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.

February events for FALL THROUGH

Fall Through will be released everywhere on February 6th, and here’s my first round of kickoff events in the midwest & mid-South:

Feb. 9: Bloomington IN— talk & signing @ Morgenstern’s Books, 6:30pm

Feb. 17: Indianapolis IN— tabling at Chapstick Zine Fest, 11am-5pm

Feb. 18: Bloomington IN— discussion & signing w/ “Coffee With Friends” @ Monroe County Public Library, Rooms 1B-1C, 2pm

Feb. 22: St. Louis MO— talk & signing @ Left Bank Books, 6:30pm

Feb. 23: Little Rock AR— talk & signing @ Wordsworth Books, 6:30pm

Feb. 24: Fayetteville AR— talk & signing @ Fayetteville Public Library Community Room, 2pm

Feb. 25: Evansville IN— talk & signing @ Your Brother’s Bookstore, 6:30pm

You can also order signed/sketched copies of Fall Through (and all my books) directly from me here— and you’ll get your copies of Fall Through before its release date. I also suggest ordering a copy of Come Again if you haven’t read it yet— it’s interconnected with my new book and features the debut of our protagonists!

More dates as they roll in. Thanks for your support!

20% off all original artwork until Halloween

If you’re interested in buying any of my original artwork, now’s a great time: everything available at Athenaeum Comic Art is 20% off until the end of October! This includes the pricier March pages as well as Sweet Tooth, Black Hammer, Two Dead, Come Again, Any Empire, The Silence of Our Friends, The Year of the Beasts, and Swallow Me Whole.

After that, we’ll be restocking with some new originals, including some art from Run and Save It For Later, some X-Men pieces, Nib illustrations, and more. Stay tuned!

FALL THROUGH-- announcement & pre-orders up now!

At last, announcing my next original graphic novel, Fall Through— out February 6, 2024 from Abrams ComicArts!

You may recognize the band Diamond Mine from my 2018 book, Come Again, or the cover of my 2017 Omnibox— now it’s their time, every time, all the time. Fall Through is an interdimensional 1990s punk soap opera centered around the ideals and interpersonal struggles between Jody and Diana, dual creative engines of Diamond Mine, lost indefinitely on their band’s do-it-yourself tour— seeking out connection and an elusive Free Space for themselves and their community each night.

It’s emotional, it’s critical, it’s kinda sexy and funny and queer and idealistic and creepy— and it was the most fun I’ve ever had making a book. And there’s bootleg magic involved!

I also think it’s important to note that Fall Through was drawn from 2020-2022, and served a very important role as pandemic therapy for me: people are already so insistent on memory-holing the fact that all of our social and physical bonds were severed in March 2020 (some irrevocably), and one of the great joys in my life was drawing scenes of a beloved underground community built on trust, depicting throngs of people— friends and strangers both— touching, sweating, yelling, breathing, singing together in confined spaces. Fall Through is my love letter to these spaces, to the ways in which it’s shaped my life, and to the power of that interconnectedness.

You can get more info here from Abrams, and pre-order the book through all the usual routes including Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. (I’ll be posting comics shop ordering info when the time comes!)

Please spread the word if you can— the life or death of a book largely depends on individual people like you hyping books you love, or are excited about. Thank you so much! I’ll be doing lots of book events throughout 2024 for this book (and my next, also out next year)— stay tuned.

Original artwork for sale!

If you’re interested in original artwork, I have a few dozen pages for sale via Atheneum Comic Art— this includes pages from most of my pre-2020 books. Listings are being updated currently, and there should be a good sampling of Sweet Tooth and Black Hammer pages added in the next few days as well! All pages are signed and dated by the year in which they were drawn.

(To prevent undue shock, please be aware that my March pages are considerably more expensive than my other work. This has always been the case whenever they’ve been available for sale, and I’m not in a hurry to part with them. Thanks for understanding.)

Original artwork for sale

I’ve teamed up with Sean at Athenaeum Comic Art to begin selling some of my original artwork for the first time since 2015— currently available are some pages from Two Dead, Come Again, Black Hammer, March, Sweet Tooth, The Year of the Beasts, The Silence of Our Friends, Any Empire, Swallow Me Whole, and a few one-off and unpublished pieces.

Athenaeum will be publicly launching these art sales in the coming weeks on their site (and please check out the artwork from the fantastic roster of fellow cartoonist friends!). Until then, if you’re interested please contact Sean at the Athenaeum site for inquiries. Thank you!

Another book finished-- and starting the next.

Last week I finished drawing my next original graphic novel, Fall Through— it’s a sweaty, interdimensional 1990’s underground punk soap opera (starring the band Diamond Mine from their appearance in my 2018 book Come Again) that’ll be out next August or so from Abrams ComicArts. More details and an official announcement in a few months!

Next up on the drawing table: my adaptation of the late, great James Loewen’s influential book Lies My Teacher Told Me, which will be released in 2024 by The New Press.

Interview today on Indiana Public Radio's "ALL IN"

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Today from 1-2pm Eastern time, I’ll be on Indiana Public Radio’s ALL IN program to discuss my graphic novel Come Again (as well as a bit about March, the late, great John Lewis, authoritarianism, fiction, craft, and personal vs. political), which is a finalist for the Indiana Authors Award in the “genre” category.

The winners of the Indiana Authors Awards will be announced September 1st!

New quarantine illustrations from COME AGAIN.

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Quarantine fun: I made this piece yesterday as a relationship guide to the crew from Come Again and their well-intentioned, loving, super messed-up, horned-out dynamics.

I miss these characters and their world.

Here’s to the therapeutic value of making art when we’re cut off from each other. Here’s to remaining open.

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Evansville Museum Comic Con-- Saturday, August 17

I’ll be a guest at the Evansville Museum Geek & Comic Con on Saturday, August 17th from 11-6! It’ll be at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History, & Science (411 SE Riverside Dr., Evansville, IN 47713). Admission is $12 for adults, $8 for youth, and free for museum members!

Come see me in conversation about my work at 2pm in whatever room or auditorium holds the panels— more info soon!

Naturally I’ll be selling, signing, and sketching in books throughout the day at my table. Come say hi!