20 Graphic Novels Releasing In 2022 That You're Going To Want To Pick Up
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If you're like me, due to the pandemic, or laziness, you did not attend a Comic Con in 2021. Fear not, because this list of adult, young adult, and middle grade graphic novels releasing this year will help you get rid of that FOMO. And if you're up for it, it will prepare you for the Comic-Con International in San Diego in July 2022 (back in person after three years!). If you still don't feel like attending a Comic Con, live vicariously with this list of fantasy, manga, and Marvel graphic novels.
1.Deadpool: Samurai, Vol. 1 by Sanshiro Kasama and Hikaru Uesugi
Release date: February 8
What it's about: Trust me, you can't miss reading Deadpool breaking the fourth wall in manga form! In Volume 1 of Deadpool: Samurai, Deadpool travels to Tokyo to start a whole new Avengers team, Samurai Squad! There are some completely new team members, and some beloved familiar faces that show up. And I think that's all I can say about this awesome Avengers-adjacent comic without Marvel coming after me.
Preorder here.
2.Alice in Borderland, Vol. 1 by Haro Aso
Release date: March 15
What it's about: Alice in Borderland is the freakiest graphic novel I've read, and I mean that in a good way. It's technically about a game, but it's a game scarier than The Hunger Games and Squid Game. I think it's because the "game" has an unknown ringmaster. Contestants do die if they fail the challenges, which we've seen before, but we don't know who kills them or where they go. High school buddies Arisu, Karube, and Chota are transported from Tokyo to an upside-down, possibly futuristic Tokyo. There they play some mind-numbing, literally life-threatening games, but they do get to meet a couple of cool chicks along the way. I can't wait to see what games they have to survive in Volume 2.
Preorder here.
3.Hakim's Odyssey: Book 2 by Fabien Toulmé and Hanna Chute
Release date: March 8
What it's about: Just saying, Hakim is a great name (it means wise in Arabic). In Book 2, Hakim bravely travels along with his toddler son Hadi through different countries to reach his wife and a semblance of a life. We've seen the harrowing footage of refugees crossing the sea to Greece in a raft, but Hakim recounts his own personal trek minute by minute. It's a detailed account we owe these brave refugees to read about.
Preorder here.
4.Stranger Things: Erica the Great by Danny Lore and Greg Pak
Release date: February 22
What it's about: Even though Erica saved her brother Lucas and his friends from the Russians, he won't let her play Dungeons and Dragons with them. So Erica rounds up her girl gang to listen to her narrate about finding a unicorn. Of course, being Erica, she winds up into some trouble around the neighborhood. Read Erica the Great: The Graphic Novel while you wait for Season 4 of Stranger Things this summer.
Preorder here.
5.The Subtle Knife: The Graphic Novel by Philip Pullman
Release date: February 22
What it's about: Anyone remember the 2007 film The Golden Compass, with Nicole Kidman? That was based on the first book in Phillip Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials, from the 1990s. Following the success of the HBO show His Dark Materials comes the first graphic novel for the trilogy, illustrated by Thomas Gilbert. The Subtle Knife is the title of the second book and follows young heroine Lyra out of her world into Oxford, where she joins Will on his search for his missing father.
Preorder here.
6.Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American by Laura Gao
Release date: March 8
What it's about: In her graphic memoir, Laura tells us what it was like growing up and visiting the Wuhan region of China, adjusting to teenage life in Texas, and re-adjusting to life as an Asian American amidst the pandemic.
Preorder here.
7.Spirit Week by Ira Marcks
Release date: October 25
What it's about: Spirit Week is a fun middle-grade rendition of The Shining. Reclusive author and widower Jack lives with his son Danny in the rundown hotel The Overlook in Colorado. A young but determined team, Suzy and Elijah fight to stop the demolition of the fabled hotel, as it's the small Colorado town's bread and butter.
Preorder here.
8.Retroactive by Ibrahim Moustafa
Release date: April 12
What it's about: Tarik Abdelnasser is a US government Temporal Agent in the year 2048. He travels back and forth to the future, to the year 2054, to stop (white) terrorists. And in between time travel he squeezes in visits with his widowed mom, under the behest of his sister Deena. Ibrahim Moustafa, Brad Simpson, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou have created this intense, action-packed must-read graphic novel.
Preorder here.
9.The House of Lost Horizons: A Sarah Jewell Mystery by Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson
Release date: February 22
What it's about: Sarah Jewell is a paranormal detective that comes from the Hellboy Universe. She's appeared in a few comics, but this is her first arc. Set in the 1920s, Sarah and her assistant Marie Therese visit the San Juan Islands of Washington state for a friend's occult auction. But upon arrival, they discover someone has already been murdered. Trapped on the island, during a storm, they begin to solve the mystery. Read The House of Lost Horizons if you're looking for a cozy, Agatha Christie-like murder mystery with a spooky, supernatural vibe.
Preorder here.
10.Hit Me by Christa Faust and Priscilla Petraites
Release date: March 2
What it's about: Hit Me is an action account of sex worker Lulu's bout with killers and thieves in 1990s Atlantic City. Hit Me is inspired by author Christa Faust's own life experiences and published by AWA Studios, which was founded by former Marvel execs.
Read more here.
11.Hollow by Shannon Watters and Branden Boyer-White
Release date: Forthcoming this September
What it's about: Hollow is the 2022 Legend of Sleepy Hollow reimagining I didn't know I needed! As a child I watched Disney's cartoon version The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on repeat, and I also loved Tim Burton's live-action Sleepy Hollow. Shannon Watter's Hollow is just as spooky and fun! Izzy Crane moves to Sleepy Hollow and attends high school with it girl Vicky Van Tassel and easygoing jock Croc Byun. There is a legit headless horseman chasing people throughout the town, and these three high schoolers team up to find out what is going on.
Read more here.
12.Isla to Island by Alexis Castellanos
Release date: March 15
What it's about: If you want to sit back, relax, and enjoy illustrations, check out this mostly wordless graphic novel for almost all ages: from middle grade to adult. Young Marisol is sent from Cuba to New York away from her parents to live a safer, yet lonelier life.
Preorder here.
13.Shuri and T'Challa: Into the Heartlands by Roseanne A. Brown
Release date: April 5
What it's about: While we all anxiously wait for the MCU to decide whether or not to cast a new Black Panther, and maybe even a new Shuri, we can enjoy a brand-new graphic novel about the superhero siblings. In this middle-grade graphic novel, 12-year-old Shuri and her famous older brother T'Challa travel to the Heartlands to search for a cure for the virus plaguing their mother and many of their tribespeople. Along the dangerous journey they encounter giants, and other ferocious creatures, but they also find out invaluable information about their ancestors and tribal history. Into the Heartlands is a fascinating look into Wakanda.
Preorder here.
14.Moon Knight Vol. 1: The Midnight Mission by Jed MacKay and and Alessandro Cappuccio
Release date: February 15
What it's about: The release of Marvel Studio's live-action Moon Knight series with hooded-eyed Oscar Isaac is almost here! Get to know the anti-hero Marc Spector, and feast your eyes on the immaculately illustrated Moon Knight: The Midnight Mission. Moon Knight, aka Konshu's fist, protects allies with the Midnight Mission along with his badass vampire friend Reese, while fighting Hunter's Moon and a mysterious baddie. Vol. 1 collects issues #1–#6 of Moon Knight (2021).
Preorder here.
15.Hocus Pocus: The Illustrated Novelization by A.W. Jantha and Gris Grimly
Release date: July 26
What it's about: Technically this is a YA illustrated book of the Disney movie Hocus Pocus, but we'll take it! Author A.W. Jantha retells the popular Halloween comedy tale with original illustrations by the acclaimed Gris Grimly. Enjoy this illustrated novel in the summer, before Hocus Pocus 2 finally comes out in the fall!
Preorder here.
16.Lost Lad London, Vol. 1 by Shinya Shima
Release date: May 17
What it's about: Yen Press has licensed the manga comic Lost Lad London, a series written by manga artist Shima Shinya (author of Star Wars manga). In Lost Lad London, a university student Al gets caught up in the mayor murder mystery with Scotland Yard detective Ellis (the one with the crutch). Al happens to witness the murder of the mayor of London on the subway, and gets pulled into the investigation.
Preorder here.
17.Amazona by Canizales
Release date: May 3
What it's about: After watching the amazing Encanto on Disney+, I have been more interested in Colombia. Amazona tells the story of a grieving 19-year-old Indigenous widow who was displaced from her home in the Amazon rainforest. Her intuition and connection to nature, in the form of a jaguar, beckons her back home to bury her infant daughter's body among their ancestors. She braves the difficult journey and convinces the gun-bearing mine guards to let her back into her ravaged home. She does bury her daughter but also takes photos to incriminate the mining company for their unlawful actions, to build the case with her tribe's lawyer. Amazona is a stark but important story inspired by true events of a 1.5 million Colombian Indigenous population suffering from the mining and energy companies' illegal activities, which their government ignores. The Indigenous are fighting back to prevent their disappearances and sexual assault, and the devastation of the rain forest, but they need our awareness and support.
Preorder here.
18.Demon in the Wood by Leigh Bardugo and Dani Pendergast
Release date: September 27
What it's about: Demon in the Wood is written by Leigh Bardugo, illustrated by Dani Pendergast, and adapted by Kyla Vanderklugt. Any novel by Bardugo is a bestseller and for good reason. Her devious characters and dark and dangerous worlds suck in fans of her Grishaverse books and Netflix show alike. Demon in the Wood takes a closer look at the life of fan-favorite the Darkling, when he was known as a young boy named Eryk who lives with his mother Lena as rare and hunted Grisha.
Preorder here.
19.Fangirl, Vol. 2: The Manga by Sam Maggs
Release date: May 10
What it's about: Did anyone else fangirl over Fangirl, Vol. 1 in 2020? Sam Maggs and Gabi Nam adapted Rainbow Rowell's beloved 2013 YA novel into a graphic novel that captures Wren's bewilderment. The Fangirl, Vol. 2 cover has got gangly and supportive Levi on the cover, so I'm intrigued. Since Wren's sister is determined to be the cool college girl, Wren spends time with another writer classmate, and her roommate's "friend."
Preorder here.
20.Compass, Vol. 1: The Cauldron of Eternal Life by Robert MacKenzie and Dave Walker
Release date: January 25
What it's about: Compass, Vol. 1 collects issues 1–5 of Compass. Illustrated by Justin Walker (Stumptown), Compass tells the tale of Hijabi explorer Shahidah El-Amin from Baghdad. Shahidah battles the Mongols, and allies with the Welsh, namely a priest, to secure the safety of the Cauldron of Eternal Life. Compass takes place in the Golden Age of Islam, and has plenty of nail-biting action scenes with ninjabi Shahidah.
Preorder here.
