Top Shelf Productions

Award-winning team reunites to depict the astounding personal journey of a gay icon

Top Shelf Productions is proud to announce It Rhymes With Takei — a new full-color graphic memoir from the team behind George Takei’s award-winning bestseller They Called Us Enemy, telling the untold story of his journey from closeted actor to international gay icon. Scheduled for publication in June 2025, It Rhymes With Takei will offer an unprecedented view into the heart of this beloved star and a celebration of the warp-speed changes he has witnessed in one lifetime.

George Takei has shown the world many faces: actor, author, outspoken activist, helmsman of the starship Enterprise, living witness to the internment of Japanese Americans, and king of social media. But until October 27, 2005, there was always one piece missing—one face he did not show the world. There was one very intimate fact about George that he never shared…and it rhymes with Takei.

November and December will bring two new middle-grade gems — including the mile-a-minute wacky antics of Dennis Messner's The Unpetables and the sunny, spooky, mystery fun of Kim Dwinell's Surfside Girls!

To celebrate the long-awaited launch of The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic next week, the iconic Alan Moore granted a rare interview to Rob Salkowitz for Publishers Weekly! It's full of gems like this:

"...The Bumper Book is certainly intended as a means to unlock the freedoms of the mind, wherever or whenever the freedoms of the flesh and of the street are being locked down. Just as with the age-old purpose of magic itself, our book is meant as an irresistible and sumptuously decorated mental cake, that has a mental file concealed inside it. This might prove useful for sawing through what William Blake called 'mind-forged manacles' two hundred years ago, which are clearly still around today."

Head to PW for the full interview!

To celebrate Chris Gooch's fastest-selling and most acclaimed graphic novel to date, In Utero, Chris is not only an international Special Guest of the SPX, he's also sticking around our continent afterwards for two appearances in New York City!

• Wednesday, September 18th from 5-7pm: Chris will be signing at Forbidden Planet NYC! Details on Instagram, RSVP at this Facebook event.
• Friday, September 20th from 6:15-8pm: Chris will be featured in conversation with Top Shelf's own Leigh Walton at the 53rd Street branch of the New York Public Library, folllowed by a book signing! Details at NYPL.

Come get to know the brilliant mind behind Bottled, Deep Breaths, Under-Earth, and now In Utero! Our thanks to Creative Australia for making Chris's trip possible.

We're approaching that most special of weekends, the Small Press Expo (SPX)! Join us September 14-15, 2024, at the Marriott in North Bethesda, Maryland, for a glimpse into the beating heart of the indie comics & graphic novel community. across the US and beyond. 

First, visit SPX Special Guest Chris Gooch (In Utero, Under-Earth, Deep Breaths, Bottled) who’s traveled all the way from Australia to meet you at table M10B!

Visit the Top Shelf booth (W56-W59) to meet three more outstanding creators:

• Julian Hanshaw (debuting Space Junk) from the UK!
• Ricky Lima (debuting Undergrowth) from Canada!
• Lisa Naffziger (debuting Deja Ross Speaks to Freaks) from the USA!