The Hottest Graphic Novels of Summer 2011: Fiction
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MAY
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Cyclops, Vol. 1
by Matz and Luc Jacamon
Archaia
ISBN 978-1936393114
In 2054, a man looking for work gets a job at a private military contracting firm that has just won a bid to handle the UN's peacekeeping missions, propelling him into a highly sophisticated war broadcast worldwide by the soldiers themselves thanks to the micro-cameras in their helmets. But how far will he go in exploring the boundaries between war and peacekeeping, news and entertainment?
Empire State: A Love Story (Or Not)
by Jason Shiga
Abrams
ISBN 978-0810997479
Jason Shiga's bold visual storytelling, sly pokes at popular culture, and subtle text work together seamlessly in Empire State, creating a quirky graphic novel comedy about the vagaries of love and friendship. Jimmy is a stereotypical geek who works at the library in Oakland, California, and is trapped in his own torpidity. Sara is his best friend, but she wants to get a life (translation: an apartment in Brooklyn and a publishing internship). When Sara moves to New York City, Jimmy decides to follow her...and Sara isn’t the only one in for a surprise.
Love from the Shadows
by Gilbert Hernandez
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606994061
The third in Gilbert Hernandez’s line of original hardcovers featuring Love and Rockets’ “Fritz” in her guise as a Z-movie actress (the first two were Chance in Hell and The Troublemakers) is a trippy thriller that stars Fritz in no fewer than three roles.
Eye of the Majestic Creature
by Leslie Stein
Fantagraphics Books
ISBN 978-1606994139
On sale May 23
Eye of the Majestic Creature is a collection of semiautobiographical and fantasy-based comics that combine dry humor, psychedelia, and emotion to show the viewpoint of one person’s world internally and externally. The story follows a young girl, Larrybear, and her talking acoustic guitar Marshmallow on their adventures through the countryside, Chicago, San Francisco, and New York. While Larrybear struggles to connect with strangers, her friends, and her family to various degrees of success, her growing population of anthropomorphic friends have adventures of their own.
American Vampire, Vol. 2
by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque, and Mateo Santoluco
Vertigo
ISBN 978-1401230692
On sale May 25
In just a few short years, young police chief Cash McCogan has watched his native city of Las Vegas go from cow-town to wild, glittering boomtown. And when the bodies of prominent businessmen start showing up drained of blood, Chief McCogan finds himself facing a threat much darker and deadlier than anything he could have imagined...and the only sure bet in town is that Skinner and Pearl are right in the thick of it.
PunisherMax: Bullseye
by Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon
Marvel
ISBN 978-0-7851-4755-8
On sale May 25
They say he's the deadliest assassin the world has ever known. Though his methods may seem unorthodox, even insane, they say he's never failed to kill a single target. No one knows where he comes from or why he does it. No one knows his name. They all just call him Bullseye. And now he's come to New York City, with his sights set on Frank Castle.
Farm 54
by Galit Seliktar and Gilad Seliktar
Fanfare/Ponent Mon
ISBN 978-1908007001
On sale May 26
Farm 54 is a collection of three semiautobiographical stories addressing three important periods in the life of the protagonist, Noga, born at the start of the 1970s and growing up in Israel's rural periphery.
Fighting American
by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
Titan Books
ISBN 978-0857681157
On sale May 30
The complete adventures of the quirky Cold War superhero (launched in 1954 by the creators of Captain America) are presented here in an affordable graphic novel format, with weird and wonderful characters like Yucha Liffso, Jiseppi the Jungle Boy, and Poison Ivan. This volume boasts a new introduction by cocreator Joe Simon as well as previously unpublished stories and covers.
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JUNE
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Lucid
by Michael McMillan and Anna Wieszczyk
Archaia
ISBN 978-1936393046
On sale June 2
Lucid draws inspiration from the spy genre, Arthurian legend, and 21st-century folklore. Dark forces are conspiring to prevent humankind from reaching its true potential. Thankfully, as newly appointed “Protector of the Realm,” Agent Matthew Dee uses his skills as a covert spy and Combat Mage to ensure America’s freedom from the grip of evil.
Days Missing, Vol. 2: Kestus
by Phil Hester and David Marquez
Archaia
ISBN 978-1936393107
On sale June 7
Days Missing: Kestus continues the saga of The Steward, a mysterious being whose ability to "fold" days of time has resulted in critical human events being absent from our historical record. Their existence is not remembered...but the occurrences of these days have forever changed the course of our evolution. Since humanity's birth, The Steward has stood as a guiding force for our species. But now, he is not alone! The emergence of the ancient being, Kestus, may put everything he knows in question, and the future of those he means to protect in jeopardy.
Echo, Vol. 6: The Last Day
by Terry Moore
Abstract Studio
ISBN 978-1892597472
On sale June 7
Deep underground in the frozen Alaskan Yukon, military leaders gather, preparing to test Alloy 618 through the Phi Super-Collider. But the alloy's inventor, Annie, was convinced such a test would destroy the earth. Now dead, Annie returns to life within Julie in a desperate race against time to guide her to the Collider and stop the test. The Last Day collects the final five issues of Terry Moore's award-winning series, plus a gallery of Echo pin-up art and sketches.
Sweet Tooth, Vol. 3: Animal Armies
by Jeff Lemire
Vertigo
ISBN 978-1401231705
On sale June 8
Gus and the other hybrid kids meet a new ally in the militia camp, but will he help them find a way out? And Jepperd begins to assemble an army of his own to take down the militia camp. But can he control the forces he's set in motion?
Captain Easy, Soldier of Fortune: The Complete Sunday Newspaper Strips, Vol. 2: 1936-1937
by Roy Crane and Paul Pope
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606993910
On sale June 15
This second of four volumes reprints in full color the rare Captain Easy Sunday pages from the 1930s. Roy Crane’s Soldier of Fortune, Captain Easy, fights for gold in the frozen north, is mistaken for a bandit, protects a formula for artificial diamonds, is stranded on a desert island, visits the tiny Balkan country of Kleptomania, and faces a firing squad. Captain Easy hobnobs with millionaires and bums and beautiful girls (of course), and winds up in the middle of a full scale war.
Celluloid
by Dave McKean
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606994405
On sale June 15
Erotica for the mind and eye by a comics giant. A woman arrives at an apartment, but her partner can’t get away from work. She is disappointed and settles in for a night alone, but finds a film projector with a reel of film loaded. The film is scratched and blurry, but she can make out a couple making love. When the film burns out, a door is revealed which leads to a misty town square... and a series of fantastical sexual encounters.
The Sixth Gun, Vol. 2: Crossroads
by Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurtt, and Bill Crabtree
Oni Press
ISBN 978-1-934964-67-5
On sale June 15
General Hume has been defeated and the six mystical guns are now in the possession of our heroes. But Hume is too evil to stay dead for long, and the power of the guns come at a terrible price. In the haunted bayous around New Orleans, Drake, Becky, and Gord hunt for a way to rid themselves of the cursed weapons while evil forces conspire all around them.
Take a Joke
by Johnny Ryan
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606994641
On sale June 15
Before Prison Pit, Johnny Ryan garnered a considerable following via his one-man humor anthology (which doubled as a one-man War Against Political Correctness) Angry Youth Comix. Take a Joke collects many of the best stories from this inimitable series as well as many strips created for the wildly popular Vice magazine, to which Ryan has contributed for years.
WE3 Deluxe Edition
by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
Vertigo
ISBN 978-1401230678
On sale June 15
With nervous systems amplified to match their terrifying exoskeletons, the members of Animal Weapon 3 (WE3) have the firepower of a battalion. But as prototypes, they're slated to be permanently "decommissioned" after their testing is complete, causing them to make a desperate run for freedom. Relentlessly pursued by their makers, WE3 must navigate a frightening world where their heightened abilities make them as much a threat as those hunting them–but a world in which they must find a home.
Modesty Blaise: The Double Agent
by Peter O'Donnell and Neville Colvin
Titan Books
ISBN 978-1848566743
On sale June 21
This volume features the classic stories "The Wild Boar," "Kali’s Disciples," and "The Double Agent"—in which the head of French intelligence is kidnapped; Modesty and Willie face a dangerous cult; and Modesty’s double causes all sorts of mayhem. This volume also includes a tribute to Peter O’Donnell by fans like Neil Gaiman, and a second feature on Neville Colvin’s art with never-before-seen sketches.
Next Men, Vol. 1
by John Byrne
IDW
ISBN 978-1-60010-924-9
On sale June 28
A new chapter begins in the lives of the survivors of Project Next Men. New friends, new foes, and a tale that twists time itself out of joint. When the 30-issue story took a “time out” 15 years ago, it looked like John Byrne may never conclude his infectious tale. But now, after a long wait, we’ll learn what happened that fateful night when Santhana’s master plan took shape within the walls of the White House.
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JULY
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Locke & Key, Vol. 3: Crown of Shadows
by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez
IDW
ISBN 978-1-60010-953-9
On sale July 5
The dead plot against the living, the darkness closes in on Keyhouse, and a woman is shattered beyond repair in the third storyline of the acclaimed series. Dodge continues his relentless quest to find the key to the black door and raises an army of shadows to wipe out anyone who might get in his way. Surrounded and outnumbered, the Locke children find themselves fighting a desperate battle, all alone, in a world where the night itself has become their enemy.
Locke & Key, Vol. 4: Keys to the Kingdom
by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez
IDW
ISBN 978-1-60010-886-0
On sale July 5
Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez's Locke & Key unwinds into its fourth volume in Keys to the Kingdom. With more keys making themselves known, and the depths of the Locke family's mysteries ever-expanding, Dodge's desperation to end his shadowy quest drives the habitants of Keyhouse ever closer to a revealing conclusion.
Queen of the Black Black
by Megan Kelso
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606994597
On sale July 5
Before her comics were serialized in the New York Times Sunday Magazine (“Watergate Sue,” 2007) or released by Fantagraphics Books (Artichoke Tales, 2010), Megan Kelso was a classic DIY cartoonist/publisher, who crafted and self-published her popular minicomic Girlhero from 1991 to 1996.
Bleedout
by Mike Kennedy and various
Archaia
ISBN 978-1936393183
On sale July 12
Eight years ago, every oil well on the planet ran dry, utterly dissolving the cornerstone of modern civilization. Global economies withered and nations fell like bone-dry dominoes, including the seemingly impervious United States. Caught in a zenith of chaos, Sunrise City now lies in the hands of a criminal cabal who may or may not hold the key to the future and the secrets behind the planet's tragic ruin. Bleedout tells the frighteningly plausible tale of a world destroyed by its own greed and shortsightedness.
George R.R. Martin's Doorways
by George R.R. Martin and Stefano Martino
IDW
ISBN 978-1600109164
On sale July 12
Doctor Thomas Mason had a regular life, with a regular job and a regular girlfriend. Until one night, zapped from somewhere else, a mysterious young woman named Cat ends up in his ER. Pursued by the government and twisted creatures from her own world, Cat inadvertently embroils
Tom in her quest for freedom. A quest that takes him to alternative Earths he never imagined...and from which he may never return.
Old City Blues
by Giannis Milonogiannis
Archaia
ISBN 978-1936393206
On sale July 12
The year is 2048. The setting is southeastern Europe. Built on the ruins of the country once known as Greece, New Athens is a city crawling with life- lowlife, that is. From mech smugglers and drug dealers to corrupt politicians and all-too-powerful corporations, the city is at the mercy of high-tech criminals. And it's up to Solano, Thermidor, and the rest of the New Athens Special Police to keep the city in order. When the cybernetically augmented founder of a tech corporation called Hayashi is found murdered, it seems to be just another case of cyborg persecution. But Hayashi Corporation's strange response to the incident raises suspicion in Solano and the Special Police. The mystery they unravel will lead them straight into the wasteland of the Old City.
Estonia
by Alexander Theroux
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606994658
On sale July 13
For Theroux, the country of Estonia and its people become a puzzle. His fascination with their language, manners, and legacy of occupation and subordination lead him to a revelatory examination of Estonia’s peculiar place in European history. All the while, his trademark acrobatic allusions, quotations, and digressions—which take us from Hamlet through Jean Cocteau to Married… with Children—render his travels as much internal and psychical as they are external and physical.
The Raven
by Lou Reed and Lorenzo Mattotti
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606994443
On sale July 13
In 2001, legendary rock and roller Lou Reed immersed himself in the world of one of his spiritual forefathers, Edgar Allan Poe, to produce one of his most challenging and original works: POEtry, a cycle of songs directed by the legendary theater director Robert Wilson, in which Reed’s poetically streetwise sensibility merged with Poe’s dark chronicles of terror and despair—combining Poe’s prose and work set to music, Reed songs inspired by Poe, and even two classic Reed tunes whose insertion into this context gave them a new resonance. This spectacular volume adds a third dark, unique vision to the mix: Italian cartoonist and illustrator Lorenzo Mattotti's vivid, abstracted, and enigmatic paintings.
Willie and Joe: Back Home
by Bill Mauldin and Todd DePastino
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606993514
On sale July 13
In the summer of 1945, a great tide of battered soldiers began flowing back to the United States from around the globe. Though victorious, these exhausted men were nevertheless too grief-stricken over the loss of comrades, too guilt-ridden that they had survived, and too numbed by trauma to share in the country’s euphoria. Most never saw a ticker-tape parade or stole a Times Square kiss. All they wanted was to settle back into quiet workaday lives without fear. How tragic that the forces unleashed by World War II made this simple wish impossible.
Willie and Joe: The WWII Years
by Bill Mauldin and Todd DePastino
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606994399
On sale July 13
During WW II, the closest most Americans ever came to combat was through the cartoons of Bill Mauldin, the most beloved enlisted man in the U.S. Army. This new paperback edition of the 2008 two-volume, deluxe hardcover set brings together Mauldin’s complete works from 1940 through the end of the war under one cover. This collection of over 600 cartoons, most never before reprinted, is more than the record of a great artist: It is an essential chronicle of America’s citizen-soldiers from peace through war to victory.
Doctor Who, Vol. 1: The Ripper
by Tony Lee, Andrew Currie, Richard Piers Rayner, and Tim Hamilton
IDW
ISBN 978-1-60010-974-4
On sale July 19
The eleventh Doctor era begins here! Join the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor and his latest companions, Amy Pond and her husband Rory Williams, as they travel to the far reaches of space—a planet populated by holograms—and the distant past—where they become embroiled in the Jack the Ripper murders in Victorian London.
One Soul
by Ray Fawkes
Oni Press
ISBN 978-1-934964-66-8
On sale July 20
A unique and poetic narrative, One Soul takes the experiences of 18 individuals and weaves them into the spiritual journey of a lifetime. Gracefully flowing from character to character, moment to moment, Fawkes has crafted a stunning mosaic that takes advantage of the medium of sequential art in a way few creators dare.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. III: Century #2--1969
by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill
Top Shelf
ISBN 978-1-60309-006-3
On sale July 28
This volume takes place almost 60 years later in the psychedelic daze of Swinging London during 1969, a place where Tadukic Acid Diethylamide 26 is the drug of choice, and where different underworlds are starting to overlap dangerously to an accompaniment of sit-ins and sitars. The vicious gangster bosses of London's East End find themselves brought into contact with a counter-culture underground of mystical and medicated flower-children, or amoral pop stars on the edge of psychological disintegration and developing a taste for Satanism. Alerted to a threat concerning the same magic order that she and her colleagues were investigating during 1910, a thoroughly modern Mina Murray and her dwindling league of comrades attempt to navigate the perilous rapids of London's hippy and criminal subculture, as well as the twilight world of its occultists. Starting to buckle from the pressures of the 20th century and the weight of their own endless lives, Mina and her companions must nevertheless prevent the making of a Moonchild that might well turn out to be the antichrist.
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AUGUST
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Krazy Kat & the Art of George Herriman: A Celebration
edited by Craig Yoe with an appreciation by Bill Watterson
Abrams
ISBN 978-0810995949
On sale August 1
Krazy Kat & the Art of George Herriman is a tribute to one of the most influential and innovative comic strips and creators of all time. This unique collection of rare art, essays, memorabilia, and biography highlights the career of the first genius of comics, George Herriman, and his iconic creations, Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse. This book includes original essays by Jay Cantor, Douglas Wolk, Harry Katz, Richard Thompson, Dee Cox (Herriman's granddaughter), Craig McCracken, Bill Watterson, and authorized reprints of two seminal essays on Herriman by Gilbert Seldes and E. E. Cummings, alongside newly discovered vintage essays by TAD, Summerfield Baldwin, and Toots Herriman.
In the Shadow of Dracula
by various
IDW
ISBN 978-1-60010-957-7
On sale August 2
As popular and influential as Bram Stoker’s classic tale of nocturnal menace is, that 1897 novel did not invent vampire fiction, nor was it alone in feeding the Gothic fantasies of the Victorian period. IDW Publishing presents an expertly selected menu of outstanding vampire prose stories that either informed or benefited from Bram Stoker’s hugely popular creation. These eerie tales of the undead—some 22 in all—form the core cannon of classic vampire literature. Chosen and introduced by celebrated literary scholar and author Leslie S. Klinger (The New Annotated Dracula), with illustrations by noted horror artist Michael Monomivibul, In the Shadow of Dracula brings to adventuresome readers stories of nocturnal terror that have lived in Stoker’s shadow for too long.
Esperanza: A Love and Rockets Book
by Jaime Hernandez
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606994498
On sale August 3
In this batch of “Locas” stories by Jaime Hernandez from the pages of Love and Rockets Volume II (picking up where 2010’s Penny Century collection left off), an older and wiser Maggie faces down her old demons and the “Ghost of Hoppers” in a full-length graphic novel (which also introduces one of Jaime’s greatest recent characters, Vivian the “Frogmouth,” the near-psychotic bombshell).
Forlorn Funnies, Vol. 1
by Paul Hornschemeier
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606993859
On sale August 3
Forlorn Funnies, Vol. 1 wrangles the new and disparate inhabitants of one skull: that of acclaimed cartoonist Paul Hornschemeier, author of the graphic novels Mother, Come Home and The Three Paradoxes. The centerpiece of the issue is Act One of “Obvious Amenities,” the story of Edward Molson, salesman. After the untimely osprey-induced death of a coworker, Molson is thrust into a cross-country speaking engagement, a chance to revisit youthful diversions, and a potential extra-marital love affair. But for now, he has to walk his wife’s dog. Again.
Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot
by Jacques Tardi and Jean-Patrick Manchette
Fantagraphics Books
ISBN 978-1606994481
On sale August 3
Like many of the greatest noir thrillers, Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot begins with a classic, even clichéd setup: Martin Terrier, the hired killer, needs just one more big job so that he can turn in his guns, return to his native village to find and marry his childhood sweetheart, and retire. But nothing goes as expected, his “last job” turns out to be a setup that results in a bloody shootout from which Terrier barely escapes with his life, and
soon he’s on the run from not only the authorities and his treacherous ex-bosses but also the members of a crime syndicate still seeking revenge for an earlier hit on one of theirs.
Mr. Twee Deedle
by Johnny Gruelle
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606994115
On sale August 3
Johnny Gruelle’s masterpiece, unjustly forgotten by history and never before reprinted since its first appearance in America’s newspapers from 1911 to 1914. The title character in the Sunday color page, Mr. Twee Deedle, is a magical wood sprite who befriends the strip’s two human children, Dickie and Dolly. Gruelle depicted a charming, fantastical child’s world, filled with light whimsy and outlandish surrealism.
Setting the Standard: Comics by Alex Toth, 1952-1954
edited by Greg Sadowski
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606994085
On sale August 3
Toth’s influence on the art of comic books is incalculable. As his generation was the first to grow up with the new 10-cent full-color pamphlets, he came to the medium with a fresh eye, and enough talent and discipline to graphically strip it down its to its bare essentials. His efforts reached fruition at Standard Comics, creating an entire school of imitators and establishing Toth as the “comic book artist’s artist.” Setting the Standard collects this highly influential body of work in one substantial volume.
The Man Who Grew His Beard
by Olivier Schrauwen
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606994467
On sale August 17
The Man Who Grew His Beard is Belgian cartoonist Olivier Schrauwen’s first American book, having staked a reputation over the last decade as one of Europe’s most talented storytellers. It collects seven short stories, each a headspinning display of craft and storytelling that mixes early 20th-century comics influences like Winsor McCay with a thoroughly contemporary voice that provokes and entertains with subversively surreal humor and subtle criticism of 20th-century tropes and images.
Prince Valiant, Vol. 4: 1943-1944
by Hal Foster
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606994559
On sale August 17
As this fourth volume begins, Prince Valiant, haunted by Aleta, seeks Merlin’s wise counsel. This brief episode segues into one of Hal Foster’s patented epics, “The Long Voyage to Thule,” which ran for seven straight months and featured Valiant’s return to his birthplace and reunion with his father.
Vapor
by Max
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1606994603
On sale August 17
Disgusted and appalled with today’s noisy and noisome world in which all is spectacle and surface sensation, Nick flees into the solitude of the desert. But even as he manages to recover some sort of spiritual balance thanks to ascetic regimen of fasting and meditation, Nick is seduced by the most spectacular and mesmerizing spectacle of all time: The procession of the Queen of Saba.
The Hidden
by Richard Sala
Fantagraphics Books
ISBN 978-1606993866
On sale August 29
Eight desperate people are stranded at a snowbound diner. Their phones can only pick up brief and perplexing bits of conversation. The radio is filled with static—although occasional, broken-up bits of news are heard—reports of some sort of global catastrophe. A ninth person arrives, hiking to the diner from his stranded car, where he had been listening to his car radio. He informs the others that, yes, from what he was been able to make out, something alarming seems to have happened, a catastrophe on a global scale. Oh, and one more bit of local news he happened to pick up, he says: The previous night an inmate escaped from a nearby hospital for the criminally insane, after killing his doctor and several bystanders. The police warn that he is very, very dangerous.
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SEPTEMBER
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The Cabbie
by Martí
Fantagraphics
ISBN 978-1-60699-450-4
On sale September 5
Spanish cartoonist Martí’s eye-popping The Cabbie spins off Martin Scorsese’s sordid urban-justice drama Taxi Driver with a graphic style that unapologetically appropriates and even refines the brutal slabs of black, squashed perspectives, and grotesque approach to human physiognomy (and its ability to withstand punishment) that define Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy.
Nuts
by Gahan Wilson
Fantagraphics Books
ISBN 978-1606994542
On sale September 5
In this thematically and narratively linked series of one-page stories originally published in the National Lampoon’s “Funny Pages” section throughout the 1970s, the master of the macabre eschews his usual ghouls, vampires, and end-of-the-world scenarios for a wry, pointed look at growing up
normal in the real yet endlessly weird world.
Feeding Ground
by Swifty Lang, Christopher Mangun, and Michael Lapinski
Archaia
ISBN 978-1936393022
On sale September 6
A new nightmare plagues the Mexico-Arizona border. A famine caused by Blackwell Industries drives Diego Busqueda, a noble coyote, to lead a band of Mexican border crossers across the unforgiving Devil's Highway, a desert cursed with blistering days and deadly nights. Back home, Diego's daughter, Flaca, discovers that something hungrier prowls the factory fields. Stalked and persecuted, can the Busqueda family maintain their dreams of immigration or will the unspeakable horrors of the desert tear them apart?
Joe the Barbarian: Deluxe Edition
by Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy
Vertigo
ISBN 978-1401229719
On sale September 7
Joe is an imaginative 11-year-old boy. He can't fit in at school. He's the victim of bullies. His dad died overseas in the Iraq war. He also suffers from Type 1 diabetes. One fateful day, his condition causes him to believe he has entered a vivid fantasy world in which he is the lost savior—a fantastic land based on the layout and contents of his home. His desperate attempts to make it out of his bedroom transform into an incredible, epic adventure through a bizarre landscape of submarine pirate dwarves, evil Hell Hounds, Lightning Lords, and besieged castles. But is his quest really just an insulin-deprived delirium—from which he can die if he doesn't take his meds—or something much bigger?
Zahra's Paradise
by Amir and Khalil
First Second
ISBN 978-1596436428
On sale September 13
Set in the aftermath of Iran’s fraudulent elections of 2009, Zahra’s Paradise is the fictional story of the search for Mehdi, a young protestor who has vanished into an extrajudicial twilight zone. What’s keeping his memory from being obliterated is not the law. It is the grit and guts of his mother, who refuses to surrender her son to fate, and the tenacity of his brother, a blogger, who fuses tradition and technology to explore and explode the void in which Mehdi has vanished.
