Ngozi Ukazu and G. Willow Wilson headline a season full of serious and sassy offerings, including punky graphic novels, coming-of-age tales with modern vibes, and flights of fantasy—and flirtation.
Top 10
Bunt! Striking Out on Financial Aid
Ngozi Ukazu and Mad Rupert. First Second, Feb. 13 ($25.99, ISBN 978-1-250-19352-0; $17.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-250-19351-3)
Check, Please series phenom Ukazu steps up to bat for another sporty conceit: an art school student’s tuition runs out—and her only option left is to slide home on a softball scholarship. Ages 14 and up.
The Fox Maidens
Robin Ha. Balzer + Bray, Feb. 13 ($18.99, ISBN 978-0-06-268512-4)
Ha follows up Almost American Girl with a feminist take on a Korean folktale, starring the daughter of a fox demon. Ages 13 and up.
The Gulf
Adam de Souza. Tundra, Mar. 5 ($20.99, ISBN 978-1-77488-073-9)
A group of disaffected high schoolers run away to a remote island commune in this outing from a rising indie cartoonist. Ages 14 and up.
The Hunger and the Dusk
G. Willow Wilson and Chris Wildgoose. IDW Originals, June 11 ($21.99 trade paper,
ISBN 979-8-88724-082-4)
Ms. Marvel creator Wilson returns with an epic set in an apocalyptic world of orcs and humans engaged in mortal battle. Ages 13 and up.
Just Another Story: A Graphic Migration Account
Ernesto Saade. Graphic Universe, Apr. 2 ($17.99 trade paper, ISBN 979-8-7656-2336-7)
Noting that refugee and migrant youth make dangerous crossings every day, Saade offers an up-close look at the experience for one family fleeing El Salvador. Publishing simultaneously in English and Spanish. Ages 14 and up.
Out of Left Field
Jonah Newman. Andrews McMeel, Mar. 26 ($16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5248-8482-6)
The meet-cute premise of editor-turned-cartoonist Newman’s debut finds a nerdy queer kid trying out for his high school baseball team to play alongside his crush. Ages 15 and up.
Punk Rock Karaoke
Bianca Xunise. Viking, Apr. 23 ($24.99, ISBN 978-0-593-46450-2)
Ignatz promising new talent award winner Xunise brings her patented punk rock stylings to a friendship and coming-of-age story about a crew of South Side Chicago teens who start a garage band. Ages 14 and up.
Ready or Not
Andi Porretta. Atheneum, July 2 ($14.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-6659-0702-6)
A teen clique looks to liven up summer by playing “dare” (they’re skipping truths). The results will push these disparate personalities into risk and revelation. Ages 14 and up.
The Worst Ronin
Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Faith Schaffer. HarperAlley, May 21 ($18.99, ISBN 978-0-358-46493-8)
Samurai girls on the cusp of adulthood battle real-life demons and their own teen angst. Ages 14 and up.
Young Hag and the Witches’ Quest
Isabel Greenberg. Amulet, May 14 ($24.99, ISBN 978-1-4197-6511-7)
New York Times bestseller Greenberg turns her distinctive whimsical-woodcut-style artwork to an Arthurian fable of witchery and wonderment. Ages 12 and up.
Young Adult Comics & Graphic Novels Longlist
Amulet
The Harrowing by Kristen Kiesling and Rye Hickman (Apr. 16, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-4197-6084-6). A psychic teen whose visions feature potential killers gets kidnapped by scientists who want to harness her premonitions to deter crimes. When she foresees her closest friend and secret crush shooting a man, the question becomes—is any of it real? Ages 14 and up.
Bdang
When the Lake Burns by Geneviève Bigué, trans. by Luke Langille (June 11, $25 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-77262-097-9). Dangerous secrets surface when a strange natural phenomenon causes a lake to catch fire, and a group of teens try to test out the legend of the flames’ alchemic powers. Ages 14 and up.
DC
Bad Dream: A Dreamer Story by Nicole Maines and Rye Hickman (Apr. 2, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-77951-045-7) imagines the origin story of trans superhero Nia Nal, who struggles to keep hidden the seer powers her older sister was supposed to receive from their mother but were accidentally transferred to Nia instead. Ages 13–17. 80,000 copy announced first printing.
Barda by Ngozi Ukazu (June 4, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-77951-113-3). Love is taboo on the hellish planet Apokolips, but warrior Barda still finds herself drawn to the idea of romance—an inclination her mentor seeks to suppress by assigning her a seemingly impossible task. Ages 13–17. 90,000 copy announced first printing.
Starfire by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo (July 2, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-77951-799-9) offers up an origin story for the Teen Titan, whose superpowers arise when she and her sister undergo experimental therapy for Ehlers Danlos syndrome. Ages 13–17. 110,000-copy announced first printing.
Disney Hyperion
Straight on Till Morning: A Twisted Tale Graphic Novel by Noor Sofi and Liz Braswell (June 11, $17.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-368-06814-7) asks, what if Wendy never went to Neverland with Peter Pan—and instead got left behind and snagged by travel guide Captain Hook for a very different adventure? Ages 12 and up.
King Cheer (Arden High #2) by Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, and Jamie Green (Feb. 6, $14.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-368-08111-5). Shakespeare’s King Lear gets a queer high school romance twist, where the matter of succession pertains to who will take over the top of the cheer squad’s pyramid. Ages 12 and up.
Dynamite Entertainment
Here in Manhattan (Gargoyles #1) by Greg Weisman (Feb. 6, $19.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5241-2355-0). The classic TV show Gargoyles gets a reboot, with a new series depicting the antics of ancient stone warriors awakened from the New York City buildings on which they’d been frozen. Ages 12 and up.
Fairsquare Comics
A Fox in My Brain by Lou Loubie (Apr. 16, $19.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-960171-10-8) depicts the author’s experience of cyclothymia bipolar disorder as a wild, wily fox that prowls through her mind. Ages 13 and up.
I Run to Make My Heart Beat by Rachel Khan and Aude Massot, trans. by Ivanka Hahnenberger (Feb. 27, $25 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-960171-05-4) adapts Khan’s semi-autobiographical novel into the comics story of a multicultural runner named Nina who finds her stride on the track in mid-1990s France. Ages 13 and up.
Feiwel & Friends
Baker and the Bard: A Cozy Fantasy Adventure by Fern Haught (Mar. 5, $25.99, ISBN 978-1-250-82850-7; $17.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-250-82851-4) follows a pair of friends who bake and act together on a foraging trip for mushrooms that turn out to be truly magical. Ages 12 and up.
With a Little Luck by Marissa Meyer and Chuck Gonzales (Feb. 13, $20.99, ISBN 978-1-250-61893-1) features a hapless high school gamer who gets the magic of boundless luck but stumbles into realizing that following his dreams might mean leaving the girl he really loves behind. Ages 12 and up.
First Second
Call Me Iggy by Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado (Feb. 13, $25.99, ISBN 978-1-250-20415-8; $18.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-250-20413-4). A Colombian American teen named Iggy falls for an undocumented peer, Marisol, who’s too busy to return his advances—despite the ghost of Iggy’s grandfather playing cupid. Ages 14 and up.
Karate Prom by Kyle Starks (May 7, $25.99, ISBN 978-1-250-86865-7; $17.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-250-86866-4). Rick & Morty writer Starks’s homage to 1980s adolescent dramedy and martial-arts pulp puts high school fighters and their dangerous ex-lovers into wilder and wilder scenarios in the run-up to prom. Ages 14 and up.
Youth Group by Jordan Morris and Bowen McCurdy (July 16, $25.99, ISBN 978-1-250-78922-8; $17.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-250-78923-5). Jordan, Jessie, Go podcaster Morris (Bubble) returns to comics with an absurdist and satirical monsters-among-us tale in which an otherwise typical church youth group trains to battle actual demons. Ages 14 and up.
Getty
Ruth Asawa: An Artist Takes Shape by Sam Nakahira (Mar. 19, $19.95, ISBN 978-1-947440-09-8) presents a graphic biography of Japanese American artist Ruth Asawa (1926–2013), who was detained in incarceration camps in California and Arkansas during WWII before becoming a groundbreaking sculptor. Ages 13 and up.
Graphic Universe
Hotelitor: Luxury-Class Defense and Hospitality Unit by Josh Hicks (May 7, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 979-8-7656-2335-0). When a giant alien attacks the luxury cruise ship Hotelitor, which is stranded in deep space, it’s the vessel’s teenage intern and her fellow service workers who rally to rescue the guests. Ages 14 and up.
Graphix
Rainbow! by Sunny and Gloomy (Mar. 5, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-339-01123-3) collects the webtoon romance that pairs dreamy Boo Meadows with new girl Mimi, who brings her flighty fantasies down to reality as the two grow closer than just friends. Ages 12 and up.
Gungnir
Mutant Cats by Morgan Rosenblum, Matthew Medney, and Alex Arizmendi (Apr. 30, $22.99, ISBN 978-1-962594-00-4). When Mutant Labs develops a renewable energy gadget, project leader Flux and his goofball team give in to corporate pressure to rush it to market—and accidentally unleash a scourge of mutant cats from an alternate dimension. Ages 16 and up.
HarperAlley
Homebody by Theo Parish (Apr. 23, $18.99, ISBN 978-0-06-331958-5) delves into Parish’s experiences as a non-binary person, from navigating seemingly arbitrary social mores while growing up to finding a sense of homecoming in realizing and assuming their gender identity. Ages 14 and up.
Pillow Talk by Stephanie Cooke and Mel Valentine Vargas (Apr. 30, $18.99, ISBN 978-0-358-52571-4). Grace, aka Cinderhella, is an upstart contender who bucks the sizeist norms of an underground pillow fighting league as she faces off against opponents like Pain Eyre, Miss Fortune, and Kat Atonic. Ages 14 and up.
Sunhead by Alex Assan (May 7, $18.99, ISBN 978-0-06-311357-2). Rotem’s so deep into her fandom of a vampire romance novel that she alienates her longtime crew, who just aren’t that into it. Then she meets a new girl who gets it—and her—on a whole new level. Ages 14 and up.
Tristan and Lancelot: a Tale of Two Knights by James Persichetti and L.S. Biehler (June 4, $18.99, ISBN 978-0-358-54123-3) takes a slash fanfic approach for an Arthurian queer romance that asks, what if Lancelot and Tristan’s knightly bond blossomed into something romantic? Ages 13 and up.
Holt
Maelstrom: A Prince of Evil by Lorian Merriman (May 28, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-250-82283-3; $17.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-250-82284-0). Maelstrom may be the demon scion of an evil ruler, but his even more troublesome mother won’t step down. So he teams up with the “Hero of Virtue” Twigs to attempt a coup—which promptly backfires. Ages 12 and up.
IDW Originals
Taka by Ryan Jampole (Mar. 19, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-68405-976-8). After accidentally unleashing evil robots on her city, Taka—with the help of her bestie, Star, and a science priestess called Meg—secretly becomes a mech fighter to tidy up her epic fail. Ages 13 and up.
Iron Circus
Indiginerds, edited by Alina Pete (July 16, $20 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-63899-133-5), brings together Indigenous comics creators, including Rhael McGregor, PJ Underwood, and Kameron White, for stories of growing up within the mixture of pop culture influences and traditions found in their First Nations communities. Ages 14 and up.
Kaboom!
The Sky Kingdom (Nomads #1) by Captain Juuter (May 14, $12.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-60886-600-7). Reluctant young traveler Lance strikes out from his home in the sea across the kingdom of the sky in search of his missing brother, in this first collection of Juuter’s webtoons. Ages 13 and up.
LB Ink
An Outbreak of Witchcraft: A Graphic Novel of the Salem Witch Trials by Deborah Noyes and M. Duffy (June 4, $17.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-7595-5559-4) depicts the terrors of 1692 to 1693 in Massachusetts, when accusations of witchcraft led to the executions of more than 20 people. Ages 14 and up.
Levine Querido
49 Days by Agnes Lee (Mar. 5, $18.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-64614-375-7) interprets the Buddhist tradition of a 49-day journey between life and death as the diary of a Korean American girl who must come to terms with what she’s leaving behind. Ages 12 and up.
Little, Brown/Ottaviano
Freshman Year by Sarah Mai (Feb. 13, $17.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-316-40117-3). Sarah heads out from the Wisconsin suburbs to start college in Minnesota, sure she’ll stay close to her boyfriend and friends back home while winning the acclaim of her profs—but finds it much harder than she imagined. Ages 14 and up.
Maverick
I’m a Mess by Einat Tsarfati (July 9, $14.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-5458-0086-7) celebrates the unsung advantages of scatterbrains, including keen visual memory and the ability to find creative inspiration in chaos, while offering some tips for avoiding clutter. Ages 14 and up.
Of Her Own Design by Birdie Willis et al. (June 18, $14.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-952303-57-9). An angsty teen scribbler escapes her argumentative parents and garden-variety teen drama into a world of stories, which start coming to life and wrapping her real-life concerns up in their plots. Ages 14 and up.
Silver Vessels by Steve Orlando and Katia Vecchio (Mar. 12, $14.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-952303-58-6). Treasure-hunting teens in the Florida Keys set their hopes on discovering a Spanish galleon sunk in the 17th century, but it’s lessons in coming-of-age that their dive unearths. Ages 14 and up.
Nobrow
Garbage Night: The Complete Edition by Benji Lee (May 7, $20.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-910620-74-8) binds up the original graphic novel of a dog, a raccoon and a deer in a postapocalyptic landscape eagerly awaiting the return of garbage pickup night with a sequel that finds the trio continuing their search for scavenging opportunities. Ages 13 and up.
Liberty by Julian Voloj and Jorg Hartmann (Jul. 2, $22.99, ISBN 978-1-913123-05-5) investigates the origins of the Statue of Liberty, which welcomes immigrants to Ellis Island and was erected due to the determination of a French artist. Ages 13 and up.
Putnam
The Ghostkeeper by Johanna Taylor (July 23, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-593-52667-5). Ever since a brush with death, teenager Dorian sees ghosts, and assists them in transitioning through the door to the afterlife. When that portal gets locked, however, the hauntings escalate, interfering with his family life and romantic relationship. Ages 12 and up.
Random House Graphic
First Test: The Graphic Novel (Protector of the Small #1) by Tamora Pierce and Becca Farrow (July 2, $17.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-307-93157-3) adapts Pierce’s bestselling fantasy about a spunky girl named Kel who must get past a sexist lord’s unfair endurance trials to become the first female knight in Tortall. Ages 12 and up.
Top Shelf
Wolfpitch by Balazs Lorinczi (June 11, $19.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-60309-539-6). A teen werewolf and two ghosts start up a garage band—despite their supernatural enmities—and take on a rival group, with unexpected consequences, in this queer love story slash rock dramedy. Ages 13 and up.
Tu
Safe Passage by G. Neri and David Brame (Mar. 10, $20.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-64379-034-3). Coretta Scott King Honoree Neri returns to the South Side Chicago community of Yummy, where their friends risk everything for the cash blowing in the wind after an armored truck crashes in the middle of gangland. Ages 12 and up.
Versify
Brownstone by Samuel Teer and Mar Julia (June 11, $18.99, ISBN 978-0-358-39474-7). Almudena reunites with her Guatemalan American father for the summer and learns about her heritage as they fix up his rundown brownstone home together. Ages 14 and up.
Workman
Here I Am, I Am Me: An Illustrated Guide to Mental Health by Cara Bean (Apr. 2, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-5235-2438-9) illuminates the neuroscience of mental health, including such tough topics as depression, suicide, and addiction, with comics that portray parts of the brain as characters. Ages 12 and up.
This article has been updated for clarity.
