Brutality, truth-telling, and the real-time end of democracy.

If you have kids in your life, tomorrow you have a duty to talk to them, at their level of understanding, about the events of January 6, 2021. Remember and rely on your own experiences watching live, in real time, on camera— and in subsequent investigations, hearings, interviews, and journalism.

This was a violent, coordinated, pre-planned attack in attempt to permanently end democracy by overthrowing the US government and its electoral process— with the knowledge, encouragement, and participation of the incoming occupant of the White House.

If you do not do this— or if you do not understand why it’s so important for young people to know now, right now— we are not “on the same side.” Tomorrow will be a new stage in a very dangerous and disorienting war on shared collective memory, national memory, and the very concept of historical truth.

(Panels are from my adaptation of James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me, penciled in 2021 as well.)

'FALL THROUGH' in best-of-2024 roundup at The Comics Journal

I’m very pleased and honored to see Fall Through in both Alex Deuben’s and Valerio Stive’s best-of-2024 roundups at The Comics Journal! This was a stellar year for comics, so check out all of these lists and follow your curiosity.

If you’re interested, Barnes & Noble is currently selling Fall Through at 50% off along with a bunch of sci-fi/fantasy titles!

Hyperallergic's Best Art Books of 2024

I’m very pleased to see Lies My Teacher Told Me featured as one of the “30 Best Art Books of 2024” over at Hyperallergic!

“Lies My Teacher Told Me is a particularly essential book in this time of Trump’s reascendancy, when education… is threatened by the far right and Project 2025.”

You can order signed/sketched copies directly from me here, or get more info and all the usual ordering outlets here.

Miami Book Fair this weekend.

I’ll be at Miami Book Fair this weekend to discuss my two newest book, Fall Through and Lies My Teacher Told Me! Here are my panels:

Saturday, November 23rd I’ll be discussing Fall Through and my magical realist fiction alongside writer extraordinaire Brian Michael Bendis and moderator/editor Charlie Kochman for the “Fantasy World: Survival, Spells & Sorcery” panel, with Q&A and a signing afterward! 12pm in the MAGIC screening room (Building 8, Room 1).

Sunday, November 24th I’ll be discussing Lies My Teacher Told Me in the “Taking Another Look: Rethinking Historical Narratives” panel alongside David F. Walker, Marcus Kwame Anderson, and Tim Wendel, with Q&A and signing afterward. 2:30pm in the MAGIC screening room as well.

See you there!

This is it. Get moving.

Coming back out of the cave into the harsh light. Regrouping and recalibrating.

I sincerely hope that people are rightly alarmed, and that you’re already taking steps to find your people and interconnected networks to help look out for each other— as well as ways in which you, as an individual, will directly participate to protect each other and what remains of democracy.

Over these past few days, I’ve regularly had conversations with people who have become parents in the past five years or so, asking advice about how to explain this election, fascism, democracy, protest, consumer culture, iconography, and more to a new generation of young people. As I’ve been gathering my notes, it’s apparent that my 2021 book Save It For Later is evergreen in the worst of ways.

I strongly encourage you to read Save It For Later (sure, buy one, or just check it out from the library for free) and reflect upon how these observations of intergenerational reckoning throughout the 2010s increasingly apply today. The time has arrived for this book too late, but that’s why it’s crucial to put it at the top of my pile of work.

Save It For Later received starred reviews at both Publishers Weekly and Booklist, was nominated for Eisner, Ringo, and Harvey Awards (as well as an Ignatz Award nomination for its central chapter, “About Face”), and appeared on “Best of 2021” lists through the American Library Association, Publishers Weekly, NPR, CBR, and Geekcast Radio.

You can get signed/sketched copies directly from me, or through Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Powells, Amazon, Abrams, or go find your local comics shop and buy/order one.

My other books, including the March trilogy and Lies My Teacher Told Me, will also be crucial reads as we fight to preserve each other and the hope of a free society.

Death to fascism. Do not give up. Do not comply in advance.

'LIES' roundup + upcoming September events!

September has been very hectic, so I’ll catch up— here’s a little more praise for my adaptation of James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me (available everywhere from The New Press, distributed by Ingram and Diamond— please ask your comics shop or bookstore to order some!):

I’m back from a whirlwind trip to SPX, in which I sold out of both new books and sold all remaining copies of the now-very-out-of-print Come Again within two hours. A highlight was getting to meet and share a panel discussion with the talented & haunting cartoonist Laura Perez— I highly recommend her books Ocultos and Totem from Fantagraphics!

I’ll be doing several events in the next two weeks:

  • This Sunday, September 22nd at 3pm ET, I’ll be on a virtual panel for Brooklyn Book Festival titled “The Sounds of Subversion,” discussing Fall Through alongside Bianca Xunise (Punk Rock Karaoke), Walter Greason & Tim Fielder (Graphic History of Hip Hop), moderated by Whit Taylor! Register here at the link.

  • I’ll be back in Little Rock, AR for the Six Bridges Book Festival on September 26th, discussing my two new books Fall Through and Lies My Teacher Told Me in a joint author interview with illustrator Sally Nixon, moderated by Omaya Jones. It’ll be at Ron Robinson Theater (100 River Market Ave.) at 7:30pm, with a signing to follow. Register at the above link— See you there!

  • I’ll be returning to the beloved Cartoon Crossroads Columbus this year as a special guest— selling my usual jams at table 47 all weekend.

    Panels & special signings:

    Saturday 3:30-4:30pm: “Processing Our Modern World Through Comics and Activism” panel w/ Ben Passmore and Cole Pauls (moderated by Rob Lee), 1st floor auditorium.

    Sunday 2:00-3:00pm: “Nonfiction Comics & History: Youth Explosion” panel w/ Derf Backderf and Chris Oliveros (moderated by Andy Kunka), Room 1A on the first floor.

    Sunday 3:00-3:30pm: I’ll be signing at the official CXC signing tables (107-108), then back to my booth for the rest of the afternoon.

That’s all for now— much more brewing behind the scenes, and many more events throughout the fall here. See you out in comicsland!

Virtual panel for Brooklyn Book Festival!

This Sunday 9/22 at 3pm ET, I’ll be discussing Fall Through in a virtual panel called “The Sounds of Subversion” as a part of Brooklyn Book Festival— alongside a stellar lineup of Bianca Xinuse (Punk Rock Karaoke), Tim Fielder & Walter Greason (Graphic History of Hip Hop), and moderator Whit Taylor!

Register for the virtual panel here and please spread the word— thanks!

SPX!

I’ll be returning to the beloved Small Press Expo in North Bethesda, MD this September 14-15— it’s at the Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center (5701 Marinelli Rd.).

I’ll be slangin books all weekend at table H14.

Here are my deals: My two new books, Fall Through and Lies My Teacher Told Me, are $25 each or $42 for both. March boxed sets are $40. Limited signed & numbered Fall Through prints are $15 each or $25 for both. I’ll also have the very last copies of my Eisner-nominated 2018 book Come Again at the show— it’s probably gonna be a few years before this favorite is back in print, so don’t sleep on it.

Panels I’ll be on:

  • "Altered Realities" with Christi Furnas, Peter Kuper, and Laura Perez, moderated by Rob Clough— Sunday 9/15, 2:00-3:00pm in the White Flint Auditorium.

  • "Big Ideas in Non-Fiction" with Glynnis Fawkes, Bill Campbell, and Dan Nott, moderated by Jonathan W. Gray—Sunday 9/15, 3:30-4:30pm in the White Oak Room.

See you there!

6 months of 'FALL THROUGH'

Today marks six months since the release of my graphic novel, Fall Through— thanks to everyone interested in strange, emotional, subcultural magical stories like this. Thanks to everyone who likes stories that don’t spell everything out for you— for readers who enjoy deepening mysteries which are enriched and transformed by rereading.

These are the stories I like reading and watching, and naturally they’re what I’m drawn toward creating.

Here’s a roundup of some of the praise for Fall Through so far— and I’ll be touring & traveling a lot this fall, so please find me at one of these events and pick up a few books!

  • “Devastating and gorgeous… Perhaps it’s a ghost story, perhaps it’s a fantasy story, but it’s refreshingly oblique. The images are heightened and stylized, the better to pass along that frisson so essential to punk art— rock or otherwise.” — New York Times Review of Books 

  • “Fall Through is magical…Conjures the fever dream of years spent playing in punk basements, sleeping on floors, driving for hours to play for a few minutes, falling in love with music and people, turning into someone new along the way. Careening in a ride you created, but can barely control.” —Hrishikesh Hirway (Song Exploder podcast/ The One AM Radio)

  • “Nate Powell has long been one our our finest cartoonists, and with Fall Through he delivers an emotional and visceral tour de force. You’ll feel more alive. Cathartic and powerful. An absolute masterpiece.” — Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth/ Black Hammer/ Essex County)

  •  “Fall Through captures the feeling of ephemera. Like notes reverberating on air, Powell illustrates the intangible. He showcases the stunning power of art to make sense of a fleeting moment— the fleeting nature of love and loss, life and death.” — Irene Velentzas (comics editor & journalist)

  • “Fall Through captures so many of the complex dynamics of collaboration that are foundational to the communities we grew up in and continue to inhabit. Nate Powell doesn’t skimp on the joy while remaining true to the contradictions and confusions.” —Guy Picciotto (Fugazi/ Rites of Spring)

  • “Equal parts Love & Rockets, Almost Famous, and Everything Everywhere All At Once, this comic is a joy on every single page and a celebration of making things bigger than yourself, being a part of things bigger than yourself, and never losing yourself in all of that.” — Matthew Rosenberg (We Can Never Go Home/ What’s The Furthest Place From Here?)

  • “The most accurate depiction of ‘the scene’ I’ve ever seen committed to the page. Highly recommended.” — Gwen Static, Razorcake 

  • “As artist and storyteller, Powell is a master of colorful chord progressions that accompany the thump of a punk-rock heart.” — Michael Cavna, The Washington Post

 I’m currently 90 pages finished with Diana, the expansive character-study prequel to Fall Through— just 210 more pages to go. It should be out in 2026, and will complete a trilogy which opens with my currently sold-out 2018 graphic novel Come Again. If you see one in the wild, get it— I don’t have any updates on when/where it’ll be back with a new printing, but expect that to coincide with the release of Diana.

Soophie Nun Squad's unreleased 1993 demo now available digitally!

Behold, perhaps the last remaining still-unheard recordings by Soophie Nun Squad: our very first “real” session for an August 1993 demo tape, recorded on 4-track by Joe Cole at his house! It’s free/pay-what-you-want at my Harlan Records archive on Bandcamp.

Why was it unreleased? Because only one of our two vocalists is on the recording: the previous night, we played our third show ever (and track 7 is live from a VHS recording of that show) and I got in trouble for coming home super-late at night. I had just turned 15 years old. My parents found out I was gonna skip out on a trip to Hot Springs with a friend in order to record the demo, and being suspicious of our punk band's activities, threatened to ground me if I still chose to record. Should I have just skated away and gotten in more trouble? YES. But I didn't. So I missed the sesh.

Anyway, this recording features only Mike Lierly, Mark Lierly, Eli Milholland, and Dustin Clark, plus some bonus verbage by Corey, known in Little Rock's hip hop future as 9th Scientist. This demo shows some of the often-lost early musical influences on Soophie: "PJ Sod" distinctively drawing from Downcast, and "Paula" being an explicit nod to Chino Horde, with a kinship to Moss Icon as well.

Unused cover art by Mike Lierly, who also made up the undiscussed demo title in real time while drawing! This was only a couple of months after we self-published our first five comic books. All of this was happening at the same time!

'FALL THROUGH' original art now for sale

I’ve got a bunch of original pages and extra illlustrations from my new graphic novel Fall Through up for sale via Athenaeum Comic Art here. Thanks for your support!

You can order signed & sketched copies of Fall Through directly from me here— and if you’re going to San Diego Comic Con, buy copies at Abrams booth 1216. I’ll be signing on Sunday, July 28th from 11:00am-1:00pm at Autograph Area table 10. See you there!

New essay about making 'LIES MY TEACHER TOLD ME' up at Lit Hub

I’ve got a new essay up at Lit Hub about my process and considerations in adapting James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me, as well as the book’s decades-long relationship to the moment we’re caught in today as we defend our democracy from reality-averse book-ban movements. Thanks for reading!

You can order signed & sketched copies of Lies My Teacher Told Me directly from me here.

If you’ll be at San Diego Comic Con this coming weekend, I’ll be discussing this book and Save It For Later on the “Nonfiction Comics” panel Saturday, July 27th at 2:30pm in Room 10, with a signing immediately afterward at Silver Sprocket booth 1718, and another signing Sunday 11:00am-1:00pm at Autograph Area table 10. See you there!

San Diego Comic Con schedule.

I don’t have a ton of stuff going on at SDCC this year, and I feel this marks a turning point in how I approach larger conventions. Maybe next year I’ll try the expensive risk of exhibiting in my own booth. I’m not sure.

Anyway, here’s my schedule:

Saturday, July 27:

  • “Nonfiction Comics: The Future of History-Based Storytelling” panel w/ Joel Christian Gill, Amy Chu, Sarah Myer, and David F. Walker, moderated by Andrew Aydin— 2:30 pm, Room 10.

  • Lies My Teacher Told Me signing immediately after the panel (TBC) at Silver Sprocket booth 1718.

Sunday, July 28:

  • Fall Through signing (& whatever else)— 11:00 am-1:00 pm, Autograph Pavillion Table 10.

  • Please buy Fall Through at Abrams booth 1216— thank you so much!

Special Guest at CXC this September!

I’m pleased to announce I’ll be returning to the beloved Cartoon Crossroads Columbus this year as a special guest!

I’ve got plenty to discuss regarding my new books Fall Through and Lies My Teacher Told Me— I’ll be selling copies at my own table, and panels/programming will be announced as they’re finalized.

CXC is one of the very best comics events in North America— and free to the public! I hope to see you there.