This year, meet the world-saving adventurer who might be a little more familiar than you think—and will ensure that we’ll all make it after all.
MARY TYLER MOOREHAWK
Next Tuesday, February 13, 2024, Top Shelf Productions and Eisner Award-nominate cartoonist Dave Baker will introduce readers to Mary Tyler MooreHawk, protector of worlds and former television personality. But who, exactly, is this enigmatic character? How do a journalist named Dave Baker and an artist named Dave Baker play into the mystery of Mary Tyler MooreHawk? Billed by Top Shelf as “equal parts sweeping action-adventure…and dystopian detective story,” the graphic novel Mary Tyler MooreHawk is one you won’t soon forget.
In honor of the release, Top Shelf was kind enough to give FreakSugar an exclusive glimpse at the playlist for the merry, mind-bending graphic novel! A blend of funk, electronica, and noir, featuring artists ranging from Daft Punk to Morrissey to Phoebe Bridgers, this collection of music is the perfect mix to get you in the mood to dive into Baker’s world of Mary Tyler MooreHawk. Check out the full playlist at this Spotify link, as well as a rundown of the music below.
Neil Norman And His Cosmic Orchestra, “The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai”
Her’s, “What Once Was”
Cannons, “Footsteps In The Dark – Originally Performed by the Isley Brothers”
Morrissey, “Everyday Is Like Sunday – 2011 Remaster”
Daft Punk, “End of Line”
Turbo Killer, “Carpenter Brut”
Mega Drive, “NARC”
Gunship, John Carpenter, and Charlie Simpson, “Tech Noir”
John Carpenter, “Night”
Jenny Lewis, “She’s Not Me”
Mr. Little Jeans, “The Suburbs”
Drab Mystery, “Ellipsis”
Phoebe Bridgers, “Georgia”
Mary Tyler MooreHawk goes on sale Tuesday, February 13, 2024, from Top Shelf Productions.
From the official press release:
Top Shelf Productions will publish Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist Dave Baker’s mind-bending graphic novel MARY TYLER MOOREHAWK in 2024. “Half graphic novel, half postmodern prose mystery, this mind-bending book combines multiple formats and multiple dimensions into a retro-futurist palimpsest, crossing the streams between fiction and reality,” said cartoonist Dave Baker. The book will be released in February 2024.
Who Is Mary Tyler MooreHawk? How did she save the world from a dimension-hopping megalomaniac? Why was her TV show canceled after only nine episodes? And what happened to the reclusive genius behind her creation? These are just a few of the questions that young journalist Dave Baker begins to ask himself as he unravels the many mysteries surrounding the obscure comic book Mary Tyler MooreHawk. However, his curiosity grows into an obsession when he discovers that the artist behind his favorite globe-trotting girl detective… is also named Dave Baker.
“Like Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves and David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, this book playfully and suspensefully uses footnotes to build multiple layers of story and setting,” said Top Shelf Productions Senior Editor Leigh Walton. “While we cheer for our gee-whiz cartoon heroine to beat the bad guys, we’re also piecing together addictive glimpses into how ‘intellectual property’ gets turned into comics and cartoons and the real creators who get hurt in the process. Readers will go nuts exploring this book, then sharing and debating it with friends!”
MARY TYLER MOOREHAWK is equal parts sweeping action-adventure graphic novel and dystopian detective story that weaves back and forth between worlds, touching on everything from corporate personhood to mutant shark-men to the meaning of fandom and reality itself. It’s a show you don’t remember… and a book you won’t forget.
Here’s what people are saying about MARY TYLER MOOREHAWK
“America has a new sweetheart and media darling, but only Dave Baker has managed to ink her to a long-term deal and capture the Mona Lisa-like enigma that is… Mary Tyler MooreHawk.”— E.M. Rauch, creator of Buckaroo Banzai
Mary Tyler MooreHawk is a uniquely immersive psychedelic odyssey, etched in energetic and detailed linework and bursting with surreal invention and mind-boggling concepts. Strap yourself in and take a deep breath.” — Bryan Talbot, creator of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
“The book you are about to read offers an unauthorized history of events that cannot be scientifically authenticated. We believe them to be true, but we cannot certify the claims of the individuals involved. On the subject of Mary Tyler MooreHawk, this book is in no way sanctioned or licensed by the owners of the underlying intellectual property. WDN Studios, Antonio Hell-Drone Dearthberg, Connie Harvawitz-Kurt Inc or their parent company, Timeless Entertainment, have not given permission for the publication of this work. However, we feel that it is too important not to be published.” — Xaphood Chestersquire III, legal counsel to Top Shelf Productions
MARY TYLER MOOREHAWK will be available everywhere books & comics are sold on February 13, 2024. For more information, follow Dave Baker on Twitter and Instagram.