Since we're asking you to support our Spring-Summer 2014 season on Kickstarter (and you're coming through in spades so far!), we thought we'd spotlight the books in question, a couple at a time. We've also put our season catalog online for you to browse. (Please note that all artwork, contents, prices, specs, and release dates are preliminary and subject to change.)
Buddy Buys a Dump
by Peter Bagge
144-page full-color 6" x 9" softcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-745-1
He’s back! Now in his 30s and married with child, onetime slacker hero Buddy Bradley gets a "real" job, shaves his head, dons an eyepatch, quits his "real" job and buys the local dump — because what better place to raise a toddler? Peter Bagge’s iconic character is to alternative comics what Homer Simpson has been to television animation over the past quarter-century: a generation-defining slacker and the greatest comedic character of its form and era. Featuring stories originally published in the comic book series Hate Annual from 2000–2011, as well as an all-new 20-page conclusion to the story arc, this book marks the first new book of Buddy stories since the now-perennial classics Buddy Does Seattle (2005) and Buddy Does Jersey (2007).
Kickstarter pre-order signed copies are gone for now, but we're working on talking Pete into agreeing to do more, so keep checking!
The Love Bunglers
by Jaime Hernandez
104-page black & white 8.5" x 11" hardcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-729-1
The suppression of family history is the initial thread that ties together The Love Bunglers, featuring Hernandez’s longtime Love and Rockets heroine Maggie. Because these secrets can’t be dealt with openly, their lingering effect is even more powerful. But Maggie’s ability to navigate and find meaning in her life — despite losing her culture, her brother, her profession, and her friends — is what’s made her a compelling character. After a lifetime of losses, Maggie finds, in the second half, her longtime off and on lover, Ray Dominguez. In taking us through lives, deaths, and near-fatalities, The Love Bunglers encapsulates Maggie’s emotional history as it moves from resignation to memories of loss, to sudden violence (a theme in this story), and eventually to love and contentment. Much like John Updike in his four Rabbit novels, Jaime Hernandez has been following his longtime character Maggie around for several decades, all of which has seemed to be building towards this book in particular.