There wasn’t a vast amount of kids’ graphic novel news unveiled at this year’s New York Comic Con, but there was one very big announcement: the titles and release dates of Raina Telgemeier’s next two graphic books.
On October 5, Scholastic pulled back the curtain on Guts, a new graphic memoir that will be released in September 2019 with a first printing of one million copies. Guts has a similar cover to Smile and Sisters, Telgemeier’s previous autobiographical works, and it looks like it will have a similar vibe as well. Instead of dental drama or sibling rivalry, though, Guts will weave issues of anxiety and food intolerance into a slice-of-life middle-school story.
Scholastic also announced another Telgemeier book, a how-to journal titled Share Your Smile: Raina’s Guide to Telling Your Own Story, which is due out next April. The first printing will be 500,000 copies.
Elsewhere at NYCC
In non-Raina news, Top Shelf had a new middle-grade graphic novel to announce: Red Panda and Moon Bear by Cuban-American cartoonist Jarod Roselló. The story revolves around two Latinx siblings who have superpowers and use them to solve mysteries and rescue lost cats. The book is scheduled for March 2019.
In licensed comics news, Dark Horse announced two new Disney graphic novels: a second Zootopia graphic novel, Zootopia: Family Night, and an original graphic novel, Disney Princess: Ariel and the Sea Wolf. The first Zootopia graphic novel, Friends to the Rescue, came out in September, and the second one, like the first, will be written by Amelia Rules creator Jimmy Gownley with art by Leandro Ricardo da Silva. It is scheduled for a March 2019 release. Ariel and the Sea Wolf by writer Liz Marsham and artist Tara Nicole Whitaker, is due out in April.
Dark Horse also offered more details on the first volume of Minecraft, a story about a boy who stays in touch with his friends by playing the Minecraft videogame with them and teams up with them on an epic quest; the book will hit shelves in summer 2019.
At the revamped Harvey Awards on Friday night, Jen Wang’s The Prince and the Dressmaker (First Second) and Katie O’Neill’s The Tea Dragon Society (Oni Press) tied for the award for Best Children’s or Young Adult Book.
While the focus in the children’s market has increasingly been on graphic novels, traditional comics publishers are still putting out new monthly comics for young readers. Archie Comics announced a new Betty & Veronica series, written by Jamie Rotante (Betty & Veronica Vixens), which will follow the duo through their senior year of high school.
IDW is poised to launch its Marvel Action comics next month with Marvel Action: Spider-Man, and the company announced at the show that comics veteran Kyle Baker will write Marvel Action: Black Panther, which will debut in January.
