TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS announces Love Languages by James Albon

The brilliant James Albon returns with a sweet and sophisticated queer romance! Plus, welcome two newcomers from Italy as we open pre-orders  for The Land of Unfinished Dreams, a captivating fairy-tale adventure for — and about — families of all ages!

Slip into another tongue with Love Languages! Two foreigners in France reach across language barriers and turn each other’s lives upside down in this stunningly beautiful queer romance graphic novel painted in dazzling watercolor. “James Albon’s decadent cartooning and delicate watercolors perfectly capture the beauty and loneliness of wandering through new places that are supposed to be your home, and the specific halting beauty of intense connections forged across language barriers. I'm especially charmed by Sarah and Ping's emoji-strewn text conversations and their sinuous overlapping word bubbles as they gain fluency with each other. I loved this book!” — Shing Yin Khor (The Legend of Auntie Po) “Love Languages is beautiful to look at, highly original, inventive and full of sharp observation. James Albon’s vivid, flowing images tell the story of English Sarah and Cantonese Ping and how languages can connect, but also divide and how learning a foreign language can lead to intimacy…but also to muddle and misunderstanding.” — Posy Simmonds (Cassandra Darke) “Opening with a painfully awkward multilingual friendship, this delightful graphic novel soon made me laugh out loud and even brought me to tears. A masterfully painted celebration of languages and love!” — Rumi Hara (Nori) Sarah Huxley has moved from London to Paris, only to find a lonely life of corporate drudgery and disappointment—a far cry from her romantic expectations of the city. She collides with Ping Loh, a young woman working as an au pair to a wealthy family of Hong Kong expats, and the two bond over their shared struggle with the French tongue. In museums and markets, over text messages and translation apps, Ping and Sarah slowly begin to learn each other’s languages, communicating in a rich and ever-shifting blend of English, French, and Cantonese. As their friendship blooms, so does their private dialect—a personal linguistic patchwork, a shared secret just for them. But when their feelings for each other start to deepen, they discover that the simplest words to translate can be the hardest words to say. In these sumptuously painted pages, award-winning graphic novelist James Albon (The Delicacy) presents a dazzling love story about cross-cultural connection, the bewildering sensation of feeling one’s brain rewrite itself, and the intoxicating rush of the foreign becoming familiar. Love Languages by James Albon ISBN 978-1-60309-557-0 | Diamond Code: FEB251226 $19.99 (US) | 176 pages | Full-color softcover graphic novel with flaps | 8" x 10" Browse preview pages | In stores today! Watch the Love Languages animated trailer! In August, travel to The Land of Unfinished Dreams! Once upon a time, there was a brave hero named …Grandpa?! What’s he doing in this story? Ned is a retired literature teacher without much excitement in his life, but when his grandkids come to visit, he loves to tell them bedtime stories. Every evening, the clumsy knight tries to save the princess in new and different ways, but they never reach the end of the story. On one fateful night, Ned is shocked to wake up inside his fantasy world — full of the characters from his stories, plus many more new friends and foes. And when a terrifying darkness rises, Ned will have to look within himself to confront a threat beyond his imagination. In their first collaboration, Italian creators Marco Daeron Ventura and Marco Ferraris present a thrilling and poignant graphic novel, bursting with color and creativity, about stories, family, growing old, and staying young. The Land of Unfinished Dreams by Marco Daeron Ventura and Marco Ferraris $19.99 (US) | ISBN 978-1-60309-555-6 Diamond Code: MAY250966 | 160 pages | 7.75" x 10.75" Full-color HARDCOVER graphic novel for all ages Browse preview pages | In stores August 5th/6th, 2025!