Welcome to our thirteenth annual graphic novel issue. Reflecting our current combative era, the pieces here depict conflicts both personal and political, addressing a striking range of existential challenges shaping lives across the globe.  Keum Suk Gendry-Kim shows a wrenching parental decision. Two years after the Arab Spring, Tunisia’s Hélène Aldeguer finds college students struggling with unemployment, instability, and disillusionment. The celebrated Czech duo of Vojtěch Mašek and Džian Baban debut in English with a series of duels between an aspiring writer and a cynical publisher. Didier Kassaï chronicles the conflict raging in his native Central African Republic. And André Diniz is of two minds about a complicated longterm relationship.