This graphic novel, infused with Filipino mythology, starts on a sad note. Mage and her companion Squalo live happily in the forest with her sorcerer father until they are attacked by monsters from Ventrolio. Her father’s final instructions sends her on a journey to find the Bakunawa, a guardian serpent of the oceans. The two practice hard to improve their skills and complete many side quests, leveling up their skills (and acquiring “monnies”). But as they near their goal, they find out that something is very wrong with the Bakunawa – will Mage be able to fulfill her father’s wish?
Although the plot sounds intense, the unique artwork actually makes this a very light-hearted story, albeit with moments of sadness and a few very scary monsters. Mage is a small triangle with short, dark hair and occasionally pops out arms to hold her curled magic staff. Squalo, her constant companion, is a plump, pink shark with an impressive battle axe (at least, until he breaks it, which is a different side quest!). As the two battle their way through a landscape in pastel shades of turquoise, deep violet, pink and yellow, stats bars and item holdings pop up to show their progress. When they battle Aswangs, terrifying monsters with bat-like wings, or everyday pirates with ceremonial masks, bars show up describing their moves “Squalo used slice and dice!” along with sound effects and damage counts. Periodic flashbacks to Mage’s life with her father are shown in gray shades. Mage and Squalo are not alone in the landscape; the various villages they visit include both people and mythological beings who show a variety of body shapes, skin colors in shades of yellow, traditional Filipino dress, and distinct personalities. One village, Tubero, is largely populated with tuber-like creatures. Most of the action takes place in and around Karagatan city, with a mixed population of humans and blue-skinned merfolk, who have fins in place of their ears and gills on their necks. Some women, including the brave Captain Italon who takes Mage and Squalo on the final leg of their journey, have pale skin as well as fin ears and gills.
The plot also includes an environmental message; Bakunawa, the guardian of the ocean and of the turtles, is angered by the destruction of the turtles. Not all the problems stem from Ventrolio and the nightmares and monsters he creates; some are caused by greed and disregard for Bakunawa’s creatures and her ocean. It’s not necessary to be familiar with Filipino mythology to follow the story, although it’s fun to research the stories and creatures that inspired the book.
It’s not often that a book comes out that’s so unique it doesn’t have a read-alike; the publisher’s description suggests it for fans of Hildafolk but it has a very different feel to me. I think readers who have enjoyed the Press Start! series will like the video game style of the fights and stats and readers who like adventure and fantasy but want something lighter than most graphic novel fantasy-adventures will enjoy this. Hand to kids who enjoy humor, action, and adventure but prefer to avoid intense, world-breaking plots with a lot of emotional push behind them. Readers who enjoy mythology from different cultures will also be delighted with this gently humorous fantasy.
Squalo & Mage vs. the Rage of the Bakunawa Vol. 1 By Kara Bodegon-Hikino Harper Collins Harper Alley, 2026 ISBN: 9780063056428
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11) Creator Representation: Filipino,
In this sequel to Meems & Feefs: Ferrets from Planet Ferretonia, Meems & Feefs: The Council of Ferrets, Meems repairs the travel opal and opens a portal to return him and Feefs to Planet Ferretonia and brings Liza along for a visit. However, Meems and Feefs are in quite a bit of trouble due to creating and using banned technology and so must answer to the Council. Together, the three of them uncover more of the mysteries of the banned ancient technology of Ferretonia and Meems’ missing mentor…
Cooper’s world-building is incredibly detailed for a whimsical fantasy graphic novel series for children. The premise of a young girl meeting cute intelligent ferrets is a good one no matter what, but Cooper has developed a full society for her ferret characters as well as depthful lore that is revealed in parts throughout the story. Still, the premise is easy to follow as the human character Liza serves as the reader’s liaison to Meems and Feefs’ world.
Liza is more than just a projection of the reader though. The majority of the first Meems & Feefs book took place on Earth, and the reader was introduced to Liza’s life, and it seems like there is more to be revealed about Liza and her life back on Earth. Liza’s development takes a backseat to the ferrets and the revelations surrounding Ferretonia in this volume, so hopefully future volumes will explore her and some of the Earth characters a little bit more.
The art in Meems & Feefs is perfect for its charming and fantastical story. Cooper’s work is the epitome of a story made for the graphic novel format. Previously, Cooper worked as an Art Director for the animated web series Simon’s Cat, and that animation experience serves her well as a graphic novelist. Her dynamic panels pack a lot of movement into each page without being overwhelming. Her characters are expressive and unique – she is able to make each ferret individuals not only with physical design but with facial expressions as well. They are fully realized characters with their own emotions and motivations. There is one sequence in which Meems and the character Leeloo are trying to escape, and the reader can almost hear their banter instead of simply reading it due to the combination of Cooper’s panels and word bubble placements as well as the characters’ movements. Though the graphic novel format is perfect for the story, it almost feels like an animated series due to Cooper’s mastery of sequential art.
The publisher’s age rating for The Council of Ferrets is ages 10-12 and Grades 3-8. It definitely will appeal to that age range, but older teens and some adults who like a magical adventure with touches of whimsy and humor will enjoy Meems and Feefs’ adventures with Liza. The adventure is ongoing, so it is beneficial for readers to have read Ferrets from Planet Ferretonia before reading The Council of Ferrets, andhopefully their tale continues in future volumes. The Meems & Feefs books would make great additions to libraries with juvenile readers looking for a funny but intriguing fantasy series.
Meems and Feefs: The Council of Ferrets By Liz Cooper Andrews McMeel, 2025 ISBN: 9781524876715
Company Age Rating: Ages 10-12
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11), Teen (13-16), Tween (10-13)
Sara’s parents are traveling for work this summer, so she’ll be staying with her aunts while all her friends go to drama camp together. She’s disappointed, but trying to make the best of things. After all, Sara’s family is moving soon, and maybe being in a new place will help her get some practice at making new friends.
But as it turns out, Sara’s aunts live on an island, a boat ride away from the closest neighbors. And it’s not just any island: once you pass through the fog that surrounds it, things start to get magical. Here, trees and rocks and even the wind seem to have personalities. And animals can talk—including her aunts’ two friendly, chatty dogs, who can’t wait to spend the summer with Sara. So maybe she can still practice making new friends. They just won’t be humans.
That isn’t easy, at least at first. Sara is supposed to help with chores (like cleaning the chicken coop) and learn new skills (like paddling a rowboat to nearby islands), and she feels like she’s failing at everything. She doesn’t want to admit she’s struggling, which means she can’t ask for help. Finally, Sara realizes that you don’t make friends by pretending things are fine when they aren’t—you have to be honest, be yourself, and accept help. That’s when the magic really starts happening.
Small Magics is a charming story about a girl who goes from feeling lonely and adrift to connected and capable. The island setting is both whimsical and immersive, with lots of little magical twists for Sara to learn, and lots of settings visited and revisited enough for them to feel like real places. The dogs—who are the characters Sara spends the most time with – are kind and fun-loving, with a bouncy energy that feels very dog-like, but also each with their own hobbies, interests, and fears. They are especially excited to have another human around because, despite accommodations that Sara’s aunts have made, lots of things in their world are still easier to navigate with opposable thumbs. (For instance, dogs can’t row boats. Though one of them can, if absolutely necessary, use the outboard motor.) But of course, there is also plenty they can do that humans can’t, and we get glimpses of their particularly doggy senses and sensibilities.
The artwork is colorful and feels casual even while sometimes being quite detailed. The poses are active and expressive, making good use of postures and the dogs’ ears as well as regular human facial expressions. The outlines are often loose, sometimes barely there, but the colors keep everything clearly defined, and their brightness adds to the art’s playful energy. Much of the creator’s art experience is in background painting, so it’s not surprising that the book has some lush, beautiful settings and backdrops.
Small Magics is a sweet read with humor, heart, and an inventive fantasy setting. Hand it to fans of cozy fantasy or anyone who likes gentle Studio Ghibli vibes.
Small Magics By Emily Tetri Macmillan First Second, 2026 ISBN: 9781250855640
Company Age Rating: 8-12
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11), Tween (10-13)
Easily my worst trait. So, keep that in mind as you read this.
I didn’t need any more convincing to check out Saint Seiya: Dark Wing, it’s already Saint Seiya, it’s going to be great.
As an aging anime nerd, I watched the original DIC dub of Saint Seiya when it came to the United States… about 20 years after the original production concluded. The aesthetic is immediately recognizable as an anime from the mid to late eighties. I found it fascinating to watch as a kid, and I was so surprised that this franchise is actually still going. Maybe not in a regulated production kind of way, but every few years, something new contributing to the universe shows up, like the awful movie adaptation from 2023.
I say this to give the series some context; it is very difficult to summarize this universe because it is so long-lived. The most concise way I can put it is this: the Saints are 5 chosen ones – boys who wear sacred armor that are based on constellations, sworn to defend the earth from being taken over by competing gods.
It’s… a lot. And if you’re also into Greek and Roman mythology… uh, you’ll recognize a lot of names, but this series is not based on any of those stories, it is not a re-telling of those legends; it’s more along the lines of appropriation than anything else. Personally, I enjoy the surrealism of it all.
Set in high school, students’ fates are revealed as chosen ones, sworn enemies, divine figures, and all in the service of the battle of the gods. Our protagonist, Soichiro, goes on a school trip to the Mediterranean, but the ship is attacked and sinks into the sea as he tries to save his crush. But Soichiro is revived as one of the dreaded Judges of the Underworld, under the command of Hades. He is pitted against his twin brother, Sojiro, who is reincarnated as the Gold Saint of Gemini.
Dark Wing consists of 4 volumes in total. It is not-quite-linear, relies on dream logic, and honestly, I appreciate its updated setting of the modern world. The linework is clean and detail-oriented when it is called for—these pages have some very elaborate backgrounds when the backgrounds actually show up. It is delightfully nostalgic to look at; fans of the old Gundam Wing manga will recognize these 90s pattern and texture overlays. And maybe the best part of it all is the re-working of popular 80s design elements into a more modern aesthetic (those feathered up-do’s, I mean…).
I do want to be clear: I loved this next installment of the series, but I am fairly certain that a newcomer to this franchise is not going to know what’s going on if this is the first Saint Seiya book they pick up. It’s a good read if you’re willing to just let the story happen, wash over you as the reader. The mythic themes of destiny and fate and rising to challenges never get old for me.
It pains me to say it, but I don’t think this spin-off makes for a great addition to your library collection. If you can link it to some of the more foundational works in the franchise, I think that would be best. But, on its own, even with all four volumes, I’m not sure this is the way to go.
Saint Seiya: Dark Wing Vol. 1 By Masami Kurumada and Kenji Saito Art by Shinshu Ueda Titan, 2025 ISBN: 9781787747180
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11), Teen (13-16) Creator Representation: Japanese, Character Representation: Japanese,
This short graphic novel opens with a stereotypical bullying scene – Lucas, our main character, duct-taped upside-down to his locker by the bullies and his “friend”, eco-warrior Julia hiding in her locker. Lucas, a skinny little kid with pale skin and huge glasses, is determined that nothing is going to ruin his thirteenth birthday, but soon finds himself stuck in detention with Julia. Julia, a tall, stocky girl dressed in all black with white hair dyed green that contrasts with her brown skin, is exasperated by Lucas, but goes along with his escape plan and helps him get home in time for his birthday dinner.
She’s startled by the tiny, run-down house where Lucas lives, but drops him off. Lucas enters and the house is revealed as a giant, maze-like mansion, complete with stuffy elderly butler. As Lucas searches for his parents, readers find out why he’s so excited about his birthday: Family tradition rules that he takes control of the magical Gloom Stone that grants wishes when he turns thirteen. He’s shocked and outraged when his parents, a wildly eccentric duo who are wrapped up in their own projects and his baby sister, decide he’s not mature enough to handle the stone.
Naturally, things get even more chaotic from this point with Lucas promptly proving his parents’ point, a talking stuffed cat named MewMew (sorry, majestic red panda), foolish wishes old and new, and even Julia getting mixed up in the story as she tries to get everyone to care as much as she does about climate change. Lucas optimistically thinks he can fix everything, until the true secret of the stone comes to light – even his optimism may not be enough to fix this disaster!
This graphic novel originates in France and the art and story have a slightly European flair. Lucas is a very young thirteen, especially compared to the graphic memoir-style comics like Raina Telgemeier. He wears a puffy-sleeved jacket, shorts, and has a mop of messy blue-black hair. His eyes always seem to be surprised and shocked by the consequences of his actions. Julia is a somewhat one-sided character; her aggressive “friendship” and gloomy demeanor are paired with her more mature appearance and it’s only near the end of the story that she shows concern for Lucas as a person outside her focus on climate change and teaching people, including Lucas, “a lesson.” The villain is a Victorian stereotype, complete with tall hat, mustache, and world-conquering plans.
This is a quick, fun read with plenty of humorous touches and a cliffhanger that leaves room for sequels. The comic panels are smaller and more detailed with a lighter palette than many kids are used to reading, but the book still pulls the reader along from each fresh wish and the disaster it brings. A light-hearted, humorous fantasy about the dangerous of wish-fulfillment that will attract readers who enjoy graphic novels and short, quick reads.
Atomic Lucas By Pirate Sourcil Art by Francesca Carita Andrews McMeel, 2026 ISBN: 9798881601720
Victor is a necromancer, with magic in his blood that lets him cast spells. If anyone finds out, he would be put to death: necromancy is illegal and fanatically persecuted by the religious order that polices the city. And it’s not easy to hide, given that every transaction–from buying a snack to getting married – requires a blood signature, and necromancer blood visibly glows with magic. So Victor keeps to the shadows, solitary except for his cute one-eyed cat, just trying to survive.
Then wealthy young banking heir Enrique makes him an offer: use magic to resurrect his dead bride, and Enrique will use his vast resources to smuggle Victor out of the city to a place where necromancy isn’t illegal, where he can live a normal life. Victor reluctantly agrees, though he isn’t familiar with the spell Enrique instructs him to use. And neither of them expects the result: Enrique’s bride, Mercedes, is resurrected, but her life is bound to Victor’s. If they get too far apart, she’ll die. She has also come back a little… different. For one thing, she has no memories. For another, her beautiful body is now crisscrossed with stitches–and extremely strong. And then there’s the awkward fact that she’s extremely drawn to Victor. Is it just because of the spell, or something more?
Even if Mercedes doesn’t remember him, Enrique isn’t ready to give up on her. And if she can’t be separated from Victor, well, the three of them will just have to stay together. Which might just lead to more romance than any of them was expecting.
Love Me to Death started as a popular Webtoon, inspired by Frankenstein and influenced by Disney films like The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It also reflects the creators’ love for Mexican culture, especially in its lush visuals, which often call to mind Day of the Dead celebrations.
The story revels in cute, often silly romantic tropes. Oops, Mercedes saw Victor shirtless, and he’s hot! Oh no, they tripped and fell on top of each other! People keep mistaking them for a couple! Blushing abounds! There are serious elements to the plot – it’s dangerous to even associate with a necromancer, let alone be one, and also Mercedes is starting to wonder if she might have been murdered. Sometimes the romance, too, is more serious: Victor has major emotional scars, Mercedes is confused and scared by her new situation, and both have trouble believing that someone could want them when most people would consider them monsters. But there’s also lots of humor and sweet moments. There are a few hints in the direction of the three main characters ending up in a polyamorous relationship, but that’s as far as it goes in this volume, though the author’s note at the end confirms that that’s where things are going.
The artwork is colorful and expressive, full of pretty settings and even prettier people. Victor and Enrique are both cute while being very different types, and Mercedes looks like an attractive woman in a very effective “sexy Frankenstein” Halloween costume. (During a costume party, another character basically assumes that’s what she is.) There are a few manga-esque elements, like roses appearing around Enrique when he smiles and characters looking chibi sometimes in funny moments. We see elegant architecture, fun outfits, colorful festival décor, and lots of sparkly magic. This volume also contains a bonus short story about Victor’s past, which is mostly text with just a few illustrations.
Love Me to Death combines an interesting fantasy setting, sympathetic characters, and hefty doses of both angst and humor. Hand it to fans of shojo manga and fantasy romance.
Love Me to Death By Toonimated Little, Brown, 2026 ISBN: 9780316587198
Company Age Rating: 14+
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16)
Like a filmmaker having a soft spot for movies about movies, I am a sucker for a book or comic on the importance of stories. The Author Immortal is for anyone who has a soft spot for the stories that made you.
The plot follows a writer named Hector Ramirez when he is given the opportunity to reboot a classic young adult fantasy series. The opportunity comes with a cost and what’s worse is that his loved ones may pay the price. By the time he learns that the original author was sucked into his own fiction, it is too late. He and his nonbinary teen, Al, are whisked away to a fantasy land corrupted by dark magic and ink that runs like blood. There, they meet the very characters of this story, but something is wrong. Monsters run rampant and the heroes have changed into something wilder and more dangerous. We follow Al and their father as they navigate the corrupted land of The Mage’s Apprentice, a fantasy series with a strong influence from C.S.Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. Even the title is a nod to The Magician’s Nephew, the first and often forgotten book in the series. What follows is an exploration of identity, the role stories play in our lives and the things you are willing to do for the ones you love.
This queer fantasy is a love letter to the stories we got lost in. Childhood hours spent lost in the pages of a book, going on adventures in a world far from ours. This new world of magic and monsters is from the new creative duo: Frank J. Barbiere (he/him) and Morgan Beem (she/her). Both creators have worked in the industry for years, but this is their first collaboration. Barbiere has written on titles like Violent Love and Lobo, meanwhile Beem has drawn for titles like Swamp Thing and You Belong Here. This debuting duo complement each other’s styles marvelously.
Barbiere’s biting script full of emotion is elevated to eleven through Beem’s expressive art. Her watercolor illustrations create a world not bound by limitations similar to how her paints are not bound to the pencilling on the page. Her color palette contrasts itself to match the changing tone of the scenes within the comic. The pair really knocked it out of the park with this one.
There is no publisher’s age rating but the violent and horror elements are geared towards older audiences.This new and terrifying world is not for the faint of heart. Vol. 1: Death of the Author collects issues #1-5. There is currently no release date for issue number 6. Image comics would be remiss if they do not continue this run to a conclusion. The story does not strike me as one made for an ongoing series, but a satisfying ending is for sure a possibility if allowed to run its course.
The Author Immortal Vol.1: Death of the Author By Frank Barbiere Art by Morgan Beem Image, 2026 ISBN: 9781534334786
Die is back with a new party of players and whole new corners of the world left to explore. Penned by the original creative team of Gillen and Hans, Die: Loaded picks up a year after the original series. After having fallen into the world of a sentient role-playing game twice already, and with one of their number dead from the last time it happened, the remaining members of the friend group are doing their best to pick up the pieces and find something resembling normalcy in the real world. But living so much time in a fantasy land changes a person, and unable to explain to their loved ones the truth of what happened, to say things are uncomfortable would be putting it mildly. The kicker, Sol—who remains tangled in the game’s ambitions—has plans to release Die the game to the public. All is not well for our heroes who barely managed to find their way home the last time—but they are not the ones setting out on this next adventure.
The dice come as gifts, delivered discreetly to loved ones of the original adventuring party. Unaware of the danger, each unwitting hero touches their token and falls into a world of magic and monsters, proud gods and devastating prophecies. The first is Ash’s wife Sophie. Ignorant about Die and the rules of role-playing games in general, it now falls to her to navigate these strange landscapes, find the other players, and escape back home—but to do that, she’ll have to learn the rules, and quickly. Because death is all too real in Die, and nothing can be trusted. Especially not the game itself.
For anyone who read the original story arc, there’s plenty to settle back into here. Familiar faces fill the opening before tossing Sophie and the others into Die’s fantastic realms. Familiar character classes take on new flavors in response to the griefs and traumas of the players—because the game certainly does love to play off people’s darkest secrets. There’s a whole pantheon of gods looking to trade for favors. One entire realm is made of art while another is full of chosen one characters, all seeking to fulfill their destinies. With its meta-textual awareness, complex themes, and inside jokes aimed at gamers, Die has lost none of its edge.
In some ways, this series offers a landing pad for new readers. With a cast of characters not familiar with the rules of the game, there’s some explanation naturally woven into the reintroduction of the world. And being a new campaign, it’s not necessary to know every detail that transpired previously. At the same time, the shadow of the previous campaign looms over everything, with references to characters and events that will mean little to anyone who missed the previous story.
For new and familiar readers alike, Die: Loaded is full of the darkness and complexity the series showcased on the last outing. Lore and character conflicts unfold over time, but it’s the baggage that the players bring with them that sits at the core of the story. Grief, identity, betrayal—the nature of Die forces the characters to confront themselves and each other if they want to make it home alive. With volume 1, this new arc feels tighter and more intimate than before but remains a remarkable feat of storytelling to bring all these elements together, balancing humor and horror with an ensemble cast and a world that just keeps getting bigger.
While the writing remains on point, the art from Hans is also as gorgeous as ever. Shifting styles and palates across the story, the bold colors and sharp detail float in the watercolor landscapes and stranger spaces of the fantasy world. It’s dreamy, it’s horrifying, and it brings each character to life with vivid emotion. Even for readers who may be hesitant to dive into this world, it’s worth it to wander these realms for a while and discover what might be hiding around the next corner, with artwork that helps shape Die into such a unique title.
Image hands Die: Loaded a Mature rating. With graphic violence, strong language, mature themes, sexual references, and some heavy content in general, it’s definitely a title aimed at adults. For those more mature readers though, there’s so much here to love. Obviously, many readers of the original series will be interested to see what unfolds in this new chapter, and the series will have the most appeal for fans of fantasy stories and role-playing games. However, for anyone open to a fantasy comic with a lot of layers, complex characters, and a good bit of darkness, Die is one of those titles that may challenge the boxes people sometimes try to stick graphic novels into. I found it delightful to return to this world, and with the adventure only getting started, I eagerly await the opportunity to see where things go next. Things are already looking pretty dire, and if we’ve learned anything from Die—it’s that the situation can always get worse.
Die: Loaded Vol. 01: Zero Sessions By Kieron Gillen Art by Stephanie Hans Image, 2026 ISBN: 9781534335356
The graphic novel medium has the ability to convey complex ideas and emotions through images, revealing many interesting aspects of the human condition. Then there are books like Final Boss, Vol. 1, written and drawn by Tyler Kirkham with additional art by David Miller.
Final Boss is not a story that will have its readers feel a variety of emotions or discover any universal truths, save for the truth that seeing people hit extremely hard appeals to many people. However, it’s important to note that this book is not trying to be anything complex or grandiose; Kirkham and Miller seem perfectly fine with Final Boss being a vehicle to show characters that could have stepped out of a video game pummel each other.
The person that does the majority of the pummeling in this story is Tommy Brazen, which is a name that could have been picked up from any martial arts movie script floating around Hollywood or Hong Kong during the 90’s. Brazen earns money by being really good at hurting people, whether it’s through his job as a paid enforcer or competing in underground street fighting matches. He’s recently acquired an ancient talisman left to him by his grandfather that not only increases his strength but lets him acquire the strengths of the various opponents he dispatches. This newfound power will be put to the test as he and his best friend Rabak travel to the mysterious country of Farthica for a fighting tournament, and while there, he meets several enemies that feed his and his talisman’s power.
The setup Kirkham presents of a mysterious fighting tournament is the same basic premise for nearly every fighting game that’s been played on a computer, gaming console, or arcade cabinet, and Kirkham leans heavily into the plot merely being the connecting tissue between bloody, high-octane fighting. In fact, Kirkham’s story could be one used for a fighting game that follows a particular protagonist. Brazen might be an ex-Special Forces guy searching for information about his grandfather, but he’s not exactly a well-developed, multifaceted character. He ultimately doesn’t need to be well-developed, though, as long as he beats the enemies he encounters within an inch of their lives, often in cinematically violent ways.
And “cinematically violent” seems to be what Kirkham and Miller are going for in their artwork, along with equating this book to a fighting game/online role-playing game. Among the splattered skulls and bisected bodies, all rendered in stunningly vivid reds, the book is presented like a video game. Panels will describe the stats of Tommy and whoever he’s fighting before a panel declares “FIGHT!” and victories are announced with words like “BRUTALITY!” plastered across the page. After Tommy kills his opponent, the book details Tommy’s updated stats in the same way many online role-playing games do.
Final Boss isn’t a book that requires deep thinking, going straight for the readers’ collective hypothalamus. To clarify, many studies have concluded violent video games don’t necessarily cause violence, but for fans of fighting games and online role-playing games, reading this book will feel like picking up a controller and playing. Librarians who count these video games fans among their patrons should consider getting this book and letting their patrons play.
Final Boss Volume 1 By Tyler Kirkham Image, 2026 ISBN: 9781534334243
In fact, it took me a very long time to gather my thoughts to write this review for the book, and I’m still not convinced that I have come up with a cohesive whole here, but here we go.
Our protagonist is Jenny, but even giving her the title of “protagonist” is a bit generous. I tend to think of protagonists as very active in their respective narratives, but the way this story was constructed makes me feel like she’s more of a canvas on which this surreal narrative is projected. Which, according to the product description, is intentional and it definitely contributes to the overall negative tone of the book.
The surreal aspects are definitely something I appreciate about the narrative, but the story overall is rough. The plot is a string of loosely connected stories that, for me, boil down to a laundry list of traumas and disasters. And, for me, it’s very hard to get through. I’ll let the publisher explain it:
A coworker-turned-prospective-lover confesses a hard-to-swallow fetish. A train ride fantastically goes off the rails as old habits get dragged across the tracks. Cousins revisit summer holiday bliss—or was it really horror? Exes fumble an attempt to reconnect over a dip in the pool on a squelching summer day. And an expectant mother slips into an unusual place as she embarks on a communion with her baby more pure than language can accommodate.
There are several adult themes featured in the narrative including sexual fetishes, (child) death (but also: childbirth), religious trauma, child sexual abuse, and vehicle collision/accident.
The narrative’s final page offers the reader one small sliver of hope—a newborn baby, a chance to protect a new life from what plagued Jenny.
For me personally, I was not able to catch the optimism that I think was supposed to be projected here. There simply isn’t enough in the overall story to suggest that change is possible.
The artwork is interesting when it breaks from reality and introduces seemingly unrelated imagery that freely flows through the narrative. It’s otherwise difficult to criticize because it’s not particularly notable in either direction. The scratchy pencils are perfectly competent and they are technical in showing plane changes, but the overall look is not distinct and I actually had a little trouble identifying different characters. I always appreciate a muted and largely monotone color pallet, however.
This might be the first book I don’t feel comfortable recommending, not even in very specific circumstances. I think there is value in these sorts of memoirs, and they are unfortunately relatable to many readers, but I think there is better on offer. Please see Tsunami by Ned Wenlock, Epileptic by David B., Precious Rubbish by Kayla E., or even the tried-and-true classic, Maus by Art Spiegelman.
I Ate the Whole World to Find You By Rachel Ang Drawn and Quarterly, 2025 ISBN: 9781770467583
Publisher Age Recommendation: N/A, but I will note that Drawn and Quarterly has a Kids section on their website and this title is not listed there
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18) Creator Representation: Australian, Character Representation: Australian,
This graphic novel, infused with Filipino mythology, starts on a sad note. Mage and her companion Squalo live happily in the forest with her sorcerer father until they are attacked by monsters from Ventrolio. Her father’s final instructions sends her on a journey to find the Bakunawa, a guardian serpent of the oceans. The two practice hard to improve their skills and complete many side quests, leveling up their skills (and acquiring “monnies”). But as they near their goal, they find out that something is very wrong with the Bakunawa – will Mage be able to fulfill her father’s wish?
In this sequel to 
her friends go to drama camp together. She’s disappointed, but trying to make the best of things. After all, Sara’s family is moving soon, and maybe being in a new place will help her get some practice at making new friends.
This short graphic novel opens with a stereotypical bullying scene – Lucas, our main character, duct-taped upside-down to his locker by the bullies and his “friend”, eco-warrior Julia hiding in her locker. Lucas, a skinny little kid with pale skin and huge glasses, is determined that nothing is going to ruin his thirteenth birthday, but soon finds himself stuck in detention with Julia. Julia, a tall, stocky girl dressed in all black with white hair dyed green that contrasts with her brown skin, is exasperated by Lucas, but goes along with his escape plan and helps him get home in time for his birthday dinner.
Victor is a necromancer, with magic in his blood that lets him cast spells. If anyone finds out, he would be put to death: necromancy is illegal and fanatically persecuted by the religious order that polices the city. And it’s not easy to hide, given that every transaction–from buying a snack to getting married – requires a blood signature, and necromancer blood visibly glows with magic. So Victor keeps to the shadows, solitary except for his cute one-eyed cat, just trying to survive.
Like a filmmaker having a soft spot for movies about movies, I am a sucker for a book or comic on the importance of stories. 
Who’s ready for a new campaign?
The graphic novel medium has the ability to convey complex ideas and emotions through images, revealing many interesting aspects of the human condition. Then there are books like Final Boss, Vol. 1, written and drawn by Tyler Kirkham with additional art by David Miller.
