A solid week for trades, and a solid week from Oni Press. I guess all books are solid though. Their matter through chemical bonding, organic material, etc. Good thing books aren’t metal! Cause then I’d have to explain the Fermi Surface principle, and we really just don’t have time for quantum solids theory. But you can probably figure it out from this:
We’ll discuss it next week. Instead, here’s a book about a cat…
I Was the Cat by Paul Tobin and Ben Dewey– Last night, I had a dream I was a cat. 
Everything was cat perspective, but I was aware of myself as something I normally was not. It wasn’t a long dream; I just did a bunch of exploring and typical cat things, nothing special. But my journey doesn’t have to end. I can imagine myself as the best cat around thanks to a new hardcover book out this week from Oni Press. Imagine that every major event in history involved one cat living each of his nine lives hidden in between the pages of every textbook, and you get Burma the cat. Reaching the end of his life, he reaches out to journalist Allison Breaking to make his last mark in society. But there are some pieces he’d rather leave uncovered. Tobin has written more books than I can name, and the same can be said for artist Benjamin Dewey. But their collaboration is something is the beginning of a magical cat romp through life.
Henry and Glen Forever and Ever TP by Tom Neely– Neely, of course, isn’t the only credit in this book. A labor of love about two domestic lovers who labor over their mothers, defeating cults, and sometimes going to therapy to help keep their eternal rocking passion alive. If you’ve picked up the minis when then came out, or you’re just curious about what this curious little world is about, you can now HAVE IT ALL! I got to peep an early release one this past week in San Diego, and just the painted American Gothic cover is worth picking this book up. Plus, Neely is working on a new Image book, and will soon be the coolest kid in town, so get his stuff while you still can.
Steven Universe #1 by Jeremy Sorese and Coleman Engle– Rebecca Sugar has done amazing work making the titular cartoon network show a hit amongst the little tweens, and the older stoners who enjoy the colors and bubbliness of the show. Steven is the youngest in a family of universal guardians, and while he’s trying to figure out the superhero gig, he’s also trying to figure out his coming-of-age emotions and pains of getting older. But in his first comic, Steven is all about having fun, and riding bikes. Though nothing is ever simple for Steven, and he gets in over his head. The former Adventure Time writer set the stage for an amazing cartoon that will surely win over the hearts and minds of all my other childish contemporaries.
Trillium TP by Jeff Lemire– You’ve probably been following this story all along, which I have, but you probably haven’t seen the flipbook madness collected all in one place, which I have not. That’s why this trade is so important to pick up this week. Between the distant past, and the far future, Lemire weaves a half love, half adventure story that delineates the space-time continuum. And the literal flipbook he uses to visually illustrate just how far apart our protagonists are can only be put to better use in a full collection of their love story that seeks the end the universe.
Bunker TP by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Joe Infurnari– Look. Let’s get real. Fialkov is one of the most inventive writers currently writing inventive books. And Infurnari compliments this inventiveness with dreamlike art that mimics the surreal landscape in which the characters of The Bunker must traverse; past, present, and future. Investigating the moral grounds of whether messing with the past will beget a brighter future, the characters of The Bunker are deeply flawed, all while trying to do the best they can to save humanity (and themselves) with only the information that has been left for them from the future. As a psychological thriller fan, this goes greatly in tandem with those who are fans of shows like The Leftovers, Under the Dome, etc. It’s really a comic perfect for anyone who enjoys a story, like a real story. A story that twists and turns, and leaves you with unexpected feelings of alliance and betrayal.
