British indie publisher Avery Hill has announced their raft of titles coming in Spring 2024. The four anticipated books launching from February 2024 include Barking by Lucy Sullivan; Safer Places by Kit Anderson; Catalytic Conversions: Infinite Wheatpaste vol.1 by L. Pidge; and the newest addition to B. Mure‘s Ismyre series Disciples of the Soil.
In their press release they said:
“As the thermometer starts ticking down in September, we’re already looking forward to a balmy, comics-filled spring—and we have titles in store for you which are about wizards, magic, underground deities, and the mental health system.”
Avery Hill Co-Publisher and Commissioning Editor Ricky Miller said about the Spring 2024 lineup:
“Continuing our tradition of discovering and nurturing new talent, Avery Hill presents three creators with debut graphic novels, and a fifth book from B. Mure, who we were the first to publish. This is the strongest line-up of stories Avery Hill has ever put together — if you like powerful writing, psychologically fascinating characters, amazing world-building, and epic scope, then we have it for you in Spring 2024!”
Check out the full solicits below.
BARKING, by Lucy Sullivan (February 27, 2024)124 Pages, Hardcover, BW, 170 x 239mm
“A year after the death of her friend, Alix’s depression and grief still hound her in this personally-inspired graphic novel.
“Loopy . . . cuckoo . . . stark raving. . . .
“When the depression and grief Alix feels over the death of her friend overwhelm her, she’s institutionalized. But inside a psychiatric ward, things don’t get better for her—now she has nowhere to get away from her rapidly-spiraling thoughts. As Alix navigates disinterested attendants, group therapy, and isolation, she must build herself a new equilibrium and tame the black dog of her depression.Inspired by her own struggles with mental health, Lucy Sullivan tells a powerful, emotional story about the problems that sometimes overwhelm us all—and the failures in the mental health system we depend on.”
SAFER PLACES, by Kit Anderson (March 26, 2024)208 Pages, Softcover, Full Colour, 160 x 220mm
“A new collection of stories about isolation, memory, liminal spaces, and small magic from one of comics’ up-and-coming voices.
“From road trips to doctors’ offices to the mysterious spaces under the house, Kit Anderson’s short stories explore the secrets and magic typically unseen in everyday life.
“A walk through the forest, a family move, a day in a normal life Anderson’s depictions of these ordinary moments transform them with a double-take, revealing the strangeness, surreality, and transformation within.
“With powerful and personal emotional writing and art, thoughtfully combining magic and life as we all know it—these stories establish Kit Anderson as a presence in short comics-format fiction.”
CATALYTIC CONVERSIONS: INFINITE WHEATPASTE (VOL. 1), by L. Pidge (May 30, 2024)264 Pages, Softcover, Full Colour, 156mm x 239mm
“An epic graphic novel adventure through space and time.
“Welcome to your journey into the Infinite Wheatpaste, the home of a universe-spanning sci-fi adventure.
“Relationships . . . androids . . . car repair . . . time travel . . . gods—these interconnected stories set on the edges of human experience share the little bits of life that feel less than real.
“Abby and Lilah are a couple drifting apart. Jeff is a flaming star. Soe is a student who has a complicated relationship with her overbearing grandmother. Casimir is a man with a past and Abe is in his future; maybe in everyone’s future. Otis is a grief-stricken android on a road to enlightenment. Groob is fun-loving and salt of the earth. Some are slowly making their way to each other, but some are breaking apart.”
DISCIPLES OF THE SOIL, by B. Mure (July 9, 2024)88 Pages, Softcover, Full Colour, 148mm x 210mm
“A graphic novel fantasy about a new rail line scheduled to be built across Ismyre that threatens to disrupt both the stability of the land and the god who lies beneath the soil.
“When the Prime Minister announces a new rail line in Ismyre, there are protests: from the wizards, who are concerned about the country’s magic, from the naturalists, who fear the damage to the soil, plants, and animals, and from the Sisters of Our Lady Who Slumbers Under the Earth, who would prefer their giant serpent deity to rest peacefully.
“As the railway proceeds, the worries of the wizards and the naturalists come to pass . . . and the earth has begun to shake. . . .
“A new book in the creative, fantastical Ismyre series drawn in pencil and watercolor by Bristol-based creator B. Mure. Mure continues to expand the Ismyre universe, this time with a story of industry and ecology.”
