Hey Comics Fans,

Here's the latest news from Top Shelf!


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NATE POWELL'S SWALLOW ME WHOLE
NOMINATED FOR LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE
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--First graphic novel since 1992's MAUS to make the list--

Top Shelf Productions is bursting with pride to announce that
Nate Powell's graphic novel SWALLOW ME WHOLE has been nominated
for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize!

SWALLOW ME WHOLE is one of five official finalists in the
category of Young Adult Fiction, making it the first graphic
novel to be nominated for this prize, in any category, since
Art Spiegelman's MAUS won the Fiction category in 1992! "I'm
honored just to be considered," says Powell, "and feel dizzy
having my book even placed in the same sentence as MAUS."

Although SWALLOW ME WHOLE was not created exclusively for
young adult readers, it is fundamentally a story about the
dark, quiet corners of adolescence. The book follows two
teenage stepsiblings, Ruth and Perry, through the ups and
downs of school, family, and suburban restlessness -- all
complicated by the insect armies, swirling visions, and
haunting voices that no one else can perceive.

"To be a young person is to be surrounded at all times by
frightening transition and the terror of losing touch with
a safe and familiar world," says Powell. "Sometimes the only
salvation from that terror is in what a teenager can create
for themselves."

The LA Times Book Prize nomination follows months of critical
acclaim for SWALLOW ME WHOLE's rich storytelling and dazzling
visuals, which have led some to call it "the best graphic
novel since Craig Thompson's BLANKETS." Douglas Wolk wrote in
the New York Times that "Powell's flowing, impressionistic
artwork, with its ravenous expanses of negative space, swirls
the reader's perspective through his characters' perceptions
and back out again." The Onion's AV Club agreed that the book
"achieves some stunning effects with the art and the lettering"
and admired how "SWALLOW ME WHOLE captures the desperation of
the clinically obsessed, and how from the right angle, it can
look like genius." The book also received an Ignatz Award from
the 2008 Small Press Expo.

"What makes this book so worthy of acclaim is the way it
immerses the reader in the life and mindset of a gifted yet
mentally ill teenager," proclaimed Walter M. Mayes, a middle
school librarian and one of the members of the award committee.
"To get a glimpse of what it must feel like to be inside such
a head can be overpowering and disorienting upon first read,
but when reread, the book offers such literary power that it
is hard to deny, even if you don't totally 'get' what is
happening. Teens will find this book compelling, weird, scary,
and ultimately affirming."

Nate Powell will be attending Seattle's Emerald City ComiCon
(April 4-5) and the SPACE Expo in Columbus, OH (April 18-19)
before traveling to Los Angeles for the LA Times Book Prize
ceremony on Friday, April 24. The ceremony serves as the
kickoff for the LA Times Festival of Books (April 25-26),
where Nate will be a special guest hosted by Hi De Ho Comics
all weekend.

To celebrate Nate's achievement, Top Shelf is holding a
mini-sale through April 26th: order SWALLOW ME WHOLE and get
a free copy of Nate's autobiographical short story collection,
PLEASE RELEASE for free! To order, visit
http://www.topshelfcomix.com/natepowell. Top Shelf 2.0 is
also hosting a new online comic by Nate Powell and Rachel
Bormann, entitled "Cakewalk," at
http://www.topshelfcomix.com/ts2.0.

SWALLOW ME WHOLE
-- Diamond Order Code: JUL084290
-- ISBN 978-1-60309-033-9
-- $19.95 (US)

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NATE POWELL (http://www.seemybrotherdance.org) was born in
1978 in Little Rock, Arkansas. He started publishing comics
in 1992 at age 14. His comics include the Ignatz-award-winning
"Swallow Me Whole" (Top Shelf, 2008), "Please Release"
(Top Shelf, 2006), "Sounds of Your Name" (Microcosm, 2006),
"It Disappears" (Soft Skull, 2004), "Tiny Giants" (Soft Skull,
2003), and the "Walkie Talkie" series.

Nate lives in Bloomington, Indiana, where he eats breakfast
all day and sighs a lot. From 1999-2009 he worked full-time
assisting adults with developmental disabilities. Nate
occasionally runs Harlan Records out of his bedroom, played
with punk ensemble Soophie Nun Squad from 1992-2007, and
currently performs in the band Still Hidden.


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THE TOP SHELF 2009 PUBLISHING SCHEDULE IS ANNOUNCED!
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Click on the link below to check out all the information on
our complete 2009 schedule. With LEAGUE III and the all-new
edition of LOST GIRLS hitting this Spring; THE SURROGATES
movie hitting theatres on September 25th; the ESSEX COUNTY,
ALEC, MARSHAL LAW, and AX MANGA omnibuses coming out; as
well as several key literary debuts in hitting this year --
FAR ARDEN, SECOND THOUGHS, and MOVING PICTURES -- it's going
to be an amazing year!

www.topshelfcomix.com/2009releases
www.topshelfcomix.com/2009releases

Jan JOHNNY BOO (BOOK 2): TWINKLE POWER by James Kochalka

Mar WORLD WAR 3 ILLUSTRATED #39 Edited by Peter Kuper

Apr THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMAN (VOL III):
CENTURY #1 ("1910") by Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill

Apr VOICE OF THE FIRE (All-New Paperback) by Alan Moore

May LOST GIRLS (Single-Volume Hardcover Edition)
by Alan Moore & Melinda Gebbie

May FAR ARDEN by Kevin Cannon

May SECOND THOUGHTS by Niklas Asker

May AWESOME II: AWESOMER
Edited by Indy Spinner Rack's Charlito and Mr. Phil

Jun WELCOME TO FOREST ISLAND by Bwana Spoons

Jul THE SURROGATES (VOL 2): FLESH & BONE
by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele

Jul THE SURROGATES (SPECIAL HARDCOVER EDITION - VOLS 1 & 2)

Jul New-Cover Edition of THE SURROGATES (VOL 1)
by Robert Venditti & Brett Weldele

Aug THE COMPLETE ESSEX COUNTY by Jeff Lemire

Aug THE COMPLETE ESSEX COUNTY (HARDCOVER) by Jeff Lemire

Aug JOHNNY BOO (BOOK 3): HAPPY APPLES by James Kochalka

Sep ALEC: THE YEARS HAVE PANTS by Eddie Campbell

Sep ALEC: THE YEARS HAVE PANTS (HARDCOVER) by Eddie Campbell

Oct MOVING PICTURES by Kathryn and Stuart Immonen

Nov THE MARSHAL LAW OMNIBUS by Pat Mills & Kevin O'Neill

Dec AX (VOL 1): A COLLECTION OF ALTERNATIVE MANGA
Edited by Sean Michael Wilson and Mitsuhiro Asakawa

www.topshelfcomix.com/2009releases
www.topshelfcomix.com/2009releases


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BLANKETS -- BACK IN STOCK!
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Craig Thompson's BLANKETS seems to be more popular than ever.
Be sure to grab the copies you need before the new printing
sells out (yet again).

BLANKETS by Craig Thompson
-- Diamond Order Code: STAR19060
-- ISBN 978-1-891830-43-3
-- $29.95 (US)

http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog.php?type=23&title=194


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See y'all on the convention trail this year!

Your friend thru comics,

Chris Staros
Top Shelf Productions