OTHER REVIEWS IN THIS SERIES: Raven | Beast Boy | Beast Boy Loves Raven | Robin | Starfire

Beast Boy is the second installment in Kami Garcia's interlocking origin stories of the Teen Titans. If you're not a Titans aficionado, Beast Boy (a.k.a. Garfield "Gar" Logan) is one of the original Titan members. Gar contracted a rare illness called Sakutia as a child. His scientist parents cured him using an experimental serum extracted from a rare green monkey. The serum both saved Gar's life and gave him the ability to change into any animal form and create strong psychic bonds with animals of all kinds.

As the book opens, these facts are unknown to Gar. All he knows, as a semi-insecure teenage boy, is that his parents are making him take an amino acid supplement every day which he's convinced has kept him from growing taller or bulking up. (In reality, the supplement is suppressing his superpowers.) Despite a ravenous appetite and lots of working out, poor Gar can't put on any weight and his small size makes him feel unseen among his peers and invisible to the popular girl he adores. 

In desperation, Gar decides to stop taking the supplement... and weird things begin to happen. Not only does he begin growing physically, but his confidence and impulsiveness balloon out of proportion. When he rashly decides to accept a local restaurant's challenge to eat a Carolina Reaper chili pepper, the pepper strangely has no serious effect on him — similar to a tree shew who can eat the peppers freely. Later, he shows almost catlike reflexes during dodgeball. Finally, he decides to pull an Instagram stunt by breaking into a laboratory and photographing himself with a local sport team's mascot — a massive ball python. In the process, the snake seems to form an attachment to Gar who feels compelled to free it and the laboratory's other captive animals. 

With a little experimentation, Gar discovers that not only can he communicate with animals as he did with the python and the other lab animals — he can transform into them. His parents have hidden this from him all his life, but now that the, uh, cat's out of the bag, Gar wants answers. 

Yet the answers (or the promise of them) don't come from Gar's parents, but rather a mysterious stranger called Slade Wilson. (Wilson was also a player in Raven and his true purpose remains unknown but seems nefarious.)

As with Raven, author Kami Garcia and illustrator Gabriel Piccolo do an amazing job of capturing teenage angst — even when it arises from the discovery of superpowers. Gar is a delightful underdog (no pun intended), whose false bravado turns out not to be so false after all. By the end of the book, Gar departs his home to meet Slade Wilson in Nashville... and something tells me Raven will be nearby. 

RELATED: Comics Collections | Teen Titans Fans Collection

OTHER REVIEWS IN THIS SERIES: Raven | Beast Boy | Beast Boy Loves Raven | Robin | Starfire

With Teen Titans: Starfire now available, I thought I'd take a look at the entire series written by Kami Garcia and illustrated by Gabriel Picolo.  We'll start with book one, Teen Titans: Raven. 

As some background, the series is new look at DC's Teen Titans, a group of young superheroes, most of whom began their careers as the sidekicks of Justice League members. The comic book series premiered in 1964 and was led by Dick Grayson (Robin), Wally West (Kid Flash) and Garth (Aqualad). The group was formed partly because the Titans were frustrated about operating in the shadow of their older and more famous mentors. 

Garcia's take is one that provides a decidedly modern young adult aesthetic to the story. The synopsis reads:

When a tragic accident takes the life of seventeen-year-old Raven Roth's foster mom — and Raven's memory — she moves to New Orleans to recover and finish her senior year in high school.

Starting over isn't easy. Raven remembers everyday stuff like how to solve math equations and make pass, but she can't remember her favorite song or who she was before the accident. And when impossible things start happening, Raven begins to think it might even be better not to know who she was before.

But as she grows closer to her new friends, her foster sister, Max, and Tommy Torres, a guy who accepts her for who she is now, Raven has to decide if she's ready to face what's buried in her past... and the darkness building inside her. 

Having the story take place in New Orleans is a great choice, as the city's literally built on supernatural lore and Raven appears to have some latent supernatural powers. She has disturbing dreams about being overwhelmed by a large, raven-shaped shadow and menaced by a multi-eyed demon whose voice frequently invades her thoughts. Even more disconcerting, sometimes her thoughts, especially when she's angry or vengeful, appear to come true. On several occasions, she's unintentionally humiliated the school's resident "mean girl." Since she has no memory of her past, she has no context for these experiences... and they scare her. 

​Fortunately, her new foster mom and sister, Natalia and Max,  have some helpful abilities.  They have the  power to summon and manipulate spirits and Natalia uses these abilities to understand Raven's mysterious past,  Meanwhile, Max trains her on how to create a psychic shield so she's not constantly bombarded by the thoughts and feelings of others. This ability makes her reluctant to connect to others — even handsome Tommy Torres — who seems unusually interested in her. 

Garcia is great at infusing humor and authentic characters into her drama. The expressive artwork by Picolo, with a limited color palette emphasizing Raven's black-and-purple brand, is perfect. (The books get visually brighter in future editions, but the colors always reflect the mood and primary characters.)

All in all, Raven is a great first installment and reboot to the Teen Titans lore, setting the stage for a much longer and more complex story arc.

RELATED: Comics Collections | Teen Titans Fans Collection

Vampires and sex have always gone hand in hand. From Bram Stoker to the modern day horror authors, vampirism is as much about seduction as it is about manipulation, fear and death. After all, the vampire can hunt by using many techniques — and getting their human prey to willingly fall into their arms appears to be one of the most enjoyable.

And where better to seduce and feed than on the sun-drenched Greek Isles?

Nick Landry is searching for his ex on the unspoiled island of Avraxos. Anthony was the love of his life, and without knowing why he left, Nick can't move on. But Anthony isn't the only one to disappear on Avraxos. Coast guard officer Alekos Kourkoulos is on the trail of another young man who disappeared there. Both men had fallen in with the glamorous set onboard a jet-black superyacht moored offshore before vanishing. As the mystery deepens, Nick and Alekos discover that the brighter the sunshine, the darker the shadows...

Acclaimed writer John Harris Dunning (Tumult. Wiper, Salem Brownstone) and talented artist Ricardo Cabral (Wiper) team up again to bring you this darkly seductive horror, described as "The Talented Mr. Ripley meets Dracula."

PREORDER FOR APRIL 2025 SHIP DATE >>

RELATED:  Pride on the Big Screen  |  Northranger: The Horror of Being Gay in Rural Texas |  Sins of the Black Flamingo: Occult Noir Meets Miami Sleeze

DC fans love the Bat Family — and especially the Robins! In 2021, DC Comics held its first Round Robin Competition, a contest that allowed fans to vote on what proposed titles would be brought to publication.  Robins: Being Robin was the clear winner.

In this six part series, which is now compiled into one graphic novel, the five heroes to have donned the Robin cape and mask find themselves at a crossroads in their lives. Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Damian Wayne come together to discuss the big thing that binds them together: Was being Robin, and Batman's sidekick, the best choice they could've made?

But before they can get to the heart of the matter, they're ambushed by an unknown assailant with a bone to pick with them. She claims to have been the first Robin, and she's out to prove Batman should've never trained any of them.

Not wanting to turn to Batman for help, the five former wonders start to investigate on their own by digging deep into their pasts. But what is their assailant's connection to the Robin name, and why are they coming after the ex-sidekicks?

PURCHASE  >>

RELATED: Batman Collection  |  Nightwing, Batman and Adoption Problems  |  Jason Todd's Empty Grave

Join THE MIDNIGHT, one of the world’s top synthwave bands, comprised of Tyler Lyle and Tim McEwan, on an electrifying and original sci-fi adventure inspired by the poetic storytelling and the neon-soaked aesthetics of their music.

​Jason has spent his life running from his problems, but now he and his childhood sweetheart are on the precipice of parenthood, and he’s struggling with the loss of his adolescence. Then he re-discovers his favorite old video game, THE MIDNIGHT, a nostalgic 1980s fantasy adventure about a helmeted hero who travels to a cyberpunk world to save the people from eternal darkness. Seeking to repair his broken game, Jason ends up at a mysterious arcade in an abandoned 1980s mall, where he plays the old arcade game of The Midnight and suddenly he’s transported to… 

…a post-apocalyptic Neverland in the year 2085. A world of perpetual night where time stands still. A final bastion of humanity in a glistening futuristic city. And a shocking reveal – they know him as the hero who once vanquished the shadow monsters, and they believe he’s returned to his true reality to do it again. More surprising, his wife is here, but only with a memory of Jason as this world’s hero. As this lost boy tries to embrace his new hero powers, with the help of his true love and her cyberpunk warriors, he must face the responsibility of protecting an entire world from danger and discover which world he truly belongs to.

For The Midnight fans and newcomers, created by rising comics writer, Zack Kaplan (Break Out, Mindset), artist Stephen Thompson (Star Trek: Year Five-Book 1, Star Trek: Year Five-Book 2), artist Jahnoy Lindsay (Superboy: Man of Tomorrow) and The Midnight, follow your dreams to a visually stunning cyberpunk metropolis, find love in the darkness, defeat shadow monsters and explore what happens when we hide in our fantasies. Are we escaping life’s monsters or simply escaping ourselves? The answers lie in the Midnight Graphic Novel.

ORDER NOW FOR AN OCTOBER 1, 2024, SHIP DATE >>
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RELATED: Comics Collections  |  Science Fiction YA

The terrifying tale of six internet celebrities who accompany a superstar survivalist on a one-week trip deep into the remote Canadian wilderness...

After their plane crashes, the influencers and their guide are stalked by a mountain man of local legend — Skinner. When the celebrities mount a desperate counterattack, they discover that there is much more to the skinner myth than any of them could have imagined. Will the celebrities survive, or be permanently canceled?

Be honest, if you've ever wished (even privately) for a gruesome end to annoying Instagram influencers or those "reality TV survivalists" who really aren't in any danger whatsoever, then Skinner maybe a blood-soaked dream come true.

The book blends elements of the "survival horror" genre popularized in video games like Resident Evil, with real life serials killers like Robert Hansen (a.k.a. "Butcher Baker" — who hunted his victims in the Alaskan wilderness), to the perils of internet influencers always looking for the next dangerous and shocking thing to put on their feeds. 

​This graphic novel from Dark Horse Comics was released in May and is written by horror aficionados Micky Neilson (World of Warcraft, Diablo lll: Morbed) and Samwise Didier (The Last Winter, Blizzard Entertainment). The intricate and atmospheric pen and ink illustrations are by Polish comic book artist Piotr Kowalski whose other titles include Bloodborne, Where Monsters Lie, and The Witcher.

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RELATED: Supernatural YA  |  Mystery YA  |  The Horror of Being Gay in Rural Texas  |  ​Swoony Vampires and Gay Love in the Greek Islands

THERE BE SPOILERS HERE.

The first thing we learn about Cade Muñoz is that he loves horror movies. His family thinks it's a weird obsession, but Cade sees his life as a kind of horror movie — especially when he finds himself working on a horse ranch in the middle of rural Texas. Welcome to Northranger, an LGBTQAI+ graphic novel written by Rey Terciero and illustrated by Bre Indigo.

Although Cade, a city boy with no farm experience whatsoever, initially has a miserable time on the Tyler Ranch, one thing gives him hope — the owner's youngest son and fellow horror aficionado, Henry Tyler. Cade's more than a little attracted to Henry, but has difficulty figuring out if Henry feels similarly.  Certainly the rural community in which Henry was raised doesn't seem particularly welcoming to queer people — or people of color! When some men in a convenience store hurl racist epithets at Cade, Henry launches into a rage.

"I hate small-minded folks," he tells Cade. "Can't believe there are still bigots in this day and age. Hating people 'cause of what? The color of their skin, what God they worship, who they love..."

​​Okay, so Henry's gay-friendly — but is he gay? The longer Cade knows Henry, the more obvious it becomes that the older boy is hiding some secrets beyond his sexuality. The skeletons in the Tyler family closet really begin to rattle when Cade's invited to the clan's lakeshore home known as Northranger. Rumors about a series of mysterious deaths — including Henry's mom — help amp up a boy who already sees the world through a horror movie lens. How and why did all these people die? Why is one wing of Northranger off limits? Why is Henry so angry all the time — to the point where he beats the shit out of his older brother in a parking lot?

As the book progresses, so do Cade's feelings for Henry and his resulting paranoia over what Henry's not telling him. But is it all real... or just Cade's fantasy life running wild?

Northranger is a thoughtful, well produced story. It doesn't necessarily say anything new or different about homophobia, but seen through Cade's eyes the book provides some interesting parallels between the horror movie genre and how many LGBTQAI+ people must view their lives. The ending is also a clever twist on how horror movie plots are often filled with misdirection and red herrings. This one's definitely worth a read!

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​RELATED: LGBTQ YA  | Pride on the Big Screen  |  Quinton's Curious Mind Book Series  |  ​Swoony Vampires and Gay Love in the Greek Islands

The movie was a dud... but that doesn't mean they isn't some life still left in the Borderlands... at least in graphic novel form.

If you've played Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, or Borderlands 3, you're probably familiar with Tiny Tina, the emotionally unstable and morally ambiguous fourteen-year-old who loves to make things go BOOM! When not blowing shit up, Tina also enjoys a lively game of Bunkers and Badasses, Pandora's equivalent to Dungeons & Dragons.

Frank Herbert's Dune was originally published six decades ago, but this timeless science fiction series continues to enthrall and amaze new fans.  This epic science-fiction masterpiece is set in the far future amidst a sprawling feudal interstellar society. It tells the story of Paul Atreides as he and his family accept control of the desert planet Arrakis only to be brutally betrayed and drawn into an interstellar war.

Now the story is being transformed into a graphic novel series, with the third book, The Prophet, released in July 2024. 

Dune: Graphic Novel: Book 1 
Dune: Graphic Novel: Book 2, Muad'dib
Dune: Graphic Novel: Book 3, The Prophet

​RELATED: Science Fiction YA

SYNOPSIS: Return to the thrilling world of high-stakes, competitive fencing, with a brand new story featuring the beloved cast of characters from the original hit series. Are Seiji and Jesse really through?

The rumors around Halverton, the prestigious fencing training camp, have spread like wildfire, but it's not long before a mystery fencer arrives-one who may finally pose a threat to the #1 spot. Will Seiji's unquenchable quest for rivalry take Nicholas' place? Where will his loyalty lie?

​And, when Seiji gets an up close and personal look into Nicholas' past and determination against adversity while preparing for the difficult road ahead and the State Championships, he'll have to confront a tempting thought... are they on... a date? 

The thing I always enjoy about the Fence books is the relationships between the diverse and highly-driven students. Volume 6 was more problematic for me because of how much time it spent explaining the rules of fencing. We really didn't get into the good stuff until about half-way through the book. The most interesting parts were the dual romantic triangles being formed between Harvard-Aiden-Marcel and Nicholas-Seiji-Jesse. Both are long overdue, as Harvard and Aiden are close but just won't take the romantic plunge, and Nicholas and Seiji have spent most of the last six volumes fighting with each other. 

We'll see where Volume 7 takes us...

PAST ISSUES:  Volume 1  |  Volume 2  |  Volume 3  |  Volume 4:Rivals  |  Volume 5: Rise  |  Volume 6: Redemption

​NOVELS:  Fence: Disarmed  |  Fence: Striking Distance

​RELATED: Comics Collections  |  LGBTQ YA  |  Queer Royalty Stories Book List  |  YA LGBTQ Book List  |  ​Swoony Vampires and Gay Love in the Greek Islands