Tillie Walden’s mind-bending webcomic On A Sunbeam was deservedly crowned our Indie Comic of the Year for 2016 (as well as being nominated for an Eisner and some other lesser awards!) and so we were delighted to learn that Avery Hill will be releasing a printed collection of this epic tale later in the year. But for those of you who might be new to this, or to Tillie’s work then here is a quick look at what you can expect.

On A Sunbeam will be the fourth Tillie Walden book from Avery Hill, a partnership that began when Tillie was 18, with the publication of her debut graphic novel The End of Summer in 2015. Since then they have released two editions of Walden’s I Love This Part and her third book, A City Inside. It is a collaboration that has garnered many accolades, including two Ignatz Awards and two Eisner nominations.

Walden began publishing her weekly webcomic On A Sunbeam in autumn 2016, reuniting her with Avery Hill’s Ricky Miller as editor. Described as a ‘queer space opera,’ it tells the story of Mia, from her life as a rebellious schoolgirl, to her time as part of the crew on the ship Aktis, out in the deepest reaches of space, rebuilding beautiful and broken down structures.

Part love story, part epic space adventure, and dealing with Tillie’s now signature themes of sexuality & gender, the individual in landscape, first love and awesome cats; On A Sunbeam is a masterpiece of modern comics and arguably Tillie’s greatest artistic statement so far.

“Tillie manages to take the traditional ‘fish out of water in a new crew’ premise and layers on her own unique world view to tell an unconventional yet heart breakingly real character piece.” – Alex Thomas, Pipedream Comics

“Every now and again, there’s a comic that will stop you dead in your tracks and consume your time until you take in every last page and dialogue bubble. That’s the case with Tillie Walden’s fantastic On A Sunbeam.”
– Andrew Liptak, The Verge

“Gorgeous… Walden is far and away one of the best cartoonists working today. She crafts such simple stories and images, but they hold universes of emotion and meaning.” – Mey Valdivia Rude, Autostraddle

“Walden echoes classic comics genres while rendering them in her own unique visual language… she’s an evolutionary leap forward in cartooning, fearless, assured and, most astonishingly, just getting started.”
– Heidi MacDonald, Comics Beat

“Breathtaking artwork.” – Rob McMonigal, Panel Patter

Don’t just take our word for it though, here some of the pages from this highly anticipated collection: