We’re excited to announce our first graphic novel release for Spring 2025 –
Second Shift by Kit Anderson.

Out 5th June 2025

132 pages, paperback, full colour throughout, 160 x 220mm

Birdie Doran’s life on the station is the same routine every day… until she
starts finding secrets in this science fiction graphic novel.

From the time when the station wakes her up, Birdie Doran is on the clock. It’s
just her and one or two others on Terracorp’s isolated outpost, processing
comets. So she slips into virtual reality, with the station creating adventures for
her as she does repairs, routine maintenance, and checks the status on all the
systems.

But when Birdie discovers another abandoned station just within walking
distance of her own, she begins to question her isolation, and her own
memories of what her job- and her life—really is. And at every turn, she starts
finding the things the station has been hiding from her.
Ignatz Award-nominated author Kit Anderson presents a psychological science
fiction exploration of the lines between reality inside and outside the mind.

Events!

Avery Hill creators have been involved with all sorts of events lately! Tim Bird and Kat Chapman spoke about their work at P&G Wells Booksellers and the Cartoon Museum respectively. Kit Anderson will be on a panel on the 14th November at LibraryCon, talking about Sci-Fi and her upcoming book Second
Shift. You can register to take part in this online event here.

Dates for your diary

It’s November – Thought Bubble month!
You’ll be able to find us at table C39 in the Travelling Man Hall.
As usual we’ve created a handy map to help you locate all the Avery Hill
creators who’ll be at the festival later this month!

B. Mure will be taking part in an excellent-sounding panel about folklore in
comics. Don’t miss this on the Saturday!

Also, a reminder for all those arriving in Harrogate on Friday the 15th before the festival – Tim Bird will be launching his beautiful book Adrift on a Painted Sea at the Mercer Gallery that evening. It’s also the opening night of an exhibition showcasing paintings by Sue Bird and artwork from the graphic novel.
Join us on the 15th from 6-8pm for a glass of fizz and a chance to get a copy of the book signed by Tim!
The exhibition will then continue until 31st March 2025.

In other news…

We had a great time at the SPX comic festival in Maryland in September. Two Avery Hill artists took part in panels this year, and the panels are now available to watch on YouTube!
Check them out here:

Queer Sports featuring Tillie Walden
Cults featuring George Wylesol

Tim Bird wrote a wonderful piece on Electric Lit where he recommended 8 graphic novels about parent-child relationships. Check it out here!

Finally, we have a treat for you from our own podcast Signals from the Hill! Kat speaks to Tim Bird about family, memory, loss, art… and making quiet comics, in celebration of his new graphic novel Adrift on a Painted Sea. The podcast is available to watch below or listen here!

Press round-up

• The Scrapbook of Life and Death by J. Webster Sharp was reviewed on Four Color Apocalypse: “2024’s most VITAL, most CONFRONTATIONAL, most PERSONAL, most DARING work is here.”

• Adrift on a Painted Sea by Tim Bird was reviewed on Publishers Weekly: “An elegant and eclectic tribute to art as antidote to grief.”

• Adrift on a Painted Sea was also reviewed on Shelf Awareness: “With obvious admiration and poignant longing, British comics maker Tim Bird memorializes his late mother, artist Sue Bird. Mother and son produce a lingering homage to family, creativity, and the everlasting power of art.”

• It was also reviewed in the Herald Magazine: “Tim Bird is the cartoonist of British domesticity; his comic strips are a symphony of street lights and motorway service stations, supermarkets and seaside towns. This sweet, sad story is a quiet marvel, one that lingers long after you’ve turned the last page.”

• The Hard Switch by Owen D. Pomery was reviewed on Solrad: “Striking. An interesting blend of two science fiction standards: post-apocalypse and space opera… I appreciate playing with tropes, especially if they’re done in a way that makes me wonder why they haven’t been done before.”