Staff Picks for February 2022

By Steph Hocutt | February 1 2022 | Gifts & GamesPop Culture ProseComicsGraphic NovelsManga, Manhwa, ManhuaChildren'sYoung Adult

Welcome to the monthly staff picks, where we share our favorite comics, graphic novels, manga, & more! Check out our picks for upcoming titles, plus our favorite backlist titles that you might have missed from our U.S. Comic Market Sales team (Tyne, Matthew, Ben, Nico, Steph), our Canada Comics Market Sales team (Aleks), and our International Comics Market Sales team (Hector, Ji)!

 

Picks from the U.S. Comic Market Sales team (Tyne, Matthew, Ben, Nico, Steph)March Book One

Tyne’s Picks

March: Book One (Oversized Edition)

John Lewis was a personal hero of mine- his death broke my heart. He was one of the most powerful change agents this country has ever known. I hope you’ll give MARCH a read and commit to causing good trouble in his memory.

 

 

Ben’s Picks

Captain America: Truth TPB Baker Cover (New Printing, DM Only)

 

Not only is this a title that features an important character (Isaiah Bradley) from last summer’s Falcon & Winter Soldier, this collection had been left out of print for decades, and it’s finally back!  Worth a look if you found that character and his circumstances intriguing.

 

MOON KNIGHT BY BENDIS & MALEEV: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION TPBMoon Knight by Bendis & Maleev: The Complete Collection TPB

Bendis & Maleev are one of the best creative teams in comics and this collection gathers their Moon Knight run, which really explores some of the psychological problems that Marc Spector has struggled with throughout his time as a superhero.

 

 

The Flintstones The Deluxe EditionSuper Detectives! (Simon and Chester Book #1)

This is a title I haven’t read, but repeatedly came up in any conversation I’ve had about undiscovered gems the past few years.  Mark Russell is a rising name in the comics world and I’m very interested in grabbing this deluxe hardcover.

 

Super Detectives! (Simon and Chester Book #1)

My two boys love to invent creative “detective missions” to solve around the house, and I feel like this is the perfect little book to put in their hands for them to enjoy and spark their imagination.

 

 

 

Nico’s Picks

MOON KNIGHT VOL. 1: THE MIDNIGHT MISSION TPBHousecat Trouble

Alessandro Cappuccio’s art for the series is SO COOL!!! While you’re waiting for the upcoming Disney+ show, definitely don’t miss out on this run!

 

Housecat Trouble

I’m a sucker for anything with cats and this looks adorable!!!

 

IRON FIST 1

I’m so curious who the new Iron Fist is!

 

 

Steph’s Picks

Static: Season OneStatic: Season One

I grew up watching the Static Shock cartoon, and I got so excited to see Virgil back in comics once again! The costumes are new, the times are modern, but the story still features a bunch of kids trying to navigate a new world of super powers. The art in particular in this series is stunning, capturing the electric battles and quiet family moments perfectly.

 

Seaside Stranger Vol. 2:  Harukaze no Etranger

A seaside love story! The first volume was all about Shun and Mio figuring out themselves and their feelings, and now they’re traveling to Hokkaido as a couple to visit Shun’s estranged family. Painful and sweet in equal turns, this is a must-read for older fans of queer love stories.

 

Heaven Official’s Blessing:  Tian Guan Ci Fu Vol. 2Heaven Official’s Blessing:  Tian Guan Ci Fu Vol. 2

This series is packed with adventure, intrigue, and 800 YEARS of pining, so needless to say I’m desperate to get my hands on every volume. Xie Lian is a modest god with a heart of gold (and tragic backstory, naturally), Hua Cheng is a mysterious ghost king who is only nice to Xie Lian (for secret reasons), and I absolutely adore their story. If you’re new to danmei, this is a perfect series to start with (although really I recommend all three MXTX volumes; this one just happens to be my favorite). Mature readers only, though!

 

Lovesick Ellie Vol. 2

This series really took me by surprise! A seemingly shy girl secretly spends her days tweeting about a fantasy relationship with the most popular boy in school (who doesn’t know she exists). He seems like the ideal dreamboat, except it turns out he’s a rude brat! This story is filled with characters who turn the classic shoujo tropes on their heads, and it’s really refreshing to see friendships and romances form between characters that are flawed, but ultimately very likeable.

 

Penguin & House Vol. 1Penguin & House

There’s a growing trend of stories featuring animals who are very good at doing housework and caring for their humans, and I’m all here for it! Pen the penguin looks absolutely adorable, and there’s always space on my bookshelf for warm comfort reads like this!

 

My Wandering Warrior Existence

At this point, I’ll pick up anything by Nagata Kabi. Her deeply personal diary comics make me cry and cheer in equal turns, and I sincerely just want her to be happy. Her previous volumes have covered topics like sex and sexuality, physical and mental health, addiction, family, and independence. Now she’s exploring love and marriage, and I am absolutely rooting for her!

 

 

Picks from the Canada Comics Market Sales team (Aleks)

Aleks’ Picks

The Montague Twins #2: The Devil’s MusicThe Montague Twins #2: The Devil's Music

The magical teen detectives are  back with a second installment even more thrilling than the first. Fans of The Hardy Boys and Paper Girls will fall in love with this paranormal mystery set in a small coastal town in the 1960s. Canadian creators Nathan Page and Drew Shannon have created a fun and magical world with an engaging story line and groovy art style, kids of all ages will love.

 

Housecat Trouble

One house, three cats, and a lot of trouble! When a scaredy-housecat is home alone for the first time, he and his furry friends are forced to face monsters and their fears on a quest to save the day. This debut middle-grade graphic novel is filled with silly jokes, adventures and the cutest cat you ever did see.

 

How to Take Over the WorldHow to Take Over the World

A tongue-in-cheek introduction to the science of comic-book supervillainy, revealing the true potential of today’s most advanced technologies. In How to Take Over the World, bestselling author and award-winning comics writer Ryan North details a number of outlandish villainous schemes, drawing on known science and real-world technologies. Picking up where How to Invent Everything left off, his explanations are as fun and informative as they are completely absurd. The book is illustrated throughout with helpful diagrams and fun comics and if you aren’t already a fan of Ryan North, you soon will be.

 

 

Picks from the International Comics Market Sales team (Hector, Ji)

Hector’s Picks

Batman: The Detective HCBatman: The Detective HC

I love stories where superheroes leave their home turf and Tom Taylor has become a master at placing classic characters in new environments.  On the Six-issue miniseries collected here, Batman travels to Europe (UK, France and Belgium) to hunt a new villain with the help of new allies.   It’s an action packed thrilling Dark Knight adventure, but across the pond.

 

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (Light Novel) Vol 17

In this gritty isekai a group of strangers must work together after they all suddenly wake up with amnesia in a fantasy world.  The characters are so well developed that you get highly invested in them and are truly afraid for their survival.

 

Edens Zero 15Edens Zero 15

A boy leaves his home planet for the first time in search for adventure and to learn more about a mysterious power that he and few others in the Galaxy can wield like a weapon.  It’s Star Wars meets Fairy Tail (also created by Hiro Mashima), but if Princess Leia was a Youtuber and Chewbacca was a cat named Happy.

 

Ji’s Picks

Skip and Loafer Volume 3Skip and Loafer Volume 3

Skip and Loafer is the ultimate comfort read. How can you deny that face of country girl Mitsumi? She has the most amazing facial expressions. She is a mess, a bit over-the-top, but smart and ambitious. She goes to Tokyo with her hopes and dreams and approaches the world in her own way. She is a BOSS, but still in high school. If you’re looking for a fun and wholesome read with endearing characters, go out and read it especially before the anime comes out!

 

The Flintstones The Deluxe Edition

This story is brilliant and totally unexpected when I first picked it up. The Flintstones? How good can it be? I was played, but in a good way. It takes the setting of the stone age and douses it with social commentary and sprinkles it with dark humor that turns the gaze toward the weird practices that humans engage in. This absolutely deserved hardcover treatment. The art by Steve Pugh is necessary in this format to see the humorous details in the art that is a joy to spot. A must buy for fans and collectors!

 

Far SectorFar Sector

I mean…It’s N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell! Their names alone should convince you to pick this up. N.K. Jemisin has a way of building her worlds in such unique ways, while asking us to question our own.  How can murder exist in a city where its citizens are empty of emotion? This is a city where emotion is feared, valued, capitalized, and used as a tool for power plays. Jo Mullein bares the weight of responsibility to make a change for a city that is divided. Each issue is punctuated by voices of Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and Octavia Butler to name a few. It asks us to consider the problems that Jo faces in direct reflection of our own reality.

 


 

9781603093835
The groundbreaking graphic-novel memoir by a living legend of the civil rights movement, March: Book One, is now available in an oversized hardcover edition. Created by Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, this #1 New York Times bestseller is also a Coretta Scott King Honor book, a required text in classrooms across America, and the first graphic novel to win a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. Now this modern classic — praised by everyone from President Bill Clinton to LeVar Burton to Tim Cook — gets the deluxe, oversized hardcover treatment, so the stunning work of Lewis, Aydin, and Powell can be appreciated on a grander scale.March is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis' personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement.Book One spans John Lewis' youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., the birth of the Nashville Student Movement, and their battle to tear down segregation through nonviolent lunch counter sit-ins, building to a stunning climax on the steps of City Hall.Many years ago, John Lewis and other student activists drew inspiration from the 1958 comic book "Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story." Now, his own comics bring those days to life for a new audience, testifying to a movement whose echoes will be heard for generations.Winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award — Special Recognition#1 New York Times Bestseller#1 Washington Post BestsellerA Coretta Scott King Honor BookAn ALA Notable BookOne of YALSA's Top 10 Great Graphic Novels for TeensOne of YALSA's Top 10 Popular Paperbacks for Young AdultsOne of YALSA's Outstanding Books for the College BoundOne of Reader's Digest's Graphic Novels Every Grown-Up Should ReadEndorsed by NYC Public Schools' "NYC Reads 365" programSelected for first-year reading programs by Michigan State University, Marquette University, and Georgia State UniversityNominated for three Will Eisner AwardsNominated for the Glyph AwardNamed one of the best books of 2013 by USA Today, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, The Horn Book, Paste, Slate, ComicsAlliance, Amazon, and Apple iBooks.
On sale Mar 22, 2016
Hardcover
128 Pages
Top Shelf Productions

9781779514974
Mark Russell's critically acclaimed—and uniquely modern—take on Hanna-Barbera's most famous stone-age family returns in a new Deluxe Edition hardcover collection of the entire prehistoric saga!
On sale Feb 08, 2022
FOC Jan 10, 2022
Hardcover
368 Pages
DC Comics

9780735267640
A ghost and a kid team up to solve mysteries and kick butt! A hilarious new graphic novel series for fans of Bad Guys and Dog Man.
On sale Feb 08, 2022
FOC Jan 10, 2022
Paperback
64 Pages
Tundra Books
Age 6-9 years

9781302931100
Collects Moon Knight (2021) #1-6. His mission is justice! The mysterious Mr. Knight has opened his Midnight Mission, sheltering his people from the weird and horrible. The Moon Knight stalks the rooftops and alleys marked with his crescent moon tag, bringing violence to any who would harm his flock. While Khonshu languishes in prison, Marc Spector's sacred duty must still be observed: the protection of those who travel at night. But what happens when those he would save are turned into weapons against him? When gangs of elderly residents leave a trail of bizarre violence, Moon Knight must put his body, mind and very soul on the line to end the carnage! A mysterious foe attacks from an unexpected direction, an old friend comes to visit and Marc finds himself answering the same question over and over again: "Why do you wear the mask?"
On sale Feb 15, 2022
FOC Nov 22, 2021
Paperback
144 Pages
Marvel Universe

(A Graphic Novel)
9780593173459
When a scaredy-housecat is home alone for the first time, he and his furry friends are forced to face monsters and their fears on a quest to save the day. This middle-grade graphic novel series is filled with silly jokes, adventure, and a whole lot of fun.
On sale Feb 22, 2022
FOC Jan 24, 2022
Hardcover
176 Pages
Random House Graphic
Age 7-10 years

9781779514219
At long last, the most famous face of the Milestone Universe makes his shocking return! 
On sale Jun 07, 2022
FOC Jan 24, 2022
Hardcover
200 Pages
DC Comics

9781638581147
A HEARTRENDING HOMECOMING
On sale Feb 08, 2022
FOC Jan 10, 2022
Paperback
192 Pages
Seven Seas
  • Manga > LGBTQ+
  • Manga > Romance
  • Manga > Yaoi
  • Seven Seas > Romance

9781648279188
THE TOUCH OF A HAND, A ROLL OF THE DICE
On sale Feb 15, 2022
FOC Jan 17, 2022
Paperback
452 Pages
Seven Seas

9781646513185
The outrageous shojo comedy finally comes to print! A boy and a girl come to share each other's secrets: She remixes her real life and fantasies into a pervy Twitter feed, and he's selfish and manipulative on the inside. The relationship (?) that results is explosive and hilarious, perfect for fans of Kiss Him, Not Me!, Horimiya, and Wotakoi!
On sale Feb 08, 2022
FOC Dec 27, 2021
Paperback
176 Pages
Kodansha Comics

9781646513468
Pen is a penguin. His favorite things are pancakes and fastidious household upkeep. Pen lives in the city with his friend Hayakawa, a human. They can't communicate in words, so the only way for Pen to express his love is by doing laundry and getting good deals at the supermarket. This is a chronicle of their life together--let it snuggle on your shelf next to A Man and His Cat or Way of the Househusband!
On sale Mar 15, 2022
FOC Dec 27, 2021
Paperback
176 Pages
Kodansha Comics

9781648278822
The newest diary manga from the Harvey Award-winning creator of My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness.
On sale Mar 15, 2022
FOC Jan 31, 2022
Paperback
128 Pages
Seven Seas

(A Graphic Novel)
9780525646815
The Hardy Boys meets Paper Girls in the second volume of this mystery series featuring teen detectives, witches, and now a mystery rock 'n' roll song capable of a sinister, Pied Piper-like hypnosis.
On sale Jan 25, 2022
FOC Nov 08, 2021
Paperback
320 Pages
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Age 12 and up

Practical Schemes and Scientific Solutions for the Aspiring Supervillain
9780593192016
“Comic book fans will fall hard for this delightfully daffy guidebook. . . . Exuberant, optimistic, and just plain fun, How to Take Over the World will both surprise and delight.” —Esquire A book this informative should be a crime!
On sale Mar 15, 2022
Hardcover
416 Pages
Riverhead Books

9781779514189
An epic tale begins that will take Batman on a harrowing, action-packed European adventure in a new miniseries by superstar creators Tom Taylor and Andy Kubert!
On sale Feb 15, 2022
FOC Jan 17, 2022
Hardcover
160 Pages
DC Comics

9781648274640
A LIFE OR DEATH BATTLE
On sale Feb 01, 2022
FOC Dec 20, 2021
Paperback
354 Pages
Airship

9781646512867
It's here! The creator of Fairy Tail, manga superstar Hiro Mashima, is back with a high-flying space adventure! All the steadfast friendship, crazy fighting, and blue cats you've come to expect... IN SPACE!
On sale Feb 22, 2022
FOC Jan 24, 2022
Paperback
192 Pages
Kodansha Comics

9781638581161
MITSUMI’S FIRST SUMMER IN TOKYO
On sale Feb 08, 2022
FOC Jan 10, 2022
Paperback
184 Pages
Seven Seas

9781779514974
Mark Russell's critically acclaimed—and uniquely modern—take on Hanna-Barbera's most famous stone-age family returns in a new Deluxe Edition hardcover collection of the entire prehistoric saga!
On sale Feb 08, 2022
FOC Jan 10, 2022
Hardcover
368 Pages
DC Comics

9781779512055
Winner of the 2022 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story or Comic!The first murder in 500 years. Twenty billion suspects. One hope.
On sale Oct 19, 2021
FOC Sep 20, 2021
Paperback
312 Pages
DC Comics