GULL YETTIN SC

Joe Kessler has been making comics in London for years, most-known for his anthology series Windowpane, published through Breakdown Press (for whom he's also the lead book designer). His work is striking and profound, with a masterful ability to switch between warmth and nostalgia to stings of upsetting horror and back again; comics that can leave you breathless. This year he released the highly anticipated The Gull Yettin with NYRC, a silent voyage with the main character, a young boy, and the mysterious titular cryptid. Is the Gull an imaginary friend or some sort of malevolent spectre? The work is so intrinsically "comic", the purest distillation of what we can appreciate the medium is capable of, and without ever using a balloon or a single piece of text. It's a book that will be talked about and referenced for years to come, a truly important piece of work.