It’s easy to forget, in among all the blockbuster superhero adaptations and the new mainstream adoration for everything caped and muscly, that comic books are currently in the middle of a golden age. From noir to the surreal, cross-country bike rides to post-apocalyptic animal tales, 2017 promises to be another fine vintage, from studios big and small.
Dissolving Classroom by Junji Ito (Vertical, January)
After an eight-year break from the medium, 2015 provided two Ito books that left many questioning whether the horror master was losing his touch. But he remains one of the few Japanese cartoonists who is able to connect with a wide global audience, so all eyes will be on this new collection detailing the depths a teenager will go to to get revenge on the world.
The Interview by Manuele Fior (Fantagraphics, February)
This is Fior’s fifth graphic novel, and the second of the award-winning Italian author’s works to be translated into English. Set in Italy in 2048, it brings together a seemingly familiar scenario: a fiftysomething psychologist with a failing marriage and a young, free-spirited patient, Dora. But the surreal backdrop prevents this falling into dramatic cliche: strange bright triangles have appeared in the sky, bearing mysterious messages from an extraterrestrial civilisation – messages that Dora claims she can parse using telepathy.
Snow Day by Antoine Aubin and Pierre Wazem (Humanoids, February)
A good noir is hard to turn down, particularly in the short, cold days of winter when few things are as appealing as curling up with a book. Spencer, an outsider sheriff, struggles to find his place in a snowy, isolated town populated by a close-knit community that keeps to itself and its own rules – until the calm, quiet sheriff actually does his job. By intervening in a violent dispute, Spencer triggers escalating problems for himself and the town. Originally published in French and titled Sur la neige, Aubin’s beautiful black-and-white art sits wonderfully with the harsh environment Wazem depicts.
Sticks Angelica by Michael DeForge (Drawn & Quarterly, March)
No comics preview is complete without a Michael DeForge book, and the prolific Canadian cartoonist gets his account under way early in the year with this collection. Sticks Angelica is a former Olympian, poet, scholar, sculptor, minister, activist, governor general, entrepreneur, line cook, head mistress, Mountie, columnist, libertarian, cellist. After a high-profile family scandal, Sticks escapes to live in the woods. Toying with autobiography, biography, and hagiography, DeForge examines both how we build our own sense of self and how others take on the roles we create for them.
Garbage Night by Jen Lee (Nobrow Press, March)
Once a contented dog with benign owners, Simon has been forced to fend for himself since an inexplicable event wiped out all the humans. Aided by two new best friends – a raccoon and a deer – he scavenges for scraps and survival. When rumours circulate of a town where humans are still living, the animal trio embark on a journey to investigate. Lee’s deft, unique colouring and characterisation elevate her post-apocalyptic landscape into something special.
Portugal by Cyril Pedrosa (NBM, release date TBC)
Long anticipated by Pedrosa fans, 2017 will finally see the English-language release of what many regard as his most significant work. Loosely mirroring the author’s personal experiences, Portugal recounts the story of Simon, a comic book artist and teacher making his way through a weary existence. When an invitation to appear at a festival in Portugal arrives, Simon views it as serendipity: his family are from there, he hasn’t been since he was a child, and it could be the event that turns everything around. Few can rival the immersive beauty of Pedrosa’s watercolours, or the empathy with which he imbues his worlds.
Fish Girl by David Wiesner and Donna Jo Napoli (April)
Triple Caldecott winner Wiesner joins forces with Napoli in this literal fish-out-of-water tale. Fish Girl is a young mermaid, confined to a life as an attraction at a boardwalk aquarium while longing for the world beyond the tank. A growing friendship with an ordinary, human girl encourages her dreams of freedom and independence. The marrying of Wiesner’s rich visual imagination and trademark artistry with the magic of underwater vistas are sure to be a draw here.
Aliens: Dead Orbit by James Stokoe (Dark Horse, April)
Many licensed comic properties hum unremarkably along, but every now and again publishers wrangle a pairing worthy of notice. Such is the case for Stokoe’s upcoming Aliens mini-series, Dead Orbit. He is a rare cartoonist, gifted not only in technical ability, but also in eliciting fresh depth and pathos from popular characters without straying from their essence. With Ridley Scott releasing Alien: Covenant in May, this could well be a banner year for everybody’s favourite xenomorph.
Collecting Sticks by Joe Decie (Jonathan Cape, April)
Semi-biography, semi-flight of fancy, Joe Decie’s latest will be a highlight of 2017. Ostensibly about a family camping – or “glamping” – trip, Decie depicts city folk vying with nature with his customary dry wit. Expect berry foraging, perilous wildlife encounters, and – of course – rain. It may sound like a stock situation, but Decie’s work is guaranteed to be warm and thoughtful.
You & a Bike & a Road by Eleanor Davis (Koyama Press, May)
In 2016, Eleanor Davis undertook a two-month cross-country bicycle tour from Arizona to Athens, documenting her travels as she went. Recording events as they happened – accidents, clashes with law enforcement, her struggles to continue – Davis’s comics have an immediacy that pulls the reader in. That even these on-the-go comics demonstrate her mastery of line and shape is testament to how superb a cartoonist she is.
Trust No Aunty by Maria Qamar (Touchstone Books, May)
Best known under her Instagram moniker Hatecopy, Qamar’s work borrows back from pop artist Roy Lichtenstein’s single-panel blow-ups of classic cartoons, and applies the style to the tribulations of the modern south Asian woman: samosas and boyfriends, sarees and singledom, and the never-ending advice and nosiness of the ubiquitous south Asian aunty (no blood relationship required). With exaggerated drama and bold, pop colours, this is a strangely delightful coalescing of style and subject.
Hostage by Guy Delisle (Jonathan Cape, May)
Renowned for his journalistic travel memoirs, Delisle turns to biography in this recounting of Christophe André’s life. A Doctors Without Borders administrator who was taken hostage in 1997 for three months, André was kept handcuffed in solitary confinement, with little to survive on and almost no contact with the outside world. Hostage explores the psychological effects of solitary confinement, the repercussions of negotiating with kidnappers and the nature of freedom.
Crawl Space by Jesse Jacobs (Koyama Press, May)
Crawl Space is the third of Jacobs’s books with Canadian publisher Koyama Press, after 2014’s excellent Safari Honeymoon. This time he brings his intricate visuals and surrealist bent to the story of a basement housing a rainbow-hued world. Discovered by a group of kids, the alternate dimension inhabited by iridescent creatures becomes their retreat from suburban mundanity. But in the fraught realm of adolescence, can friendship survive the appeal of the fantastic?
Brush Paradise by Mathilde Kitteh (Peow! Studio, release date TBC)
Following last year’s sweetly poignant shonen space romance, Wrecked Hearts, 2017 sees Kitteh return with this new offering. A terrible door-to-door brush salesman becomes an internet sensation after a spectacular suicide attempt. Office humour, a lovable-yet-cringeworthy protagonist, and Kitteh’s lovely cartooning? Yes, please.
Boundless by Jillian Tamaki (Drawn & Quarterly, June)
One of the most interesting aspects of Jillian Tamaki’s career is the significant difference between her solo comics work and her collaborative efforts with cousin Mariko Tamaki. The latter work, catering to a young adult audience, has brought widespread acclaim, but it’s the solo stories that set her apart. In addition to serving as a showcase for her lush, expressive art, this collection highlights Tamaki’s specific relevance to the mid-20s and 30s demographic with incisive examinations of nostalgia, consumption, process, notions of self and, of course, the internet.
Black Panther: World of Wakanda by Roxane Gay, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Yona Harvey, Alitha Martinez, and Afua Richardson (Marvel, June)
Marvel is making an effort to bulk up its Black Panther titles prior to the movie’s 2018 release, and have enlisted a plethora of black luminaries to create World of Wakanda. Writers Gay and Harvey join artists Martinez and Richardson to tell the story of the Dora Milaje, or Midnight Angels, an all-female elite task force trained to protect the crown of Wakanda at all costs. Stories focus on the leadership and founding history of the group, as well as some personal tales of the women protecting Black Panther.
Shade, the Changing Girl by Cecil Castelluci and Marley Zarcone (DC Comics, July)
Shade is the pick of DC’s newly launched Young Animal line. Castelluci’s talent for writing young people and Zarcone’s beautifully realised spreads are the twin benefits of this fresh iteration. On the run across galaxies, with Shade’s stolen madness coat in hand, the alien Loma takes up residency in the body of Earth-girl Megan Boyer. There’s a small snag, however: Megan Boyer was a bully who everyone was glad was almost dead, and now Loma has to survive high school and navigate the consequences of the life she didn’t live with the ever-growing and uncontrollable madness at her side.
Ten Thousand Years in Hell by Maurice Tillieux (Fantagraphics, July)
There’s a sad dearth of the Belgian Tillieux’s work to be found in English, so this second volume of stories featuring his most famous creation, the dapper PI Gil Jourdan, is particularly welcome. Tillieux was known for the humour he brought to his tightly-plotted tales, but front and centre is his art: robust, atmospheric and zippy, it’s an evolution of the “clear-line” style popularised by Hergé. Ten Thousand Years In Hell finds Jourdan mired in a rollicking South American prison escape, while in Boom and Bust a countryside jaunt turns into an ad hoc investigation.
Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani (First Second, October)
Priyanka Das is an Indian-American girl living in Orange County who stumbles upon a pashmina shawl that whisks her away on fantastical adventures through which she learns about her heritage. Many a diaspora narrative is helpfully framed for the outsider, so it’s refreshing to see Chanani aiming to subvert some of those tropes in her debut graphic novel. In her words: “My teenage understanding of India was tainted by poverty-stricken, third-world imagery. How wonderful would it be if a young person learned about their culture through only positive representations?”
Cucumber Quest: The Doughnut Kingdom by Gigi DG (First Second, October)
DG’s phenomenally popular fantasy quest webcomic begins print serialisation this year. This first book sees young bunny, Cucumber, heading to magic school. But just as he’s about to set off, Cucumber receives a letter from his father, instructing him to abandon education and fulfil his destiny as a legendary hero. But Cucumber is reluctant – surely his sister, knight-in-training Almond, is better-suited for hero status?
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