Humanoids is launching a new literary imprint in 2018, timed to the company’s 20th anniversary of publishing its acclaimed books in the United States. Best known for seminal genre works including The Incal (Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mœbius) and The Metabarons (Jodorowsky, Gimenez) and internationally renowned creators, including Milo Manara and Jose Ladronn, Humanoids will make a bold break from tradition with its new endeavor. Launching on April 4th, the Life Drawn imprint will publish graphic novels featuring deeply personal and powerful political narratives; these are stories grounded in life on earth, not among the stars.
Life Drawn’s debut season features titles representing a wide spectrum of art styles, tone, and social and cultural perspectives:
Kabul Disco: How I Managed Not to Be Abducted in Afghanistan by Nicolas Wild
Publication date: April 4, 2018; ISBN: 978-1594658686; 160 Pages; $19.95
LIFE DRAWN debuts with the first volume of a satire-laced travel memoir by cartoonist Nicolas Wild about his experiences in Afghanistan, drawing an adaptation of of the Afghan constitution. Wild provides insights into international politics, a war-ravaged country and the lives of his fellow expatriates. In a dazzling passage, Wild explores the fragile state of American democracy through the story of a woman who was working for the Bush campaign in 2000 and was responsible for vote counting in one of Florida’s three counties, ultimately making the fateful phone call that helped swing the election. Acclaimed cartoonist Guy Delisle (Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea) declares that Wild’s “satirical and at times absurdist perspective plunges us into the daily life of a group of expatriates in the heart of Kabul, a city still reeling from the last war. His witty sense of humor makes him an excellent travel companion.” Book Two will be published in September.
Vietnamese Memories: Leaving Saigon by award-winning writer and artist Clément Baloup
Publication date: May 29, 2018; ISBN: 978-1594656583; 164 Pages; $19.95
The first of a three-volume testimonial to the courage and endurance of five different families displaced from their native country by war and colonialism and forced to assimilate in unfamiliar lands, watching their heritage slowly disappear. As Doan Hoang, the award-winning director of Oh, Saigon, says in her introduction of Book One, “History is mostly told by the privileged and powerful, and rarely by those who are most affected. . . . In this sumptuously beautiful and important graphic novel, you will intimately bear witness to what so few in the world have been privy to.”
Luisa: Now and Then by Carole Maurel, Adapted by Mariko Tamaki (This One Summer)
Publication date: June 20, 2018; ISBN: 978-1594656439; 272 Pages; $29.95
A queer transformative tale about self-acceptance and sexuality, written and illustrated by Carole Maurel and adapted by national bestseller Mariko Tamaki, Caldecott Award–winning creator of This One Summer. A disillusioned photographer has a chance encounter with her lost teenage self who has miraculously traveled into the future. Together, both women ultimately discover who they really are, finding the courage to live life by being true to themselves. The book will be published in June, timed to Pride Month.
Madame Cat by Nancy Peña
Publication date: July 4, 2018; ISBN: 978-1594658136; 128 pages; $12.95
Hilarious vignettes presenting the love, laughter and frustrations of a pet who thinks she’s an owner! With narrative mastery, creator Nancy Peña brings us bite-sized sketches that appeal to cat lovers of all ages.
It was new comic book day yesterday. What’d you all get? What’d you like? What’d you dislike? Sound off in the comments below! While you decide on that, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web.
The hardest thing one must come to realize about one’s self is either you must take the path put upon you or you take a path of your choosing. This is not as easy as it sounds and it never is. I remember when I was in high school I had no desire to join the military. The only plans I had was to hopefully get a basketball scholarship and go to a college where I can get a college degree. This all changed when one morning. In my high school, they told all seniors to report to the school library where we all had to take the ASVAB test and as they say, “the rest is history”.