the difficult work of waking up from the fantasies that inhibit us from working toward a global transition to renewable energy.

Written in an engaging graphic format that makes relevant historical, cultural, and political analyses of global warming and petrol dependency important to a wide audience, Gasoline Dreams refutes the progress narratives that depict contemporary, energy-intensive societies as the inevitable product of human history. By revealing the contingencies, coercions, and compulsions this myth disguises, the book allows us to imagine truly progressive alternatives. Rather than casting climate change as a problem for technological elites to solve, the book confronts the everyday realities that reinforce our dependence on fossil fuels, offering a space of hope and engagement from which concerned people can work to build a more sustainable future.

On the threshold of the single greatest transformation the human species has yet faced, Gasoline Dreams challenges us to start living, working, and dreaming differently to become less culturally dependent on petroleum.

A graphic novel that confronts our habits, narratives, and fantasies head-on to help
break our petroleum dependency

What if the biggest barriers to responding to climate change are not technological or governmental but, rather, cultural? In other words, what if we ourselves could help to enact change through a deeper understanding of our petroleum dependency? In a provocative graphic format that draws widely from history, critical theory, and popular culture, Gasoline Dreams explores and challenges the ways fossil fuels have shaped our identities, relationships, and our ability to imagine sustainable, equitable futures.

As our rapidly warming planet is pushed toward ecological collapse, we might often feel helpless or paralyzed by the enormity of the challenges confronting us. However, reflecting upon the cultural dimensions of our predicament helps reveal the great potential for social transformation inherent in the multiplying crises. Author and artist Simon Orpana engages with contemporary scholarship in the emergent field of Energy Humanities to confront the habits, narratives, and fantasies that support our attachment to fossil fuels. By revealing the many ways petroculture repeatedly fails to deliver on its promises of “the good life,” Gasoline Dreams calls us to the difficult work of waking up from the fantasies that inhibit us from working toward a global transition to renewable energy.

Written in an engaging graphic format that makes relevant historical, cultural, and political analyses of global warming and petrol dependency important to a wide audience, Gasoline Dreams refutes the progress narratives that depict contemporary, energy-intensive societies as the inevitable product of human history. By revealing the contingencies, coercions, and compulsions this myth disguises, the book allows us to imagine truly progressive alternatives. Rather than casting climate change as a problem for technological elites to solve, the book confronts the everyday realities that reinforce our dependence on fossil fuels, offering a space of hope and engagement from which concerned people can work to build a more sustainable future.

On the threshold of the single greatest transformation the human species has yet faced, Gasoline Dreams challenges us to start living, working, and dreaming differently to become less culturally dependent on petroleum.

Can Alison play with fire without getting burned? From two comics superstars comes an explosive, high school noir romance for everyone with a mind of their own. 

Everyone hates Darren, the firebug, the bad boy trouble follows everywhere. Alison finds a warmth to Darren, a spark everyone's missing. Alison knows what she's doing, but after tonight's fireworks, she'll find out who knows best. 

Palefire, the first collaboration between writer MK Reed and artist Farel Dalrymple, takes us back to high school for a hot date to the party of the year. When you're not a girl, and not yet a woman, the last thing you want is advice. The road to hell may be paved with good intentions, but everyone deserves a second chance—even if it goes up in flames..

The Cargo Rebellion tells a true story of mutiny on the high seas in which four hundred indentured Chinese men overthrew their captor, the Connecticut businessman and slave trader Leslie Bryson, taking a stand against an exploitative global enterprise.

The laborers learned that Bryson’s claimed destination of San Francisco was a lie to trick them into deadly servitude in the dreaded guano islands of Peru. Reaching a dramatic tipping point, the mutineers rose up and killed Bryson and several of the ship's officers and then attempted to sail back to China.

This book's centerpiece, a deft graphic account of the rebellion in the context of the “coolie trade” and the struggle to end traffic in human “cargo,” is supported by essays that spotlight the rebellion itself, how the subject of indentured Asian workers is being taught in classrooms, and how Chinese workers shaped the evolution of American music, particularly in the making of the first drum set. The Cargo Rebellion is a history from below that does justice to the memory of hundreds of thousands of indentured workers and demonstrates how Asian migration to the Americas was rooted in slavery, colonialism, and the life-and-death struggle against servitude.

In the summer of 2012 the Kurdish people of northern Syria set out to create a multiethnic society in the Middle East. Persecuted for much of the 20th century, they dared to try to overcome social fragmentation by affirming social solidarity among all the region’s ethnic and religious peoples. As Syria plunged into civil war, the Kurds and their Arab and Assyrian allies established a self-governing polity that was not only multiethnic but democratic. And women were not only permitted but encouraged to participate in all social roles alongside men, including political and military roles.

To implement these goals, Rojava wanted to live in peace with its neighbors. Instead, it soon faced invasion by ISIS, a force that was in every way its opposite. ISIS attacked its neighbors in Iraq and Syria, imposing theocratic, tyrannical, femicidal rule on them. Those who might have resisted fled in terror. But when ISIS attacked the mostly Kurdish city of Kobane and overran much of it, the YPG and YPJ, or people's militias, declined to flee. Instead they resisted, and several countries, seeing their valiant resistance, formed an international coalition to assist them militarily. While the YPG and YPJ fought on the ground, the coalition coordinated airstrikes with them. They liberated village after village and in March 2019 captured ISIS’s last territory in Syria.

Around that time, two UK-based filmmakers invited the author to spend a month in Rojava making a film. She accepted, and arrived to explore the society and interview people. During that month, she explored how the revolution had progressed and especially the effects of the war on the society. She found that the war had reinforced social solidarity and welded together the multiethnic, gender-liberated society. As one man in Kobane told her, “Our blood got mixed.”

Founded in 1979 by Seth Tobocman and Peter Kuper, World War 3 Illustrated is a labor of love run by a collective of artists (both first-timers and established professionals) and political activists working with the unified goal of creating a home for political comics, graphics, and stirring personal stories. Their confrontational comics shine a little reality on the fantasy world of the American kleptocracy, and have inspired the developing popularity and recognition of comics as a respected art form.

This full-color retrospective exhibition is arranged thematically, including housing rights, feminism, environmental issues, religion, police brutality, globalization, and depictions of conflicts from the Middle East to the Midwest. World War 3 Illustrated isn’t about a war that may happen; it’s about the ongoing wars being waged around the world and on our very own doorsteps. World War 3 Illustrated also illuminates the war we wage on each other—and sometimes the one taking place in our own minds. World War 3 artists have been covering the topics that matter for over 30 years, and they’re just getting warmed up.

Contributors include Sue Coe, Eric Drooker, Fly, Sandy Jimenez, Sabrina Jones, Peter Kuper, Mac McGill, Kevin Pyle, Spain Rodriguez, Nicole Schulman, Seth Tobocman, Susan Willmarth, and dozens more.

Wildcat Anarchist Comics collects the drawings of Donald Rooum, mostly (but by no means entirely) from the long-running “Wildcat” cartoon series that has been published in Freedom newspaper since 1980. Rooum does not just purvey jokes but makes the drawings comical in themselves, “getting the humour in the line,” provoking laughter even in those who do not read the captions or speech balloons.

The chief characters in the strip are the Revolting Pussycat, a short-fused anarchist who is furious and shouty; and the Free-Range Egghead, an intellectual who would like anarchism to be respectable but sometimes appears foolish. Governments, bosses, and authoritarians are presented as buffoons, and quite often so are anarchists. This thoughtful and delightful collection includes strips from The Skeptic and many more, all beautifully colored for the first time by Jayne Clementson.

The book also includes a lively autobiographical introduction that discusses Rooum’s role in the 1963 “Challenor case,” in which a corrupt police officer planted a weapon on Rooum at a demonstration, ultimately resulting in Rooum’s acquittal.

Actions speak louder than words.

It’s said that the flutter of insect wings in the Indian Ocean can send a hurricane crashing against the shores of the American Northeast. It’s this premise that lies at the core of The System, a wordless graphic novel created and fully painted by award-winning illustrator Peter Kuper. From the subway system to the solar system, human lives are linked by an endless array of interconnecting threads. They tie each of us to our world and it to the universe. If every action has an equal and opposite reaction, get ready to run for cover!

A sleazy stockbroker is lining his pockets. A corrupt cop is shaking down drug dealers. A mercenary bomber is setting the timer. A serial killer is stalking strippers. A political scandal is about to explode. The planet is burning. And nobody’s talking.

Told without captions or dialogue, The System is an astonishing progression of vivid imagery, each brilliantly executed panel containing a wealth of information, with layer upon layer forming a vast and intricate tour of an ominous world of coincidences and consequences.

“Underground comix,” an artistic expression of rambunctious rebellion in the Vietnam War era, were exploding in 1969 when Radical America, a journal affiliated with Students for a Democratic Society, published a memorable comic art edition. Its principal artist and editor, Gilbert Shelton, whose Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers would be enjoyed in many editions across the world, brought to the project his Texas pals Frank Stack and Jack Jackson. Also on hand, among others, were Chicago comics innovators Jay Lynch and Skip Williamson. Together, these and other contributors issued a veritable artistic manifesto: a new vernacular art had arrived!

A half century after its original appearance, Radical America Komiks retains its rebellious spirit and its rollicking humor. Dopey but also militantly antimilitarist, the comics in this reprinted volume speak to the ideas, sentiments, and artistic experiments of a generation.

Longtime underground artist Jay Kinney, coeditor of the satirical series Young Lust and Anarchy Comics, adds a foreword, and Radical America editor Paul Buhle offers an extensive introduction to the saga of comic art, radical and otherwise.

A quietly powerful graphic novel of hope, separation, and perseverance in the journey to reunite with those you love.

"Set in a near future of apocalyptic threat and space colonization, Fiona Ostby's debut graphic novel, Space Story, is a queer love story full of wistful longing. . . Refreshingly, most characters are women or nonbinary and are matter-of-factly represented as queer. Many particularly touching spreads create parallels: a left-hand panel in red, opposite one in blue, show Leah and Hannah in separate beds, facing each other across an impossible divide. The simple layouts and focus on relationships turn a cosmic dystopia into something universal."
—Shelf Awareness, featured as one of the Best Books of the Week

"This is a story filled with bitter-sweet moments (but with a happy ending), and I am in love with it."
—BookRiot

"Economical and poignantly told, Ostby’s debut graphic novel sets a queer family’s separation drama against an apocalyptic backdrop. . . This is a touching love story for hard times."
—Publishers Weekly

Two women fall in love and start a family on a dying Earth.

Only one escapes to space.

Her family is still on the planet.

They won't give up until they find each other again.

From debut author Fiona Ostby, Space Story weaves an interstellar tale of discovering love and finding strength, courage, and hope—even in the darkest moments.

One standup comedian goes on a journey of self-discovery and explores the pitfalls and power of choosing one's own queer narrative. 

Jackie Locklear is a stand-up comedian who is trans and doesn’t know how to confront that part of himself. His Aunt Sheila’s death spurs Jackie to take a trip to the refuge Sheila built for trans folks, the Chicken Heart Love Commune. The people there represent a range of backgrounds, in contrast with the world where Jackie was raised. But as a city kid still coming to terms with his trans identity, and struggling to process his grief, the bucolic place and its residents don’t make him feel like he fits in. Through the power of humor and acceptance, Jackie is able to make space for himself.

An emotional, powerful story about finding one’s heart and opening up to people who are willing and able to love.

Two hundred miles through the mountains in five days, with almost no sleep: Italy’s Tor des Géants is one of the world’s hardest races. Why put yourself through it? 

This compelling graphic novel illuminates both the appeal and the physical and psychological turmoil of running day and night for a week through some of the wildest terrain on earth–and what universal lessons about life, suffering and love are learned along the way. 

In The Last of the Giants, Sam Hill takes on Tor for a third time–after failing, twice. Amid exhaustion, hallucinations, and unforgettable encounters both real and imagined, he pushes the limits of body and mind to discover more about himself and his place in the world.

Inspired by the real-life experience of American ultrarunner Doug Mayer, this graphic novel blends fiction and reality, delving into what it means to be human, our need for spiritual understanding, and our drive to explore our limits. 

With a unique inverted format—read one way, then the other—this immersive story offers a fresh perspective on extreme sports and the search for something greater than ourselves. A gripping read for anyone passionate about adventure and personal challenge. 

2022 Skipping Stones Honor Awards Recipient | 2021 NCTAsia Freeman Award Honorable Mention

The true story of how one Japanese village suffered and survived the mercury poisoning of its waters.

A powerful graphic novel/manga that tells the story of "Minamata disease," a debilitating and sometimes fatal condition caused by the Chisso chemical factory's careless release of methylmercury into the waters of the coastal community of Minamata in southern Japan. First identified in 1956, it became a hot topic in Japan in the 1970s and 80s, growing into an iconic struggle between people versus corporations and government agencies.

This struggle is relevant today, not simply because many people are still living with the disease but also because, in this time of growing concern over the safety of our environment—viz. Flint, Michigan—Minamata gives us as a very moving example of such human-caused environmental disasters and what we can do about them.

The event is also the subject of the 2020 Andrew Levitas directed Johnny Depp film, Minamata.

Winner of the 2016 Foreword INDIES Award for Graphic Novels & Comic

The official manga biography of Osamu Tezuka, Japan's "God of Manga," chronicling the birth and evolution of manga and anime.

This graphic-format biography of Osamu Tezuka—Japan's "God of Manga"—looks at one of the twentieth century's great creative artists (Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Black Jack). It is also an anecdotal study of the evolution of Japan's early manga and anime business and its heroes.

A never-before-seen popular culture history of postwar Japan, it is sure to fascinate fans and anyone interested in manga, anime, and the potential of the graphic storytelling medium.

Since the original TASCHEN edition of Manga Design, Japan’s comic phenomenon has produced yet more captivating characters and a whole host of hot new talents. This revised edition delivers the lowdown on the latest and the greatest makers and shapers of the manga scene.

Through an A–Z directory, we discover the superstars—both human and fictional—of what is now a vast global industry, inspiring advertisers, filmmakers, creative professionals, millions of avid fans, not to mention an entire cosplay lifestyle, in which manga devotees in elaborate costume meet to celebrate the existence of their characters at huge conventions from Los Angeles to Leipzig.

From classic maestros—like Osamu Tezuka (creator of Astro Boy) and Katsuhiro Otomo (creator of Akira)—to newcomers such as Hajime Isayama, each entry includes biographical and bibliographical information, descriptions of main characters, and, of course, plenty of examples of the artist’s finest manga spreads and covers.

Tarot cards have been used for centuries to help us gain insights into the past, present and future. Now for the first time, Manga Tarot: A Colouring Book brings together three hugely popularly trends in one unique collection.

Made up of the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana, a tarot deck has a total of 78 cards. Each card contains a beautiful bespoke manga artwork, recreated perfectly for colouring so you can tell your own story.

The Major Arcana, comprising 22 cards, features a range of characters, each representing a different aspect of human existence. The Chariot, for example, represents willpower, while Death represents change. They generally signify longer-lasting phenomena. The Minor Arcana comprises four suits: Swords, Pentacles, Wands, and Coins. are organised like a normal pack of 56 playing cards and generally represent more fleeting, temporary phenomena.

A modern take on a classic tarot deck with a colouring book twist, journey through the world of Manga Tarot with this stunning collection of bespoke artwork, carefully curated for colouring fans.

Draw great Manga pictures every week for a whole year and never be bored again!
Learn the secrets of Manga drawing, from getting the right proportions to creating a personality with different facial expressions and adding depth with layers of colour. Then follow 52 step-by-step sequences showing you exactly how to build up a huge range of motifs, starting with simple shapes and progressing to adding detail, texture and colour. Each sequence is entirely visual, with no instructions to read, so it really is easy to create your own Manga characters. All you need is paper and some pens!

The fun-packed box contains:

• 52 cards with character themes that include Sports, Work, Outdoors and Warriors
• Mini Book provides guided tuition on drawing head, faces and expressions
• Draw great Manga pictures every week for a whole year and never be bored again!

This adorable value-packed box will provide hours of entertainment and let you embrace the Japanese art of Manga every week of the year.

Freedom Shall Prevail is the first graphic novel exploring the life and struggle of Abdullah Öcalan, affectionately known as “Apo.”

Highly regarded around the world, Öcalan led the Kurdish freedom struggle as the head of the PKK from its foundation in 1978 until his abduction by the Turkish state in 1999. He has, so far, spent twenty-five years in captivity. In this graphic novel we learn, in his own words, what Öcalan’s childhood was like in the partially Kurdish areas of Eastern Turkey and how his political awareness and commitment grew as a student in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Through the personal struggle of Öcalan we also see the terrible devastation that Kurdish people have suffered and learn about the tumultuous and dramatic history of the relationship between the Kurds and the Turkish state.

The book also dives into the theories developed by Öcalan that continue to influence the ongoing struggle today. Expanding on these, the second part of the book gives us a wider consideration of the issues and policies around women's freedom, democratic confederalism and paints an inspiring picture of one of the most impressive attempts to build a genuinely grassroots democratic system anywhere in the world. The struggle going on in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, also known as Rojava, is one that is directly combating gender and racial discrimination and the abuses of the capitalist economic system—in truly interconnected ways.

This wonderfully illustrated graphic novel is a collaboration between award-winning Scottish writer Sean Michael Wilson and Kurdish artist Keko, with backing and research help from Peace in Kurdistan Campaign and the International Initiative “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan—Peace in Kurdistan,” groups with long term and impassioned commitment to the cause of Öcalan and the Kurdish people’s freedom.

“What happens within a police force? In his intimate and revealing inside look at France's police culture, journalist Valentin Gendrot depicts his two year undercover investigation. Juxtaposed with playful feline illustrations, this shocking exposé is as relevant as ever.”
—New York Public Library, ‘NYPL Recommends: Best New Comics for Adults’

The story of a French journalist who infiltrated the country's police force, revealing a culture of racism and violence in which officers act with impunity.

What happens behind the walls of a police station? In order to answer this question, undercover journalist Valentin Gendrot puts his life on hold for two years. He decides to undertake training and become a police officer. Several months later, Gendrot is working in a police station in one of the tough northern arrondissements of Paris, where relations between the law and locals are strained.

Gendrot hides nothing. He witnesses police brutality, racism, blunders, and cover-ups. But he also sees the oppressive working conditions that officers endure, and mourns the tragic suicide of a colleague.

Asking important questions about who holds institutional power and how we can hold them to account, Flic is a gripping exposé of a world never before seen by outsiders.

¡320 páginas más llenas de talentoso manga español!

¡El lanzamiento revelación y revolucionario del manga en nuestro país presenta su tercer número! Y lo hace con portada para una serie nueva: Backhome, de Sergio Hernández y Toni Caballero, ¡un trepidante seinen al más puro estilo Naoki Urasawa que empieza con capítulo doble!

A la nueva serie le acompañan nuevos capítulos de Gryphoon (de Luis Montes), Alter Ego (de Ana C. Sánchez), Good Game! (de Blanca Mira y Kaoru Okino), Meadow Queen (de Risu Risu), Wing (de Senshiru) y La historia del manga (de Marc Bernabé, Oriol Estrada y Marian Company), además del penúltimo capítulo de Shion (de Alba Cardona) y el desenlace de Uroboros (de Ernest Sala). La ausencia de Aaron Fire (de Álvaro Jaudenes) se debe a un descanso para planificar los últimos capítulos y volver con más energía en las siguientes entregas.

¡Pero Backhome no es la única novedad de este número! Estrenamos la miniserie de dos capítulos Beastly Circus, de la premiada Kaoru Okino. Y en cuanto a historias cortas, tenemos el regreso de dos de las autoras más celebradas de nuestro primer número: Marta Salmons nos ofrece la historia corta Mr. Lightfeet y Akira Pantsu, por absoluta petición popular, vuelve al universo tan querido de Midoriboshi con una secuela desde el punto de vista de Kiku.

Por si todo esto fuese poco, tendremos nueva entrevista a cargo de Umaru-chan a los autores de Backhome, con diseños inéditos, el 4-koma de Kalathras y Rawder, e ilustraciones de Laia López, Judit Mallol, Santi Casas y la excelente calidad que aporta la incorporación de Inma R. con un dibujo a página doble.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

320 more pages packed with amazing Spanish manga talent!

The groundbreaking and buzzworthy launch of manga in our country is back with its third volume! And this time, it features a brand-new series on the cover: Backhome by Sergio Hernández and Toni Caballero—a gripping seinen in the purest Naoki Urasawa style, kicking off with a double-length chapter!

Joining the new series are fresh chapters of Gryphoon (by Luis Montes), Alter Ego (by Ana C. Sánchez), Good Game! (by Blanca Mira and Kaoru Okino), Meadow Queen (by Risu Risu), Wing (by Senshiru), and La historia del manga (by Marc Bernabé, Oriol Estrada, and Marian Company)—plus the penultimate chapter of Shion (by Alba Cardona) and the thrilling finale of Uroboros (by Ernest Sala). Aaron Fire (by Álvaro Jaudenes) is taking a short break to plan its final chapters and will return with renewed energy in upcoming issues.

But Backhome isn’t the only new surprise this time around! We’re debuting the two-part miniseries Beastly Circus by award-winning Kaoru Okino. And in the short story department, two of the most celebrated creators from issue one are back: Marta Salmons brings us her short story Mr. Lightfeet, and by overwhelming popular demand, Akira Pantsu returns to the beloved world of Midoriboshi with a sequel told from Kiku’s perspective.

And as if that weren’t enough, this issue also includes a brand-new interview conducted by Umaru-chan with the creators of Backhome, exclusive character designs, the 4-koma strip by Kalathras and Rawder, and illustrations by Laia López, Judit Mallol, Santi Casas, and the stunning quality that comes with the addition of Inma R.—featuring a gorgeous double-page spread.

"Vermeulen vibrantly, gloriously, unabashedly shares her “imperfect life.”—Starred Review Booklist  

In this graphic memoir, Cape Town artist Karen Vermeulen reflects on the absurdities of contemporary womanhood—from romance and friendship to the ever-elusive “self-care”.

Trust her—Karen is trying really hard to be an adult. Harder than she should probably have to, as a thirty-something with a cat, a flat, and a job. She would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for those meddling influencers, always raising the bar of what it means to be a proper woman.

Accompanied by her trademark quirky artwork and signature wit, Karen pokes fun at her attempts to “grow up”: whether that’s becoming a meditation girlie, getting Botox, faking self-confidence, using dating apps, going to therapy, or living the childfree life (unless you count her feline companion Sir Henry, which, of course, she does.)

From emotional support pigs to ectopic pregnancies, cuticle care to under-boob chakras, the laugh-out-loud and deeply perceptive illustrated essays in Good Luck To Us All are a testament to these wild and crazy times.

One of the top ten graphic novels for Spring 2022, as chosen by Publishers Weekly

“Khan debuts with a deeply introspective, elegantly rendered graphic memoir about her experiences, faith, and family in the South Asian diaspora community of East London. . . . It's a powerful debut by a singularly penetrative and eloquent voice.” —Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

What do identity, belonging, and memory mean to one young Muslim woman and her family against a backdrop of history?

As a second-generation Pakistani immigrant living in East London, Sabba Khan paints a vivid snapshot of contemporary British Asian life and investigates the complex shifts experienced by different generations within immigrant communities, creating an uplifting and universal story that crosses borders and decades. Race, gender, and class are explored in a compelling personal narrative creating a strong feminist message of self-reflection and empowerment which is illuminated in stunning artwork.

Once, years ago, while walking her dogs in the woods, Elizabeth found a dead body. 

Trauma can make truth hard to find. Have you ever experienced a terror, grief, or confusion so great that when you try to share it you can only find shattered images floating in darkness? You try over and over, but can’t tell the story, to yourself or to anyone else. Look Again presents us with six variations of the same event, seen through the different lenses caused by other life revelations. It explores the fragmenting nature of trauma by tracing the convoluted evolution of the author’s story, a process often experienced by trauma sufferers and their loved ones.

His life belonged to him, only. His books belonged to the public.

B. Traven: Portrait of a Famous Unknown is a graphic biography that tells the larger-than-life story of the German revolutionary, actor, and writer known as B. Traven (1882–1969). Despite his commercial success as a best-selling writer, Traven managed to keep his identity a secret during his lifetime. It is now generally accepted that Traven was in fact “Ret Marut” (another psudonym), a German stage actor and editor of an anarchist newspaper in Germany called Der Ziegelbrenner (The Brickburner). As Marut he was a major participant in the short-lived Bavarian Council Republic of 1919–20. Barely escaping execution, he fled Germany and lived incognito for the remainder of his life. His entire literary work, a great commercial success in its day, combines lively and often humorous storytelling with radical critique of capitalism and nationalism. His best-known work, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, from 1927, was adapted for film in 1948 by John Huston.

Golo’s account of Traven’s life, rendered with stunning artwork, begins and ends with his ashes being dropped from a plane over the Lacandon jungle in Chiapas, Mexico, just a quarter century before the explosive uprising of the Zapatistas seemed to echo his deepest wishes.

From the winner of the inaugural Myriad First Graphic Novel Competition, here is a darkly funny story of obsession, beautifully crafted in embroidery and lino-cut.

Getting yourself a girlfriend is easy, according to Richard. All you need is papier mache, string, soft material, a balloon, some old fashioned bellows, and a good pair of scissors. The difficult bit is keeping her secret.

Set in an English suburb in the early 1990s, The Black Project by Gareth Brookes is the story of Richard’s all-consuming passion for creating ‘girls’ from household objects. But as his hobby begins to flourish, his real-life friendships and family relationships deteriorate. Richard is an unreliable narrator, and the reader responds to his loneliness and his dogged attempt to find a companion while being horrified by his warped creations. The novel’s focus is on the divide between childhood and adulthood; where sex, perversion, and the grotesque feature in their many forms.

 An extract from COMA was shortlisted for the Myriad First Graphic Novel Competition 2018 and longlisted for LDComics Awards 2019.

Freedom Shall Prevail is the first graphic novel exploring the life and struggle of Abdullah Öcalan, affectionately known as “Apo.”

Highly regarded around the world, Öcalan led the Kurdish freedom struggle as the head of the PKK from its foundation in 1978 until his abduction by the Turkish state in 1999. He has, so far, spent twenty-five years in captivity. In this graphic novel we learn, in his own words, what Öcalan’s childhood was like in the partially Kurdish areas of Eastern Turkey and how his political awareness and commitment grew as a student in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Through the personal struggle of Öcalan we also see the terrible devastation that Kurdish people have suffered and learn about the tumultuous and dramatic history of the relationship between the Kurds and the Turkish state.

The book also dives into the theories developed by Öcalan that continue to influence the ongoing struggle today. Expanding on these, the second part of the book gives us a wider consideration of the issues and policies around women's freedom, democratic confederalism and paints an inspiring picture of one of the most impressive attempts to build a genuinely grassroots democratic system anywhere in the world. The struggle going on in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, also known as Rojava, is one that is directly combating gender and racial discrimination and the abuses of the capitalist economic system—in truly interconnected ways.

This wonderfully illustrated graphic novel is a collaboration between award-winning Scottish writer Sean Michael Wilson and Kurdish artist Keko, with backing and research help from Peace in Kurdistan Campaign and the International Initiative “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan—Peace in Kurdistan,” groups with long term and impassioned commitment to the cause of Öcalan and the Kurdish people’s freedom.

An eyewitness account of idealism, self-discovery, and loss under one of the twentieth-century's most repressive political regimes

Set against a backdrop of world-changing events during the headiest years of the Cuban Revolution, Goodbye, My Havana follows young Connie Veltfort as her once relatively privileged life among a community of anti-imperialist expatriates turns to progressive disillusionment and heartbreak. The consolidation of Castro's position brings violence, cruelty, and betrayal to Connie's doorstep. And the crackdown that ultimately forces her family and others to flee for their lives includes homosexuals among its targets—Connie's coming-of-age story is one also about the dangers of coming out. Looking back with a mixture of hardheaded clarity and tenderness at her alter ego and a forgotten era, with this gripping graphic memoir Anna Veltfort takes leave of the past even as she brings neglected moments of the Cold War into the present.

An Indie Band’s Record-Breaking Music Tour: A Graphic Novel

“As a touring musician, I absolutely adored this heartfelt, honest, and beautifully illustrated account of the unique pitfalls and victories of DIY touring.” ―Tommy Siegel, cartoonist and guitarist/singer in Jukebox the Ghost

#1 New Release in Biographies and History Graphic Novels

From the indie band Pocket Vinyl and the artists behind the documentary Drive. Play. Sleep. and the popular webcomic The Touring Test, this hilarious artists’ graphic novel memoir chronicles a couple’s road trip across the USA as they break a world record.

A world record smashing music tour through 50 States in 45 Days. Together, Eric Stevenson and Elizabeth Jancewicz perform as the band Pocket Vinyl, where Eric slams on the piano and sings while Elizabeth creates a large oil painting on stage. In these artists’ graphic novel, watch as they take on their biggest challenge yet: to tour the whole nation in just 45 days, breaking the record for the fastest time a band has played in all 50 U.S. states.

A wild road trip of performance highs, self-doubt lows, and determination. As co-author Elizabeth Janceqicz says, “I knew that embarking on such a monstrous adventure would provide me with stories to tell, but I hadn't realized how much those stories would change me... In retrospect, we learned so much: about how our art helps people, how interconnected we all are, and how easily our minds can descend into mental illness without us even realizing it’s happening.”

Inside find:

• A breakneck road trip through the local music scenes across America 
• An unforgettable story of what life is like behind the scenes on an indie band’s record-breaking tour
• A graphic novel on mental health, humor, the love of music and art, and the gifts of human kindness

If you liked It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth, Marbles, or Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant? you'll love How to Completely Lose Your Mind. 

Some books take the whole of a lifetime to write.

I Am Only a Foreigner Because You Do Not Understand continues Flocks, L. Nichols’s graphic memoir of growing up trans in the rural South. These comics document L.’s further transition, from living as a man to walking the middle path, facing depression, disease, divorce and death. Healing leaves scars, things fall apart, and pronouns change until there is no I, there is only us.

Elena Ferrante’s New York Times bestselling masterpiece, My Brilliant Friend, book one of her Neapolitan Quartet, is now an extraordinary, visually vibrant graphic novel, with text adapted by Chiara Lagani, and illustrations by Mara Cerri.

HBO’s four-season TV adaptation of My Brilliant Friend has enjoyed success with critics and viewers in the U.S.; the novel has been adapted for the stage and radio plays. Here, for the first time, it is brought to vivid life as a graphic novel by one of Italy’s most beloved illustrators.

For Ferrante fans, for those new to Ferrante, for readers of graphic novels, Chiara Lagani’s and Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend: the graphic novel is a thrilling new adaptation of one of the best loved novels of recent decades. Translated by Ferrante’s long-time translator, Ann Goldstein, the graphic novel tells the enduring story of the complex friendship between Lila and Lenù in post-war Naples.

2022 Skipping Stones Honor Awards Recipient | 2021 NCTAsia Freeman Award Honorable Mention

The true story of how one Japanese village suffered and survived the mercury poisoning of its waters.

A powerful graphic novel/manga that tells the story of "Minamata disease," a debilitating and sometimes fatal condition caused by the Chisso chemical factory's careless release of methylmercury into the waters of the coastal community of Minamata in southern Japan. First identified in 1956, it became a hot topic in Japan in the 1970s and 80s, growing into an iconic struggle between people versus corporations and government agencies.

This struggle is relevant today, not simply because many people are still living with the disease but also because, in this time of growing concern over the safety of our environment—viz. Flint, Michigan—Minamata gives us as a very moving example of such human-caused environmental disasters and what we can do about them.

The event is also the subject of the 2020 Andrew Levitas directed Johnny Depp film, Minamata.

“…often remarkably judicious.” That’s what Peter Davison, the editor of George Orwell’s Complete Works, said in 1998 about these authors, Orwell for Beginners, contained in this volume 

No twentieth-century writer remains more vividly etched in the public imagination than George Orwell, thanks to Animal Farm and the unforgettable Nineteen Eighty-Four— and thanks, as well, to the persisting power of the logic-defying authoritarianism Orwell warned us about. George Orwell remains relevant because Big Brothers remain as brazen and truthless as ever. 

This book brings Orwell to life as never before. New discoveries—including a human rights manifesto coauthored with Bertrand Russell and Arthur Koestler—help us better understand the worldview behind the words. In part two of this book, Planet Orwell, Orwell’s manifesto appears here for the first time, along with a wealth of fresh biographical and literary insights.

Winner - 2022 Deems Taylor / Virgil Thomson Book Awards in Pop from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers

Bert Williams—a Black man forced to perform in blackface who challenged the stereotypes of minstrelsy. Eva Tanguay—an entertainer with the signature song “I Don’t Care” who flouted the rules of propriety to redefine womanhood for the modern age. Julian Eltinge—a female impersonator who entranced and unnerved audiences by embodying the feminine ideal Tanguay rejected. At the turn of the twentieth century, they became three of the most provocative and popular performers in vaudeville, the form in which American mass entertainment first took shape.

A Revolution in Three Acts explores how these vaudeville stars defied the standards of their time to change how their audiences thought about what it meant to be American, to be Black, to be a woman or a man. The writer David Hajdu and the artist John Carey collaborate in this work of graphic nonfiction, crafting powerful portrayals of Williams, Tanguay, and Eltinge to show how they transformed American culture. Hand-drawn images give vivid visual form to the lives and work of the book’s subjects and their world.

This book is at once a deft telling of three intricately entwined stories, a lush evocation of a performance milieu with unabashed entertainment value, and an eye-opening account of a key moment in American cultural history with striking parallels to present-day questions of race, gender, and sexual identity.

Winner - 2022 Deems Taylor / Virgil Thomson Book Awards in Pop from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers

Bert Williams—a Black man forced to perform in blackface who challenged the stereotypes of minstrelsy. Eva Tanguay—an entertainer with the signature song “I Don’t Care” who flouted the rules of propriety to redefine womanhood for the modern age. Julian Eltinge—a female impersonator who entranced and unnerved audiences by embodying the feminine ideal Tanguay rejected. At the turn of the twentieth century, they became three of the most provocative and popular performers in vaudeville, the form in which American mass entertainment first took shape.

A Revolution in Three Acts explores how these vaudeville stars defied the standards of their time to change how their audiences thought about what it meant to be American, to be Black, to be a woman or a man. The writer David Hajdu and the artist John Carey collaborate in this work of graphic nonfiction, crafting powerful portrayals of Williams, Tanguay, and Eltinge to show how they transformed American culture. Hand-drawn images give vivid visual form to the lives and work of the book’s subjects and their world.

This book is at once a deft telling of three intricately entwined stories, a lush evocation of a performance milieu with unabashed entertainment value, and an eye-opening account of a key moment in American cultural history with striking parallels to present-day questions of race, gender, and sexual identity.

For readers of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse comes a beautifully illustrated philosophical book on the value of friendship and life, told from the perspective of a fly, and a gift book for all ages.

What if you were thrown into existence in the middle of your life, with numbered days left ahead of you? Would you see the world in the same way? In his inimitable style, Jaap Robben answers these questions through the unexpectedly witty lens of a fly, from the moment it enters the world as a larva right up to its deathbed. Watch this humble fly throw himself into life and his unlikely friendships with gusto, however short that life may be. Irresistibly charming, funny, and sprinkled with entomological details, this is a moving tale for any stage of life, about how we are all ultimately alone, and yet also together.