Top Shelf Productions

The February Diamond Previews catalog is packed with new Top Shelf graphic novels for May & June release — and now you can see a 4-page preview of each one!

• Check in to a mind-bending mystery in CLOUD HOTEL, by Julian Hanshaw (MAY 2018)!
• Diesel-powered daring in THE JEKYLL ISLAND CHRONICLES, by Steve Nedvidek, Ed Crowell, Jack Lowe, Moses Nester, and S. J. Miller (MAY 2018)!
• Transforming, technology, & time travel in JOHNNY BOO #8, by James Kochalka (JUNE 2018)!
• Jaw-dropping genius in the collected COIN-OP COMICS, by Maria & Peter Hoey (JUNE 2018)!

Pre-order now for release in April 2018!

Praise for Bobby Curnow & Brenda Hickey:
“A modern myth that evokes the agelessness of the best folktales but is a completely new invention.” — Newsarama
“Hickey’s artwork is outstanding.” — Comic Wow!
“Depth of characters and story are what really drive this book to be one of the best out there right now.” — Comic Attack
“Fantastic... the artwork is magical.” — Florida Geek Scene

Ward is a grumpy gnome who only wants to be left alone. He never asked for company… but when his beautiful forest starts filling up with animals, it’s more than just grumpiness that makes him nervous. Mysterious muck-trolls and terrifying humans are invading, and he’ll need all the help he can get to defend Ward’s Valley.

Bobby Curnow (Night of 1000 Wolves, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and Brenda Hickey (My Little Pony) team up for an all-new adventure full of charm, color, and surprising depth.

Ward's Valley by Bobby Curnow & Brenda Hickey (APRIL 2018)
$19.99 (US) • ISBN 978-1-60309-424-5 • Diamond: JAN180567 • For all ages (10-13 and up)
Full-color softcover graphic novel with flaps • 6.5” x 9.25" • 128 pages
Read a 4-page preview now and pre-order from your favorite retailer!

Our friends at Humble Bundle are offering one heck of a deal, starting today and running for the next two weeks only. The result is a win-win that supports The Hero Initiative's work with comic creators in need and Traveling Stories' work providing books to underprivileged kids — while introducing you to a few of your new favorite graphic novels!

Name your own price, and for as little as $1, you'll get DRM-free digital editions of books that will knock your socks off, with more and more books "unlocked" as you scale up.

What's inside? Erin Nations' powerfully personal Gumballs, Nate Powell's Eisner-Award-winning Swallow Me Whole, Jeff Lemire's heartbreaking Essex County, Jennifer Hayden's profoundly moving The Story of My Tits, Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill's jaw-dropping League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Robert Venditti & Brett Weldele's bestselling The Surrogates, Alex Robinson's beloved Box Office Poison, Shannon Wheeler's hilarious Sh*t My President Says: The Illustrated Tweets of Donald J. Trump, Eddie Campbell's life-changing Alec: The Years Have Pants... and that's barely scratching the surface! It's your whole 2018 reading list taken care of in one click — or an incredible gift for someone dear to you.

Visit Humble Bundle for more details and to grab your bundle today!

Shannon Wheeler's been involved in some nutty schemes before — but this one takes the cake. "The most beautiful piece of chocolate cake you've ever seen," maybe.

Tonight in West Palm Beach, Florida, Shannon unveils the first ever gallery exhibit for his bestselling book Sh*t My President Says: The Illustrated Tweets of Donald J. Trump. The show runs for the next month at Gallery EmKo, just across the water from Mar-A-Lago, the so-called "Winter White House." Maybe POTUS will stop by and get a look at his cartoon self?

As the Washington Post said, "Wheeler’s Trump is a rotund scamp with a mischievously fiendish spirit... instead of slinging mud that can turn matters opaque, he’s actually attempting to render a window into Trump."

Visit EmKo tonight for the launch party or stop by anytime through February 10th. For more info on Sh*t My President Says (including some of Wheeler's favorite cartoons), visit its official site at sh-tmypresidentsays.com!

Top Shelf is thrilled to unveil the triumphant return of artist, rock star, storyteller, and Vermont's first Cartoonist Laureate James Kochalka in an all-new graphic novel for adult readers!

Two lovable dirtbag teens, tired of being bullied, build a robot battle suit to take revenge on their entire high school. But they never expected to become… kind of popular?

Mechaboys combines Kochalka's elegant cartooning, wild imagination, and embarrassing memories to create a high school comedy for the modern age — something like a Charlie Brown special remixed with Superbad, Mean Girls and Iron Man.

Packed with frustrated teens, slam-bang plot twists, and moments of genuine sweetness, Mechaboys is a thrilling new direction for Kochalka and an unmissable graphic novel event.

Mechaboys by James Kochalka (MARCH 2018)

$19.99 (US) • ISBN 978-1-60309-423-8 • Diamond: DEC170549 • For mature readers (16+)

Softcover graphic novel with flaps • B&W interiors • 7” x 7” • 192 pages

Read a 7-page preview and pre-order now from your favorite retailer!

There's no friendship quite like the friendship between two idiots. Celebrate that special bond with these delightfully creative comics -- packed with mischief and mayhem in the vein of Beavis & Butt-Head, Ren & Stimpy, and Broad City.

Cat and Bat are best friends. Every day, they watch awful television, get awful ideas, and get into an awful lot of trouble. In the grand tradition of silent comedy, award-winning Ukrainian animator & artist Sashko Danylenko presents an addictive collection of strips that reveal painfully funny truths about human nature.

Cat 'N' Bat by Sashko Danylenko (MARCH 2018)

$9.99 (US) • ISBN 978-1-60309-422-1 • Diamond: DEC170548 • For mature readers (16+)

Softcover graphic novel with flaps • B&W interiors • 5.2” x 7.25” • 88 pages

Read a 5-page preview now and pre-order now from your favorite retailer!

'Tis the season for looking back over the year gone by — and looking for gifts! As we contemplated the huge variety of books we published in 2017, we decided to break them down into a few categories, to help you navigate to the perfect match for your loved ones. Take a look after the jump...

Falling in love is easy. But it's not the fall that kills you.

In January 2018, Top Shelf welcomes two remarkable British talents — ultra-short fiction writer David Gaffney and comic artist Dan Berry — in their first collaboration. The Three Rooms in Valerie’s Head is a dark comedy about relationships, memory, loneliness and obsession.

Valerie has a rich interior life. Serially unlucky in love, to feel better she imagines that her previous boyfriends are dead and that their bodies are kept downstairs in the cellar in a strange, mummified state. Every day she brings them upstairs and speaks with them about what went wrong.

What follows is a series of peculiar, funny, and sometimes disturbing short tales about inept lovers, weird obsessions, and socially malfunctioning men who repeatedly fail to build a relationship with poor Valerie.

Apart from Stanley. Stanley was special.
Could he be the one to save her?

The Three Rooms in Valerie’s Head is a full-color softcover graphic novel with French flaps, 9.5" x 6.5" (landscape), 120 pages. Check out a six-page preview and pre-order now from your favorite retailer!

Our nation's biggest city holds one of our nation's biggest comic-cons — and we'll be there next weekend, October 5-8, for New York Comic Con! Come to Booth #1844 (IDW Publishing) to meet these awesome cartoonists:

Tara O'Connor (Roots) — a New York Comic-Con debut!

Shannon Wheeler (Sh*t My President Says: The Illustrated Tweets of Donald J. Trump)

Kim Dwinell (Surfside Girls: The Secret of Danger Point)

Janet Lee (Return of the Dapper Men: Deluxe Edition)

Lauren Purje (You Might Be An Artist If...)

Plus: join us Sunday, October 8 at 2:30pm in room 1A18 for a festive panel with these & other authors, plus coming attractions!

It was a good night to be a robot lover.

At the Small Press Expo earlier this month (as Top Shelf celebrated our 20th anniversary!), the Ignatz Awards went to all kinds of amazing indie cartoonists. But we were particularly proud to see two winners from the Top Shelf family:

Jess Fink won "Outstanding Series" for her erotic masterpiece of steampunk romance, Chester 5000. If you're new to the series (and over 18), there's no better time to pick up its two handsome hardcover volumes!

Carolyn Nowak won "Outstanding Story" for her charming, haunting graphic novella "Diana's Electric Tongue." As Publishers Weekly reported this week, Carolyn is coming to Top Shelf for Girl Town, a collection of her award-winning short stories coming next year!

Congrats to all the nominees and winners, and stay tuned for more on Girl Town!

This weekend, America's indie comics community descends once again on our nation's capital for the Small Press Expo (SPX), September 16-17, 2017 at the Bethesda North Marriott in Rockville, MD. And Top Shelf will be spending it as we've done for 20 years now: bringing you brilliant comics from veteran creators and brand-new talents alike!

What talents, you ask? Talents like:

• Chris Gooch (Bottled — an SPX debut!)
• Nate Powell (March, Nate Powell's Omnibox)
• Shannon Wheeler (Sh*t My President Says, God Is Disappointed in You, Apocrypha Now)
• Janet Lee (Return of the Dapper Men: Deluxe Edition)
• Kim Dwinell (Surfside Girls)
• Erin Nations (Gumballs)
• Jennifer Hayden (The Story of My Tits)
• And on Saturday only, Andrew Aydin (March)!

Plus plenty more members of the Top Shelf family (Jess Fink, Liz Prince, etc) around the room.

It's all happening at SPX Table W64-67!

Stick around Saturday night for the Ignatz Awards ceremony (featuring nominees March and Chester 5000) — and read on for four killer panels featuring Top Shelf talent you won't want to miss:

Congratulations to Shannon Wheeler, whose new book Sh*t My President Says: The Illustrated Tweets of Donald J. Trump comes out in stores today & tomorrow. This 120-page hardcover, in which the award-winning cartoonist and satirist tackles the 140-character president, has blown through the roof with a staggering 3,649,450% climb on Amazon's bestseller charts, easily reaching #1 on the "Movers & Shakers" list and cracking well into the top 10 of all books!

Of course, this avalanche of demand has blown through Amazon's inventory, but they'll be restocked very soon, and the book lands in bookstores everywhere today, followed by comic shops tomorrow. Ask for it by name! (Well, you might have trouble with the asterisk...)

For more on Sh*t My President Says, visit Shannon's interview with the Washington Post, or visit the book's official web site!

Six-issue miniseries will serve as "swan song" not only to award-winning LEAGUE series but also to creators' careers

San Diego, CA (July 20, 2017) – After an epic seventeen-year journey through the entirety of human culture – the biggest cross-continuity ‘universe’ that is conceivable – Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill will conclude both their legendary League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and their equally legendary comic-book careers with the series’ spectacular fourth and final volume, The Tempest.

Tying up the slenderest of plot threads and allusions from the three preceding volumes, The Black Dossier, and the Nemo trilogy into a dazzling and ingenious bow, the world’s most accomplished and bad-tempered artist-writer team will use their most stylistically adventurous outing yet to display the glories of the medium they are leaving; to demonstrate the excitement that attracted them to the field in the first place; and to analyse, critically and entertainingly, the reasons for their departure.

Opening simultaneously in the panic-stricken headquarters of British Military Intelligence, the fabled Ayesha’s lost African city of Kor and the domed citadel of ‘We’ on the devastated Earth of the year 2996, the dense and yet furiously-paced narrative hurtles like an express locomotive across the fictional globe from Lincoln Island to modern America to the Blazing World; from the Jacobean antiquity of Prospero’s Men to the superhero-inundated pastures of the present to the unimaginable reaches of a shimmering science-fiction future. With a cast-list that includes many of the most iconic figures from literature and pop culture, and a tempo that conveys the terrible momentum of inevitable events, this is literally and literarily the story to end all stories.

Commencing as a six-issue run of unfashionable, outmoded and flimsy children’s comics that will make you appear emotionally backward if you read them on the bus, this climactic magnum opus will also reprint classic English super-team publication The Seven Stars from the murky black-and-white reaches of 1964. A magnificent celebration of everything comics were, are and could be, any appreciator or student of the medium would be unwise to miss The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume IV: THE TEMPEST.

-- a 6-issue mini-series, each issue 32 pages in (mostly) full color, saddle stitched, 6 5/8” x 10 1/8” (standard comic-book size), $4.99 (US). Issue #1 is scheduled for June 2018.

Co-Published by Top Shelf Productions (US) and Knockabout (UK).