The annual comics anthology of emerging cartoonists The Drawn & Quarterly Showcase new talent series stands out among other anthologies on the shelf, as it is the only anthology to have the focused editorial vision of D+Q editor in chief Chris Oliveros, who is responsible for launching the careers of Adrian Tomine, Seth, Julie Doucet, and more. Five years ago, Oliveros was impressed by the talent and vitality of the new generation of cartoonists. Each volume has been lauded for its short stories, and by selecting the best cartoonists every year, Oliveros gives each artist more than twenty-five pages in the Showcase to spotlight their storytelling and artistic abilities. The D+Q Showcase is where you find tomorrow's critically acclaimed graphic novelists today. Book Four features three North American cartoonists: Dan Zettwoch (The Ghost of Dragon Canoe) of St. Louis, Gabrielle Bell (When I'm Old) of Brooklyn, and Martin Cendreda (Dang!) of Los Angeles. Zettwoch and Bell have both contributed to the award-winning anthology Kramer's Ergot. Cendreda is a frequent contributor to Giant Robot magazine.

D+Q presents the latest anthology of new comics talent from around the world. D+Q publisher Chris Oliveros started the company by publishing a quarterly magazine of the world's best comics talent, which over the years became an award-winning deluxe coffee-table anthology that featured cartoon classics of yesteryear, such as Gasoline Alley, and today's French comics superstars Dupuy & Berberian. Fourteen years later, Oliveros noticed an explosion of new talent from around the globe, so he decided to combine two of the things he does best-publishing anthologies and nurturing talent. The result is the Drawn & Quarterly Showcase, which is one of the most exciting outlets for readers to find new comics talent. Book Three features three cartoonists from around the world: Genevieve Castrée from Canada, Matt Broersma from England, and Sammy Harkham from the United States, whose previous graphic novella, Poor Sailor, was excerpted in the David Eggers-edited Best American Nonrequired Reading 2004.

D&Q publisher Chris Oliveros was so impressed by the work of these two young artists that he decided to commission each of them to write and draw original illustrated short stories for this new book. Kevin Huizenga and Nicolas Robel represent some of the brightest new talents in comics today. This is the inaugural volume in an annual showcase of new talent, complimenting our annual flagship anthology. This is comics pushing all the boundaries; surreal, edgy stories of wonder that shimmer with visual style and emotional power. They are presented here in a deluxe package to introduce them to new fans of illustrated fiction.

The annual comics anthology of emerging cartoonists Drawn & Quarterly Showcase is a new-talent anthology and the only annual collection to have the focused visual acumen of the D+Q editor in chief, Chris Oliveros, who scours the globe for three cartoonists to spotlight and introduce to North American readers. More often than not, it is the first time the cartoonists have had the chance to work in full color with twenty-five pages, and on such a wide-reaching visual platform. The series is hailed for its consistent quality and for the superior editorial vision of its short stories, volume after volume. Book Five features Anneli Furmark (Sweden), Amanda Vähämäki (Finland), and T. Edward Bak (United States), with cover art by Vähämäki. Previous Showcases have featured Kevin Huizenga, Jeffrey Brown,Geneviève Castrée, Gabrielle Bell, and Nicolas Robel.

Drawn & Quarterly Showcase - edited by Chris Oliveros - returns featuring two more of the brightest new talents working in graphic novels today. This edition focuses on new stories by two cartoonists from opposite ends of the globe: Chicago's Jeffrey Brown and from the other side of the Atlantic, Pentti Otsamo of Finland. Brown's story is a tense-murder-mystery: a co-worker at a factory has dreams about dogs attacking a girl two nights in a row. The next day he unloads a truck and finds dirty clothing in the trailer, clothing that looks like a young girls'. As it happens, a young girl was abducted and murdered the night before, and the truck had picked up the load in that area the same day. Brown deftly paces the story, drawn in his expressive line, never quite revealing more than we need to know. Pentti Otsamo writes about a boy's move to a new town and of the nastiness of the local kids who do their best to shun the new arrival. Otsamo's moody and atmospheric drawing style is perfectly suited to the subject of the story. His artwork is reminiscent of some of the best D+Q cartoonists, with the warm colors of Seth and the sensitive, yet expressive linework of Chester Brown.

Killing and Dying is a stunning showcase of the possibilities of the graphic novel medium and a wry exploration of loss, creative ambition, identity, and family dynamics. With this work, Adrian Tomine (Shortcomings, Scenes from an Impending Marriage) reaffirms his place not only as one of the most significant creators of contemporary comics but as one of the great voices of modern American literature. His gift for capturing emotion and intellect resonates here: the weight of love and its absence, the pride and disappointment of family, the anxiety and hopefulness of being alive in the twenty-first century. "Amber Sweet" shows the disastrous impact of mistaken identity in a hyper-connected world; "A Brief History of the Art Form Known as Hortisculpture" details the invention and destruction of a vital new art form in short comic strips; "Translated, from the Japanese" is a lush, full-color display of storytelling through still images; the title story, "Killing and Dying", centers on parenthood, mortality, and stand-up comedy. In six interconnected, darkly funny stories, Tomine forms a quietly moving portrait of contemporary life. Tomine is a master of the small gesture, equally deft at signaling emotion via a subtle change of expression or writ large across landscapes illustrated in full color. Killing and Dying is a fraught, realist masterpiece.