Category: Graphic Novels

Molly Ostertag reveals the cover to ‘The Deep Dark,’ coming next year from First Second

The print version of her Substack work will arrive in June.

Over the course of about two years, Molly Knox Ostertag serialized a comic called Darkest Night on her Substack. Now the award-winning creator of The Girl from the Sea and Witch Boy has revealed the cover to the print version of the story, which will be titled The Deep Dark.

First Second will publish the graphic novel next June, as Ostertag undergoes the process of converting the original art, which was made for scrolling on a device, to print pages.

“I’ve spent the past few months turning those long scrolling updates into graphic novel spreads and cursing my past self for being so chaotic about how I layer my photoshop files,” she said in her latest newsletter. “I also hand lettered everything, which looks so good that I’m furious because now I HAVE to hand letter all future projects.”

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Chu + Lee revisit the first vampire in ‘Carmilla: The Last Vampire Hunter’

Dark Horse will publish the sequel graphic novel next July.

Dark Horse Comics has announced a sequel to Carmilla: The First Vampire, the graphic novel by Amy Chu and Soo Lee published earlier this year. Carmilla: The Last Vampire Hunter will feature lettering by Sal Cipriano and will arrive in stores next July.

Based on a 19th century queer feminist murder mystery, Carmilla: The First Vampire was a contemporary retelling set in 1990s New York Chinatown. The new OGN follows social worker-turned-vampire hunter Athena Lo to San Francisco as she investigates her family’s dark history.

“Excited to continue the story of Athena and Carmilla, this time on the West Coast, and to introduce a whole new world of pan-Asian supernatural characters to the readers,” said Chu. “I hope with the Last Vampire, Soo Lee and I help define Asian American horror as a genre.”

The trip to SF will bring new challenges and introduce a new vampire threat — with the shadow of Carmilla still hanging over Athena. The book falsl under the Berger Books banner, the imprint overseen by former Vertigo chief Karen Berger.

“I’ve fallen in love with these characters as I bring them to life on paper, and Athena has a very special place in my heart,” said Lee. “Introducing a new cast of Asian Vampires creates a twist to the genre that I hope will become a new trend for many years to come. This story has become a part of me and this sequel is one I hope resonates with many people, especially if family is an important part of you. 

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Dark Horse announces ‘Goblin: The Wolf and the Well’ for next July

Eric Grissom and Will Perkins send Rikt the goblin to school.

Eric Grissom and Will Perkins’ Goblin graphic novel was pretty great, so I’m happy to see that Dark Horse has announced a sequel, The Wolf and the Well, for next year.

The second volume in the story of the goblin named Rikt will find him facing his greatest challenge — school.

“After Rikt’s first adventure in Goblin, I knew I wanted to throw him up against something even bigger and scarier than a blood-thirsty warrior with a tattooed face,” said Grissom, “and what’s more frightening for a kid than a new school? But there’s so much more going on at Underwood than homework. Rikt and his best-wolf, Fish-breath, are in for a rough ride, but at least they’ll make some friends along the way…and, unfortunately, some enemies, too. Sometimes, it can be hard to tell the difference. I can’t wait for readers to discover the mysteries behind Underwood’s iron gates.”

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‘Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: The Hidden Codex’ arrives from Dark Horse next year

Writer Mathieu Gabella and artist Paolo Traisci tell another tale set in the video game world.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was released almost three years ago, bringing vikings into the popular video game world. The game proved to have a long shelf life, as developer Ubisoft continued to release new content for it over the course of two years, finally releasing a new game for the franchise this year — Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which is actually a prequel to Valhalla.

Dark Horse helped expend the world of Valhalla since its release, putting out several miniseries and now, as announced earlier this week, they plan to release a hardcover graphic novel by writer Mathieu Gabella and artist Paolo Traisci.

“We were very lucky to work with Mathieu Gabella and Paolo Traisci, two long-standing fans of the franchise who infused their love and deep knowledge of our lore in this book. Fans and newcomers alike will enjoy this mysterious tale which expands Assassin’s Creed Valhalla across uncharted territories,” said Etienne Bouvier, Senior Transmedia Content Manager.

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Uncivilized Books will publish Ozge Samanci’s ‘Evil Eyes Sea’ + more next year

The publisher’s spring line also includes ‘Maple Terrace’ by Noah Van Sciver and Jenna Cha and Lonnie Nadler’s ‘The Sickness.’

Uncivilized Books has announced plans to publish a new graphic novel and two collections of their single-issue series next spring.

“Uncivilized has championed innovative comics, graphic novels, and criticism for over a decade, and our spring publications embody all our obsessions,” Uncivilized Books Publisher and CEO Tom Kaczynski said, “from Ozge Samanci’s treasure hunt and political thriller to Noah Van Sciver’s nostalgic memories of the comic book collectors craze to Jenna Cha and Lonnie Nadler’s unsettling historical horror epic.” 

Evil Eyes Sea by Ozge Samanci is a “feminist political mystery” set in Turkey in 1995.

“The autobiographically-inspired story I tell in Evil Eyes Sea emerged from my college years in Istanbul, my quirky friends, and my struggles with being a young woman in Turkey’s male-centric culture,” Samanci said. “In this book, I share a window into a country where narrow political views limit personal power — a place that can be beautiful, but also cruel.”

You can read more about Evil Eyes Sea, as well as the collections of Maple Terrace and The Sickness, below.

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Art Baltazar, James Kochalka + Kaeti Vandorn will bring Dr. Seuss characters to comics

Random House Graphic will release a new line of graphic novels featuring Cat in the Hat, the Grinch and more

Random House Graphic will publish a series of graphic novels featuring Dr. Seuss characters, starting with the Cat in the Hat next year.

Cat Out of Water by Art Baltazar (Tiny Titans) will arrive in stores next April, followed by a Grinch story by Kaeti Vandorn (Monster Friends) next fall and a Green Eggs and Ham spinoff by James Kochalka (Super F*ckers) in 2025.

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Oni announces a third ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ graphic novel

Stephanie Phillips and Dani Bolinho bring ‘Forecast from Stonehenge’ to comics.

Oni Press will release a third Choose Your Own Adventure adaptation next year by Grim writer Stephanie Phillips and Dani Bolinho, who drew the first CYOA adaptation.

Forecast from Stonehenge, based on the prose novel by R. A. Montgomery, follows Journey Under the Sea and Eighth Grade Witch. And like the other novels and graphic novels in the series, it gives the reader the opportunity to choose what happens next at certain points in the story.

“I was excited to help bring a choose your own adventure story to comics and expand the audience of readers who get to experience this fun and unique format,” Phillips said. “As a kid, I loved CYOA stories because they allowed me to take an active role in the story being told, and thanks to Dani Bolinho’s art I think readers will absolutely feel like they are being pulled into the world of Forecast from Stonehenge.” 

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‘Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder’ will arrive in 2024

The best-selling graphic novel series returns with a new book next March.

Scholastic has announced that the next book in Dav Pilkey’s mega-hit Dog Man graphic novel series will arrive next March. Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder follows this year’s Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea, which is the top-selling children’s book of 2023 in North America thus far.

“Dog Man started out as a character I created when I was in second grade, but the series has evolved into a love letter to my parents,” Pilkey said. “Looking back as a kid growing up with dyslexia and ADHD, my parents, who were my best advocates, let me choose whatever books I wanted to read—with no judgment. Their support and love was life-changing and helped me to become the reader, author and illustrator that I am today.”

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Vault will publish ‘He Who Fights With Monsters’ graphic novels

The first adaptation of the hit fantasy series will arrive in 2024.

Vault Comics will team with Podium Publishing to bring He Who Fights With Monsters, the popular series of books by Travis Deverell, to comics.

“He Who Fights With Monsters is among the best long-form fantasy series I’ve ever read,” said Vault CEO Damian Wassel in a press release. “I just can’t get enough of it. The whole team at Vault is so excited to bring Shirtaloon’s amazing world to life in the graphic novel medium.”

Deverell, whose pen name is Shirtaloon, has written nine books in this “Literary Role Playing Game” series, with a 10th arriving in November. It’s about an office-supplies-store middle manager who becomes a heroic interdimensional adventurer who battles cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters and more.

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Dark Horse will publish Mosher + Krause’s ‘Blacking Out’ in 2024

Set in Southern California, the graphic novel follows an ex-cop’s investigation into an unsolved murder.

Dark Horse has announced plans to publish the graphic novel Blacking Out next year. The SoCal crime story was written by Chip Mosher, one of the co-founders of DSTLRY, with artwork by Peter Krause, Giulia Brusco, Ed Dukeshire and Tom Muller.

The project began its life on Kickstarter and raised more than $40,000 back in 2020, at the start of the pandemic. I spoke with Mosher about it at the time, and he told me the project was inspired by the French bande dessinée format.

“Creators really take their time producing the work and it shows,” he said. “And these albums are just beautifully crafted, beautifully done, and I really just wanted to do something like that. I just really wanted to do something that just had absolutely no compromises.”

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Lee + Li lead an ‘Army of One’ at Oni Press

The graphic novel will land in stores next March.

Writer Tony Lee and artist Yishan Li will team up for Army of One, a new graphic novel coming from Oni Press next year that spotlights one hero’s journey through the multiverse.

Announced at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, the story’s origins go back as far as the 2016 SDCC, when Lee pitched the idea to Li of a story about a girl who finds out that she came from the shard of a sorceress whose body was shattered into the pieces that formed the multiverse.

“When we pitched this, multiverse stories in comics were rare, but now they’re ten-a-penny,” said Lee. “But over the years, the story changed and grew as we progressed deeper into it; it became less about the worlds, and more about the loneliness of a character while surrounded by others, and how even one person can create a revolution. Finishing the third book in the series during a global pandemic really brought that home, and after four years wait since it was first announced, I can’t wait for people to finally see the journeys of Carrie and her fellow Shards, as they try to fulfill a prophecy given by an unreliable narrator!” 

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King Arthur meets noir in ‘The Cold Ever After’

Jeremy Whitley and Megan Huang’s new graphic novel, which has been years in the making, will arrive from Titan Comics next year.

Jeremy Whitley and Megan Huang will combine Arthurian fantasy with a dose of detective noir in The Cold Ever After, a new graphic novel announced by Titan Comics this week at the San Diego Comic Con.

“Longer ago than I’d like to admit, I had this idea. I was stumped for a new idea for a story I wanted to tell, but I had all these genres I loved. So I thought, what if I combine a couple of very disparate genres and see what I can make out of that? One was ‘Arthurian Noir,'” Whitley, the co-creator of Princeless, said on Twitter. “Arthurian Noir really stuck with me, and I thought: the noir detective and the disgraced knight are really compatible ideas that I really like together, but also I’m really tired of Lancelot stories. I wanted a beautiful queen and a stalwart knight I had never seen so that’s how we ended up with Noelani. She was taken from her home by the church based on a holy test and trained to be the king’s Holy Champion for years. Shown no love or care, just training, until she was sent on a dangerous mission to retrieve the would-be queen.”

Huang said the idea predates her first published comics work. “This OGN was a pitch even before my first big comics work. So it’s amazing to finally talk about it,” the artist of Jia and the Nian Monster said on Twitter.

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