Tag Archives: first second

Unicorn Boy and the Slumber Part of Doom! expands the world and has us excited for more

Brian Reyes always felt a bit different―even before growing a unicorn horn, discovering a talking muffin, and swallowing the ruler of the Underworld to save his BFF. So when he receives a mysterious invitation for a Unicorn-Only Sleepover, Brian wonders if these fellow magical creatures might help him make sense of his increasingly odd world. Held in an enchanted castle in the clouds, not everything at this glitzy, glamorous party is as it seems, and Brian will have to fend off increasing social anxiety, ignore the negative feelings in his gut, and stay true to himself if he’s going to survive the night!

With a wave of his magic pen, Dave Roman has created a cast of charming oddballs reckoning with normal, every day problems―you know, things like heroic destinies and the fate of all magic in the universe.

Story: Dave Roman
Art: Dave Roman
Color: Heather Mann

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon


First Second provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Exclusive Preview: As I Dream of You: A Graphic Novel

As I Dream of You: A Graphic Novel

(W) Jennifer Lee (A) LeUyen Pham
Purchase: BookshopAmazon

Franny and Sam are each other’s entire world. So what do you do when your world ends? Frozen’s Jennifer Lee and Lunar New Year Love Story’s LeUyen Pham deliver a tour de force young adult romance with a supernatural twist.

Falling in love is supposed to hurt. That’s what Franny and Sam, two cynical teenagers raised on tales of heartbreak and loss, have come to understand. Yet when they fall for each other, they find the reality of love is something else entirely: it’s electrifying, all-encompassing, and easy. Theirs is a love that can conquer anything…perhaps even death.

But Franny and Sam’s quest to stay together—no matter the cost—soon blurs the line between reality and fantasy, and their shared dream threatens to turn into a nightmare.

As I Dream of You

Until We Meet Again is a touching graphic memoir with some hauntingly beautiful art

A poignant and vividly illustrated graphic memoir about a young woman’s search for belonging as her immigrant family moves between Canada and China.

Lily isn’t sure where home is anymore. Her family is constantly on the move, resettling in different towns across Canada and, eventually, in Shanghai, China. Her father plays the role of primary caregiver while her mother is absent for long periods of time. When she reappears, her strange behavior turns Lily’s life upside down. As Lily enters her college years, she strives to better understand her family and her place in the world. But can she escape the inherited trauma passed down by her immigrant parents?

Story: Lily Kim Qian
Art: Lily Kim Qian

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon


First Second provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Monster Locker: Nine-Tail Trouble is a great second volume expanding its monster world

What happens when a mischievous nine-tailed fox goes toe-to-toe with a colossal golem? What happens when Japanese and Jewish folklore collide? Pablo and his friends are about to find out, in this hilarious and action-packed graphic novel.

After their face-off with an angry Aztec earth goddess, Pablo, Maggie, and Takashi are living it up as their school’s resident monster-banishing trio. (It turns out that fighting drooling trolls and vicious kelpies gets you invited to all the best parties.) Lately, though, monsters are the least of Takashi’s problems. Wrestling with his parents’ divorce, his father’s impossibly high expectations, and his multicultural identity, he decides to summon a “helpful” monster: a shapeshifting nine-tailed fox called Kitsune.

The charming Kitsune gets straight to work solving problems for Takashi and his classmates, and before long, the entire school is under his spell. As the situation spirals out of control, Pablo and Maggie turn to an unexpected source to rescue their best friend. But is summoning a second monster a brilliant plan, or a recipe for disaster?

Story: Jorge Aguirre
Art: Andrés Vera Martínez

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon


First Second provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Science Comics: Prehistoric Mammals from the Jurassic to the Ice Age is entertaining and educational

Learn how mammals survived the test of time in this volume of Science Comics, the smash-hit STEM graphic novel series that has sold over a million copies!

Mammals are survivors—when dinosaurs went extinct, they survived. From lush jungles to deep oceans to sweltering deserts, mammals now dominate nearly every environment on Earth. But how did they do it? Take a trip back in time and discover how extreme changes in climate have pushed mammals to evolve new traits, including hooves, claws, tusks, big brains, and even blow holes. Join us as we explore our mammalian history, and maybe the past will hold the key to surviving in the future.

Story: Joe Flood
Art: Joe Flood

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon


First Second provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

The 2026 Hugo Award Nominations have been announced

Hugo Awards

LAcon V, the 84th World Science Fiction Convention has announced the finalists for the 2026 Hugo Awards, Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and Astounding Award for Best New Writer.

Members of the World Science Fiction Convention are able to vote on the Hugo Awards. Voting begins in early May.

1,488 valid nomination ballots were cast. The nominators made 23,543 nominations for 4,299 works and individuals across 21 categories.

The 2026 Hugo Awards, the Lodestar Award, and the Astounding Award will be presented on Sunday evening, August 30, 2025 at a formal ceremony at LAcon V.

“Best Graphic Story or Comic” featured 362 ballots cast for 243 nominees. The finalists ranged from 19-42 votes. The six nominees are a wide range of storytelling, creators, and publishers.

You can see all six nominees in the category below and the full list of nominees here.

BEST GRAPHIC STORY OR COMIC

362 ballots cast for 243 nominees. Finalists range 19-42.

  • Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 1: The Last Amazon, written by Kelly Thompson, art by Hayden Sherman and Mattia de Iulis, coloring by Jordie Bellaire, lettering by Becca Carey (DC Comics)
  • A Girl and Her Fed, written by KB Spangler, art by Ale Presser (www.agirlandherfed.com)
  • A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novelwritten by Ursula K. Le Guin, adapted and art by Fred Fordham (Clarion Books; Walker UK)
  • The Invisible Parade by Leigh Bardugo and John Picacio (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Orion UK)
  • The Power Fantasy Volume 1: The Superpowers, written by Kieron Gillen, art by Caspar Wijngaard, lettering by Clayton Cowles (Image Comics)
  • The Space Cat, written by Nnedi Okorafor, art by Tana Ford (First Second)

Mrs. Orwell is fantastic and a must for fans of George Orwell, Animal Farm, and 1984

Eileen Blair, wife and partner of George Orwell, is brought out of her husband’s shadow in this riveting graphic novel, which follows the couples’ tireless campaign to expose difficult political truths through art.

The Roaring Twenties are over, fascism is on the rise across Europe, and the dream of a workers’ paradise is all but dead. But in the midst of these turbulent times, a love story unfolds―one that will forever reshape our political language and how we view the future.

Mrs. Orwell follows poet Eileen Blair and her husband, George Orwell, as they forge the professional and romantic partnership that will eventually bring us Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. From a honeymoon fighting in the Spanish Civil War to narrow escapes from Stalin’s agents and the London Blitz, the Blairs’ campaign against fascism brings them face-to-face with some of the greatest threats of the 1930s. But while George struggles to make his voice heard despite political censorship, Eileen must fight to preserve her own voice within a marriage that threatens to consume her.

This sweeping account of Eileen Blair’s brief but dazzling life casts a light on a long-overlooked figure and her persistent defense of that most beloved, most vulnerable principle: the power of the pen.

Story: Andrea Chalupa
Art: Brahm Revel

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon


First Second provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Inbetweens is a solid graphic novel for readers of all ages with different things to connect with

Twin sisters Sloane and Ash are two peas in a pod, and they do everything together: watch movies, attend classes, and most importantly, draw! So when the summer animation classes of their dreams are about to start, they can barely contain their excitement!

Well…Ash is excited but Sloane is surprised to find she isn’t as jubilant about it, which makes no sense, since she loves art. Meanwhile, Ash discovers that just because you love something, doesn’t mean you’ll automatically be good at it, and she struggles under the weight of her own expectations and those of her teacher’s. Soon, the trials of challenging classwork and new friendships drive a wedge between the twins. Can their bond survive the summer?

Story: Faith Erin Hicks
Art: Faith Erin Hicks

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon


First Second provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

The Greenies is an updated take on the classic The Breakfast Club

After her parents’ divorce, seventh grader Violet is forced to start all over.

Now the new kid, at a new school, in a new town, she must navigate unfamiliar territory. Luckily, Violet falls in with a new group of (maybe?) friends. But when they wind up in detention, they’re forced to join the under-attended Environmental Club―and mischief ensues. What will become of this rag-tag group?

Story: Emma Mills
Art: Sarah Nicole Kennedy

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon

First Second provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

A Better World is Possible: Global Youth Confront the Climate Crisis is entertaining and educational

As climate change quickens―bringing with it extreme weather, biodiversity loss, and humanitarian crises―four teens help organize the world’s largest climate protest. Hundreds of thousands join them, taking to the streets of New York City and demanding answers. How did climate change get this bad? Who’s to blame? And most importantly: What can we do about it?

Story: Meera Subramanian
Art: Danica Novgorodoff

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon


First Second provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

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