EMPLOYEE RECOMMENDATIONS 10/14!!

KILLING AND DYING HC

(W/A/CA) Adrian Tomine

Killing and Dying is a stunning showcase of the possibilities of the graphic novel medium and a wry exploration of loss, creative ambition, identity, and family dynamics. Adrian Tomine's gift for capturing emotion and intellect resonates here: the weight of love and its absence, the pride and disappointment of family, the anxiety and hopefulness of being alive in the twenty-first century. "Amber Sweet" shows the disastrous impact of mistaken identity in a hyper-connected world; "A Brief History of the Art Form Known as Hortisculpture" details the invention and destruction of a vital new art form in short comic strips; "Translated, from the Japanese" is a lush, full-color display of storytelling through still images; the title story, "Killing and Dying" centers on parenthood, mortality, and stand-up comedy. In six interconnected, darkly funny stories, Tomine forms a quietly moving portrait of contemporary life, creating a fraught, realist masterpiece.

RECOMMENDED BY SAM THE VIDEO MONKEY!

EMPLOYEE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 9/16!!

STEP ASIDE, POPS: A HARK! A VAGRANT COLLECTION HC

(W/A/CA) Kate Beaton

Ida B. Wells, the Black Prince, and Benito Juárez burst off the pages of Step Aside, Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant Collection, armed with modern-sounding quips and amusingly on-point repartee. Kate Beaton's second D+Q book brings her hysterically funny gaze to bear on these and even more historical, literary, and contemporary figures. Irreverently funny and carefully researched, no target is safe from Beaton's incisive wit in these satirical strips. Beaton returns with a refined pen, ready to make jokes at the expense of hunks, army generals, scientists, and Canadians in equal measure. With a few carefully placed lines, Beaton captures the over-the-top evil of the straw feminists in the closet, the disgruntled dismay of Heathcliff, and Wonder Woman's all-conquering ennui.

RECOMMENDED BY ERIN.

EMPLOYEE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 5/20!!

OPTIC NERVE #15

(W/A) Adrian Tomine

Optic Nerve 14 brings Adrian Tomine's multifaceted, expressive cartooning to a new peak with a short autobiographical strip and two stories. "Killing and Dying" is about a father's struggles to be supportive: it centers on parenthood, mortality, and stand-up comedy. "Intruders" depicts a man obsessively trying to find his way back to a former life by revisiting places he once knew. Optic Nerve 14 will appear on the twentieth anniversary of Tomine's beloved comic book series, in whose pages the landmark graphic novel Shortcomings was first published. Each story in Optic Nerve 14 reveals new dimensions to Tomine's unique visual sensibility and complex, character-driven stories.

RECOMMENDED BY SAM THE VIDEO MONKEY!

EMPLOYEE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 4/29!!

PALOOKAVILLE HC VOL 22

(W/A) Seth

This installment of Seth's critically acclaimed one-man anthology features an autobiographical comic about Seth's childhood, part four of his long-running Clyde Fans serial, a photo essay about a barbershop he designed, and a comic strip about the art of barbering. "Nothing Lasts" revisits Seth's childhood in 1960s Ontario, with a special focus on the salvation that he found in library books and drug-store comics. The Clyde Fans chapter included here shows the conclusion of brothers Abe and Simon Matchcard's first lengthy conversation, and Abe's pensive, self-questioning mood as he drives back to Dominion to meet up with his old flame, Alice.

recommended by erin.

EVERYTHING IS HORRIBLE, NOTHING IS BEAUTIFUL!! 2/5

In the midst of your "12 man" fever, take a moment to relaxxx with some soothing suggestions for this week's comics by the always calming, ANNA PEDERSON!!

OK, this might not have anything to do with the Seahawks or the Broncos, but whatever--get loose with "The Juice!"

ZANADU RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 12/19/12

DON'T GO WHERE I CAN'T FOLLOW

(W/A) Anders Nilsen

In this collection of letters, drawings, and photos, Anders Nilsen chronicles a six-year relationship and the illness that brought it to an end. Don't Go Where I Can't Follow is an eloquent appreciation of the time the author shared with his fiancée, Cheryl Weaver. The story is told using artifacts of the couple's life together, including early love notes, simple and poetic postcards, tales of their travels in written and comics form, journal entries, and drawings done in the hospital in her final days. Don't Go Where I Can't Follow is a deeply personal romance, and a universal reminder of our mortality and the significance of the relationships we build.

There were too many good books this week so I had to pick two! recommended by erin.