Koyama Press has just announced its fall line-up and it’s mostly on the adventurous side, with a few sure crowd pleasers. It definitely continues the tradition of excellence from this Canadian publisher with a well rounded slate that touches on all of the most popular contemporary indie comics genres.

On tap:

  • CAT RACKHAM by Adventure Time alum Steve Wolfhard collects the depressed adventures of a cat. With an intro by Pen Ward. 
  • EXITS by Ignatz nominee  Daryl Setchik (Missy) folllows the psychis adventures of a young woman.
  • HOT OR NOT: 20th-CENTURY MALE ARTISTS by Jessica Campbell looks at male artists in history from their f*ckability quotient, the true mark of any person’s worth.
  • WENDY’S REVENGE  – Walter Scott’s hapless social climber returns!
  • BIRTHMARK a truly disturbing looking comic from Scarygirl’s Nathan Jurevicius 
  • LAURELS OF XENON by Ryan Dodgson, an entry in the abstract comics genre.
  • And for the kids:

Details below:

BURT’S WAY HOME by acclaimed artist John Martz, about a cute alien stranded on earth and helped by a cute rodent.

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CAT RACKHAM
ISBN: 978-1-927668-38-2
$19.95
7 x 10,” 124 pages, colour, paper over board
September 2016

Cat Rackham’s lows and very lows are collected in these hilarious tales of a deeply depressed cat.

The existential dread associated with getting out of bed terrifies Cat Rackham to his cat core. However, despite his efforts, he seems to consistently find himself dewclaw deep in trouble, often deeply strange trouble. All of his adventures are here along with a poem by Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward!

STEVE WOLFHARD lives and works in the small town of Midland, ON with his wife, two cats and the occasional bat. He draws comics like Cat Rackham and Turtie Needs Work and works as a storyboard artist on the Emmy Award-winning animated television series Adventure Time.

Cat Rackham is a punch in the gut and a squeeze in the heart.” — Vera Brosgol, author of the Eisner Award and Harvey Award-winning Anya’s Ghost 

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EXITS
ISBN: 978-1-927668-34-4
$15.00
6.5 x 9,” 220 pages, b&w, trade paper
September 2016

Mirrors and reflections surround Claire, but what she wants more than anything is to erase her own. 

Claire Kim hates herself and the world she lives in. Working at a mirror store, she shows customers their reflections and daydreams about erasing her own. One night, on her way home, she gets her wish. Follow Claire as she wanders invisibly through the city and her own psyche.

DARYL SEITCHIK was born in 1989 and currently lives and works in Philadelphia, PA. She is best known for her semi-autobiographical comic series, Missy, which earned her a nomination for the Ignatz Award for Promising New Talent in 2014. She is nocturnal.

“Seitchik’s comics are pensive, surreal and frequently moving. They read a bit like dreams, carefully laid out and seen through clear, wide-awake eyes.” — Luke Pearson, creator of the Hilda comics series and author of Everything We Miss

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HOT OR NOT: 20th-CENTURY MALE ARTISTS
ISBN: 978-1-927668-33-7
$10.00
5 x 8,” 64 pages, b&w, trade paper
September 2016

Modern males get the Tinder treatment as Artforum meets MAD Magazine. Picasso? More like Picasso-so. 

The history of 20th-century art is filled with men, but one key component has always been missing: which of these men are boneable, and which are not. Campbell has created the definitive resource on the subject in this hilarious rundown of male artist hotness and notness.

JESSICA CAMPBELL is from Victoria, BC and is an enthusiast of jokes, painting and comics. She completed her MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she was the recipient of the Edward L. Ryerson Fellowship, and also a comics instructor. She has exhibited work in Canada, the United States, Australia, and Greece.

“These men should be judged on their artistic merit, not their hotness. What Ms. Campbell has done here is disgraceful.” — Jillian Tamaki, co-author of Skim and This One Summer and author of SuperMutant Magic Academy

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WENDY’S REVENGE
ISBN: 978-1-927668-35-1
$18.00
6.5 x 9,” 256 pages, b&w, trade paper
November 2016

Wendy’s back, and as flustered as ever, in this sequel to her hit art world satire. 

Wendy was at a crossroads, but the next chapter of her adventures sees her leave Montreal and head west to Vancouver, east to Toronto, further east to Tokyo, and finally west to LA. Filled with sardonic wit and ample realness, Wendy has her eyes set on the art world and she’s out for revenge.

WALTER SCOTT is an artist from Montréal, QC. His work has been exhibited across Canada and Wendy has been serialized on Random House Canada’s literary digital magazine Hazlitt. The eponymous first volume of Wendy was released in 2014 and was nominated for the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel.

“Scott takes a snarky scene report, and subtly shades it into an affecting character study — how’s that for art?” — Sean Rogers, The Globe and Mail

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BIRTHMARK
ISBN: 978-1-927668-39-9
$19.95
8.5 x 10,” 108 pages, colour, paper over board
November 2016

Beneath a bounty of beautiful colours, and colourful characters, lies an allegorical adventure story of singular vision.

An abandoned teen in a hostile city embarks upon a treacherous journey in search of riches to purchase his mother back from servitude. Through this layered work of fantasy, Jurevicius twists and transforms the picture book through searing colour and characters whose cute surfaces are rippled with waves of weird.

NATHAN JUREVICIUS is an Australian-Canadian illustrator who has worked in a variety of media including designer toys, video games and animation. He is best known for his acclaimed multi-platform project the psychedelic and heartfelt modern folktale Scarygirl. His last book was the wildly inventive picture book Junction. Nathan currently lives and works in Toronto, ON.

PRAISE FOR JUNCTION 
“An enticing slide into the strange, particularly for fans of Shaun Tan’s wilder fancies.” — Kirkus Reviews

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LAURELS OF XENON
ISBN: 978-1-927668-36-8
$19.95
6 x 7.5,” 68 pages, colour, trade paper
November 2016

Enticing and intriguing, Ryan Dodgson’s objects defy classification, but demand attention. 

Collecting Dodgson’s geometric pencil crayon drawings interwoven with metallic gold ink. These objects and structures have grown out of an intuitive process of experimentation and free association doodling. The results are a sensory pool of images that are to be experienced like music—variations on a theme.

RYAN DODGSON is a multi-disciplinary artist and award-winning illustrator currently based in Toronto, ON. His work has been known to take the form of drawings, prints, books, sculpture, and performance.

“Alien geometry and minimal water jugs left abandoned on the collapsing horizons of hard pressed coloured pencil. Please come visit Ryan inside his hovering lipstick chair.” — Chad Van Gaalen, artist and a Juno and Polaris Prize Award-nominated musician

KIDS COMICS

Print
BURT’S WAY HOME
ISBN: 978-1-927668-37-5
$17.95
5.5 x 7,” 48 pages, two colour, paper over board
September 2016

Burt’s a bluebird and self-proclaimed intergalactic, trans-dimensional time traveler trying to get home, but maybe he’s closer than he thinks. 

Burt’s an orphan, but no regular orphan; he’s an orphan of time and space after a cosmic accident left him stranded on earth, or so he says. Lydia is an older rodent who has adopted Burt. Together they tell a tale of home and belonging from two different perspectives.

JOHN MARTZ is a cartoonist and illustrator in Toronto, ON. His book, A Cat Named Tim and Other Stories, was shortlisted for The Governor General’s Literary Awards and was nominated for the Eisner Award for Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7).

“This is a book of the sweetest optimism. ‘You’ll understand when you’re older’ is a familiar refrain to anyone who remembers their childhood, but Burt understands plenty, in his own way. He would be baffling if not for the patience and love of someone who cares for him, trying to see what he sees.” — Kate Beaton, author of Hark! A Vagrant