Dash Shaw is one of the most restless cartoonists of recent decades, constantly evolving in how he approaches the comics page. In the years since his breakthrough graphic novel Bottomless Belly Button, he has continued to create acclaimed, idiosyncratic comics, varying his uses of line and color as well as shifting from domestic realism to sci-fi farce to historical fiction. But some concerns in Shaw's work remain constant. His characters live within their own personal realities, often failing to connect or even communicate. Comics as different as the dystopian spectacle BodyWorld and the geek-culture comedy Cosplayers become sites of clashes between incompatible mindsets-with Shaw adapting his cartooning to capture new varieties of confusion, alienation, and more. In New Realities, critic Greg Hunter (The Comics Journal) follows the through-line across this adventurous body of work.
1. Dash Shaw is one of the brightest talents in graphic novels and in animation. He is known for a unique and uncompromising vision.
2. New Realities is the first critical assessment of Dash Shaw's art.
3. New Realities is coming out in the same season as Shaw's Discipline, his highest profile graphic novel yet, published by Penguin.
4. New Realities is coming out in the same season as Shaw's new animated film, Crypto Zoo (release this fall).
5. Dash Shaw will be the subject of a media campaign related to the other works, and our book will be part of that.
6. There are plans for festival appearances (covid dependent of course), and several virtual events, and podcast appearances.