Cat Head Comics Catalog
Unusual Graphic novels by Steve Lafler, who has maintained his status as a loose cannon on the deck of Alt/Underground comics movement for decades.
1956 Movie Star
This “what if” take on mid-century Manhattan is the jolly conceit of cartoonist Steve Lafler in 1956 Movie Star—enjoy as you lean into that transcendent Coltrane solo over a martini just past midnight in New York City, smack in the center of 1956. 72 pages, trade paper, $12.99 at Amazon.
1956 Book One: Sweet Sweet Little Ramona
This graphic novella delivers readers to the bright lights and glamor of Manhattan in 1956 with Jack, Susie and Ramona. They cut deals in the Garment District by day and haunt the legendary Jazz Clubs of 52nd St. by night. 54 pages, trade paper, $9.95 at Amazon.
Death Plays a Mean Harmonica
Gertie and Rex get a wild hair and relocate to Oaxaca! Upon arrival in this cultural hub of southern Mexico, our intrepid migrants meet Eduardo, the crafty 1000-year-old Zapotec vampire who prefers chicken blood, El Rey Pelón (the skinny pot-bellied fungus who drives a taxi) and of course Death, who plays a mean harmonica. 144 pages, trade paper, $12.99 at Amazon.
Forty Hour Man
Is it a career, or a series of unforgiving yet hilarious jobs? Stephen Beaupre (author) and Steve Lafler (cartoonist) pose this timeless question in Forty Hour Man, a hilarious saga of one working stiff’s three-decade journey into the minimum wage heart of the American Dream.
$20 venmo @steven-lafler please include your address and the words “Forty Hour Man” / 248 pages, trade paper.
BugHouse Book One
Tenor saxophone maestro Jimmy Watts leads his talented band of bugs from the swing era into the uncharted maelstrom of Bebop. As he and his band mates claw their way to the top of the jazz world, they must fight the temptation to be consumed by addiction to a substance known as “Bug Juice”. 192 pages, trade paper, $15.99 at Amazon.
BugHouse from the Top: The Complete BugHouse
The 406-page BugHouse trade paperback compilation, includes all three volumes of the BugHouse graphic novel trilogy. $34.00 at Amazon (orders begin shipping July 2022, the official publication date.)
Doggie Style: The Complete Dog Boy
Imagine, if you will, a young man with a penchant for strong coffee, cheap beer and blotter acid (not necessarily in that order) who happens to be outfitted with a big fuzzy Golden Retriever head. This irascible “Dog Boy” is given to bursts of enthusiasm—we find him expounding on everything from socialism to earth-shattering transcendent epiphanies. Well, sometimes we just find him stealing cars. 488 page oversize paperback collecting Lafler’s pioneering improvisational comics of the 1980s. $39.99 at Lulu.com
El Vocho: Love at the Twilight of Oil
Rosa the Latina hottie inventor and Eddie the geek artist meet in a fender bender. Tempers flare but sparks fly and they fall in love. Working together, they create the perfect clean energy motor while being tracked by goons working for big oil. 100 pages, trade paper, $12.00 at Lulu.com
Cat Suit: Comics Stories by Steve Lafler
Steve Lafler collects a pair of graphic novellas in Cat Suit, tracking edgy romances-we get hot cars, cute dresses, and snappy reparté. Lafler throws in his signature deconstruction of time and space, a peak under the hood of reality as we know it. Oh-and of course a cameo by the Devil himself. 144 pages, hardcover, $31.99 from Amazon
Steve Lafler Interview at The Comics Journal published October 2021.
I’m stunned and delighted to report that I made two “Best Graphic Novel” lists for 2021–with two different titles! Ryan Carey’s Four Color Apocalypse names “Death Plays a Mean Harmonica” as #5 on the year, while Henry Chamberlain at Comics Grinder taps “1956 Book One: Sweet Sweet Little Ramona” for his Best of 2021 list.
Thanks for dropping by! I personally guarantee these are goddamn weird & wonderful graphic novels. Click on my name below if you’d like to zip me an email.
Contents ©2022 Steve Lafler and Cat Head Comics, all rights reserved.
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