10 Graphic Novels to Read this Summer

Nothing Special by Katie Cook

Genre: Teen Fiction; Fantasy comics; Comics and Graphic novels; Webcomics

In the grand scheme of the worlds at large, Callie thinks she’s nothing special. Sure, she’s friends with the ghost of a radish and her dad owns a magical antique shop—but she’s spent her life in the human world. Her dad won’t let her join him on his collection trips in the magical realm “for her own protection,” so she’s only caught glimpses of that world through the gates of the town where her father’s store is.

On her seventeenth birthday, Callie goes home with her friend Declan to find her home in disarray and her dad missing. Signs of a struggle point to the portal to the magical realm and when there are signs, you follow them. Now it’s up to Callie, Declan, and Radish to band together and bring him home. As they face creatures good and bad, and all sorts of adventure, Callie and Declan may just find out that they are both special in their own ways after all.

My Gently Raised Beast by Early Flower & Yeoseulki

Genre: Teen Fiction; Manhwa; Fantasy comics; Romance comics; Translations

When Blondina is revealed to be a long-lost princess, she hopes to say goodbye to the miserable life of an orphan. But all that awaits her in the palace is bullying and ridicule for her common background, and the cold, condescending gaze of her father, the emperor. Her first and only friend is a black cat she meets in the garden. Though Amon has a big attitude for a little ball of fur, he’s the perfect buddy she always wanted. And the best part―he can talk! But just when she thought her little friend couldn’t be any more special―FLASH!―Blondina finds herself staring at the most handsome boy she’s ever seen. “I told you. I’m not a cat.”

Homunculus by Hideo Yamamoto

Genre: Adult Fiction; Manga; Horror comics

Nakoshi Susumu, age thirty-four, lives out of his car. Between spending his days with the homeless and his nights in his vehicle, he has little to his name. When a medical student begins to stalk him, offering to pay Nakoshi a significant sum of cash to undergo a strange surgical procedure, Nakoshi initially refuses. But after his beloved car is towed, he finally agrees to take the offer and subjects himself to the operating table. What, if anything, will Nakoshi see differently once he awakens?

Adventure Zone by Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy, & Carey Pietsch

Genre: Adult Fiction; Fantasy comics; Media tie-ins; Comics and graphic novels

Join Taako the elf wizard, Merle the dwarf cleric, and Magnus the human warrior for an adventure they are poorly equipped to handle AT BEST, guided (“guided”) by their snarky DM, in a graphic novel that will tickle your funny bone, tug your heartstrings, and probably pants you if you give it half a chance.

With endearingly off-kilter storytelling from master goofballs Clint McElroy and the McElroy brothers, and vivid, adorable art by Carey Pietsch, The Adventure Zone: Here There be Gerblins is the comics equivalent of role-playing in your friend’s basement at 2 am, eating Cheetos and laughing your ass off as she rolls critical failures and dies to a slime.

Love’s In Sight by Uoyama

Genre: Adult Fiction; Manga; Romance comics; Humorous comics; Translations

Morio Kurokawa is the toughest-looking tough guy around. Yukiko Akaza is a self-possessed girl with a vision impairment attending a school for the blind. The whole city fears Morio, but Yukiko sees the real him—he’s a soft sweetheart who’s just searching for his place in the world!

Mori the Black Panther has won over a hundred fights. He’s beloved by his goons and feared by the public. But now, he faces his biggest challenge yet when he meets Yukiko…and falls in love at first sight! Can Morio outgrow his delinquent roots and turn over a new leaf for his unexpected love?

DanDaDan by Yukinobu Tatsu

Genre: Adult Fiction; Manga; Paranormal comics; Translations

Momo Ayase and Okarun are on opposite sides of the paranormal spectrum regarding what they’ll believe in and what they won’t. Their quest to prove each other wrong leads them down a path of secret crushes and paranormal battles they’ll have to participate in to believe!

Momo Ayase strikes up an unusual friendship with her school’s UFO fanatic, whom she nicknames “Okarun” because he has a name that is not to be said aloud. While Momo believes in spirits, she thinks aliens are nothing but nonsense. Her new friend, meanwhile, thinks the exact opposite. To settle matters, the two set out to prove each other wrong—Momo to a UFO hotspot and Okarun to a haunted tunnel! What unfolds next is a beautiful story of young love…and oddly horny aliens and spirits?

The Baker and The Bard by Fern Haught

Genre: Teen Fiction; Fantasy comics; Comics and graphic novels

Juniper and Hadley have a good thing going in Larkspur, spending their respective days apprenticing at a little bakery and performing at the local inn. But when a stranger makes an unusual order at the bakery, the two friends (and Hadley’s pet snake, Fern) set out on a journey to forage the magical mushrooms needed to make the requested galette pastries.

Along the way, Juniper and Hadley stumble across a mystery too compelling to ignore: Something has been coming out of the woods at night and eating the local farmers’ crops, leaving only a trail of glowy goo behind. Intent on finally going on an adventure that could fuel their bardic craft, Hadley tows Juniper into the woods to investigate.

What started as a simple errand to pick mushrooms soon turns into a thrilling quest to save some furry new friends―and their caretaker, a softspoken little fey named Thistle―who are in danger of losing their home.

Insomniacs After School by Makoto Ojiro

Genre: Teen Fiction, Manga; Romance comics; Manga to anime; Translations

Unable to sleep at night, Ganta Nakami is cranky in class and unpopular with his classmates. He discovers that the school observatory, once used by the now-defunct astronomy club, may be the perfect place for a nap—but he’s not alone. Fellow insomniac Isaki Magari is willing to share the observatory with Nakami, and a friendship between the two begins as they bond over the most unlikely of things.

Dark rumors about what befell the members of the astronomy club keep people away from the school observatory, and that’s what makes it the perfect sanctuary for Nakami and Magari to get some much-needed rest. Unfortunately, the school faculty can’t allow its unsanctioned use. But if there were a new astronomy club, maybe these two insomniacs could have a place to call home!

The Talk by Darrin Bell (also available as a Book Group Kit)

Genre: Adult Nonfiction; Autobiographical comics; Comics and graphic novels; Life stories; Life stories; Society and culture; Debut title; Adult books for young adults; Antiracist literature

Darrin Bell was six years old when his mother told him he couldn’t have a realistic water gun. She said she feared for his safety, that police tend to think of little Black boys as older and less innocent than they really are.

Through evocative illustrations and sharp humor, Bell examines how The Talk shaped intimate and public moments from childhood to adulthood. While coming of age in Los Angeles―and finding a voice through cartooning―Bell becomes painfully aware of being regarded as dangerous by white teachers, neighbors, and police officers and thus of his mortality. Drawing attention to the brutal murders of African Americans and showcasing revealing insights and cartoons along the way, he brings us up to the moment of reckoning when people took to the streets protesting the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. And now Bell must decide whether he and his own six-year-old son are ready to have The Talk

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible by Nene Yukimori

Genre: Teen Fiction; Manga; Seinen manga; Romance comics; Humorous comics; Manga to anime; Translations

Junta Shiraishi blends into the background so much that even his classmates fail to spot him. His goal is to make the most of his high school years, but that pesky invisibility gets in the way…until Nagisa Kubo notices him! Kubo’s playful teasing kicks Shiraishi out of his comfort zone and begins a friendship—or maybe something more?

When Kubo sits next to Shiraishi in their first year of high school, Shiraishi’s nonexistent social skills get a boost. Speaking up in class is only the beginning for Shiraishi—soon Kubo forces him to be noticed at school, at the bookstore, and all around town. Shiraishi’s once-lackluster life isn’t so dull anymore!