Graphic Novels – SMASH PAGES

‘Feeding Ghosts’ by Tessa Hulls wins a Pulitzer Prize

Former Washington Post political cartoonist Ann Telnaes also won this year in the Illustrated Reporting and Commentary category.

Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir by Tessa Hulls has become the second graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize.

The graphic novel won the award in the “Memoir” category, which comes with a prize of $15,000. Hulls follows in the footsteps of Art Spiegelman, who won a Pulitzer in 1992 for his work on Maus.

Pulitzer Prize administrator Marjorie Miller announced the awards today in a livestream on YouTube and described Feeding Ghosts as “an affecting work of literary art and discovery whose illustrations bring to life three generations of Chinese women — the author, her mother and grandmother — and the experience of trauma handed down with family histories.”

Ed Brubaker + Sean Phillips return to ‘Criminal’ with a new graphic novel

Image Comics will release ‘The Knives’ in August.

It’s been about half a decade since we’ve seen new Criminal material from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, but that dry spell ends this year with The Knives, the first Criminal story since 2019.

The Knives arrives from Image Comics in August as an original graphic novel. Previous volumes of Criminal started as comic series that were eventually collected, so it’s a shift to the OGN format the duo has been excelling in for the past several years with Pulp, Night Fever and other projects.

“A few years ago someone reached out to me to return some of my uncle’s lost possessions, after his family estate had been plundered, and bizarrely, that sparked the inspiration for what I hope is the biggest and best Criminal book yet. A crime story about one generation growing up in the life, another growing older and trying to get out of it, and Hollywood, somehow, too,” said Brubaker. “This book is an epic, the longest original graphic novel we’ve ever done, and it’s been a joy to return to this series and these characters, especially after spending most of the last three years watching them come to life on set and screen. I can’t wait to get this book into readers’ hands.”

Take a look inside June’s ‘Superman: The World’ hardcover

Creators from all over the world will share their takes on Superman in this anthology.

Back in 2021 DC celebrated Batman Day with the release of Batman: The World, an anthology graphic novel featuring stories about Batman by creators from all over the world. But Bruce Wayne isn’t the only global trotter in the Justice League (and let’s face it, it’s easier to do when you can fly) — this year, as part of their “Summer of Superman” initiative, DC will release Superman: The World in June.

The graphic novel will include contributions from creators from 15 different countries, including Dan Jurgens, Jorge Jimenéz, Satoshi Miyagawa, Stepan Kopriva, Dr. Ejob Gaius, Jefferson Costa Sylvian, Lee Weeks, Jorge Jimenéz, Kai Kitago, Michal Suchánek, Jefferson Costa, Marcial and more.

“The Man of Tomorrow usually soars through the skies in Metropolis, but no matter where in the world a cry for help comes, Superman will always be there to save the day,” the press release read.

Exclusive | Take a look inside the deluxe edition of Brenna Thummler’s ‘Lights’

The hardcover arrives in stores today from Oni Press.

Courtesy of Oni Press, we’re thrilled to share this preview of Lights: Deluxe Edition, the final installment of Brenna Thummler’s Sheets trilogy.

Originally published in 2023, Lights wraps up the story of Marjorie Glatt and her best friend, Wendall, who happens to be a ghost that she found living in her family’s laundromat. Together with their friend Eliza, they set out to discover the story behind Wendall’s death — and, eventually, his life as well.

The hardcover deluxe edition, available in stores today, includes never-before-seen bonus content like sketches, a Q&A, Easter eggs and more. You can check out some of it in the preview below.

‘Gender Queer,’ ‘Flamer’ once again land on the ALA’s most challenged books list

The American Library Association releases their 2024 report on the state of American libraries and the most challenged books.

For the first time since 2020, Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe was not the most challenged book on the American Library Association’s list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books in the United States. The graphic novel fell to No. 2 on the 2024 list, after All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson.

Flamer by Mike Curato, another graphic novel that’s been the subject of frequent challenges since it was published in 2020, landed at No. 10 on the list. The rest of the list featured books that have frequently been mentioned over the last few years in news coverage of book bannings, which isn’t surprising — the ALA says most of the challenges in 2024 were brought on by organized movements by pressure groups and politicians, rather than the random parent who saw what their kid was reading and freaked out.

“The movement to ban books is not a movement of parents, but a movement of partisans who seek to limit our freedom to read and make different choices about things that matter,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “All who care about libraries and personal liberty must stand together and join the movement to halt this assault on the freedom to read.”

The total number of books that were challenged also fell year-over-year for the first time since 2020, with the ALA reporting they received reports of 5,813 book challenges, down from 9,021 in 2023. But the reasons they gave for the drop are chilling in themselves — many book challenges are no longer being reported because doing so can bring “significant risk to a library worker’s professional livelihood and personal safety.” They also noted some states have passed laws restricting the type of materials available in libraries and schools based on the topics addressed in them, so certain books aren’t being shelved to begin with. But it’s not all doom and gloom — as many state legislatures use their power to ban books, others in California, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey and
Washington adopted new legislation protecting the freedom to read and the library workers who defend that freedom for their communities.

Below is the full list of the most challenged books.

Dark Horse announces a third and final ‘Carmilla’ volume

Amy Chu and Soo Lee continue the story of the first vampire in a new graphic novel this October.

Dark Horse Books and Berger Books have announced the third and final volume of the Carmilla trilogy, the award-winning graphic novel series by Amy Chu and Soo Lee.

Carmilla: The Eternal will arrive in October and will feature lettering by Sal Cipriano, as the previous volume did.

“It feels surreal to think, when I pitched the original concept as a trilogy to Karen Berger five years ago that here we are, actually at the end of this fantastic journey, said Chu. “I’m amazed and grateful that our take on this classic has resonated with so many folks.”

‘Aquamanatee’ joins DC’s 2025 all-ages graphic novel line-up

Ben Clanton and Cassandra Federman introduce a new undersea hero who craves adventure and toots a lot.

Narwhal and Jelly creator Ben Clanton is teaming with This Is a Sea Cow illustrator Cassandra Federman for a fun, all-ages graphic novel from DC, titled Aquamanatee.

The story will introduce Marlow the manatee, who has visions of adventure and super-heroics that come true when he gains super powers and teams up with his idol, Aquaman.

Here’s the full description:

ALA announces its annual ‘best graphic novels’ reading lists

‘The Deviant,’ ‘Barnstormers,’ ‘Plain Jane and the Mermaids’ and more appear on the American Library Association’s lists for 2024.

The American Library Association has announced its annual lists of the best graphic novels for adults and for kids — spotlighting 100 really great graphic novels published in 2024.

The ALA’s Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table annually assembles the list, each made up of 50 titles. They also release a “top 10” for each category, with an aim to “increase awareness of the graphic novel medium, raise voices of diverse comics creators and aid library staff in the development of graphic novel collections.”

“I want to congratulate the committee on selecting this exceptional list of comics and graphic novels for young people.,” GNCRT President Shira Pilarski said. “These titles don’t just foster development of literacy skills, and they don’t just provide countless hours of entertainment for fans of graphic nonfiction, memoir, poetry and fiction. They are also beautifully illustrated works of art.”

If you’re looking for a gift for a child in your life, or even for something to read yourself, you can’t go wrong with these lists. You can find the “top ten” for adults and then for children below.

Jesse Lonergan’s ‘Drome’ will arrive from 23rd Street Books this summer

The new sister publisher to First Second will bring Lonergan’s ‘320-page opus’ to stores in August.

Jesse Lonergan, the amazing artist of Man’s Best and Hedra, has a new graphic novel arriving later this year. Drome will be published by 23rd Street Books in August.

Lonergan announced his “320-page opus” on social media last month, then posted several preview pages on his website this week.

If you’re not familiar yet with 23rd Street Books, they’re the spinoff of long-running publisher First Second. While First Second will focus on kid’s graphic novels, 23rd Street Books will publish graphic novels for adults. Lonergan was one of the creators mentioned in their initial PR last July, along with Gene Luen Yang, Ben Hatke, Damon Wayans Jr. and more.

And if you’re not familiar with Lonergan, you should definitely check out Hedra, which Image Comics published back in 2020.

My favorite comics of 2024

And some favorite graphic novels as well.

It’s been a number of years since I’ve put together a list of my favorite comics of the year, something I used to do on a regular basis back in the Blog@ or Robot 6 days. Not from a lack of desire, but I spend a lot of time agonizing over my choices and, especially, the write-ups for each of my selections.

So this year I thought, “Screw it; just list your top 10 and be done with it.” So, here are my 10 — no, wait; I narrowed it down to 11, not 10 — 11 favorite comics, as well as five graphic novel favorites. I did not read as many graphic novels this year as I typically would for various reasons, but these are five I really liked.

So without further ado, here they are, in no particular order …

Oni announces ‘The Goddamn Tragedy’ by Chris Condon + Shawn Kuruneru

The vicious Western draws from the real-life story of the Donner Party.

That Texas Blood writer Chris Condon is teaming up with Fishflies artist Shawn Kuruneru for the Western thriller The Goddamn Tragedy, a new graphic novel that Oni Press will publish next year.

While the story is fiction, it does draw from the real-life tale of the Donner Party in the mid-1800s, whose ill-fated journey from Illinois to California became infamous when members of the party resorted to murder and cannibalism during a harsh winter spent in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

“I had been reading about the tragic Donner Party of 1846 and an idea struck me: there’s a story here to tell, one that could capture the psychological tumult a family endures as they are faced with an impossible decision: kill…or be killed,” Condon said. “We all know how the Donner Party played out, but we don’t know how things work out for the Janson family and that’s a story that the masterful Shawn Kuruneru and I are all too excited to tell. Thankfully, we’ve found a great home for this one-shot of survivalist terror at Oni Press who excels at telling gut-wrenching tales from beyond the pale.”

Chip Kidd + Michael Cho team for a graphic novel featuring the original Avengers

Abrams will release the high-end hardcover next year.

Writer and designer Chip Kidd will team with artist Michael Cho for The Avengers in the Veracity Trap, a graphic novel coming next year from Abrams Books’ MarvelArts line. The 64-page hardcover will retail for $25.99.

Abrams published the award-winning Fantastic Four: Full Circle by Alex Ross, as well as the expanded edition that was recently released and features a lot of extras.

“Writing this book was really just an excuse to see Michael Cho depict glorious, epic, jaw-dropping sequential storytelling with these iconic characters that we love so much. He more than delivered,” Kidd said. “Oh, and it was also my ultimate comics ego trip, which Abrams and Marvel actually allowed me to take. I still don’t know why but I am beyond grateful.”

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