Books like Human diastrophism by Gilbert Hernandez

On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of its first publication, here is the definitive edition of the book acclaimed as “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust” (Wall Street Journal) and “the first masterpiece in comic book history” (The New Yorker). The Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus tells the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler’s Europe, and his son, a cartoonist coming to terms with his father’s story. Maus approaches the unspeakable through the diminutive. Its form, the cartoon (the Nazis are cats, the Jews mice), shocks us out of any lingering sense of familiarity and succeeds in “drawing us closer to the bleak heart of the Holocaust” (The New York Times). Maus is a haunting tale within a tale. Vladek’s harrowing story of survival is woven into the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father. Against the backdrop of guilt brought by survival, they stage a normal life of small arguments and unhappy visits. This astonishing retelling of our century’s grisliest news is a story of survival, not only of Vladek but of the children who survive even the survivors. Maus studies the bloody pawprints of history and tracks its meaning for all of us.

From inside front cover: The story of Satrapi's unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a ... loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private and public life in a coutnry plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trails of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming -- both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland.

Wrapped in the landscape of a blustery Wisconsin winter, Blankets explores the sibling rivalry of two brothers growing up in the isolated country, and the budding romance of two coming-of-age lovers. Blankets is a tale of security and discovery, of playfulness and tragedy, of a fall from grace and the origins of faith.

Story about Yotsuba and her neighbors in her new town.

"Heartbreak Soup shares the dreamlike sensuality of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s stories, their soft contrasts, their intoxicating images. Hernandez introduces the Central American town of Palomar in “Sopa de Gran Pena.” There are four main storylines running through “Sopa,” marking their own courses and occasionally bumping into each other like billiard balls. The first concerns the plight of Chelo, the town’s bath-giver, whose clientele is usurped by a newcomer to the town, Luba (Gilbert’s earth-mother character and the central figure in his Palomar stories), here having only but begun her prodigious career in child-bearing. Then there’s the story of Manuel, the town gigolo, and his amorous conquest of the 14-year-old Pipo; and there’s the arduous climb to manhood of the Palomar adolescents, a rite of passage that is marked by both the loss of virginity and the death of a comrade (although in Gilbert’s hands these mythic prerequisites have never seemed more commonplace and natural; after all, aren’t they the stuff of every boy’s life); and finally, there’s the redemption of the village clown Tipin’ Tipin’ by the unnaturally precocious Carmen (who is almost paranormal here she seems like and unusually sophisticated child, but in her subsequent appearances — as Heraclio’s wife — she’s like a quixotic dwarf; yet her physical appearance hasn’t changed at all, only the context in which she appears). The thrill of his work is in the sharpness of his observations. Each Palomarian is gifted with a set of unmistakably personal mannerisms, gestures, and styles of dress. Few comic books have given their character such distinctive facial features: it is impossible to confuse Heraclio with Satch, or either of them with Israel or Jesus. He also has an amazing demographic eye. He expertly evokes the drowsy sense of suffocation under which Palomar labors, the magical potency of names like “Disneyland” and “Sophia Loren” have when they filter through the temporal cloud that hangs over the town. He conveys a sense of place better than any other cartoonist in the medium. Palomar has an urgency that simply isn’t matched by any other comics landscape. It’s Gilbert Hernandez’s peculiar genius, his greatest strength. It’s his art." — Rob Rodi, The Comics Journal, on sleeve of 1987 Edition

Reprints every "Palomar" comic written and drawn by Gilbert Hernandez between 1982 and 2003, tracing the lives of the residents of the mythical Latin American village from the arrival of Luba, the guiding material spirit of Palomar, to her departure twenty years later.

Coach Boss holds sway over Craw County for one reason: he wins football games. But after the biggest, ugliest loss of his career, the coach must become more of a criminal than ever before, if he's gonna keep ahead of his enemies. Enemies like Roberta Tubb, who's come to town with a machine gun and some serious questions about how her daddy died.

In Alta Donna, the weather is great, the sunsets are super, and the stars twinkle brightly. Perfect, right? No! It's super boring. Nothing real ever happens. Everybody says I spend too much time daydreaming in my own little world. At least my dreams are more interesting than Alta Donna. But what if Alta Donna is hiding a secret? The two new kids in town are up to something. No one could be as good a baseball player as Damiano, and no one could be as charming as Ines. The moment they arrived, life in Alta Donna stopped being perfect and started getting weird. Who are they really? I always say, if you need a puzzle solved, look for someone with a big imagination. And that's me. Nola. - Back cover.

"Guess what?! Yotsuba's...a princess! Too bad Daddy doesn't know how pretty long hair is! It's okay, 'cos Yotsuba can show it to Asagi. She knows aaall about being a pretty princess! But wait! Yotsuba's going to Tokyo! Tokyo is where you go to be stylish and fancy, just like a real princess. The only problem is, there are aliens who are after Earth! It's okay, it's okay. Yotsuba has a secret move or two and will save everyone!"--