I’ll be in New York City for the debut of Fall Through at MoCCA Festival (my first time since 2018!)— here’s my schedule:
Saturday, March 16th:
signing at Top Shelf, 12:00-2:00 pm (booth 24)
signing at Abrams, 3:00-3:30pm (booth 147)
Sunday, March 17th:
signing at Top Shelf, 11:00am-12:00pm (booth 24)
signing at Abrams, 2:20-2:50pm (booth 147)
“Taking Sides, Drawing Lines” panel, 3:00pm (Room 1)
Fall Through is out today, in bookstores and online— and in comics shops tomorrow!
This is by far my favorite book I’ve done, and I’ve never had people connect so emotionally to one of my stories. My whole heart belongs to these characters.
Thanks to everyone for your faith and support— please spread the word, and leave reviews online which immensely help the visibility of independent books which need all the help they can get!
Hi there! I now have both Lies My Teacher Told Me (out April 16th) and Fall Through (out February 6th) available for signed/sketched preorders directly from me here.
I’ll begin sending out Fall Through orders in early/mid January, as soon as my shipment arrives, and will send out copies of Lies in March once those books arrive.
Thanks for your patience— the wait is almost over, and yesterday I shipped out about ten early copies of Fall Through!
I’m happy to reveal the first exclusive excerpt from Fall Through, published today by The Beat— read here! Fall Through will be released everywhere on February 6th.
It’s also ranked at #3 on Multiversity’s Best 10 Non-Superdude Comics of February.
You have until Dec. 15th to preorder signed & sketched copies of Fall Through, which will be shipped out by my local shop Vintage Phoenix a couple of weeks ahead of publication date.
Aaaand it looks like Abrams is having a direct preorder deal on Fall Through right now— it’s 50% off with the code SKIPTHELINE, and free shipping on orders $49.95 and above.
Thanks so much for your support, everyone— please spread the word! I’m about 160 pages into pencils for Fall Through’s follow-up prequel.
At last, announcing my next original graphic novel, Fall Through— out February 6, 2024 from Abrams ComicArts!
You may recognize the band Diamond Mine from my 2018 book, Come Again, or the cover of my 2017 Omnibox— now it’s their time, every time, all the time. Fall Through is an interdimensional 1990s punk soap opera centered around the ideals and interpersonal struggles between Jody and Diana, dual creative engines of Diamond Mine, lost indefinitely on their band’s do-it-yourself tour— seeking out connection and an elusive Free Space for themselves and their community each night.
It’s emotional, it’s critical, it’s kinda sexy and funny and queer and idealistic and creepy— and it was the most fun I’ve ever had making a book. And there’s bootleg magic involved!
I also think it’s important to note that Fall Through was drawn from 2020-2022, and served a very important role as pandemic therapy for me: people are already so insistent on memory-holing the fact that all of our social and physical bonds were severed in March 2020 (some irrevocably), and one of the great joys in my life was drawing scenes of a beloved underground community built on trust, depicting throngs of people— friends and strangers both— touching, sweating, yelling, breathing, singing together in confined spaces. Fall Through is my love letter to these spaces, to the ways in which it’s shaped my life, and to the power of that interconnectedness.
You can get more info here from Abrams, and pre-order the book through all the usual routes including Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. (I’ll be posting comics shop ordering info when the time comes!)
Please spread the word if you can— the life or death of a book largely depends on individual people like you hyping books you love, or are excited about. Thank you so much! I’ll be doing lots of book events throughout 2024 for this book (and my next, also out next year)— stay tuned.
Last week I finished drawing my next original graphic novel, Fall Through— it’s a sweaty, interdimensional 1990’s underground punk soap opera (starring the band Diamond Mine from their appearance in my 2018 book Come Again) that’ll be out next August or so from Abrams ComicArts. More details and an official announcement in a few months!
Next up on the drawing table: my adaptation of the late, great James Loewen’s influential book Lies My Teacher Told Me, which will be released in 2024 by The New Press.
Today marks the release of a new, expanded paperback edition of Eisner Award-nominated Save It for Later, with 16 new pages of post-2020 conversation between Derf Backderf and myself (including citations), a recommended reading list of work which informed or influenced my book, some creative process images of formative thumbnail and script, and more.
You can learn more and order through many outlets here, or you can order via Bookshop, IndieBound, Powell’s, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon here.
If you’re in Indiana tomorrow (August 10th), I’ll be having a book-launch discussion with Erin Tobey moderating, followed by a signing— Morgenstern Books (849 S. Auto Mall Rd.) at 6:30 pm. See you there!
I’ll be at San Diego Comic Con this weekend, after 3 years away! Here’s my schedule of signings and panels:
SATURDAY, JULY 23:
10am, Room 6DE: Run panel w/ Andrew Aydin, L. Fury, & John-Miles Lewis.
12:00-12:40 pm, Abrams booth 1217: Run signing w/ Andrew Aydin & L. Fury.
1:00-2:00 pm, Room 4: “Express Yourself: Activism Through the Comic Arts” panel w/ Cecil Castellucci, presented in cooperation with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
3:00-4:00 pm, Abrams booth 1217: Save It For Later signing— debuting the expanded paperback edition, not available in stores until August 9th!
SUNDAY, JULY 24:
11:00 am-12:00 pm, Gallery 13 booth 1128: Two Dead signing.
Also of note: Both Save It For Later and Run are Eisner Award nominees for “Best Graphic Memoir”— winners will be announced at the Eisner Awards ceremony on Friday, July 22nd!
The first copy of the expanded paperback edition of Save It For Later just arrived, and it looks great! These come with a new topical discussion between Derf Backderf and I, some process thumbnails, citations and a recommended reading list— it’ll be available everywhere on August 8th from Abrams ComicArts. I’ll be signing copies at the paperback debut for San Diego Comic Con, July 22-24th!
You can find out more here, or pre-order via IndieBound, Bookshop, or Amazon here.
Save It For Later is currently an Eisner Award nominee for Best Graphic Memoir— eligible voters, please consider my book and vote by June 8th! Winners will be announced at the Eisner Awards ceremony on July 22nd at SDCC.
More info on signings, etc. soon. Thanks!
I’m thrilled to announce that both Save It For Later (my solo graphic essay) and Run (written by Andrew Aydin & John Lewis, most art by L. Fury, first chapter/spot illustrations/sound effects by me, lettering by Chris Ross and me)have been nominated for Eisner Awards this year— in the same category, Best Graphic Memoir! Thanks to everyone’s faith in my work— this is a slightly weird situation to be in, so I urge you to vote as you see fit if you’re an eligible Eisner voter.
The new, expanded paperback edition of Save It For Later will be debuting at San Diego Comic Con— more info on signings & panels there soon!
The Eisner winners will be announced on Friday evening, July 22nd at Comic-Con International in sweet sweet San Diego— see you there!
I’m happy to announce that a new paperback edition of Save It For Later will be released by Abrams ComicArts on August 9th, with an extra 16 pages of material!
This edition clocks in at 176 pages and includes an in-depth, sourced conversation between fellow cartoonist Derf Backderf (Kent State, My Friend Dahmer, Trashed) and myself about our work in larger personal, social and historical contexts, as well as a recommended reading list for work that helped inform the book, and some process pages for making Save It For Later.
Save It For Later has been recognized on the American Library Association’s 2021 “Best Graphic Novels for Adults” list, on best-of-2021 lists from NPR, Forbes, Publishers Weekly Critics’ Poll, CBR, Multiversity, and Geekcast Radio, and was a Harvey Awards nominee for “Book of the Year.” Thanks for the love and support, everyone!
Destroy fascism and the fascists themselves.
Today is the day! Run is in bookstores and libraries everywhere— please go support your local bookshop.
Everyone involved worked our asses off to see this book to the finish line. Thinking of John Lewis today, in hopes that we did justice to his last great effort.
This evening we’ll be doing a virtual book discussion via the folks at Politics & Prose at 7pm Eastern— please register here.
Here’s a link to all our upcoming virtual talks!
We’re proud to have an exclusive excerpt from Run published today at The New Yorker, with stellar artwork by L. Fury! Run will be available everywhere August 3rd from Abrams ComicArts.
“Aydin described how a large part of Lewis’s advocacy for the March trilogy involved travelling to schools to meet with students and read the stories with them. ‘As a direct result of that touch from Congressman Lewis, reading and speaking with students about this history, we were able to replicate, in some way, what Dr. King and Jim Lawson had done with Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story. These books are about teaching the next generation to understand their power, to embrace nonviolence, and to consider public service. We call it manufacturing lightning.’”
Here’s the new feature from WBEZ, Chicago’s NPR affiliate, with myself and fellow cartoonist Stacey Robinson about our respective books Save It For Later and Across The Tracks, their significance in the context of American history and its future, antiracism, and more.
Today is the day: Save It For Later is on shelves everywhere!
(Order here via your local comics shop, indie bookstore, directly through me, Abrams, or Amazon if you must.)
So much gratitude for all the folks at Abrams ComicArts, The Nib, Popula, and my agent Charlie Olsen for their faith and support getting this work out into the world.
I’m gonna be signing & packing the next wave of mailorders today— thank you, friends near and far, for sticking with me & each other. <3
Here are three new interviews today:
And two book launch discussions:
After years of effort and loss, at long last Run will be released this August from Abrams ComicArts!
You can get more information and pre-order here.
Here’s a new feature in the Washington Post about it, including an interview with Andrew Aydin.
This was a real labor of love, done with our late, beloved friend, Congressman John Lewis in his final years. It was completed in respect of his vision, covering events from the immediate aftermath of the Voting Rights Act passage in 1965 through his departure from SNCC in 1966.
I took on a different role for Run (specifically, I had two backed-up books to complete after finishing March— Come Again and Two Dead, plus my work for Save It For Later). For this book, I drew the first 10 pages as an aesthetic bridge with the March trilogy, collaborated with the fantastic L. Fury on the covers, did 15-20 spot illustrations, miscellaneous SFX & lettering work throughout, and generally tried to help with the consistency of Rep. Lewis’ vision.
Thank you, everyone, for your patience, understanding, and faith as we all worked and adapted together to usher his vision and message out into a world desperately needing it. This history isn’t history. It’s now.
Save It For Later will be out next Tuesday, April 6th!
Here are tons of ordering options, and you can order signed copies directly from me.
Here’s a roundup of a few recent reviews:
From PopMatters: “As the images of his story beckon us to stare at his depictions of America’s recent history, his questions lead readers to reflect, refusing us the luxury of scrolling past what we do not want to see. Save It For Later does not report to forget, but but rather documents to remember, locating past, present, and even future on the same page all at once with a narrator who leads us by the hand through the darkness.”
From The Graphic Library: “On every page, the fear and uncertainty plaguing the country comes through in dark illustrations… The glimmers of hope that Powell's daughter bring also brings in more color, but the loss of color around her shows her loss of faith and her fear growing as the pandemic sets in. Rather than sticking to one design choice, Powell uses color like another character in the book, constantly conveying emotion.”
And from Comics Grinder: “There’s plenty to unpack there and fodder for much needed discussion… [Powell] has created a work of honesty and bravery with his latest book. Yes, bravery because amid all the coded language and distraction, there remains that veiled, and not-so-veiled, threat of violence.”
Thanks for your support and consideration, everyone!
All righty, the release date for Save It For Later is approaching in just a few weeks, so a few quick notes about pre-ordering copies, bookplates, and more:
I now have signed & sketched copies of Save It For Later (and my other books) available here at my site! Due to shipping costs, these are for the US only— if you’re elsewhere, email me at seemybrotherdance@yahoo.com, and we’ll work it out. Thanks!
My beloved local comics shop, Vintage Phoenix, has wrapped up its awesome signed/sketched pre-order program, so those old links are kaput. VP’s orders will be going out as soon as the books arrive and I get those sketches done.
Bookstores & comic book shops: I have free signed Save It For Later bookplates to send you! Email me with the quantity, and I’ll mail them to you pronto. Thanks!
It’s real— the first copies of Save It For Later just arrived on my doorstep, and the books turned out beautifully!
It’ll be out April 6th from Abrams ComicArts— and you can still order signed/sketched copies via my local shop Vintage Phoenix here.
More soon!
I’m moved to find that Save It For Later has received its second starred review, this time from Publishers Weekly!
Save It For Later will be released everywhere on April 6th— there are still a few days left to order signed & sketched copies via my local shop, Vintage Phoenix Comics, and these copies will hopefully arrive before release day.
