Hello, my name is Maggie. I've been publishing books and zines in the small press comics community since 2007. I co-founded 2dcloud, now I focus on my own books.

I'm excited to share my first self-published graphic novel with you! Chrysanthemum Under the Waves was 6+ years in the making and is a collection of 9 comics. It began as a single comic - a silent interpretation of the short story, The Tooth, by Shirley Jackson.

In Jackson's writing, I met James Harris. His is an ominous but nearly invisible presence in her stories, a tall man in a blue suit, a face hidden under a hat or by cigar smoke... He is a demon figure, a portent of doom. As he seeped into my comics, my marriage, my career and my health failed. At first, I thought that James Harris came to destroy me. Over time, I recognized he was there to help me say goodbye to all I loved most.

a woman in profile with long hair floating up, text reads: Chrysanthemum Under the Waves

284 pgs, 6 in x 9 in
softcover, perfect bound
ISBN: 979-8-218-41076-6
$35

I was interviewed on the hu u no podcast. Click here to listen to the episode. Artist and writer Dmitry Samarov and I talk about Chrysanthemum Under the Waves, self-publishing vs working with a publisher, my history as an cartoonist and why I left 2dcloud.

maggie umber reading a copy of Chrysanthemum Under the Waves by Maggie Umber
maggie umber reading a copy of Chrysanthemum Under the Waves by Maggie Umber

🖤

Magical feats of comics communication within these stories, beautiful tricks of mark making expressing what cannot be said.
I really love this book, very much.
— Lale Westvind, author of Grip published by Perfectly Acceptable Press

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