Published by: Black Panel Press Written by: Allison Conway Illustrated by: Allison Conway ISBN: 9781990521218 Ages: 12+ A day in the life of anyone often passes much like most. Time with friends, family, work, some food and drink, relaxation, entertainment, and eventually sleep. When such normalism is presented in literary form, we call it “slice of life.” Where the author has tapped into something unique, is that it is presented from the perspective of insects. Millie is a pillbug (technically a crustacean, yes, but her discovery of that is part of the story), who enjoys s ..read more

Published by: Gungnir Entertainment Written by: Matthew Medney Illustrated by: Kyle Faehnrich ISBN: 9781962594011 Ages: 18+ There are plenty of mythical beasts and legends known. A more modern of these creatures, presented back in 1995, is that of the chupacabra. Translated as “goat sucker”, this beast typically will attack livestock in a vampiric manner. Author Matthew Medney chooses to imagine this legend in a totally different way. Linking it to both Mayan heritage and secret societies, Chupacabra: Tales of Blood and Ink tells the story of a young girl, Sanny, who i ..read more

Lead Collection & Knowledge Management Librarian Matthew Noe provides in depth graphic novel review and creates associated lesson plan for librarians and educators for graphic novels for their collection or classroom. SIDE EFFECTS Published by: Seismic Press Created by: Ted Anderson, Tara O’Connor ISBN: 9781956731088 Ages: 15+ Review “Let’s just aim for okay. Okay?” Hannah doesn’t want to be super. She isn’t even asking to be great. She just wants to be well – unfortunately the world doesn’t always want to make that easy, especially when you’re in your first year of college! Side Ef ..read more

Lead Collection & Knowledge Management Librarian Matthew Noe provides in depth graphic novel review and creates associated lesson plan for librarians and educators for graphic novels for their collection or classroom. DEAR BODY Published by: Fairsquare Comics Created by: Various ISBN: 9798985927832 Ages: 16+ Review Dear Body is an anthology of comics, created by female and nonbinary creators all addressing body positivity in some way or another. These stories emerged from Lea Bordier’s long running video documentary series that gathers “women’s testimonies on their relationship to t ..read more

Published by: Storm King Productions Written by: Cullen Bunn Illustrated by: Heath Amodio and Andrea Mutti ISBN: 9798986480299 Ages: 15+ When you begin reading Long Haul, you aren’t exactly sure where or at what time period you are at. It could be modern day, slightly in the past, or even some kind of post-apocalyptic Mad Max-esque future. The scene starts in a desert along Route 66, and is kind of gruesome in that a group of 4 people are buried up to their necks in sand. The antagonist seems to have the situation well in hand… until a semi truck pulls up at the edge of his ..read more

Published by: UDON Entertainment Written by: Atsushi Suzumi Illustrated by: Atsushi Suzumi ISBN: 9781772942637 Ages: 13+ Following the Demon Wars, the War of Heroes, and the War of Evil Spirits, all six Kings of Lodoss were given a Crown of the Covenant, signifying that they dedicate their people and their lands to 1000 years of peace. Unfortunately, the Isle of Lodoss has only kept peace for 100 years. The new King of Flaim, Diaz, has refused to wear the Covenant Crown and instead declares his intention to make war on the rest of the Kingdoms, to prove that Flaim should ru ..read more

Lead Collection & Knowledge Management Librarian Matthew Noe provides in depth graphic novel review and creates associated lesson plan for librarians and educators for graphic novels for their collection or classroom. NERVOSA Published by: Street Noise Books Created by: Hayley Gold ISBN: 9781951491246 Ages: 16+ Review Nervosa is a gut-wrenchingly honest memoir about anorexia nervosa that follows creator Hayley Gold from her pre-teen years up through her decision to start writing her experiences down (so, basically, until present-day give or take a few years). Throughout the comic, w ..read more

Lead Collection & Knowledge Management Librarian Matthew Noe provides in depth graphic novel review and creates associated lesson plan for librarians and educators for graphic novels for their collection or classroom. THE COLOR OF ALWAYS: An LGBTQ+ Anthology Published by: A Wave Blue World Edited by: Brent Fisher and Michele Abounader ISBN: 9781949518245 Ages: 16+ Review The Color of Always is a collection of 14 short comics by a myriad of queer creators, all focused on affirming queer identities. These comics range from the dreaded coming out experience, to walking into the wrong c ..read more

Published by: Graphic Mundi Written by: Seth Christian Martel Illustrated by: Seth Christian Martel ISBN: 9781637790465 Ages: 13+ Have you ever been asleep and felt a presence? Something that you aren’t sure whether or not it is malevolent, but you just can’t get quite conscious enough to respond to it? Some professionals might tell you that you have sleep paralysis. But just maybe… it could be a wronged or rejected woman known as a Mare. Indigo has only recently developed sleeping problems. It could be her horrible job at the diner, or the stress from taking care of her al ..read more

Published by: Dynamite Entertainment Written by: Greg Weisman Illustrated by: George Kambadais ISBN: 9781524123550 In the mid 1990’s, Disney took a chance on a darker themed show called Gargoyles. Operating under the premise of stone gargoyles coming to life and working together to teach lessons about family as well as use their powers to protect the city of New York, it was a massive hit. I watched it almost daily when I was a teen, and I remember playing with the toys with my younger brother. Combined with the other after school shows Disney was putting out (Darkwing Duck ..read more