You'll Never Know HC (2009-2012 Fantagraphics) comic books

Add to cart Very Fine $6.50

Volume 1 - 1st printing. " A Good and Decent Man!" Story and Art by C. Tyler. THE ACCLAIMED GRAPHIC NOVELIST DELVES DEEPLY INTO HER FATHER'S WWII EXPERIENCES. You'll Never Know is the first graphic novel from C. Tyler (Late Bloomer) and sure to be one of the most acclaimed books of the year. It tells the story of the 50-something author's relationship with her World War II veteran father, and how his war experience shaped her childhood and affected her relationships in adulthood. 'You'll Never Know' refers not only to the title of her parents' courtship song from that era, but also to the many challenges the author encountered in uncovering the difficult and painful truths about her Dad's service - challenges exacerbated by her own tumultuous family life. You'll Never Know is Tyler's first first full-fledged graphic novel (after two volumes of short stories). Unlike many other graphic memoirs which have opted for simple, stylized drawings and limited color or black and white, You'll Never Know makes full use of Tyler's virtuosity as a cartoonist: stunningly rendered in detailed inks and subtle watercolors, it plunges the reader headlong into the diverse locales: her father's wartime experiences and courtship, her own childhood and adolescence, and contemporary life. The unique landscape format, and the lush variety of design choices and rendering techniques, make perusing You'll Never Know like reading a family album - but one with a strong, compelling, sharply told story. You'll Never Know's release schedule and format emulate those of Chris Ware's hugely successful Acme Novelty Library: three beautifully designed, large-format hardcover volumes released annually to complete a trilogy of astonishing breadth, depth, and sensitivity. Hardcover (Horizontal Format), 12-in. x 10 1/2-in., full color. MATURE READERS Cover price $24.99.

Volume 2 - 1st printing. "Collateral Damage!" Story and Art by C. Tyler. The first volume of You'll Never Know showed Carol's initial, sometimes difficult, attempts at grappling with her father Chuck's traumatic World War II experiences by bringing them to light. As Book 2 begins, she is startled to discover that Chuck's decision to suddenly, after 60 years, open up to her on the subject has motivations that go far beyond his desire to reveal his past - putting even more pressure on an already explosive relationship. In any event, Carol finally begins to delve into, and re-tell, Chuck's horrific wartime experiences in Italy (which are worse than even she had imagined). But back in the present, the cycle of family dysfunction continues as Carol's own daughter runs into her own trouble, leading Carol into further exploration of her family's buried traumas and sorrows - with an expanded reprinting of the out-of-print "The Hannah Story," Tyler's superb chronicle of the short life and accidental death of her older sister, a heart-rending story (named one of the "100 Best Comics of the 20th Century" in a Comics Journal survey) that in turn sheds light on her parents' subsequent lives and patterns of behavior. Everything is connected, and the past is never just the past. Hardcover (Horizontal Format), 12-in. x 10 1/2-in., 104 pages, full color. MATURE READERS Cover price $24.99.

Add to cart Very Fine $14.25

Volume 3 - 1st printing. "Soldier's Heart!" Story and Art by C. Tyler. In the devastating yet ultimately healing concluding chapter of her memoir - which Booklist called "a work that ranks in quality with the graphic memoirs of Alison Bechdel (Fun Home) and Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis)" - Carol Tyler continues to dig into her father's war experiences, even as she copes with her own family problems (including the inevitable deterioration of her parents' health). Hardcover (Horizontal Format), 12-in. x 10 1/2-in., 104 pages, full color. MATURE READERS Cover price $24.99.