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.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘The Ministry of Compliance’ opens its doors as ‘G.I. Joe’ returns to shelves

Check out new comics and graphic novels arriving this week by John Ridley, Stefano Raffaele, Larry Hama, Chris Mooneyham, Dan Slott, Mark Bagley, James Tynion IV, Joshua Hixson, Peach Momoko, Karina Shor, Geoff Johns, Gary Frank and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital.

I’ve pulled out some of the highlights below, but for the complete list of everything you might find at your local comic shop and on digital this week, you’ll want to check out one or more of the following:

As a reminder, things can change and what you find on the above lists may differ from what’s actually arriving in your local shop. So always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

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Horror for the holidays: James Tynion IV + Joshua Hixson bring ‘The Deviant’ to Image

The nine-issue miniseries begins in November.

Worldtr33 writer James Tynion IV will team with Children of the Woods artist Joshua Hixson for a new Christmas-themed psychological crime thriller titled The Deviant.

They’ll be joined by letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou for this “pitch-black holiday horror story” that’ll run for nine issues.

The Deviant is something a little different,” said Tynion IV. “A dark, focused psychological crime thriller where I get to explore the intersection of my queer identity and a broader scope of cultural transgression and deviance. This is my response to Silence of the Lambs and Jeffrey Dahmer serving as my first real glimpses of my queer identity as a young closeted Midwestern boy. It’s one of the darkest and most personal stories I’ve ever written. It’s also a story about Christmas.”

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