Book of the Month

OCTOBER 2024

HARROWER

JUSTIN JORDAN // Brahm Revel

There’s nothing to fear in the quaint town of Barlowe, New York–except, that is, for the Harrower. The children wish this boogeyman was just an urban legend, but this purveyor of puritanical vengeance is very real, and there's no escape. The Harrower seems unkillable, and spans generations, always returning…

Jessa Brink is a teenage girl obsessed with this menacing figure. Will she be able to escape the pull of her morbid fixation? What gruesome secrets will she uncover in the process? Especially as The Harrower begins to stalk her and her friends… This deconstruction of the slasher genre from writer Justin Jordan (The Strange Talent of Luther Strode) and artist Brahm Revel (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) is the fresh and terrifyingly grounded take on the slasher genre horror fans have been dying for!

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF BOOM STUDIOS

SEPTEMBER 2024

AKIRA VOL. 1

katsuhiro otomo

The lives of two streetwise teenage friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, change forever when paranormal abilities begin to waken in Tetsuo, making him a target for a shadowy agency that will stop at nothing to prevent another catastrophe like the one that leveled Tokyo. At the core of the agency’s motivation is a raw, all-consuming fear of an unthinkable, monstrous power known only as Akira.

Katsuhiro Otomo’s stunning science fiction masterpiece is considered by many to be the finest work of graphic fiction ever produced, and Otomo’s brilliant animated film version is regarded worldwide as a classic.

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF RANDOM HOUSE

AUGUST 2024

THE SUMMER HIKARU DIED VOL. 1

MOKUMOKUREN

It has Hikaru’s face. It has Hikaru’s voice. It even has Hikaru’s memories. But whatever came down from the mountains six months ago isn’t Yoshiki’s best friend. Whatever it is, it’s dangerous. Carrying on at school and hanging out as if nothing has changed―as if Hikaru isn’t gone―would be crazy...but when it looks so very like Hikaru...and acts so very like Hikaru...

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF YEN PRESS

JULY 2024

GROG THE FROG: THE BOOK OF TAURUS

ALBA BG //. DAVILORIUM

Every summer, Grog the Frog orgets to celebrate the most important magic ritual of the year: the Perseids harvest. But this year will be different. The eternally grumpy wizard will travel to forsaken mystical mountains and complete the magical rites. Unless, of course, a case of.mistaken identities means that he becomes embroiled in a duel with his cosmic rival.

Will Grog be able to put order in chaos and fulfill his purpose? Or wait, perhaps Grog would prefer chaos? He's supposed to be the lord of chaos, isn't he? Either way, it will be epic!

Drama, love, magic, a delivery guy who can fly, a weird snake, a bald centaur who rents cars... it all awaits Grog in this hilarious graphic novel! All hail Grog!

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF SILVER SPROCKET

JUNE 2024

GIRL IN THE WORLD

CAROLINE CASH

Caroline Cash’s celebrated debut is back in print!

What's everyone doing later? Some creatively named Facebook events? Haircuts and happy meals? This clever and gorgeous graphic novel proves that there is nothing cooler than cool girls, showcasing a particularly chaotic ride-along with one group of friends for 24 hours.

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF SILVER SPROCKET

MAY 2024

DARK KNIGHTS OF STEEL VOL. 1

TOM TAYLOR//YASMINE PUTRI

An entire medieval world will be forever changed when a spaceship crash-lands from a doomed planet. Years later the El Kingdom reins and Jefferson Pierce, the head of the Kingdom of Storms sees their family as a threat and gathers allies to challenge them.

Monarchs will die, kingdoms will rise, and what seemed like the end of the world for many…was only the beginning! An epic high-fantasy story set in a DC Universe where nothing is what it seems…

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF DC COMICS

APRIL 2024

THIEVES

LUCIE BYRON

What happened last night?

Ella can’t seem to remember a single thing from the party the night before at a mysterious stranger’s mansion, and she sure as heck doesn’t know why she’s woken up in her bed surrounded by a magpie’s nest of objects that aren’t her own. And she can’t stop thinking about her huge crush on Madeleine, who she definitely can’t tell about her sudden penchant for kleptomania… But does Maddy have secrets of her own?

Can they piece together that night between them and fix the mess of their chaotic personal lives in time to form a normal, teenage relationship? That would be nice.

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF NOBROW

MARCH 2024

DANGER AND OTHER UNKNOWN RISKS

RYAN NORTH // ERICA HENDERSON

Here’s the deal—on midnight of January 1st, 2000, the world ended. But it wasn’t technology that killed it: It was magic.

Now, years later, the Earth has transformed. Magic works (sort of). People are happy (sort of). But this new world isn’t stable, and unless Marguerite de Pruitt and her canine pal, Daisy, do

something about it, it’ll tilt into deadly chaos.

Good thing they’ve been training their whole lives for this and are destined to succeed. Or so they think.

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF PENGUIN WORKSHOP

FEBRUARY 2024

QUEENIE: GODMOTHER OF HARLEM

AURELIE LEVY // ELIZABETH COLOMBA

Born on a plantation in the French colony of Martinique, Stephanie Saint-Clair left the island in 1912 and headed for the United States, eager to make a new life for

herself. In New York she found success, rising up through poverty and battling extreme racism to become the ruthless queen of Harlem’s mafia and a fierce

defender of the Black community.

A racketeer and a bootlegger, Saint-Clair dedicated her wealth and compassion to the struggling masses of Harlem, giving loans and paying debts to those around her. But with Prohibition ending, and under threat by Italian

mobsters seeking to take control of her operation, she launched a merciless war to save her territory and her skin.

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF HARRY J. ABRAMS

JANUARY 2024

I HATE THIS PLACE VOL.1

KYLE STARKS // ARTYOM TOPILIN

After inheriting a farmhouse, Trudy and Gabby are ready to start the next chapter of their lives together...except it’s already home to a mysterious force that’s attracted ghosts, aliens, and all kinds of supernatural beings for decades.

Now, Gabby and Trudy must play by the “house rules” in order to survive living amongst the most frightening creatures on Earth in this new series from Kyle Starks (ASSASSIN NATION, THE SIX SIDEKICKS OF TRIGGER KEATON) and Artyom Topilin (Ice Cream Man Presents Quarantine Comix Special).

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF IMAGE COMICS

DECEMBER 2023

HUMAN TARGET

TOM KING // GREG SMALLWOOD

Christopher Chance has made a living out of being a human

target-a man hired to disguise himself as his client to invite would-be assassins to attempt his murder. He’s had a remarkable career until his latest case

protecting Lex Luthor, when things go sideways.

An assassination attempt Chance didn’t see coming leaves him

vulnerable and left trying to solve his own murder...as he has 12 days to discover just who in the DCU hated Luthor enough to want him dead. This volume collects Human Target #1-6, the first half of the murder mystery.

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF DC COMICS

NOVEMBER 2023

NEW MASTERS

SHOBO COKER // SHOF COKER

Creators for Creators' 2019 grant recipients, Nigerian brothers Shobo and Shof Coker, present New Masters, a groundbreaking blend of science fiction,

adventure, drama, and vibrant Afrofuturism.

In a striking vision of West Africa under the thumb of alien

colonizers, a motley crew of

outcasts find themselves caught up in a power struggle for control of an ancient artifact with immense power.

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF IMAGE COMICS

OCTOBER 2023

ANOTHER KIND

TREVOR BREAM // CAIT MAY

Six kids search for a new place to call home in this middle grade graphic novel debut by comic creators Cait May and Trevor Bream, for fans of Marvel’s Runaways and The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag. Another Kind is not your average monster story.

Tucked away in a government facility nicknamed the Playroom, six not-quite-human kids learn to control their strange and unpredictable abilities. Life is good—or safe, at least—hidden from the prying eyes of a judgmental world.

That is, until a security breach forces them out of their home and into the path of the Collector, a mysterious being with leech-like powers.

Can the group band together to thwart the Collector’s devious plan, or will they wind up the newest addition to his collection?

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF HARPERALLEY

SEPTEMBER 2023

ANIMAL CASTLE

XAVIER DORISON // FELIX DELEP

On the Farm all animals were equal. In the Castle some are more equal than others.

For fans of the bestselling Stray Dogs and the Eisner Award winning Beasts of Burden comes an animal fable at once familiar and surprising! You may think you know the story but set aside your assumptions, this animal uprising is unlike any you have read!

Nestled in the heart of a farm forgotten by men, the Animal Castle is ruled with an iron hoof by President Silvio. The bull and its dog militia savor their power, while the other animals are exhausted by work, until the arrival of the mysterious Azelard, a traveling rat who will teach them the secrets of civil disobedience.

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF ABLAZE

AUGUST 2023

FLAVOR GIRLS

Loïc Locatelli-Kournwsky // ANGEL DE SANTIAGO

Naoko, Camille, and V are the FLAVOR GIRLS, Sacred Fruit Guardians of Earth! They defend the earth from the threat of

ever-looming Agarthians, whose motives regarding earth and

humanity are still unknown. Sara, just a U.N. applicant trying her best to help, finds herself in over her head when she’s thrown into this crisis in a way she never could have imagined!

As the Flavor Girls hone their sacred fruit powers with their master Himiko, can their newest member help them save the planet from impending destruction? From writer and artist Loïc Locatelli-Kournwsky (Persephone), comes a new Magical Girl all-ages adventure with an environmental twist for fans of Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Power Rangers!

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF ARCHAIA

JULY 2023

SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN

MATT FRACTION // STEVE LIEBER

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen is a weird and wild trip throughout the DC Universe, with Silver Age energy and a distinctly modern sensibility courtesy of writer Matt Fraction and artist Steve Lieber!

Jimmy Olsen must die! Wait, we're getting ahead of ourselves. Jimmy Olsen lives! Superman's best friend and Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen tours the bizarre underbelly of the DC Universe in this new series featuring death, destruction, giant turtles, and more! It's a centuries-spanning whirlwind of weird that starts in Metropolis and ends in Gotham City.

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF DC COMICS

JUNE 2023

FOREST HILLS BOOTLEG SOCIETY

DAVE BAKER // NICOLE GOUX

When Brooke, Kelly, Maggie, and Melissa buy a bootleg anime DVD at a gas station, they get much more than they bargained for with Super Love XL, a risqué move featuring—among other things—a giant mecha who shoots lasers out of her chest. The four girls are horrified (and maybe a little fascinated). It’s so unlike anything they’ve seen, would probably shock everyone else in their town, and definitely would take over their extremely conservative Christian school. That’s when they have the idea to sell copies to local boys…for twenty dollars a pop.

At first, everything goes perfectly, with the friends raking in cash—pretty soon they’ll even have enough money to buy the matching jackets they’ve always dreamed of! But as the market for mildly titillating anime DVDs grows, the girls realize they’ll need new material. On top of figuring out how to replicate their first success, there’s growing tension within the group. Brooke and Kelly’s romance is on its last legs, and hurt feelings are guaranteed when Melissa starts falling for one of them.

Will the four girls’ shared history be strong enough to see them through this upheaval? Or will they learn that some things can only end in heartbreak?

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF ATHENEUM BOOKS

MAY 2023

ALWAYS NEVER

JORDI LAFEBRE // CLÉMENCE SAPIN

After forty years of being madly in love, Ana and Zeno are finally retiring and giving their romance a chance to bloom while they both still have time left. A unique but relatable love story told in reverse, with each chapter stepping further back through the decades of touch and go courting, showing both the heartbreaking moments that kept the two lovers apart and the beautiful moments that kept their flame alive. This isn't a tale of missed connections and regret but rather a story celebrating the complexities of family, responsibility, destiny, and how love persists across time with complete disregard for all of that.

Ana is a brilliant, headstrong, and compassionate mayor of a small city, with a lovely husband, daughter, and granddaughter.  Yet there has been a lingering piece of her life missing -- a thread of happiness she hasn't been able to pull on for most of her life. Zeno, a lifelong bachelor, bookstore owner, intrepid traveler, and theoretical physicist determined to figure out how to turn back time. Handsome, clever, and kind, he is often questioned about his failure to "settle down." Over the years, they have woven together an impossible and inexhaustible love. Their paths constantly intertwining, from a chance meeting on a boat to clumsily bumping into each other in the city they share. Eventually keeping in touch by letters and late-night phone calls across the world.

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF DARK HORSE BOOKS

APRIL 2023

FRONTIERSMAN VOL. 1

PATRICK KINDLON // MARCO FERRARI

PATIENCE! CONVICTION! REVENGE! PATRICK KINDLON & MARCO FERRARI return with an all-new ONGOING SERIES!

Classic Green Arrow-style

adventure blends with the thoughtfulness of Concrete in a superhero odyssey for mature but uncynical readers!

Frontiersman is coaxed out of retirement by an environmentalist group, only to find that being a spokesperson makes him a target for old and new enemies alike!

For the superhero reader looking for more.

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF IMAGE COMICS

MARCH 2023

ASTER OF PAN

Merwan

War. Plague. Famine. Death. The metaphorical horsemen had a field day with humanity, driving civilization to ruin before we could even make it to the next century. The post-apocalyptic society of Pan now survives by growing rice and scavenging among the wreckage of their destroyed civilization. But their precarious existence comes under threat when the powerful, technologically advanced Federation of Fortuna forces them into a dangerous choice—submit to Fortuna’s rule or best them in a barbaric, ritualized game known as “Celestial Mechanics”. Pan’s only hope? A hot-headed outcast they’d rejected for being too “un-Pan”: a girl named Aster.

Themes of teamwork, family, belonging, betrayal, and justice play out on battlefield-like arenas created in the middle of the wastelands. ASTER OF PAN can be described as THE HUNGER GAMES meets DODGE BALL as if animated in the style of AKIRA -- fast-paced and pulse-pounding action mixed with moments of character relationship that will have you coming back to the pages over and over again.

The book was an Official Selection of the 2020 Angoulême International Comics Festival (Festival international de la bande dessinée d'Angoulême) in the Young Adult category.

-SYNOPSIS COURTESY OF MAGNETIC PRESS