This is it, folks, our last Soliciting column of 2020. We’ve looked at upcoming releases from DC, Marvel, Image, and manga publishers, so here’s some highlights from publishers indie, alternative, small press, and otherwise.
Over the next month, we’re going to reflect back on what we read, what we loved, and what we forgot from the cursed blight that was the year 2020.
10. Ready the Flood Gates
Eat the rich. And this comic essay by Darryl Cunningham should offer plenty of reasons to do so, as if turning on the news every day or tuning into the odd Congressional hearing wasn’t reason enough.
Billionaires
Written and Illustrated by Darryl Cunningham
Published by Drawn & QuarterlyDarryl Cunningham offers an illuminating analysis of the origins and ideological evolutions of four key players in the American private sector: Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and oil and gas tycoons Charles and David Koch. What emerges in these informative and hilarious biographies, is a vital critique of American capitalism and the power these individuals have to assert a corrupting influence on policy-making, political campaigns, and society writ large.
9. The Future of Law Enforcement
John Allison’s “Giant Days” spin off exchanges the slice-of-life humanism and honesty that made the series so rich and unforgettable for a murder mystery caper. It’s different, sure, but it still bears the hallmarks and humor of Allison and Sarin’s original work. This book collects the entire series, illustrated with verve and energy by Max Sarin, so we can delight in the constant bumbling of the constabulary.
Wicked Things
Written by John Allison
Illustrated by Max Sarin
Published by BOOM! Comics* Return to the world of Giant Days, where Charlotte Grote has her whole life ahead of her; straight to Oxford and a future as a real detective – until she’s framed for murder!
* Facing going to jail forever or joining the police, Lottie decides to hit the beat, all while trying to find the real murderer.
* Could the future of law enforcement be 5’2″ with a strong bangs game?
8. If It Bleeds, It Weeps
Abby Jame’s comics explore girlhood in a series of tiny moments punctuated by pertinent punchlines. Her art is round and muscular, her characters own and occupy their space on the page, claim it boldly while they also try to figure out their own identities.
Heart-Shaped Tears
Written and Illustrated by Abbe Jame
Published by Silver SprocketGirls are tired, jaded and the last reminders of glittering purity. Not dumb sexual purity, but light and love, laughing in beds, and sneaking out. Comics, illustrations, aliens, elves, boys who don’t text back, words, and cartoons from the sci-fi sad girl Abby Jame.
7. Humid with Hormones
Even now, to visit a school locker room, regardless of your high school experience, conjures repressed emotions and horribly embarrassing situations. Putting a bunch f sweaty kids in one room where they’re supposed to undress and shower, expose themselves in their varying body types and developmental shapes, is a recipe for trauma. Think about the haste some kids throw on their clothes while others lunge about. The fevered attempts to conceal, slip into your underwear while holding up your towel, trying not to look at your friend or neighbor or that jock striding around with far too much confidence. The air is humid with hormones. Timothé Le Broucher reaches for that horror in the everyday, that trauma invoked by adolescent minds. I think there’s enough here to make this a petrifying read. And I hope Humanoids doesn’t push it to some supernatural event, to stay consistent with their brand.
Continued belowLocker Room
Written and Illustrated by Timothé Le Broucher
Published by HumanoidsIt is a place where savagery knows no bounds. A place where foggy glass windows house a ruthless social hierarchy. A place where no one is truly safe. They call this place…the locker room.
As teen boys discover a renovated locker room at their school, it becomes the nexus of genuinely life-altering events. Body shaming, bullying, and the cruelty of prying eyes are only the tip of the iceberg inside this cauldron of hormones and developing adolescent minds.
Akin to the horrors of Lord of the Flies, The Locker Room explores a micro-society without boundaries in which only the strongest survive.
6. Dry Foot
The glamour and the glitz, the decadence and artificiality of Miami in the ’80s seems well-suited for comic books. What other medium can push the colors so hard, stretch the shapes to a point of abstraction, and express high emotions through its very structure?
Dry Foot
Written by Jarred Lujan
Illustrated by Orlando Caicedo
Published by Mad Cave StudiosSet in Miami during its most dangerous and decadent decade, the 1980s, this coming-of-age tale follows four teens desperate to escape the drugs and violence of the city. Together, they plot a heist to steal large sums of cash from the most dangerous gang on Calle Ocho, Los Marielitos. Dry Foot is a fearless story infused with hispanic culture that deals with friendship, family, and sacrifice.
5. Disney, More Evil than Their Worst Villains
Now that the Skywalker Saga has concluded (with a whimper, a desperate gasp for air, a sad attempt to please everyone only to end up insulting itself, a decrepit monkey clad in a wonderful costume trying to hide how it cannot play its tune anymore), LucasFilm and Disney broaden their perspectives. We’ve heard a lot about the High Republic initiative, meant to expand through books for older audiences, children, and adolescents, through comics, through games(?). Claudia Gray handles the second young adult novel. Gray has been solid with the Star Wars universe in the past, so there’s no reason to think she won’t be adept with this.
All that being said, Disney is doing that Disney thing, stealing from the artists whose IP they are so ready to capitalize upon. As you might have heard, the corporation is refusing to pay royalties to Alan Dean Foster, the novelist responsible for many titles set in a galaxy far, far away. They claim that they purchased the rights to publish the work, not the responsibilities that came with paying the authors, and then try to tuck it away behind non-disclosure agreements. If Disney gets away with this, it could spell certain doom for compensation and copyright laws. Already, Disney is notorious for messing around with the United States copyright acts. With this initiative, from their stance, they could sell the publishing rights to another division of their company, and then continue pocketing all the profits, rather than the current lion’s share.
As of right now, Mickey Mouse is set to enter the public domain in 2024, though you can bet your bottom dollar that this is one of the first acts Disney are taking to rework copyright to fit their company’s needs. And to screw over the people who actually make this stuff for them.
Star Wars: The High Republic — Into the Dark
Written by Claudia Gray
Published by Disney/LucasFilm PressPadawan Reath Silas is being sent from the cosmopolitan galactic capital of Coruscant to the undeveloped frontier – and he couldn’t be less happy about it. He’d rather stay at the Jedi Temple, studying the archives. But when the ship he’s traveling on is knocked out of hyperspace in a galactic-wide disaster, Reath finds himself at the center of the action. The Jedi and their traveling companions find refuge on what appears to be an abandoned space station. But then strange things start happening, leading the Jedi to investigate the truth behind the mysterious station, a truth that could end in tragedy…
4. Youth Without Youth
Superheroes as metaphors for the oppressed and down-trodden, these elaborate power fantasies, have been part of the genre since Superman crash landed in 1938. (I mean, we could go back further and talk about mythological heroes and blessed individuals, but we’re focused on comics, OK?) It’s no surprise, then, how tightly the queer community latched on to their stories, even if the corporations involved have shown little interest in doing more than baiting their readers. Alex Diotta and Curt Pires’s “Youth” takes these fantastic conventions and throws throws them into an American Honey narrative. One that’s much more concise and features far less Shia LaBeouf. Now collected in one volume, and in print, readers can fully experience the anguish and the joy, the delight at the world and the horrible realization about its structures.
Continued belowYouth
Written by Curt Pires
Illustrated by Alex Diotto
Published by Dark Horse ComicsYOUTH is Larry Clark’s Kids meets Chronicle. X-Men by way of Frank Ocean. It smashes together the violence of coming of age with the violence of the superhero narrative – as well as the beauty.
YOUTH is a coming of age story that tells the story of two queer teenagers as they run away from their lives in a bigoted small town, and attempt to make their way to California. Along the way their car breaks down and they join up with a group of fellow misfits on the road. Embarking together in a van travelling the country they party and attempt to find themselves. And then something happens . . .
3. Cutting Through the Layers
Top Shelf presents this slice-of-life road trip comic by Edgar Camacho. Set in a food truck, it follows the story of a young man struggling to find meaning in life after his soul and body have been literally crushed at his job. So, like a foodie version of Stardew Valley, he sets out. The books was the recipient of Mexico’s first Young National Graphic Novel award. It’s wonderful we’re getting a translation: I always wonder what spectacular comics from around the world we miss out on, those that never manage to cross our borders.
Onion Skin
Written and Illustrated by Edgar Camacho
Published by Top ShelfDiscover a bright new star of Mexican comics in this romantic and thrilling tale, stuffed with adventure and delicious food.
Rolando’s job was crushing him… and then it literally crushed his hand. Now he can barely get out of the house, binging TV and struggling to find meaning. On a rare night out with friends, he meets Nera, a woman who lives only in the moment. Dazzled by her hedonistic attitude, Rolando sees a new life opening before him. Together, these restless youths fix up an old food truck and hit the road for a wild journey. But have they truly found the spice of life? Or has Rolando bitten off more than he can chew?
Onion Skin, winner of Mexico’s first ever National Young Graphic Novel Award, became a sensation in its native land for its rich narrative, captivating characters, thrilling action, and positively delicious artwork. It’s a feast that will leave readers eager for a second course.
2. Long John Babysitter
Neil Gaiman often comes off at his most uninhibited and imaginative in his work geared toward children. This picture book, illustrated by Chris Riddell, seems to fully embrace that expressive side, promising flying ships and magical stews and other such fantastic wonders. Riddell is the most British of Gaiman’s usual collaborators (Dave McKean, P. Craig Russell, Jill Thompson), but that scratch, hasty style is sure to give the book that extra jolt to make it a joy to read.
Pirate Stew
Written by Neil Gaiman
Illustrated by Chris Riddell
Published by Quill Tree BooksA hilarious rhyming read-aloud tale of pirate babysitters and the mayhem they bring, with a deliciously rhyming text from master storyteller Neil Gaiman, and spellbinding illustrations by the supremely talented Chris Riddell. Meet Long John McRon, Ship’s Cook – and the most unusual babysitter you’ve ever seen. Long John has a whole crew of wild pirates in tow, and – for one boy and his sister – he’s about to transform a perfectly ordinary evening into a riotous adventure beneath a pirate moon. It’s time to make some Pirate Stew. Marvelously silly and gloriously entertaining, this tale of pirates, flying ships, doughnut feasts and some rather magical stew is perfect for all pirates, both young and old.
1. Everything Under the Sun Is in Tune When the Sun is Eclipsed by the Moon
Filled with blood cults and chaos magic, secret families and hippie communes, Maria Llovet throws everything onto the page for her new thriller series from Boom! Her style features thin, jagged lines and expressive shapes; cluttered, overbearing panels; and glorious fashion designs. Everything points to this series being a rip and a half, a wild and overwhelming experience.
Continued belowLuna
Written and Illustrated by Maria Llovet
Published by BOOM! Studios* For fans of Faithless and Die comes a new dark thriller from acclaimed writer & artist Maria Llovet about a young woman named Teresa, who’s plagued by prophetic dreams that connect her to something powerful, something…divine.
* When Teresa fatefully crosses paths with the Family of the Sun, she believes them to be exactly what anyone else in the late ’60s would expect – a hippie cult whose leader claims to have met the divine.
* But secret blood rituals, powerful drugs and sex runneth amok will bring Teresa face-to-face with the truth about the Family, herself and the dark secret behind her dreams.
* Immortality, magic and alchemy, and the true power of enduring love collide in this new series for Mature Readers.
Well, that was fun. Let us know what you’re excited for in the comments.
