paradisesystems

[paradisesystems]

We're no longer on what remains of Twitter! How lovely to be able to leave one of these horrible platforms for something slightly better! You can find us at www.paradise-systems.com, @paradisesystems.bsky.social‬, www.patreon.com/c/ParadiseSystems, and tumblr!

Can we all leave instagram next plz?

Image description: A screenshot of our BlueSky. At the top of our feed, a reblogged review of Ding Pao-Yen's book by Samuel Edme is visible.

[paradisesystems]

New book! New party! Ding Pao-Yen will be joining us in NYC to celebrate the launch of his new book Not Ready For Real Life! This gorgeous book is published by Glacier Bay Books, with the support of the Paradise Systems team.

Join us at Troubled Sleep next Friday at 7:30 pm for this rare chance to meet Ding and see the new book. We will also be celebrating the launch of two titles from last year that we are very proud of, Murmur by Ganmu and Ritual Machine by Toyoya Li. 

Location: Troubled Sleep, 129 Sixth Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217 Date: Friday, March 14 Time: 7:30pm 

Image description: The covers of the three books float out of a glittering night sky. The cover of Not Ready For Real Life features an illustration of two characters holding ornate archeological objects from a lost civilization.

@ganmuuu-blog @toyoyali

[paradisesystems]

Ritual Machine by Toyoya Li ( @toyoyali )is now available! It has been such a delight to see people responding to it at shows recently.

Image description: The cover and interior spreads of our newest book. Toyoya's iconic pixel art style is vibrant in these pages. He uses panels sparingly, creating a sense of motion that carries readers across his layouts.

[paradisesystems]

🌱Murmur by Ganmu Available Now!🌱 Words cannot express how thrilled we are to be launching this new book. We began talking to Ganmu about an anthology of her work in 2019. There's not room to go into all the details about why this book took five years to complete, but we feel strongly that the final book reflects, in its immaculate design, production, and artistry, all of the work that went into it.

Offset / 104 pages / 6 x 8.25" ISBN: 978-1-951078-04-1 $19.95

Info: With her haunting, precisely-executed comics, Ganmu shows us an alternate reality, a world in which relationships warp everything around them. This book collects most of Ganmu's work from the past decade, including her stunning series of watercolor comics. After years of design and production work, this beautiful volume gives Ganmu's work the showcase it deserves.

Image description: Cover and interior photos of our new book. The cover has an illustration of two hands peeling a piece of fruit. In the interior pages, Ganmu's minimalist characters move like ghosts through the panels. Each page is broken into only a few panels, usually 2-4. Though the art shows a remarkable diversity of settings (iceberg, city, purple fantasyscape), the comics are all clearly of a single body of work, united by the blank, probing expressions on the characters faces.

@ganmuuu-blog

[paradisesystems]

AVAILABLE NOW: GAME Anthology!

The GAME anthology is a beautiful, hefty collection of mainland Chinese comics in all of their glory. Featuring both established cartoonists (Ganmu and Zuo Ma), as well as new voices like Woshibai and Nhozagri, it is one of the most compelling anthologies of work from China that has ever been published. Wild Things Press (now defunct) did a stunning job on the design as well. Published in 2018, this 270 page book remains a valuable snapshot of a community in flux.

ONLY THE YELLOW COVER IS AVAILABLE. THIS BOOK IS PRIMARILY IN CHINESE.

Features work by:

fenta

Mie

YUE

Woshibai

insect_494

Toyoya Li

Xiao Lu

rere

Likesalt

Zuo Ma

Inkee Wang

Xiang Yata

Image description: The book was published in two colors, purple and yellow, and has a square format. The interior pages are vary wildly in style, from the minimalist black and white figures of Woshibai to the fully painted works by Nhozagri. 

[paradisesystems]

BACK IN STOCK! The South Park by gantea

Offset printing / 2 color / 76 pages / 7 x 9" 

Published by O.Q Comics.

The South Park is the first mid-length comic by gantea. It tells the story of two friends walking through a soon-to-be demolished park. At the top of a Ferris wheel, they unexpectedly solve the mystery of an urban legend circulating in the city.

Embellished with a suite of delightful features, The South Park is a triumph of book design. It includes tear-away panels, a velvety green cover, a bilingual page layout, and more.

Image description: Photos of the book, which appears to be almost glowing due to its softly textured cover. In one photo, it is nestled in the bark of an enormous tree and seems perfectly at home.

[paradisesystems]

New: Paradise Systems Patreon

Paradise Systems exists to support connections between disparate publishing communities, with a specific focus on translating underground comics from mainland China. Since 2018, we’ve published 27 titles and sold over 10,000 books!!! Though we feel this work has been extremely valuable, it has never been financially lucrative. We are creating this Patreon so we can continue to do this work and offer the authors as much compensation as possible. Patrons will get occasional updates on what we’ve been up to, and highlights from the PS library of Chinese language comics, zines, and artbooks.

Thank you for your ongoing support of our work!

Image description: A screenshot of our Patreon account with a range of beautiful books in the background.

[paradisesystems]

We are down to our very last copies of EMOLAND by A ee mi, so if you still wanted a copy but haven't picked one up, act fast! It's hard to keep books this beautiful in stock!

Image description: The handsome cover of A ee mi's ris masterpiece features a handful of characters emerging from a giant smiling clown face.

[paradisesystems]

Pre-Order Ritual Machine by Toyoya Li

Surprise book launch! We are ecstatic to be launching a new book by Toyoya Li in collaboration with China-based Yanshu Books. It is not an exaggeration to say that this book would be almost impossible to print in the US. The fabulous editors at Yanshu worked with the printers on this outstanding design, which includes two lenticular prints (the front and back covers).

Author: Toyoya Li Offset / color / 138 pages / 4.5 x 6.25" ISBN: 978-1-951078-11-9 $26.95

Beijing-based cartoonist Toyoya Li's first long-form work is a mind-warping journey through a pixelated, dystopic future. After a showdown with the Virtual Wizard, will either of our fearless heroes make it back to meatspace? The front and back cover of this book are holographic prints featuring Li's GIFs.

Image description: The cover and interior spreads of our newest book. Toyoya's iconic pixel art style is vibrant in these pages. He uses panels sparingly, creating a sense of motion that carries readers across his layouts.

[paradisesystems]

We will be at MoCCA Arts Festival this weekend with Xinmei Liu. Come visit us at Table 88!

Saturday, March 16, from 11am–7pm

Sunday, March17, from 11am–6pm

Exhibitors Hall located at Metropolitan Pavilion (125 West 18th Street)

Image description: our bright yellow tablecloth lined with books. A Seal plushie sits in the center, smiling. A floor plan shows the location of our table.

[paradisesystems]

We made these stickers to shout out the USPS for everything they do! The USPS's media mail option is a huge support to independent publishing.

Image description: The stickers feature bubble letters saying "THANK YOU USPS!" There's also a USPS delivery person holding up a letter and a few envelopes and packages zooming across the sticker.

[paradisesystems]

Paradise Systems recommends: Bear Yixian's Theatre. This raucous comic about the misadventures of a girl and her crocodile pal is a tremendous delight from start to finish. In one iconic scene, our hero is cooked by demons, her last request that they tag her on Instagram when the post pictures of the feast. There's lots more work on Bear's Instagram!

Image description: On the cover, a woman with white hair and eyelashes poses with a dapper crocodile who has three nose rings. In one of the interior pages, the crocodile handcuffs her when her guard is down. Later, she wakes to discover she is being cooked by demons.

[paradisesystems]

Cover Reveal! This is the cover of a new book by Toyoya Li @toyoyali, Ritual Machine. The front and back covers will be lenticular prints featuring Toyoya's iconic pixel art style. Coming soon!

Image description: A gif of a snarling character with pointed teeth morphing into a robotic mask, and then back.

[paradisesystems]

New in our shop! We have a few copies of Good Enough by Tao Benyuan. This handsome volume records a plaintive cat's journey through trials and tribulations. The Chinese dialogue is translated into English on facing pages, but bilingual readers will notice some interesting discrepancies between the source and translation. This book is also a stunning work of craft, as each volume is hand bound. Numbered edition of 300.

86 pages

4 x 6 in

$25

Image description: The cover is blue with a dripping wet cat on it. Interior pages have four panels two panels per page, often with little or no text. In one set of panels, a small group gathers around an impromptu stone pile they've built.

[paradisesystems]

We are giving away one set of these cool riso holiday cards designed by Xinmei Liu for every order over $40! Act quick since there are limited sets available.

Image description: Four riso-printed holiday cards showing kids singing, dancing and dressing up as a reindeer and Santa Claus against a festive background.

[paradisesystems]

We're having a huge sale to celebrate (and prepare for) moving to a new storage space! Please take a look if you're interested!

Image description: Paradise Systems book covers with graphics showing the discounted sale price.

[paradisesystems]

I know what you're thinking: "Paradise Systems team, you've already published several amazing books this year, certainly you are now planning to rest on your laurels until 2025." Wrong! We have so many more amazing projects in the works, including this book which we can't wait to show you, Murmur by Ganmu (@ganmuuu-blog). 

This book has been in process for years as we try to give Ganmu's work the showcase it deserves. We are copublishing this volume with OQ Comics, who is responsible for the incredible design. More details soon!

Image description: The cover of the book, a minimalist illustration of hands peeling an apple with a knife. The apple is a pinkish gradient orb, making a shocking contrast to the thin black outline of knife blade.