USA TODAY BESTSELLER
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: COMIC BOOK HERALD, NPR
MOST ANTICIPATED: THE WASHINGTON POST • VULTURE • BUSTLE • THE RUMPUS • PUBLISHERS WEEKLY • COMICS BEAT • AUTOSTRADDLE • LITERARY HUB • BOOK RIOT • WE ARE BOOKISH
“What does it mean to be a member of a marginalized group recuperated into an oppressive society with a thin veneer of acceptance? What does it take to give up on the illusion of security as a complacent collaborator and dive into the precarity of radical revolution? Simplicity raises questions and hints at answers with a satirical voice and incisive imagery.”
—Andie Huether, NPR, “Books We Love 2025”
“Lubchansky’s cartoonishly dynamic visual style belies a growing sense of dread as Pasternak tries to make sense of the people he’s come to study and the world beyond their sanctuary.”
—The Washington Post, “30 Books to Read This Summer”
“While it retains plenty of Lubchansky’s signature wit and stunning artistry, [Simplicity] also ventures into timely territory with its focus on commune-slash-cults and the dangers of unquestioning loyalty.”
—Emma Specter, Vogue
“The first thing that stands out about Mattie Lubchansky’s illustrations is the disconcerting humanity in every image, how it captures something both real and surreal about moving through the world.”
—Isle McElroy, Vulture, “28 Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Summer”
“This graphic novel is the rare work that manages to impart a clear message — change is possible! — without ever seeming saccharine or trite.”
—Chloe Joe, Bustle, “The Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2025”
“Lubchansky’s graphic novel is as gorgeous a work of visual art as it is a work of writing, as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.”
—Eric Vachon, The Rumpus
“Imagine an unapologetically trans/genderqueer Futurama and you’re about a third of the way to the dystopian future satire of Mattie Lubchansky. . . . Lubchansky’s an excellent cartoonist, crafting instantly compelling world design with an economy of line, and able to sell a character’s look of desire with tremendous ease. . . . It’s an eye-opening balancing act as Lubchansky alternates between erotica, supernatural thriller, and laugh-or-you’ll-cry satire. . . . Emotional and powerful . . . another stellar work from Lubchansky.”
—Comic Book Herald, “The Best Comics of 2025 (So Far!)”
“I have rarely seen anything like it in a visual medium… Simplicity feels like such a major achievement.”
—Nic Anstett, Autostraddle
“A prescient critique of many of the forces tugging at our own lives, illustrated in a warm, cartoonish style that belies the ferocity of some of the scenes. Mattie Lubchanksy again proves her ability to resonate deeply with readers.”
—New York Public Library, “NYPL’s Top Ten Comics and Graphic Novels of 2025”
“Powerfully and honestly told — including revealing the internal contradictions in the commune — Simplicity does the job of confronting us in a fresh way with the world we’re wreaking, and the not-so-simple necessity to take a stand. Like Lucius, we need to discover that stand on our own.”
—New Haven Independent
“The writing is sharp and thoughtful, and the illustrations are excellent: Lubchansky’s got a confident and expressive line that sells emotion on the page. It makes for a terrifying, funny, and nuanced book—it’s a stunner!”
—LitHub, “No one’s reading for fun, apparently. Here’s a reading list to fix that.”
“Lubchansky’s narrative refuses to shy away from the complexities of gender, power, and community. … Simplicity joins a growing canon of trans-authored works that use speculative fiction to imagine alternative futures and critique existing systems of power. The book’s detailed, expressive artwork and sharp wit invite a broad readership without compromising on its trans-affirming perspective.”
—Edge Media Network
“Mattie Lubchansky is a shining voice with a signature style in the queer and trans graphic narrative space, and you’re not going to want to miss her latest. . . . Expect sharp socio-political commentary wrapped up in eerie dystopian-horror imagery. And humor of course!”
—Kayla Upadhyaya, Autostraddle
“[The] dystopian future setting allows Lubchansky to incorporate sci-fi elements that enhance the scope of the story and create new design opportunities for the characters and environments, but the ideas surrounding individuality, groupthink, and oppression speak directly to the current moment.”
—Oliver Sava, The A.V. Club
“My favorite thing I read all year.”
—Patricia Lockwood, author of Priestdaddy and No One is Talking About This
“A story to put fire in your belly and strength in your arms. Lubchansky combines a thrilling dystopian story with razor-sharp satire and heartbreaking clarity of vision. The best graphic novel I’d read in years.”
—Gretchen Felker-Martin, author of Cuckoo and Manhunt
“Mattie Lubchansky is a crucial voice, and we should all sit up and listen.”
—James Tynion IV, author of Something Is Killing the Children
“Mattie Lubchansky is a psychedelic clairvoyant, a cross between Philip K. Dick and R. Crumb, only with much better gender politics. Simplicity filled me with hope and wonder even in the ruins of civilization, and I’m so glad I went on this wild journey. The future is going to be weird no matter what, but Mattie Lubchansky shows us how beautiful and full of life weirdness can be. I love Simplicity in all its deceptive complexity.”
—Charlie Jane Anders, bestselling author of The City in the Middle of the Night
“Truly superb! Simplicity is a marvel, a perfect look into the ways that people can either fool themselves into accepting complicity or take the harder road that supports community; one that requires us all to make incredibly tough choices. It’s funny, heartbreaking, spellbinding, sexy, horrifying, and legitimately brilliant. Mattie Lubchansky is a genius.”
—Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things and With Teeth
“Mattie Lubchansky’s work is essential—a horny, Boschian vision of paranoia and deliverance. There is more comedy and emotion in their characters’ black punctuation-mark pupils than most cartoonists can put in a whole face. In Simplicity, they tackle extremes of bravery and cowardice, of closed-mindedness and freedom, of gender liberation, that Ursula Le Guin should have lived to see. It is a book to savor and ponder and live with until you’ve finally forgotten enough to read it again.”
—Isaac Fellman, author of Dead Collections
“The hottest, most satirically dazzling, heart-wrenchingly brilliant ecosexual call to action you’ll ever read. Simplicity’s futurelens puts desperately needed present-day hope in our sights.”
—Alissa Nutting, author of Tampa and Made for Love
“As our future looks more like a boot stomping on a human face forever, Mattie Lubchansky asks us to rid ourselves of repression and complacency in this sensual, savage satire.”
—Matt Bors, author of Justice Warriors
“Simplicity by Mattie Lubchansky blends dystopian science fiction and folk horror into a queer, trans story of hard-won hope in a future as terrifying–and as ridiculous–as our present. Sexy, insightful, and darkly funny, Simplicity could be an exhibit in a future museum–one that might bear the plaque ‘We Won,’ or at least ‘They Went Down Swinging.'”
—Lindsay King-Miller, author of The Z Word
“Simplicity has it all, from eroticism and ecohorror to cyberpunk dystopia and punk-rock rebellion—all illustrated in Lubchansky’s luscious and emotive style. It’s a wild ride, but also a thoughtful meditation on questions that only grow more pressing each year: How do we live, love, and stand together in a world that’s falling apart? You’ll tear through it, and immediately want to read again.”
—Lincoln Michel, author of The Body Scout and Metallic Realms
“An ambitious, weird spectacle. Simplicity plays with a lot of our big ideas about an ending world, while maintaining an intense, engaging focus on character motion and emotion.”
—Evan Dahm, author of The Last Delivery
“Explores the limits of utopian separatism, the downsides to trying to work against an oppressive system from the inside, and how communities can defend themselves and win.”
—Calvin Kasulke, Literary Hub
“The future is hauntingly familiar and hilariously horrific in the ambitious latest from Lubchansky. . . . An audacious story about 20th-century utopian dreams meeting 21st-century cynicism. It’s a sharp addition to the canon of socially relevant science fiction.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Razor-sharp. . . . Lubchansky’s latest offering is a timely and compelling meditation on identity and the dangers of surrendering too much personal and societal control in the name of safety and stability.”
—Jerry Stephens, Library Journal
“Intense, imaginative visuals pair well with the futuristic fight between idealism and oppression.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Lubchansky presents her riotous, fantastical dystopia in vibrant full-color illustrations that often cleverly show more than text bubbles might tell.”
—Terry Hong, Booklist
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