Utzy and Dusty: Crystal Pool by Josh Bayer. $15. 128 pages, newsprint. Color and black and white. Published by Domino Books.

Domino Books is honored to announce our first book with artist Josh Bayer. Bayer's art and cartooning is one of the key influences on everything Domino does, in spirit and style. At Domino, we firmly believe that Bayer is one of the greatest cartoonists of his generation. Utzy and Dusty is a true contender for his strongest work yet. It is an extended take on Little Orphan Annie thrust into perilous circumstances, but this doesn't tell the whole story of this work's strength. This is a 128 work that feels as creative on its 1st panel as it does in its 500th panel. It both appears to be drawn all at once in a single movement and painstakingly crafted over decades. And in a sense that's true. The panel to panel improvisation of both thought espoused by the figures on the page and the ink movement that builds those same figures is borne out from a lifetime commitment of comic making from Bayer. This is a violent, energetic, patient and sad work...and, spanning 128 pages, one of Bayer's longest narratives. Bayer's most ambitious project before Utzy was his masterpiece Unended, a mature and settled book, perhaps Bayer's most approachable work to date. This book is as rich as Unended, but bursting free from attempts at balance into shimmering creative highs.