Summer is here, and that means more great leisure time under warmer weather, fewer academics, and more reading time. Fill some of that wonderful time with comics!

Here at Stranger Worlds, I put together a list of graphic novels, comics volume collections, and similar books of the variety of the sequential art, to entice all to check out some literary and artistic freshness at your favorite retail book outlets and comic shops!

Through personal experiences, peer reviews, grapevine whispering, and good old-fashioned speculation, here are some recommended reads. Many are in softcover trade paperback format, collecting issues of popular monthly series. Others are in the graphic novel format, usually in hardcover. Many here are not part of some longstanding franchise or continuing from some long-running series. Overall, fresh and ripe for anyone that loves comic book storytelling!

So, take a look at the 10 new books feature below in our curated list. Each selection is either already out, or will be due out soon (range from early June to middle July). Ask for them at your favorite bookseller!

Life on the Moon
A Completed Illustrated Novel

Writer/Artist: Robert Grossman
Publisher: IDW/Yor Books
Release Date: May 29, 2019
Retail Price: $39.95

From an artist who reveled in illustrating “the un-illustratable,” a historical graphic novel based on the “Great Moon Hoax,” the most successful newspaper hoax ever. In 1835, New York newspaper The Sun published a series of six articles declaring the discovery of life—and even civilization—on the Moon, which the paper attributed to the famous contemporary astronomer Sir John Herschel. According to The Sun, the lunar inhabitants included unicorns, bison, bipedal tail-less beavers, and intelligent humanoids with bat-like wings. Life on the Moon is a full-length graphic novel capturing this mythical world. Creator Robert Grossman said the book is set in a time when “many of the signal achievements of the 19th Century still lay well in the future, Andrew Jackson was president, the steamboat was the summit of technology, and news traveled slowly.” The unfettered novel includes real historical figures such as P.T. Barnum, Jean Jacques Audubon, Lorenzo Da Ponte, Charles Goodyear, and Edgar Allan Poe

For everyone that loves the far-out visions of Jules Verne and similiar weird ideas of that era. Also, has some unexpected mature themes and unexpected social commentary.

Penny Nichols

Writer: MK Reed, Greg Means
Artist: Matt Wiegle
Publisher: Top Shelf
Release Date: June 12, 2019
Retail Price: $15.99

Somehow, sarcastic Penny’s gotten roped into helping make an amateur slasher film. With a team of flakes and weirdos, she’s probably the only one who can save this stupid movie… but maybe it can save her, too. Now can somebody please stop that dog from licking the fake blood? This hilarious original graphic novel is a loving tribute to the chaos and camaraderie of DIY filmmaking, and the ways we find our future—and our family—in the unlikeliest of places.

DIE
Volume 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker

Writer: Keiron Gillen
Artist: Stephanie Hans
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: June 5, 2019
Retail Price: $9.95

The Wicked + The Divine writer Kieron Gillon teams up with artist supernova Stephanie Hans, Journey Into Mystery) for her first ongoing comic! DIE is a pitch-black fantasy where a group of forty-something adults have to deal with the returning, unearthly horror they only just survived as teenage role-players. If Kieron’s in a rush, he describes it as “Goth Jumanji”, but that’s only the tip of this critically acclaimed obsidian iceberg. Collects DIE #1-5

I’m in the middle of reading this now, and really loving it. I might even do a review of it soon.

The Lollipop Kids
Volume 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker

Writer: Adam Glass and Aiden Glass
Artist: Diego Yapur
Publisher: Aftershock Comics
Release Date: June 12, 2019
Retail Price: $14.99

When immigrants came to the new world they didn’t only bring their hopes and dreams, they also brought their Monsters. Years ago, early setters locked these monsters away in a secret prison deep in the woods of New Amsterdam so that they never would return to the Old World. Those woods have become Central Park and now the monsters have escaped! Nick, 14, finds out that he’s a “legacy” to a secret society that for the last 400 years has kept these monsters in check – he and a ragtag group of kids just like him have to put the monsters back before they get out of the park and destroy the city.

It’s like the Monster Squad movie, but a thousand times better.

PROS AND (COMIC) CONS

Writer: Various
Artist: Various
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 11, 2019
Retail Price: $19.99

Following the bestselling The Secret Loves of Geeks comes this brand-new anthology featuring comics and prose stories by cartoonists and professional geeks about the world of comic book conventions from the guests whove attended them across the world. Featuring stories that are funny, sad, sweet, embarrassing, and heartfelt of a geek-culture life that shapes us, encourages us, and exhausts us every summer. Featuring work by Brian Michael Bendis (The Man of Steel), Jim Zub (Wayward), Kieron Gillen (The Wicked and the Divine), Sina Grace (Iceman), and many more.

A must-read for anyone that loves going to comic conventions and identify with the best and worst of what happens in them, but really in it for the best.

HOTEL DARE

Writer: Terry Blas
Artist: Claudia Aguirre
Publisher: Kaboom! (younger reader imprint of BOOM! Comics)
Release Date: June 5, 2019
Retail Price: $9.99

Olive and her adopted siblings Charlotte and Darwin are spending the summer with their estranged grandma at her creepy hotel and it’s all work and no play. They’re stuck inside doing boring chores but they soon stumble upon an incredible secret… Behind each room door of the hotel lies a portal to a different strange and mysterious place. The simple turn of a knob transports them to a distant magical world filled with space pirates. Behind the next door are bearded wizards. Down the hall is a doorway to a cotton-candied kingdom. But once the doors are opened, worlds start colliding, and only one family can save them before they tear themselves apart. Written by Terry Blas (The Amazing World of Gumball) and illustrated by the talented Claudia Aguirre (Kim & Kim), this world-hopping fantasy tale breaks down the door to imagination and dares you to embrace the idea that family is everything.

Spider-Man Noir: The Complete Collection

Writer: Various
Artist: Various
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Release Date: June 11, 2019
Retail Price: $24.99

The hard-boiled adventures of the grittiest webslinger in the Spider-Verse! In the dark days of the Great Depression, young reporter Peter Parker finds himself forever changed by a spider’s bite — and resolves to take on crime and corruption as the urban vigilante called Spider-Man! And there are no shortage of foes — from gangland bosses the Goblin and Crime Master, to pulp-era twists on familiar faces like Kraven, Chameleon, Doctor Octopus and more! But will the seductive Felicia Hardy prove friend or foe? Plus, Spider-Man Noir enters the Spider-Verse via an encounter with Mysterio — and shares a spectacular team-up with a six-armed Spider-Man! And a brand-new video comic adventure, in print for the first time!

Thanks to his popularity in the Spiderverse movie, this is really worth  fresh look as many missed out in the initial run.

Star Trek vs. Transformers

Writer: John Barber, Mike Johnson
Artist: Jack Lawrence, Phillip Murphy
Publisher: IDW
Release Date: June 12, 2019
Retail Price: $17.99

When Kirk, Spock, and the entire crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise investigate problems at a remote mine, they’re met with an explosive battle between powerful warriors who change into vehicles from the 20th century! As the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons rages, it’s up to Kirk to decide—does he violate the Prime Directive and interfere in a war that’s raged for millenia? And how will the Klingons complicate the issue? It’s cartoony fun between two of the most popular science fiction franchises in the world!

This is the most ridiculous crossover ever, and I love every minute.

Archie 1941
Volume 1

Writer: Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn
Artist: Kelly Fitzpatrick, Peter Krause, Jack Morelli
Publisher: Archie Comics
Release Date: June 19, 2019
Retail Price: $12.99

Archie Andrews and the gang have seen it all since the characters made their comics debut in 1941, and now they’re going back to their roots in a tale set in Riverdale during World War II. Written by comics legend Mark Waid (Archie, Captain America) with longtime collaborators co-writer Brian Augustyn (The Flash, JLA) and artist Peter Krause (Superman), Archie: 1941 finds Riverdale dealing with the impact of the impending conflict on the small town and in the personal lives of Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and Reggie.

Low Road West

Writer: Phillip K. Johnson
Artist: Flaviano
Publisher: BOOM! Entertainment
Release Date: June 19, 2019
Retail Price: $19.99

When five teenage refugees are stranded in an irradiated Oklahoma wasteland while trying to survive an exodus from the war-torn East Coast, they take shelter in a ghost town that is much more than it seems. The strange, unnatural threats they face there will make them question what they think they know about death, about reality, and especially about family as they learn to rely on each other if they’re ever going to make it to the sanctuary of San Francisco. Written by Eisner Award-nominated author Phillip Kennedy Johnson (The Power of the Dark Crystal, Aquaman) and illustrated by Ringo Award-nominated artist Flaviano (Thanos, Spider-Man/Deadpool), Low Road West is a story about coming of age in the throes of war, and carving your own path despite an uncertain future. Collects the complete 5-issue series.

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That’s all for now. If you checked out any of these, or something else fresh was left out, let us know in the comments below!