Burns, Charles. Final Cut. Pantheon. ISBN 9780593701706.

An aspiring director’s attempt to produce a grisly 8mm horror movie, inspired by imagery that haunts his subconscious, becomes increasingly derailed by his infatuation with the actress who has been cast in the film’s lead role. Burns creates a stunningly illustrated exploration of alienation, obsession, and the existential dilemma of yearning for connection with another human being when one is incapable of expressing oneself by any means other than art.

Dorrance, Denise. Polar Vortex: A Family Memoir.The Experiment. ISBN 9781615199051.

Dorrance is living and working in London when her mother falls and ends up in the hospital. Dorrance dutifully flies home to a snowy Cedar Rapids, IA, where the extent of her mother’s dementia becomes clear and forces her to make difficult decisions. Dorrance creatively conveys the challenges of caring for an aging parent, interspersing humor with wrenching moments and effectively incorporating photos, letters, and postcards into the illustrations of this poignant memoir, her graphic novel debut.

Ferris, Emil. My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Bk. Two. Fantagraphics. ISBN 9781683969273.

This second installment in Ferris’s graphic mystery, depicting 10-year-old Karen Reyes’s uncommonly tumultuous coming of age in 1960s Chicago, finds the hero mourning the death of her mother, increasingly contemplating her own sexual identity, and obsessively investigating the murder of her upstairs neighbor. Ferris’s virtuosic illustrations, seemingly effortless mastery of plot and tone, and nuanced evocation of character and setting make this volume a uniquely immersive, thoroughly satisfying conclusion to Karen’s story.

Hulls, Tessa. Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir. MCD. ISBN 9780374601652.

In this graphic memoir, Hulls delves into her family’s past. Her grandmother was a journalist who had to flee China with her daughter and later immigrated to the U.S., where Hulls was born. Hulls’s strained relationship with her family compelled her to travel the globe, but she eventually returned and found new understanding as she researched her family’s history. Black-and-white drawings evocatively portray this affecting narrative and the haunting nature of trauma.

Kaneko, Atsushi & Osamu Tezuka. Search and Destroy, Vol. 1. Fantagraphics. tr. from Japanese by Ben Applegate. ISBN 9781683969327.

Kaneko reimagines Tezuka’s epic fantasy saga Dororo as a gritty, fast-paced cyberpunk thriller set in a dystopian city held in the grip of mechanical crime lords. Kaneko retains Tezuka’s thematic interest in justice and individuality while integrating elements of body horror and an increased focus on the unsustainability of societies where vital resources are controlled by a thriving minority, to the detriment of the masses.

Matsumoto, Taiyo. Tokyo These Days, Vol. 1. VIZ Media. tr. from Japanese by Michael Arias. ISBN 9781974738809.

When his latest project fails to attract a readership, a highly esteemed manga editor announces his retirement after three decades in the industry. But after the unexpected death of a colleague, the editor enlists a group of veteran artists, all of whom are disenchanted or traumatized by their experiences as professional cartoonists, to help realize his vision of the perfect manga. A provocative meditation on the struggle to create meaningful art for mass-market consumption.  

Walker, David F. & Marcus Kwame Anderson. Big Jim and the White Boy: An American Classic Reimagined. Ten Speed Graphic. ISBN 9780593836118.

Walker and Anderson’s retelling of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn places Jim at the center of the narrative and reimagines Huck as his unofficial foster son and sidekick, tagging along on Jim’s quest to rescue his kidnapped family. The resulting reframing creates a profoundly moving adventure story that highlights characters and communities typically relegated to supporting roles in—or else omitted entirely from—classic literature and often the historical record as well.

Wohlleben, Peter & Fred Bernard (text) & Benjamin Flao (illus.). The Hidden Life of Trees: A Graphic Adaptation. Greystone. tr. from French by David Warriner. ISBN 9781778401657.

Bernard and Flao skillfully transform Wohlleben’s bestselling 2016 book, making Wohlleben the main character. It uses aspects of the forester’s life, from his childhood love of the outdoors to his stewardship of an eco-friendly woodland in Germany, as a frame for imparting astonishing insights into the ecosystem of a forest and the importance of protecting the environment. The vibrant and engaging illustrations draw readers in and elevate further this memorable and impactful book.