Now that we’ve looked at upcoming offerings from DC, Marvel, Image, and manga publishers. Now it’s time to check out everyone else. Here’s some choice comics selections slated to drop this June 2022.
1. Follow the Recipe, Break the Recipe
Leisl Adams, a storyboard artist and director of the short film, “The Elephant in the Living Room,” focuses her talents on comics in this delightful-sounding romp. Reality TV competition, awkward romances, and elaborate cakes get mixed together and come out as life lessons and passionate decrees. Adams’s style suggests expressive cartooning, high energy, and big emotions, everything you could want out of a coming of age story like this.
Batter Royale
Written and Illustrated by Leisl Adams
Published by Amulet BooksIn Leisl Adams’s debut graphic novel, Batter Royale, an aspiring amateur baker enters the toughest, ugliest, most fearsome fight she’ll ever experience: a baking reality show. When seventeen-year-old small-town waitress Rose impresses a famous food critic, she and her best friend, Fred, find themselves thrust into the tough world of competitive baking. The contest is an intense ten days of bizarre challenges, and the competition is cutthroat. Some competitors are willing to lie, cheat, and sabotage their way to the top. Rose may be in over her head, but she is determined to show that she can become a top chef. Batter Royale is a fish-out-of-water style romantic comedy about climbing out of the circumstances you’re in and making your dreams come true.
2. Back to Sunnydale
Hard to believe Buffy‘s twenty-five years old. In order to celebrate, Boom! presents this new series written by Max Bemis and illustrated by Marianna Ignazzi. Everything about this sounds so meta and goofy, it could have only been created by Buffy fans. And if you can’t make fun alternate realities for these fictional characters every once in awhile, what’s the point of even continuing their legacies?
Buffy ’97 #1
Written by Max Bemis
Illustrated by Marianna Ignazzi
Published by BOOM! Studios“That Buffy Show,” a The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air meets Dawson’s Creek style teen drama sitcom, is a perfect fit for the Buffster. It’s all going well until the cast gets a taste of the supernatural when the audience totally vamps out!
The Scooby Gang is forced to learn actual slayage skills on live television from “TV” Buffy to save their lives, and more importantly… keep the show from being cancelled!
Tap into some geeky joy with this celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Buffy The Vampire Slayer by Say Anything frontman Max Bemis (Moon Knight) and Marianna Ignazzi (An Unkindness of Ravens), and you’ll be five by five!
3. Law Defined
Sort of a Bill and Ted for STEM. Which means it won’t be as fun, but it’s illustrated by Jesse Lonergan, whose imagination is in no way bound by science’s constrictions.
Ghosts of Science Past
Written by Joseph Sieracki
Illustrated by Jesse Lonergan
Published by Humanoids, Inc.A teenager desperate to pass his Biology final is visited in the night, Christmas Carol-style, by the spirits of some of the greatest scientists in history.
Trevor suffers from an ailment common among high schoolers: apathy. He snoozes through science class, distrusts his teachers, and would rather stay up all night playing video games than studying for his upcoming science quiz. With an “F” in Biology looming ominously in Trevor’s near future unless he finds motivation, Trevor’s parents take away his video games for a week in an effort to make him buckle down and study. When he opens up his book, however, an epic adventure begins, and the greatest scientists in history become his guides-literally!
4. Down and Out and Glim
As comics have branched out of the spinner racks, readers have had access to more universal stories based on personal experiences. India Swift’s work features such fine expressions and movement, it’s difficult not to be caught up in her energy. There are lessons here that can comfort young readers going through these experiences or remind older ones about what it still means to be human.
Continued belowThe Girl and the Glim
Written and Illustrated by India Swift
Published by Mariner BooksStarting out at a new school is tough, and Bridgette isn’t having much luck, seeing as, well, she’s not great at making a first impression. Or, maybe, any impression. Ugh, all these nervous feelings! Will she fit in? Will she make new friends? Will they still like her once they get to know her better? Nope. For now the best she can manage is… awkward. This is not going great. The Girl and The Glim is about accepting the fact that fear is okay, and that while letting other people see your vulnerabilities can be scary, it can also lead to closer friendships in the end.
5. A Little Bit of Something for Everyone
The first issue of this anthology came out about a year ago, but that doesn’t mean we should not pay attention now. This showcase of indie talent is a strong argument for how comics magazines ought to develop, where it can spotlight amazing cartoonists from various backgrounds, and let their imaginations run wild.
Good Boy Magazine
Written and Illustrated by Various
Published by Silver SprocketThe finest, highest quality comics magazine on planet Earth! Over 100 brand-new full color pages from indie comic heavyweights Benji Nate, Michael Sweater, Alex Krokus, Ashley Robin Franklin, Sam Grinberg, Flower Alligator, Dave Mercier, Bastian Najdek, Steve Thueson, and plenty more. A pure joy. Read comics or go to hell.
6. A Flex
It’s Tyler Crook, working on a miniseries about monsters and monster hunters. If nothing else, it gives him a chance to flex his imagination and fill the page with wild designs and stunning images. This may all be in his wheelhouse, but watching a great talent flex is always worth the price of admission.
Lonesome Hunters #1
Written and Illustrated by Tyler Crook
Published by Dark Horse ComicsFrom Russ Manning Award-winning and Eisner-nominated Harrow County cocreator Tyler Crook comes this supernatural fantasy about loss, power, and destiny.
An old and out-of-practice monster hunter in hiding crosses paths with a young girl that forces him to confront these chaotic creatures. As the beasts invade their tenement, they set off on a supernatural road trip to stop these ancient evils in a story that explores the ways that youth informs adulthood and how early traumas can haunt us of in old age.
7. Multi-Dimensional
I’m a sucker for dimension-hopping narratives, especially when the artists involved allow their imaginations to run wild. Comics have always worked well for this genre, which is probably why so many superhero comics rely on this structure to varying returns, but Molly Mendoza’s mixed-media approach, her innovative layouts, and her wild visions will undoubtedly make this something to behold.
Skip
Written and Illustrated by Molly Mendoza
Published by Nobrow PressA colorful, unpredictable postapocalyptic world comes alive in Skip, when two unlikely friends, Bloom and Gloopy, find themselves tossed from dimension to dimension. Gloopy is running toward adventure, and away from their home and friends who don’t understand their creative talent. Bloom is desperately trying to return home to their lake, and avoid the terrible violence of the city. Instead, both Bloom and Gloopy find what they need in each other, and bravely return home to challenge their fears and create beauty in their own worlds.
8. Switch the Lens
Originally published in 2018, Anne Simon’s “The Song of Aglaia” is like an Angela Carter story in comics form. Whimsical and weird, complicated and ardently feminisit, Simon digs deep and changes the perspective on several Greek myths. That it’s delivered in a wiry and textured style and with a delightfully oddball sense of humor, makes this title all the more intoxicating.
Continued belowSong of Aglaia
Written and Illustrated by Anne Simon
Translated by Jenna Allen
Published by FantagraphicsThe Song of Aglaia is the first solo graphic novel by cartoonist Anne Simon, presenting a beautifully crafted female spin on the classic heroic myths of Greek literature, tracing the journey of a victimized and then almighty woman with a graceful understanding of human relationships and loving nods to the Bronte sisters, David Bowie, and the Beatles.
9. Hear the Roar
Earlier, I mentioned comics have become a medium of the bildungsroman. I’ve also noticed they’ve become a place where trans voices can explore and shape their identities. These are the stories people need to hear, whether it’s the lost kid looking to define their place in the world or someone who needs to learn a little compassion. Lewis Hancox’s approach is full of empathy and understanding, as he speaks to his former self to become the person he wants to be.
Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure
Written and Illustrated by Lewis Hancox
Published by GraphixLewis has a few things to say to his younger teen self. He knows she hates her body. He knows she’s confused about who to snog. He knows she’s really a he and will ultimately realize this… but she’s going to go through a whole lot of mess (some of it funny, some of it not funny at all) to get to that point. Lewis is trying to tell her this… but she’s refusing to listen. In Welcome To St. Hell, author-illustrator Lewis Hancox takes readers on the hilarious, heartbreaking, and healing path he took to make it past trauma, confusion, hurt, and dubious fashion choices in order to become the man he was meant to be.
10. 👨🏻❤️💋👨🏽
❤️💙💚💜🏳️🌈🍆🍑
Young Men in Love
Written by David M. Booher, Anthony Oliveira, Charles Pulliam-Moore, Terry Blas, and Others
Illustrated by Sina Grace, Chris Shehan, Nick Robles, Ian McGinty, and Others
Edited by Joe Glass & Matt Miner
Published by A Wave Blue World, Inc.Haphazard pirates, wayward ghosts, dashing knights, rampaging kaiju (and down-to-earth regular joes!) are all assembled here to amaze and delight you in a wildly unique anthology celebrating love between men, from an astounding array of comics creators who know exactly how it feels. Young Men in Love is a heartwarming, uplifting, and vibrant return to the glory days of romance comics!
Let us know what you’re excited for in the comments.
Until next time, con amistad.
