Buff Soul

by Moa Romanova, Melissa Bowers (Translator)

Overview

Eisner Award winner Moa Romanova returns with an autobiographical graphic novel about accompanying her rock star bestie on a U.S. tour, fueled only by alcohol, drugs and sex.

How do you prevent history from repeating itself, and is it possible to protect the one you love from themselves? When cartoonist Moa Romanova joins her rock star bestie on a U.S. tour, life quickly turns chaotic, as adolescent trauma begins to haunt her.

Buff Soul tackles addiction, friendship, and loss in a rollicking road trip adventure involving selling speed, breaking bones, massive hangovers, drug withdrawal, having your entire fist inside your best friend, and shooting guns in the desert. What begins as an insanely comical, hedonistic road trip in the spirit of Pineapple Express, takes a dark turn when her best friend disappears. This event triggers memories of an adolescent trauma she had yet to reckon with, leading Romanova to confront the reality of how far she’s let her self-destruction go.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798875000683
Publisher:	Fantagraphics
Publication date:	08/26/2025
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 10.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Moa Romanova is a Swedish painter and cartoonist living in Stockholm. Her debut graphic novel, Goblin Girl, garnered the prestigious Eisner Award in 2021 for Best U.S. Edition of International Material, as well as a National Book Critics Circle Award and John Leonard Prize nomination. She has collaborated with brands like Adidas, Vivienne Westwood and VOLT.

Melissa Bowers is a translator and editor. She lives in Seattle, WA.

Editorial Reviews

"Eisner winner Romanova follows Goblin Girl with another exceptional autofiction. ... Amid her candid reckoning with addiction and anxiety, Romanova is also bracingly witty, with nimble banter and blunt punch lines delineating the highs and lows of her central characters’ fierce friendship."— Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"A kaleidoscopic exploration of growth, friendship, and addiction."— Kirkus Reviews

"The Hollywood lifestyle seems glamours until the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll get the better of you. Accompanying her rock star best friend to the United States, where she expects to have nothing but fun, Romanova's past begins to haunt her as she is thrust into darkly familiar moments that parallel traumatic childhood memories."— New York Public Library

"Moa Romanova has indeed entered into a new phase of her life, one that sees her going from 'someone to keep an eye on' to 'someone who's arrived."— Four-Color Apocalypse

"I think it carries this really great punk rock energy throughout the entire thing. and then on top of that, Moa has this really great post modern punk, pop art style. She's doing something completely different than what other cartoonists are doing."— Back Corner Comics

"With a relatable plot and remarkable art, Romanova delivers a winning sophomore effort that surpasses her memorable debut."— Cinema Sentries

From the Publisher

2025-05-30
In Romanova’s autobiographical graphic novel, an illustrator joins her musician friend on tour for a kaleidoscopic exploration of growth, friendship, and addiction.

A 26-year-old Swedish illustrator, Moa takes the opportunity to join her friend Åsa’s band on tour through California and Texas. Åsa and Lina’s band, Shitkid, is playing punk shows in small venues. Before embarking on the journey, Moa talks with her friend Sarah about regrets over drunken behavior, and Sarah later shares her journey from no substances to some substance use. Regret over what happens while intoxicated continues to permeate Moa’s life as she continues the tour with Åsa and Lina, but drugs and alcohol are a constant of the touring musician life. Romanova’s visual style recalls the underground comix styles of the 1970s, which fit well with the rock ‘n’ roll tour lifestyle setting of the story. After a rough night of brawling at a concert and getting driven back to their crash pad by cops, Moa’s debauchery starts to look less like youthful exploration and more like a serious problem. When Åsa disappears from her band duties, Moa recalls a time when she was part of a search party for a woman named Sofia who was found dead. When she finds Åsa and they go home, there’s no glamour left in the tour for Moa. She tries to address Åsa’s out-of-control behavior, but Åsa turns it back around on her friend. For Moa, it was less about the drugs and more about indulging in the chaos and inoculating herself from the consequences. Åsa and Moa reaffirm their commitment to their friendship and vow to regain stability. Though the characters skirt up to the edge of the addiction-related horror, they manage to help each other through sticky situations and get home mostly unscathed.

A thoughtful story about the dangers of addiction ends with a hopeful possibility of reinvention.

Kirkus Reviews