NBM Offers Instant Rall Book, New 'Cages'

In what may be a first for a graphic novel publisher, NBM is publishing To Afghanistan and Back, an instant book by Ted Rall that recounts, in comics and in prose, his recent travels as a journalist covering the war in Afghanistan. NBM is also publishing Attitude: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists (July), an anthology edited by Rall, and a new edition of Cages, Dave McKean's critically acclaimed, out-of-print graphic novel, a surreal narrative focused on the intermingled lives of a writer, a musician and a painter, in April.

Rall was in the news recently, when one his editorial cartoons, which lampooned widows of the September 11 victims, was pulled from the New York Times Web site after complaints. The new book, said NBM publisher Terry Nantier, comprises articles done by Rall during a three-week stay in Afghanistan and a 50-page graphic novel offering a "more personal account." "The graphic novel is the truffle in the chocolate," said Nantier. And Nantier expects some controversy: "The book raises serious questions about the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan."

Nantier also told PW that noted animation cartoonist Bill Plympton will release Mutant Aliens, a feature-length animated film based on his graphic novel (published by NBM) of the same name, in April in New York City.