PAGEANT TP (MR) (19 Mar Release)

Ponce Melee is a lonely clock-puncher working for Twin Labs in the cloning dept. When he uses a strand of hair to clone a companion; it’s successful¸ but she immediately leaves him for greener pastures. So¸ he clones another potential companion. And that one leaves. And again. And again. Soon¸ multiple clones begin causing confusion and havoc around town. Meanwhile¸ one of the errant clones makes a pact with the devil that goes awry and strands Satan in town¸ forcing him to get a job. Justin Gradin’s sophomore graphic novel (after 2023’s Mystic Debris) combines keen verbal and visual wit with a host of memorable characters — Mandrake the Soda Jerk¸ private investigator Butterfly Latté¸ pop superstar Attilla the Hunny¸ and many more—to create an anarchic¸ absurdist comedy about lonely souls and the lonely soulless. Pure comics¸ Gradin’s work has echoes of Gary Panter¸ Gary Leib¸ Marc Bell¸ and Mark Beyer (and even some other cartoonists who may or may not be named Gary or Mark) while remaining a singular¸ sui generis voice in contemporary comics.