Published by Pantheon Books in 2011, it brought Katchor the National Cartoonists Society's Graphic Novel Award.

It was Pantheon's first graphic novel to be released in ebook format in addition to the hardcover edition.

The collected edition, however, wasn't released until March 15, 2011—Katchor's first book in over ten years.

[2] Katchor says the time was right to return to The Cardboard Valise, as we're living in an age where people are thinking about the disappearance of paper and the culture that went with it.

The book was also Pantheon's first (and to date, only) graphic novel to be released as an e-book simultaneously with the hardcover edition.