Best Books of 2013 | Publishers Weekly - Comics : Publishers Weekly

March Book One

John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (Top Shelf)

A vivid memoir of the life of Rep. John Lewis, former head of SNCC and legendary Civil Rights figure, that also serves as a you-are-there history of the war against Jim Crow segregation in the Deep South.

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Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life

Ulli Lust (Fantagraphics)

As a teenage punk in the early '80s, Lust decided to hitchhike from her native Austria to Italy, accompanied by an unstable and untrustworthy friend. She faces abuse, poverty, and worse in her travels. A perceptive On the Road–like tale that captures the thrill of irresponsible youthful adventures and their inevitable price.

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The Property

Rutu Modan (Drawn & Quarterly)

A grandmother returns to modern Warsaw with her granddaughter to reclaim property that was lost in World War II. Modan’s clear line art delineates the complex web of loves, lies, and invented pasts. This beautifully realized narrative shows how history shapes us but cannot destroy us.

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RASL

Jeff Smith (Cartoon Books)

The lost journals of Nicola Tesla underpin this science fantasy by the creator of Bone. Rasl is a dimension-hopping art thief who is being pursued across realities by hit men set on killing him. Fusing mythology, noir, and SF, it’s a rousing tale with a memorably flawed hero and jangly pacing that propels the story in new directions every time Rasl jumps to a different world.

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Boxers and Saints

Gene Luen Yang (Roaring Brook/First Second)

These two separate, yet intertwined graphic novels investigate the Chinese Boxer Rebellion, looking alternately through the eyes of the messianic rural insurrectionists (Boxers) and the Chinese Christian converts (Saints), who the former wanted to drive from their country.

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