The Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire

Working in the sea deep below a Canadian oil rig, welder Jack Joseph knows his job: focus on the weld, hold a steady hand. But one day he sees something from the corner of his mask and everything begins to unravel.

He's brought up to the surface, revived, and sent home early from his stint aboard the rig. Going home should be a blessing because Jack's wife Susie is on the verge of giving birth, but Jack's restless to discover what he saw in the deep water outweighs his impending fatherhood.

This black-and-white graphic novel shows through flashbacks and some time travel trickery how Jack's grief for his missing father is affecting his joy for the birth of his own son. In the introduction there's reference to the TV show the Twilight Zone - which is really how this story feels.

It's bleak and sad, but also told very well.

Monstrous beauty

by Elizabeth Fama

Hester is a modern teenager who lives with the belief that for generations love and death have been bound together within her family.  Scientifically, there seems to be no proof, but she knows the safest choice is to avoid love.  Then she is drawn to Ezra who seems to have knowledge of her family's past.

Woven around Hester's story is one from another era.  This is the love story of a young man and the mermaid Syrenka.  Syrenka's kind are not understood by most humans.  The bond between the two appears destined for tragedy.

The reader begins the story quickly bonded to characters in both eras.  Fama does a wonderful job of giving the reader enough information to believe they have the story solved while holding a few important twists until the end.  
 

The audio version of this is a 2013 Odyssey Award Honor title, and for good reason.  Katherine Kellgren's narration is evocative.  She characterizes, and humanizes, multiple species and even the spirits of those long dead.