Magnetic Press has announced its second year lineup of graphic novel and art book releases.  The new list includes continuations of some of the volumes Magnetic offered in its first year like the third and fourth volumes of The Adventures of Basil and Moebius  graphic novel series by Larry Hama and Ryan Schifrin (see “Magnetic Plans Basil and Moebius”), and the second book in the series of wordless graphic novels about various animals, which continues with Love: The Fox (see “Love: The Tiger” for a description of the series) as well as Bitten, the previously announced graphic novel adaptation of Cornelia Funke’s Little Werewolf (see “Graphic Novel Adaptation of Little Werewolf”).  The second year list also includes Sidekicked by Russell Brettholtz and Miguel Mendonca, the previously announced first book resulting from Magnetic’s deal with Darby Pop Publishing (see “Magnetic Attracts Darby Pop”).

New graphic novels announced by Magnetic Press include the political/social future thriller Golem by LRNZ (the pen name of Italian designer Lorenzo Ceccotti), which follows the adventure of a boy, with some very special powers, who is kidnapped during a political protest.  Golem is set in a future Italy and features a sort of combination of manga art and Western design that is quite striking.

Another interesting European import from Magnetic is Klaw, which collects the first series of comics by Antoine Ozenam and Joel Jurion about the secret wars between clans of ancient, mythic were-animals in a deluxe hardcover.  The teenage protagonist of Klaw, Angel Tomassini turns into a weretiger when threatened.

Other graphic novels on Magnetic’s second year slate include Beer-O, the saga of a high-functioning, overweight, middle-aged alcoholic private eye by Chris Northrup and Kevin Castaniero, and the science fiction/robot saga Re*Pro*Duct by Austin Wilson and Logan Faerber.

Robots are also the theme of the art book Robot Envy: Zenith, which presents a great collection of robot art from comics, films, and video games.  Magnetic’s other art book release Angelarium: The Book of Emanations, which is written and illustrated by Peter Mohrbacher and Eli Minaya, is one of those collections of “mind-bending art,” poetry, and short stories that will many of those substance-aided combinations of New Age art and poesy.