Fantagraphics Underground: Pageant

Justin Gradin’s sophomore graphic novel combines keen verbal and visual wit with a host of memorable characters to create an anarchic, absurdist comedy!

Ponce Melee is a lonely clock-puncher working for Twin Labs in the cloning department. When he uses a strand of hair to clone a companion, it’s successful—but she immediately leaves him for greener pastures. So, he clones another potential companion. And that one leaves. And again. Soon, multiple clones are causing havoc around town, while one errant clone makes a pact with the Devil that strands Satan in town and forces him to get a job.

Following 2023’s Mystic Debris, Justin Gradin introduces a host of unforgettable figures—Mandrake the Soda Jerk, private investigator Butterfly Latté, and pop superstar Attilla the Hunny. Gradin’s work carries echoes of underground legends like Gary Panter, Gary Leib, and Mark Beyer, while remaining a singular, sui generis voice in contemporary independent comics.

Step into a world of lonely souls and the lonely soulless in this beautifully bizarre exploration of identity and isolation.