Of course, you’ll know Scott McCloud as the author of Understanding Comics, Making Comics, Zot! and many other fiction and nonfiction comics spanning thirty years. His first graphic novel for almost a decade, The Sculptor is 2015’s most hotly anticipated graphic novel. And it is incredible: a spellbinding urban fable about a wish, a deal with Death, the price of art, and the value of life. Neil Gaiman has said of the book, “The Sculptor is the best graphic novel I’ve read in years. It’s about art and love and why we keep on trying. It will break your heart.”
Here’s the blurb:
David Smith is giving his life for his art – literally. Thanks to a deal with Death, the young sculptor gets his childhood wish: to sculpt anything he can imagine with his bare hands. But now that he only has 200 days to live, deciding what to create is harder than he thought, and discovering the love of his life at the eleventh hour isn’t making it any easier.
This is a story of desire taken to the edge of reason and beyond; of the frantic, clumsy dance steps of young love; and a gorgeous, street-level portrait of New York City. It’s about the small, warm, human moments of everyday life… and the great surging forces that lie just under the surface. Scott McCloud wrote the book on how comics work; now he vaults into breathtaking, funny, and unforgettable fiction.
You can take a sneak peak at some of the artwork over at Boing Boing.
Stayed tuned for news of some very, very exciting promotional activities! In the meantime, check out Scott McCloud’s website and follow him on Twitter.
The Sculptor will be published in the UK on 3rd February 2015. It will be published simultaneously by First Second in North America.
Did you miss Bryan Lee O’Malley’s sell-out talk at The British Library in August?
Well, never fear: we captured the whole thing on film so you can enjoy it at your leisure. The creator of the bestselling Scott Pilgrim series was in town to discuss his brand new standalone graphic novel, Seconds, with the journalist Alex Fitch. Here’s what happened:
Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley is published by SelfMadeHero and available now from all good book shops (£15.99). Here’s what the world’s been saying about it:
“In Seconds, Bryan Lee O’Malley plays the angst of youth against the fabric of a larger epic. In doing so, he enriches both. A great ride!” — Guillermo Del Toro
“Perfectly pitched, paced and pictured.” — The Independent
“O’Malley’s morality tale is well observed and full of life.” — The Guardian
“Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Seconds is adorable, haunting, funny, and beautiful. A perfect recipe for a great graphic novel.” — Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics
Next Friday, 5th September, we launch Ricky Rouse Has A Gun by Jörg Tittel & John Aggs at Gosh! Comics, 1 Berwick Street, W1F 0DR, 7-9pm.
You might’ve heard about this brilliantly bonkers action comedy, described by some as Die Hard set in a knockoff Disney theme park; you might even have seen the eponymous hero at Angoulême or COMICA Comiket; perhaps you were one of the hundreds of thousands of copyright criminals who downloaded a large chunk of the manuscript through this (unsolicited) BitTorrent Bundle; or maybe you read a review somewhere.
Whether you have or haven’t been caught up in the web of Ricky mania over the last few months, the official launch party is not to be missed. Featuring all the usual Gosh! trimmings (free beer, amazing company), the launch also promises an appearance from Ricky Rouse himself. That’s right, the life-size ripoff rodent is coming to Berwick Street! Come along, drink beer, and take a selfie with the star of one of 2014’s most exciting graphic novels! Or just have a hug…
To get yourself in the mood, you might like to dance along to the Ricky Rouse music video, which features an original track by UNKLE‘s James Lavelle, curator of this year’s Meltdown Festival.
Or, for the more sophisticated, check out these highbrow quotes:
“I loved [Ricky Rouse Has A Gun]. It is a book filled with deaths and yet full of life.” Alejandro Jodorowsky
“Tittel and Aggs flip our cheeriest, most-beloved icons on their heads to create a story as thrilling as it is bizarre. In their world, an amusement park is a thing of gloom, friendly cartoon characters are out for blood and the copycat “Ricky Rouse” is a hero to root for. Their story of knockoffs behaving badly is a true original itself.” Bianca Bosker, The Huffington Post Author of Original Copies: Architectural Mimicry in Contemporary China
Ricky Rouse Has A Gun is published nationwide on 5th September. It features an introduction by Christopher Sprigman, Professor of Law at NYU and author of The Knockoff Economy. It’s awesome; you should buy it.
To celebrate the release his instant bestseller, Seconds, Bryan Lee O’Malley is embarking on a UK tour that takes in events at the British Library and the Edinburgh Book Festival, and signings at COMICA Comiket and some of the finest comics shops across the land.
This weekend, something special is happening in the Covent Garden Piazza: the Moomins are coming to celebrate the 100th birthday of their creator, Tove Jansson. From 12pm on both days, there’ll be free face panting, music, stories and more. Organised by the fabulous Moomin Shop, it’ll be a fun-filled celebration of the life of one of the world’s best-loved artists. Moomin summer fun_new blog.jpg146.49 KB Philip ‘Beardy’ Ardagh, the award-winning author of the Eddie Dickens adventures, will read some of his favourite extracts from the Moomin books. Benny Törnroos, a Finnish entertainer best known for singing the Moomin animated theme song, will be accompanied by Moomin costume characters. Also in attendance are the Moomin puppets from the Polka Theatre’s production Moominsummer Madness!
