Joshua W. Cotter Storyteller Spotlight

                                                      Goat or G.O.A.T.? You decide.

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I first encountered Joshua W. Cotter's comics checking out the unique SKYSCRAPERS OF THE MIDWEST from the local library at least a decade ago, a few years ago I ordered the intense tabloid INFINITE C©CK from the artist. His style and vision had become more refined in the intervening years, but his comics would still never be mistaken for anyone elses. Lucky for us the last fifteen years of Cotter's comics are readily available from his online store and Fantagraphics Books.

NOD AWAY VOLUME 3 is being self-published by Cotter with funding from two different sources, crowdfunding and patreon. Page 12 WIP pencils posted on bluesky:

GOAT AND SHEEP IN THE WELL is Cotter's most recent release, which was first serialized online. Order free PDF here

JOSH is a horror anthology with stories from four cartoonists named Josh: Bayer, Cotter, Simmons, and Stephens! Order from Josh C. here

One of my favorite Cotter comix is THEE INFINITE C©CK a tabloid newspaper published at the end of 2022. Order here

 

In 2021, NOD AWAY VOLUME 2 was published by Fantagraphics Books. It still remains in print from Fantagraphics

 "Written and drawn with more passionate intensity per page than perhaps anything else out there, this is the embodiment of a true magnum opus[...]" -Four Color Apocalypse

SKYSCRAPERS, INC. was a special publication issued on the 10th anniversary of the release of Cotter's SKYSCRAPERS OF THE MIDWEST. Order from Cotter

In 2016, Cotter's NOD AWAY series debuted from Fantagraphics Books. Order from Fantagraphics

 "What makes the work so compelling is Cotter’s ability to let things unfold at a precise pace, allowing us to get to know the characters and setting up a sequence of drama that doesn’t really give you the tools to guess what is coming next." -John Seven (The Beat, June 6, 2016)

Joshua W. Cotter recently published a second edition of DRIVEN BY LEMONS (originally published by AdHouse in 2009). Order the new printing here

 "The story of an anthropomorphic rabbit in Chicago experiencing an autistic meltdown." - Cotter

SKYSCRAPERS OF THE MIDWEST published by AdHouse Books in 2008 was Joshua W. Cotter's first published graphic novel. It is out of print but Cotter sells a PDF here

An interview with Cotter by the late, great Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter on November 17, 2007. Where I learned SKYSCRAPERS OF THE MIDWEST was first released as a self-published mini-comic, then AdHouse Books released the story as single comics before collecting them in a hardcover in 2008.

Also out of print is the AdHouse collection BARBRA IN THE SKY WITH NEIL DIAMONDS, 48 pages of "newspaper strips that Joshua Cotter created for the Kansas City Star between the years of 2002 and 2007". Fortunately, AdHouse still has a downloadable preview of this book so you can check out some of this early (color!) work from Cotter.

A highlight of Cotter's store is a series of seven drawings under the collective title THEIR ROYAL MAJESTIES. These remind me of Tetsunori Tawaraya, but I don't think there's any connection other than them both being freaking geniuses...