The Hottest Graphic Novels of Summer 2010: Adult Fiction
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Click here for a printable list of all the Hottest Graphic Novels of Summer 2010
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MAY
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BB Wolf and the 3 LPs
by JD Arnold and Rich Koslowski
Top Shelf
On sale now
A farmer and family man by day, blues musician by night, and a drinker of fine spirits at any hour, BB’s life seemed simple. But this fragile peace comes crashing down when the LPs decide to take his land by any means possible. When all is lost, BB lashes out, setting into motion acts of revenge only a Big Bad Wolf could unleash.
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Goats: Showcase Showdown
by Jonathan Rosenberg
Random House Publishing Group
On sale now
For fans of the absurd who love their sci-fi with an added dose of insanity.
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Moving Pictures
by Kathryn and Stuart Immonen
Top Shelf
On sale now
Moving Pictures is the story of the awkward and dangerous relationship between curator Ila Gardner and officer Rolf Hauptmann as they are forced by circumstances to play out their private lives in a public power struggle. The narrative unfolds along two timelines that collide with the revelation of a terrible secret, an enigmatic decision that not many would make, and the realization that sometimes the only choice left is the refusal to choose.
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Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel
by Jane Austen, Seth Grahame-Smith; adapted by Tony Lee and Cliff Richards
Random House Publishing Group
On sale now
Based on the New York Times bestselling monster mashup! Who doesn’t love gory zombie mayhem with a dash of English manners?
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Sweet Tooth, Vol. 1
by Jeff Lemire
Vertigo
On sale now
The first five issues of Jeff Lemire’s acclaimed new series introduce Gus, a rare new breed of human/animal hybrid who was raised in isolation following a pandemic that struck a decade earlier. Now, with the death of his father, he’s left to fend for himself…until he meets a hulking drifter named Jepperd, who promises to help him. Jepperd and Gus set out on a post-apocalyptic journey into the devastated American landscape to find “The Preserve,” a refuge for hybrids. Think Bambi meets The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
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JUNE
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Wednesday Comics
by various
DC Comics
On sale June 1
This oversized, hardcover collection of DC’s 2009 weekly comics series features stories starring Adam Strange, Batman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, and more.
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Legends of Percevan, Vol. 4: The Seven Seals
Fantasy Flight Games
On sale June 2
Legends of Percevan is a classic and enduring French comic about a noble young knight and his heroic adventures. This latest volume of the Fantasy Flight Games Legends of Percevan series contains three full graphic novels: The Master of Stars, The Seals of Apocalypse, and The Seventh Seal.
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Spawn: Origins Collection, Deluxe Edition, Vol. 1
by Todd McFarlane, Greg Capullo, Dave Sim, Marc Silvestri, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, and Grant Morrison
McFarlane Companies
On sale June 2
This limited-edition embossed slipcase is over 700 pages and reprints Spawn issues 1–25, plus more than 80 pages of bonus content, including a cover gallery and bonus art. It’s a collection for diehard Spawn fans. Also available: a signed-and-numbered editio—but only 500 copies of those will be printed.
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Tumor Collected Edition
by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon
Archaia
On sale June 2
From the Harvey-award nominated creative team behind Elk’s Run comes Tumor, a haunting Los Angeles noir graphic novel. Frank Armstrong has an inoperable brain tumor that’s killing him. In his final days, with his body, senses, and mind failing him, he’s going to do the one thing that he’s never been able to do before—save the girl.
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The Walking Dead, Vol. 12: Life Among Them
by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn
Image Comics
On sale June 2
At long last, the survivors of Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s acclaimed post-apocalyptic adventure find the hope they’ve long look for. Can a town not yet ravaged by the horrors unleashed on Earth possibly be all it’s hoped for? Is there a far more sinister secret behind their newfound safe haven? Even worse, can people forever changed by the worst in humanity ever hope to get back to their old selves? The next chapter of The Walking Dead is set to change everything.
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Ender’s Game: War of Gifts
by Jake Black, Aaron Johnston, and Timothy Green
Marvel Comics
On sale June 3
This volume collects four exciting stories in the Ender’s Game universe! First up is a tale starring Ender’s two younger siblings. Valentine learns of an injustice in her school, and she wants to fight it. Enter Peter, who guides his sister through the process of nonviolent influence, and sets the ball rolling for his plans to one day rule the world. Next, in War of Gifts, Zeck Morgan causes an uproar when he sees another student celebrating Christmas—seemingly violating Battle School’s rules against religious practice. Then, Mazer Rackham, the only man ever to defeat the Formics, takes on a new enemy…the International Fleet itself!
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Captain Easy, Vol. 1: Soldier of Fortune
by Roy Crane
Fantagraphics
On sale June 8
Roy Crane is one of America’s greatest cartoonists, and Fantagraphics is embarking upon an ambitious reprinting of his best work, beginning with his gorgeous adventure strip Captain Easy.
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Cholly & Flytrap: Center City
by Arthur Suydam
Radical Publishing
On sale June 8
Award-winning artist Arthur Suydam re-presents his three-issue miniseries of Cholly & Flytrap, his beloved characters.
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Dungeon Quest, Book 1
by Joe Daly
Fantagraphics
On sale June 8
A surreal suburban role-playing-game yarn from the creator of The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book.
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Stuck Rubber Baby
by Howard Cruse
Vertigo
On sale June 8
The groundbreaking, award-winning semiautobiographical graphic novel returns in a new 15th-anniversary edition featuring an introduction by Alison Bechdel, award-winning author of Fun Home. In the 1960s American South, a young gas-station attendant named Toland Polk is rejected from the Army draft for admitting “homosexual tendencies” and falls in with a close-knit group of young locals yearning to break from the conformity of their hometown through civil rights activism, folk music, and an upstart communality of race-mixing, gay-friendly nightclubs. Toland’s story is both deeply personal and epic in scope, as his search for identity plays out against the brutal fight over segregation, an unplanned pregnancy, and small-town bigotry, aided by an unforgettable supporting cast.
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Wally Gropius
by Tim Hensley
Fantagraphics
On sale June 8
From the pages of Mome, a grown-up Richie Rich. Superficially resembling 1960s teenage humor comics, Tim Hensley’s first graphic novel, Wally Gropius, is actually an acute satire of power, celebrity, and modern culture that tells the story of this titular character.
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Weathercraft
by Jim Woodring
Fantagraphics
On sale June 8
For over 20 years now, Jim Woodring has delighted, touched, and puzzled readers around the world with his lush, wordless tales of “Frank.” Weathercraft is Woodring’s first full-length graphic novel set in this world—indeed, Woodring’s first graphic novel, period!—and it features the same hypnotically gorgeous linework and mystical iconography
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Neil Young’s Greendale
by Josh Dysart and artist Cliff Chiang
Vertigo
On sale June 15
Legendary singer-songwriter, musician, and activist Neil Young brings one of his most personal albums, Greendale, to comics. In the fall of 2003, as the nation gallops into war, a politically active teenage girl named Sun lives, loves, and dreams in a small California town named Greendale. Sun’s always been different. There’s been talk that the women in her family have all had a preternatural communion with nature. And when a Stranger comes to town—a character whose presence causes Greendale to, well, go to hell—she’ll find herself on a journey both mystical and mythical. To face the Stranger, she’ll unearth the secrets of her family in a political coming-of-age story infused with its own special magic.
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Hybrid Bastards! Collected Edition
by Tom Pinchuk and Kate Glasheen
Archaia
On sale June 16
Zeus is a god with a reputation for lechery, and it’s been driving his wife, Hera, nuts for years. Reaching her limit one night, she puts together an epic practical joke: She places a spell on Zeus that makes him fall in lust with every inanimate object in sight! It was a night Zeus doesn’t remember, but his godly seed took root nevertheless. Now, 18 years later, his unnatural hybrid bastards wander the world. And because Zeus has a reputation to protect, these embarrassing freaks have got to go! But this motley crew refuses to go quietly. Through schemes both ingenious and idiotic, Zeus’ bastard children—Cotton, a smarmy cloth patchwork; Carmine, a timid automobile; Corey, a self-loathing apple; Walter, a belligerent stack of bricks; and Panos, their gallant would-be leader—will force their negligent father to acknowledge them…that is, if their own squabbling doesn’t defeat them first.
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Octopus Pie: There Are No Stars in Brooklyn
by Meredith Gran
Random House Publishing Group
On sale June 22
The first two years of the popular webcomic are collected in one beautiful package. The quintessential story of growing up as twenty-somethings in Brooklyn, New York, this is a funny, character-driven story that anyone can enjoy and relate to (even if you love—or hate—New York hipster culture). Meredith Gran is a huge name in webcomics and is a founder of Webcomics Weekend, the first convention of its kind, which debuted last year.
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The Search for Smilin’ Ed!
by Kim Deitch
Fantagraphics
On sale June 22
A long-gone children’s show host propels Kim Deitch into another pop-culture investigation! Originally created in 1997 and 1998 for the underground anthology Zero Zero, The Search for Smilin’ Ed! is the latest of Kim Deitch’s graphic novels to showcase his obsessive burrowing into the nooks and crannies of vintage American popular culture
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Temperance
by Cathy Malkasian
Fantagraphics
On sale June 22
Malkasian creates, as she did in the critically acclaimed Percy Gloom, a fully realized, multilayered world inhabited by vividly realized characters. After a brutal injury in battle, Lester has no memory of his prior life. For the next 30 years, his wife does everything to keep him from remembering—and reconstructing—a society, Blessedbowl, that elevates him as a hero. Blessedbowl has come to depend on Lester to lead the charge once the Final Battle begins
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The Playwright
by Eddie Campbell and Daren White
Top Shelf
On sale June 23
The Playwright has always derived an almost perverse sense of relief upon receiving such news as an old friend has developed prostate cancer. Because statistically, he reasons, such news significantly reduces the chances of himself being similarly afflicted. And to be honest, at his age, his prostate needs all the statistical support he can muster… The Playwright is a dark comedy about the sex life of a celibate middle-aged man.
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Batwoman: Elegy
by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III
DC Comics
On Sale June 30
In her first hardcover, collecting tales from Detective Comics #854–860, Batwoman battles a madwoman known only as Alice, inspired by Alice in Wonderland, who sees her life as a fairy tale and everyone around her as expendable.
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The Life and Times of Martha Washington in the Twenty-First Century
by Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons
Dark Horse
On sale June 30
A masterpiece nearly 20 years in the making, this archival volume contains the complete life story of Martha Washington, the 21st-century freedom fighter created by comic-book megastars Frank Miller (Sin City, 300) and Dave Gibbons (Watchmen), now in a more affordable softcover edition. A young girl will rise from the war-torn streets of Chicago to battle injustice in a world insane with corruption. Her fight will take her far, from the frontlines of the second American Civil War to the cold, unforgiving reaches of space. She will be called a hero, a traitor, and nearly everything in between, but all along the way, her courage, her integrity, and her unwavering commitment to that most valuable of rights—liberty—will inspire a movement that will never surrender.
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Starkweather: Immortal Collected Edition
by David Rodriguez and Patrick McEvoy
Archaia
On sale June 30
Today they are called witches, and they are hunted at every turn. The Twelve Great Houses have collapsed under betrayal and infighting. They have abandoned their charges, forsaking the very source of their gifts. They teeter on the brink of extinction and their best chance at survival—a five-year-old boy with enough power to topple mountains—disappeared 15 years ago. The boy has become a man who doesn’t remember what he was. The very spell that was woven to hide him from the world also has hidden his true self, leaving him a professional slacker—a directionless disappointment who wants to spend his life in wonderful obscurity. It is Alexander Starkweather’s destiny to restore the Divine Blood to power and lead them into a new age. But before he can become a witch, he must learn what it means to be a man.
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JULY
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Billy Hazelnuts and Crazy Bird
by Tony Millionaire
Fantagraphics
On sale July 6
Take a trip into the deep, deep woods with this original all-ages graphic novel. Billy Hazelnuts is back for the first time since his acclaimed 2006 Eisner Award–winning debut.
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Irredeemable, Vol. 3
by Mark Waid and Peter Krause
Boom! Studios
On sale July 6
Irredeemable asks what if the world’s greatest hero decided to become the world’s greatest villain? This “twilight of the superheroes”–style story examines supervillains and comes from the writer of Kingdom Come and Empire.
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The Stand: Soul Survivors
by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Mike Perkins
Marvel Comics
On sale July 8
M-O-O-N spells the start of the third volume of Marvel’s critically acclaimed adaptation of Stephen King’s horror epic. Nick Andros has hit the road and teamed up with the childlike Tom Cullen. After the horrors of Captain Trips, a bike trip through Oklahoma and Nebraska sounds like fun, right? Except it’s tornado season, and not everyone Nick and Tom meet is on the side of the angels. Hell hath no fury like Julie Lawry, another survivor of the plague….
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Blackest Night
by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis
DC Comics
On sale July 13
Geoff Johns and superstar artist Ivan Reis raise the dead in this hardcover collection. This collection of the bestselling epic is the culmination of the events that Geoff Johns has been leading to since he relaunched the Green Lantern franchise in 2006.
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Box 13
by David Gallaher and Steve Ellis
Red 5
On sale July 14
Investigative author Dan Holiday has spent the last several years of his life researching the secrets behind the MKULTRA project. His latest book has brought him a degree of notoriety around the country and around the world. And, during his recent book tour, Dan discovers something that will change his life forever: what lurks inside Box 13.
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We Kill Monsters
by Christopher Leone, Laura Harkcom, and Brian Churilla
Red 5
On sale July 14
Two unassuming auto repair shop owners are thrown into the role of hunters when a giant monster leaps from the shadows and infects Jake’s arm. Now requiring “monster juice” to survive, the brothers must become hunters and town-savers as the monster infestation grows.
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Ax: A Collection of Alternative Manga
edited by Sean Michael Wilson
Top Shelf
On sale July 15
Ax is the premier Japanese magazine for alternative comics, heir to the legendary Garo. Published bimonthly since 1998, Ax contains innovative, experimental, and personal works in contemporary manga. Now Top Shelf presents a 400-page collection of stories from 10 years of Ax history, translated into English for the first time.
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Fear Nothing, Vol. 1
Dean Koontz
Dynamite Entertainment
On sale July 20
Christopher Snow is different from all the other residents of Moonlight Bay, different from anyone else you’ve ever met. For Christopher Snow has made a strange peace with a rare genetic disorder shared by 1,000 other Americans—a disorder that leaves him extremely vulnerable to the light. Christopher knows the night as no one else ever will or can. But his freedom is suddenly, tragically, infringed upon, after he witnesses a murder in the night that only he can solve. In the 24 hours that the story encompasses, Chris will learn that, though he had been protected from all the bad things in Moonlight Bay, he has the soul of a fighter and an adventurer.
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Pin-Up Artist
by Ignacio Noe
NBM/Eurotica
On sale July 20
The bestselling author of Convent of Hell and The Piano Tuner brings us to an exhibition of the great pin-up artist Gil Spam. He’s now a very old man in a wheelchair who can’t even speak, taken care of by his lovely niece. Chapter by chapter, we get to discover the real dirty story behind each wonderful slightly naughty famous piece being exhibited.
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Prince Valiant, Vol. 2
by Hal Foster
Fantagraphics
On sale July 20
Swords and sorcery are at their grandest as the classic adventure strip continues in a second volume! For 35 years, Hal Foster created epic adventure and romantic fantasy in his legendary Sunday strip, Prince Valiant, Realistic in its visual execution and noble in its subject, depicting a time in which the fabled warriors of history and legends fought together for the greater good, it remains one of the great masterpieces of the medium. In this second volume, Prince Valiant helps his father reclaim his throne in the kingdom of Thule, fights alongside King Arthur, and is made a knight of the Round Table in recompense for his bravery and wit.
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Revolver
by Matt Kindt
Vertigo
On sale July 20
Revolver is an original graphic novel by acclaimed writer/artist Matt Kindt (Super Spy, 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man) that’s a tale of two worlds—and how both test a man to his limits. Stuck in a dead-end job with a boss he can’t stand and a materialistic girlfriend, Sam rises from a late night of barhopping to discover his whole world has changed. Literally. An avian flu outbreak has killed millions, the nation’s infrastructure has crashed, and a dirty bomb has destroyed Seattle. Forced to go on the run, Sam awakes to a normal world the next day—and to chaos again the day after that. A single constant between the two worlds will undo all the damage, if he can find it—but that seems impossible. In one world, anything goes. In the other, he’s out of danger and sleepwalking through life. So Sam’s got an even bigger problem: Which world to choose?
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Salem Brownstone: All Along the Watchtowers
by John Harris Dunning/Illustrated by Nikhil Singh
Candlewick
On sale July 20
As he twists the key and slowly creeps into the grand mansion left to him in his father’s will, Salem Brownstone has an eerie feeling that his world is about to change. First, there’s the appearance of a beguiling contortionist from Dr. Kinoshita’s Circus of Unearthly Delights…then a crystal ball…then an attack by the sinister Shadow Boys. It seems the father that Salem never knew was actually a powerful magician, and the son has inherited his dark legacy—and an unfinished battle for life or death.
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Troublemaker, Book 1
by Janet Evanovich, Alex Evanovich, and Joëlle Jones
Dark Horse
On sale July 20
Alex Barnaby and Sam Hooker are back together and fighting crime the only way they know how—by leaving a trail of chaos, panic, and disorder. Alex, an auto mechanic and spotter for racecar driver Sam Hooker, is drawn to trouble like a giant palmetto bug to a day-old taco. Unfortunately, she’s also drawn to Hooker in the same fashion. There’s no steering clear of trouble or Hooker when friends Rosa and Felicia call for help. A man has gone missing, and in order to find him Barnaby and Hooker will have to go deep into the underbelly of Miami and southern Florida, surviving Petro Voodoo, explosions, gift-wrapped body parts, a deadly swamp chase, and Hooker’s mom. Based on Janet Evanovich’s bestselling prose series, this is Evanovich’s first graphic novel.
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Werewolves of Montpellier
by Jason
Fantagraphics
On sale July 20
Jason returns with another full-length, full-color graphic novella—his first since the 2008 Eisner Award–winning The Last Musketeer. Werewolves of Montpellier is a lycanthropic thriller, a romantic comedy, and an existential drama—pure Jason.
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Chew: The Omnivore Edition, Vol. 1
by John Layman and Rob Guillory
Image Comics
On sale July 21
Tony Chu is a detective with a secret. A weird secret. Tony Chu is cibopathic, which means he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. It also means he’s a hell of a detective—as long as he doesn’t mind nibbling on the corpse of a murder victim to figure out whodunit and why. He’s been brought on by the Special Crimes Division of the FDA, the most powerful law enforcement agency on the planet, to investigate their strangest, sickest, and most bizarre cases.
This oversized edition, loaded with extras, follows Tony for the first 10 issues of the series.
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Halo: Blood Line
by Fred Van Lente and Francis Portela
Marvel Comics
On sale July 21
Based on the bestselling X-Box game, Blood Line is the story of the top-secret unconventional warfare unit of the United Nations Space Command’s Office of Naval Intelligence, engaging in sabotage and assassination missions deep inside Covenant space. But when this quartet of super soldiers is shot down over a desolate moon along with a Covenant cruiser, humans and aliens will have to forge an uneasy alliance against a common foe before an eons-old threat destroys them both.
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Impaler, Vol. 2
by William Harms and Matt Timson
Top Cow Productions, Inc.
On sale July 21
Millions of vampires have descended upon America. In a desperate attempt to defeat them, the U.S. military nuked New York City. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late. The legendary vampire hunter Vlad the Impaler has returned to stop them, and NYC Detective Victor Dailey has become his unwilling companion. International Horror Guild Award finalist William Harms (Wolverine: The Anniversary) returns to his reimagining of the vampire mythos with this second volume.
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Flight Volume 7
edited by Kazu Kibuishi
Random House Publishing Group
On sale July 27
The seventh volume of the critically acclaimed graphic novel anthology series that has been nominated for multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards.
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Rasl Pocket Edition, Vol. 1
by Jeff Smith
Cartoon Books
On sale July 28
Jeff Smith's new adventure series, Rasl is a stark sci-fi series about a dimension-jumping art thief, a man unplugged from the world who races through space and time searching for his next big score...and trying to escape his past. This new smaller edition reprints the first volume of Rasl's amazing adventures.
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AUGUST
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Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill
by Peter David, Robin Furth, and Jae Lee
Marvel Comics
On sale August 4
A brand new story featuring Roland Deschain and his beleaguered ka-tet as they go on the run following the complete destruction of their beloved city of Gilead! And when such as Gilead falls, the pillars of reality itself—the six beams holding all of existence together—begins to crumble. The satanic plan of the Crimson King to return all of existence to the primal state of chaos is nigh.
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Hellspawn Complete Collection
by Brian Michael Bendis, Steve Niles, Ashley Wood, and Ben Templesmith
McFarlane Companies
On sale August 4
Reprinting the entire Hellspawn comic series, this oversized volume includes bonus material, like never before seen art from Ben Templesmith and Ashley Wood and a cover gallery.
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Red Herring
by David Tischman and Philip Bond
Wildstorm
On sale August 8
Teddy “Red” Herring wants to stop a conspiracy involving invading aliens and big businessmen, and he’s convinced Maggie MacGuffin’s near-death experience is the key to his success. Mix The X-Files and The Big Lebowski and you get this: a slyly dangerous collection of the six-issue miniseries that puts the “con” back in conspiracy.
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18 Days
by Grant Morrison
Dynamite Entertainment
On sale August 10
From superstar creator Grant Morrison (All Star Superman, Batman & Robin,
The Invisibles) comes 18 Days, the story of three generations of
superwarriors, meeting for the final battle of their age. 18 Days is a
reimagining of the great eastern myth Mahabharata and follows the course
of the climactic war that concludes the age of the gods and begins the age
of man. It is the prototype for every war ever fought. The scale is epic,
wherein the biggest armies ever conceived of face one another across the
ultimate battlefield to decide the fate of the future. This hardcover
illustrated script book allows readers a first glimpse into the mythic animated series being
developed by Morrison.
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The Artist Himself: A Rand Holmes Retrospective
by Patrick Rosenkranz
Fantagraphics
On sale August 10
The first-ever collection of Canada’s premier underground cartoonist, Rand Holmes. Rand Holmes was Canada’s most revolutionary artist in his heyday, the star cartoonist at the Georgia Straight newspaper in British Columbia during the 1970s. His hippie hero, Harold Hedd, became the spokesman of the emerging counterculture as he avoided work, explored free love, and flouted drug laws. The Adventures of Harold Hedd spread across the globe in the wave of underground comix and newspapers of the era and Holmes became famous—or at least notorious.
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Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love
by Chris Roberson and Shawn McManus
Vertigo
On sale August 10
Fabletown’s top agent must stop illegal trafficking in supernatural artifacts. But can Cindy foil the dark plot before Fabletown is exposed to the mundy world? This is a spinoff from the award-winning Fables.
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Set to Sea
by Drew Weing
Fantagraphics
On sale August 10
A nautical debut graphic novel from a major talent. A sort of meta-narrative, the story is about a sailor poet who finds the magic of the sea and the joy of becoming a published author. The central character is a big lug and an aspiring poet who runs up tabs at the local bars by day and haunts the docks by night, writing paeans to the sea-faring life. When he gets shanghaied aboard a clipper bound for Hong Kong, he finds the sailor’s life a bit rougher than his romantic nautical fantasies.
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Dellec: The Hands of God, Vol. 1
by Frank Mastromauro and various
Aspen
On sale August 11
Dellec is really an everyday man caught up in a blur of immorality, yet his quest is always clear—destroy the forces of evil where they flourish—and even places where the lines of good and evil are not easily defined. Following a tragic set of circumstances leading to his wife’s murder at the hands of a malevolent demigod named Tera, our hero lands headfirst into the battle between good and evil—and his chances for survival are grim. However, Dellec is not one to back down from a fight no matter the foe—specifically when his own life hangs in the balance. Along the way, Dellec will encounter a primal street gang, ambush an illegal street fight, track down a serial killer, and much more.
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Syndrome
Writers: Daniel Quantz and R. J. Ryan
Artist: David Marquez
On sale: August 11
Archaia
When a rogue neuropathologist makes a startling breakthrough—literally isolating the root of all evil in the recesses of the human brain—he’ll stop at nothing to advance his theory. With the help of a naïve Hollywood actress, a tormented motion picture director, and a condemned serial killer, Dr. Wolfe Brunswick launches a bold experiment in the Nevada desert, the outcome of which could transform humanity forever.
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The Unwritten, Vol. 2
by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
Vertigo
On sale August 17
In this volume collecting issues #6–12 of the hit series, Tom arrives at Donostia prison in southern France and falls into the orbit of another story: The Song of Roland. Unfortunately for Tom, it’s an epic that ends with a massacre…
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Existence 2.0/3.0
by Nick Spencer, Ron Salas, and Joe Eisma
Image Comics
On sale August 18
In Existence 2.0, self-absorbed physicist Sylvester Baladine finds his consciousness transferred into the body of the hit man who just killed him. In Existence 3.0, corporate warfare like you’ve never seen breaks out as the only living prototype of the consciousness transfer process fights to survive against a wild variety of deadly threats. This volume collects Existence 2.0 #1–3 and Existence 3.0 #1–4.
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Mogworld
by Yahtzee Croshaw
Dark Horse
On sale August 18
In a world full to bursting with would-be heroes, Jim couldn’t be less interested in saving the day. His fireballs fizzle. He’s awfully grumpy. Plus, he’s been dead for about 60 years. When a renegade necromancer wrenches him from eternal slumber and into a world gone terribly, bizarrely wrong, all Jim wants is to find a way to die properly, once and for all. On his side, he’s got a few shambling corpses, an inept thief, and a powerful death wish. But he’s up against tough odds: angry mobs of adventurers, a body falling apart at the seams—and a team of programmers racing a deadline to hammer out the last few bugs in their AI.
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A Treasury of XXth Century Murder:The Terrible Axe-Man of New Orleans
by Rick Geary
NBM
On sale August 18
Nights of terror! A city awash in blood! New Orleans right after the First World War. The party returns to the Big Easy but someone looks to spoil it. Grocers are being murdered in the dead of night by someone grabbing their axe and hacking them right in their own cushy beds. The pattern for each murder is the same: A piece of the door is removed for entry, the axe is borrowed on the property, and the assailant aims straight for the head! Why? How could he fit through that piece in the door? The man is never found for sure, but speculations abound, which Rick Geary presents with his usual gusto.
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Dark Rain: A New Orleans Story
by Mat Johnson and artist Simon Gane
Vertigo
On sale August 24
Dark Rain:A New Orleans Story is an uncompromising look at the life and death of the American city. Mat Johnson uses the setting of New Orleans and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina intertwined with a suspenseful bank heist to explore social issues with a page-turning plot. Two small-time ex-cons with big dreams get the idea that this would be the perfect time to rob a bank. Catch is, the bank is in New Orleans, and they’re on parole in Houston. Now, as every sane person tries to get out of The Big Easy, Emmit and Dabny will do whatever it takes to get in. As they journey through a tide of human suffering, Dabny wants to help, and Emmit sees only the money. But a rogue commander of the ruthless security force “Dark Rain” has his sights set on taking down the same bank. If Emmit and Dabny don’t outrace him, their last hope for a second chance could be washed away in the floodwaters—along with their lives.
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Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s
edited by Greg Sadowski
Fantagraphics
On sale August 24
A massive collection of never-before-collected pre-Comics Code horror comics of the 1950s. Of the myriad genres comic books ventured into during its golden age, none was as controversial or came at a greater cost than horror; the public outrage it incited almost destroyed the entire industry. Yet before the watchdog groups and Congress could intercede, horror books were flying off the newsstands. During its peak period (1951–54) over 50 titles appeared each month. Four Color Fear collects the finest of these into a single volume.
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Lucky in Love: A Poor Man’s History, Vol. 1
by George Chieffet and Stephen DeStefano
Fantagraphics
On sale August 24
A light-footed comic novel of World War II—with a serious side. Cocreated by George L. Chieffet (script) and veteran cartoonist and animator Stephen DeStefano (plot and art), Lucky in Love is almost the flipside to dramatic works on the same theme such as Alan’s War and You’ll Never Know. Elegantly drawn in a supremely confident, lively, cartoony black-and-white style that recalls Milt Gross as well as classic Disney animation and comics, Lucky in Love is a unique coming-of-age story that follows its lovable eponymous hero Lucky Testatuda from his rascally teen years in Hoboken, New Jersey’s Little Italy to his induction into the Air Force and subsequent wartime experiences.
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Atomic Robo TPB Volume 4 - Atomic Robo and Other Strangeness
by Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener
Red 5
On sale August 25
Atomic Robo faces an invasion from the Vampire Dimension, finds a giant kaiju monster attack in the heart of Tokyo, detours to the South Pacific to battle wits with Dr. Dinosaur, then comes face to face with his newest enemy: his oldest enemy. This volume collects the four-issue miniseries Atomic Robo and the Revenge of the Vampire Dimension and several other comics.
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The Broadcast
by Eric Hobbs and Noel Tuazon
ComicsLit
On sale August 25
On the day of the historic broadcast of The War of the Worlds by Orson Welles, which triggered panic in many places because it sounded so real, a family in the countryside fears for its life and also has to deal with strangers and neighbors coming in for help. The tension brings to the surface long-suppressed emotions and conflicts and a violent reckoning in a dark, stormy night.
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Fingerprints
by Will Dinski
Top Shelf
On sale August 25
In a town where movie-star good looks are only a surgery away, it’s hard to tell what’s real. Acclaimed mini-comic creator Will Dinski presents a haunting pastel vision of beauty and decay in Fingerprints, his full-color debut graphic novel. A cosmetic surgeon takes pride in his best work—an ingénue of the silver screen literally built for success. While he works to convince her that one more surgery will perfect her looks, his aging wife struggles to keep his interest, and his ambitious assistant moves to usurp his practice. It's a surreal, entertaining and incredibly original science fiction look at the cult of beauty.
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Green Hornet
by Kevin Smith and Jonathan Lau
Dynamite Entertainment
On sale August 25
The Green Hornet is back! The avenging hero and his faithful sidekick, Kato, return in a tale told by noted director and writer Kevin Smith. This edition collects issues #1–5 of the bestselling series.
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Titanium Rain, Vol. 2
by Josh Finney and Kat Rocha
Archaia
On sale August 25
In this second installment of the Titanium Rain trilogy, the war gets bloodier, the stakes get higher, and secrets are revealed about the true nature of the Prometheus Initiative. Like the war itself, will Prometheus lead mankind ever closer to ultimate destruction? Or is it the dawning of a new age? The Sino Conflict heats up as the Jade Army continues its relentless advance across China. The Union is desperate, the Allies can barely hold their ground, and looming on the horizon is the specter of all-out nuclear war. Caught in the middle of this maelstrom are the men and women of Phoenix Squadron, a group of US Air Force fighter pilots who have sacrificed some of their humanity for the advantages of cybernetic enhancement.
