Notes For A War Story
by Gipi
01: First Second
$16.95
Angouleme Award Winner - 2006 Best Album
War changes everything. When war comes, it doesn't just change your food, your clothes, and your home. It changes your beliefs, your dreams, and your understanding of the world. Swept up in a war he never thought would happen, Giuliano begins to question what he's fighting for - if he's even fighting for anything. Italian comics creator Gipi has emerged as a world-class artist and writer. He teaches in fine arts academies, directs short films, illustrates for the popular newspaper La Repubblica, and proves time and time again that he is a virtuoso of the graphic novel.

Chance In Hell (HC)
by Gilbert Hernandez
Fantagraphics Books
$16.95
Chance In Hell tells the story of a little orphan girl who lives in the slums of the slums. Nobody knows who she is or where she's from, but her fellow shanty town inhabitants collectively look over her. The three act story follows our heroine as she is adopted by a decent man who raises her well, and she eventually marries a kind, well-to-do man, only to discover that she can't relate to the good life and the comforts he provides.

Laika
by Nick Abadzis
:01 First Second
$17.95
Earth's First Astronaut: Laika was the abandoned puppy who grew up to become Earth's first space traveler. This is her story. Nick Abadzis blends fact and fiction as he recounts Laika's journey - from the streets of Moscow to the Soviet space program, and then to her fateful final journey on Sputnik 2. Moving words and powerful pictures relate the history of this momentous event and the political landscape surrounding it, through the life of this small, curly-tailed dog. Poignant and authentic, Laika's story speaks straight to the heart. Read an excerpt here.

"Nick Abadzis researched with impressive thoroughness - from the stacks of the British Library to Korolev's house in Moscow - all the facts that have come to light since the collapse of the Soviet Union. He then wove all available historical elements into an unforgettable narrative that achieves the power of myths. Cutting through the official deceit spread at the time, the story brings out the truly heroic dedication that these exceptional scientists showed, even as they lived in a climate of suspicion and fear. And Nick's imagination seamlessly filled out the personal stories, both canine and human, that bring Laika alive as a meditation on the meaning of destiny and the fragile beauty of trust."
Alexis Siegel, from the afterword

The Umbrella Academy: Apocalyse Suite #1 of 6
by Gerard Way & Gabriel Ba
Dark Horse
$2.99
Once, the Umbrella Academy was unstoppable. Under the tutelage of their guardian and mentor, Dr. Reginald Hargreeves, its members spent their childhoods fighting evil and honing their extraordinary gifts. Until something went terribly wrong. Now, nine years later, the estranged members of the Umbrella Academy are reunited by the death of the only parent they've ever known and the rise of a new and terrible threat. Will they be able to overcome their history for long enough to save the world-one more time?

"An ultraviolet, psychedelic, sherbet bomb of wit and ideas. The superheroes of the 21st Century are here at last..."
Grant Morrison

"Grant has been amazing. The relationship that he, his wife, and I have is very inspiring. It was like finding kindred spirits thousands of miles away and connecting with them. I feel at times like their kid brother. Grant's advice to me has always been simple: just be myself. He had convinced me that I had the ability as a storyteller to connect with people already, said I had already been doing it for years. So just keep doing what I was doing. Also to be fearless, which is what I think of when I think of his work. He also constantly reminds me that I am on this great adventure because of my work and my lifestyle, and to never forget that. He is always pushing me to get the most out of it. I have heard many writers say that writing is like working a muscle-you have to use your muscle every day. Grant's said this to me, and he's correct."
Gerard Way discusses The Umbrella Academy. Read the full interview here.

Good As Lily
by Derek Kirk Kim & Jesse Hamm
DC/Minx
$9.99
Grace Kwon is about to meet three of her closest friends - the only problem is that they're her past and future selves. What if your biggest competition was yourself? Following a strange mishap on her 18th birthday, Grace Kwon is confronted with herself at three different periods in her life. The timing couldn't be worse as Grace and her friends desperately try to save a crumbling school play. Will her other selves wreak havoc on her present life or illuminate her uncertain future?

The Mammoth Book of Best War Comics
edited by David Kendall
Carroll & Graf Publishers
£12.99
"This really is a weighty tome with over 500 pages of war comics culled from across the world and through the ages (from 1965–2006). Keiji Nakazawa sets the mood with his personal account of the bombing of Hiroshima in I Saw It, a poignant tale that spells out the human cost of the atomic bomb and the implications that resonate throughout the rest of their lives. There is an anti-war tone throughout, and even stories from 1965 which are wrapped in patriotism can still often be fundamentally bleak. Respected names like Will Eisner, Pat Mills and Raymond Briggs add their own visions and experiences, touching on, among other conflicts, Vietnam and the Falklands War."
The List - Read the full review here.