Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe was once again the most challenged book in libraries in 2023, as reported today by the American Library Association. This makes the third year in a row that the graphic novel about gender identity has topped the list. Gender Queer was one of seven books in the top 10 that was challenged based on LGBTQIA+ content, along with two other graphic novels — Flamer by Mike Curato, which was the fifth most challenged book, and Let’s Talk About It by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan, which was the ninth. “In looking at the titles of the most challenged books from last year ..read more

Back in 2021, DC’s Batman: The World anthology brought together Batman stories by creators from around the world. DC has announced a similar project for this September titled Joker: The World, which will again bring together international creators to tell stories about the Clown Prince of Crime. The book will include stories by creative teams from 13 different countries, with contributions from Geoff Johns, Satoshi Miyagawa, David Rubin, German Peralta, Alvaro Fong Varela, Jason Fabok and more. In the press release, DC said the stories will be “tailored to the authentic style, tone and cultura ..read more

Jeffrey Brown’s 2021 graphic novel Batman and Robin and Howard was a delight, so I’m happy to see that DC has announced a sequel to the story that featured Damian, his middle-school rival Howard and a dad joke-spouting Batman. “Having the opportunity to make a second DC middle grade book, I first thought I’d come up with all new characters and a new story with a different superhero,” Brown said. “But as I started writing, I kept thinking about Robin and Howard (and Batman, of course), and eventually realized what I really wanted to do was continue their story. The sequel gives a different look ..read more

The long-delayed The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic by writer and author Alan Moore and his magical mentor Steve Moore will finally materialize in October from Top Shelf Comix and UK publisher Knockabout Ltd. This “celebration of magic and the occult” will feature prose, illustration and sequential art, with contributions by several of Alan Moore’s previous colleagues, including John Coulthart, Steve Parkhouse, Rick Veitch, Ben Wickey and the late Kevin O’Neill. “One of the great honors of my publishing career has been to work with Alan Moore on so many monumental projects, like From He ..read more

Oni Press will cozy up to The Night Mother, a new graphic novel by Jeremy Lambert, writer of Doom Patrol, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Goosebumps and more, and artist Alexa Sharpe, who has worked on Lumberjanes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and more. They’re joined by letterer Becca Carey for the dark fantasy. The story is set in a seaside town cast into perpetual night when the sun disappears, where Madeline Tock lives in the local graveyard and talks to the dead — and prepares to battle the Night Mother for the soul of her town. “The Night Mother is a supernatural snow globe world of the unknown wh ..read more

Dark Horse Comics will collect Holler, Jeremy Massie’s ode to the grunge era of the 1990s, into one volume this fall. Originally self-published via crowdfunding and It’s Alive, the collection will include all eight issues Massie produced and eventually posted on his website. The comic tells the story of Magnesium Mama, the grunge band formed by four friends in an Appalachian town in Virginia. “I’ve gotten to a certain time in my life where I’ve gotten introspective, maybe even sentimental, about the time and place I grew up,” said Massie. “Even if the times and place weren’t the greatest, I wa ..read more

Papercutz, the kid’s graphic novel imprint owned by Mad Cave Studios, has announced a publishing partnership with Disney that’ll bring Turning Red, Phineas & Ferb, Encanto, Frozen and more to comics — or back to comics, in some cases — later this year. The partnership isn’t too much of a surprise, as Papercutz announced a Free Comic Book Day title featuring Encanto and Turning Red for this year’s event. But the bench goes deeper than those two titles, as their plans include several titles that look like they may be reprints. For instance, the listing for Phineas & Ferb notes that it’s ..read more

The Midnight: Shadows isn’t the only music-themed graphic novel coming from Dark Horse this year. This week the publisher also announced Spinal Cord, a heavy metal horror graphic novel written by David Braña and illustrated by Pahito. It’s a tale as old as time — a heavy metal band wants to make it big, so they enter a competition that ends up being more than they bargained for. “The idea of Spinal Cord had been in my head for a long time,” said Braña. “I wanted to write about a music band trying to make its way in today’s complicated industry. Pahito and I both love m ..read more

Music and comics will collide in a new graphic novel this fall, as the synthwave band The Midnight teams with Dark Horse for The Midnight: Shadows. Written by Zack Kaplan with art by Stephen Thompson and artist Jahnoy Lindsay, the graphic novel is about a soon-to-be father who gets literally sucked into a cyberpunk video game from his youth called The Midnight. Colorist Thiago Rocha and letterer DC Hopkins round out the team. “Before I got the privilege to write this graphic novel, I was a fan,” Kaplan said. “Intoxicated by the immersive beats and heartfelt lyrics since their very first d ..read more

Dc has announced two projects coming later this year aimed at the young adult market, which include a Wonder Woman collection and a new Blue Beetle graphic novel. Up first is Wonder Woman: The Adventures of Young Diana, written by Jordie Bellaire and drawn by Paulina Ganucheau. These stories originally ran as a back-up in the regular Wonder Woman title starting 2021, and featured a look at Diana’s early life on Themyscira. It’s nice to see them collected: The world may know her as Wonder Woman, but once upon a time she was Diana, the young princess of Themyscira. Back then, she struggled to f ..read more