First Second Winter 2019 Digital Sampler

Born in Northern Ontario, Canada, Graham Annable is a cartoonist and animator whose unique voice can be found in the form of graphic novels, film, and games. His past work has garnered Oscar and Eisner nominations, along with other notable awards throughout his career. When he's not creating comics and animation you can find him walking forest trails with his dogs and family. 

Mike Cavallaro is from New Jersey and has worked in comics and animation since the early 1990s. His comics include Eisner Award–nominated Parade (with Fireworks), The Life and Times of Savior 28 (written by J. M. DeMatteis), Foiled and Curses! Foiled Again (written by Jane Yolen), Decelerate Blue (written by Adam Rapp), and the Nico Bravo and Eowulf series.

Gene Luen Yang is the bestselling creator of American Born Chinese, which won the Michael L. Printz Award and was the first graphic novel ever to be nominated for a National Book Award.

Chris Schweizer was born in 1980 and grew up in Louisiana and Kentucky. He received a BFA in Graphic Design from Murray State University, where he also studied English, and his MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta. He is the cartoonist of the Crogan Adventure Series, an award-winning historical fiction graphic novel series that has made the American Library Association's Great Graphic Novels for Teens list, the Maverick list, and Book Reporter's Core Ten Teen Collection Graphic Novels list, as well as earning Eisner and CYBILS award nominations. Tricky Journeys is his first series for young readers. He teaches comics at SCAD-Atlanta, and lives in Marietta, Georgia, with his wife and daughter.

Colleen AF Venable lives in New York and is the author of several acclaimed graphic novels, including National Book Award Longlist selection Kiss Number 8.

Kevin Panetta is a comic book writer and the co-creator of the baking graphic novel Bloom and the magical girl series Zodiac Starforce. He grew up in New York and Alabama but is currently living halfway between the two in Washington, DC.

Pascal Dizin is a comic book artist and illustrator. His first graphic novel City of Spies was published by First Second in 2010. His illustrations have appeared in Time Out NY magazine, as the covers for the Joey Pigza series, and more.

Lisa Reist is an illustrator and colorist based in New York City. When she’s not drawing or reading, she’s probably knitting.

Grace: Based on the Jeff Buckley Story is her first graphic novel.

Guillaume Singelin was born in Rennes, France, and grew up inspired to draw by Disney comics and manga. While studying graphic design at EPSAA, he was approached by writer Antoine Ozanam (KLAW, Temudjin) to work on a retelling of the David and Goliath story in King David, revised to be a contemporary mafia tale. But comics weren't what he originally imagined doing, so he joined the animation team at Ankama to work on the feature film MUTAFUKAZ, based on the Label 619 comic series by Label founder Run. It was during this time Singelin dreamed up The Grocery, a madcap combination of cartoonish characters in a gritty urban setting much like The Wire. That unique recipe found fans, and he soon began contributing more and more work to the growing portfolio of Label 619, including stories for Doggybags, Midnight Tales, and the MFKZ spinoff Loba Loca. His first full-length graphic novel to be published in English was the dense postwar drama PTSD, which not only refined his unique balance of cartoony characters in gritty situations but cemented his reputation for thoughtful and multilayered storytelling. His manga-inspired character designs pop out of realistically rendered environments to come to life. From that experience and exposure, he was tapped by DC to create a handful of Batman backup stories (in Urban Legends and DC Vampires). Aside from comics, he continues to work in other fields, including video games, producing illustration, and character design for titles such as the celebrated multi-platform game Citizen Sleeper.

Lucy Knisley is a recent graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and currently attends the Center for Cartoon Studies. During the month and a half she spent in Paris she estimates that she ate approximately sixty croissants, more than four hundred cornichons, and a metric ton of chocolate mousse. Born and raised in New York, she now lives in Chicago.

Visit www.stoppayingattention.com for more information.

Brian “Box” Brown is an Eisner Award–winning author out of Philadelphia whose comics have appeared in the New York Times, Playboy, and New York magazine His books include the New York Times–bestselling Andre the Giant: Life and Legend, Tetris: The Games People Play, Is This Guy for Real? The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman, Cannabis: The Illegalization of Weed in America, Child Star, and Accidental Czar