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We’ve made it to the home stretch of 2022, and while there’s still a ton of 2022 year fun to be had (hello, spooky season and the holidays!), we are winding down to the end of big release season with a lighter slate of offerings in our new YA comics and graphic novels releases. But don’t worry — there are still some excellent YA graphic novels and comics hitting shelves between now and January that you won’t want to miss! Think of it as a little breather between now and the first quarter of 2023 (spoiler alert: it’s gonna be a great one if you’re a comics fan!). PLUS, it gives you some time to get caught up on anything you might have missed from earlier this year!
Although the quarter is a little on the lighter side, it’s packed full of quality! Look for a great, new queer paranormal graphic novel co-written by Lumberjanes co-creator Shannon Watters, a fantastic memoir from The New Yorker cartoonist Liz Montague, a hard-hitting memoir from a survivor of a mass shooting, and a new addition to the Heartstopper world for those of you still watching the Netflix show on repeat!
Hollow by Shannon Watters, Branden Boyer-White, Berenice Nelle (October 4)
Izzy Crane is newly arrived in Sleepy Hollow, NY and she’s a skeptic of the whole Headless Horseman legend, despite her family’s connection to the story. But then her life takes a turn for the spooky when she meets Vicky Van Tassel and Croc Byun, and the three start seeing the Horseman everywhere. It seems he has it in for Vicky, and it’s going to take all of Izzy’s courage and grit to help save her…and not fall for her at the same time!
Numb to This: Memoir of a Mass Shooting by Kindra Neely (October 11)
Kindra was a student at Umpqua Community College in Oregon in 2015 when a campus shooting devastated the sense of security she felt on campus and shattered her life. As she mourned the loss of classmates and a professor, she found her healing process continually set back by news of more and more mass shootings in Florida and Las Vegas, in an onslaught of terrible news that never seemed to end. How does anyone heal or learn to cope when we as a society have become numb to the reality of mass shootings?
Maybe an Artist, a Graphic Memoir by Liz Montague (October 18)
Growing up in a predominantly white suburb of New Jersey, Liz Montague learned from a young age the difficulties of navigating a world that doesn’t always reflect her own experiences and visions. She turned to art as an outlet and a way to help process a dyslexia diagnosis. When she was a senior in college, she wrote to The New Yorker and asked for them to publish more inclusive comics…and when asked for recommendations, she submitted her own work. This is an inspiring and thoughtful memoir about discovery, finding your way, and making your own opportunities.
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The Heartstopper Yearbook by Alice Oseman (October 18)
For the Heartstopper mega fans: Here is The Heartstopper Yearbook, a book full of never-before-seen illustrations, a mini comic, character profiles, and a behind-the-scenes look at Alice Oseman’s process. This is the perfect addition to your Heartstopper collection, and it rounds out the world of Charlie and Nick perfectly!
Side Effects by Ted Anderson and Tara O’Connor (October 18)
Hannah is away at her first year of college when all of the stress and isolation from her family sends her into a nervous breakdown. She gets the help she needs and makes it to campus mental health, where she’s prescribed therapy and medication, but those meds come with an interesting array of side effects. One med gives her super strength, but she gets constipation. Another gives her telepathy, but then she can’t sleep. And then there’s the super tough side effect that comes with weight gain. As Hannah uses her newfound side effect powers for good and tries to work up the courage to ask out a cute girl, she has to contend with what it means to truly “get better” and the true definition of what it means to be well.
Season of the Bruja by Aaron Durán and Sara Soler (December 6)
Althalia is the last of her kind, a bruja who must keep the old ways and stories safe from the passage of time and erasure from those who’d rather defeat and domineer her people. Luckily for her, she works in a magical museum with two great friends — a Chupacabra and were-coyote. But when an encounter with a priest brings the weight of centuries of religious oppression down on Althalia, she realizes that her status as the last bruja is more important than ever…and the church will stop at nothing to destroy her.
True Beauty, Vol. 1 by Yaongyi (November 8)
Based on the hit Webtoons comic from South Korea, this book collects the first volume of True Beauty in its first print format in North America! Jugyeong Lim has always been perceived as the ugly one in her family and social circles, but when she turns to online makeup tutorials and launches her own channel, she finds fame and popularity and even romance for the first time, but she’s caught between two boys and two very different worlds. Who is she really when no one is watching? And can she ever reconcile the girl she once was with who she is now?
And because I missed this one last quarter (it came out at the end of September) but it’s now a National Book Award longlist title, here’s one more!
Victory, Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, and Dawud Anyabwile
Tommie Smith is a 1968 Olympic Gold Medalist, but he’s perhaps better known for raising a fist on the Olympic podium along with John Carlos, the bronze medal winner, in Mexico City. That act of protest, which was meant to draw attention to the treatment of Black Americans and racial inequity, became one of the most hotly debated moments in Olympics history, and resulted in Smith and Carlos being forced to leave. In this moving graphic memoir, Smith recounts his upbringing in rural Texas, his journey to the Olympics, and the decisions influencing his protest.
Want to make sure you didn’t miss any great new graphic novels and comics releases? Check out the round up of new YA graphic novels and comics releases from July-September of 2022!
