Slacker Robots

Spiral-Bound Top Secret Summer

By Renier, Aaron
2004/07 - Top Shelf Productions
9781891830501 Find in the Library

With an ensemble cast straight from a box of Animal Crackers, this is a delightful tale of ambition, morality, and self-discovery drawn in a decidedly beautiful fashion reminiscent of Richard Scary and Lewis Trondheim, yet utterly unique. Renier's fully-realized and compellingly adventurous narrative is at once both achingly naive and profoundly worldly. A remarkable debut, this tightly crafted novella is the real deal, and will charm your socks off.

The Way Home & the Bittersweet Summer

Owly is a kind, yet lonely, little owl who's always on the lookout for new friends and adventure. The first graphic novel in the series contains two enchanting novellas, "The Way Home" & "The Bittersweet Summer," wherein Owly discovers the meaning of friendship, and that saying goodbye doesn't always mean forever.

Lost at Sea

Raleigh doesn't have a soul. A cat stole it - or at least that's what she tells people - or at least that's what she would tell people if she told people anything. But that would mean talking to people, and the mere thought of social interaction is terrifying. How did such a shy teenage girl end up in a car with three of her hooligan classmates on a cross-country road trip? Being forced to interact with kids her own age is a new and alarming proposition for Raleigh, but maybe it's just what she needs - or maybe it can help her find what she needs - or maybe it can help her to realize that what she needs has been with her all along.

The House of Klaus

He's a chicken! He's a hare! He's Chickenhare! Night is falling on the frozen landscape as Chickenhare and his turtle friend Abe find themselves on their way to be sold to Kaus--an insane taxidermist with a penchant for unique animals and enough emotional baggage to go on a very long vacation.

Same Difference and Other Stories

American Born Chinese

A tour-de-force by rising indy comics star Gene Yang, "American Born Chinese" tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he's the only Chinese-American student at his new school; the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables; and Chin-Kee, a personification of the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, who is ruining his cousin Danny's life with his yearly visits. Their lives and stories come together with an unexpected twist in this action-packed modern fable. "American Born Chinese" is an amazing ride, all the way up to the astonishing climax.

Gray Horses

Noemie has left her home in France to study abroad. In Onion City there are new friends, new environments, and new loves. There are also new dreams. And not ordinary dreams. Vivid visions of life in a different time and in a different place, but more than that, of a different existence. In Noemie's sleep she's not a woman, but a horse. A noble creature aiding a sick little girl. But how does this effect Noemie's own journey?

Salamander Dream

Salamander Dream is a young girl's journey within a magical forest. As the year's pass, she finds herself changing, which in turn, changes her friendship with Salamander.

Deogratias, a Tale of Rwanda

BookPage Notable Title Winner of the prestigious Goscinny Prize for outstanding script. Set in Rwanda before and after the Tutsi genocide, and seen through the eyes of a young Hutu boy named Deogratias, Stassen probes man's inhumanity to man and reveals the grip of madness and horror on one young man and his country.

Incredible Change-Bots: More Than Just Machines!

Far away in space, there is a planet full of robots able to change from robot form to vehicle form - the Incredible Change-Bots! Leaving their war torn planet, the Change-Bots arrive on Earth, where their battle continues - but at what cost?! Part parody, part nostalgic tribute, part moral fable, Jeffrey Brown re-invents the shape changing robot genre into an occasionally stopping action comedy half-full of romance, drama and epic battles!

Tales from the Farm

Alex Award Winner - 2008

Xeric Award-winning cartoonist Jeff Lemire (Lost Dogs) illustrates the tale of Lester, an orphaned 10-year-old who goes to live on his Uncle's farm. Their relationship grows increasingly strained and Lester befriends the town's gas station owner, and damaged former hockey star Jimmy Lebeuf. The two escape into a private fantasy world of super-heroes, alien invaders and good old-fashioned pond Hockey. Tales from the Farm is the first volume in a trilogy of graphic novels set in a fictionalized version of Lemire's hometown of Essex County, Ontario.

Colonia Volume 1: Islands & Anomalies

COLONIA: ISLANDS AND ANOMOLIES collects in one graphic novel the first five issues of Jeff Nicholson's critically-acclaimed comic book series under an all-new wrap around cover. An adventure story that is by turns fantastic but straightforward, familiar but strange, and real but surreal, COLONIA delivers true all-ages entertainment. Jack and his two uncles wash ashore on an unfamiliar island, after escaping the hands of the pirate Cinnabar. Still unsure of where, or even when, he is, Jack encounters a man made of fish, Spanish Conquistadors, and a talking duck named Lucy, who is just as unfamiliar with the world Jack comes from as he is of hers. As they consider joining forces, they are shanghaied by yet another band of pirates.

Cry Yourself to Sleep

Cry Yourself to Sleep explores the disappointments of early adulthood by following the lives of three unique characters: Jim, a minimum wage rabbit struggling to pay his rent; Andy, an aspiring novelist dealing with rejection; and The Robot, a machine who just wants to be a better man. In this stellar debut, Jeremy Tinder mixes sadness, sweetness and humor to tell a quirky little story of pride-swallowing, fake moustaches, car crashes and friendship.

Mister O

Goofy silent one-page gags crammed with little frames showing Mister O, a round doodle of a man desperately trying to get across that darn chasm and never quite making it. This will keep you in stiches for pages. More of Trondheim's genius at work.

Pistolwhip

Tune-in your dial to the smashing Top Shelf debut of two young upstarts and witness with wonder as the lives of morally ambiguous characters collide in a train wreck of a graphic novel called Pistolwhip! A naive bellhop's struggle towards a life's ambition; an expatriate musician on the run; a young woman's battle with her paranoia and her past; and the mysterious figure who wants to control their lives. Set in an exotic atmosphere of a by-gone era, Pistolwhip is a marvelous tale crafted with a crime noir feel and an artistic style reminiscent of the best European graphic novelists. We promise you will be rewarded with each re-reading of this elaborate narrative.

Joseph

"Joseph "is another fantastical tale from surrealist master Nicolas Robel. A little boy with enormous hands and an overactive imagination copes with indifferent parents, teasing schoolmates, and troubling dreams. Returning to themes explored in "Fallen Angel"-his first book from D+Q's Petits Livres series-Robel captures the wonders and traumas of childhood in a short narrative that is as emotionally sincere as it is cryptic, while deftly melding the corporeal with the imaginary in his signature simple yet highly evocative style.

Laika

Laika was the abandoned puppy destined to become Earths first space traveler in the Soviets Sputnik program. Abadzis masterfully blends fiction and fact in the intertwined stories of three compelling lives, giving life to a pivotal moment in modern history.

The Three Paradoxes

An intricate and complex autobiographical comic by one of the most talented and innovative young cartoonists today.
The story begins with a story inside the story: the cartoon character Paul Hornschemeier is trying to finish a story called "Paul and the Magic Pencil." Paul has been granted a magical implement, a pencil, and is trying to figure out what exactly it can do. He isn't coming up with much, but then we zoom out of this story to the creator, Paul, whose father is about to go on a walk to turn off the lights in his law office in the center of the small town. Abandoning the comic strip temporarily, Paul leaves with his camera, in order to fulfill a promise to his girlfriend that he would take pictures of the places that affected him as a child.
As the walk with his father begins, and Paul starts to record the places of his

Shuck Unmasked

Shuck is a demon who used to be in the business of guarding souls. Wearing an old man mask to hide his goat-faced nature and to fit into his new retired lifestyle, Shuck lives in a house next door to little Thursday Friday, her mom and her talking cat Jamara. The mask doesn't help him hide and Shuck is drawn into the netherworld he thought he had left behind. Adventure ensues. Shuck Unmasked collects the first four issues of the Ignatz nominated Shuck Comics and includes 54 pages of new material.

The Surrogates: Volume 1

The year is 2054, and life has been reduced to a data feed. The fusing of virtual reality and cybernetics has ushered in the era of the surrogate, a new technology that lets users interact with the world without ever leaving their homes. It's a perfect world, and it's up to Detectives Harvey Greer and Pete Ford of the Metro Police Department to keep it that way. But to do so they'll need to stop a techno-terrorist bent on returning society to a time when people lived their lives instead of merely experiencing them. Welcome to The Surrogates, a daring, five-issue, full-color miniseries coming this July from Top Shelf Productions.

The Awake Field

" Ron Rege is one of a handful of cartoonists in the history of the medium not only to reinvent comics to suit his own idiosyncratic impulses and inspirations as an artist, but also to imbue it with his own peculiar, ever-changing emotional energy. To me, he is unquestionably one of ' the greats.' " -- Chris Ware
"" "The Awake Field" is a collection of Rege ' s reflections of small-town life during a recent two-year sabbatical in a coastal community in southern Rhode Island. Short stories collide and swirl together, leaving visions of mysterious creatures floating through lush landscapes, pantomimed fairy tales, hypnotic dances, Bible quotations, and peace comics-- all in Rege ' s idiosyncratic abstract poetic cartoon language.

Courtney Crumrin Volume 1: The Night Things

Presenting the initial Courtney Crumrin miniseries in a new digest-sized format. Courtney's parents have dragged her out to a high-to-do suburb to live with her creepy Great Uncle Aloysius in his spooky old house. She's not only the new kid in school, but she also discovers strange things lurking under her bed.

That Salty Air

Hugh is a fisherman with a special relationship to the sea; a relationship based on respect and reverence. But when Hugh feels that the sea has betrayed him, his whole existence is thrown out of whack. Hell-bent on settling the score, Hugh takes his revenge to the extreme, jeopardizing not only himself, but his family in the process. Ultimately, That Salty Air is story about change, and learning the price for trifling with the natural progression of things.