Tag Archives: selfmadehero

The Great Marc Evers, The True Story of a Champion Against All Odds

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What if you stopped focusing on what’s impossible, and opened yourself up to what’s possible? Marc Evers is two years old and it’s impossible for anyone to get through to him. His parents are told by a psychiatrist he has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and that he’ll never be able to talk or function independently. For this reason, the psychiatrist recommends institutionalization. Thankfully, they don’t listen.

Eighteen years later, Marc is preparing to compete in the 100-metre backstroke at the 2012 London Paralympics. He walks, talks, and rides his bike. He’s his own person, surrounded by a busy family – and he can swim like a torpedo. With five Paralympic medals and many world records, Marc Evers is the Netherlands’ greatest Paralympic swimming champion. How did he manage to beat the odds?

Written by Ivo van Woarden, art by Gemma Plum, color by Marloes Dekkers, and translated by Michele Hutchison, The Great Marc Evers is a moving, intimate, inspiring, and above all optimistic coming-of-age portrait of Marc and his family. A beautifully drawn story about perseverance, hope, and strength, about trusting your intuition and daring to believe. It arrives November 20 in the US and October 1 in the UK from SelfMadeHero.

Book cover featuring an illustration of a swimmer diving into a blue swimming pool, with the title 'The Great Marc Evers' prominently displayed.

Romo The WolfBoy, a Victorian Fantasy Mystery Graphic Novel from ILYA arrives in September

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Romo, rumoured a wolf boy taken from the wild, and a young stagehand named Francis are the two newest members of Blimey O’Riley’s Travelling Circus. Together they will become Criminologists Extraordinaire, Specialists in the Paranormal – but this is only their first adventure…

When the circus comes to town in Victorian England, repeated acts of sabotage by a mysterious, giggling culprit turn Romo and Francis from rivals to friends. Can they work together to solve this baffling case, and even become a top act in the meantime?

Romo the WolfBoy by ILYA arrives in the US in September 1 and the UK on November 26 from SelfMadeHero.

ROMO the WolfBoy

Noisy Valley: The Art of Protest arrives in June

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“It’s about what ordinary people do, because what we do… is quite extraordinary.”

Protest matters, and it’s never been more important to raise our voices against injustice. And yet, our rights around marches, demonstrations and activism are being systematically eroded. Noisy Valley explores the importance of protest and what it can achieve, told through the stories of one vibrant community.

In every neighbourhood there are the activists, the ones who raise their voices. Myfanwy Tristram visited the Rhondda Valley in South Wales, inviting local people to recount their memories of the times they’d refused to take things lying down. These stories tell how communities and individuals pushed back on a landfill site that poisoned local streams, a waste processing plant that destroyed an area of natural beauty, sexism in the workplace, the closure of the local hospital and more. Noisy Valley is a testament to protestors who – whatever the political climate – have believed in their power to get things changed.

From SelfMadeHero, Noisy Valley: The Art of Protest by Myfanwy Tristram arrives June 9 in the US and Canada and May 14 in the UK.

Noisy Valley: The Art of Protest

Kay Medaglia’s Comic Therapy: Meditations for Reflections arrives this May

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From Kay Medaglia, creator of the popular series One Year Wiser, Comic Therapy: Meditations for Reflections is a unique collection of short comic strips is designed to offer moments of calm wellbeing and thoughtful reflection while lifting readers’ spirits with lighthearted humor.

In Comic Therapy, readers will find a range of comic strips that blend heartwarming messages and gentle wit, creating a space where readers can unwind, laugh, and feel inspired – all within a few panels.

The charm of this collection of homely homilies lies in its ability to address real-life challenges with a sense of optimism, focusing on themes like self-compassion, resilience, and mindfulness. Each of its beautifully imagined sequences serves as a temporary retreat from the pressures and anxieties of daily life, with each page offering a blend of encouragement and humour. By using visual storytelling, Comic Therapy engages readers in a non-intrusive yet impactful way, inviting them to pause, smile, and reconnect with their inner calm.

This book is an invaluable resource for anyone looking for a momentary escape, a laugh in tough times, or a much-needed boost of positivity. Whether read all at once or savoured a little at a time, Comic Therapy builds into a toolkit of emotional wellness, and a perfect go-to for personal reflection, or to share with a friend in need of a cheerful lift.

Into a world filled with noise, Comic Therapy sends a quiet voice of compelling reassurance, reminding us that it’s always okay to pause, reflect, and enjoy a light-hearted moment.

Comic Therapy: Meditations for Reflections arrives May 26, 2026 in the US.

Comic Therapy: Meditations for Reflections

Emmie Arbel: The Colour of Memory, a visual biography of the inspirational life of Holocaust survivor Emmie Arbel

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Emmie Arbel: The Colour of Memory

Emmie Arbel: The Colour of Memory is a visual biography of the inspirational life of Holocaust survivor Emmie Arbel who was arrested, deported, and imprisoned as a child.

Arrested with her family in the Netherlands, deported by the Nazis to Ravensbrück and Bergen-Belsen, and orphaned – all by the age of seven – Emmie Arbel survived the camps, only to face a new ordeal of suffering in what should have been a place of refuge. Traumatized as a child by violence, abuse, and isolation, she has transformed her survival into an inspirational lifelong mission both to bear witness to the Holocaust, and to celebrate the enduring resilience of the human spirit.

Working closely with Emmie herself, the acclaimed German graphic artist Barbara Yelin has created an unforgettable “visual biography” of this remarkable woman: her rebellious independence, her indomitable humour, the wisdom of her contemplation.

Emmie Arbel: The Colour of Memory is at once a haunting portrayal of a historical atrocity, an inspiring account of a modern friendship, a beautiful work of art, and a meditation on memory itself.

This graphic novel was developed as part of the Survivor-Centred Visual Narratives Project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

The Most Amazing Saturday Morning Rubbish Club, a young adult graphic novel, an inspiring tale of neurodiverse children

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Take three young people with complex needs, one homeless engineering genius, and a secret underground bunker, throw in a police mix-up, a psychedelic carer, and a great deal of rubbish, and you have the makings of a unique story. As entertaining as it is candid, The Most Amazing Saturday Morning Rubbish Club explores the realities of living with disability and celebrates the ways in which neurodiverse children can make the world a better place, one chip packet at a time.

The Most Amazing Saturday Morning Rubbish Club is a creative collaboration between a writer and illustrator, both of whom have first-hand experience of parenting neurodiverse children. Its inspirational storyline, appealing to parents and children alike, tells how three very different kids come together to share their special skills and save the day. These spirited characters meet in the park to establish a litter-picking scheme which transforms the local community. Touching, funny, and beautiful, this unique collaboration is indeed… most amazing.

The Most Amazing Saturday Morning Rubbish Club, written by Bill Tuckey, illustrated by Francisco de la Mora, and published by SelfMadeHero is out in the US on December 2, 2025 and UK on November 20, 2025.

The Most Amazing Saturday Morning Rubbish Club,

SelfMadeHero announces My Dad Fights Demons! written by UK’s comics laureate Bobby Joseph

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My Dad Fights Demons!

SelfMadeHero has announced My Dad Fights Demons! written by Bobby Joseph with art by Abbigayle Bircham. The graphic novel comes to the US and Canada on October 14 and the UK on September 25. Pre-order it now through Bookshop, Amazon, or your local comic shop or book store, and more.

My Dad Fights Demons! is a Young Adult graphic novel about the misadventures of a down-on-his-luck teenager and the dimension-hopping, demon-battling sorcerer who just happens to be his absentee father.

Welcome to Rye’s world: their stepdad hates them, their mother ignores them, and they’re stuck in a dead-end relationship. To make matters worse, their world is turned upside down one day with the return of their father, the Magical Mr Mantrikz, self-styled “greatest sorcerer in the world”, and Rye now has to spend their weekends with this rude, pushy, and frankly ridiculous wizard. And that was never going to work – especially when magic is involved…

Bobby Joseph is an acclaimed South London comic creator, whose early work includes the creation of cult comic classic Skank magazine, in which his best-known strip, “Scotland Yardie”, originated. He has written for The Guardian, Dazed and Confused, and Vice. A long-standing advocate for diversity and representation in comic books, his graphic novel, Scotland Yardie (Knockabout Comics, 2017), was the first diverse graphic novel to be studied as a module on an English Literature MA course. He is the fifth UK Comics Laureate, and the first comic book creator of Indian origin to be appointed to the role. Abbigayle Bircham is a Norwich-based comic artist with a penchant for the weird and wonderful, who is probably scribbling away in her favorite tea shop at this moment. A LICAF [Lakes International Comic Art Festival] Breakthrough Initiative participant, she has published work with Soaring Penguin Press and the Rat Pack Collective, dreams of having her own cartoon show one day, and first met Bobby Joseph when taking his Writing Comics short course.

Discover the aftermath of Bowie’s groundbreaking tour of America in Low: Bowie’s Berlin Years

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Low: Bowie’s Berlin Years traces the aftermath of David Bowie’s groundbreaking tour of America, and the iconic “Berlin years” that followed. Hot on the platform heels of Starman: Bowie’s Stardust Years (SelfMadeHero, 2023), Reinhard Kleist masterfully concludes his two-part biography of David Bowie. In 1976, Bowie escaped the frantic madness and substance abuse of his life in Los Angeles for the Wall of the divided city of Berlin. With his friend Iggy Pop in tow, Bowie quit drugs and created LOW, the first album of his “Berlin Trilogy”. But even here, in some of the happiest days of his life, Ziggy Stardust would not let him go…

Low follows Bowie’s forays through West Berlin’s revolutionary music scene and wild club life, and takes us deep into his recording sessions at Hansa Studios. The friendship between Bowie and Iggy drives both artists to new creative heights, while Bowie’s relationship with the cabaret artist and drag icon Romy Haag illuminates his fascination with Berlin as a city on the brink. Kleist’s Low is both a retelling of Bowie’s Berlin years and a vibrant portrait of the city itself.

Reinhard Kleist is the award-winning author of Nick Cave: Mercy on Me and Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness, which was nominated for Eisner and Harvey Awards.

Low: Bowie’s Berlin Years is out July 8, 2025 in the UK and May 22, 2025 in the US. The 176 page graphic novel has a retail price of $19.99.

Low: Bowie's Berlin Years

Edifice is an expressionistic seasonal tale written and illustrated by Andrzej Klimowski. Out January 21

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At the heart of the dream city of Engelstadt stand the tall storeys of an ancient apartment block, home to a nightmare labyrinth of corridors and secrets. Christmas is coming, but the mysterious disappearance of one of its tenants causes a cast of characters (or suspects?) to be assembled before us. An elderly aristocratic widow plays the piano; a young mother disciplines her hallucinating son; a photographer pursues creative experiments under the magnetic spell of the moon. And meanwhile, as a dark cloud threatens to envelop the city, and caped crusaders (or marauders) wander its park, there is a film screening to attend. The eccentric Professor will surely solve the enigma on Christmas Eve… Or will he? A pan-European Pandora’s Box of narrative Russian dolls and Chinese boxes, Edifice builds into an Expressionist graphic vision of our archetypal, metamorphic Shadows. Whether or not “an allegory of some sort” (as one of these characters claims), Andrzej Klimowski’s masterpiece of symbolic form is certainly one of the strangest Christmas stories you will ever read. “If you look carefully, you will see it.”

A graphic grand Hotel of our dreams, desires, and nightmares – and a Christmas Carol like no other, Edifice by Andrzej Klimowski and published by SelfMadeHero is out January 21 in the US and November 14 in the UK.

Edifice: A Graphic Novel

Edifice is an expressionistic seasonal tale written and illustrated by Andrzej Klimowski

Posted on by

At the heart of the dream city of Engelstadt stand the tall storeys of an ancient apartment block, home to a nightmare labyrinth of corridors and secrets. Christmas is coming, but the mysterious disappearance of one of its tenants causes a cast of characters (or suspects?) to be assembled before us. An elderly aristocratic widow plays the piano; a young mother disciplines her hallucinating son; a photographer pursues creative experiments under the magnetic spell of the moon. And meanwhile, as a dark cloud threatens to envelop the city, and caped crusaders (or marauders) wander its park, there is a film screening to attend. The eccentric Professor will surely solve the enigma on Christmas Eve… Or will he? A pan-European Pandora’s Box of narrative Russian dolls and Chinese boxes, Edifice builds into an Expressionist graphic vision of our archetypal, metamorphic Shadows. Whether or not “an allegory of some sort” (as one of these characters claims), Andrzej Klimowski’s masterpiece of symbolic form is certainly one of the strangest Christmas stories you will ever read. “If you look carefully, you will see it.”

A graphic grand Hotel of our dreams, desires, and nightmares – and a Christmas Carol like no other, Edifice by Andrzej Klimowski and published by SelfMadeHero is out December 17 in the US and November 14 in the UK.

Edifice: A Graphic Novel
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