Top Shelf Productions

Add another feather in the cap -- or should that be another decal on the helmet? -- of Nate Powell's graphic novel Any Empire. The American Library Association's official review magazine Booklist has just released its list of the past year's Top 10 Graphic Novels, and ranked among the excellent company of Anders Nilsen and Craig Thompson is Nate's unsettling domestic war story.

Here's Booklist's short summary: "Powell flashes his considerable cartooning talents in this complex, open-ended antiwar parable. The story follows three characters, first as children and then 10 years later, as their lives are upended by violence." For the full (starred) review, click here.

This latest plug joins Any Empire's previous "Best Of Year" honors, racked up from The AV Club, Comic Book Resources, Complex, and Graphic Novel Reporter. Hats off to Nate!

Ed Piskor's complex portrait of hackers and tech culture, Wizzywig, is still several months away... but this week we decided to share a peek at the amazing cover designed by Ed and our digital director Chris Ross. Heidi MacDonald got the exclusive over at The Beat, and adds "it’s definitely on our must list for 2012." Johanna Draper Carlson adds additional praise & commentary at Comics Worth Reading.

Pre-order the book now, remember to bookmark Ed's webcomic Brain Rot over at Boing Boing, and keep your eyes peeled for more Wizzywig news to come!

One of the greatest cartoonists in the game, the man behind Alec: The Years Have Pants, The Playwright, and From Hell, is back -- with a gorgeous new hardcover graphic novel. And it's on the most fundamental of topics: MONEY.

“One of the premier cartoonists of his generation.” — Publishers Weekly

“No one else in the medium combines emotional truth, literary intelligence, and formal daring with such adroitness and elegance.” — Booklist

Eddie Campbell's THE LOVELY HORRIBLE STUFF is a delightful autobiographical voyage into the financial wilderness, ranging from the imaginary wealth of Ponzi schemes to the all-too-tangible stone currency of the Micronesian island of Yap.

This is no dry and dusty treatise on finance; any complexities are pleasingly reduced to the level of bubblegum trading cards. In here you will hear about the corporation that Campbell keeps under his bed; you will meet colorful historical characters and be taken on dangerous shark-infested sea adventures; and after that, we will all plunge to the depths to retrieve our loose change.

Campbell's wry eye and vivid full-color artwork imbue the proceedings with real humanity, making THE LOVELY HORRIBLE STUFF an investment that's worth every penny.

It's being offered in the current Diamond Previews catalog, so pre-order now!

THE LOVELY HORRIBLE STUFF by Eddie Campbell
-- 96-page deluxe hardcover
-- 6.5" x 9", full-color graphic novel
-- For mature readers (16+)
-- ISBN 978-1-60309-152-7
-- Diamond DM code: MAR12-1193
-- $14.95 (US)
-- Co-published by Top Shelf Productions (US) and Knockabout (UK)

Also re-offered in Diamond Previews this month are two of Eddie's most amazing works: the autobiographical epic Alec: The Years Have Pants and the colorfully quiet comedy about the creative life, The Playwright. Take the chance to fill out your Eddie Campbell library!

We've always been big fans of Free Comic Book Day, the first Saturday in May when everybody, young or old, can visit their local comic shop and get FREE comic books! And for many years, we've made FCBD an occasion to pick up a brand-new story featuring Andy Runton's Owly and other Top Shelf characters for all ages.

This year, the official Free Comic Book Day button features a collaboration between two Top Shelf artists: Andy Runton has designed an awesome button featuring his character Owly, with art from Ray Friesen's cover to our 2012 FCBD book: Top Shelf Kids Club!

For more details, check the official announcement!

It's been three months since Top Shelf launched headfirst into the world of digital comics distribution -- and we've got to call it a huge success! Now to celebrate, we're announcing tons of new discounts on our digital comics. These universal prices apply to our two official iPhone/iPad apps as well as every other ebook store (Comixology, Graphicly, iVerse, Google Books, Apple iBooks, Nook, etc).

Here are some of the new amazing deals:
(prices are in US dollars but are proportional worldwide)

IT'S MIGHTY FINE AT 9.99!
Every single graphic novel is now priced under $10, across the board!

TOP SHELF HEAVYWEIGHTS: HUGE BOOKS FOR TINY PRICES!
-- Alec: The Years Have Pants by Eddie Campbell - only 9.99!
-- Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson - only 9.99!
-- Essex County by Jeff Lemire - only 9.99!
-- From Hell by Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell - only 9.99!
-- Infinite Kung Fu by Kagan McLeod - only 9.99!
-- Lucille by Ludovic Debeurme - only 9.99!

PARTY WITH THE TOP SHELF KIDS CLUB - FOR PEANUTS!
-- Owly vol 1 by Andy Runton - only .99!
-- all other Owly books by Andy Runton - only 1.99 each!
-- Korgi by Christian Slade (all 3 books) - only 2.99 each!
-- Johnny Boo by James Kochalka (all 4 books) - only 2.99 each!
-- Dragon Puncher by James Kochalka (both books) - only 2.99 each!
-- Yam by Corey Barba - only 2.99!
-- Bighead by Jeffrey Brown - only 2.99!
-- Incredible Change-Bots by Jeffrey Brown (both books) - only 6.99 each!

AND THAT'S JUST THE BEGINNING...
-- Stuff About Sex by David Mellon - only 1.99!
-- Little Paintings by James Kochalka - only .99!
-- Underwire by Jennifer Hayden - only 3.99!
-- BB Wolf and the Three LPs by JD Arnold and Rich Koslowski - only 3.99!
-- The Surrogates by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele (both volumes) - only 5.99 each!
-- Too Cool to be Forgotten by Alex Robinson - only 4.99!
...and so much more.

So download the official Top Shelf app at iTunes, or the Top Shelf Kids Club app at iTunes, or look for the "buy digital" buttons throughout our web site catalog and download books through your preferred vendor! Or check out the books available at our digital partners: Comixology, Graphicly, iVerse, Google Books, Apple iBooks, Nook, and more!

We welcome David Mellon to the Top Shelf family with a $1.99 digital exclusive comic, Stuff About Sex... For Guys Who Are Not Like, Total Idiots. In only a few short days online, it's become one of the top 20 bestselling books in the entire Comixology store -- take that, Wolverine!

Click here to learn more about David's book, and preview the first 4 pages!

Here's a bit of fun: the February issue of GQ features a guy modeling weekend casual wear in Portland's Bridge City Comics - surrounded by Top Shelf graphic novels!

We spotted:
--on the Alan Moore shelf: The Mirror of Love, From Hell
--on the Jeffrey Brown shelf: Undeleted Scenes, Unlikely, Every Girl is the End of the World for Me, Incredible Change-Bots
--Craig Thompson's Blankets
--Eddie Campbell's Alec: The Years Have Pants

Click here to see the image in full.

Those who've read Infinite Kung Fu know that Kagan McLeod is a wizard of art... but how many of you have seen him work his magic live? Now you can!

This just-released video shows Kagan drawing his favorite kung fu villain - the blind final boss from the 1976 film Master of the Flying Guillotine! Enjoy clips from the film of this dude in action, as you see him to come to life under Kagan's brush. Don't miss it!

Infinite Kung Fu is available digitally ($9.99) and physically ($24.95), wherever books & comics are sold.

With Valentine's Day approaching, the book critics at Oprah.com are naturally feeling romantic... and we're delighted to see Craig Thompson's masterpiece Blankets featured as one of "The 8 Greatest Love Stories of All Time"!

For those new to Blankets, critic Leigh Newman offers a tantalizing summary: "This graphic novel first breaks your heart with the illustrated story of Craig's lonely, isolated childhood... That is, until he meets Raina at a Christian overnight camp. Though both teenagers are struggling with issues far beyond their years (siblings with Down syndrome, divorce), their feelings for each other create a kind of magical bubble that allows them to find out who they are as people—even if, one day, inevitably, that bubble must pop."

The film adaptation of Alex Robinson's award-winning graphic novel TOO COOL TO BE FORGOTTEN takes another step closer to reality this week, as screenwriters Rocky Russo and Jeremy Sosenko have signed on to write the script.

Red Crown Productions' Daniela Taplin Lundberg and Daniel Crown are producing with Likely Story’s Anthony Bregman. Stefanie Azpiazu and Riva Marker will be executive producers on the film.

Bregman commented "Too Cool To Be Forgotten is a story that demonstrates that comic books can be as profound and moving as they can be funny and entertaining, and that is exactly what this team hopes to replicate on the screen."

"I'm awfully proud of this book, and pleased to see it in good hands," said Alex Robinson. "There's still a long way to go yet, so we'll hold off on the champagne just yet... but I may have a candy cigarette or two! In the meantime, back to work on my new book, which I'll hopefully have wrapped up by the time of the big premiere!"

TOO COOL TO BE FORGOTTEN, Alex Robinson's third graphic novel (following BOX OFFICE POISON and TRICKED), follows middle-aged Andy Wicks as he attempts hypnotherapy to cure his smoking addiction... and finds himself traveling back in time to his painfully awkward high school years! Is he doomed to relive the mistakes of his past, or is this is second chance to get things right?

If you've never read TOO COOL, check it out now and beat the rush!

One of Top Shelf's most beloved authors, Jeffrey Brown, makes his feature film debut today in U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, with SAVE THE DATE!

This year marks the ten-year anniversary of Jeffrey Brown’s groundbreaking graphic novel CLUMSY, and what better way to celebrate than with the premiere of a film he co-wrote!

Filmmaker Michael Mohan (One Too Many Mornings) returns to Sundance with a bittersweet screenplay he wrote with famed graphic novelist Jeffrey Brown and co-writer Egan Reich. At turns funny, sad, and sweet, SAVE THE DATE is a sincere story about the familial and romantic bonds that form us all.

An intense new video trailer for Nate Powell's graphic novel Any Empire has just been posted to YouTube! It features music by the bands Tracker (who were responsible for the Blankets soundtrack album) and Universe (featuring Nate Powell himself), and is a real treat for both those who've read the book and those who haven't yet. Check it out here: Any Empire video trailer!

You've never seen anything quite like this. In March 2012, Top Shelf will release the debut graphic novel from super-talented Australian cartoonist Pat Grant, entitled BLUE.

It's a fascinating blend of autobiography and fiction with a sci-fi twist: in a seaside Australian town struggling with alien tentacle-creature immigration, a trio of aimless teenagers skip school to go surfing, chase rumors of a dead body, and avoid dealing with their own fears.

Here's what Craig Thompson, author of Blankets, Carnet de Voyage, and Habibi, had to say about BLUE: "This book rekindles my earliest enthusiasm for the comics medium. Pat Grant is the Australian Mark Twain, trading Huck's raft for a waxed-up surfboard and an inked-up sable brush. Vast themes of racism and immigration unravel in sprawling murals and a single day in the life of some reckless teens in this sea-polished, perfect nugget of a book."

Still not convinced? Check out Pat's great SHAMELESS PUBLICITY DOCUMENT, and the free preview of BLUE at Pat’s website!

Be sure to pre-order this lush, lovable, complex book from your favorite comic shop, or directly from Top Shelf!

BLUE by Pat Grant
--96-page hardcover graphic novel with 2-color interiors
--9.4" x 6.6" (landscape format)
--Older teens (16+) and adults
--ISBN: 978-1-60309-153-4
--Diamond order code: JAN12-1268
--$14.95 (US)

"Pat Grant is serious about comics." -- Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, and Making Comics

"BLUE is everything a good comic can be." -- Shaun Tan, author of The Arrival and Tales from Outer Suburbia

Enjoy this greeting from James Kochalka, and thanks for supporting us through another year of amazing comics!

2011's not over yet, but we're already knee-deep in preparations for 2012 -- including one of our most fun projects of the year, the FREE all-ages comic book for Free Comic Book Day (May 5, 2012)!

Check out this amazing cover by Pirate Penguin vs Ninja Chicken creator Ray Friesen! The interior will feature SIX new stories by the dream team of Top Shelf Kids Club authors: Owly by Andy Runton, Johnny Boo by James Kochalka, Korgi by Christian Slade, Okie Dokie Donuts by Chris Eliopoulos, Pirate Penguin vs Ninja Chicken by Ray Friesen, and Upside Down by Jess Smart Smiley.

Wow, May 5th can't come soon enough! In the meantime, don't forget to check out the official Top Shelf Kids Club app for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch, where you can read the 2011 FCBD book and buy digital versions of all our great all-ages titles!