Top Shelf has published more than 175 comics and graphic novels in its lifetime and is known as a place that's friendly to most comic genres. "We're the kind of publisher who embraces the whole industry," said Staros. "We like Marvel and DC; we like the people who work there. We're friends with all of them. And we have a pretty diverse line these days. We're doing comic books for kids, for adults. Erotica. Some genre work. Some non-genre work."

A comics memoirist in the slightly worn-out quotidian mode pioneered by Harvey Pekar, Brown has already produced a series of books about his relationships with women. This one's a bit more scattered—it's a collection of short pieces about the last two years of Brown's life, including some medical troubles, a camping trip, various interactions with his cat, and a lot of not-particularly-momentous conversations with friends. It doesn't quite cohere into a narrative, although the final section, "A Little Piece of Myself," gives his relationship stories some closure, showing Brown as a new dad meeting his girlfriend's father. Like his earlier autobiographical books, Little Things is drawn in quick pen doodles—Brown's big-headed, stubbly, emotionally fraught self-caricature appears in almost every panel, and he loads his images with evocative physical details. The ultra-casual style occasionally pays off in comedy, as when he captions a scribbled sketch of a driver who hit his friend's car "actual expression may have been smarmier than appears." But a handful of his anecdotes veer into tedious accounts of his life as a cartoonist, and most of them ramble aimlessly for too long; his ability to minutely recall his experiences of various kinds of day-to-day ennui doesn't make them interesting. (Apr.)

Hellblazer writer Jamie Delano has a new four-issue miniseries, titled Narcopolis, coming from Avatar Press in February. Delano, a British writer who came to prominence with numerous other U.K. creators like Alan Moore, Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman in the late 1980s, is best known for his work on Hellblazer, a solo DC/Vertigo title starring the Moore-created Swamp Thing character, John Constantine. He follows several other high-profile Vertigo writers who have published creator-owned titles through Avatar.

• Dark Horse Heroes Omnibus (Dark Horse)
• Fight for Tomorrow (DC/ Vertigo)
• Harley Quinn: Preludes and Knock Knock Jokes
• Lifelike (IDW Publishing)
• Heroes for Hire Vol. 3: World War Hulk (Marvel)
• House of M (Marvel)
• Chumble Spuzz Vol. 1: Kill the Devil (Amaze Ink/ Slave Labor Graphics)
• The Last Musketeer (Fantagraphics)
• Miki Falls Vol. 4: Winter (Harper Collins)
• Love Share (Digital Manga Publishing)
• King of the Lamp (Go! Comics)
• Hikkatsu Vol. 2 (Go! Comics)
• Strawberry Panic (Seven Seas Entertainment)
• Gyo Vol. 2 (Viz Media

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