IndyWorld.com
Graphic Novels Spring 2016
Alternative Comics has been a co-operative organization of independent comic book publishers, editors, and artists since 1993, and is the home to some of the finest creatorowned graphic novels and comic books. Current imprints include Alternative Comics, Floating World Comics & Hic & Hoc Publications.
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Cover art by Malachi Ward
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“The immersive tour de force here will make you laugh not necessarily through gags, but by sheer surreal weirdness.” —Seattle Weekly
Carlos Gonzalez Test Tube 144-page paperback In Stores: January 2016 ISBN: 978-1-942801-92-4 List price: $14.95 / $18.50 CAN
Test Tube follows three people living in a faceless city of decrepit movie theaters, girlie night clubs, and paper thin apartment buildings. Within that stew, they are exposed to strange photographs, statues, cardboard cutouts, and sexual mania. Their destinies converge, revealing an ambitious plot to accelerate human evolution. A Floating World Comics production. Carlos Gonzalez is a deeply inspirational figure in the underground comics and music scene. He has created a vast body of DIY work including the 500 page sci-fi opus, Slime Freak, experimental films shot on VHS, and a number of cassettes recorded with his musical project, Russian Tsarlag. His comics have been published in anthologies like Kramers Ergot 6 and his artwork has been exhibited in galleries with members of Fort Thunder. Carlos Gonzalez lives in Providence, RI, USA.
Dylan Horrocks Incomplete Works
192-page paperback In Stores: March 2016 ISBN: 978-1-934460-54-2 List Price: $19.99 / $25.99 CAN Daydreams, fantasy, true love and procrastination feature strongly in this marvelous selection of Dylan Horrocks’s shorter comics. Running from 1986 to 2012, Incomplete Works is both the chronicle of an age and a portrait of one man’s heroic struggle to get some work done. First North American Edition. Dylan Horrocks has written and drawn graphic novels, comic books, comic strips and short stories for publishers around the world. His graphic novel Hicksville has been published in six languages. His second graphic novel Sam Zabel And The Magic Pen was published in January, 2015.
Tom Hart
The Sequential Artists Workshop Guide To Creating Professional Comic Strips 96-page paperback In Stores: April 2016 ISBN: 978-1-934460-89-4 List price: $12.95 / $15.95 CAN Practical and in-depth tips on making and selling daily newspaper comic strips from an artist who has been there. A complete how-to manual for making the best comic strips you can, from conception, to idea generation, to layout, lettering, finishing, coloring and even selling. From an experienced professional comic strip artist, the book is loaded with examples and instruction as well as personal stories within the industry. Tom Hart is a cartoonist and the Executive Director of The Sequential Artists Workshop in Gainesville, Florida. He is the creator of the Hutch Owen series of graphic novels and books, and has been nominated for all the major comic book industry awards. His most recent graphic novel is Rosalie Lightning.
Malachi Ward
From Now On Short Comic Tales of The Fantastic
144-page paperback In stores: April, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-934460-91-7 List price: $14.95 / 16.50 CAN A collection of hauntingly beautiful Science Fiction and Horror short stories by Prophet and Ritual artist Malachi Ward. Collects stories from Mome, Study Group Magazine, Sundays, Best American Comics 2013 and more. Ward’s recent work has been seen in his ongoing series Ritual from Revival House Press. Malachi Ward is the creator of the Ritual comic book series for Revival House Press, The Expansion series with Matt Sheean, The Scout, Utu, and Top Five, which is included in the 2013 edition of Best American Comics. Malachi has done work for Brandon Graham’s Prophet, Island, Mome, NoBrow, and Study Group Comics. “I love the delicate savagery of Jon Allen’s observational humor. “Funny animals”…? Don’t be fooled. —Nick Abadzis
Jon Allen
Ohio Is For Sale 272-page paperback In Stores: April, 2016 ISBN: 978-1-934460-82-5 List price: $19.99 / 25.99 CAN
Three cartoon animals live in a house together in the American Midwest. They get a job, get sick, and throw a party. Their lives are lit by street lamps and the flickering TV set. They do incredibly stupid things with hilarious and disastrous results. It’s about friendship, booze, and the slow collapse of western civilization. And they’re so cute! Jon Allen studied illustration at Pratt Institute and holds a master’s degree in painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He teaches foundation drawing. In addition to Ohio Is For Sale, he wrote and illustrated Vacationland, a self-published graphic novel.
Eric Haven
Compulsive Comics 176-page hardcover In Stores: March 15, 2016 ISBN: 978-1-934460-58-0 List price: $24.99 / 32.50 Enter the strange and compelling comic book world of Eric Haven. Deconstructing the tawdry form of the traditional comic book, Haven builds layers of dark, dorkish humor to undermine the expectations of certain familiar genres. A series of short comics that deconstructs—while it celebrates—classic comic book tropes. Though brief, the stories here make an unforgettable impact thanks to Haven’s strong, inky visuals—as with the death rider in a polo outfit, Equestria—and unrelenting fascinating with death and doom. It’s a haunting combo.” —Publishers Weekly Review of Haven’s book UR. Eric Haven was a long-time producer of the popular television show Mythbusters. He has been producing unusual and fascinating comics for many years.
Chainmail Bikini The Anthology of Women Gamers
Edited by Hazel Newlevant
204-page black and white paperback In Stores: April 12, 2016 ISBN: 978-1-5136-0012-3 List price: $20.00 / $24.99 CAN
Chainmail Bikini is an anthology of comics by and about female gamers! 40 artists contributed comics about the games they’re passionate about—from video games to table-top roleplaying to collectible card games. The comics in Chainmail Bikini explore the real-life impact of entering a fantasy world, how games can connect us with each other and teach us about ourselves. Contributors include indie game creators Anna Anthropy and Merritt Kopas, and indie comics favorites MK Reed (Palefire, The Cute Girl Network), Jane Mai (Sunday in the Park with Boys, See You Next Tuesday), Molly Ostertag (Strong Female Protagonist), Sophie Yanow (War of Streets and Houses) and Diana Nock (Poorcraft). Cover illustration by Hellen Jo. Hazel Newlevant is a cartoonist living in Queens, NY. Her comic Ci Vediamo was awarded a Xeric Grant, and her graphic novel If This Be Sin was awarded the 2013 Prism Comics Queer Press Grant.
Anna Ehrlemark Winners
128-page paperback In Stores: April, 2016 ISBN: 978-1-942801-91-7 List price: $14.95 / $18.50 CAN 128 pages of stories about family, nostalgia, chance, witchcraft, sex, abstinence, economy, and revenge. Science fiction in a future that is already old. Winners is the debut short collection by Swedish artist Anna Ehrlemark. Anna is well known in Eastern Europe for her unconventional, twisted narratives and her striking visual style. Her comics explore feminist, queer, and, anti-capitalist themes. “Starkly beautiful… There’s depth to the comics: Many are funny, with a deeper layer of symbolism and yet another layer of unease. Ehrlemark is the real deal.” —Suzette Smith, Portland Mercury Anna Ehrlemark is well known in Eastern Europe for her unconventional, twisted narratives and her striking visual style. Her comics explore feminist, queer, anti-capitalist themes and she has been published by the Balkan collectives Stripburger, Fijuk, and Komikaze. Anna Ehrlemark lives in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Melissa Mendes Lou
160-page paperback In Stores: April, 2016 ISBN: 978-1-68148-520-1 List price: $14.95 / $18.50 CAN Lou is an 11 year old tomboy growing up in a small, working-class town in New England in the 1990s. This one summer it becomes clear that her brother Eddie’s boss at the pizza shop is mixed up in some unsavory business. Things become more precarious, until finally Eddie shows up for work to find his boss Joey has vanished. Melissa Mendes is a cartoonist living and working in western Massachusetts. She attended Hampshire College from 2002 to 2006, and received her MFA from the Center For Cartoon Studies in 2010. Her debut graphic novel, Freddy Stories, was published with help from a Xeric Grant. “Mendes’s visuals are accessible and unpretentious with the interplay between characters being particularly deft in approach. —Andy Oliver, Broken Frontier
Andrea Tsurumi
Why Would You Do That? 64-page paperback ISBN: 978-1-68148-102-9 In Stores: April 2016 List Price: $10.00 USD / $12.99 CAD Finding the absurd in everything from poodles and sports fans to pie and the Civil War, Tsurumi plays with what’s strange and funny about the familiar in this collection of short comics. Andrea Tsurumi is a cartoonist and illustrator from New York whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Nib, Spongebob Comics, The Graphic Canon of Children’s Literature, and Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream. Her comics “Andrew Jackson Throws a Punch” and “Yup/Nope” received a MoCCA Award of Excellence and a Society of Illustrators’ silver medal, respectively. The Best American Comics series chose her mini-comic “Dance Party” for its 2013 notables list. A graduate of SVA’s MFA Illustration program, she likes her ice cream angry. “Tsurumi has made her name in comics and illustration through celebrating the humor of the macabre and the adorable, and her work is often metamorphic in nature . . . Let me warn you in advance that if you are going to read Tsurumi’s books, your dream-life will probably never be quite the same again. They work their way into the subconscious like a power drill.” —Hannah Means-Shannon, editor-in-chief at Bleeding Cool
Tim Goodyear
Video Tonfa 624-page paperback In Stores: April 2016 ISBN: 978-1-942801-93-1 List Price: $24.95 USD / $32.50 CAD In 2009, Tim Goodyear turned his sketchbook into a journal of the movies he watched, focusing on VHS & DVD for an eclectic & personal film history. For each video he redrew the original box art & substituted the text with his own reflections. Video Tonfa is more than a book of movie reviews, it’s a chronic memoir of over 300 video visitations. Tim Goodyear is a legend of Pacific Northwest DIY media who has been involved with comics, zines, and video for many years. (he’s a contributor to Sean Aaberg’s PORK magazine). His publishing imprint, Teenage Dinosaur, has put out books by Matt Furie, Julia Gfrorer, Dash Shaw and others.
Jim Campbell
At the Shore 208 page full-color paperback In Stores: June 2016 ISBN: 978-1-68148-518-8 List price: $19.99 USD / $25.99 CAD A group of art students head to the shore, but something sinister is hiding beneath the incoming waves. Bernard, Dean and Jorge look forward to some serious Frisbee-tossing and are psyched when Astrid shows up to swim, but Gabi is so freaked out she doesn’t want to leave the car. Why is Gabi demanding they head home before dark? Maybe if anyone paid attention to her childhood tales of seaweed harvesting, they’d know something lurks beneath the waves Jim Campbell is a cartoonist, comic book colorist, and animator who is well known for his work on Patrick McHale’s Over The Garden Wall series on Cartoon Network and the comic books from Boom! Studios. Jim has been drawing comics off and on since teaming up with the Meathaüs collective in 2001. He has been a color artist for Dark Horse, Marvel, Spongebob Comics, Mad Magazine, and Tony Millionaire for several years. In his spare time, he plays in the Brooklyn band Paper Fleet. “At The Shore features delightfully bizarre artwork, quirky comedy, a unique style of character development, and an interesting storyline twist.” —Jonathan Lloyd, Punchland
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