Fantagraphics Books

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This haunting dystopian thriller graphic novel explores themes of mental health, queer identity, and the dangers of unchecked fascism. In the not-so-distant future, twenty-something Betty lives in a fascistic society that menacingly polices mental health. When she is caught crying in public, the Peacekeepers take her to an Orwellian health facility to control her emotions. There, she meets the defiant Berina, who opens her eyes to an alternative reality: the Resistance. If Betty can navigate a rollicking underworld, where all manner of queerness is celebrated, she just might have a chance to strike back against the regime. Deliciously twisted, fiercely contemporary, and backed by a Swedish pop soundtrack, Baby Blue is the dynamic graphic novel debut of comics artist Bim Eriksson. A vital manifesto about the need to express your unique identity in a chillingly conformist world.

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Justin Gradin's stunning debut graphic novel Mystic Debris and its cast of quixotics exist in a comics continuum with Gary Panter's Jimbo, Mark Beyer's Amy and Jordan, and Marc Bell's Shrimpy and Paul. Whizbang is a metalhead whose band, Fascinator, has left him for stardom. His wife, Planchette, has left with their newborn baby. He leaves himself for a shimmy up the astral projector stripper pole, to hang with cosmic dust bunnies in a quest for enlightenment, or at least in a quest to avoid a job at the door factory.

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Ponce Melee is a lonely clock-puncher working for Twin Labs in the cloning dept. When he uses a strand of hair to clone a companion; it's successful, but she immediately leaves him for greener pastures. So, he clones another potential companion. And that one leaves. And again. And again. Soon, multiple clones begin causing confusion and havoc around town. Meanwhile, one of the errant clones makes a pact with the devil that goes awry and strands Satan in town, forcing him to get a job. Justin Gradin's sophomore graphic novel (after 2023's Mystic Debris) combines keen verbal and visual wit with a host of memorable characters - Mandrake the Soda Jerk, private investigator Butterfly Latté, pop superstar Attilla the Hunny, and many more-to create an anarchic, absurdist comedy about lonely souls and the lonely soulless. Pure comics, Gradin's work has echoes of Gary Panter, Gary Leib, Marc Bell, and Mark Beyer (and even some other cartoonists who may or may not be named Gary or Mark) while remaining a singular, sui generis voice in contemporary comics.

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A Technicolor tapestry of irreverent comic book fun for adults young and old! One day while combing the beach in their hometown of Las Brisas, the Santos Sisters discover a pair of beautiful medallions. What happens next changes their lives, forever. The medallions are imbued with the powers of a goddess, "Madame Sosostris," and can transform them at will into flying, gun-wielding, mask-wearing murder-heroes with hearts of, if not gold, then at least candy. Follow Ambar and Alana, the Santos Sisters, as they balance spicy superheroics with the drama of their everyday lives in a playful mix of Archie Comics and Love and Rockets. The Santos Sisters fight crime, date guys, and try to just deal with day-to-day life as young women in a world of deadly assassins, roided-up footballers, zombie attacks, organized crime, and more - while their creators, Greg & Fake, help restore the concept of unabashed fun in comic books with a healthy infusion of nostalgia and laughs. Collecting the first five issues of the charmingly weird and weirdly charming hit indie comic book series! Note: This book is published as a jacketed hardback; the jacket is a clear acetate printed with an image of the sisters in their superhero costumes. When removed, it shows the sisters in their every-day outfits.

Creative Team

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, Osamu Tezuka From the cinematic mind of Atsushi Kaneko (Bambi and Her Pink Gun) comes a contemporary reimagining of the timeless, Eisner Award-winning Dororo, by "God of Manga" Osamu Tezuka (Buddha, Astro Boy). This is a tale of rage. Rage against hypocrisy, injustice, exploitation, and the wrongs done to a child who grew into a righteous killer.... Complete in three volumes, Search and Destroy transplants the vengeful action of Dororo from feudal Japan into a dystopian future where mercenary robots known as "creatures" serve the human elite and victimize the city's scrabbling, desperate masses. The violent death of one of these creatures connects an orphaned thief named Doro with a mysterious girl in a stinking animal hide that conceals deadly cybernetic implants. Who is this mysterious girl? How is she killing, one by one, the city's most twisted and powerful creatures? Originally serialized from 2019-2021 in the Japanese manga monthly TezuComi, Search and Destroy is a brilliantly-crafted thriller about an outsider looking for meaning and vengeance in the unjust world that took everything away from her. Kaneko populates a stunning, high-contrast setting that echoes postwar Cuba as much as Tokyo with an unforgettable cast of scrappy heroes and skin-crawling monsters on a nonstop ride full of action and suspense. This authorized retelling updates the rebellious '60s spirit of the original Dororo for the equally tumultuous 2020s, mixing Tezuka's signature dark yet playful storytelling sense with Kaneko's own wide range of influences, which include Western cartoonists like Daniel Clowes and Charles Burns as well as filmmakers like David Lynch. The result is not only one of the best sci-fi manga of recent years, but also one of the most visually rich and distinctive works of graphic storytelling in any genre or language. Atsushi Kaneko is a Japanese manga artist from Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture. His two books, Bambi and Her Pink Gun and Soil, have both been published in France. Bambi has also been published in English and Soil has been adapted into a television drama series. Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, and animator. His prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovations in genre storytelling earned him such titles as "the Father of Manga," "the Godfather of Manga," and "the God of Manga."

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The second volume in manga creator Atsushi Kaneko's cyberpunk retelling of the timeless, Eisner Award-winning Dororo by "God of Manga" Osamu Tezuka. Hyaku has been betrayed. A fearsome killer, her body more machine than flesh, she has learned the truth: Her human body parts were bartered away when she was a baby, and what remained was left for dead. Filled with incandescent rage, Hyaku embarks on a vengeful rampage to dismantle the monsters who took her apart and violently reclaim what she has lost. But as she replaces her cybernetic implants with the flesh and blood she has been denied, a new emotion sets in: fear. Fear that her human body will be too weak to finish what she started - and fear of what she might learn next about her own past. Will her anger and ruthlessness be enough to propel her to the final showdown? Or will revelations about the depravity of her world consume her, along with everyone around her? Originally serialized from 2019-2021 in the Japanese manga monthly TezuComi, Search and Destroy is a brilliantly-crafted thriller about an outsider looking for meaning and vengeance in the unjust world that took everything away from her. In a stunning, high-contrast setting that blends the post-Cold War former Soviet Bloc with a gritty futuristic Tokyo, Kaneko populates his story with an unforgettable cast of scrappy heroes and skin-crawling machine-monsters on a nonstop ride full of action and suspense. The result is not only one of the best sci-fi manga of recent years but also one of the most visually rich and distinctive works of graphic storytelling in any genre or language. Please note: This book is a traditional work of manga and reads back to front and right to left.

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Dazzling to the eye, Season of the Roses is at once a deeply felt coming-of-age story and an inspirational rallying cry for young women living in a "man's world". Barbara has big goals. As the fiery captain of her U19 soccer team, the Rosigny Roses, she's determined to win a championship before graduating high school and leaving the grungy Parisian suburbs in the dust. So when her club threatens to divert their funding to the men's team and forfeit their season, she's devastated. Banding together, the Roses come up with a longshot plan - battle the men's team in a winner-takes-all match. Do Barbara and the Roses have what it takes to save their season? Inspired by the author's experiences, Season of the Roses is an authentic portrayal of a teenager at a crossroads. Her dazzling illustrations, drawn in colorful felt-tip pens, encompass the thrills of playing soccer as well as the angst of navigating life off the field. In Season of the Roses, soccer isn't just a game - it's all about self-discovery, making bold choices, and standing up to sexism and injustice.

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Meet Tedward - a blockhead with a heart of gold, and a talent for making bad situations worse. Tedward is, in many ways, the quintessential 'lovable loser' - an almost literal blockhead and mangenue in the grand tradition of Pee-Wee Herman, Candide, and Flakey Foont, affording his creator the perfect vehicle to indulge his brilliantly absurdist storytelling instincts. Tedward's susceptibility to temptation, exploitation (capitalistic or sexual), and misplaced trust continually lands him in ridiculous and hilarious situations, be they scatological, orgiastic, violent, or mundane. Through it all, his heart of gold never wavers. Tedward is the debut collection from British-born Philadelphia cartoonist Josh Pettinger. Featuring sex trousers, coital hygienists, warm televisions, hot rocks, and clown meat, as well as romance, crime, conflict, and cosmic wonders! A spiritual cousin to the humor of Simon Hanselmann and Daniel Clowes, Pettinger's singularity of tone and style in these episodic comedies mark him as a master cartoonist just entering his prime.