This batch features fantasy highlighting non-binary leads, high-school self-discovery rom-com, a tale of bullying and self love, lovers rediscovering their relationship, and a gay coming of age story set in the 50's.
NEVER SATISFIED GN VOL 01
(W) Taylor Robin (A/CA) Taylor Robin
The full-color, critically acclaimed graphic novel series that started as a webcomic! In a seaside city flanked by towering statues, a diverse group of magicians live and work with their familiars-animal companions unique to themselves. To young magicians, there is one job coveted more than any: representative champion of their city. Lucy Marlowe is a non-binary apprentice out to prove themself to an apathetic master. The other apprentice magicians reach out to Lucy and each other, but as the competition heats up, it's unclear if friendship can bloom when they are all pitted against each other. Can anybody truly understand anyone else? And at what cost does glory come? AUG222276
Why this caught my eye:
You can check out the webcomic here for a sampling. There's not enough comics featuring non-binary characters and I really like Robin's art style, so glad to see this getting a print version released.
ARDEN HIGH HC GN VOL 01 TWELFTH GRADE NIGHT
(W) Molly Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm (A) Jamie Green
The course of true love never did run smooth . . . and neither does high school in this new graphic novel series for fans of Heartstopper and The Prince and the Dressmaker.
Vi came to Arden High for a fresh start and a chance to wear beanies and button-ups instead of uniform skirts. And though doing it without her twin feels like being split in half, Vi finds her stride when she stumbles (literally!) into broody and beautiful poet-slash-influencer, Orsino. Soon Vi gets roped into helping plan the school's Twelfth Grade Night dance, and she can't stop dreaming about slow dancing with Orsino under the fairy lights in the gym.
The problem? All Vi's new friends assume she's not even into guys. And before Vi can ask Orsino to the dance, he recruits Vi to help woo his crush, Olivia. Who has a crush of her own... on Vi.
Star-crossed love abounds in this hilarious and romantic story of self-discovery, mistaken identities, and the magic that happens when we open our hearts to something new. AUG221340
Why this caught my eye:
This should already be availableby now, just wanted to highlight as I really love Green's artwork.
GAY WHO TURNED KAIJU GN
(W) Kazuki Minamoto (A) Kazuki Minamoto
Bullied for being gay, teenager Takashi Arashiro wishes he could just be somebody else-but who could predict he'd morph into a giant-headed sci-fi creature?! Takashi's tumultuous emotions become the catalyst for personal and social exploration of the LGBTQ experience in this quirky, profound manga from prolific BL author Kazuki Minamoto.
AUG222079
Why this caught my eye:
Reviews online make it sound like an interesting (but somewhat heavy) handling of identity issues and self love.
RUN AWAY WITH ME GIRL GN VOL 01
Maki's first love was her high school classmate, a girl named Midori. But Midori broke up with Maki at graduation, saying they were now "too old to be fooling around dating girls." Ten years later, Maki still can't get Midori off her mind, and when the two women reconnect after a chance encounter, Maki realizes that while her feelings haven't changed, Midori's life has turned upside down-she's engaged and pregnant. But the more Maki hears Midori talk about her soon-to-be-husband, the more red flags she notices. Before Maki can stop herself, she asks Midori to run away with her. Will this impromptu escape be the key that leads the two women to a fuller understanding of themselves, and back into each other's arms?
MAY222062
Why this caught my eye:
I can't find too many full previews, but art that I'm finding online is looking pretty cute.
EDMUND WHITE A BOYS OWN STORY THE GRAPHIC NOVEL
(W) Michael Carroll, Brian Alessandro, Edmund White (A) Igor Karash
A landmark American novel, hailed by the New York Times as J.D. Salinger crossed with Oscar Wilde, is masterfully reimagined as a timeless graphic novel. A Boy's Own Story is a now-classic coming-of-age story, but with a twist: the young protagonist is growing up gay during one of the most oppressive periods in American history. Set in the time and place of author Edmund White's adolescence, the Midwest of the 1950s, the novel became an immediate bestseller and, for many readers, was not merely about gay identity but the pain of being a child in a fractured family while looking for love in an anything-but-stable world. And yet the book quickly contributed to the literature of empowerment that grew out of the Stonewall riots and subsequent gay rights era. Readers are still swept up in the main character's thoughts and dry humor, and many today remain shocked by the sexually confessional, and bold, nature of his revelations, his humorous observations, the comic situations and scenes the strangely erudite youthful narrator describes, the tenderness of his loneliness, and the vivid aching of his imagination. A Boy's Own Story is lyrical, witty, unabashed, and authentic.
Now, to bring this landmark novel to new life for today's readers, White is joined by co-writers Brian Alessandro and Michael Carroll and artist Igor Karash for a stunning graphic novel interpretation. The poetic nuances of White's language float across sumptuously painted panels that evoke 1950s Cincinnati, 1980s Paris, and every dreamlike moment in between. The result is a creative adaptation of the original 1982 A Boy's Own Story with additional personal and historical elements from the authors' lives.
JUN229347
Why this caught my eye:
Check out some sample pages here.
That's it for this batch, we'll hit up some horror material on the next round!
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