Alex Graham, The Devil's Grin: Book One Trade Paperback Cover (Fantagraphics 2025)

"Artistic smut." — Kirkus Reviews. I told Alex that artistic smut was exactly right as a description of The Devil's Grin. Alex has been serializing TDG over the last 3-4 years on her Patreon, and then self-publishing six chapters that have been collected as Book One. The first book was 464 pages, and Alex says the second book will be of equal size, so with added pages this will be a 1000 page tale.

As Fantagraphics describes, "With its mix of comedy, horror, magic realism, anthropomorphism, naturalism, humor, psychedelia, and pathos, The Devil’s Grin is a remarkable work of contemporary fiction by one of comics’ most distinctive storytellers. Weaving together multiple character arcs at a brisk, deft pace, Graham juggles their secrets, desires, and insecurities in continually surprising ways, slowly introducing layers of malice that lead to an unexpected darkness. Graham’s clear yet loose cartooning perfectly unfolds every twist and turn with creative precision."