The Airless Year

For Kacee, a queer Black girl in middle school, everything feels like a struggle. Her parents take out their personal issues on her, classes are a challenge, her crush is clueless about her feelings, and her two best friends are always at odds.

When Kacee fails a class as a result of her stress and ends up in summer school, she starts to wonder why she even bothers trying—and ultimately begins to discover her own power to improve the things in her life she can control, and try to let go of what she can’t.
 
From writer Adam P. Knave (The Once and Future Queen) and artist Valentine Barker, with letters by Frank Cvetkovic (Punch-Up), The Airless Year is a story of self-discovery and empowerment about taking control where you can, and learning to let the rest go.
 
Adam P. Knave (he/him) is an Eisner and Harvey Award-winning editor and writer who writes comics (Amelia Cole and The Once and Future Queen, among others) as well as prose fiction (Culture's Skeleton, Turn To Paige Never, and more) from a secret lair in Portland, OR. He denies that he is secretly a robot controlled by his cats. No one believes him.
 

Valentine Barker (he/him) is a comic book artist and oil painter based in Portland, OR. His work focuses on female empowerment, body positivity, and celebrating diversity. When he's not drawing, he can be found at home playing bass or out in the wilderness painting landscapes.
 
Frank Cvetkovic (he/him) is a comic book letterer who hates when people assume that all he does is put words in bubbles. There’s a little more to the job than that. For instance, sometimes he puts them in boxes. His work can be seen in Count Crowley: Reluctant Midnight Monster Hunter, Cyberpunk 2077: Trauma Team, and The Once And Future Queen.

About

For Kacee, a queer Black girl in middle school, everything feels like a struggle. Her parents take out their personal issues on her, classes are a challenge, her crush is clueless about her feelings, and her two best friends are always at odds.

When Kacee fails a class as a result of her stress and ends up in summer school, she starts to wonder why she even bothers trying—and ultimately begins to discover her own power to improve the things in her life she can control, and try to let go of what she can’t.
 
From writer Adam P. Knave (The Once and Future Queen) and artist Valentine Barker, with letters by Frank Cvetkovic (Punch-Up), The Airless Year is a story of self-discovery and empowerment about taking control where you can, and learning to let the rest go.
 

Author

Adam P. Knave (he/him) is an Eisner and Harvey Award-winning editor and writer who writes comics (Amelia Cole and The Once and Future Queen, among others) as well as prose fiction (Culture's Skeleton, Turn To Paige Never, and more) from a secret lair in Portland, OR. He denies that he is secretly a robot controlled by his cats. No one believes him.
 

Valentine Barker (he/him) is a comic book artist and oil painter based in Portland, OR. His work focuses on female empowerment, body positivity, and celebrating diversity. When he's not drawing, he can be found at home playing bass or out in the wilderness painting landscapes.
 
Frank Cvetkovic (he/him) is a comic book letterer who hates when people assume that all he does is put words in bubbles. There’s a little more to the job than that. For instance, sometimes he puts them in boxes. His work can be seen in Count Crowley: Reluctant Midnight Monster Hunter, Cyberpunk 2077: Trauma Team, and The Once And Future Queen.

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