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Pantheon, the publisher behind such serious-minded comic books as Persepolis, continues to lead the way. In February the house will release Posy Simmonds' GEMMA BOVARY, a graphic novel that updates the Flaubert classic, turning it into a satire on modern mores. In October the publisher will collect into a single volume the series Black Hole, Charles Burns' inky creepfest about a plague that infects teenagers during the 1970s. And the summer will see the release of The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar, a philosophically inclined French comic artist. Splashy comics from other publishers include Lost Girls (Top Shelf, summer) by Alan Moore (author of The Watchmen) and Melinda Gebble, an erotic fantasy that's pricey ($75) and edgy (the publisher says the work "seeks to reinvent pornography as something exquisite"). Bizarro World (DC Comics, February) will feature many alternative comic artists giving their take on DC's superheroes. And Pyongyang (Drawn & Quarterly, September) will chronicle cartoonist Guy Delisle's trip to North Korea's capital in 2000.
For those looking for more practical reads, Jack Canfield knows a thing or two about success. After all, he's a co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, which has sold more than 80 million books worldwide. His latest entry is the quintessential self-help book — THE SUCCESS PRINCIPLES: HOW TO GET FROM WHERE YOU ARE TO WHERE YOU WANT TO BE. Can Canfield do it again, or will he be in the soup?
Food
Even after the holidays, there will be plenty of fresh ways to eat, drink and be merry. New ORIEL WINES will be making a marketing push in '05 to promote a single label that provides wines from all over the world (including Australia, France, Italy, Spain, Chile and the U.S.). The idea: you won't have to remember the name of some obscure region or chteau when looking for a moderately priced good wine; instead, you can rely on one brand that does the choosing for you. As for edibles, in the coming months raw fish may not be just for sushi restaurants anymore. Western chefs are devoting menus to tartares, carpaccio, crudo and all sorts of uncooked flesh. At BAR TONNO in New York City, chef Scott Conant serves nothing but raw fish, Italian style, like orata rossa with baby chanterelles and leeks, below.
Meanwhile, in March celeb chef and Food Network star Bobby Flay is opening Bar Americain in New York City, which will feature regional American food. And in Las Vegas, Aqua restaurant is being reworked as Michael Mina Bellagio, with chef Mina infusing the menu with the distinctive flavor combinations from his signature restaurant in San Francisco. Perhaps the surest bet in a city that loves to gamble: the new Michael Mina Bellagio will be worth checking out.