March Roundup

It’s the end of March already and that means that we will soon be announcing the ALIA Graphic Notables long list. Keep an eye out for it for the long list of the best graphic novels for libraries from Australian creators. In fact, talking about Australian graphic novels, we’ve started the year very strong with Remy Lai’s Chickenpox at the start of the year and this month we have Inked, written by Karen Wasson and art by Jake A Minton. This is the first graphic novel (in what we hope will be many to come for many a year) in Hardie Grants’ new imprint dedicated to graphic novels called Figment. Look out for a creator chat with Karen and Jake talking about comics and their book in the upcoming weeks.

We also have the upcoming release of I Ate the Whole World to Find You by Rachel Ang, published by Scribe. This is a hotly anticipated graphic novel from a very powerful voice in Australian comics and it’s great to see Scribe continue to champion Australian creators creating graphic novels for adults.

We have also been reflecting on five years as a special interest group and we thought it was important to reflect on what comics librarianship was like five years (and before) and where we’re at now. Iurgi, sat down with Amie Wright who was the first president of the American Library Association’s Graphic Novels and Comics Roundtable. You can listen to their conversation on our podcast feed here (or wherever you listen to podcasts), in what we hope will be the first of a series of episodes this year focusing on different aspects of comics librarianship.

This weekend we were also thrilled to see Rebecca L Stewart representing graphic novels at the Clunes Booktown Festival in Victoria, with her graphic novel Infernal Regions. 

That’s all for now. Enjoy the roundup! 

NEWS

• New Comics App, Sweet, Launching This Summer with Image Comics Titles
• Kirbyvision Documentary to Explore the Life and Legacy of Jack Kirby
• MoCCA Fest 2025: A Celebration of Independent Comics, Art, and Culture!
• Brigid Alverson reflects on how comics thrived and increased market share and readership in the last five years. Read it here on School Library Journal.
• It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Graphic Medicine! an article about graphic medicine by Alex Clifford.
• Here’s an academic paper on Developing and Sustaining a Graphic Scholarship Collection for Academic Libraries.
• How do comics retailers build community? Can we learn something from them? Publishers Weekly has a great feature article where comics retailers talk about their experiences. You can read it here.
• A Jack Kirby documentary is coming. One of the greatest and most influential artists in comics, this documentary is long overdue. More details here.
• Cartoonist R.E. Burke has returned to the UK after spending three weeks in detention, following his release from an international incident that garnered significant attention. You can read it here
• Aaron Blabey signed an eight-figure deal with Macmillan to create new graphic novels, including a fantasy and sci-fi series for tween readers. More detail here 

COLLECTIONS

• If you’re looking for graphic novels that address serious social issues in a way that make readers sit up and take notice read this article on School Library Journal: Exploring Social Justice Through Comics, a guest post by Amy Brownlee 
• The awesome team at No Flying No Tights have published a list of Manga Short Series (less than 10 volumes). You can find it here and see if any of them would be a great addition to your library.
• If you’re after some teen sci-fi comics, Megan Mabee has 8 recommended titles on Book Riot.

PODCASTS

• Klaus Janson is a legendary artist in comics and also a teacher. He describes comics as the most satisfying part of his career as he speaks in the latest and Off Panel Podcast episode. A must listen episode. 

NEW GRAPHIC NOVELS

Junior

• Almost Sunset by Wahab Algarmi (Harper Alley – Walker Books Australia) [9781761601088]
• The Baby-sitters Club: Mallory and the Trouble with Twins by Arley Nopra (Graphix) [9781338835632]
• Besties: Prank War by Jeffery Canino, Sarah K. Turner & Kayla Miller (Clarion Books) [9780063285590]
• Heidi by Mariah Marsden & Odride (Andrew McMeel Publishing) [9781524886400]
• How to Catch the Easter Bunny by Alice Walstead (Sourcebooks) [9781728293158]
• A Hugh Dunnit Mystery: Teething Trouble by Guy Bass & Lee Cosgrove (Andersen Press) [9781839135576]
• Hupo and the Wonder Thief by Billy Partridge (Flying Eye Books) [9781838741624]
• I’m a Dumbo Octopus by Anne Lambelet (Lerner Publishing Group) [9798765661376]
• Inked by Karen Wasson, Jake A. Minton (Hardie Grants – Figment) [9781761212475] [Australian creators]
• The Littlest Fighter by Joey Weiser (Oni Press) [9781637156308]
• Seafoam by Jeanine-Jonee Keith (Indy Pub) [9798348518851]
• Speechless by Aaron Nels Steinke (Scholastic) [9781338849325]
• Surfside Girls: The Clue in the Reef by Kim Dwinell (Random House) [9781603095297]
• Very Bad at Math by Hope Larson (Harper Alley) [9780063311282]

YA

• Avatar: The Last Airbender: Ashes of the Academy by Faith Erin Hicks, Peter Wartman, Adele Matera (Dark Horse) [9781506737737]
• Kirby’s Lessons for Falling (in Love) by Laura Gao (HarperCollins Publishers) [9780063067790]
• Student Government by Dave Justus, Lilah Sturges, Joe Eisma (Maverick) [9781545816103]
• The History of Everything by Victoria Evans (HarperCollins Publishers) [9780063268890]
• You Belong Here by Sara Phoebe Miller and Morgan Beem (St Martins Press) [9781250822314]

Adult

• El Fuego by David Rubin (Oni Press) [9781637154915]
• Gilt Frame by Matt Kindt, Margie Kraft Kindt (Dark Horse) [9781506745947]
• Helen of Wyndhorn by Tom King, Bilquis Evely, Matheus Lopes, Clayton Cowles (Dark Horse) [9781506740065]
• I Ate the Whole World to Find You by Rachel Ang (Scribe) [9781761380884] [Australian creator]
• Kylooe by Little Thunder (Dark Horse) [9781506746005]
• Manhole Vol. 3 (of 3) by Tetsuya Tsutsui (Abrams-Kana) [9781419778346]
• Punk Rock in Comics by Thierry Lamy, Nicolas Finet, Various Artists (NBM) [9781681123509]
• Tokyo Alien Bros. Vol 1 (of 3) by Keigo Shinzo (Viz Media) [9781974747290]
• Zatanna: Bring Down the House by Mariko Tamaki, Javier Rodriguez (DC Comics) [9781799500803]