And we’re back with BF’s Staff Picks feature for March 2026! This regular blog piece is where members of the team give a monthly overview of recommended new releases, designed to spotlight just a few key releases that appeal to us. This is not, then, intended as a comprehensive, exhaustive or extensive round-up but rather to point you in the direction of some top projects that caught the eyes of BF contributors. Please also remember these aren’t intended as reviews and full coverage of the comics/books below may follow in due course!
Comic of the Month
Dear Historian (Jonathan Cape)
Cartoonist Joff Winterhart may not be the most prolific name on the UK scene (Dear Historian will be his third graphic novel since 2012) but such was the impact of his previous books, Days of the Bagnold Summer and Driving Short Distances, that there is no way his latest offering would not be our ‘Comic of the Month’ this time around.
Winterhart’s work is full of the most beautifully observed moments of human nature and personal interactions; sometimes funny and sometimes painfully poignant. Dear Historian is centred on the friendship between young TV producer Lucy and septuagenarian Margaret, whose passion in life is studying obscure 17th century polymath J.W Preece. Do not miss out on this one. We’ll have a full review of it very soon at BF.
– Andy Oliver
The Lights of Niterói (Fantagraphics Books)
The Lights of Niterói by Marcello Quintanilha looks like a fascinating ride from Fantagraphics. Set on the beaches and waters near 1950s Rio, it follows Hélcio, a young soccer player, and his friend Noël, who stumble upon a fisherman using dynamite, and decide to take some of the catch. What starts as a small scheme turns into a tense, unpredictable adventure that seems to test friendship, loyalty, and courage. Inspired by the author’s own father, the story promises suspense, humour, and glimpses of everyday life in mid-century Brazil, with appearances from fishermen, naturists, and the bold performer Luz del Fuego.
The vibrant, full-colour art looks set to bring the period and its characters vividly to life. A thrilling and poignant story waiting to be discovered.
– Lydia Turner
Poem Strip (New York Review Comics)
There’s simply not nearly enough in the way of appreciation for the work that NYRB’s New York Review Comics does in bringing neglected or forgotten gems of the past back to print in new editions. Just check out our recent review of their collection of Rea Irvin’s The Smythes for evidence of that.
Poem Strip is Dino Buzzati’s 1960s avant garde Italian graphic novel that takes the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and recasts it in a contemporary setting. We’ve seen an advance copy (because… guess what?… you can expect a review at BF soon) and this is dreamily gorgeous work.
– Andy Oliver
Butch: A Hate Comic! #1 (Fantagraphics Books)
One of the great comics success stories of 2024 was Peter Bagge’s return to the world of slacker character Buddy Bradley and his extended supporting cast. Hate Revisited! (review of #1-2 here at BF) gave us an opportunity to discover what the cast of the book had all been up to since we last saw them. In brief, pretty much the same as always…
Following up on that, this month sees a one-shot picking up on plot threads from that mini in Butch: A Hate Comic! #1. Buddy’s younger brother Butch is facing jail time and also about to become the cause celebre of far-right media interests. Expect more scathingly dark social commentary in the trusted Bagge manner.
– Andy Oliver
Animan (Drawn & Quarterly)
When a comic is described as being inspired by something as relatively obscure as 1980s TV series Manimal it’s instantly going to grab the attention. Anouk Ricard’s Animan is a super-hero pet detective who can morph into any animal he wants after being bitten by a radioactive mosquito as a child.
Ricard’s work always has a very individual charm to it and the sample pages from Animan on the Drawn & Quarterly site bear that out. Check out this book from 2025 Angoulême International Grand Prix winner Ricard later this month.
– Andy Oliver
Was That Normal? (Avery Hill Publishing)
Alex Potts is a cartoonist who has become renowned for a certain kind of laidback nihilism in his comics work. His comics have featured multiple times at Broken Frontier over the years including such offerings as A Quiet Disaster, Underpants, It’s Cold in the River at Night and Standing Outside the Station, Sweating.
This month Potts and Avery Hill team up once again for his latest book Was That Normal?. The story is described as exploring “the quiet ache of modern life” and to be honest, given that this is an Alex Potts offering, that’s really all you need to know. Join protagonist Philip as he navigates the everyday minutiae of existence: dodging his landlady, drifting through the world, and beginning a relationship with musician Gina. Pottsian introspection is always strangely rewarding. Look for a review at BF very soon.
– Andy Oliver
Electric Chair #1 (Strangers Publishing)
Eddie Raymond of Strangers Publishing has been bringing UK small press comics to the United States market since 2020 as both distributor and publisher. Now he’s got the first issue (of a proposed series of five) of Adam Falp’s Electric Chair one-man anthology. Falp has been making comix (with an “x”) for a number of years, that both echo classic alternative comics while bringing a unique style and energy all his own. Thanks to the Strangers distribution deal with Lunar, you can go to your LCS and order this series with a real underground sensibility. (Lucky UK readers only need to visit Falp’s online store.)
– Gary Usher
