Books
Books
Stubs: 2001-2010 by John Jaewon Kim
Paperback, 56 pages, measures 5 x 8 inches. Edition of 100.
Uncovering a personal stash of collected ephemera can unleash a torrent of once-held ideals, longstanding hang-ups, and misdirected pursuits. In Stubs: 2001–2010, John Kim tackles head-on a stack of old concert ticket stubs spanning a decade. Each story revisits a stub, and his indie-rock-snob perspectives—at times self-deprecating, more often comedically judgmental—are punctuated with unabashed fanboy regard for pop acts and romantic interests alike.
With a backdrop of post-grad and early career pressures and relationships, the volubly recounted backstories and recollections of specific shows, from disappointment distilled (Modest Mouse at the Wiltern, 2005) to the acoustically sublime (The Breeders at the Fillmore, 2002), demonstrate how fandom and obsessions ease, or at least mark, transitions and time.
Katsuhiro Otomo - Akira Vol. 6
Softcover, 440 pages, 7 x 10 inches.
Whether you've seen the deeply beloved anime or this is your first foray into the world of Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo's phenomenally illustrated manga is a must have for any manga or anime lover's collections.
IN A DEVASTATED 21ST CENTURY, Neo-Tokyo, the armed might of Earth is massed against the godlike powers of two psychic titans, the mute child Akira and the deranged youth Tetsuo. While Akira has unintentionally destroyed the city twice before, Tetsuo has ravaged the surface of the Moon for his sheer amusement, and his madness grows as his abilities expand. But he is gradually losing control of the limitless energies that rage within him, mutating Tetsuo into a horror beyond imagination, and as all forces converge for a final confrontation, the fate of the planet lies in the hands of mere mortals...and the mind of a child.
This final chapter of Katsuhiro Otomo's internationally honored graphic-novel masterpiece brings to a shattering, mind-warping conclusion the science-fiction epic that has influenced storytellers from every continent and in every medium. Akira is a one-of-a-kind work of breathtaking scope, unforgettable imagery, and singular vision.
Katsuhiro Otomo - Akira Vol. 5
Softcover, 416 pages, 7 x 10 inches.
Whether you've seen the deeply beloved anime or this is your first foray into the world of Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo's phenomenally illustrated manga is a must have for any manga or anime lover's collections.
IN THE 21ST CENTURY, the once glittering Neo-Tokyo lies in ruin, leveled in minutes by the infinite power of the child psychic Akira. From the flooded wasteland of rubble and anarchy rises the Great Tokyo Empire, populated by a ragtag army of zealots and crazies who worship and fear Akira ad his mad prime minister, Tetsuo, and angry teen with immense powers of his own— and equally immense, twisted ambitions. The world at large is not taking the threat lying down, and the military strength of the planet is massing to take on the empire, but will technology's most advanced weaponry be enough to destroy Akira? And are Tetsuo's rapidly growing paranormal abilities a potentially greater threat?
A mind-blowing epic, Akira is a sweeping graphic-novel tour de force of awe-inspiring vision and gut-wrenching intensity— and the inspiration for the brilliant Akira animated film. Creator Katsuhiro Otomo has influenced a generation of graphic novelists and animators and is universally acknowledged as a storyteller of extraordinary skill, standing alongside the finest writers and directors of science fiction.
Katsuhiro Otomo - Akira Vol. 4
Softcover, 392 pages, 7 x 10 inches.
Whether you've seen the deeply beloved anime or this is your first foray into the world of Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo's phenomenally illustrated manga is a must have for any manga or anime lover's collections.
Suffering the fate that beset its namesake three decades earlier, twenty-first-century Neo-Tokyo lies in ruin. Set off by the bullet of a would-be assassin, the godlike telekinetic fury of the superhuman child Akira has once again demolished in seconds that which took decades and untold billions to build. Now cut off from the rest of the world, the Great Tokyo Empire rises, with Akira its king, the psychic juggernaut Tetsuo its mad prime minister, and a growing army of fanatic acolytes ready to go to any length to please their masters. Forces on the outside still search for a way to stop Akira, and the answer may lie in the hands of the mysterious Lady Miyako, a powerful member of Akira’s paranormal brotherhood. But the solution to harnessing Akira may ultimately be more dangerous than Akira himself.
Twenty years since its original release in Japan, Akira remains one of the most widely acclaimed and influential works of graphic fiction, and creator Katsuhiro Otomo has become a legendary storyteller in animation as well as manga. Akira is a science fiction tour de force, a breathtaking vision of innocence, infamy, and insanity.
Katsuhiro Otomo - Akira Vol. 3
Softcover, 280 pages, 7 x 10 inches.
Whether you've seen the deeply beloved anime or this is your first foray into the world of Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo's phenomenally illustrated manga is a must have for any manga or anime lover's collections.
IN THE 21ST CENTURY, the glittering Neo-Tokyo has risen from the rubble of a Tokyo destroyed by an apocalyptic telekinetic blast from a young boy called Akira—the subject of a covert government experiment gone wrong now imprisoned for three decades in frozen stasis. But Tetsuo, an unstable youth with immense paranormal abilities of his own, has done the unthinkable: He has released Akira and set into motion a chain of events that could once again destroy the city and drag the world to the brink of Armageddon. Resistance agents and an armada of government forces race against the clock to find the child with godlike powers before his unstoppable destructive abilities are unleashed.
One of the true international classics of graphic fiction, Akira has once again taken America by storm. Artist/writer/filmmaker Katsuhiro Otomo is acclaimed worldwide as a master storyteller, and Akira showcases Otomo at the peak of his creative form. Akira is a timeless, epic work of unforgettable beauty, horror, and imagination.
Katsuhiro Otomo - Akira Vol. 2
Softcover, 304 pages, 7 x 10 inches.
Whether you've seen the deeply beloved anime or this is your first foray into the world of Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo's phenomenally illustrated manga is a must have for any manga or anime lover's collections.
IN THE 21ST CENTURY, Neo-Tokyo has risen from the ashes of a Tokyo obliterated by a monstrous psychokinetic power known only as Akira, a being who yet lives, secretly imprisoned in frozen stasis. Those who stand guard know that Akira's awakening is a terrifying inevitability. Tetsuo, an angry young man with immense—and rapidly growing—psychic abilities, may be their only hope to control Akira when he wakes. But Tetsuo is becoming increasingly unstable and harbors a growing obsession to confront Akira face to face. A clandestine group including his former best friend sets out to destroy Tetsuo before he can release Akira—or before Tetsuo himself becomes so powerful that no force on Earth can stop him.
An epic masterpiece of graphic fiction and the inspiration for its stunning animated adaptation, Akira is required reading for any enthusiast of science fiction, manga, and the graphic novel.
One Week in January: New Paintings for an Old Diary by Carson Ellis
Hardcover, 80 pages, 7.8 x 9.3 inches.
Award-winning, beloved children's book author and illustrator Carson Ellis makes a stunning adult debut with an illustrated memoir that evocatively captures a specific cultural moment of the early 2000s and in her journey as an artist.
In January 2001, the young artist Carson Ellis moved into a warehouse in Portland, Oregon, with a group of fellow artists. For the first week she lived there, she kept a detailed diary full of dry observations, mordant wit, hijinks with friends (including her future husband, Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy), and turn-of-the-millennium cultural touchstones. Now, Ellis has richly illustrated this two-decade-old journal with extraordinary new paintings in the signature style that has made her an award-winning picture book author today.
This beautiful volume offers a snapshot of a bygone era, a meticulous re-creation of quotidian frustrations and small, meaningful moments, and a meditation on what it means both to start your journey as an artist and to look back at that beginning many years later.
Kiki's Delivery Service Sketchbook (Hardcover)
Measures 7 x 89 inches. 128 pages of blank 1 40 GSM woodfree FSC-certified paper.
Let your creativity soar with Kiki and Jiji!
A beloved classic of Studio Ghibli, Kiki's Delivery Service provided so many of us with artistic and emotional inspiration which can live on with this sketchbook! Durable cloth-bound hardcover with foil stamping, full-color endsheets, and unlined/blank sketchbook pages. Great for most art mediums, including pencils, pens, inks, pastels, markers, and more.
Tekkonkinkreet: Black & White 30th Anniversary Edition
Hardcover, 624 pages, 10 x 7 inches.
This Tekkonkinkreet: Black & White 30th Anniversary Edition, by acclaimed manga artist Taiyo Matsumoto, is restored to its original right-to-left orientation and features all the original color pages, a full-color foldout poster, and a brand new afterword by the author.
In the somewhere-sprawl of Treasure Town, two young boys, Black and White, rule the streets. Like avatars of the city itself, they are its will and its voice, full of love and compassion, as well as danger and violence. As they leap from rooftop to rooftop, from lamppost to lamppost, nothing escapes their notice. But the city is changing beneath their feet as a yakuza-backed corporate development moves in. When the gangsters make a play to remove Black and White, the boys push back. The police have an interest in Black and White as well, trying to make sure things don't get out of hand—but things will. A battle begins between corruption and innocence, a struggle for the soul of the city itself, that will change Black and White and the city around them forever.
Junji Ito - Alley: A Story Collection
Hardcover, 344 pages, 8.5 x 6 inches.
Every night, a young man hears children playing outside his boarding house—but the alley below his window is fenced off from the world. Then, when a young woman’s family starts acting strangely at the same time she begins having bizarre dreams, she decides to stay with her aunt, but the town she heads for has neither addresses nor roads… Also, an all-you-can-eat ice cream bus that’s more sinister than sweet!
Legendary horror author Junji Ito presents ten bloodcurdling short stories.
Junji Ito - Betwixt: A Horror Manga Anthology
Hardcover, 200 pages, 8.5 x 6 inches.
All-new horror anthology featuring cover art by international bestseller, Junji Ito!
Manga creators from Japan and the US present an international showcase of horror. Collected for the first time in Betwixt: A Horror Manga Anthology, six short stories reveal the universal fear of the space between the known and unknown. Will anyone cross that border?
Featuring stories from a range of award-winning and popular creators, as well as a foreword and exclusive cover art by global phenomenon, Junji Ito.
Ryo Hanada (creator of Devil’s Line), Aki Shimizu (creator of the Suikoden III manga), and Shima Shinya (creator of Lost Lad London and cowriter of Star Wars: The High Republic, The Edge of Balance) each tell uniquely Japanese tales of ghosts and creatures who exist alongside us. American creative duo, Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad (cowriters of Wonder Woman and Batgirls) along with duo Leslie Hung (cocreator of Snotgirl) and Sloane Leong (creator of A Map to the Sun) and up and coming creator Hua Hua Zhu round out the anthology with tales that would make anyone paranoid about who they may encounter.
Second Hand Love by Yamada Murasaki
Softcover, 228 pages, black and white. Measures 6.1 x 8.4 inches.
In the end, we’re all the same…we just want to be smothered like babies against another human’s beating heart
Through a cracked door, heartsick Emi hears a playful growl. Cautiously, she lets her lover in—a wolf of a man wielding a bouquet of roses. His shoulders must have been four inches wider than mine. As I stood behind him, I fantasized about the broadness of his chest and the thickness of his neck…and about becoming his mistress once again.
And so their story goes. For a young woman interested in love without the hassle of a traditional relationship, an affair with someone else’s spoiled husband is just what she ordered—until it’s time to move on.
Then there’s Yuko: with even less time for married men’s shenanigans, she turns her attention to her aging father and the guilt of adultery that has gnawed at his heart for years. Her mother is long dead, yet her memory is enshrined for eternity in their—both father’s and daughter’s—mirrored indiscretions.
Drawn soon after the critically-acclaimed Talk to My Back, the two stories in Second Hand Love mark the triumphant return of Yamada Murasaki, one of literary manga’s most respected feminist voices. Translated by noted historian Ryan Holmberg, this edition includes an interview with the artist from the height of her career in 1985, where her wit and wisdom are on shimmering display.
Dreaming in Color - A Collection of Work by Natalie Andrewson
Paperback, 158 pages, measures 9 x 12 inches.
We're huge fans of Natalie Andrewson and her wondrous, colorful risographs. We are so excited to be able to carry her brand new book "Dreaming in Color" - a collection of beautiful artwork and words coming from Natalie discussing her world and process!
From publisher Peow:
There's a chance that you've met Natalie before, standing behind a table full her prints at a comic or artist convention. Maybe you've even asked her to explain “what exactly is a risograph printer?”. And we’re pretty sure quite a few of you have been at her table contemplating which print to buy and said “I don’t know which one to get, they ALL LOOK SO GOOD”. This book is for you.
Natalie Andrewson is a very talented artist whose work we really enjoy, after working with her over 9 years ago on a small riso book, she has become well loved risograph artist who makes fun fantasy-rooted artwork. She's also made some comics and even Magic the Gathering card art too. We are so excited to release a new book with her. If you aren't familiar with her art, hold up and check this out first. Dreaming in Color collects over 70 pieces of her super strong artwork. Peow2 put extra care into faithfully recreating the risograph printing magic for offset printers, with custom fluorescent pantone blends and a special process dubbed risoset™ (not really trademarked jk).
The book collects many of her risograph prints from the past years, which includes lots of dragons, some fanart, critters, creatures, magic, fantasy warriors, craftswomen, and more.
Violet Reed - Microconfessions Zine
Fourteen comics about what it's like to live in contemporary society as a so-called functioning adult.
Violet Reed is a designer, illustrator, and comics artist from Portland, OR.
Her comics are regularly featured in the Willamette Week.
Full color, printed on recycled paper in the USA.
Size: 5.5" x 8.5"
Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki - Roaming
Paperback, 444 pages, measures 6.2 x 8.4 inches
Spring Break, 2009: Five days, three friends, and one big city.
Roaming marks a triumphant return to the graphic novel and a deft foray into new adult fiction for Caldecott Medal authors Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki.
Spring break, 2009. High school best friends Zoe and Dani are now freshman college students, meeting in a place they’ve wanted to visit forever: New York City. Tagging along is Dani’s classmate Fiona, a mercurial art student with an opinion on everything. Together, the three cram in as much of the city as possible, gleefully falling into tourist traps, pondering so-called great works of art, sidestepping creeps, and eating lots and lots of pizza (folded in half, of course). Roaming is a ground-breaking graphic novel from the authors behind New York Times bestseller and Caldecott Honor Book This One Summer.
Felicia Chiao - Sketchbook 5 (Hardcover)
Hardcover, 152 pages, Measures 9 x 11 inches.
We love Felicia Chiao here at Giant Robot, her art being so unique and bursting with character and thoughtful thematics. Her "Sketchbook 5" is a faithful 1:1 reproduction of her personal sketchbook. Featuring 77 beautifully detailed color illustrations complete with Post-it note sketches and a personal handwritten introduction on a bleed sheet, this publication is as close to owning the original as one can get.
Memory Garden - Illustrated by Susie Ghahremani
Hardcover, 8.3 x 10.35 inches, 40 pages.
Written by Zohreh Ghahremani and illustrated by Susie Ghahremani.
A lively afternoon together in Nana’s garden is full of laughter, discovery, and connection. In lyrical text that blends past and present, Memory Garden takes us to the places we leave behind but never forget.
Written and illustrated by a loving mother daughter duo, the nostalgic text and vibrant illustrations invite us to enjoy the beauty of Iranian gardens – and culture - in an adventure that will resonate with readers of all backgrounds.
Phone Book by Tatsu
Softcover, 70 pages, full color. Measures 8.25 x 10.75 inches.
A beautiful compilation of photographs capturing public telephone boxes, which are rendered as still standing time markers.
From the publisher:
"In "Phone Book," Tatsu's lens captures the essence of time's passage through portraits of public phones. Each image evokes nostalgia for a bygone era while prompting reflection on the impact of technological progress. Through Tatsu's artistry, these relics become symbols of human connection, inviting viewers to ponder what we've gained and lost in the evolution of communication."