Coming just in time for V-Day (in case you have a comics-loving partner or are gifting to a fan of Infinite Jest), Top Shelf Productions will publish a new graphic novel, Mary Tyler MooreHawk, by the Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist Dave Baker (Everyone is Tulip). Described as “equal parts sweeping action-adventure graphic novel and dystopian detective story that weaves back and forth between worlds, touching on everything from corporate personhood to mutant shark-men to the meaning of fandom and reality itself,” Baker’s latest work arrives in stores on February 13, 2024.
Before the graphic novel’s debut, Top Shelf has given The Beat an exclusive look at the book and a statement from the creator himself, Baker.
Mary Tyler MooreHawk
Here’s how Baker’s “mind-bending” graphic novel was described in the press release:
“Top Shelf Productions will publish Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist Dave Baker’s mind-bending graphic novel Mary Tyler MooreHawk in 2024. ‘Half graphic novel, half postmodern prose mystery, this mind-bending book combines multiple formats and multiple dimensions into a retro-futurist palimpsest, crossing the streams between fiction and reality,’ said cartoonist Dave Baker. The book will be released in February 2024.
Who Is Mary Tyler MooreHawk? How did she save the world from a dimension-hopping megalomaniac? Why was her TV show canceled after only nine episodes? And what happened to the reclusive genius behind her creation? These are just a few of the questions that young journalist Dave Baker begins to ask himself as he unravels the many mysteries surrounding the obscure comic book Mary Tyler MooreHawk. However, his curiosity grows into an obsession when he discovers that the artist behind his favorite globe-trotting girl detective… is also named Dave Baker.”
Baker provided The Beat with an exclusive quote. Read it below:
“Mike Ploog is an under-respected comic book artist. I’m a big fan of his Werewolf by Night work. And, also, specifically I love his designs and concept drawings for John Carpenter‘s The Thing. This sequence was my homage to a snowed-in group of people being forced to go up against an unknowable terror. There’s something about creatures with tons of tendons, sinew, and fangs that just makes me excited to draw. Which I think you can see, in the pages at hand. Additionally, when looking at these pages, it’s interesting to me to look at the faces of the characters. When you’re working on a long project you wax and wane in your ability to keep the characters likenesses consistent. Sometimes you get up, and you’re just like, ‘How do I draw these people? I’ve been drawing every day for three years.’ These pages feel pretty good to me. I specifically like this eye-patched version of Dr MooreHawk-Cho and Roxy Racer. They look like this in my head when I think of them. That might sound like a fairly small thing to a non-artist. But trust me, having your characters come out like you imagine them is basically 9/10ths of the job as a cartoonist.”
Arriving on February 13, 2024
Dave Baker’s Mary Tyler MooreHawk is arriving on February 13, 2024, and will be available anywhere books and comics are sold. Do you plan to pick up Mary Tyler MooreHawk next week? Let The Beat know in the comments section, and look at the preview pages below!
Mary Tyler Moorehawk will be available everywhere books and comics are sold on February 13, 2024. For more information, follow Dave Baker on Twitter and Instagram
