Five Gears In Reverse: A Criminal Book by Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips. Image, 2026. 978-1534333208. 144pp.

This new Criminal graphic novel from Brubaker and Philips is a story from the point of view of Ricky Lawless, who has appeared in other stories of the series. If you don’t know who he is, this is a perfect introduction; if you do, you’ll love it. (This is also a perfect book to read to get ready for the Criminal TV series on Amazon, coming later this year.)

Ricky Lawless, in debt to a bookie, agrees to rob a successful poker player. But the cocaine he snorts to stay awake in the man’s hotel room turns out to be something else, and the long wait turns into a bit of a party. The robbery, of course, goes wrong. It’s a spectacular display of poor decision-making, as is the next robbery Lawless commits with his girlfriend, Mallory. To save them both, he has to do an off-the-books favor for a mob boss. And of course that won’t go as planned, either.

Sean Philips’ art continues to amaze me, and his son Jacob Philips’ coloring makes it all the more beautiful. This book is incredibly, darkly funny, especially if you’ve ever wondered how total f-ups make it through their days. It’s a crime graphic novel no one should miss.

Born to Exile by Phyllis Eisenstein with illustrations by Stephen E Fabian. Arkham House, 1978. 0870540823. 202pp. The first four stories about the wandering teenage minstrel, Alaric, who has a secret ability. Completely enjoyable. Originally published as four stories in F&SF magazine. I’ve already tracked down a copy of the second collection of Alaric stories.     Spaniel Rage by Vanessa Davis. Drawn & Quarterly, 2017. 9781770462564. 120pp. I came across this at the library last month. On the back are quotes from folks whose comics I love: Sammy Harkham, Lisa Hanawalt, Eleanor Davis, and Michael DeForge. I had to read it. The book is a collection of sketchbook comics from 2003 and 2004, plus a few published comics at the end. Most of the sketchbook work is pencilled but not inked. The words are a bit hard to read in places, but the art is so good. I’m envious of Davis’s amazing, panel-less layouts because of the friction-free way they flow together. This is a beautiful book which makes me want to read more by Davis. You can sign up for her substack newsletter, too, at https://vanessaruthdavis.substack.com/ Death in Trieste by Jason. Fantagraphics, 2025. 9798875001253. 176pp. Jason’s most recent book from Fantagraphics contains three deadpan stories: Death in Trieste, The Magritte Affair, and Sweet Dreams. Artists go missing, paintings by Magritte drive people crazy, Rasputin is murdered, Dada poetry is recited, and 80s New Wave band members use their powers to save humanity. There’s a lot to love in this book.

Story Spinners: A Sisterly Tale Of Danger, A Princess, And Her Crew of Lady Pirates by Cassandra Federman. Aladdin, 2025. 9781665918237. 198pp.

Kennedy and her younger sister Devon have little in common. After their parents take away their phones and tablets for fighting, they try to entertain their youngest sister, Eve, by telling a story together. Kennedy wants to tell a fairy tale; Devon thinks that sounds boring and keeps trying to make it into a grand adventure. They argue. Minor spoiler: the story they eventually end up telling together is pretty fun. And their back-and-forth really pulled me through the book.

Steam by Shaenon K. Garrity, illustrated by Emily Holden. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2026. 9781534495852. 200pp.

Ruby escaped from a special lab at Smithson University where she was created to be a genius to help solve the world’s problems. Now she works (and hides out) as a barista at Inkcap Coffee, where she starts solving the matchmaking problems of those around her. But what will happen if anyone finds out what she’s doing? And what she really is? (The lab is also after her as it wants to put her back where she belongs.)

This book seemed very YA when I started reading it, but it’s quite innocent, and Holden’s excellent, manga-inspired artwork will likely help it appeal to tweens interested in romance.

Lightfall Volume 4: A Place Between by Tim Probert. HarperAlley, 2026. 9780063080935. 246pp.

This fourth volume in Probert’s epic fantasy series starts with Cad being separated from his friends and him learning a bit more about the Mire and how it will eventually kill everything on the planet Irpa. He makes a deal with the Spirit of Death that will give him a chance to save Irpa, but the price is high. Bea, meanwhile, is held in Pellydir, and the King is not happy with her. This necessitates a spectacularly daring escape on her part, which leads to finding some of her missing friends.

I love how dark yet hopeful the Lightfall books are, and Probert’s art is superb. If you haven’t read any of the Lightfall graphic novels, start with the first book, The Girl and the Galdurian.

The Weight by Melissa Mendes. Drawn & Quarterly, 2025. 9781770467163. 574pp.

Set in what feels like a timeless rural community, this is a story of family, bad relationships, and generational trauma with a side of domestic violence. It’s a story about being stuck with one’s decisions, and the long-term consequences for a family.

It’s traumatic, dark, and absolutely amazing. I wouldn’t pick up a prose novel about this family, but Mendes’s art pulled me in and kept me engaged throughout. I find it hard to understand how she was able to maintain its tone for such a long book, and the results are impressive. This book deserves a wide audience among fans of the format and beyond.

Into The Bewilderness by Gus Gordon. HarperAlley, 2025. 9780063246126. 184pp. Includes tutorials on how to draw Luis and Pablo.

Luis (the big bear in a red hat) and Pablo (the small mole wearing glasses) are friends who live and hang out in the woods. Luis is super positive! Pablo, less so. Luis wants to go to The Big City to see a show. Pablo has a ton of reasons never to leave the woods. Their friend Ray (a Bigfoot) provides a bit of a distraction, as do squirrels.

Eventually, Luis heads for the city and Pablo, of course, heads after him. It’s not about the journey, really (though it is a bit), as much as it’s about being friends and hanging out together.

I couldn’t put down this simple, uneventful story; it had a lot to do with Gordon’s drawings, and something to do with how peaceful I felt reading it, squirrels and all.

Gilt Frame by Margie Kraft Kindt and Matt Kindt. Dark Horse / Flux House, 2025. 9781506745947. 216pp. Includes #1 – 3 of the series. This is the story of Sammy and his aunt Meredith, who have once again found themselves in the middle of a murder mystery. They’re kind of famous for it! And they’re the kind of people who love giving each other puzzles in their downtime. They’re in Paris to have a few French fauteuils appraised — Meredith recently bought them a set at auction — and she also wants to buy some fancy picture frames. But they’ve soon been robbed, and then the murder takes place, and they’re among the suspects. The detective in charge of the case doesn’t want them lurking about to solve it, but of course they lurk. A lot of the fun of the story is in how sure the detective is of his own powers of deduction. Delightful book, and it’s always great to read a graphic novel full of Matt Kindt’s distinct art.

The Universe Box by Michael Swanwick. Tachyon, 2026. 9781616964504. 304pp.

I was lucky enough to attend Swanwick’s flash fiction writing seminar at Seattle’s Worldcon last August. He was a generous, attentive teacher, and I decided to read some of his shorter work. This new collection of his stories is the best I’ve read in years; they’re consistently entertaining and their subjects span the genre. And Swanwick not only knows how to write short stories, he knows how to end them! Highly recommended.

Lost Marvels No. 2: Howard Chaykin Vol. 1: Dominic Fortune, Monark Starstalker, and Phantom Eagle by Howard Chaykin and others. Fantagraphics, 2025. 9798875000362. 256pp. Contains an introduction by Brannon Costello.

This collection of Marvel comics by Chaykin includes a singular Dominic Fortune issue of Marvel Premiere (#56) plus a later 4-issue Marvel MAX miniseries featring the character; a complete WWI epic by Garth Ennis that was drawn by Chaykin (War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle); and Marvel Premier #32 featuring Monark Starstalker, a bounty hunter who is attacked moments after arriving on the remote planet where he’s tracked his quarry. All of the stories were entertaining (and entertainingly adult). I loved the Starstalker story the best; Chaykin delivered a great story within the restrictive bounds of the Comics Code Authority, and it reminded me of how much I enjoyed finding random issues of the original Marvel Premiere series at Fred Meyer as a kid.

Preparing to Bite by Keiler Roberts. Drawn & Quaraterly, 2025. 9781770467743. 168pp.

Roberts’ deadpan, autobiographical comics about her family continue to make me laugh. I find the way she draws exquisite, and I envy her ability to tell a story in a single panel. Now that her daughter is getting a bit older, they’re a nice reminder of many absurd moments I experienced with mine. I hope Roberts never stops publishing these collections.

Eradication: A Fable by Jonathan Miles. Doubleday, 2026. 980385551915. 159pp.

Adi, a teacher, takes a strange job. He’ll live on a remote island trying to save its plants and animals by killing as many of the invasive goats that are destroying the ecosystem. He lies to get the job, though; he’s never fired a gun in his life. And he’s still dealing with a few personal issues.

Grabbed this because it was short, and it was one of the Seattle Public Library’s Peak Picks. It’s dark, twisted, and I loved the ending. I’m planning to seek out more work by Miles.

The Wrong Case by James Crumley. Knopf, 1985. 9780394735580. 288pp.

An alcoholic private detective whose business is crumbling takes a job looking into the death of a young man, though what happened is already fairly clear. He falls for the sister who hired him, bounces around town, and has the crap beaten out of him. It’s got everything I need in a dark crime story, from great writing to characters that deserve their own novels. Spectacular. Thanks to my friend Tom for loaning me a copy.

Dalgoda Omnibus by Jan Strnad and Dennis Fujitake. About Comics, 2025. 9781949996821. 359pp.

Dalgoda (that’s him, the alien dog-man on the cover) arrives on Earth seeking help to save his planet from an alien menace, the Nimp. He brings faster-than-light technology, but outfitting the few ships the Earth can put at his disposal may not help much. Plus, there are factions on our planet that would rather kill him than help him.

I read parts of this story when I was a kid visiting my comic shop every Wednesday in the early 1980s. This was a nostalgic read for me, with its echoes of the pulpiest science fiction of the 1970s and 1980s. (Plus I had no memory of how adult some of it is.) Recommended if you enjoyed early Usagi Yojimbo stories, the original Star Trek, or if you’re a comic fan of a certain age.

Contains all eight issues of the original Dalgoda series, Doomsday Squad #1, Flesh & Blood #1-4, and A1 issue 4, originally published from 1984 to 1990. Republished in glorious black and white (though I believe many if not all of these were originally published in color).

Absolute Martian Manhunter Volume 1: Martian Vision by Deniz Camp (writer) and Javer Rodríguez (art). DC, 2025. 9781799505204. Contains #1 – 6.

This reinterpretation of DC’s Martian Manhunter for its new Absolute universe is worth reading whether you’re familiar with the original character or not. FBI Agent John Jones survives a bomb blast through the intervention of a “Martian” who bonds with him to save his life. Now the alien is a voice in his head trying to share its perceptions with him as it masters English. It’s confusing. John’s world is now filled with colored “smoke” that emanates from people; by inhaling it Jones can absorb some of their thoughts. (There are even some pages at the end of chapters to help the reader experience Martian vision themselves. Cool.)

Jones is going to need the Martian’s powers and help to defeat a cosmic-level threat determined to wipe out humanity. Arson plays a part, and there’s quite a bit of violence that’s more realistic than in many other superhero books.

It’s worth noting that the story is brutal in parts; though there’s no age range noted on the back of the book, this is clearly a graphic novel for adults. And if you enjoy the more psychedelic graphic novels by Grant Morrison, I think you’ll find a lot to love in the story and in Rodríguez’s art.

Ultra Wild: An Audacious Plan for Rewilding Every City on Earth by Steve Mushin. Graphic Universe, 2025. 9798765647073. 91pp. This is inventor Steve Mushin’s nonfiction graphic novel of ideas for saving the world from climate change. At its heart is the idea of rewilding the earth to capture carbon. Mushin takes inspiration from science and his own outlandish imagination to inspire others to use theirs. Some of the ideas he comes up with and illustrates: compost-firing cannons attached to toilets with legs, turning cities into vast forests where humans share space with animals with the help of recycled plastics and printers (including self-replicating bird-shaped printers), and much more. Mushin continually acknowledges the tough road ahead of us and the science at the heart of his solutions to climate change. Epic. Oversized! Plus it’s a beautifully illustrated and fun book full of science. It belongs in every school and public library.