FANTAGRAPHICS FEBRUARY 2024 SOLICITATIONS

Hypericum, a graphic novel by Manuele Fior, intertwines the historic discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb in the 1920s with a 1990s love story in Berlin, tracing the parallel lives of Howard Carter and the young lovers Teresa and Ruben. While Teresa’s life follows a predictable path marked by success, including a scholarship to mount an exhibition on Carter’s discovery, Ruben’s unstructured life in Berlin takes a dramatic turn when they meet. This graphic masterpiece, set against the backdrop of Egyptian grandeur and Berlin’s vibrancy, explores themes of love, time, and the mystical properties of the hypericum plant.

After decades of anticipation, Rick Altergott’s cult-classic masterpiece Blessed Be is finally finished! A small town’s eccentricities and secrets unravel in a comedic and satirical narrative, as characters like The Acid King and Doofus Anderssen navigate a bizarre world of crime, mystery, and psychedelic absurdity, all set against a backdrop of ’70s small-town conservatism and lowbrow humor.

Mark Doox is an Ordained religious iconographer who is a classically trained painter. In The N-Word of God, Doox recontextualizes religious and racial narratives through Byzantine and early Italian art styles, challenging binary racial ideas with a mix of satire, wit, and striking illustrations.

Return to Eden by Paco Roca is a touching graphic novel that intimately portrays the life of the author’s mother, Antonia, in post-war Spain, weaving her personal struggles and joys within the broader context of a society grappling with the aftermath of war, authoritarian rule, and the hope that comes from finding solace in small pleasures.

Frank Johnson, Secret Pioneer of American Comics Vol. 1 unveils the groundbreaking work of Frank Johnson, a weekend cartoonist whose 2300-page proto-graphic novel, begun in 1928, predated comic books and innovated many comics storytelling conventions. This first-ever publication includes his major works like Wally’s Gang and The Bowser Boys, with historical analysis and background provided by curator Chris Byrne and cartoonist Keith Mayerson.

With FATCOP, Johnny Ryan returns to his lowbrow humor roots following his cult classic and violent fantasy series, Prison Pit. Ping-ponging his antihero through an ever-escalating and cascading series of violent, scatological, and wildly imaginative absurdities.

In celebration of Disney’s 100th Anniversary, Walt Disney’s Mickey and Donald Fantastic Futures presents an all-new collection of comics where Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and the gang face futuristic adventures in settings ranging from Earth to outer space!

“Red Room: Crypto Killaz!” is the final arc of the splatterpunk series, where Mistress Pentagram and the Red Room Players return in a blood-soaked crescendo, intertwining themes of cryptocurrency, dark web intrigue, and a historical dive into the origins of red rooms, culminating in the creation of the most notorious Red Room persona.