Oni Press has four new middle-grade and young adult graphic novels lined up for Spring 2025 release, and ICv2 has the exclusive announcement!
A walk in the park turns into a battle to save the world in Mr. Muffins, by Ben Kahn and Georgeo Brooks, when 11-year-old Reuben takes his corgi, Mr. Muffins, out for a walk just as aliens are invading the earth. It turns out that Mr. Muffins isn’t just cute, he’s also the one that can save the galaxy in this light-hearted middle-grade sci-fi romp. Kahn and Brooks previously collaborated on Dark Horse’s Immortals: Fenyx Rising: From Great Beginnings, and Kahn also is the writer of another Dark Horse title, Renegade Rule, which was nominated for a GLAAD Award in 2021.
Buzz, by Ananth Hirsh and Tess Stone, is set in a world where teens settle their differences not with fists and knives but with illicit spelling bee battles in back alleys. Webster starts mixing it up on his first day of high school, when he gets dragged into a spelling smackdown, and soon he teams up with Outlaw King Khan and Black Queen Bonnie, who bring a professional-wrestling sensibility to the noble art of spelling. Buzz!, which is rated for ages 9-12, was first published in 2013 by Oni; the new edition is updated with new cover art and bonus material.
Joey Weiser, creator of Ghost Hog, Dragon Racer (see “Oni Press Lines Up Kids Graphic Novels for Summer”) and the Eisner-nominated Mermin, is back with a new story, The Littlest Fighter, featuring a kid named Ash who battles kaiju-style monsters. While monster-fighting makes for great action sequences, it also takes a toll on the towns and villages nearby, so when a young villager tries to step down the violence, Ash has to reconsider his chosen career.
Finally, Andrew Wheeler and Rye Hickman’s Hey, Mary! is a YA coming-of-age story about a nice Catholic boy who is looking for answers when he gets a crush on another boy. Worried about the constraints of his faith, as well as his parents’ reaction, he turns to his priest, a drag performer, and an array of historical figures including Michelangelo, Savonarola, and Saints Sebastian and Joan of Arc, all of whom help him figure out whether he can be Catholic and gay at the same time. Wheeler has written a number of young-readers’ graphic novels, including Another Castle (see “Princess Saves Herself”) and Love and War (see “Review: ‘Love and War’ TP”), and he is a contributor to the Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurers Guides (see “‘D&D Young Adventurers Guides’”).
“Mr. Muffins, Buzz!, The Littlest Fighter, and Hey, Mary! are four delightfully action-packed adventures about overcoming adversity and receiving the encouragement of others to forge a path of unexpected bravery and growth,” said Oni Editor in Chief Sierra Hahn in a statement accompanying the announcement. “These are tales that, at their very core, are about self-discovery in ever-changing and endlessly exciting worlds!”
Click Gallery below for covers!
Source: ICv2
