Top Shelf Productions

Ten-year-old Avery McLean lives with her single dad in the middle of nowhere, entertaining visitors to their gas station with card tricks. But it turns out the real magic was in her all along.

Animator and cartoonist Jeff Victor's debut graphic novel has already garnered high praise from top creative talent like Jeff Smith (Bone) and Jorge Gutierrez (The Book of Life), but we're sure its biggest fan will be the kid in your life. 

You Wish (Book 1) by Jeff Victor
ISBN 978-1-60309-532-7 | Diamond: NOV231066
$14.99 (US) | 152 pages | Full-color Paperback with Flaps | Middle Grade (8+)
Browse Preview Pages | On Sale Now!

Somehow, the year is almost over! We're excited to share this look back at our fantastic 2023 (with a few gems from the tail end of 2022), and hope it will inspire some great ideas for gifts during this festive season. 

CLICK HERE TO EXPAND THE GIFT GUIDE!

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Looking for a great gift for the young comic fans in your life? We've got you covered with a ton of books for kids of all ages!

Early Readers
Our longtime buddy James Kochalka has got you covered, with three great books!

• Dragon Puncher Punches Back - The Eisner Award-winning series returns with nonstop silly action! Who can say no to a cat who punches stuff?!
• Johnny Boo is Bored! Bored! Bored! - Even good little ghosts get bored sometimes! But fun is never far in this award-winning series. For example... check out this magic hammer!
• Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot - A tiny friend and a huge new enemy spell trouble for the Glork Patrol! Saddle up for space shenanigans! 

Middle Grade
Great for independent reading and family readalongs alike!

• Skull Cat and the Curious Castle - It's Scully the Cat's first day as keeper of the garden for a very spooky castle... but where has everyone gone?! Time to be a hero, Skull Cat!
• Cosmic Cadets: Contact! (Book One) - Stranded on an alien planet, the kids of the E.S.S. Khonsu must learn how to be heroes... and fast! If they can't, the galaxy could fall into war!
• The Unpetables - After breaking out of Uncle Milo's All Natural Petting Zoo and striking out on their own as "freelance pets," Pigmund and Lizárdo have one strict rule: No petting! 
• Shelley Frankenstein! Book One: CowPiggy - Meet Shelley Frankenstein, who just wants to create scary monsters... but they always turn out cute! Until this time...
• Rose Wolves - A little girl picks a flower from an unusual bush in the forest which blooms into a magical rose wolf, one missing a leg just like she is missing an arm. Now, the girl and wolf must journey together to find where they belong. A silent and captivating fairy tale.

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Shopping for young adults or the young at heart? From video-game nostalgia to queer space adventures, Top Shelf released a title this year that will be right up their alley! 

• Super Trash Clash - When Dul stumbles on a vintage copy of one of the worst games ever made, childhood memories come rushing back. It's an uppercut right in the feels!
• Cosmoknights (Book Two) - Pan has finally escaped her dead-end planet and has bonded with rebel gladiators Bee and Cass, as well as the mysterious hacktivist Kate. But a rescued princess, childhood friends, and life on the run threaten this found family's peace!
• Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar: Attack of the Snack - Meet Lisa, a sweet unicorn girl with a cyborg arm... and anger issues! Now, she's late for her first day of work and she's under attack by an occult fast food chain! Can her musical dreams survive the pressure?
• What If We Were... (Book Two) - It's time for high-fantasy adventure with Nathalie and Marie, plus their new friend/crush Jane Doe! Jump into their wildest and most hilarious games of imagination yet as these teen girls rewrite the universe to their own rules!
• But You Have Friends - After the suicide of a dear friend, Emilia is left with nothing but memories. This graphic memoir sweetly reflects on the meaning of friendship, love, and loss. Named one of New York Public Library's Best Comics of 2023.

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Last but not least, we debuted a number of incredible titles for adult readers in 2023! 

• Funny Things: A Comic Strip Biography of Charles M. Schulz - Get to know the man behind Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the entire Peanuts gang, brought to life in the medium that made him a household name. Publishers Weekly called it "an affectionate yet bracing portrait of an artist who never overcame self-doubt, workaholism, and insecurities to appreciate his own greatness" in a starred review. 
• Transitions: A Mother's Journey - When Anne learns her 19-year old is transgender, she struggles to understand her child's new identity. A warm, informative, and moving story of a family's journey to acceptance. Starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal!
• F.A.R.M. System - Turns out, superheroes are a bit like pro athletes, preparing for their shot at the big leagues through a combination of marketing, endorsements, behind-the-scenes training, psych evaluations... or they could take some, er, shortcuts.
• Edmund White's A Boy's Own Story: The Graphic Novel - One of the most acclaimed LGBT novels of all time receives a stunning visual adaptation! Follow the life of our protagonist as he comes of age in 1950s Midwestern America as a gay man. 
• Ashes - One of Spain's most brilliant modern graphic novelists makes his English-language debut in this tale of old friends reuniting for the mother of all road trips. This twisty page-turner was called by IGN "the first great graphic novel of 2023"! 
• Chester 5000 (Revised Edition) - Jess Fink's romantic delight for adults only! This erotic love child of steampunk and silent films is back in print, with minor art updates throughout. 
• The Second Fake Death of Eddie Campbell - Eddie Campbell is not himself. But these days, who is? It’s meta-fictional mystery and mischief as the award-winning artist of From Hell sets out to find his own imposter. Plus, on the flipside: a deluxe new presentation of The Fate of the Artist, Eddie Campbell’s classic work of graphic meta-memoir!

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Thanks for joining us in this look back, and we hope you found a new book to fall in love with! Happy Holidays from all of us here at Top Shelf Productions, and we can't wait to see you in 2024.

Advance buzz for both of these books is sizzling ahead of their releases in January 2024! First, Jeff Victor makes his graphic novel debut with the the heartwarming, pulse-pounding genie adventure You Wish, coming to middle-grade readers and families January 9th/10th. Then, Melbourne multi-award-winner Chris Gooch follows his triumphant streak of Bottled, Deep Breaths, and Under-Earth with the jaw-dropping mother/daughter sci-fi thriller In Utero, hitting stores January 23rd/24th.

See why industry titans like Jeff Smith and Jeff Lemire are raving about these incredible reads, and pre-order now from your favorite shop!

Top Shelf's November has brought two exquisitely beautiful new graphic novels on issues of gender identity (Transitions: A Mother's Journey) and disability (Rose Wolves), with universal themes of transformation & love.

Top Shelf Productions is proud to announce the release of a commemorative poster to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the publication of March: Book One, the first volume in the award-winning graphic memoir trilogy by Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell about Lewis and his colleagues’ life on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement.

Teen girls rewrite the universe every day… but now they’re going even further! Reunite with Nathalie and Marie — and their new friend/crush Jane Doe — for their wildest, most hilarious games of imagination yet, including an extended fantasy epic!

It's 👻 SPOOKY SEASON! 🎃 To celebrate Colleen Madden's delightful new graphic novel Shelley Frankenstein (about the cutest little mad scientist) and James Kochalka's upcoming gem Johnny Boo Is Bored! Bored! Bored! (about the best little ghost in the world), we invited both authors to create a trick-or-treat gift for kids and families! Just download and print this PDF file for plenty of Halloween activities that the whole family can enjoy together.

Lisa is a sweet unicorn girl with a cyborg arm… and anger issues… who’s late for her first day of work. And if this occult fast food chain’s minions don’t stop attacking, she’ll never achieve her dream of making it as a musician!

Meet Kevin Alvir at Brooklyn's Desert Island Comics on September 14th!

As the indie comics community descends once again on Bethesda, Maryland, for Small Press Expo this weekend, the Top Shelf booth (W56-W59) is your chance to meet seven outstanding creators and discover their unforgettable books:

Funny Things: A Comic Strip Biography of Charles M. Schulz by Luca Debus and Francesco Matteuzzi finally reaches stores this week! And to launch it with a bang, yesterday's Sunday New York Times Book Review featured a thoughtful and heartfelt review of the book, written by none other than Jeff Smith, the bestselling author of Bone.

Comic-Con starts (gulp) tomorrow night! Stop by the IDW/Top Shelf booth (#2729) to meet these fabulous folks:

• Eddie Campbell (The Second Fake Death of Eddie Campbell)
• Hannah Templer (Cosmoknights)
• Dennis Messner (The Unpetables)
• Kim Dwinell (Surfside Girls)

Plus we'll have gorgeous recent releases like Cosmic Cadets and Skull Cat, and extended members of the Top Shelf family like Maria & Peter Hoey at their own booth!

And on Friday, don't miss the “IDW Publishing: 2023 and Beyond” panel featuring Top Shelf Editor-in-Chief Chris Staros and Cosmoknights author Hannah Templer, at 1:30 in room 10!

After revisiting the award-winning bestseller From Hell with a newly-colored Master Edition, the internationally beloved raconteur and master of observational comics Eddie Campbell found himself stuck at home in a pandemic lockdown, itching to return to the multi-layered meta-memoir approach of his 2006 classic The Fate of the Artist. The result, released today, is not just a deluxe new edition of that long-out-of-print gem but also a brand-new sequel, joined at the hip in a delightful "flip-book" hardcover that starts at either end.

Praise for The Second Fake Death of Eddie Campbell:

• “Through a collage of early 1900s–style illustrations, blunt political cartoons, subtle slice-of-life moments, gallows humor, and a surreal crime story, Campbell wrestles with his own existential crisis as he attempts to uncover the truth behind his apparent doppelgänger. It’s an indelible pseudo-autobiography from a true master of comics storytelling.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
• “Campbell merges memoir and hardboiled mystery to create a fascinating and revealing portrait of how world events impact an individual’s sense of self and creative drive.” — Library Journal

Eddie Campbell is not himself. But these days, who is? It’s meta-fictional mystery and mischief as the award-winning artist of From Hell sets out to find his own imposter. Plus, on the flipside: a deluxe new presentation of The Fate of the Artist, Eddie Campbell’s classic work of graphic meta-memoir!

Based on true events, Transitions is an emotional, informative, and ultimately affirming book, perfect for allies seeking to support transgender loved ones.

“I thought I was open-minded...”

Award-winning graphic novelist Élodie Durand (Parenthesis) achieves a new landmark in nonfiction comics with Transitions: A Mother’s Journey. A sympathetic and moving story of a family’s journey to acceptance, Transitions is translated for English-speaking audiences for the first time by Evan McGorray, and will be published by Top Shelf Productions in November 2023.

In Transitions, university biologist Anne Marbot learns that the 19-year-old she raised as “Lucie” is a transgender man named Alex. Struggling to understand her son’s new identity, she’s overwhelmed by questions. How can this be? Who put these ideas in your head? What if you regret it? Am I overreacting? How will your grandparents react? Why didn’t I see it coming? Why is this so easy for others? Am I a bigot? What does gender really mean, anyway? How can I be the parent my child needs? The news of her child’s transition hits Anne like a tidal wave, sweeping away all her certainties and the comfort of her tidy life.

It soon becomes clear that Alex is not the only one embarking on a journey of self-discovery. The road is not easy, and sometimes their relationship is bitterly strained. But Alex is sure of himself, and Anne is determined to be strong for his sake. With time, she too will be transformed, rediscovering her identity as a mother in profound new ways.

Praise for Emilia McKenzie's But You Have Friends:

• "A tender graphic memoir about the loss of a close friend... thoughtful, loving, and honest." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

When a dear friend dies by suicide, Emilia is left with only memories. Full of humor and poignancy, this graphic memoir is a meditation on the meaning of friendship and a love letter to an irreplaceable friend.

Praise for Dennis Messner's The Unpetables:

• "Hog wild hilarity." —Kirkus Reviews
• "Pigmund and Lizárdo are flippin' awesome! They may be unpetable, but they're also UNSTOPPABLE! Bring on the next adventure!" — Rob Harrell, author of Wink, Batpig, Life of Zarf, and Monster on the Hill
• “Take a wild ride with Dennis Messner’s The Unpetables. It’s the funniest adventure that a runaway pig and a lizard ever had. It’s got laughs, action, thrills, heart, and a werewolf hamster named Mr. Buttercups.” — Kaz, SpongeBob SquarePants writer, and creator of the comic strip Underworld

These two best friends have had ENOUGH of being petted! It’s a non-stop zany middle-grade adventure as they bust out of the petting zoo and hit the road to find their destiny.