SPURGEON: Are you going to continue with self-published original graphic novels? Why are these books being published at the same time? The stacks of reference books in my office have reached never-before-seen levels. I have another book to write for one of Simon & Schuster's imprints. Labs for a while, since after the ones for Mark Siegel and co. But these may well be the last two books that come out from G.T. So the timing here is, to some degree, coincidental. JIM OTTAVIANI: That work has already begun, as I've already written the first of the books for First Second and am over half-way through a draft of the second one. TOM SPURGEON: Jim, can you give us an update on the status of GT Labs and where these two books can be placed in your company's development? Are these the last two before you begin work for First Second? Following the brief chat with the creators are chunks of each book for preview purposes. With book projects on the way for First Second and Simon and Schuster, it may be Ottaviani's last foray into traditional comics self-publishing for a time. I was happy to talk to Jim and his latest co-contributors, Janine Johnston ( Levitation) and Dylan Meconis ( Wire Mothers). Wire Mothers starts in vigorous, messy fashion before cohering into an intimate portrait of the emotional and personal costs of a life devoted to scientific research.

Levitation manages a consistent tone that facilitates a dispassionate dissection of highly competitive, singularly focused stagecraft. This summer's Levitation: Physics and Psychology in the Service of Deception and Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love are graphic novellas that tackle splashily non-science subjects in terms of their nuts and bolts particulars.

Ottaviani not only produces comics in a niche he has all to himself, biographies and historical fiction on science and scientists, but his comics have an understated writer-first feel to them that stands in bold relief against much of today's cartooning landscape. I worked with Jim Ottaviani a decade or so ago when I was editing The Comics Journal, and have watched his self-publishing efforts at GT Labs with great interest. A Short Interview With Jim Ottaviani, Janine Johnston and Dylan Meconis

Levitation by Jim Ottaviani