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.

Pre-orders are already live at:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Bookshop.org | Hudson Booksellers | Indigo | Target
or speak to your local comic shop or bookstore!

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!

In the shattered remnants of a doomed planet, the last shuttles are leaving soon… So why do these misfits want to stay behind?

Faith has a metallic mystery bolted to her head. Hoshi keeps his rage in check with an emotional support chicken. On a dying world where most adults have already left and the remaining kids are training for their turn, these two are starting to wonder: what’s the point? Gradually, a cluster of lonely souls who’ve spent their lives emotionally adrift are pulled into each other’s orbit as they try stay in place in a universe that is moving all too quickly.

“These are broken people in a broken world... but so are we. The tenderness that Julian Hanshaw finds for his characters will touch you as deeply as his dystopian sci-fi visuals will haunt your dreams.” — Moby

Space Junk by Julian Hanshaw
ISBN 978-1-60309-543-3 | Diamond Code: JUN241249
$19.99 (US) | 176 pages | Full color paperback | 8.25" x 10"
Browse preview pages | In Stores Now!

Jimmy has an elbow! Do you have one, too? Well, what if it could talk? Award-winning graphic novelist James Kochalka explores surreal frontiers of the body and mind in this psychedelic comedy for all ages.

Jimmy is a very good boy. He even wears a tie! But when he bumps his elbow on a table, this very good boy starts feeling very bad. Did his elbow die? Was that just a dream? Or has Jimmy’s magic elbow come to life and unlocked his super powers? Well, no matter what, it’s time for Jimmy and his elbow to go to school… what else could go wrong?

Cartoonist James Kochalka has delighted generations of readers with series like Johnny Boo, Banana Fox, and American Elf. Now he’s back with a sprawling and silly graphic novel about childhood, toys, and the mysteries inside us. Explore the nature of sensation, the meaning of America, and the fundamental silliness of having a body, in this surreal and spectacular roller coaster ride — for kids, families, and very serious adults!

“Notably surreal... Readers primed for nothing but laffs may be in for a surprise, as the author folds quick takes on ‘silly’ vs. ‘serious’—not to mention life, death, spiritual apotheosis, and what it means to be ‘made in America’—into the manic proceedings. [Jimmy’s Elbow] hits smack on the funny bone.” — Kirkus Reviews

Jimmy's Elbow by James Kochalka
ISBN 978-1-60309-541-9 | Diamond Code: JUN241247
$14.99 (US) | 168 pages | Full color paperback | 7 x 7"
Browse preview pages | In stores now!

Join us at the IDW Publishing booth #2729 at Comic-Con International in San Diego, Wednesday night through Sunday!

Metal maestro JP Ahonen is flying all the way from Finland to celebrate the second collection of his demonic family comedy strip Belzebubs Vol. II, and Dave Baker has resolved his disputes with Dave Baker, Dave Baker, and the Dave Baker Estate just in time to join us for the Comic-Con signing of his metafictional masterpiece Mary Tyler MooreHawk. PLUS: the 10th anniversary celebration of the groundbreaking March trilogy continues — get your free poster at the booth!

TOP SHELF SIGNINGS AT IDW PUBLISHING BOOTH #2729

Dave Baker signing Mary Tyler MooreHawk:

• THURSDAY, 7/25 from 4:30-5:15pm

JP Ahonen signing Belzebubs (both the first volume and the brand-new second volume):

• THURSDAY, 7/25 from 12:30-1:15pm
• FRIDAY, 7/26 from 6:00-6:45pm
• SATURDAY, 7/27 from 12:00-1:00pm

And come by the booth anytime to get your free copy of the March 10th Anniversary Poster!

Talk to your favorite retailer to pre-order two brilliant new books coming in August from familiar faces:

Explore the hilarious frontiers of mind and body with James Kochalka in Jimmy's Elbow!

Jimmy has an elbow! Do you have one, too? Well, what if it could talk? Award-winning graphic novelist James Kochalka explores surreal frontiers of the body and mind in this psychedelic comedy for all ages.

Two troubled teens are pulled into new emotional orbits in... Space Junk!

In the shattered remnants of a doomed planet, the last shuttles are leaving soon… So why do these misfits want to stay behind? Top Shelf fave Julian Hanshaw (Tim Ginger, Cloud Hotel, Free Pass) returns with another quirky and profound sci-fi parable.

Hail Satan and help with your kid’s math homework! It’s the return of everyone’s favorite demon-summoning family next door, the cartoon black-metal band Belzebubs!

The highway to black metal stardom is finally open, but Belzebubs frontman Sløth is running out of gas! His wife Lucyfer is starting to curse her office job, little Leviathan is terrorizing his school principal, and Lilith's sneaking around with a boy who looks suspiciously like Belzebubs' new drummer... Can Sløth find time for both his band and family, or must he sacrifice his dreams on the altar of Real Life?

In a matter of years, JP Ahonen's webcomic Belzebubs has become a global online phenomenon with over a half-million fans, a #1 album, and wildly popular animated music videos. No Rest for the Wicked is the second collected edition of the beloved cult sensation, documenting the daily lives of your beloved black metal bffs.

Deja Ross is a seventh-grade cryptozoologist. That means she loves monsters... and hopes to someday prove they’re real!

On a long family road trip, she pulls out her new video camera to search for legendary creatures at every stop. One night, Deja sneaks out of the RV and meets the famous Texas chupacabra face-to-face! In her excitement to meet an actual cryptid, she charms the beast out of eating her. It turns out that mythical animals are not only real... they can talk. And maybe it’s time for their stories to be heard!

Just announced at The Beat! Click through for an exclusive interview with the creators and a look at their stunning sample pages.  

After Red and her friends are killed by invaders from beyond, they’re revived inside massive organic battle-mechs. Time to take their planet back! It's a truly epic graphic novel about global crisis, mental health, and giant robots.

We're so excited to return to the beautiful city of San Diego twice this summer, and we're kicking that off this weekend! Our team will be spending some quality time with some of our most fervent supporters, the librarians of the American Library Association! 

If you're attending ALA this year, we can't wait to connect with you at booth #1625. Rumor has it that there may even be an advance copy of the long-awaited Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic at our table that can be viewed with the right incantation. (And by that we mean “ask us nicely and we'll give you a little peek!”)

If you aren't attending this year, this is a great weekend to visit your local library and check out the amazing things they have on offer! Keep an eye on our social media channels for updates from ALA Annual, as well. 

From the creator of the GLAAD Award-nominated Doughnuts and Doom comes a tale of music, milkshakes, making up, and making out!

Izzy’s a bass-playing werewolf. Geraldine’s the ghost of an amazing jazz pianist. Delilah’s the meanest drummer in town. They’d be the perfect trio to win the Battle of Bands...except Geraldine can't play a solo since she passed away, and Izzy and Delilah are at each other’s throats at every opportunity. Can they work through their problems to win the competition, or will they be defeated by Delilah's ex-band and their villainous frontman, Dylan?

Sparks will fly, milkshakes will melt, and ears will ring in this delicious queer tale!

Wolfpitch by Balazs Lorinczi
ISBN 9978-1-60309-539-6 | Diamond: APR241160
$19.99 (US) | 192 pages | Full Color Paperback
Browse Preview Pages | In Stores Now!
Pre-order Now at Your Local Comic Shop or Indie Bookstore!