MICROCOSM PUBLISHING
DO NOT PET #1
SERVICE DOGS GRAPHIC TAIL
(W) Joe Biel (A) Gerta Oparaku
Throughout human history, dogs have performed service tasks for us. Some of the earliest documented cases occurred during the First World War, when, in the U.K. and Germany, guide dogs helped people with disabilities live fuller lives. Do Not Pet: A Service Dog's Graphic Tail follows the story of one such service dog, Ruby, who gave the author Joe Biel mobility, health, and companionship through the most difficult years of his life. This comic details their personal struggles with public awareness and accommodation and celebrates their remarkable interspecies bond.
DO NOT PET #2
HOW ACTIVISTS BROUGHT DISABILITY RIGHTS TO U.S.
(W) Joe Biel (A) Gerta Oparaku
Service dogs, wheelchair-accessible buildings, and protection against being fired due to a disability-these basic rights are all a result of the American Disabilities Act, a U.S. federal law passed in 1990. Even though 1 in 4 people in this country have a disability, it took many years of street-level activism and political advocacy to bring the ADA and its precursors into existence. The second, standalone issue of Do Not Pet is the story of that fight in graphic form, introducing the disability rights movement's boldest leaders of the 70s and 80s, as well as some of the everyday people who joined the cause and benefited from the results.
SEEDS OF SPRING #1 (OF 15)
(W) Christopher Coquard (A) Sacha Ravenda
In this innovative serial graphic novel, Naguset, a modern Canadian Mi'kmaq teenager, exchanges books and mix tapes with her pen pal, Chris. Her imagination sparks when he sends her a biography of the 19th century Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin. The story juxtaposes Naguset's personal and political coming-of-age in her loving family home with Kropotkin's rocky upbringing in a princely palace. These two stories of eventful lives and bold hearts are interwoven with Kropotkin's theories of freedom, Mi'kmaq vocabulary and social history, and an uplifting punk soundtrack, creating a unique reading experience bound to inspire readers to think in new ways about the issues of our time.
SEEDS OF SPRING #2 (OF 15)
(W) Christopher Coquard (A) Sacha Ravenda
Naguset's brother Mui'n is called to active military duty. With the help of a punk soundtrack and her grandfather's story about the origin of her name, she comforts herself and her little sister. Meanwhile, she continues to read Kropotkin's biography. The Tsar dies, young Peter's father frightens and terrorizes the family and their serfs, and Peter wonders if his brother will come home from the war.