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Discover Thomas Girtin, The Forgotten Painter, this June

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Part historical narrative, part modern fiction, the book consists of two interlinked stories: the first focuses on the 18th-century painter Thomas Girtin and his relationship with his friend and rival J.M.W. Turner; the second tells the tale of three amateur artists in the present day, united by a shared interest in Girtin’s art.

Using this dual narrative to draw parallels between two eras of rapid technological advancement and socio-political turbulence, writer/artist Oscar Zarate’s long-awaited new graphic novel, Thomas Girtin, The Forgotten Painter, restores to modern eyes this unjustly forgotten figure, whose work has been almost entirely ignored despite his huge influence in British painting. At the time of death, aged just 27, Girtin had already established himself as a pioneer and a master: his expressionist approach was a significant turning point in the British watercolour tradition. But the brevity of his career, coupled with his chosen medium (compared to oils, watercolours were a humbler and less easily exhibited form) meant that his work came to be overshadowed by that of Turner. As Turner himself famously remarked, “If Tom had lived, I should have starved.”

Thomas Girtin, The Forgotten Painter is out this June from SelfMadeHero.

Thomas Girtin, The Forgotten Painter

Armed With Madness, the Surreal Leonora Carrington from Mary and Bryan Talbot, out soon

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Reluctant muse and feminist champion… society heiress and rebel refugee… the last of the Surrealists: Leonora Carrington played many roles in her long and extraordinary life. Renouncing her privileged upbringing in pre-war England for the more exciting elite of Paris’s 1930s avant-garde, she comes to rub shoulders (and more) with the likes of Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, and Salvador Dalí, after embarking on a complicated love affair with Max Ernst. But the demons that have both haunted and inspired her work are gathering, and when the world goes mad with the outbreak of war and the Nazi invasion, Leonora’s own hold on reality collapses into a terrifying psychotic episode of her own.

Eventually fleeing war-torn Europe, she emerges into a new and richly creative life in Mexico City, establishing herself as a prodigious painter, writer, and advocate of women’s rights. This new work by the acclaimed partnership of Mary M. Talbot and Bryan Talbot celebrates the life and career of a truly remarkable woman – and artist.

Armed with Madness: The Surreal Leonora Carrington by writer Mary M. Talbot and artist Bryan Talbot is out April 25 in the US and May 11 in the UK.

Armed with Madness: The Surreal Leonora Carrington

Graphic Policy’s Top Comic Picks this Week!

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Superman #1 cover

Wednesdays (and Tuesdays) are new comic book day! Each week hundreds of comics are released, and that can be pretty daunting to go over and choose what to buy. That’s where we come in

Each week our contributors choose what they can’t wait to read this week or just sounds interesting. In other words, this is what we’re looking forward to and think you should be taking a look at!

Find out what folks think below, and what comics you should be looking out for this week.

Banshees #1 (Scout Comics) – A college student discovers the truth about a serial killer that stalked her college campus for a decade.

Barbaric: Hell to Pay #2 (Vault Comics) – It’s a new group of screw up adventurers who are tring to break Owen out of hell. Off the rails fantasy adventuring!

Batman: One Bad Day – Clayface #1 (DC Comics) – Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing telling a Clayface story? Yes please!

Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #1 (Marvel) – We’ve already reviewed it and have high praise!

Blue Book #1 (Dark Horse Comics) – A nonfiction comic book experience depicting true stories of UFO abductions with an eye to capturing the strange essence of those encounters.

Bulls of Beacon Hill #2 (AfterShock) – Boston Surgeon Christopher Boldt is getting more famous by the day – but that’s the problem. Chris’ secret doesn’t just threaten himself, it threatens the person he’s ashamed to say he’s related to: his mobster father. Great first issue which mixed politics, family drama, and a good ole mobster story.

Darkwing Duck #2 (Dynamite Entertainment) – The first issue was fantastic and a return to the animated series we love. Beyond excited for more Darkwing Duck!

First Time for Everything (First Second) – A First Time for Everything is a feel-good coming-of-age memoir based on New York Times-bestselling author and Caldecott Medal winner Dan Santat’s awkward middle school years.

Gargoyles #3 (Dynamite Entertainment) – The second issue was a bit of a mess but we’re hoping the third issue is more like the first which was beyond fantastic.

GCPD: The Blue Wall #5 (DC Comics) – The last issue was a shocker and the series has taken a hell of a turn. We want to see where it goes.

Godfell #1 (Vault Comics) – One sunny day in the land of Kerethim, God falls dead from the sky. The impact sends out shockwaves that draw in royal families at war, shadowy creatures of the dark, and armies of the dispossessed, all coming to lay claim to parts of God’s body. That just sounds awesome!

Immoral X-Men #1 (Marvel) – A new “Sins of Sinister” tie-in series.

Irmina (SelfMadeHero) – Based on a true story, in the mid-1930s, Irmina, an ambitious young German, moves to London. At a cocktail party, she meets Howard Green, one of the first black students at Oxford, who, like Irmina, is working towards an independent existence. However, their relationship comes to an abrupt end when Irmina, constrained by the political situation in Hitler’s Germany, is forced to return home.

Lazarus Planet: Omega #1 (DC Comics) – The finale leads into “Dawn of DC” which has already kicked off so we’re more intrigued to see where this goes and how it wraps up mixed in with what we’ve already seen.

Local Man #1 (Image Comics) – Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs alone has this sold for us. But the concept of a former superhero forced to return home to their parent’s basement sounds original and interesting.

Plush #4 (Image Comics) – Every issue has been jaw dropping funny and so over the top.

Rooster Fighter Vol. 3 (VIZ Media) – The concept of a wandering Rooster fighting kaiju might sound silly but it really works and is a hell of a lot of fun.

Savage Avengers #10 (Marvel) – The series has been a lot of fun as writer David Pepose shows off his talent for delivering a remix of sorts of what’s come before. Fans of Marvel 2099 will won’t want to miss the latest arc.

Superman #1 (DC Comics) – It’s “Dawn of DC” and Joshua Williamson writing and Jamal Campbell’s art has us wanting to check out this new Superman series.

Tower #1 (A Wave Blue World) – Real-life contestants battle it out in a video game-style competition to reach the top of the Tower! It’s a familiar plot but we want to see where this one might differ.

SelfMadeHero’s new titles include graphic biographies of Frida Kahlo, and Starman, Reinhard Kleist’s celebration of Bowie

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Releasing in March, Francisco de la Mora’s Frida Kahlo: Her Life, Her Work, Her Home explores the public and private faces of this iconic artist, whose transformation of personal pain and political vision into unforgettable art has made her one of the most inspiring personalities of the 20th century. This latest addition to SelfMadeHero’s ART MASTERS series depicts and defines the astonishing context against which her paintings struggled to be seen, her emergence from the shadow cast by her on-off life-partner Diego Rivera, and the beautiful home she created in Mexico City.

US Release: 4 April 2023 • UK Release: 16 March 2023
Published by SelfMadeHero
US Sales & Distro by Abrams Books • UK Sales & Distro Abrams & Chronicle Books72pp Hardback • 190 x 260mm / 7 ½ x 10 ¼ • Colour • US $18.99 / CAN $23.99 • UK £15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-914224-10-2

Frida Kahlo: Her Life, Her Work, Her Home

In May SelfMadeHero celebrates another reluctant muse and feminist champion. Armed with Madness: The Surreal Leonora Carrington, from the acclaimed team of Mary M. Talbot and Bryan Talbot, tells the astonishing story of another hidden genius. Only ten years younger than Frida Kahlo, the no less troubled life and art of Leonora Carrington – painter, writer, activist – tracked and traced the surreal turmoil of the 20th century. Born to the purple of an English elite, Leonora came to keep company with Paris’s 1930s avant-garde, escaped the brutalities of Nazi Occupation and psychiatric confinement, and found contented exile in (where else but?) Mexico City…

UK Release: 11 May 2023 • US Release: 25 April 2023
Published by SelfMadeHero
UK Sales & Distro Abrams & Chronicle Books • US Sales & Distro by Abrams Books 
144pp • Hardback • 216 x 152mm / 81/2 x 6” • Colour • UK £19.99 • US $24.99 / CAN $31.99 •ISBN: 9781914224126

Armed with Madness: The Surreal Leonora Carrington

… AKA “Suffragette City”? David Bowie famously visited the Frida Kahlo Museum in 1997, and it was one of Leonora Carrington’s short stories that inspired his final single, “Lazarus”, in 2016. But that was long after the appearance of his most original chameleon creation – now the subject of the multi-award-winning Reinhard Kleist’s stunning new graphic novel, launching this April. Starman: Bowie’s Stardust Years relates the genius of that slow genesis, and the enduring impact it made on cultural history – as well as the toll its performance took on Bowie himself.

UK Release: 30 March 2023 • US Release: 2 May 2023
Published by SelfMadeHero
UK Sales & Distro Abrams & Chronicle Books • US Sales & Distro by Abrams Books
176pp • Paperback with flaps • 170 x 240mm 6 ¾ x 9 ½ • Colour • UK £16.99 • US $19.99 / CAN $24.99 • ISBN: 978-1-914224-08-9

Starman: Bowie’s Stardust Years

And talking of visionary South Londoners, SelfMadeHero confirms the publication in June of Thomas Girtin: The Forgotten Painter – the long-awaited new work by veteran graphic novelist Oscar Zarate. A friend and rival of the great J.M.W. Turner, by the time of his early death in 1802, Girtin had already transformed the humble art of watercolour into a transcendent medium. Interweaving historical narrative with modern fiction, Zarate’s own masterpiece pays unique homage to this neglected pioneer.

UK Release: 8 June 2023 • US Release: 13 June 2023
Published by SelfMadeHero
UK Sales & Distro Abrams & Chronicle Books • US Sales & Distro by Abrams Books
392pp • Hardback • 190 x 260mm / 7 ½ x 10 ¼ • Colour • UK £34.99 • US $39.99 / CAN $49.99 • ISBN: 978-1-914224-07-2

Thomas Girtin: The Forgotten Painter

SelfMadeHero’s No Surrender adapts Constance Maud’s 1911 suffrage novel about English women’s rights

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Constance Maud was at the heart of the British campaign for women’s votes. Her novel No Surrender was published at the height of that struggle and used as a persuasive tool by suffragists. Hailed by Emily Wilding-Davison as “a book which breathes the very spirit of our Women’s Movement”, the fast-paced story interweaves the lives of women from all classes working together to bring about change. Our hero Jenny is a small but fierce Lancashire textile mill worker who puts principle before everything. No Surrender is sometimes funny, sometimes violent, but always exciting and authentic. It is highly regarded as an important document of the arguments for and against extending votes to women, for its witty storytelling and for an unflinching depiction of the rapid escalation of violence encountered by the women involved.

In this faithful graphic adaptation, creators Scarlett and Sophie Rickard craft a compelling fiction that paints a comprehensive picture of social, political, economic and cultural life in early 20th-century Britain that is still acutely relevant today. The graphic format is the embodiment of the suffrage rally-cry of “Deeds not Words” and this book is the perfect sister-volume to their stunning adaptation of the socialist classic and Eisner-nominated The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.

No Surrender is out November 10 in the UK and November 15 in the US.

No Surrender

Graphic Policy’s Top Comic Picks this Week!

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DO A POWERBOMB #3

Wednesdays (and Tuesdays) are new comic book day! Each week hundreds of comics are released, and that can be pretty daunting to go over and choose what to buy. That’s where we come in

Each week our contributors choose what they can’t wait to read this week or just sounds interesting. In other words, this is what we’re looking forward to and think you should be taking a look at!

Find out what folks think below, and what comics you should be looking out for this week.

20th Century Men #1 (Image Comics) – Mixing history, politics, and comic book mythology into something totally new. The concept of the comic has us intrigued.

Alice Guy: First Lady of Film (SelfMadeHero) – The true story of the first woman director who helped defined the movie industry.

Avengers 1,000,000 BC #1 (Marvel) – The series promises to add a lot to the Marvel mythoes and some big changes for some characters.

A.X.E.: Death to Mutants #1 (Marvel) – The event so far has been solid. Will its spin-off comics be just as good?

Barbaric: Axe to Grind #1 (Vault Comics) – The series has been excellent so far with a nice twist on the fantasy genre.

Batman: One Bad Day – Riddler #1 (DC Comics) – We’re getting some intriguing comics spotlighting DC villains and the Riddler kicks it off!

Black Adam #3 (DC Comics) – An intriguing series that’s been redefining the character.

Crash & Troy #1 (A Wave Blue World) – Mercenaries must clean up their mess after they set a dictator free during a jailbreak.

Daredevil #2 (Marvel) – The first issue was amazing. It’s a new direction for Daredevil that builds on what’s been happening and paving a whole new adventure.

Dark Spaces: Wildfire #2 (IDW Publishing) – A very unique comic that has a crew of firefighters deciding to rob a local house.

DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War #2 (DC Comics) – The event has been amazing so far and these spin-off issues have been adding a lot.

Do a Powerbomb #3 (Image Comics) – This wrestling comic has been amazing so far and we can’t wait to read the next issue. One of the best this year.

Entropy #1 (Heavy Metal Magazine) – Henry Hanks had a good life, until he betrayed KAKO, the living embodiment of chaos and misery! With his whole world destroyed, Henry is killed and reborn as the newest herald of Kako, with the power to destroy entire worlds in his master’s name.

Heart Eyes #1 (Vault Comics) – Rico met Lupe, the girl of his dreams. But how did she get here? And why is she smiling? It’s love at the end of humanity.

Justice Warriors #3 (Ahoy Comics) – Just brilliant satire about today’s society like policing and politics.

The Last Shadowhawk #1 (Image Comics) – Celebrating 30 years of Image!

My Life Beyond Vaccines (Mayo Clinic Press) – Graphic medicine focusing on vaccines and the importance of our greatest protection against disease.

Save it For Later: Promises, Parenthood, and the Urgency of Protest (Abrams Comicarts) – A collection of seven comics essays from Nate Powell.

Trve Kvlt #1 (IDW Publishing) – Marty has the idea for a perfect heist but after stealing a supernatural weapon from a cult, things will be way above his minimum-wage pay grade.

Weekly Preview! 3 from AfterShock plus horses and film history!

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There are a lot of comics coming out this week to be covered. Check out some of what we’ll be reviewing and this is only the beginning!

This week’s reviews include:

  • Alice Guy: First Lady of Film (SelfMadeHero)
  • Brother of All Men #2 (AfterShock)
  • Jimmy’s Little Bastards #1 (AfterShock)
  • Ride On (First Second)
  • Where Starships Go to Die #3 (AfterShock)

Not shown:

  • Ginseng Roots #10 (Uncivilized Comics)
  • The Walking Dead Deluxe #45 (Image Comics)

AfterShock, First Second, and SelfMadeHero provided Graphic Policy with FREE copies for review

The inspiring story of Alice Guy, the first female movie director in cinema history

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In 1895, the Lumière brothers invented the cinematograph. Less than a year later, 23-year-old Alice Guy, the first female filmmaker in cinema history, made The Cabbage Fairy, a 60-second movie, for Léon Gaumont, going on to direct over 300 films before 1922. Her life is a shadow history of early cinema, the chronicle of an art form coming into its own. A free and independent woman, rubbing shoulders with luminaries such as Georges Méliès and the Lumières, she was the first to define the professions of screenwriter and producer. She directed the first feminist satire, then the first sword-and-sandal epic, before crossing the Atlantic in 1907 to become the first woman to found her own production company in New Jersey. Alice Guy died in 1969, excluded from the annals of film history. In 2011, Martin Scorsese honoured this cinematic visionary, “forgotten by the industry she had helped create”, describing her as “a filmmaker of rare sensitivity, with a remarkable poetic eye and an extraordinary feel for locations”. The same can be said of Catel & Bocquet’s luminous account of her life.

Alice Guy: First Lady of Film is written by José-Louis Bocquet with art by Catel Muller, and translated by Edward Gauvin. It comes to the UK in July and US in August from SelfMadeHero.

Alice Guy: First Lady of Film

Review: The Boxer: The True Story of Holocaust Survivor Harry Haft

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The true story of Holocaust survivor and professional boxer Harry Haft.

Story: Reinhard Kleist
Art: Reinhard Kleist

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Amazon
comiXology/Kindle

SelfMadeHero provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
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Georgia O’Keeffe’s contributions are explored in a new graphic novel

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Originally published in Spain by Astiberry in 2021, in collaboration with the Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza, Georgia O’Keeffe is being released in the US on May 10th by SelfMadeHero.

By María Herreros with translation by Lawrence Schimel, the graphic novel was created under the supervision of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, which is responsible for safeguarding the artist’s legacy. It’s attention to detail has O’Keeffe’s reproducted letters reproduced with the same idiosyncrasies in grammar and spelling as her originals.

During her lifetime, which spanned almost a century, she became widely recognized for her huge contribution to modern art. Drawing mainly from O’Keeffe’s letters that are depicted in this biography, artist María Herreros delves into O’Keeffe’s deepest self: a tireless traveller, a nature lover, a strong and emancipated woman who carved her own determined path through life and did it her way.

Georgia O’Keeffe
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