Category: Graphic Novels

Image Comics will release Emma Ríos’ ‘Anzuelo’ in November

The original graphic novel tells a dystopian story about how the rising Sea impacts three kids.

Emma Ríos, the Eisner-winning artist whose work includes Pretty Deadly, Doctor Strange, Osborn and more, returns in November with Anzuelo, an original graphic novel she’s written and drawn.

Image Comics describes the project as “gorgeous and brutal,” as it features a world where the capital-S Sea has risen up to absorb the world.

“No matter how carefully you plan a project like this, the work and the creator always transform and adapt due to learning and experimentation. I wanted to write the Sea under my skin, and I’m fortunate to have become someone else in the process,” Ríos said.

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Meet Ballpoint, the worst Transformer ever, in Skybound’s upcoming young adult graphic novel

Writer Brian “Smitty” Smith and artist Marz Jr. tell the story of a Decepticon who is bad at being bad.

Following the success of their best-selling and Eisner Award-winning Transformers reboot, Skybound will expand their partnership with Hasbro with Transformers: Worst Bot Ever: Meet Ballpoint, the first in a series of young adult graphic novels featuring the Transformers.

Writer Brian “Smitty” Smith and artist Marz Jr. will tell the story of Ballpoint, a Decepticon who gets kicked off the team for being horrible at his job. So he decides to try and take down the Autobots by himself.

“It’s been awesome bringing Ballpoint to life,” Smith said. “Getting to add a brand-new character to the Transformers universe is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!” 

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SDCC | Oni Press announces four new graphic novels for Spring 2025

The line-up includes OGNs by David Rubín, Craig Hurd-McKenney, Noah Bailey, Matt Lesniewski and more.

Oni Press has revealed their Spring 2025 graphic novel line-up, which they highlighted yesterday at a panel at the San Diego Comic Con.

The line-up includes four new original graphic novels, and a new edition of an older one:

  • El Fuego, written and drawn by David Rubín, who has worked on Cosmic Detective, the Black Hammer universe titles and more.
  • Soma by Fernando Llor, an award-winning writer from Spain, and Carles Dalmau, who worked on the video game Cult of the Lamb
  • Station Grand by Xeric grant-awarded and Ignatz Award-nominated writer Craig Hurd-McKenney, and Tremor Dose and Double Walker artist Noah Bailey
  • A new edition of the Eisner-nominated The Freak by Matt Lesniewski, which was originally published by the now defunct AdHouse Books.

“The adult graphic novels for the start of 2025 showcase an incredibly skilled lineup of writers and artists whose sensibilities enthrall, delight and entertain through grand and sometimes unnerving explorations of the human experience,” said Sierra Hahn, Oni’s editor in chief. “Readers will get lost in the stunning visuals in these four wholly unique graphic novels represented in lush, lavish full color and the quiet purity of black and white storytelling.”

Here’s more information on each of them from the publisher:

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Derek Kirk Kim + Jacob Perez place a bet on ‘Royals’

The graphic novel will arrive from Image Comics next April.

Derek Kirk Kim’s return to comics started strong with the release of the excellent The Last Mermaid, but he’s not done — the creator of the award-winning Same Difference and Other Stories will team with artist Jacob Perez for Royals.

Image Comics will release Royals as an original graphic novel. It’s about two telepathic brothers whose attempts to use their powers to cheat at poker land them in very hot water.

“As a lifelong fan of crime capers and Jackie Chan films, this is a dream project come true for me,” said Kim. “And having it brought to glorious life by Jacob Perez with his vivid, dynamic art is an absolute honor!”

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Raina Telgemeier + Scott McCloud are making a comic about making comics

Scholastic will publish ‘The Cartoonists Club’ next year.

Two of comics greatest creators and ambassadors are teaming up on a new graphic novel that “blends captivating narrative, how-to, and the enchanting art of comics to inspire a new generation of young cartoonists.” The Cartoonists Club, by Raina Telgemeier and Scott MCloud, will be released by Scholastic’s Graphix imprint next year.

Telgemeier will combine her experience creating best-selling graphic novels like Smile, Drama and Guts with the expertise McCloud has shown in books like Understanding Comics and its two sequels.

“Whenever I speak to kids, they ask me what advice I have for budding cartoonists,” Telgemeier said. “I hope this book serves as a good answer, or at least a great jumping-off point! I have wanted a book like this to exist for a long time, and collaborating on it with Scott has truly been a dream come true. I’m ecstatic for younger readers to discover Scott’s insights into how comics work, what makes them special, and how to think about them!” 

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Daniel Freedman + CROM return for a third volume of ‘Birdking’

The journey to the golden city of Atlas continues this November in the dark fantasy graphic novel.

The Raiders creative team of Daniel Freedman and CROM return to Dark Horse Comics this fall with a third volume of Birdking, their graphic novel series about a teenage girl Bianca and the guardian spirit known only as the “Birdking.”

Together, they spent the previous two volumes trying to reach the city of Atlas, but it looks like only one of them might complete the quest.

“Volume 3 marks a huge turning point for both Bianca and Birdking,” said Freedman, “ and we couldn’t be more excited for readers to experience the next stage of their journey and relish in their self-discoveries and hard-fought triumphs.”

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‘Flash Gordon Adventures’ will arrive from Papercutz this fall

Art Baltazar and Franco will chronicle new kid-friendly adventures featuring Flash, Ming, Dale and more.

Papercutz, the kids comics company owned by Mad Cave Studios, has announced their Flash Gordon graphic novel series aimed at kids — Flash Gordon Adventures by the Tiny Titans team of Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani.

Mad Cave announced the acquisition of the Flash Gordon license last year, and has since revealed several comic series they’ll be publishing this year. So this new series by Papercutz is part of that bigger plan. And bringing in Baltazar and Franco is of course a stroke of genius.

“When I was a kid, I watched the Flash Gordon serials every weekend with my dad. Then! I played with the action figures and watched the cartoons! The cartoon had all these cool aliens and colorful characters,” Baltazar said. “Flash is cool space adventuring swashbuckling hero and he did it  first!  When Papercutz announced Flash Gordon, I was like, ‘Dang! I know that guy. I can make some cool comics with him.’ So they asked, and I said, ‘Yes!’” 

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Mat Johnson + Steve Lieber explore family secrets + time travel in ‘Backflash’

The new graphic novel will debut from Dark Horse’s Berger Books imprint this fall.

Mat Johnson, writer of Incognegro and its sequel, Incognegro: Renaissance, is working with Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen artist Steve Lieber on a new graphic novel that offers “a delightfully strange and fresh take on time travel.” Backflash, which will be published by Dark Horse Comics’ Berger Books imprint, is scheduled to come out this fall.

They’re joined by colorist Lee Loughridge and letterer Clem Robins on the project, which is being edited by Karen Berger. She previously worked with Johnson when she was at Vertigo on the first Incognegro book, as well as Dark Rain: A New Orleans Story, Right State and a Hellblazer special. She also edited the five-issue Incognegro: Renaissance since coming to Dark Horse.

According to the news release, Backflash tells the story of Devin whose life is “spiraling out of control, until he discovers the impossible: with a random touch of an article of family memorabilia, he can travel back in time, mentally reliving the best moments of his past while escaping his problems of the present.” But it comes with consequences, as he discovers a family secret he was never supposed to find out.

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‘Justice Warriors’ returns this fall as an original graphic novel

‘Justice Warriors: Vote Harder’ takes aim at politics and elections.

Matt Bors and Ben Clarkson’s Justice Warriors will return from Ahoy Comics this fall as a full-length graphic novel, titled Justice Warriors: Vote Harder.

A dystopian satire series that pokes fun at capitalism and law enforcement in a future of severe inequality, the first Justice Warriors miniseries was released in 2022 and collected in 2023. This new graphic novel takes aim at politics and elections, which no doubt makes it the perfect companion to what’s happening in America this year.

“Bubble City is having its first ever mayoral election and mutant cops Swamp and Schitt are pulled in to special duty to protect the vote from the people,” Bors said in his newsletter. “Ben Clarkson and I have been hard at work, along with our colorist Felipe Sobreiro, to top our first volume of the series and bring you an election year satire for the ages.”

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The first meeting of ‘The Graveyard Club’ convenes in September

R.L. Stine and Carola Borelli bring fresh YA scares this fall.

Welcome to Graves End, a town with a curious trait — it’s surrounded by graveyards. That’s the perfect meeting place for The Graveyard Club, a new project coming from horror master R.L. Stine, artist Carola Borelli and BOOM! Studios.

“In The Graveyard Club graphic novels, the teens hang out in the graveyard–because it might be the safest place in town,” Stine said. “Their town is surrounded by graveyards. And swarms of red-eyed bats come swooping out every night. And that’s just the BEGINNING of the horror! I’m having a lot of fun with this series!”

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‘Gender Queer,’ ‘Flamer’ among the most banned books of 2023

For the third year in a row, a record number of books were challenged in libraries and schools.

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe was once again the most challenged book in libraries in 2023, as reported today by the American Library Association. This makes the third year in a row that the graphic novel about gender identity has topped the list.

Gender Queer was one of seven books in the top 10 that was challenged based on LGBTQIA+ content, along with two other graphic novels — Flamer by Mike Curato, which was the fifth most challenged book, and Let’s Talk About It by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan, which was the ninth.

“In looking at the titles of the most challenged books from last year, it’s obvious that the pressure groups are targeting books about LGBTQIA+ people and people of color,” said ALA President Emily Drabinski. “At ALA, we are fighting for the freedom to choose what you want to read. Shining a light on the harmful workings of these pressure groups is one of the actions we must take to protect our right to read.”

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‘Joker: The World’ will feature creators from 13 countries

The anthology will arrive in September, just in time for Batman Day.

Back in 2021, DC’s Batman: The World anthology brought together Batman stories by creators from around the world. DC has announced a similar project for this September titled Joker: The World, which will again bring together international creators to tell stories about the Clown Prince of Crime.

The book will include stories by creative teams from 13 different countries, with contributions from Geoff Johns, Satoshi Miyagawa, David Rubin, German Peralta, Alvaro Fong Varela, Jason Fabok and more. In the press release, DC said the stories will be “tailored to the authentic style, tone and cultural sensibilities of different nations around the world.”

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