Hey Kids! Comics! Summertime and the Reading is Easy
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Below are some comic strip and cartoon books scheduled for July 2025 release (or so).
Images and links from a variety of publishers and outlets,
though ordering through your local comic shop or independent book store is a good idea.
Terry and the Pirates: The Master Collection, vol. 11 (1945) by Milton Caniff
It’s a new year of reunions, not resolutions—Terry and Pat join forces! They connect with the Dragon Lady—and with Terry’s old flame, Hu Shee! Terry, Hotshot Charlie, and Hu Shee cross paths with swashbuckling pirate Johnny Jingo, in turn joining Terry’s old friend April Kane before a new encounter with Nazi collaborator Papa Pyzon! Papa is exactly who he seems, yet his henchman, Mr. Hutch, may have a different trick up his sleeve. Meanwhile, the trick up April’s sleeve is less successful, positioning Terry to weather a wintry storm with the delightful Fob Cobb and the prune-faced Ilse Grosse-Nach. It’s like getting both candy and a lump of coal in one’s Christmas stocking!
This is the penultimate volume of Terry and the Pirates: The Master Collection. Volume 12 can be preordered.
Will Eisner: A Comics Biography by Stephen Weiner (writer), Dan Mazur (co-writer, art)
Explore the life of Will Eisner, one of the most influential artists in the history of comics through the most appropriate medium: a graphic novel! From his immigrant roots and childhood in New York, starting his own comics studio and business, and the creation and publication of his beloved comic, The Spirit, through popularizing the term “graphic novel” as the result of trying to convince a general trade publisher to publish the groundbreaking A Contract with God, you’ll follow along in Eisner’s life journey.
Mutts: The Little Things By Patrick McDonnell
Enjoy this beautifully illustrated and packaged collection of Mutts comic strips from 2022 by Patrick McDonnell. The Little Things: A Mutts Treasury collects a year’s worth of special and sweet moments with Earl, Mooch, and the rest of their four-legged friends.
This treasury features an entire year’s worth of Mutts comics, including sketch art and illustrations by author Patrick McDonnell. Printed on recycled paper.
Terminal Exposure: Comics, Sculpture, and Risky Behavior by Michael McMillan
Michael McMillan has said he’s “not really a cartoonist,” but the evidence suggests otherwise. Born and raised in California, he was a draftsman and industrial designer by trade before he plunged into the burgeoning San Francisco underground comix scene of the early 1970s. He drew for legendary publications such as Weirdo, Young Lust, Lemme Outa Here!, Arcade, and produced his own one-issue wonder, Terminal Comics. But just as often he drew for himself, playing with the form of comics out of the sight of readers.
Terminal Exposure brings together McMillan’s comics for the first time, alongside a selection of his electrifying sculptures, his eye-popping paintings, and stunning pages from his rock climbing journals. With an introduction by Dan Nadel, this volume offers a comprehensive portrait of an exceptional artist, sculptor, climber, and—yes—cartoonist.
Peanuts Game Day Box Set by Charles M. Schulz
Charlie Brown on the baseball mound. Lucy pulling away the football. Woodstock driving a Zamboni. Snoopy’s side-hustle tennis career. Charles M. Schulz, creator of the most beloved comic strip of all time, saw sports as an essential part of American society, and an endless inspiration for both simple fun and opportunities to reveal and test character… just as they are in real life. The comic strips that resulted are some of the most iconic images in comics history!
Gathered here in a gorgeous four-book hardcover box set are the best of Schulz’s sporting-themed strips and sequences, compiled from over fifty years of daily Peanuts cartoons. Themed volumes compile the works pastime by pastime – baseball of course, but football, golf, tennis, basketball, ice skating and hockey are all represented among the four volumes.
Peanuts: All This And Snoopy, Too by Charles M. Schulz
Celebrate the 75th anniversary of Peanuts with the latest Titan Comics Peanuts Facsimilie book, the 18th in the series, featuring 128 pages of classic Peanuts strips from 1960-1962.
This facsimile edition features 122 classic comic strips from 1960-1962 and features many classic characters, including Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, Pig Pen, and many. Join them as they navigate their way through school, first crushes, the complexities of baseball, and the world of the forever unseen grown-ups and their crazy rules.
Marshall Rogers: Brightest Days & Darkest Knights by Jeff Messer and Dewey Cassell
From underdog to icon, Marshall Rogers helped redefine Batman for generations, inspiring readers and up-and-coming artists alike. Initially savaged by editors at DC Comics, his style was uniquely complex with vast and angular architectural design anchoring his storytelling, and it immediately caught on with fans for his depictions of the Darknight Detective, Hugo Strange, The Joker, Silver St. Cloud, Dr. Strange, Cap’n Quick and a Foozle, and more. And though his output was relatively small in comparison to many of his contemporaries, his impact outlived the artist himself, and inspired a loyal following and affection.
Now, Rogers’ story is told by friends, collaborators, and family members, delving deep into a complicated and conflicted man and his art.
Society Is Nix: Gleeful Anarchy at the Dawn of the American Comic Strip 1895-1915 Revised Edition edited by Peter Maresca
A revised and expanded edition of the Eisner-nominated book on the earliest American comics, with over 200 classic strips, by over 75 cartoonists: the “Founders of the Funnies.”
“Mit Dose Kids, SOCIETY IS NIX!” So said The Inspector about the Katzenjammer Kids. But he could have been speaking of all comic strips in their formative years in the early 1900s. From the very first color Sunday supplement, comics were a driving force in newspaper sales, offering a wild parody of the world and the culture found in the surrounding pages. Society didn’t stand a chance!
These are the origins of the American comic strip…
The genesis of comics is laid out in a dozen essays by the greatest in their field—historians like Thierry Smolderen, Brian Walker, Alfredo Castelli, Bill Kartalopoulos, Paul C. Tumey and others. And in the second, revised edition of this seminal collection: over 200 comic strips! The earliest comics by acknowledged greats like R. F. Outcault, George McManus, Winsor McCay, and George Herriman, along with creations of more than fifty other superb cartoonists, known and unknown. Collectively they are “The Founders of the Funnies”. The classic strips, most not printed in over 100 years, are presented in their original colors at the incredible oversized format Sunday Press is known for
Fly on the Wall: The Best of Kevin Tobin
A curated collection of the best-of-the-best from renowned cartoonist Kevin Tobin—Fly on the Wall captures some of the most iconic moments from Newfoundland’s past and present, with a recognizably sharp wit and a dose of the province’s famous humour.
Fly on the Wall doesn’t just collect the best of 40 years of Kevin Tobin’s editorial cartoons for The Telegram (The Evening Telegram when he began); it tracks 40 years of Newfoundland and Labrador’s history: politics, social movements, sports, celebrities, boondoggles, feel-good stories, schemes… , emergencies, and triumphs, all seen through the lens of a keen, satirical, and no-holds-barred fly on the wall.Readers of The Telegram will be familiar with Tobin’s tiny flies, sketched into the corners of his cartoons since the early days—a symbol for the cartoonist himself, a fly on the wall of Newfoundland and Labrador life: watching, listening in, waiting to cut through the buzz.
Passing for Human: A Graphic Memoir by Linda Finck
Passing for Human is what Finck calls “a neurological coming-of-age story”—one in which human connection proved elusive and her most enduring relationships throughout childhood were with plants and rocks and imaginary friends; in which her mother’s creative life had been snuffed out by an unhappy first marriage and a deeply sexist society; in which her father, a doctor, secretly struggled with the guilt of having passed his own form of otherness on to his daughter; and in which, as an adult, Finck finally finds her shadow again—and, with it, her true self.
Part magical odyssey, part feminist creation myth, Passing for Human is an extraordinary, moving meditation on what it means to be an artist and a woman grappling with the desire to pass for human.
Hate Revisited! by Peter Bagge
Legendary cartoonist Peter Bagge triumphantly returns to the series that defined a generation with this all-new Hate graphic novel.
Buddy Bradley and Lisa Leavenworth, now middle aged with a free-spirited young adult of their own, confront their own poor decisions as young people in the grungy 1990s. Expertly shifting between the present day (in full color) and their Gen X heyday (in glorious, crosshatched B&W), we learn for the first time the story of how Buddy met Lisa, Stinky, George, and Val. Meanwhile, Buddy is forced to come to terms with the tragic — and covered-up — circumstances of Stinky’s untimely death in the original Hate series, while navigating elder care, contemporary politics, family and friendships. Hate Revisited! expertly showcases Bagge’s inimitable humor and knack for character, and the generational shift lends an unexpected gravitas to their lives. While the original Hate is indelibly rooted in a key pop cultural era, the themes and characters of Hate remain timeless. Misanthropy never gets old!
Ew, It’s Beautiful: A False Knees Comic Collection by Joshua Barkman
From the Eisner-nominated creator of the False Knees webcomic comes another witty and artful collection on themes of loneliness, creativity, wonder, and the beauty of the ordinary.
To hilarious effect, Joshua Barkman imagines the interior lives of birds as they navigate the seasons. With the occasional cat, raccoon, or insect thrown in for good measure, this masterful second collection offers a satisfying balance of humor and existentialism, visual jest and quiet contemplation.
10,000 Ink Stains: A Memoir by Jeff Lemire (NPR review)
Dark Horse Books proudly presents this hardcover memoir collection showcasing the work of the legendary Eisner Award-winning comic book creator Jeff Lemire, who has created some of the most iconic stories in modern comics.
Featuring his brilliant work from Sweet Tooth, Essex County, Black Hammer, Descender, and so much more. Lemire takes the reader book-by-book, writing essays about the making of each project, showcasing artwork from all of them, details about his personal life during the creation of each book, sharing some never-before-seen process material on each book, and unpublished stories as well. This is the ultimate book for Jeff Lemire and modern comic book fans.
Fort Wayne in a Nutshell: A Cartoon Retrospective by Steve Smeltzer
Fort Wayne in a Nutshell: A Cartoon Retrospective is a collection of 75 funny, full-color, and family-friendly cartoons about the people, places, and things in Indiana’s second-largest city, Fort Wayne, IN.
Each page includes a funny cartoon and a helpful paragraph describing the cartoon’s connection to Fort Wayne culture, from building the first fort to modern times. For instance, in addition to a cartoon about the Fort Wayne Three Rivers Festival, that page also includes a paragraph that contains a brief history of when, where, and how the first festival began.Laugh along and learn something from original single-panel cartoons about this Northeastern Indiana city’s landmarks, legends, institutions, retail establishments, and so much more!
All of these cartoons were created by Fort Wayne native Steve Smeltzer, whose work has appeared in publications such as Sweetwater Music Calendars, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Health Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Saturday Evening Post, Good Housekeeping, and Better Homes and Gardens.
Dr. Werthless by Harold Schechter and Eric Powell (author interview)
From the creative team behind the award-winning Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? comes an examination of one of the most polarizing figures in pop culture, Dr. Fredric Wertham. Reviled by comic book fans as a witch-hunting zealot who stirred up a panic among the parents of America for his own self-promoting purposes, he was also a renowned psychiatrists who, among other accomplishments, opened a clinic in Harlem for disadvantaged African-American patients and played an important role in the desegregation of the nation’s schools. Believing that murder could be abolished through a proper understanding of the mental and social roots of criminal violence, he took a genuinely humane approach to some of the most notorious homicidal maniacs of his time, while simultaneously exploiting their stories for his own commercial ends.
Acclaimed true crime author, Harold Schechter, and multiple Eisner award winning cartoonist, Eric Powell, present a graphic novel that takes an unbiased look at this flawed and enormously and complex man–whose obsessive dream of freeing the world from violence nearly murdered the comics industry.
Jack of All Comics!: A Fan Conversation About the King of Comics by Jim Beard and Will Murray, Robert Greenberger, Paul Kupperberg, Cliff Biggers, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Dan Wickline, and Andrew Farago
There are a Million Ways to Talk About Jack Kirby…
…and you’ll find twenty-eight of them in this book! Twenty-eight writers tackle twenty-eight topics, all of them about the incredible, invincible, uncanny, and mighty works of the King of Comics! There have been many books on Kirby—but never before like this one!
Jack Kirby’s comic book output during the 1960s and 1970s was truly groundbreaking, forming universes and creating concepts that have stood the test of time to this very day. Jack of All Comics covers nearly every single title the King worked on throughout those two decades to celebrate, converse, and sometimes even kvetch over the highs and lows of each series with insightful and illuminating essays.
In his classic no-frills style, Ben Snakepit documents the daily events of the years 2022 to 2024. Each day since 2001, he’s drawn a three-panel comic about his day, creating a rhythm with subtle humor and genuine feeling that draws you into events both startling and mundane. This collection starts off in San Francisco, but aging parents and a major family emergency cause Ben to move back in Richmond, VA. After 23 years away, Snakepit returns to the place where it all started. His band breaks up, he turns 50, and the world and his life change dramatically, but Ben keeps bringing us a comic—and a song—every day throughout it all. Grown-up punks, fans of outsider art and diary comics, and anyone with aging parents will get it—and once you get it, much like growing older, there’s no going back.
Alter Ego #193 edited by Roy Thomas
Alter Ego #193 features “Drawn to Greatness”, the lavishly illustrated story of the Golden and Silver Age Superman artists who followed in Joe Shuster’s boot-steps! It’s an abridgement of the super-rare book by Eddy Zeno—showcasing the likes of Wayne Boring, Paul Cassidy, Fred Ray, Jack Burnley, John Sikela, Leo Nowak, Win Mortimer, and others
Plus Fawcett Collectors of America, Michael T. Gilbert in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more!
That Eddy Zeno history of early Superman comic book and comic strip artists was fascinating and informative. Only complaint is having to wait a few months for Part Two.
The Picture Politics of Sir Francis Carruthers Gould by Colin Seymour-Ure (from December 2024)
This is the first major study of Britain’s pioneering graphic satirist, Sir Francis Carruthers Gould (1844-1925), the first staff political cartoonist on a daily newspaper in Britain, and the first of his kind to be knighted. Written by the distinguished media historian, Colin Seymour-Ure, it is essential reading for anyone interested in cartoons, caricature and illustration and will also be welcomed by students of history, politics and the media. It examines Gould’s career in Fleet Street until his retirement after the First World War. It also discusses his illustrations for magazines and books and there is an analysis of his use of symbolism and literary allusion to lampoon such eminent politicians as Gladstone and Joseph Chamberlain. As Lord Baker says in his Foreword, this book is ‘a major contribution to our knowledge of British cartooning.
Dummy #2 edited by John Kelly
The second issue of dummy looks at several notable examples of unauthorized (and inspired by) Mickey Mouse comics. It includes a deep dive into the notorious Air Pirates, with commentary by Dan O’Neil, Bobby London, Gary Hallgren, Ted Richards, Shary Flenniken and others, as well as rarely seen Air Pirates art and memorabilia. It also has an interviews with Robert Armstrong and his beloved Mickey Rat and Kaz about Creep Rat, and a look at the Mickey Tijuana Bible dirty comics, Wally Wood’s X-Rated Disneyland Memorial Orgy poster and even an interview with the legendary artist Stanley Mouse by the great Edwin “Savage Pencil” Pouncey!.
This is a thing of beauty and is 92 pages long and filled with RARE art and production materials. Printed on high quality paper with all new writing by me and some other, more famous, people.
** WARNING: This issue contains some graphic cartoon images. For ADULTS ONLY.
The Complete Deadbone Erotica Omnibus HC, Vol. 1 by Vaughn Bodé
Collecting for the first time in chronological order underground comix legend VAUGHN BODÉ’s charmingly risqué strips and “Bodé Broads” from Cavalier magazine (“the kind men like.”)
Originally written and drawn in the 1970s, this volume represents a time capsule in erotic humor as only a master of the form could create it.
This beautiful hardbound book also collects BODÉ’s hard-to-find three-page strips and other rarities. With a foreword and additional new art from VAUGHN’s son, MARK BODÉ.
Underground comix enthusiasts, BODÉ aficionados, and fans of adult humor won’t want to miss this uncensored and digitally remastered omnibus.
** Varning För Snusk **
The World Is Lava, A Crabgrass Comics Adventure by Tauhid Bondia
The Crabgrass comics adventures continue in this new graphic novel by Tauhid Bondia chronicling the friendship and unconventional family life of best friends Miles and Kevin.
In this new book of Crabgrass comic adventures featuring best friends Miles and Kevin, the friends experience the highs and lows of school life and the surprising complexity of friendship. After Kevin experiences a surprise case of lice, Miles shaves his head in solidarity and accidentally winds up becoming the cool kid at school—a disorienting change from their usual family dynamic. When Thanksgiving arrives, Miles and his dad decide to take over the kitchen. What could possibly go wrong? The World is Lava is a poignant exploration of friendship, loyalty, and the sometimes bumpy road of growing up. With its blend of sharp humor, relatable characters, and colorful comic artwork, this graphic novel captures the thrills and perils of the world as experienced by two preteen boys.
feature image is Rose is Rose by Don Wimmer
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