Hello and welcome to Multiversity’s look at the “Best of the Rest,” where we try to summarize what’s coming your way this February 2020. We’ve already looked at DC, Marvel, Image, and some manga options. Now let’s check out what else the Previews Catalog has in store for the dreariest month of the year.
Get your pull lists ready because February is heady.
10. Because We’re Happy
It feels like the French, middle-aged-readers’ version of “Happy!”
Wonder Pony
Written and Illustrated by Marie Spénale
Published by BOOM! StudiosMiddle school wasn’t exactly stable before, but it becomes a real struggle when sixth grader Louison is given the strength and powers of a pony by… a tiny pink pony that insists on being called Jean-Pierre? Now, she’s saddled with the responsibility of reining in the monsters that are giddy-up to no good in her new school! It’s time to horse around with Wonder Pony! Angouleme Youth Award-nominated writer and artist Marie Spénale presents a magical adventure full of friends and fun for anyone who’s ever wished they had the power to save the day! Perfect for fans of My Little Pony and Miraculous Ladybug!
9. Save Yourself, Save the World
I’m a sucker for stories about people tearing down the system. (See: His Dark Materials. This also sounds like one of the subplots from Zelda II: The Adventures of Link.) It’s an idea that gives us hope and inspiration to not stand for long-standing, nonsensical traditions, that press for a better and more equitable life. If not in our fiction than where else can we see what it takes to fight for what’s right?
The Golden Age
Written by Roxanne Moreil & Cyril Pedrosa
Illustrated by Cyril Pedrosa
Published by First SecondA medieval saga with political intrigue reminiscent of Game of Thrones, “The Golden Age” is an epic graphic novel duology about utopia and revolution! In the kingdom of Lantrevers, suffering is a way of life – unless you’re a member of the ruling class. Princess Tilda plans to change all that. As the rightful heir of late King Ronan, Tilda wants to deliver her people from famine and strife. But on the eve of her coronation, her younger brother, backed by a cabal of power-hungry lords, usurps her throne and casts her into exile. Now Tilda is on the run. With the help of her last remaining allies, Tankred and Bertil, she travels in secret through the hinterland of her kingdom. Wherever she goes, the common folk whisper of a legendary bygone era when all men lived freely. There are those who want to return to this golden age-at any cost. In the midst of revolution, how can Tilda reclaim her throne?
8. These Hellish Fantasies
Hyena Hell’s bonkers, morbid, hysterical, and mad style is the sort of thing you want to see from the alternative comics. It’s that freedom of expression, of voice. Everything about this story sounds insane and I’m hoping it can maintain its promised energy.
No Romance in Hell
Written and Illustrated by Hyena Hell
Published by Silver SprocketDisappointed with her romantic prospects in Hell, a demon ascends to Earth’s surface on a quest for loving tenderness from human men.
Disappointment, disintegration, and hilarity ensue in this brimstone-infused roasting of modern romance!
7. Acid West
Denmark cartoonist Rikke Villadsen offers this weird Western tale. Fantagraphics promises an “uproariously surreal take on the classic Western.” It also promises an exploration of “gruff masculinity.” Considering that Villadsen hails from Denmark, it’s a strong bet that her outsider’s point-of-view will reveal something about all of us we hadn’t expected.
Continued belowCowboy
Written and Illustrated by Rikke Villadsen
Published by FantagraphicsIn this wild west frontier town, nothing is quite what it seems. Painted ladies soar through the sky, townsfolk flicker and fade, and gender seems as fluid as oozing ink. At the heart of this surreal tale, a restless woman longs to break free from her confinement and ride off into the sunset. Both an homage to the classic Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone and a fiercely feminist send-up of gruff masculinity, “Cowboy” is a Western unlike any other.
6. Mindy and the Magic Chocolate
If nothing else, BOOM! knows its demographic. Part of its success over these last couple years has been in telling stories that speak to that group. (That and licensing everything under the sun.) They’re offering this deep and heartfelt exploration of choices and self-harm from Sweeney Boo on a larger scale than the Kickstarted original. I’m sure it will speak to a lot of its young readers.
Eat, and Love Yourself
Written and Illustrated by Sweeney Boo
Published by BOOM! StudiosFor fans of “Seconds” and “Wet Moon!” Mindy is a young woman living with an eating disorder and trapped in a battle for her own self-worth. When she accidentally discovers a magic chocolate bar that will give her a chance to revisit her past, she thinks she has a chance to put her life back on track. But will she be able to find a way back to her present, and just as important, a way to treat herself with love and kindness, at any size? Join the incredible creative duo of writer/artist Sweeney Boo (Marvel Action: Captain Marvel) and writer Lylian (Ellana) on a journey of self-discovery, self-acceptance, and just a bit of magic.
5. Do Not Let It Go Forgotten into the Night
I admire the audacity of this project. To take this enormous document and try to find a way to visualize it is no easy task. It’s also important that this continues to persist because although the Republican party insists there’s nothing wrong here, that Trump is not implicated by the report, because they’ve managed to bury the most damning details and sweep everything under the rug in their inexplicable loyalty to an awful man, Trump has done some horrible things that would have ended the career of any other politician and the careers of their accomplices. This exists. Trump did horrible things. We oughtn’t forget.
The Mueller Report
Written by Shannon Wheeler and Steve Duin
Illustrated by Shannon Wheeler
Published by IDWShannon Wheeler, Eisner Award-winning New Yorker cartoonist (Too Much Coffee Man, Shit My President Says, God is Disappointed in You), and veteran journalist Steve Duin (The Oregonian, Comics: Between the Panels, Oil and Water) turn their critical eye on The Mueller Report-a comprehensive, understandable, and readable graphic novel version of the book every patriot needs.
Fight the spin spewing forth from both parties and political pulpits and check out this graphic novel that brings a 400-page legal document down to size. Wheeler and Duin, in graphic form, bring to life scenes detailed in the report: from the infamous Trump Tower Meeting of 2016 to Trump exclaiming “I’m fucked” upon finding out he was the subject of investigation. It’s in the report and it’s in the graphic novel!
The Mueller Report: Graphic Novel borrows style from classic private detective yarns, complete with a villainous rogues’ gallery, nail-biting cliffhangers, and a lone lawman standing proud against the wave of crime.
See Trump berate his Attorney General. Watch a petulant Commander-in-Chief lob insults at the White House counsel. Witness the “witch hunt” as it happened, cataloged as only the top lawman in the country could!
This staggering laundry list of questionable contacts, misleading statements, unreported engagements, and possible coordination-enough to stun any student of the U.S. Constitution-is laid bare with a cold, satirical edge.
Now includes new BONUS MATERIAL! Wheeler and Duin take on the Ukrainian Call and the Whistleblower Complaint that ignited the Impeachment!
You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You may Tweet in anger. But most importantly, you will be reading the report for yourself!
4. Day Camp Day Drinking
The decade of ’90s nostalgia is already rearing hard. It’s all Wet Hot American Summer and Addams Family Values up in here.
Continued belowCamp Spirit
Written and Illustrated by Axelle Lenoir
Published by Top ShelfSummer, 1994. With just two months left before college, Elodie is forced by her mother to take a job as a camp counselor. She doesn’t know the first thing about nature, or sports, or kids for that matter, and isn’t especially interested in learning… but now she’s responsible for a foul-mouthed horde of girls who just might win her over. But just as Elodie starts getting used to her new environment-and close to one of the other counselors-a dark mystery lurking around the camp begins to haunt her dreams.
3. The Key to Immortality
Jim Di Bartolo presents this biography of a man who completely upended Hollywood. Di Bartolo’s work is reserved and observant, which I think lends itself to a tale that’s objective as possible.
The Boy Who Became a Dragon
Written and Illustrated by Jim Di Bartolo
Published by GraphixGraphix’s first biography – telling the astonishing story of martial arts legend Bruce Lee! Bruce Lee was born on November 27, 1940 – in both the hour and the year of the dragon. Almost immediately, he was plunged into conflict: as a child in Hong Kong as it was invaded and occupied by the Japanese; as the object of discrimination and bullying; and as a teenager grappling against the influence of gangs. As the world knows, Lee found his salvation and calling through kung fu – first as a student, then as a teacher, and finally as a global star. The Boy Who Became a Dragon tells his story in brilliant comic form. Available in Softcover and Hardcover editions.
2. New Colony
I don’t know if you’ve ever encountered the existential dread and horror that comes from DeForge’s comics, but everything points to this continuing that trend. His work is a trip and a half and any new book he releases is almost automatically worth further investigation.
Familiar Face
Written and Illustrated by Michael DeForge
Published by Drawn & QuarterlyThe bodies of citizens and the infrastructure surrounding them is constantly updating. People wake up in apartments of completely different sizes and shapes and commuter routes radically differ day to day. There is no way to resist-the updates are enacted by a nameless, faceless force. The signatures of DeForge’s work-a vibrant color palette, surreal designs, and self-aware sense of humor – enliven an often-bleak technocratic future. Familiar Face is a masterful and deeply funny exploration of how we define our sense of self, and how we cope when so much of life is out of our control.
1. Secret Lives
Matt Kindt’s at it again with his secret agents, washed up authors, and multiple realities. This time, he’s brought Wilfredo Torres along. Torres has been big in the superhero scene. He also did one of the “Jupiter’s Legacy” books. I’ll be interested to see if he can take that style and adapt it to Kindt’s off-kilter imagination.
Bang #1
Written by Matt Kindt
Illustrated by Wilfredo Torres
Published by Dark HorseA best-of-the-best secret agent with memories he couldn’t possibly possess, a mystery writer in her 60s who spends her retirement solving crimes, a man of action with mysterious drugs that keep him ahead of a constant string of targeted disasters, a seemingly omnipotent terrorist organization that might be behind it all…
And they’re all connected to one man: a science-fiction author with more information than seems possible, whose books may hold the key to either saving reality or destroying it.
o A mind-bending story that ties in with past Kindt works (Revolver).
o Action, mystery, and altered reality!
Well that was fun! Feel free to let us know what you’re excited for!
