Nothing comes easy for the denizens of Hamilton, Ontario, in these wry, bruising, and mordantly funny stories from Ollmann (Fictional Father). In “Nestled All Snug,” a toppled pile of boxes traps a bookstore employee in a dingy staff bathroom. In “Meat,” a security guard at a meat-packing facility falls in with a band of animal rights activists. Elsewhere, a hapless landlord’s short-term rental catches the attention of a murder podcast in “The Late Checkout,” and a husband gets caught in an anxious interior monologue while washing dishes as his partner’s faculty party drags on past midnight in “The Thought That Counts.” The title story finds a city maintenance worker paralyzed by PTSD after a close brush with a woodchipper. In these close-call episodes, catastrophe is averted but exposes the precariousness of everyday life. Captured in blunt, agitated lines that nod to Lynda Barry, Ollmann’s mostly blue-collar figures wear their strain openly—all sweaty brows, exhausted eyes, and frayed nerves. Ollmann doesn’t trade in schadenfreude, however. His characters narrate their ordeals with self-deprecating frankness, steering out of occasional skids into misanthropy to marvel at the absurdity of predicaments that should, by rights, flatten them. These unsentimental stories withhold tidy resolution, leaving their protagonists upright if not unscathed as the world carries on unfazed. Fans of Peter Bagge or Ed Brubaker’s A Complete Lowlife will get it—as will anyone who’s ever felt the floor drop out from under them. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/30/2026 | Details & Permalink

The blind lawyer turned vigilante superhero fights his final battle in this potent Daredevil tale from returning series writer Soule (One Billion Genies) and artist McNiven (Old Man Logan). In a bleak future beyond the current Marvel universe, an elderly Matt Murdock has lost his extrasensory crime-fighting powers (“just an average Joe,” he calls himself), and the rest of the superheroes are dead, gone, or depowered. Then Murdock’s otherworldly radar skills are accidentally reactivated by a dirty bomb. Tasked by a dying Captain America with rescuing Tyra, a mysterious new mutant whose name and brilliant powers hint she might be the daughter of Daredevil allies Cloak and Dagger, Daredevil races against the clock to stop his old enemy Bullseye as his powers begin to fade again. Soule’s narrative is peppered with guest appearances by former Marvel heroes including Elektra and Punisher, and the stark, swift story suits Murdock’s acutely painful and personal crusade. McNiven’s art recalls Frank Miller’s notable run on the series, blending the energetic stunts of Miller’s 1980s comics with his scratchy inks in The Dark Knight Strikes Again. Marvel has produced several speculative “last story” tales for its heroes; this proves one of the best yet. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/30/2026 | Details & Permalink

McCreesh follows her sweeping Eisner-nominated travelogue Degrees of Separation with an intimate and gently amusing collection of one-page vignettes about child-rearing. The cartoons document seven years of McCreesh and her husband “living with small people,” specifically son Riel and daughters Sam and Dominique (who is born midway through the book), plus two dogs. The family is tight-knit, the kids fascinated by their own existence and one another’s—in bed at night, Riel comments with puzzlement that he didn’t see Sam’s conception, and concludes, “Maybe I was at daycare, so that’s why I missed it.” Their observations are a kid-typical mix of cute (“You can hear feelings in songs”) and disturbing (“Is there anyone you know who didn’t become dead?”). Many scenes receive wry titles like “The case of the terrible 9 year old roommate” or “The case of the 3-year-old who was very much 3 years old.” McCreesh’s vibrant, squiggly line lends knowing charm to familiar parental tragicomedies: toilet training, spontaneous undressing, tantrums, and weird questions galore. It’s a light and sweet palate cleanser, full of moments families will recognize. (May)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

This dense and incantatory fable from musician and poet Williams ((US) a.) and multimedia artist Sorne melds political critique, spirituality, and Afro-mythology with cyberpunk imagery. In the East African country of Burundi, the land and people are ravaged. Matalusa’s brother is killed by a soldier while mining a resource called coltan. He flees and meets Elohel, a one-armed man who understands coltan’s properties. They build a home in a graveyard of technology that the ore once powered, and encounter a girl named Memory who’s guided by a bird only she can communicate with. Slowly more refugees with unique backstories find their way to the camp. When a cosmic being called Neptune joins, the technology comes to life, and the art transitions from black-and-white to neon. Ultimately, the heroes find that #martyrloserking trends worldwide as a global tech breach is reported. As the rest of the world reacts to the hack in various ways, the people of Martyrloserkingdom philosophize about art, music, poetry, and how to use the power they now hold. While lyrical ambition overwhelms narrative clarity at times, the spirit of this work is infectious. It’s a graphic poem of resistance wonderfully told through Afrofuturistic flare. Agent: (for Williams) Charlotte Gusay, Charlotte Gusay Agency. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

In her luminous debut, Stalvey meditates on her separation from fundamentalist Christianity and how she found love despite questioning her faith. Born into a “lineage of preachers and teachers,” young Stephanie and her sister grow up so conservative that they’re discouraged from looking at “unnecessarily graphic” Bible illustrations. Sermons about sin and sacrifice lead Stephanie to self-harm at an early age (pinching herself, she speaks to Jesus: “This pain is nothing... compared to what I deserve”), and her family considers corporal punishment essential to correct children’s inborn sinfulness. “Everything was either black or white,” Stephanie reflects, and the art literalizes this in monochrome anecdotes from her youth. In the present day, rendered in full color, adult Stephanie is married with a young son, teaching art, and deciding whether she wants to return to church. Her perspective changed, as fundamentalist parents often fear, in college. Though she initially steeled herself against “dangerous ideas coming from a secular professor,” she started to ask questions in her Bible study group, and her romance with gentle seminary student James made her doubt the harsh, punitive version of love she was raised in. Stalvey’s sensual, organic art is especially striking in the full-color passages. She devotes pages to richly symbolic compositions of saints, devils, wolves, and nature. Readers of Craig Thompson’s Blankets will fall for this nuanced self-portrait. Agent: Amelia Appel, Triada US. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

A queer coven fight to save their fellow wytchfolk from a celestial force in this fresh and edgy debut by the late Reese and Spanish cartoonist Carril. Adriyel, a divination wytch; Michele, a green wytch; and Em, a necromancer, all spellcasters of color, accidently plunge New York City into a lasting eclipse. Their spectral matriarch, known as MTHR, proclaims this a “dark omen,” which draws the unwelcome attention of religious leader Lady Genevieve, who launches a psychic attack that slays local wytches, and gathers their blood for rituals to ensure her ascendancy. The coven embark on a quest to stop her, which involves traveling to various realms where they recover weapons and guidance needed to triumph over Genevieve. Twists and turns lead to sacrifices, losses, and a climactic battle. The expansive and ambitious worldbuilding includes delightful details like a night out in a supernatural nightclub complete with Minotaur bouncer, a star-crossed romance with a rival coven called the Gorgons, and a powerful black unicorn. Carril’s dynamic art mixes stylish contemporary fashion with colorful mysticism. It adds up to an alluring portrait of found family that will leave readers wondering what Reese might have done next. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Activist Opal Lee, known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth, gets an uplifting graphic biography from journalist Roché, with art by Alvin Epps (I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005), Millicent Monroe, and Bex Glendining (On Starlit Shores). The account opens in 2021, when Juneteenth is given federal recognition and Granddear (as Lee insists everyone calls her) prepares for a White House visit with President Biden. Lee reflects back on her upbringing in a segregated Texas, and the ways her family were victimized by the surrounding white community. Woven throughout is a historical account of Juneteenth, from the events of 1865 when enslaved people in Texas belatedly learned slavery had been abolished, documented with ample quotes from contemporaneous sources. Subsequent civil rights milestones covered include Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Lee’s lifelong advocacy culminates in her symbolic 1,400-mile walk from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., in 2016, taken in two-and-a-half-mile increments twice a day to symbolize the two and a half years Texans were kept enslaved after the Emancipation Proclamation (a Union Army major had to be sent to enforce the law). Capable full-color art follows a straightforward template but adds charm and wonder to the educational tone, and Lee’s passionate, distinctive voice is well represented. This shines an overdue spotlight on a modern-day hero. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Actor Day (The Guild) and cartoonist MacColl (Nightmare in Savannah) spin an ancient Greek myth into an enchanting and unexpected love story. Spartan princess Philonoe has been raised apart from her royal family because she was born with two curses: a strawberry birthmark read by the Greeks to mean that her face is “marked with blood,” and familial misfortune in marriage that has already doomed her more famous sisters—Helen of Troy, Clytemnestra, and Timandra. Desperate to prove herself to her parents, Philonoe begs the goddess Aphrodite for help. She’s sent on a quest to lift the curse on her house, with riddles in the immortal’s promises. Then another goddess takes an interest in her: Artemis, protector of maidens and embodiment of independence. In the course of her adventures, Philonoe begins to question her need for acceptance. “Wishing for perfection is wishing for a prison,” warns the dragon Echidna, who, like other beings Philonoe encounters, has learned to be wary of the gods’ whims. MacColl’s fluid art works hints of ancient Greek design into its stylized linework and clay-red spot color, and the characters are appealingly human—including the gods and monsters. Peppered with knowing references to classical mythology, it’s a smart and spirited retelling. Agent: Erin Malone, WME. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Quintanilha (Listen, Beautiful Márcia) navigates the unsteady currents of male friendship in this propulsive tale of fishing and football set along the working-class beaches across from Rio de Janeiro in 1950s Guanabara Bay, Brazil. When Hélcio—a headstrong pro soccer prospect—spots a boat dynamite-fishing, he convinces his reluctant friend Noel (nicknamed “Turtle” for his hunched back) to row out with him and scavenge fish to sell. They haul in more than their boat can carry, but the scheme turns perilous when Hélcio dives too deep in pursuit of a still-lively mullet that would make a favorite stew. As he scrabbles back toward air, his life flashes before him—childhood memories, work in a textile factory, recruitment to the Canto do Rio football club, and coaches bawling him out for straying from the back line. He surfaces in time to breathe, but the bay has further tests in store. At the low point of their ill-fated quest, Hélcio calls Noel a slur, shattering the friends’ brittle bond. The story’s second act pursues a reconciliation complicated by the growing disparity of their futures: Hélcio at the soccer club, Noel collecting bottles on the beach. Quintanilha’s cartooning favors crisp, stylized realism, with a swashbuckling vigor that recalls classic Tarzan and Corto Maltese. This is adventure storytelling with disarming emotional heft—a taut study of wounded pride, precarious camaraderie, and words that can’t be taken back. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Novelist Moreno (This Thing Between Us) and artist Rebelka (Cyborg 2077) summon fresh horror from the familiar premise of clergy teaming up to exorcise a possessed child. Father Manuel Barrera, a troubled Mexican priest, is dispatched to study under Father Stygian, who specializes in obscure esoteric rites. “To be an exorcist, you need to let go of your past,” Father Stygian warns. “Otherwise it can be used against you.” Sure enough, the duo’s efforts to free a possessed boy in a rural island community appear to be thwarted by the spirit of Father Varden, Stygian’s previous apprentice, who died by suicide. Meanwhile, monstrous animal births and sightings of the undead suggest there’s more than one rogue demon haunting the island. Rebelka’s roughly blocked, subtly distorted art, with hints of woodcut prints and Latin American folk art, evokes an unbalanced feeling to the setting, as the characters tour through foreboding dusty towns, stark ranches, rain-soaked forests, and gloomy cemeteries. The story takes a while to kick into gear and ends abruptly, but there are plenty of chills and some effective twists along the way. Supernatural horror fans will enjoy the ride. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 01/16/2026 | Details & Permalink