5 Comics to Watch For In October
Bitch Planet TPB Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro (Image Comics, October 7)
AHHHHH! Finally, FINALLY, the first Bitch Planet trade is being released! I am personally a single-issue gal (my bookshelves hate me for that), but now my friends who’ve been hearing all about the amazingness of Bitch Planet but only buy trades can finally find out what all the fuss is about. And the fuss is about a LOT. There is good reason for the fuss. It’s fusstified… sorry.
The Owner’s Manual to Terrible Parenting by Guy Delisle, Translated by Helge Dascher (Drawn & Quarterly, October 27)
If you haven’t read any of Guy Delisle’s fantastic work, now is the time to go out and do that. Start with his graphic travel non-fiction, like Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City, Burma Chronicles, and Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea. Then, segue into his hilarious depictions of life as a dedicated and occasionally bumbling parent, starting with A User’s Guide to Neglectful Parenting, and then Even More Bad Parenting Advice, and finally, this newest book. Delisle’s drawings of his life as a dad are hilarious and incredibly endearing. Also, he writes in French (English versions are translated), which is just inherently romantic.
Soldier’s Heart: The Campaign to Understand My WWII Veteran Father by Carol Tyler (Fantagraphics, October 15)
This beautiful new graphic memoir forthcoming from Fantagraphics looks absolutely fantastic. In shades of ink and watercolor, Carol Tyler shows how World War II affected her father’s life, and the lives of his entire generation, and how the effects rippled through the generations that followed. Her work is in turns heartbreaking and passionate as she moves between scenes of her own life and her father’s memories. Fans of Art Spiegelman’s Maus should keep their eyes peeled for this one.
Lumberjanes TPB Vol. 2: Friendship to the Max by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters, Brooke Allen, and Maarta Laiho (Boom! Studios, October 7)
I hate to do this again, but AHHHHH! Finally, the second trade volume of Lumberjanes is being released! After blowing everyone away with their first volume, released in April, the Lumberjanes ladies are hitting us with the long-awaited second volume this month, and I’m eating my hair in anticipation. As I said before, I’m a single-issue person, but the last Lumberjanes TPB included so many awesome extras, like badges designed by Kate Leth and posters of previous variant covers in the back, that I had to get it. I’m expecting this next volume to be no exception.
Human Body Theater by Maris Wicks (First Second Books, October 7)
You guys, I’m really excited about this one. Maris Wicks (she illustrated Jim Ottaviani’s fantastic Primates, a graphic memoir of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas) has written and drawn a book about the human body, wherein her readers are invited to a theater presentation, hosted by an MC skeleton. As the book goes on, the MC adds layers of her body – muscles, fat, skin – and discusses how everything works through an endearing combination of song, dance, magic tricks, and educational lectures. It looks adorable and funny and interesting and great.
