I discussed Fall Through, underground music, working on March, and all the rest with Brian Heater at RiYL podcast— you can catch it here via Apple, Spotify, ACast, or however else people listen to these things.
Fall Through is still brand new, and it’s my favorite book I’ve ever done— you can order signed copies directly from me here. Thanks!
Bloomington! I’m doing a talk/Q&A/signing for my new adaptation of Lies My Teacher Told Me this Sunday, May 19th at the downtown library. 2pm in Room 1B— please spread the word, and I hope to see you there!
There’s a great new piece on the effectiveness of Lies My Teacher Told Me through the medium of comics over at CBR— check it out here!
I’ll be in Louisville KY this evening, discussing Fall Through and Lies My Teacher Told Me at Carmichael’s Bookstore (2720 Frankfort) at 7pm. Check my events page for updated talks & signings— in the next few weeks I’ll be doing stuff here in Bloomington, as well as in Ann Arbor and Detroit!
If you’re around Louisville, I’ll be at Carmichael’s (2720 Frankfort Ave.) on Friday, May 10th to discuss my two new books, Fall Through and Lies My Teacher Told Me— with Q&A and signing too. Please spread the word— see you there!
This weekend I’ll be in Columbus, Ohio at SPACE— the Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo— at the Rhodes Center (Ohio State Fair & Expo Grounds) 10am-6pm Saturday and 10am-5pm Sunday. I’ll have both new books, Fall Through and Lies My Teacher Told Me, as well as a limited quantity of both signed/numbered Fall Through prints ($20 each, or $30 for both).
I’ll also be doing a talk/slideshow/Q&A on Saturday at 2pm about my work on Lies My Teacher Told Me, and my approach back & forth between fiction and nonfiction over the years.
See you there!
Today’s the day!
Four years ago I was locked down in my house just like you, starting work on my adaptation of Lies My Teacher Told Me— utterly uncertain what kind of world the book would be released into. It’s out everywhere today, more relevant and crucial than ever before. My thoughts and gratitude are with the late, great James Loewen for trusting me with his work!
Get a copy from your local book/comics shop, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s, Amazon, or signed/sketched copies directly from me— and my other brand-new graphic novel Fall Through is still hot off the presses too!
Thanks, everybody.
What an honor to recieve a 4.5-star review from The Slings & Arrows for Lies My Teacher Told Me: “Powell takes a landmark book (and its updates) and presents a version maintaining its integrity while making it more accessible. It’s important and it’s magnificent.”
Lies My Teacher Told Me will be released this Tuesday, April 16th, and is already available in comics shops! You can also order them both (as well as most of my other books) from me directly, signed & sketched here.
My other brand-new graphic novel Fall Through is still hot off the presses, and here’s a new podcast interview I did with Ryan Zlomek from Meditations podcast.
If you’re in Indiana, I’ll be doing a double-book-release signing for both Fall Through and Lies My Teacher Told Me this Saturday, April 20th at Vintage Phoenix Comics (114 E. 6th) from 2-4pm. See you there!
My full comics adaptation of the late, great James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me will be out in just a week!
You can grab one via your local shop, Bookshop, Powells, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or order signed/sketched copies directly from me here. And while you’re at it, pick up a copy of my still-brand-new graphic novel Fall Through, which has enjoyed a tremendous reader response over the last two months!
If you’re in Bloomington, I’ll be doing a double book-release signing at Vintage Phoenix Comics (114 E. 6th) on Saturday, April 20th from 2-4pm. See you there!
If you’re around Bloomington, I’ll be doing a double book-release signing for Lies My Teacher Told Me (out April 16th from The New Press) and Fall Through (out now from Abrams) at my local shop, Vintage Phoenix Comics (114 E. 6th)— Saturday, April 20th from 2-4 pm. If you’re downtown for Record Store Day, come hop over two blocks and grab some books!
I’ll also have a limited quantity of my Fall Through 16”x20” prints at the signing. See you there!
I was really feeling the springtime over the weekend, so I did this piece of Jody & Diana from Fall Through— all brush on this one, 9”x12”.
There’s a fresh excerpt of a DIY-recording scene from Fall Through up today at Publishers Weekly’s “Panel Mania”— check it out, and you can order copies of Fall Through directly from me here, or through all the usual outlets linked here at Abrams.
I also recently did an interview for The Substance podcast, covering the breadth of my work but also focusing on Fall Through.
One of my closest friends, comics scholar & excellent human being Caitlin McGurk has spent years researching and curating Tell Me A Story Where The Bad Girl Wins: The Life And Art Of Barbara Shermund, which is open for preorders now from Fantagraphics!
“Readers will discover Shermund’s unique and vibrant life and art, and gain an understanding of how women’s place in the history of cartooning has been controlled and sublimated by greater societal and cultural allowances. Through close readings, archival research, reproductions of original art, correspondence and photographs, this volume uncovers and celebrates a trailblazing female magazine cartoonist, and rightfully places her in the canon of cartoon art history.”
Preorder a copy!
I’m very pleased to find a starred review for my adaptation of Lies My Teacher Told Me at Publishers Weekly— it’ll be out April 16th from The New Press!
“Powell’s characteristically fluid art lends new depth to revisited figures including Helen Keller, known by most Americans solely for her disabilities and not for her radical activism, and abolitionist John Brown, condemned by U.S. history books as a mentally disturbed violent extremist rather than a dedicated social progressive. Long a favorite of radical educators, Loewen’s original text receives the vital and accessible adaptation it deserves.”
A huge shipment of Lies My Teacher Told Me just arrived at my house, and I’m shipping out signed mailorders starting in the next few days! The book will be available everywhere on April 16th— you can also preorder it via your local bookstore, comics shop, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.
It’s wild to have two new books out in two months— Fall Through is still hot off the presses, and the response has been incredible! You can order that one directly from me as well, or through your local shop, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.
Stay tuned for updated events throughout the year for both of these new books— thanks as always for your warm reception and support!
I’ll be in New York City for the debut of Fall Through at MoCCA Festival (my first time since 2018!)— here’s my schedule:
Saturday, March 16th:
signing at Top Shelf, 12:00-2:00 pm (booth 24)
signing at Abrams, 3:00-3:30pm (booth 147)
Sunday, March 17th:
signing at Top Shelf, 11:00am-12:00pm (booth 24)
signing at Abrams, 2:20-2:50pm (booth 147)
“Taking Sides, Drawing Lines” panel, 3:00pm (Room 1)
It’s great to see a write-up of Fall Through in this week’s New York Times, in which it’s referred to as “devastating and gorgeous”— the print edition will be published on the 18th!
Also from this week: a Fall Through video review from Graphic Policy, a very thoughtful piece about the book from Matthew Teutsch via Medium, a write-up of my book release talk at Indiana Daily Student, and an interview about the book at Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Northwest edition.
Thanks for supporting my work— and I have yet another new book coming out April 16th from The New Press: my full comics adaptation of James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me. Final copies just arrived at my house, and they look fantastic!
I’ll be doing talks, signings, and slangin books here in the next week or so:
Feb. 17th: Indianapolis IN @ Chapstick Zine Fest, Ujamaa Bookstore (2424 MLK) @11am-5pm
Feb. 18th: Bloomington IN @ Monroe County Public Library, downstairs Room 1B @ 2pm
Feb. 22nd: St. Louis MO @ Left Bank Books (399 N. Euclid), in conversation with Steenz @ 6:30pm
Feb. 23rd: Little Rock AR @ Wordsworth Books (5920 R St.) @ 6:30pm
Feb. 24th: Fayetteville AR @ Fayetteville Public Library @ 2pm
Feb. 25th: Evansville IN @ Your Brother’s Bookstore (504 Main St.) @ 4pm
See you there!
Thanks, everyone, for helping Fall Through have a strong week for its release!
Switching gears, here’s a new interview at Booklist— my first for the forthcoming book, Lies My Teacher Told Me, which’ll be out April 16th from The New Press. Find more info and preorder options here, or you can preorder a signed/sketched copy directly from me here.
Here’s a release-day interview I did about Fall Through for Comic Book Club podcast.
Here’s a guest blog I wrote about Fall Through at Barnes & Noble!
And it’s typically behind a paywall, but here’s a press-reader version of an interview I did about Fall Through and Arkansas underground punk for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. (Here’s the subscriber version.)
And this Friday, Feb. 9th in Bloomington: I’ll be discussing & signing for the release of Fall Through at Morgenstern’s Books (849 S. Auto Mall Rd.) at 6:30pm— see you there!
Fall Through is out today, in bookstores and online— and in comics shops tomorrow!
This is by far my favorite book I’ve done, and I’ve never had people connect so emotionally to one of my stories. My whole heart belongs to these characters.
Thanks to everyone for your faith and support— please spread the word, and leave reviews online which immensely help the visibility of independent books which need all the help they can get!
Here’s a little dive into imagery throughout Fall Through (out next Tuesday!):
A major reference point that binds Fall Through is the stellar work of Lynd Ward, who arguably invented the graphic novel in 1929 (four years before the invention of the comic book!).
His expressionist visions strike me on a primal level, and the haunted looks of Diana & showgoers as they experience transcendent moments of gravity are a direct nod to a panel in Madman’s Drum (1930).
Diamond Mine’s interdimensional skips are indicated by the falling star in Song Without Words (1936).
In a profound coincidence, years ago I realized that the artwork used for Little Rock band Five-O’s “Fall Through” 7” was Lynd Ward’s work from both Madman’s Drum and Wild Pilgrimage (1932).
