Top Shelf Productions

You won the election... now what? Activist organizing meets government gridlock as a millennial New Yorker cartoonist follows a first-year state senator on her unforgettable journey — from outsider to insider.

In early 2018, cartoonist Sofia Warren was not paying attention to New York state politics. But that summer, her Brooklyn neighborhood began buzzing about Julia Salazar, a 27-year-old democratic socialist running for state senate whose grassroots campaign was inspiring an army of volunteers. When they beat the odds and won, Warren found herself wondering what would happen next. How does it work when an outsider who runs on revolutionary change has to actually do the job? So she decided to find out.

A graphic memoir to be published by Top Shelf Productions in June 2022, Radical: My Year with a Socialist Senator is a remarkable first-hand account of Warren’s experience embedded with Julia Salazar and her staff during their first year in office. From candid conversations and eyewitness experiences, Warren builds a gripping and intimate portrait of a scrappy team of community organizers battling entrenched power structures, particularly to advance Julia’s marquee issue of housing rights.

PRAISE FOR PETER & MARIA HOEY:

• "Spectacular... each page is a feast for the eyes. Challenging, entertaining, and crisply beautiful stories." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
• "Right up there with Chris Ware for craft, composition and complexity... like nothing at all that I can recall." — Page 45

After tremendous acclaim for their series Coin-Op Comics, two brilliant creators present their first graphic novel: a menagerie of wild tales. Pushing the boundaries of their dazzling and unique narrative style, Animal Stories weaves together six short stories exploring the mysterious relationships between humans and other animals.

The recent San Diego Festival of Books featured two Top Shelf authors on fascinating panels that you can watch online now:

Jarod Roselló (Red Panda & Moon Bear) joined the amazing Stan & Julie Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo) to discuss "Comic Consciousness": morality, personal growth, and characterization in comics for young readers. You can watch the conversation, moderated by Comic-Con's Laura Jones, here!

Kim Dwinell (The Science of Surfing: A Surfside Girls Guide to the Ocean) chatted with Theanne Griffith (The Magnificent Makers) about making science come alive for kids, on the panel "From Surf to Science in Middle-Grade STEM," moderated by Jose Cruz of the San Diego Council on Literacy. Don't miss it!

News from down under! The prestigious Ledger Awards, which are now called the Comic Arts Awards of Australia, livestreamed their 2021 ceremony on Friday night and — would you believe it? — all three of Top Shelf's "Australian Invasion" graphic novels were honored with awards!

Pat Grant received a Bronze Award for The Grot: The Story of the Swamp City Grifters, while Silver Awards went to Campbell Whyte for Home Time II: Beyond the Weaving as well as Chris Gooch for Under-Earth. To hear their heartfelt acceptance speeches and see all the great winners, you can watch the award ceremony below.