Diana has been out in the world for a month today— thank you to everyone who’s read this book (and the triptych it concludes), who’s recommended it to someone else, and who’s let it into their heart. These characters mean a lot to me, and so did the process of creating this set of stories.
You can order signed books and prints from me here, original art and pages here, and see upcoming book events I’ll be doing here.
Here’s a roundup of Diana snippets:
“There’s a love that suffuses Diana— not only of characters, of music and punk and another way of living, but a love for small, vanishing moments; for unexpected displays of intimacy; for details and ephemera and for split-second moments of utterly human perfection.” — Lee Knox Ostertag
“A genuine masterpiece.” —The Substance podcast
“Nate Powell can charge a frame with enough energy to suggest a roomful of desire and desperation, of noise and sweat. His drawings have a physical urgency, but his writing deserves equal attention. His characters can be articulate about their ideals and confused about their conduct. They can know what freedom ought to mean and yet have trouble allowing it to someone they love.” — Phillip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
“Powell’s acrobatic visuals evoke the lyrical beauty of the Ozarks, and his stage performance sequences crackle with an authentic energy and grit. [His] fans will eagerly plunge into this heady brew of drama, punk, and poetry.” — Publishers Weekly
“Diana is proof that Nate Powell is one of the best graphic novelists working today, experiencing a master of the craft at the top of their game.” — Brian Michael Bendis
“[Diana has] a particularly personal texture, the hand of the cartoonist deeply felt, as might be in a private notebook… Through their journey of love, pain, romances and revelations winds the kind of magic that turns epilogues into prologues, and helps create a visual music that Powell clearly holds dear… such that even the sound of a departing bicycle fills the night with music.” — Booklist
“A magic incantation of ink across time. Have you ever wanted to be truly known and loved— by a person, a song, a scene— badly enough that you tore through reality to get there? Diana pierces the cosmic fabric to pull the reader in close, weaving a sweaty spell of hope that our deepest connections might stay forever.” — Caitlin McGurk
“Nate Powell built a graphic novel that feels like finding an old cassette under the car seat, pressing play, and hearing a voice you thought you forgot. Some songs bring you home. Others remind you why you ran.” — Comic Crusaders (5/5 stars)
“Powell allows the wonder and the difficulty to occupy the same page. His frames carry the charge of lives in progress, and his writing gives readers reason to care where that energy goes.” — Phillip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
“Diana is a true punk rock odyssey from which legends are born— powerfully human and memorable, showcasing all of Powell’s myriad talents. His textured, bombastic art pairs perfectly with a story that’s part mystery, part coming-of-age, and impossible to put down.” — Alex Segura
“Diana plays like one musician recorded every instrument, mixed the album alone, then turned up the volume until the walls started sweating… It is a bruised, loud, romantic, frightening story about people trying to invent themselves before the past catches up.” — Comic Crusaders (5/5 stars)
Diana is a MASTERPIECE. Totally floored and inspired by it.” — Jeff Lemire
