>, cartoonist Kayla E. (USA) returns with an all-new "Precious Rubbish" strip exploring childhood trauma through her darkly humorous lens; she also contributes this issue's cover. Nathan Gelgud (USA) makes his NOW debut with two strips adapting dialogue from interviews with filmmaker Paul Schrader, while indie humor phenom Josh Pettinger (UK) also appears for the first time. Anchoring the issue is Caitlin Skaalrud's (USA) inspiring and beautiful "How to Make Comics," a 40-page poetic howl about the need to make art and the sacrifices that come with that need ("LEARN THE COPPER TASTE OF HUNGER"). Also featuring: Ross Murray (New Zealand), Roman Muradov (Armenia), Josh Simmons (USA), Cynthia Alfonso (Spain), Steven Weissman (USA), Emil Friis Ernst (Denmark), and Stacy Gougoulis (Australia).

NOW: The New Comics Anthology is still the best value in comics: every issue is a self-contained cross-section of the best short comics stories the globe has to offer and it has established itself as the preeminent anthology of first-rate international comics talent. With all-new, never-before-seen material from a mix of emerging and established talent, NOW is the perfect answer to the question, "Why Comics?"