by BK Munn
Conundrum is about to drop a very strong Spring line-up at TCAF next week, but the publisher is already planning its slate of books for the Fall. There are some contenders in there for sure. Take a look:

Long Red Hair
by Meags Fitzgerald
duotone, 88 pages
trade paperback, $17
September 2015
Conundrum published Fitzgerald’s well-received Photobooth last year and this follow-up is billed as a sort of memoir of alt sexuality, navigating “a child’s struggle with averageness, a preteen’s budding bisexuality and a young woman’s return after rejection. Fitzgerald takes us from her first kiss to a life sworn to singlehood, while weaving in allusions to witches in history and popular culture. Long Red Hair alluringly delves into the mystique of red hair and the beguiling nature of alternative romantic relationships.”

The Dharma Punks
by Ant Sang
b/w, 400 pages
trade paperback, $25
September 2015
An entry in the new “Conundrum International” line, this epic New Zealand bestseller boasts an intro by the great Dylan Horrocks! From the publisher: “Set over one long night in Auckland, New Zealand in 1994, a group of anarchist punks have hatched a plan to sabotage the opening of a multi-national fast-food restaurant by blowing it sky-high come opening day. Chopstick has been given the unenviable task of setting the bomb before the opening, but the night takes the first of many unexpected turns when he is separated from his accomplice. Chance encounters and events from his past conspire against him, forcing Chopstick to deal with more than just the mission at hand. Still reeling after the death of a close friend, and struggling to reconcile his spiritual path with his political actions, Chopstick’s journey is a meditation on life, love, friendship and the ghost of Kurt Cobain.”

You Are a Kitten!
by Sherwin Tjia
Book 3 in the Pick-A-Plot Series
Graphic Novel / Fiction
240 pages
80 b/w illustrations, tp, $18
October 2015
Another instalment of Tjia’s “Choose Your Own Adventure”-style opus. Very cute.

The Adventures of Drippy the Newsboy Vol 2: The Red Drip of Courage
by Julian Lawrence
Graphic Novel
64 pages
b/w, trade paperback, $12
November 2015
Canadian underground legend Julian Lawrence presents the second part of his Drippy trilogy with an homage to Stephen Crane (???) and the horrors of war.

Ramshackle: A Yellowknife Story
by Alison McCreesh
Graphic Novel
144 pages
full colour, trade paperback, $20
October 2015
A comic book guide to “alternative” Yellowknife.