To lure pretty Epily, little chick Abelard sees only one solution: to catch the moon for her. So off he goes to America, the country that invented flying machines. Armed with his banjo and his proverb-sharing hat, he launches out on the country roads, where he meets Gaston, a grumpy bear with whom he shares his plan. As opposed to dreamer Abelard, Gaston has his feet firmly planted on the ground. This humorous comic, where the absurd becomes poetry, explores philosophical ideas through a simple, fanciful story.

Little Rice Duck has built himself quite the reputation around the West Wood, playing his trumpet in bars with their smoky, sweaty ambience, tequila sunrises, and jazz. All he needs is that Betty character, one bitch bathing in expensive champagne. But like the champagne, he’d much prefer she just stay chilled. In this graphic novel, the acclaimed author brings together his love for music and comics.

The highly successful series of graphic novels co-published with the Louvre museum in Paris (“Glacial Period”, “Museum Vaults”) continues with its next outstanding graphic novel. This time, the author invites us on a guided tour of the museum… by night… when the works of art come alive. Our guide: a deaf night watchman who somehow manages to communicate with the souls of those ethereal and timeless works of art. A visual tour de force with a strong edge of the frighteningly fantastic.

Minoo Shirazi is a rebellious young Iranian woman struggling to define herself amid the strict social conventions of an oppressive regime and the wishes of an overbearing father. She is also a free-spirited adventurer in a fantasy world, a place where aspects of modern America and ancient Persia meld into a unique landscape. Blending Eastern and Western civilization with elements of ancient Persian mythology, Persia Blues explores the intersections of guilt and freedom, family and self, ancient myths and modern enigmas.

Superstar comic artist Enki Bilal reimagines the Louvre as a ghostly place in this series of 22 portraits. The Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, a reclining Christ, an Egyptian bust—these and other works of art are seen through the eyes of their own particular phantom. The motley collection of men, women, and children presented in these vignettes— a Roman legionary, a muse, a painter, and a German officer, among others—have little in common other than their often violent demises and an eternity spent haunting the iconic Parisian museum. Bilal recounts the life stories of these lost souls in dramatic biographies that combine fiction and historical reality, often evoking the creation of the works in question. The paintings that compose this graphic novel were presented in a special exhibition at the Louvre in early 2013.

This illustrated primer on philosophy is a great way to be introduced to a complex topic. In her easily accessible style, Margreet de Heer visualizes the history of Western philosophy and makes it approachable for those with little knowledge of the subject. The book explains the thoughts of philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Spinoza, and Nietzsche, and ponders questions such as What is thinking? What is reality? Is there free will? and Why are these ideas still important? A perfect introduction to exploring philosophical concepts, this humorous yet substantive graphic account strips the subject of unnecessary complexity.

Francis von Bloodt, a vampire and good family man, operates the one-of-a-kind theme park Zombiellenium. But this unique amusement park doesn’t just hire anyone: mere mortals need not apply—only genuine werewolves, vampires, zombies, and other citizens from the undead community are employed. A stunningly beautiful, fully painted graphic novel, this work presents a wryly humorous and lighthearted take on the traditional horror genre.

Tempers are flaring around Zombillenium, the amusement park run by monsters. When one hires only the witches, vampires, werewolves, and other undead in a region where unemployment is in the double digits, one must expect some friction. But things get particularly ugly when the park’s security is breached from two sides: activists and a very strange visitor, the mother of two peculiar sons that the head of the park seems to remember from somewhere. Presented in Arthur de Pins’s trademark, tongue-in-cheek black humor, this is a stunning beautiful, fully painted graphic novel that plays on that traditional horror genre.