Life isn’t easy for an ex-con. It is even worse when you’re an ex-supervillain in Twilight City.
Frankie “Playtime” Follis was a prodigy, pushed into villainy by her mother after she manifested the power to make any toy into a weapon. Now, fresh out of prison, she’s unable to find any work beyond making drinks at a seedy bar catering to the low-level supervillains she’s meant to be avoiding as part of her parole. Still, Frankie keeps to the code of honor the blue-collar baddies abide by, though she wants nothing more than to rebuild her life and win back custody of her daughter, Maggie.
Unfortunately, Frankie is pulled back into the life after the archvillain called The Stickman kills Kid Dusk, the sidekick of Twilight City’s protector, The Insomniac. This makes the stalwart hero snap, sending him on a violent killing spree targeting every villain in town while searching for Stickman. With Insomniac’s fellow heroes covering up his crimes, it falls to Frankie and a rag-tag group of has-beens and henchmen to bring Stickman to justice while Twilight City is still standing.
Minor Threats is not a wholly original story. Much as Watchmen put a mature spin on the classic heroes of Charlton Comics, Minor Threats is a dark and darkly hilarious Batman story that DC Comics would never dare publish. Most of the characters are clearly parodies of Batman, Robin, Joker, Riddler and more. Yet there are some original ideas, such as Scalpel, a supervillain surgeon who makes her living offering off-the-books medical care to costumed criminals… for a percentage of their earnings, of course.
Writers Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum make every joke one would expect regarding the silliness of costumed criminals, boy wonders and how many masked heroes need psychiatric help. Thankfully, Minor Threats proves to be far more than a collective of gags about popular superheroes and genre conventions. Oswalt and Blum bring true pathos to the five supervillains forced to become reluctant (not quite) heroes, developing them into full characters rather than cardboard cliches.
The five leads’ origin stories tackle a variety of serious issues, ranging from abusive parents to coming out of the closet to embrace true love. The effect is not unlike the duo’s previous writing for the MODOK animated series or The Venture Bros. Serious emotions mix with dark comedy to tell a truly original tale.
The artwork by Scott Hepburn is equally well done. Much like Dave Gibbons on Watchmen, Hepburn draws Minor Threats like a traditional comic book. This only adds to the visual dissonance as the action goes at right angles to every expectation of a typical superhero story.
Dark Horse Comics rates Minor Threats as appropriate for ages 14 and up. I believe that to be a fair assessment of the book’s content. There is a fair bit of violence and some disturbing scenes of children dying and parents being killed in front of their kids, as well as a bit of adult language. There is no nudity or sexual content, making this safe for most teen audiences.
Minor Threats A Quick End To A Long Beginning Vol. 01 By Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum, , Art by Scott Hepburn, Ian Hrring, Nate Piekos, Dark Horse, 2023 ISBN: 9781506729992
Publisher Age Rating: 14+
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16)
Character Representation: Black, Gay, Neurodivergent, Ambiguous Mental Illness
Dr. Songsakdina “Bun” Bunnakit is a respected coroner. He is 31 and a closeted gay man who has kept his orientation a secret since his first and only attempt at romance with a man ended badly. Apart from some token attempts at retaining a girlfriend for appearances sake, Bun Is largely devoted to his work, with no real friends apart from the prosecutor Pued.
When Dr. Bun is brought in to investigate a young woman’s death, he is quick to dismiss the police theory of suicide. Bun is also suspicious of the young woman’s boyfriend, a teacher named Tan, who hardly seems upset at his girlfriend’s passing. However, as Dr. Bun is writing up his report, he is attacked in his home by a masked man, who says everyone around Dr. Bun will suffer if he doesn’t declare the death a case of suicide.
When Pued disappears shortly after Dr. Bun confides in him about the threats, he once again becomes suspicious of Tan, who is one of the few who knew of his involvement with the investigation. To Dr. Bun’s surprise, Tan comes to him with a solid alibi and wants to help find his girlfriend’s killer. Yet, there is still evidence Tan is involved in the case. More worrying, however, is the growing attraction that seems to be forming between Bun and Tan.
A graphic novel adaptation of a novel by Thai author, Sammon (which has also been adapted into a successful Thai TV drama), Manner of Death, Vol. 1 proves an exciting start to what promises to be an interesting thriller series. I hesitate to call it an erotic thriller, however, as this opening chapter is more focused on the logistics of Bun’s work as a coroner and his amateur detective work with Tan than it is the sexual tension between them. There are sex scenes, but they are tame things compared to the lion’s share of modern yaoi.
Manner of Death, Vol. 1 works equally well as a police procedural story or a romance, depending on which aspect a reader might be more interested in. The opening chapters lean more heavily upon Bun’s work, showcasing his analytic mind as he instructs a medical student in his charge on how a dead body can tell a story as vivid as one by a living person regarding how they died. The focus shifts more toward romance as the story progresses, with Bun battling his feelings for Tan, his own paranoia regarding loving a man, and his logical reasons to take anything Tan says at face value.
The artwork by Yukari Umemoto is good and matches the story. Umemoto utilizes varied character designs to keep the characters from being confused for one another. They are also very good at blocking the book’s many fight scenes.
This volume is rated for ages 16 and up. I feel this is an appropriate rating, given the mature subject matter. There is no outright nudity, and the sexual elements of the romance are relatively tame for this sort of comic. Yet with a storyline centered around violent deaths and flashbacks dealing with suicide and child abuse, this is not a comic for the weak of heart or of stomach.
Manner of Death Vol. 1 By Sammon Art by Yukari Umemoto Yen Press, 2023 ISBN: 9781975352080
Publisher Age Rating: 16+ Related media: Book to Comic
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18) Creator Representation: Thai Character Representation: Gay
Indigo can’t sleep. Or rather, something has been haunting her in the waking hours of the night. Is she trapped in a dream, or might something more sinister be lurking in the shadows of her subconscious? A supernatural mystery dripping with eerie undertones invades her angst-ridden life in Seth Christian Martel’s The Mare, a story that blends psychological drama with supernatural realism.
The opening pages of this young adult graphic novel features a teenager named Indigo, caught in the midst of a relentless nightmare, spiraling into a dark, empty void. She then awakens and fixes breakfast for her divorced alcoholic father. In zombie-like fashion, she heads out to work at a diner where she buses tables as a server, striving to make ends meet while her life shutters from one problem to the next. Kasia, her closest friend, serves as an anchor for Indigo. After describing the shadowy figures (sleep demons) tormenting her at night, she learns from Kasia that she may be victim to a “Mare”—a supernatural entity seeking solace having been wronged while alive, yet failing to attain peace. The Mare materializes as an electrifying blue light that latches onto Indigo during the wee hours of the night, upturning her room in poltergeist fashion, leaving a chaotic mess. Kasia hatches a series of folk remedies to help Indigo overcome this supernatural force—drinking coffee grounds before bed, placing a broom by the door, sleeping upside down—to no success. One night, after taking sleeping pills, Indigo sleepwalks and awakens to find herself across town in front of her stepmother’s house. Indigo and Kasia strive to uncover the mysterious paranormal incidents that seem to intensify with each encounter.
The plot unfolds through dialogue-driven panels occupied by emotionally charged characters who reinforce the narrative action. Muted, shaded grays punctuated by shimmering streaks and saturated oceanic blues accentuate moments of intensity and conflict with dramatic flair. The rapidly paced story speeds to a climax that leaves room for further questions, though the mounting tension and unraveling of events steering toward the resolution persistently intrigues and tantalizes.
A coming-of-age story infused with themes surrounding finding one’s purpose, child abuse, and self-doubt—undergirded by paranormal activities—The Mare delivers a story where text and images grounded in reality converge with the supernatural to offer a compelling read for young adult collections.
The Mare By Seth C. Martel Graphic Mundi, 2023 ISBN: 9781637790465
Publisher Age Rating: 13+ NFNT Age Recommendation: Teen (13-16)
Cade is a shy, horror-movie-obsessed teen living in rural Texas. Surrounded by homophobia, he figures he’ll never be able to come out as gay, let alone find a boyfriend. Anyway, he has other things to worry about. His family is low on money, so his parents insist that Cade get a summer job at a ranch, which pays better than the more comfortable indoor jobs he would prefer. It’s hard labor, but on the plus side he gets to work with Henry, the teenaged son of the ranch owner. Henry is attractive, mysterious, and possibly interested in Cade. But there are rumors swirling around the ranch. People have died. In fact, the whole situation reminds Cade of a horror movie. Will he be the next victim?
This is a retelling of Jane Austen’s novel Northanger Abbey, in which a young woman allows her love of Gothic novels to color her perception of the real world. Like the heroine of that novel, Cade sees and hears a few strange things and lets his imagination fill in the gaps with terrifying theories. Changing the Gothic novels to horror movies and the setting to a lonely ranch in modern-day Texas makes for a creative update. Cade’s unease and sense of being in danger are supported by encounters with racist and homophobic locals—a situation based on the author’s own experience growing up queer, closeted, and Latine in rural Texas.
Cade comes from a class background that is underrepresented in teen fiction: his blended, multiracial family is struggling financially, living in a rural area where military service and religion play a large part in many people’s lives. This adds to Cade’s isolation, as there is a lot of homophobia in the local culture. Even his generally well-meaning stepdad casually uses homophobic language. Henry, too, has struggled to reconcile his identity with his church’s condemnation of queer people.
A content note at the beginning advises that the book contains “moments of homophobia, misogyny, racism, domestic violence, animal cruelty, and confronting death.” There is a character whose past includes becoming suicidal and spending time in a mental health facility, and another character uses stigmatizing language about it. And although he is seeing a therapist and working on his anger issues, Henry can be violent, which is an alarming quality in a love interest. There are also a handful of swear words, up to and including the f-bomb. Despite all that, though, this story is not grim throughout. It is, after all, a romance, with plenty of sweet moments and—eventually—a hopeful ending.
The art is cute and expressive, with a simplified realistic style reminiscent of Faith Erin Hicks. The book is two-color, with shades of red and pink punctuated by bold black and lots of deep shadows, especially in the creepy parts. Horror movie fans may notice a few classic film posters in some of the panels.
This is a creative retelling that stands alone. Sometimes sweet and sometimes gripping, it addresses tough topics but also brings humor and smooches. Hand it to fans of Kevin Panetta’s Bloom and Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper.
Northranger By Rey Terciero Art by Bre Indigo Harper Collins Harper Alley, 2023 ISBN: 9780063007383
Publisher Age Rating: 13+ NFNT Age Recommendation: Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16)
The name Emily Carroll might conjure up images from her well-received story collection Through the Woods. Critics have praised Carroll not only for her storytelling, but for her artistic style that plays around with composition and colors on the printed page. Carroll brings this unique brand of storytelling to create a profoundly disturbing haunted house story. A Guest in the House showcases Carroll’s signature style of telling a spooky story through a visual medium.
Carroll’s story is told through the eyes of Abby, a woman who’s recently married into a new family, seemingly kind dentist David and his daughter Crystal. They have come to a new town for a fresh start, but the specter of Sheila, David’s first wife and Crystal’s mother looms heavily over the family, particularly Crystal and Abby. Crystal is missing her mother, even claiming that she still sees her. Abby, who has never really met Sheila, starts to see her too, leading Abby to question everything she knows about her family and about love.
Carroll has created a very compelling protagonist in Abby, a woman who seems unsure about being a new wife and stepmother. She also seems unsure about being in a relationship, spending a great deal of time in her head. Meanwhile, David seems to be a caring if absent male figure in the household, which naturally makes him a suspect in Sheila’s disappearance. Coupled with Crystal’s grieving, along with her own odd behavior, Abby very much seems like a woman who is completely unprepared for the fractures she starts to notice in her perfect family’s facade.
Letting readers inside Abby’s head allows Carroll’s artwork to shine. Abby’s world is one where her thoughts wander beyond the borders of panels, where vibrant colors invade the typically drab world she occupies with David and her family. The presence in the house is more than just a pale apparition; it often appears as something full of ethereal beauty, of colors that show up like blood on the printed page, and it also can also look anything but beautiful.
Carroll’s full-length story is a slow burn of a tale that finishes with a brutal gutpunch, meaning it fits into any adult graphic novel collection that needs some scary stories, but it is also an example for graphic novel creators of how colors and layout, how lights and darks, can create a story’s setting and tone.
A Guest in the House Vol. By Emily Carroll Macmillan First Second, 2023 ISBN: 9781250255525
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18) Creator Representation: Lesbian,
Before he donned a mask and cape to fight crime in the streets of Gotham City, before adopting the mantle of the Dark Knight, a thirteen-year-old Bruce Wayne struggled to fit in with his peers at Gotham Preparatory School—a special school for kids gifted with superpowers. In this reimagined, alternate vision of the Batman, Stuart Gibbs (Spy School) and artist Berat Pekmezci introduce a refreshingly amusing and misshapen childhood of Bruce Wayne in Bruce Wayne: Not Super.
In a setting similar to Dr. Xavier’s academy of X-Men mutants, Bruce Wayne feels out of place at a school specially geared to train young students to harness and control their extraordinary powers. While Clark Kent wields super strength, Diana Prince moves with grace and dexterity, and Barry Allen zips by past the speed of light, Bruce lacks natural powers he can boast. Instead, he resorts to designing his own costume for a disguise through trial and error and invents his own set of gadgets to fit in with his classmates. On Career Day, he desires to become a vigilante to battle crime in the name of avenging the murder of his parents, much to the disappointment of the school principal.
In reconstructing a light-hearted rendition of Gotham City, Gibbs and Pekmezci create a world replete with amusing escapades and pranks among superheroes and villains alike. As a middle grader, Bruce Wayne tackles a coming-of-age role whose diffidence, clumsiness, and shyness gives way to hidden, innate ingenuity. While navigating the rocky landscape of interacting with his peers, he encounters comical situations and a montage of goof ups amidst an undercurrent of danger and brooding mystery rendered by Pekmezci’s deep shades of navy blue and indigo. Whether fending for himself in a game of dodge ball or masquerading as a vigilante to stop a theft in progress, each antic-packed panel captures a less than perfect crime fighter in the early stages of his quest to uphold truth and justice. Most charming are the quizzical expressions and persona of a young Batman who gradually discovers his true strength and latent abilities.
Highlighting the wonder years of adolescence, Bruce Wayne: Not Super delves into evolving themes of fitting in, developing self-esteem, doing the right thing, and finding one’s strengths and purpose. On his path towards discovering himself, Bruce Wayne learns that some powers emerge not from spectacular feats of strength, agility, or speed, but from within one’s natural abilities. This graphic novel infuses a fresh foray into a longstanding iconic superhero of the DC Comics universe, ushering in a welcome addition to middle grade collections and challenging young readers to discover their superpowers.
Bruce Wayne Not Super Vol. By Stuart Gibbs Art by Berat Pekmezci DC, 2023 ISBN: 9781779507679
Publisher Age Rating: 8-12
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11) Creator Representation: Turkish,
Picking up right where volume one ended, Sorceline must face more than one secret about her family in order to save her new friends from a mystery assailant. Meanwhile, a new apprentice, Charlie, arrives on the island to everyone’s surprise, including Charlie’s since he can’t see mythical creatures at all. This causes some confusion as they work to further unravel the mysteries presented in book one, which lead to new and more dangerous mysteries. As the overarching story progresses, the characters explore different areas of the island to help cryptids in distress, discover new and unexpected abilities, and learn about old enemies that may not be as helpless anymore.
This was an excellent second volume that manages to answer questions posed in the first book while introducing new storylines that will hopefully be expanded on in volume three, which does not currently have an English release date. I continue to be impressed by the use of color in the illustrations. The illustrator uses them to evoke emotions to great effect and enhances the storytelling by juxtaposing bright, cool color schemes with darker elements.
All of the characters are given more definition, building on volume one. Because there are so many side characters in this series, it is hard for each of them to have the same depth of characterization, especially when they do not appear central to the main plot. However, each character does contribute to solving the mysteries presented. This volume also includes a bestiary that highlights the name, habitat, special characteristics, and life span of the various cryptids found on the Isle of Vorn.
I still highly recommend that this series be added to any library with a middle grade patron population that enjoys magical schools, mythical animals, or a layered mystery. There is a little more violence in this volume than in the first, but not much.
Sorceline Vol. 02 By Sylvia Douye Art by Paola Antista Andrews McMeel, 2023 ISBN: 9781524882310
Publisher Age Rating: 9-12
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11) Creator Representation: Italian,
Rivers of London is a supernatural horror series that I have been aware of for some time, but never had the chance to read. I recognized the name of the author, Ben Aaronovitch, from Doctor Who and recalled him as the writer of one of the best episodes of all time, “Remembrance of the Daleks.” I finally took the plunge with the graphic novel Deadly Ever After. Unfortunately, Deadly Ever After proved as big a disappointment to me as Dynamite Comics’ adaptations of the Dresden Files.
The Rivers of London series (aka the Peter Grant or PC Grant series) is set in an alternate London where magic is real and a special department called the Folly protect ordinary people from the supernatural. Most of the Rivers of London stories center around newbie wizard Peter Grant as he investigates various crimes and copes with the many gods and monsters that secretly populate London. Deadly Ever After is an entirely different story.
Deadly Ever After centers around two young river goddesses, Chelsea and Olympia, who are easily bored and would rather spend their days smoking weed and hanging out than doing whatever it is respectable goddesses are meant to spend their days doing. Their showing off to a random mortal winds up unleashing a vengeful spirit who was kidnapped by fairies centuries earlier and has returned to an unfamiliar London even more cynical than the one they left behind. This leads to the twins trying desperately to cover up their crime before their mother or the Folly get involved, as the spirit starts trying to make fairy tales come true in order to prove the power of stories and that fairies are real.
The idea of supernatural creatures reenacting fairy tales is one of the most played out tropes in modern fantasy and Deadly Ever After does nothing to change the formula. Any fan of the genre will immediately see where the story is going the minute a little girl in a red hoodie runs out of the woods screaming about something attacking her grandmother. This might be tolerable were the narration of the book not offering a metatextual commentary on the cliches, literally describing Chelsea and Olympia as “feeling like they were in their own detective comic about glamorous teen Londoners.”
The artwork is similarly lackluster. Jose Maria Beroy’s artwork is competent and they have a firm grasp of anatomy. Unfortunately, the artwork doesn’t fit the dark theme of the story, being too posed and static. The bright colors and light inks don’t help matters.
The damnable thing is that Deadly Ever After might cut the mustard as a young adult comic aimed at an audience that is less familiar with this sort of story than the average urban fantasy fan. Unfortunately, the blood and violence are intense enough and the language adult enough to make this book unsuitable for any audience younger than an OT/16+. I fear anyone old enough to handle the content is likely to find the two protagonists insufferably selfish and annoying. I may give Rivers ofLondon another shot, but this volume gave me a very poor impression of the series.
Rivers of London, vol. 10: Deadly Ever After By Celeste Bronfamn, Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Art by Jose Beroy Titan, 2023 ISBN: 9781787738591
Related media: Book to Comic
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18) Character Representation: Black
This series starter is intriguing but frustrating. It opens with the main character, Iggie, riding in a car with his aunt, who raised him from birth. He’s now being returned to “Aunt Jill,” his birth mom, who lives in Peculiar Woods. There are curious hints of an agreement and stories of the old flooded village; Iggie sees some odd things, including a brown-skinned girl with pinkish-white hair wearing scuba gear and watching them as they pass. He’s excited about being reunited with Jill, but that night he has a strange and frightening adventure where he discovers he can talk to objects, including his furniture, blanket, an old refrigerator, and a rock in the woods.
At school the next day, he encounters the strange girl again as well as a pair of chess figures who demand he help them return home since he interrupted their own attempts to escape. After an encounter with bullies and a misunderstanding with the girl, Iggie eventually makes the decision to go on a quest to help the chess pieces, accompanied by his blanket, Faye, and Boris the chair. Their quest leads them into the drowned village and a variety of strange encounters, and is ultimately successful while asking more questions than it answers and leaving readers balancing on a series of cliffhangers.
Colmenares’ art is simple and static, but oddly fitting for the quirky story. The characters look like wooden dolls, with stiff movements and fixed hairdos, which lines them up neatly with the sentient objects. Boris, the chair, demonstrates yoga moves and gallops like a horse. Faye is sometimes just a blue blanket but when in sentient mode sports two points of light as eyes within the dark “hood” of the blanket. The colors are subdued, with predominantly green and brown shades, but a few bright sparks of color in clothing. The seemingly straight-forward art makes the incursion of odd creatures and anomalies all the more eerie and there is an underlying hint of danger and menace which contrasts oddly with the doll-like protagonists and dry humor of the various characters.
The abrupt ending of the story leaves readers wondering whether all the hints at a darker plot and all the strange creatures and occurrences are going to lead to a more involved story in a sequel or peter out as they do in the first volume. It’s an odd choice of an ending for middle grade readers, who move on quickly in series. Even if a sequel is released the following year, most readers will have forgotten about this odd little book and moved on to other stories. Those with limited budgets will want to wait for a sequel to be released, review to see if there is more closure or at least more explanations included, and then purchase both at the same time to offer to readers who enjoy quirky, mysterious stories.
Peculiar Woods, Vol. 1: The Ancient Underwater City By Andrés J. Colmenares Andrews McMeel, 2023 ISBN: 9781524884918
Publisher Age Rating: 7-11 years NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11)
Joan Peterson has a problem, she’s stuck in the worst sort of Groundhog Day loop. Joan grows up to fall in love with a man who is deeply devoted to her. As soon as he proposes and she says yes a cowboy shows up, tells her “Miss Joan Peterson. She would like you to know… Love is Everlasting.” and then shoots her down. This happens to her across decades, across the country and across eras. Joan is trapped in a cycle of romance that isn’t allowed to be and she cannot figure why or who is behind this.
Love Everlasting opens with Joan falling for George Huff, an executive in what looks like a “Mad Men” 1950s era office setting. We only see them together shortly before Joan experiences life in a 1960s/70s era Bohemian music scene. Kit Myers is a local musician who Joan’s father certainly does not approve of until he learns who his parents are. As soon as he realizes the boy is from good stock, Joan and Kit are free to be together. They profess their love and then Joan is the old West. Two men are fighting over her and at this point she’s realizing her memories are getting muddled together, so she tries running away. She’s running for all three women who she knows she’s been, but she doesn’t know where to run to. She passes out in the desert only to wake up next to a fire, lying on a blanket that’s not hers. A cowboy is sitting at the fire with a message for a Ms. Joan Peterson. There’s something familiar about him she can’t place. He says she shouldn’t have run. This is the first time we see him tell her “Love is everlasting.”
The rest of the book shows Joan with more of her memories and faculties, trying to fight her way out of this cycle. She’s often about to graduate high school, or at that age, and the idea that life, college, or war could separate her from her love propels the couple into early engagement. In the hands of a lesser author this could become convoluted, but at no point was I lost. The book does ask pretty early on that you have faith in the creative team to give you the information you need as you need it, but if you are willing to follow them it makes for a very intriguing journey.
Author Tom King makes a slight departure from some of his recent work to tell a story that is part metaphysical mystery and part family drama. The story is as layered and detailed as you’d expect from him and I genuinely enjoyed the mystery slowly presenting itself right up until the biggest reveal at the end (which admittedly is the springboard into the next volume, leaving plenty left to yet discover.) The art from Elsa Charretier works wonderfully in every decade this story shifts through. Color palettes change and help give a sense of mood every time there is a jump in the story. This feels influenced by artists like Darwyn Cooke and Bruce Timm, which is as high a compliment as I can pay, because their work stands the test of time and this has that same timeless quality.
I agree with the publisher’s age rating of Teen+, which Image Comics defines as “16 and up, may contain moderate violence, moderate profanity use, and suggestive themes.” This book is a little bloody, but not nearly as much as it could be, and it isn’t leaning into gore by any stretch. There is a moderate amount of swearing, but I would like to point out that this book doesn’t contain suggestive themes. This checks a lot of the boxes I use when considering adding book to our collection, including having an unusual premise, art that helps support the storytelling, isn’t intentionally upsetting, and leaves you wanting more. I think it is a solid addition to a library collection, but be aware that it’s still an ongoing title, so it is not yet clear how many additional volumes may follow.
Love Everlasting, Vol. 01 By Tom King Art by Elsa Charretier Image, 2023 ISBN: 9781534324640
Publisher Age Rating: Teen+ NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
Life isn’t easy for an ex-con. It is even worse when you’re an ex-supervillain in Twilight City.
Dr. Songsakdina “Bun” Bunnakit is a respected coroner. He is 31 and a closeted gay man who has kept his orientation a secret since his first and only attempt at romance with a man ended badly. Apart from some token attempts at retaining a girlfriend for appearances sake, Bun Is largely devoted to his work, with no real friends apart from the prosecutor Pued.
Indigo can’t sleep. Or rather, something has been haunting her in the waking hours of the night. Is she trapped in a dream, or might something more sinister be lurking in the shadows of her subconscious? A supernatural mystery dripping with eerie undertones invades her angst-ridden life in Seth Christian Martel’s The Mare, a story that blends psychological drama with supernatural realism.
Cade is a shy, horror-movie-obsessed teen living in rural Texas. Surrounded by homophobia, he figures he’ll never be able to come out as gay, let alone find a boyfriend. Anyway, he has other things to worry about. His family is low on money, so his parents insist that Cade get a summer job at a ranch, which pays better than the more comfortable indoor jobs he would prefer. It’s hard labor, but on the plus side he gets to work with Henry, the teenaged son of the ranch owner. Henry is attractive, mysterious, and possibly interested in Cade. But there are rumors swirling around the ranch. People have died. In fact, the whole situation reminds Cade of a horror movie. Will he be the next victim?
praised Carroll not only for her storytelling, but for her artistic style that plays around with composition and colors on the printed page. Carroll brings this unique brand of storytelling to create a profoundly disturbing haunted house story. A Guest in the House showcases Carroll’s signature style of telling a spooky story through a visual medium.
Knight, a thirteen-year-old Bruce Wayne struggled to fit in with his peers at Gotham Preparatory School—a special school for kids gifted with superpowers. In this reimagined, alternate vision of the Batman, Stuart Gibbs (Spy School) and artist Berat Pekmezci introduce a refreshingly amusing and misshapen childhood of Bruce Wayne in Bruce Wayne: Not Super.
Picking up right where 
Rivers of London is a supernatural horror series that I have been aware of for some time, but never had the chance to read. I recognized the name of the author, Ben Aaronovitch, from Doctor Who and recalled him as the writer of one of the best episodes of all time, “Remembrance of the Daleks.” I finally took the plunge with the graphic novel Deadly Ever After. Unfortunately, Deadly Ever After proved as big a disappointment to me as Dynamite Comics’ adaptations of the Dresden Files.
This series starter is intriguing but frustrating. It opens with the main character, Iggie, riding in a car with his aunt, who raised him from birth. He’s now being returned to “Aunt Jill,” his birth mom, who lives in Peculiar Woods. There are curious hints of an agreement and stories of the old flooded village; Iggie sees some odd things, including a brown-skinned girl with pinkish-white hair wearing scuba gear and watching them as they pass. He’s excited about being reunited with Jill, but that night he has a strange and frightening adventure where he discovers he can talk to objects, including his furniture, blanket, an old refrigerator, and a rock in the woods.
Joan Peterson has a problem, she’s stuck in the worst sort of Groundhog Day loop. Joan grows up to fall in love with a man who is deeply devoted to her. As soon as he proposes and she says yes a cowboy shows up, tells her “Miss Joan Peterson. She would like you to know… Love is Everlasting.” and then shoots her down. This happens to her across decades, across the country and across eras. Joan is trapped in a cycle of romance that isn’t allowed to be and she cannot figure why or who is behind this.
