It’s the end of the week so it’s time to go into the weekend with a Friday afternoon preview! This week we’re taking a look at Twin Lotuses by Zhang Xiayou, coming this Spring from Magnetic Press.
Magnetic Press Unveils TWIN LOTUSES – The First-Ever English-Language Graphic Novel Written and Drawn by World-Renowned Chinese Cartoonist Zhang Xiaoyu
Ambitious. Breathtaking. Genre-Defying.
Discover a Steampunk Epic That Transports Readers From the Gritty Streets of World War II China to a Theater of Technological Wonder
Oni Press and Magnetic Press – the Eisner Award-winning publisher celebrating prestige graphic novels from around the globe since 2013 – are proud to announce the first-ever English-language publication of TWIN LOTUSES, a manhua masterpiece which marks internationally acclaimed Chinese artist Zhang Xiaoyu’s debut as a writer/artist in North America. Stylish, ambitious, and genre-defying, TWIN LOTUSES is a book to be reckoned with, and its release in the spring of 2026 will be a major publishing event.
“Masterfully mixing a snapshot of war-torn China with the philosophical sci-fi questions of a Philip K. Dick novel, TWIN LOTUSES is a beautifully illustrated story capturing an ugly time and the flicker of hope, love, and ambition that shone through it all,” says Magnetic Press’ Director of Publishing, Mike Kennedy.
TWIN LOTUSES follows a Chinese orphan known as Stink Head, whose life changes forever when he befriends Fan, a Chinese engineer who built an extraordinary clockwork automaton that performs at a local theater. Meanwhile, war rages throughout the city, and orphaned children run wild under the direction of local potentates in an attempt to thrive and survive. When those potentates take notice of the mysterious beauty at the theater, suspicions and desires start to grow, and Fan’s history with his invention comes into heartbreaking focus. Mix in an American airman, and the tensions of war, and things build to an explosive finale.
Originally published in China as Bìngdìlián and in France as Lotus Jumeaux, TWIN LOTUSES is a brilliant showcase of Zhang Xiaoyu’s incredible talent. Throughout his three-decade career, Xiaoyu’s work has been published around the world by prestigious publishers including Belgium’s Casterman and France’s Glenat, and earned First Prize and Best Graphic Novel in the prestigious China Animation and Comic Competition as well as France’s prestigious Golden Elephant Award. Xiaoyu has collaborated with everyone from Animeland Award Winner Guillaume Dorison, aka Izu (Crusades), to two-time Hugo Award-winning author Cixin Liu (Three Body Problem), on the short story “The Village Teacher.”
TWIN LOTUSES is a gorgeous, 324-page hardcover graphic novel that will give English-speaking audiences their first opportunity to appreciate Xiaoyu’s wonderful writing in addition to his breathtaking art. TWIN LOTUSES will be published in bookstores on Tuesday, April 14th, 2026 and in comic shops on April 15th.
For more updates on Magnetic Press, visit them on Facebook, and Instagram.
TWIN LOTUSES
WRITTEN BY ZHANG XIAOYU
ART BY ZHANG XIAOYU
COVER BY ZHANG XIAOYU
ON SALE April 14, 2026 | $29.99 | 324 PGS. | HC
