Author: Newsroom
PORTLAND, Ore. 05/02/2025 — The breakout hit graphic novel Fishflies by New York Times bestselling, multiple award winning creator Jeff Lemire (Absolute Flash, Sweet Tooth, Gideon Falls, Descender) will be released in paperback format this Fall from Image Comics.
The beloved mystery has captured the hearts of critics and readers alike and raked in a bevy of glowing reviews and accolades including starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Shelf Awareness.
“Fishflies started out as a sketchbook experiment that continued to grow and evolve and take on a life of its own. And that seems to be continuing as the Hardcover is close to selling out, and now we’re going to a paperback,” said Lemire. “It’s so flattering and amazing to see Franny and The Fishfly finding more and more readers.”
A small-town crime sets off a chain of events that will permanently alter the lives of several residents of bucolic Belle River, Ontario. As the manhunt heats up, a lonely girl named Franny Fox forms an unlikely friendship with a fugitive that leads them both on an odyssey of discovery and redemption… a journey that also uncovers dark secrets from the town’s eery past.
Magical realism and mystery unfold in this standalone story perfect for fans of Lemire’s Royal City and The Underwater Welder or his A.D.: After Death co-creation with Scott Snyder and Plutona co-creation with Emi Lenox.
Fishflies trade paperback (ISBN: 9781534335233) will collect the complete series, Fishflies issues #1-7, and be available at local comic book shops on Wednesday, October 22 and independent bookstores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Indigo, and Waterstones on Tuesday, November 4.
Fishflies is also available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Google Play, and Omnibus.
Select praise for Fishflies:
“Lemire’s interactions between the characters and dialogue are deftly crafted considering the strangeness of the story, displaying the personal, emotional weight each character is carrying and how this motivates how they deal with the bizarre. The art is strikingly muted, making effective use of darks and few colors, as well as black sound effect pages functioning as literary breaks. Lemire even makes use of the borders and the gutters of the pages, which features a fashionable yellow staining to mimic the pages degrading. At times moving and revolting, this is a wretchedly detailed story of loyalty, trauma, and living on the outside.” —Booklist (starred review)
“A grotesquely addictive, trypophobic nightmare epic.” —Shelf Awareness (starred review)
“A beautiful, unsettling, and ultimately touching story about connection, transformation, and the possibility of moving forward in life, despite the burden of an unresolved past.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“Lemire’s singular style, with its uncanny figures and warm, bleeding inks, is a visual delight. The result is a tightly woven monster tale shot through with melancholy.” —Publishers Weekly
“Equal parts Tales from the Crypt and Stand By Me… layers young tragedy and gruesome body horror to incredible effect.” —AIPT
“Lemire fires on all cylinders to create an eerie masterpiece that entertains and unnerves in equal measure.” ―CBR
“A great slow burn of a comic that keeps readers guessing.” —Major Spoilers
“Psychological horror twists into something far more supernatural and deeply unsettling as the story progresses.” —You Don’t Read Comics
“Refreshing.” —Comicon
“Brilliantly crafted… Eerie and Creepy till the final page, Fishflies is an absolute must-read for all fans of comics.” —GWW
“Unquestionably memorable.” —ComicBook.com
