Boys Run the Riot, Vol. 1


Keito Gaku - 2020
    He can’t tell his best friend, who he’s secretly got a crush on, and he can’t tell his mom, who’s constantly asking why Ryo “dresses like a boy.” He certainly can’t tell Jin, the new transfer student who looks like just another bully… The only time Ryo feels at ease is when he’s wearing his favorite clothes. Then, and only then, the world melts away, and he can be his true self. One day, while out shopping, Ryo sees someone he didn’t expect: Jin. The kid who looked so tough in class has the same taste in fashion as him! At last, Ryo has someone he can open up to—and the journey ahead might finally give him a way to express himself to the world.

Young Avengers


Allan Heinberg - 2008
    But who are they? Where did they come from? And what right do they have to call themselves the Young Avengers? And in Family Matters, the newly reconfigured Young Avengers prepare to make their public debut - but first they have to face a threat more powerful than Kang the Conqueror, more dangerous than Mr. Hyde and more cunning than the Masters of Evil: their parents. For these brand-new super heroes, fighting super villains is child's play compared to maintaining their alter egos! Collecting Young Avengers #1-12 and Young Avengers Special.Collects Young Avengers #1-12 and Young Avengers Special.

Barely Functional Adult: It’ll All Make Sense Eventually


Meichi Ng - 2020
    Prepare to excitedly shove this book in your friend’s face with little decorum as you shout, “THIS IS SO US!”In this beautiful, four-color collection compiled completely of never-before-seen content, Meichi perfectly captures the best and worst of us in every short story, allowing us to weep with pleasure at our own fallibility. Hilarious, relatable, and heart-wrenchingly honest, Barely Functional Adult will have you laughing and crying in the same breath, and taking solace in the fact that we’re anything but alone in this world

Nubia: Real One


L.L. McKinney - 2021
    As a baby she showcased Amazonian-like strength by pushing over a tree to rescue her neighbor’s cat. But, despite having similar abilities, the world has no problem telling her that she’s no Wonder Woman. And even if she was, they wouldn’t want her. Every time she comes to the rescue, she’s reminded of how people see her; as a threat. Her Moms do their best to keep her safe, but Nubia can’t deny the fire within her, even if she’s a little awkward about it sometimes. Even if it means people assume the worst.When Nubia’s best friend, Quisha, is threatened by a boy who thinks he owns the town, Nubia will risk it all—her safety, her home, and her crush on that cute kid in English class—to become the hero society tells her she isn’t.From the witty and powerful voice behind A Blade So Black, L.L. McKinney, and with endearing and expressive art by Robyn Smith, comes a vital story for today about equality, identity and kicking it with your squad.

What Does Consent Really Mean?


Pete Wallis - 2017
    Joined by their male friends who offer another perspective, this rich graphic novel uncovers the need for more informed conversations with young people around consent and healthy relationships. Accompanying the graphics are sexual health resources for students and teachers, which make this a perfect tool for broaching the subject with teens.

Wayward Sisters: An Anthology of Monstrous Women


Allison O'TooleHelen Robinson - 2018
    Inside you’ll find demons balancing duty and family, undead motivational speakers, mermaids hunted for their meat, and a gentle T. Rex looking for love. These twenty-five stories put new and provocative spins on frightful fiends, mythological creatures, and monsters like you’ve never seen before!Spotlighting the work of diverse non-binary and women comics creators, this collection of full-color comics stars the work of thirty-eight international writers and artists, including Cara McGee (Over the Garden Wall, Dodge City), Cassandra Khaw (Hammers on Bone, Food of the Gods), Katie Shanahan (Flight, Explorer), and many others.Heartfelt, tragic, hilarious, and downright creepy, the twenty-five stories in Wayward Sisters will satisfy your craving for diverse voices, compelling stories… and blood.

Bloom


Kevin Panetta - 2019
    Though he loved working there as a kid, Ari cannot fathom a life wasting away over rising dough and hot ovens. But while interviewing candidates for his replacement, Ari meets Hector, an easygoing guy who loves baking as much as Ari wants to escape it. As they become closer over batches of bread, love is ready to bloom . . . that is, if Ari doesn’t ruin everything.Writer Kevin Panetta and artist Savanna Ganucheau concoct a delicious recipe of intricately illustrated baking scenes and blushing young love, in which the choices we make can have terrible consequences, but the people who love us can help us grow.

Rock and Riot


Chelsey Furedi - 2015
    Rock and Riot follows the tales of teenage delinquents learning about gender and sexual orientations while still maintaining their fabulous hair.

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen


Lucy Knisley - 2013
    The daughter of a chef and a gourmet, this talented young cartoonist comes by her obsession honestly. In her forthright, thoughtful, and funny memoir, Lucy traces key episodes in her life thus far, framed by what she was eating at the time and lessons learned about food, cooking, and life. Each chapter is bookended with an illustrated recipe—many of them treasured family dishes, and a few of them Lucy's original inventions.A welcome read for anyone who ever felt more passion for a sandwich than is strictly speaking proper, Relish is a book for our time: it invites the reader to celebrate food as a connection to our bodies and a connection to the earth, rather than an enemy, a compulsion, or a consumer product.

The Principles of Uncertainty


Maira Kalman - 2007
    Part personal narrative, part documentary, part travelogue, part chapbook, and all Kalman, these brilliant, whimsical paintings, ideas, and images - which initially appear random - ultimately form an intricately interconnected worldview, an idiosyncratic inner monologue.

Far Sector


N.K. Jemisin - 2021
    The city has maintained peace for over 500 years by stripping its citizens of their ability to feel. As a result, violent crime is virtually unheard of, and murder is nonexistent.But that's all about to change in this new maxiseries that gives a DC Young Animal spin to the legacy of the Green Lanterns!

Strangers in Paradise: Pocket Book 1


Terry Moore - 2004
    She's smart, independent and very much in love with her best friend, Francine. Then Katchoo meets David, a gentle but persistent young man who is determined to win Katchoo's heart. The resulting love triangle is a touching comedy of romantic errors until Katchoo's former employer comes looking for her and $850,000 in missing mob money. As her idyllic life begins to fall apart, Katchoo discovers no one can be trusted and that the past she thought she left behind now threatens to destroy her and everything she loves, including Francine.

Maggie the Mechanic


Jaime Hernández - 1987
    The 25th anniversary Love and Rockets celebration continues with this, the first of three volumes collecting the adventures of the spunky Maggie, her annoying best friend and sometime lover Hopey, and their circle of friends, including their bombshell friend Penny Century, Maggie's weirdo mentor Izzyas well as the wrestler Rena Titanon and Maggie's handsome love interest, Rand Race. Maggie the Mechanic collects the earliest, punkiest, most heavily sci-fi stories of Maggie and her circle of friends, and you can see the artist (who drew like an angel from the very first panel) refine his approach: Despite these strong shifts in tone, the stunning art and razor sharp characterizations keep this collection consistent, and enthralling throughout. (Note: A number of these stories were not collected in the hardcover Locas.)

Go For It, Nakamura!


Syundei - 2017
    Nakamura has fallen in love-at-first-sight with one of his classmates, Hirose -- but there's a problem: they haven't actually met yet...and Nakamura is a total klutz who might bungle things before they even begin!

The Groom Will Keep His Name: And Other Vows I've Made About Race, Resistance, and Romance


Matt Ortile - 2020
    Harassed as a kid for his brown skin, accent, and femininity, he believed he could belong in America by marrying a white man and shedding his Filipino identity. This was the first myth he told himself. The Groom Will Keep His Name explores the various tales Ortile spun about what it means to be a Vassar Girl, an American Boy, and a Filipino immigrant in New York looking to build a home.As we meet and mate, we tell stories about ourselves, revealing not just who we are, but who we want to be. Ortile recounts the relationships and whateverships that pushed him to confront his notions of sex, power, and the model minority myth. Whether swiping on Grindr, analyzing DMs, or cruising steam rooms, Ortile brings us on his journey toward radical self-love with intelligence, wit, and his heart on his sleeve.