Graphic Novels – SMASH PAGES

With ‘Teen Titans: Together’ wrapped, Kami Garcia + Gabriel Picolo look to the future with a book tour, more graphic novels

Fans of the Young Adult graphic novel series will be happy to learn the team will next focus on a new series with Kid Flash and Blue Beetle.

Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo’s Teen Titans: Together arrives in stores today, wrapping up the Young Adult graphic novel series that started about eight years ago — back when DC was using the DC Zoom and DC Ink imprints for their graphic novels aimed at younger readers. In each volume, Garcia and Picolo slowly reintroduced each member of the Teen Titans, from Raven to Beast Boy to Raven AND Beast Boy, then Robin and Starfire, with the final volume bringing everyone together.

“This series changed my life,” said Picolo. “We’ve shared so many unforgettable moments with fans around the world, and we’re excited to celebrate this final chapter together. I see these characters as my friends. The more I draw them, the more fun it gets. Some of my favorite moments came from drawing these characters the same way I’d draw my own friends just hanging out, and Kami and I are always blown away when fans show up in cosplay inspired by those everyday looks from the books.”

The series out-survived its imprint, proving to be mega-popular and critically acclaimed.

“Teen Titans has been one of the most rewarding creative journeys of our careers,” said Garcia. “We’ve loved telling stories with these characters and watching readers connect with Raven, Beast Boy and the rest of the Titans over the years. We grew alongside these characters, and these characters grew alongside the readers who embraced them from the very beginning.”

Dark Horse will adapt ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ stage play

The graphic novel brings the award-winning stage play to the printed page next January.

Dark Horse has announced a new entry in their long-running Stranger Things line — an adaptation of Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the stage play that serves as a prequel to the Netflix series. Rachel Pinnelas and Jake Bartok will adapt it into an 80-page graphic novel that’ll arrive in January.

The play is currently running at London’s Phoenix Theatre and New York’s Marquis Theatre, and tells the story of Henry Creel, a.k.a. the villainous Vecna, when he was a teenager in the late 1950s.

The play opened to five-star reviews in 2023 and has racked up an extensive awards haul since, including multiple Olivier Awards and Critics’ Circle Awards, and a WhatsOnStage Award for “Best New Play.” It also took home four Tony Awards in 2025. The production marked Netflix’s first foray into theatre, and has sold nearly 1.6 million tickets across its West End and Broadway runs with more than 1,500 performances. The play was written by Kate Trefry from an original story by the Duffer Brothers, Jack Thorne and Trefry, and the Duffer Brothers have confirmed that the play is canon to the series.

Image will release ‘The Trap’ by Bears legend Lance Briggs + Kyle Higgins + Danilo Beyruth this fall

Sports and comics collide in this graphic novel.

Image Comics will publish a new edition of The Trap by seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker and former Chicago Bear Lance Briggs, Massive-verse architect Kyle Higgins and Catwoman artist Danilo Beyruth.

The project was originally crowdfunded back in 2020, bringing in more than $40,000 on Kickstarter.

“I love working with interesting people and from the moment I met Lance—over a decade ago—I was impressed by how much his love of comics and storytelling was at the forefront of all our conversations, to say nothing of his desire to tell new stories in new corners of fiction,” said Higgins. “We started this journey to make The Trap—what we like to call an interstellar sports noir—over six years ago. Now, I’m so excited to share what we’ve built with the world.”

Jared Cullum returns with ‘Kodi: A Place to Call Home’ this September

The follow-up to the Reuben Award-winning graphic novel arrives in September from Top Shelf.

Cartoonist Jared Cullum is back with a second volume in his Kodi series this fall. Kodi: A Place to Call Home arrives in SEptember from Top Shelf Productions, continuing the story of a boy and his bear.

In this new volume, Katya and Kodi are adjusting to life together in the city, but Katya is falling behind in school and Kodi is struggling to find his footing in his noisy new surroundings. When a greedy zookeeper sets out to separate them for good, Katya and her found family have to head back into the wild, confront their fears and figure out where they truly belong.

Cullum described the book as a continuation of a deeply personal story.

Clover Press launches a creator-owned graphic novel line, The Fourth Leaf

The publisher will launch the imprint with projects by Doug Wagner, Daniel Hillyard, Steve Niles, Sean Lewis and Jonathan Marks Barravecchia.

Clover Press has become well known for everything from their Marvel and DC art books to their comic strip reprints. Now the boutique publisher is launching a line of creator-owned graphic novels, calling the imprint The Fourth Leaf. (Clever name, right?)

“We’re living in an unparalleled time of creativity and opportunity in the comic book industry,” said Clover Press Publisher Hank Kanalz. “We may not have flying cars (yet) and we may not be living on space stations (yet), but we are absolutely living in the future of near endless creative possibilities. It’s our distinct pleasure at Clover Press to spotlight some of the stories that resonate deeply with us, and connect them directly to readers looking for something new and different. These are bold, bloody and pulpy stories by fearless creators, and we’re proud to provide them a place to create without limits. These are stories to invigorate and ignite the future.”

Their first three projects under the new imprint are:

I Love Apocalyptic Zombie Misfits! by longtime collaborators Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard, the team behind Narco, Plastic, Vinyl and many more.
Bear Pirate Viking Queen by Sean Lewis and Jonathan Marks Barravecchia, a hardcover collection of the Image Comics series.
Cal McDonald: Plague of Evil and Other Stories, a return to his supernatural detective character by writer Steve Niles, who will team up with a “superstar line-up of international artists” for this short story collection

Like most projects from Clover Press, all three will be funded through Kickstarter. See below for more information on these first three projects.

‘Cult of the Lamb: Pilgrim’ gets wide release from Oni Press in December

The previously sold-out graphic novel tied to the hit video game arrives in comic shops and bookstores for the first time.

Fans who missed out on Cult of the Lamb: Pilgrim will soon have another chance to add the graphic novel to their collection. As part of their build-up to this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Oni Press announced it will publish a new hardcover edition of the previously sold-out book this December, bringing the story to comic shops for the first time.

Originally released as part of the limited physical edition of Cult of the Lamb’s Pilgrim DLC — that’s downloadable content, for the non-video game players out there — the 112-page graphic novel is written by Cult of the Lamb‘s head of narrative, JoJo Zhou and illustrated by the game’s concept artist, Carles Dalmau. The story takes place within the continuity of the hit video game from Massive Monster and Devolver Digital.

Smash Pages Q&A | Katie Skelly on ‘Heaven’

The creator of ‘Nurse Nurse,’ ‘Maids and more talks about her newest graphic novel, the end of her “cool girls” era and what she’s planning next.

Katie Skelly has spent more than a decade creating stylish graphic novels centered on unforgettable women navigating worlds of horror, desire and mystery. From My Pretty Vampire and Operation Margarine to Nurse Nurse, Skelly has developed a visual style all her own, blending cute images with bold colors, emotional honesty and, at times, brutal violence.

Her latest graphic novel, Heaven, is her first in about six years, following 2020’s Maids. It arrives in stores today courtesy of Fantagraphics. The supernatural strip joint story follows Dolly, a young woman searching for purpose who is drawn to “Heaven,” a mysterious club on the outskirts of town.

Combining supernatural horror with themes of identity and belonging, Heaven also marks the end of an era for Skelly. As she recently revealed, it’s the final story she’ll tell featuring the “cool girl” protagonists who have defined much of her work over the past decade.

I spoke with Skelly about the origins of Heaven and why this graphic novel felt like the right place to close one creative chapter before beginning another.

Art Baltazar expands the Aw Yeah! Universe in ‘Meteor Mite: Up & At ‘Em!’

The cartoonist behind ‘Tiny Titans’ introduces a cosmic origin story years in the making, arriving from Papercutz this September.

The Aw Yeah! comics universe continues to grow — in this case, by a smidge — as Papercutz has announced Meteor Mite: Up & At ‘Em! The original graphic novel from Aw Yeah! co-founder Art Baltazar introduces Meteor Mite, a very small but very powerful addition to the Aw Yeah! Universe.

The story follows Mikey, an ordinary kid whose life changes when a mysterious enchanted crystal from space chooses him as its champion, making him the most powerful hero on Earth. The book follows Mikey as he figures out how to be a superhero while accidentally making enemies along the way.

Baltazar said he’s had this “all-powerful cosmic super hero” in his sketchbook for years. “Meteor Mite is inspired by all the superhero cartoons I watched as a kid,” he said. “Through the years, I wrote and drew bits of his story and created aliens and bad guys along the way. And now it’s finally all coming together!”

Titan will publish Victor Santos’ ‘Moon Eaters’ graphic novel this fall

The crowdfunded neo-noir tale of a man hunted by a violent cult on his first night of freedom arrives Oct. 6 from Titan Comics.

Titan Comics will bring Moon Eaters, the latest graphic novel by Polar creator Victor Santos, to English language audiences this October. The story of one really bad night in the life of a recently released convict was crowdfunded by Santos back in 2021.

The story follows Tommy Blackfoot, freshly released from prison and hoping to start over with June, the woman who stood by him through years of correspondence. Their reunion is cut short when the Children of Hati, a violent cult Tommy once escaped, track him down and force him into a brutal fight for survival.

Oni Press announces middle-grade Arabic graphic novel ‘Yalla!’

Ameen D.B. and Ismael Hernández tell the story of a young immigrant navigating a new language, new friendships and some very large monsters.

Oni Press has announced Yalla!, a middle-grade graphic novel from debut writer Ameen D.B. and illustrator Ismael Hernández, which they plan to publish next June. What’s unique is that it’s not written in English, it’s in Arabic, but is aimed at English readers.

Pre the press release: “While the book is not in English—fear not! By joining along with Pada, readers will encounter a new place and language, all while learning a new Arabic word or phrase in each chapter.” Which allows me to use one of my favorite words here, “edutainment” — enjoy the story, learn a little Arabic along the way. Also, based on the preview pages, it looks like it’ll at least partially be told in English, so don’t be too intimidated.

“Ahlan wa sahlan and welcome everyone to the magical world of Yalla!—a graphic novel for early readers that teaches literacy and empathy in new ways,” said Ameen D.B. “Across four stories, we experience a strange new world like an immigrant, like 10-year-old Pada . . . all without the help of any subtitles! But don’t be scared—through context clues, we arrive at understanding alongside Pada and her gang of friends. So strap on your boots, tighten your swimsuits and come with Pada as we explore her new home together. Yalla!”

Box Brown explores AI resurrection + big tech in next graphic novel ‘Forevr’

The Top Shelf graphic novel follows a family grappling with a consciousness-uploading app that lets them keep chatting with their dying mother … for a reasonable monthly fee.

Top Shelf Productions will publish Forevr, a new original graphic novel from Brian “Box” Brown, creator of Andre the Giant: Life and Legend, Is This Guy for Real? The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman and many other wonderful graphic novels.

The story follows Brenda, whose dying mother uploads her consciousness to the aptly named “Forevr,” an app that allows surviving family members to continue chatting with deceased loved ones. As Brenda and her girlfriend pursue careers as wilderness survival influencers, her father grows increasingly dependent on the digital version of his wife, and tensions come to a head on a family camping trip.

Papercutz announces first original ‘Mandalorian and Grogu’ comic, set before the upcoming film

Din Djarin and Grogu head underground in a one-shot announced on May the 4th and set for release this July.

Mad Cave Studios and their Papercutz imprint announced The Mandalorian and Grogu: Danger in the Dark today, and what better day to reveal the first original comic one-shot starring Din Djarin and Grogu? The book goes on sale in July.

Written by Delilah S. Dawson with art by Arianna Florean, the story is set just before the events of the upcoming Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu film and follows Din Djarin and Grogu as they venture into the lava tubes beneath Nevarro to defuse a crashed pirate ship, joined by a crew of Anzellan droidsmiths.

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