FANTAGRPHICS OCTOBER 2023 SOLICITATIONS

October 2023 Releases:

Monica by Daniel Clowes

Monica is a series of interconnected narratives that collectively tell the life story — actually, stories — of its title character. Clowes calls upon a lifetime of inspiration to create the most complex and per – sonal graphic novel of his distinguished career. Rich with visual detail, an impeccable ear for language and dialogue, and thrilling twists, Monica is a multilayered masterpiece in comics form that alludes to many of the genres that have defined the medium — war, romance, horror, crime, the supernatural, etc. — but in a mysterious, uncategorizable, and quintessentially Clowesian way that rewards multiple readings.

Five years in the making, Monica marks the apex of creativity from one of the defining voices of the graphic novel boom over the past quarter-century. A new book from Clowes is always a huge event in comics and literary circles; Monica will be the biggest literary event of 2023.

Time Under Tension by M.S. Harkness

M.S. Harkness is graduating from art school in Minneapolis and facing a crossroads in life. She has a strained relationship with her mother, a sexually abusive father on parole, and is in love with an aspiring MMA fighter who mostly hangs out with her to get high and already has a girlfriend and career prospects with a fight promotion. An art career feels untenable — as one professor tells her, “Don’t expect to get by on this fucked-up broke girl shit.” She decides to get a personal trainer’s certificate — it seems like a feasible and sensible career option — but continues to dabble as a sex worker and weed dealer because the money is too irresistible. With idle hands due to no classes or full-time work, M.S. has ample time to aimlessly fuck around — or, to get her shit together. “I want to be better, I want to be stable and solid. I don’t want to keep aimlessly shifting between untenable situations.”

Harkness’s bold, precise black-and-white cartooning and eye for storytelling invites the reader in, while her sharp wit and naturalist ear as a writer takes it away from there. Never didactic, always real, Time Under Tension is a spirited and assured work of graphic memoir.

Hip Hop Family Tree: The Omnibus by Ed Piskor

Ed Piskor’s Hip Hop Family Tree has been a global phenomenon and perennial bestseller since the first (of four) volumes was published in 2013, spawning multiple printings, fourteen comic books, and the author’s wildly popular YouTube comics channel, Cartoonist Kayfabe (with fellow cartoonist Jim Rugg). Yet the series has never been collected under one cover. Until now.

This omnibus collection includes the original 360-page series with over 140 pages of extra material: a cover gallery of every HHFT book and comic book cover and back cover Piskor ever created, pages from the HHFT comic book series that have never been collected, new annotations of the entire series by Piskor, and much more. Plus, it features a foreword by Charlie Ahearn and an afterword by Bill Adler.

An Alchemical Journey Through the Major Arcana of the Tarot: A Spiritually Transformative Deck and Guidebook by Nina Bunjevac

Informed by the artist’s lifelong interest in psychoanalysis, dreamwork, and esoteric philosophy, this deck aims to help seekers reach a deeper understanding of their inner life. An accompanying guidebook breaks down each of the 22 Major Arcana, guiding the seeker through the meanings of the cards and their implication for one’s spiritual journey. At particular focus is the Alchemical journey, which invites the seeker to look inward, discover the essence of who they are, and work to manifest their truest self. An excellent guide to anybody wishing to learn Tarot reading and perform this soul-searching art solo or in a group.

It takes just one glance at Nina Bunjevac’s stunning art to know that you need this Tarot deck in your collection. Her dramatic compositions, rendered in bold ink lines with gold detailing, immediately draw you in. Like an invigorated version of the traditional Rider-Waite deck, Bunjevac breathes life into the classic scenes of the Major Arcana of the Tarot. Comprising 22 cards and a companion book, all encased in a gorgeously designed box, this deck is an exquisite art object as well as spiritual guide.

Dauntless Dames: High-Heeled Heroes of the Comics edited by Trina Robbins and Peter Maresca

In the 1920s they were socialites and flappers. In the 1960s they were homemakers and heartthrobs. But from the late 1930s to the early 1950s, female stars of the newspaper comic strips were detectives, spies, soldiers of fortune, even superheroes. Accomplishing everything the male comics stars of the time achieved, except they did it in high-heels and flowing skirts. Follow the daring exploits of these smart, tough, independent AND sexy Dauntless Dames.

Both a product of their era and ahead of their time, the women in these stories gave their audience just what they needed. Through the Sunday Comics readers could escape from the woes of the Depression, travel to exotic foreign lands, feel the glamor and gangsters of the entertainment world, and support the Allied efforts in World War II.

Presented in an extra-large format, here are the colorful, pulse-pounding tales of ten incredible women, both known and unknown to comics fans — and most are reprinted here for the first time in three-quarters of a century! The book also includes a special bonus insert: a fold-out section with a dozen paper doll cutouts starring the most popular women comic strip characters of the day.

Macanudo: Optimism Is for the Brave by Liniers

Elves, witches, forest monsters, unicorns, children, talking cats and penguins… plus zombies with fitbits, Stephen King’s Christine working as an Uber, and office politics? The bounds of a daily comic strip don’t restrict Macanudo’s imagination or subjects.

With the range of The Far Side, the whimsy of Mutts, and the heart of Calvin & Hobbes, artist Liniers brings his distinctive illustrative line and sensitive watercolors to whatever crosses his mind on a given day. Readers of the previous volume will recognize some recurring characters and stock players, but each book stands alone, and every strip builds its own world. Whether commenting on pop culture, society, or the environment, or celebrating art, nature or the act of reading, Liniers (Ricardo Siri) expresses his thoughts with joy and beauty. Most of them are pretty funny, too.

Beginning in 2002 in Buenos Aires, Macanudo steadily gained popularity around the world, and has been appearing in US newspapers since 2018. Optimism is for the Brave is the second of a series of volumes collecting Liniers’ groundbreaking strip.

A Christmas Bestiary by John Kenn Mortensen and Benni Bødker

In the wintry season, when we all delight in joyful thoughts of family, presents, and sugarplums, we mustn’t forget that the night is dark and full of terrors. Thankfully, bold adventurers Benni Bødker and John Kenn Mortensen have journeyed far and wide to comb through ancient tomes, listen to folk tales, and spy upon loathsome lairs to catalog the most frightful creatures of the netherworld that appear around Christmastime.

A Christmas Bestiary is an essential guidebook to all the horrors that await us during the darkest time of the year, from common creatures such as Baba Yaga and the Krampus to the less encountered (but quite deadly) Yule Wight and Gryla. Bødker’s brief text entries include the lore and background of each creature, plus handy info such as danger level that will help you survive (but no guarantees!). Mortensen’s gothic, pen-and-ink renderings bring these bone-chilling beasts to life on the page. Eerie, playful, and practical, A Christmas Bestiary is the perfect collection for the ones who love —or fear— the things that go bump in the night.

Striking a Pose: A Handy Guide to the Male Nude by Anita Kunz

What would Jimi Hendrix, Clint Eastwood, Ricky Gervais, Stephen King, and over a hundred other pop culture icons look like if they posed for your Live Drawing Class? That is the burning question decisively answered by Anita Kunz in Striking a Pose.

Inspired by her own art students’ struggles and triumphs with nude life drawing, Kunz turns her brushes to nearly 150 speculative portraits of famous figures, stripped of their vanities and as unpretentiously posed as life models. Alone or grouped, male marvels and monsters and musicians stand, lean and sit for the imaginary eye of the acclaimed painter and illustrator.

Drawn with a casual wit, Kunz’s caricatures combine with naturalism to undercut the mystique of her subjects. The well-known faces become less significant than the unknown bodies, as though the celebrities and creators are descending from their pedestals in order to pose.

All One Life by Jon Strongbow

Inspired by a 3-page comic by the French cartoonist Jean Giraud (Moebius) illustrating a speech by Chief Seattle, Seattle-based cartoonist Jon Strongbow went on a spiritual journey. He studied at the Red Cedar Circle, a community dedicated to the ancient teachings of the First Peoples of the Northwest Coast, attended a local Tibetan monastery, and was mentored by local native healers and medicine people. Deeply moved by these teachings, he sought to honor the culture of the original inhabitants and refute the devastation wrought upon them by depicting today’s Seattle imbued with ghosts of the original inhabitants of Northwest Coastal natives.

All One Life is a series of 29 stunningly imaginative images — meticulously rendered and expertly transformed into 3D (glasses required and included) — that juxtapose the city’s past and present, indicating what we have lost by destroying the tribal nations. Many of the images feature masked dancers from all over the world and how they invigorate the modern streets. There are also shamanic images, especially spirit entities, such as the dream time Wandjina spirits of Australia and the Hopi and Zuni Kachina’s in the Four Corners area. Strongbow also showcases endangered species: a whale swims in the streets of Pioneer Square, echoing their near extinction caused by aggressive whaling by Americans, Germans, and Japanese; dinosaurs roam the city’s streets, reminding us that many creatures have had their day, and we may have had ours. All One Life is a series of stunning images chronicling the transformation of Seattle that is both imaginatively fanciful and profoundly elegiac.

Walt Disney’s Donald Duck “Maharajah Donald”: The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 4 by Carl Barks

Through a series of trade-ups, the nephews turn Donald’s old pencil stub into — a steamship ticket to India! Off they go, and Donald is soon declared to be “Maharajah Donald” — but there’s a catch! Then, Donald accidentally buys a houseboat at an auction that leads to an encounter with a giant sea serpent! Next, “Santa’s Stormy Visit,” a Christmas story with none of the trimmings — no man in a red suit, no snow (but a tropical hurricane!), no presents under the tree (no tree!) But still a charming holiday tale. And don’t miss “Donald Duck’s Atom Bomb!”

As we circle back to Carl Barks’s earlier stories, the Good Duck Artist delivers another superb collection of surprise, delight, comedy, adventure, and all-around cartooning brilliance. 193 pages of story and art, each meticulously restored and newly colored. Insightful story notes by an international panel of Barks experts.

Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge Gift Box Set “The Twenty-four Carat Moon” & “Island in the Sky”: Vols 22 and 24 by Carl Barks

A double dose of Disney Duck comics adventures for the holidays!

This season’s Carl Barks Library slipcased gift box set collects two of our earlier volumes in this popular series: Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge: “The Twenty-four Carat Moon” (Outer space gold and on the trail of an ancient Incan treasure!) and Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge: “Island in the Sky” (Outrageous hijinks on another planet and on the high seas back on Earth!). 424 pages in two volumes snugged into a sturdy slipcase at a special price that even Uncle Scrooge couldn’t resist!