Archives de catégorie : Comics & Graphic Novels

PETWIZARDS de Kirk Scroggs

Perfect for animal lovers and fans of Lumberjanes, here is a hilarious middle-grade graphic novel about a glam rock-loving boy named Finch with the not-so-secret ability to control animals, and his mission to save the school musical and win the heart of his crush.

PETWIZARDS
by Kirk Scroggs
Union Square Kids, August 2024
(via JABberwocky Literary Agency)

Finch Eaglehawk may seem like an average oddball with a taste for the dramatic and glam-rock musical numbers, but he has a secret. Finch is a PetWizard, with the ability to control the animal kingdom—well, the « et cetera » category of the animal kingdom. Though he loves his naked mole rats, bearded dragons, and boa constrictors, Finch yearns for more. With the help of his best friend, Aberdeen, a mysterious new kid named Erica, and an ancient PetMaster manual, Finch tries to learn how to own his powers and use them to help those in need, protect the vulnerable, and, most important, impress his crush, Ken Chu, the star of the upcoming school musical.

Kirk Scroggs is the author and illustrator of The Secret Spiral of Swamp Kid and We Found a Monster. He has been publishing illustrated middle-grade novels for over fifteen years. Kirk lives in Los Angeles with his husband, Steve, and an ungrateful cat.

DON’T TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS de Raphael Simon et Philip De Léon

Two queer love stories. Two time periods. One mystery.

DON’T TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS
by Raphael Simon and Philip De Léon
TBD
(via The Gernert Company)

Fifteen-year-old Noah lives with his father in New York but is spending the summer with his mother in Venice, CA. An indoor, city sort of person, a RuPaul fanatic, he’s miserable in the sun – until he meets Tomo, a surfer who works in his father’s vintage store. Tomo hands Noah an old composition-style notebook, filled with steamy diary entries by its teenaged owner, Diego, in addition to ephemera from the 1980s. Noah reads about Diego playing footsie in history class with closeted surfer (another surfer!) Casey until one day after school it becomes something more. Noah is enthralled. And there’s one more notebook at the store, but that’s it – Noah and Tomo have no idea what happened to Diego and Casey. And as they set off to find the much older surfer, the two boys find romance of their own…but can Noah keep from sabotaging the first good thing in his life?

Not quite a graphic novel, not quite a traditional prose novel, DON’T TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS is an enchanting story and story-within-a-story in the form of two sequential scrapbook-style diaries that include drawings, photos, concert tickets, flyers, and other memorabilia from the late 80s – a fantastically fulfilling romance, mystery, and coming-of-age novel.

Better known as Pseudonymous Bosch, Raphael Simon is the not-so-secret author of two bestselling middle-grade series, the Secret Series and the Bad Books, as well as the ALA Rainbow-Listed Unbelievable Oliver chapter-book mysteries. Most recently, Raphael published The Anti-Book, the first novel to appear under his own name (“a surprisingly powerful, formula-breaking coming of age story” per the New York Times).

Prior to writing books, Raphael wrote screenplays for film, television, and video games, and was a staff writer on Nickelodeon’s Rocket Power. In recent years, he has contributed essays and reviews to the New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Harper’s Bazaar.

As a visiting author, Raphael has shared his work with students at schools all across the country, as well as at bookstores and book festivals, theaters and museums, universities, summer camps, and once, memorably, trapped in a cage. More formally, he has taught creative writing at Occidental College and a queer mystery class (“Closet Cases”) at CalArts.

A graduate of Yale, Raphael holds an MA in Comparative Literature from UC Irvine. An LA native, he lives in Pasadena with his husband, two daughters, and two dogs.

Textile designer and illustrator Phillip De León began drawing as soon as he could hold a pencil.

First working as a creative in the advertising world, Phillip joined forces with his design partner and sister Nicole and their father Marcus to form the De León Design Group, and to direct the Los Angeles-based textile house, Alexander Henry Fabrics, Inc. A queer artist who spent his childhood dancing to disco and foraging the pages of GQ, Phillip has long incorporated a gay sensibility into his artwork.

A native Los Angeleno, Phillip De León grew up in the San Fernando Valley, earning his BA degree in Comparative Literature from UCLA. Designer and illustrator by day and jazz singer by night, Phillip now lives with his husband and their twin daughters in Pasadena.

KID YOUTUBER PRESENTS: HALL MONITORS #1 de Marcus Emerson

From the creator of Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja comes HALL MONITORS!

KID YOUTUBER PRESENTS: HALL MONITORS #1
by Marcus Emerson
Self-published, July 2023
(via Writers House)

Meet Parker Ronald, captain of the Hall Monitors. Not every school has them, but Wood Intermediate does, at least for one more week.

Being a Hall Monitor ain’t always pretty, but somebody’s gotta do it. And after a high-speed chase ends with two kids kaboomed against a trophy case, the principal has decided to cut the program. But with the help of Davy Spencer and a little something called YouTube, Parker will try to prove to everyone why the Hall Monitors shouldn’t get axed. Oh, and the school’s most prized possession also gets ganked, so that’s a whole thing, too.

HALL MONITORS is a funny children’s book for ages 9-12, middle school students, and adults who never grew up.

Marcus Emerson is the author of Kid Youtuber, Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja, and The Super Life of Ben Braver.

THE NIGHT LIBRARIAN de Christopher Lincoln

Night at the Museum meets The Land of Stories in this thrilling new graphic novel adventure series in which two siblings, a mysterious Night Librarian, and a motley cast of book characters try to save the New York Public Library.

THE NIGHT LIBRARIAN
by Christopher Lincoln
Dial Books, July 2024
(via Writers House)

Twins Page and Turner know about the magic a library holds—they’ve been going to their beloved New York City public library for years, especially since their parents are always traveling for work.

But a secret mission involving their dad’s rare and valuable edition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula uncovers a world they’ve never known, featuring a mysterious Night Librarian, famous heroes (and villains) that have broken free from classic books, and an epic battle to save the library from total destruction.

Christopher Lincoln is the author of the Billy Bones series. He graduated from the School of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University and spent nearly a decade working as an animator. He credits animation for teaching him how to write, because an animator must learn how to inhabit a character’s body and move him in a world of his own.

BACKCHANNEL de Stan Lee, Tom Akel & Andie Tong

One of the final projects of the legendary Stan Lee and beautifully illustrated by Spider-Man veteran Andie Tong, about an ordinary high school student who is recruited by a mysterious hacktavist group and discovers a dark secret from his police detective father’s past that could change their relationship forever.

BACKCHANNEL Volume 1
by Stan Lee, Tom Akel & Andie Tong
Rocketship Entertainment, March 2023
(via JABberwocky Literary Agency)

While developing a highly sophisticated AI algorithm, a power awakens within Tom that grants him the ability to mentally hack into any device (technopathy). While initially using this newfound power for personal gain and petty revenge, he learns of a dark secret from his father’s past that will change him forever.
In need of a moment of escapism, Tom returns to his favorite digital comics. This time though, the comic is disturbingly on point with what Tom has been experiencing. As he continues to read, Tom realizes that there are encrypted messages in the comic from an unknown ally who clearly knows everything Tom has been up to.
When he discovers that the hacktivist group BACKCHANNEL has been tracking him and is aware of his new abilities and reaching out to him for help, Tom is set on a very dangerous path.

Stan Lee was a successful writer and editor, known to millions of fans world-wide as the co-creator of beloved superheroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, and countless more that propelled Marvel to its preeminent position in the comic book industry. Most recently, Stan was the Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment, which he founded with Gill Champion. For nearly two decades, POW! has brought Stan’s original characters and stories to television, feature films, and publishing for audiences around the globe. POW! continues to perpetuate Stan’s legacy by sharing his new creations and celebrating the impact he has had on popular culture worldwide.
Tom Akel is the co-writer of Stan Lee’s BACKCHANNEL and the CEO & Publisher of Rocketship Entertainment – a publishing, consumer product, and entertainment company with multiple Eisner-nominated and Ringo Award-winning series. Prior to Rocketship, Tom led the U.S. expansion of Webtoon where he oversaw a portfolio of over 150 titles while developing key partnerships while, an an editor, winning back to back Ringo Awards for Best Webcomic for Dean Haspiel’s The Red Hook and Sanford Greene’s 1000, as well as an Eisner nomination for Ryan Benjamin’s Brothers Bond. He previously served as Executive Producer and Executive Editor of MTV Digital, responsible for 360 digital extensions of 175 seasons of MTV shows ranging from Teen Wolf to Jersey Shore, and while there founded MTV Geek and MTV Comics. Tom holds an MFA in Design + Technology from Parsons School of Design in New York and resides in Los Angeles, CA.
Andie Tong is a Malaysian comic artist who currently resides in Singapore. His past titles include Tekken, Green Lantern Legacy, Spectacular Spider-Man UK, Star Wars, The Batman Strikes!, and Tron: Betrayal. Since 2005, Andie has worked with companies including Disney, Lucasarts, Marvel, DC and Darkhorse. Outside of comics, he has done commercial work for DC, Nike, Mforma, Universal, CBS, Mattel, Hasbro and illustrations for Whitewolf’s fantasy gaming books. In 2013, Andie illustrated the New York Times bestselling Disney series The Zodiac Legacy created by the late Stan Lee and written by Stuart Moore.