Top Shelf Productions is an award-winning imprint of IDW Publishing. They are known for books such as the March trilogy and They Called Us the Enemy, but they do so much more than graphic memoirs. At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, we spoke with senior editor Leigh Walton to learn more about what the publishing house has to offer.
When looking at the overall library of Top Shelf Productions, Walton said, “They’re all united by this sense of making a connection. Nobody else could make this book except for the person who made this book. We don’t like to do books that are too avant-garde where it’s too cool for school and intentionally difficult. We also don’t like to do books that feel empty junk food where you read this book and you immediately forgot about it.”
He continued, “Our sweet spot is trying to find that middle ground where there’s real substance to it and you learn something about the human condition, but at the same time, it’s really reader friendly and it welcomes you in. It says, this is a visual world that’s enjoyable to spend time in but it’s also a reflection of who drew the book. You can see the hand of the artist on every page. You can see the hand of the writer, which is usually the same person, in the storytelling.”
A prime example of this vision is the detective story Mary Tyler Moorehawk from Dave Baker. Walton described it as “a weird book and it’s so quintessentially represents Dave and his weird interests and all of his influences. But he digests all his influences and then produces this totally unique thing that is kind of like Johnny Quest, kind of like Infinite Jest, kind of like House of Leaves, kind of like Jack Kirby comics but also full of stuff that could only come from him.” If you’re a fan of Baker, Walton also teased an unannounced Top Shelf Productions project with the creator and Nicole Goux.
Walton also shared a few Top Shelf Productions graphic novels he’s excited for such as Belzebubs (Vol. II): No Rest for the Wicked about a demon-summoning family next door. He considers the comic strip from JP Ahonen “demonic but it’s also really cute and cuddly and you can tell he’s a sweet family guy underneath it.”
Then there is James Kolchalka’s Jimmy’s Elbow. It’s a psychedelic book for all ages about the experience of hitting the funny bone in your elbow and the feeling it makes. “It extrapolates from there with this child’s mentality,” and is a “wonderful meditation on what does it mean to have a body?”
Top Shelf Productions also has a pair of graphic novels revolving around the theme of “climate anxiety.” In the “mournful, psychological, and quiet” Space Junk, by Julian Handshaw, the deterioration of the planet is causing humanity to evacuate, but we follow kids who don’t want to leave for their own personal reasons. Handshaw “is so great at creating atmosphere with color palettes and everything.”
On the other end of the spectrum is “the big action, Power Rangers style” Undergrowth from Ricky Lima and Daniele Aquilani. The protagonists are killed in the opening pages but are revived in massive battle mechs to help repel an invasion. “The attitude resonates with how it feels to be alive in 2024.”
The final Top Shelf Productions featured book is The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic written by Alan Moore and Steve Moore with a huge all-star team of artists. This is a project decades in the making.
Walton enthusiastically shared, “It’s a monster. It’s long. It’s a big coffee table book. It’s partially comics and it’s partially a compilation of articles and illustrations and pulp fiction stuff that Alan and Steve wrote. It really is very reader friendly and it’s an introduction to how Alan really think about magic. What would it mean if you took the idea seriously and let your imagination if you really connected to that side of yourself…You can turn imagination into reality.”
This is only a small sampling of what Top Shelf Productions has to offer so stay up to date on their website for the latest news.
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