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Soliciting Multiversity: The Best of the Rest for March 2019

By | January 4th, 2019
Posted in Columns | % Comments

Hello and welcome to Multiversity’s look at the “Best of the Rest,” where we try to summarize what’s coming your way from pretty much every other comic publisher besides Marvel, Dark Horse, DC, and Image for March 2019.

Get your pull lists ready to welcome in the new year because it’s time to see all the other stuff going on in comics.

10. Ghosts of Piggies Past

Cover by Joey Weiser

Not only is this literally about a ghost boar trying to get revenge on the hunter who kills her, Weiser also tosses in myths and legends of great forests. Oni usually has success with these spins on these old stories, so this will probably stay in line with those.

Ghost Hog
Written and Illustrated by Joey Weiser
Published by Oni Press

A new graphic novel from the Eisner Award-nominated creator of Mermin that deftly navigates loss, vengeance, and acceptance!

Truff is the ghost of a young boar, fueled by fury towards the hunter who shot her down. She has a lot to learn about her new afterlife, and thankfully the forest spirits Claude and Stanley are there to guide her!

However, they soon find that her parents, along with their fellow animal villagers, have been kidnapped by the malicious mountain demon Mava! Truff wants to help, but… the hunter is finally within her grasp, and if she lets him go, she may never get her revenge!

Is vengeance all that being a ghost is good for? Or is there something stronger keeping this little pig tethered to the living world?

9. Ofmargaret

Cover by Renee Nault

Margaret Atwood’s classic novel is the latest in the line to be translated to comics. Just in time for the sequel to the novel, too. Nault’s illustrations are wild and it seems like she brings a Sienkiewicz-like level of imagery to the story. This should be a trip.

The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel Adaptation
Written by Margaret Atwood and Renee Nault
Illustrated by Renee Nault
Published by Nan A Talese

An instant classic when it was published in 1985, Atwood’s genre-bending, dystopian story comes to life in this new, beautifully illustrated graphic novel. The story is iconic: In the Republic of Gilead, a Handmaid named Offred lives in the home of the Commander, to the purpose that she become pregnant with his child. Stripped of her most basic freedoms, (work, property, her own name), Offred remembers a different time, not so long ago, when she was valuable for more than her viable ovaries, when she was mother to a daughter she could keep, and when she and her husband lived and loved as equals. Darkly prescient, scathingly sarcastic, and eminently frightening, The Handmaid’s Tale has only gained relevance since it was originally published, and remains one of the most powerful, widely read stories of our times.

8. From the Province to the Fjord

Cover by Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom

Drawn & Quarterly presents this memoir comic by Sjöblom. It chronicles her investigating her heritage, after growing up adopted in Sweden. Expect this one to hit you right in the feels, to say something about the human experience.

Palimpsest
Written and Illustrated by Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom
Published by Drawn & Quarterly

Thousands of South Korean children were adopted around the world in the 1970s and 1980s. More than nine thousand found their new home in Sweden, including the cartoonist Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom. Throughout her childhood she struggled to fit into the homogenous Swedish culture and was continually told to suppress the innate desire to know her origins. In this emotionally charged memoir, Sjöblom’s unaddressed feelings about her adoption come to a head when she is pregnant with her first child. As she digs deeper into her own backstory, she realizes her own history may not match up with the story she’s been told her whole life: that she was an orphan without a background.

7. In the Ring

Cover by Hannah Templer

I’m not sure if this comic is an adaptation of the Netflix series or a side-story. Either way, fans will surely be ready for this.

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Glow #1
Written by Tini Howard
Illustrated by Hannah Templer
Published by IDW Publishing

The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling are ready to take on the world-or at least LA-in this comic based on the hit Netflix series! When the unthinkable happens and the women of GLOW find themselves ahead of schedule, Sam ruins the promise of a wrestling-free weekend with… more wrestling! Robbed of blissful relaxation and forced to raise money to fund their way to the event, the GLOW team is less-than-prepared for their opponents: real gorgeous lady wrestlers. What could possibly go wrong?!

6. Not Destroying, Making Something New

Cover by Inés Estrada

Fantagraphics definitely attracts a sort of pessimistic post-apocalyptic aesthetic. Despite all that, there’s always something fascinating and intriguing to discover in these things.

Alienation
Written and Illustrated by Inés Estrada
Published by Fantagraphics

The global climate and wildlife as we know it has been completely wiped out, fossil fuels have run dry, and we live in a total corporate monopoly. But worst of all, Elizabeth and Carlos are bored! Alienation, Inés Estrada’s new graphic novel, introduces us to a powerfully exquisite and chilling near future that doesn’t seem too far-fetched, where virtual reality affects our diets, sex lives, and nightly dreams.
Drawn in hazy gray pencil and printed in blue ink, Alienation focuses on Elizabeth, an erotic dancer in cyberspace, and Carlos, just fired from the last human-staffed oil rig, as they attempt to keep their romance alive. The couple is anxious about dangerous cyber stalkers and malfunctioning brain implants (“Googleglands”), but they also can’t forget to go grocery shopping and fix their spotty internet service. When the realization hits them that their bodies are full of artificial organs and they live almost entirely online, they begin to question what being human actually means. Do our ancestral, or even animal, instincts eventually kick in, or are we transcending the limits of our bodies?

5. Get the Goal and Find Your Soul

Cover by Cathy G. Johnson

Look, the Western comics world needs more sports comics. Kids should have inspirational stories. This sounds like the kind of thing First Second would be all over, so fans of that publisher’s output should be excited for this.

The Breakaways
Written and Illustrated by Cathy G. Johnson
Published by First Second

A powerful middle-grade graphic novel about a soccer team full of misfits and the unlikely friendships forged on and off the field. Faith, an introverted fifth grader with a vivid imagination, starts middle school worrying about how she will fit in. To her surprise, Amanda, a popular eighth grader, convinces her to join the school soccer team, the Bloodhounds. Having never played soccer in her life, Faith ends up on the C team, a ragtag group with a tendency for drama over teamwork. Despite their losing streak, Faith and her fellow teammates form strong bonds both on and off the soccer field, which challenge their notions of loyalty, identity, friendship, and unity. The Breakaways is a positive exploration of the complexity of female friendships, as well as the ups and downs of middle school life. Cathy G. Johnson brings this diverse and spirited group of girls to life with her joyful art style and honest, thoughtful writing. Available in softcover and hardcover editions.

4. An Island of Samurai

Cover by Giannis Milonogiannis

Pak knows how to deliver fun, entertaining comics for adolescent readers. This sounds goofy enough and open enough to be able to fit in nicely with the rest of his bibliography.

Ronin Island #1
Written by Greg Pak
Illustrated by Giannis Milonogiannis
Published by BOOM! Studios

After a mysterious attack wipes out the major cities of 19th century Japan, Korea, and China, survivors from all three lands find refuge on a hidden island and build a new society.

Hana, the orphaned daughter of Korean peasants, and Kenichi, son of a great samurai leader, have little in common except for a mutual disdain for the other. But these young warriors will have to work together when an army invades the island with shocking news: there is a new Shogun and the Island is expected to pay fealty in exchange for protection from a new enemy…a mutated horde that threatens to wipe out all humanity.

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3. Go Around and Round and Round and Round

Cover by Koren Shadmi

A high concept Hob Gadling story finds this nomad encountering humanity, one step at a time. The book comes from Israeli cartoonist, Koren Shadmi, and it sounds like the sort of sprawling sci-fi epic that will take you in and absorb you within its world.

Highwayman
Written and Illustrated by Koren Shadmi
Published by Top Shelf

Forever on the move, Highwayman travels through the vastness of North America searching for the source of his condition. He suffers from a strange, seemingly incurable disease: immortality. Bound to the road and at the mercy of whomever will give him a ride, he encounters people who reflect the rapidly changing world around him. Moving through centuries of change, he watches humanity’s precarious trajectory towards an unknown future. Israeli cartoonist Koren Shadmi (Love Addict, The Abaddon) turns to science fiction in a sprawling, ambitious journey across time and space.

2. Witchy Ways

Cover by Veronica Fish

I mean, it’s not like Archie have been releasing their dope as fuck “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” comic anymore or anything. The creative team is cool and they’re the biggest draw but I dunno.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1
Written by Kelly Thompson
Illustrated by Veroinca Fish
Published by Archie Comics

BRAND NEW SERIES! Sabrina is a teen witch who’s struggling with balancing the double life of high school and her burgeoning powers. Newly relocated to Greendale with her aunts Hilda and Zelda (also witches), Sabrina is trying to make the best of being the new girl in town which so far includes two intriguing love interests, an instant rivalry, a couple of misfits that could turn into BFFs, and trying to save the high school (and maybe the world) from crazy supernatural events. NBD!

1. Metal at the End of the World

Cover by David Rubin

Yeah, okay, the concept’s familiar. It feels like a Frank Miller world but with a better understanding of satire. What we’re really here for is the David Rubin artwork. From everything we’ve seen so far, this looks like it’ll be wild and insane, which is exactly the sort of work you would want from him.

The Grand Abyss Hotel
Written by Marcos Prior
Illustrated by David Rubin
Published by Boom! Studios

Marcos Prior and Eisner-nominated artist David Rub n (The Hero, Rumble, Battling Boy: The Rise of Aurora West) weave a politically satirical look at democracy today through the lense of hyper-violence and explosive action.

Imagine a world overrun by big business and “fake news” via the social media machine…In The Grand Abyss Hotel neoliberalism has become a state religion, while the citizens quietly and then not-so-quietly rebel, giving way to violence on the streets and sowing chaos. A masked vigilante takes on the role of hero to battle politicians, the erosion of democracy, and social media. After the fires burn low and the dust settles, social order returns. Or does it?

Well, that was fun! And let me know what books you’re excited for in the comments section.


//TAGS | Soliciting Multiversity

Matthew Garcia

Matt hails from Colorado. He can be found on Twitter as @MattSG.

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