A list of graphic novels and comic books for younger readers to early YA, specifically published in English in 2013. Huge thanks to Sharon Iverson who did most of the work compiling this year’s list! We did not include reprint collections & trade paperbacks of previously published work. If we missed anything, feel free to comment below and I’ll update the list ASAP.
YOUNGER READERS
A Big Guy Took My Ball [Elephant and Piggie] by Mo Willems (Disney-Hyperion)
Babymouse #17: Extreme Babymouse by Jennifer L. Holm, Matt Holm (Random House)
Ball by Mary Sullivan (Harcourt)
Barry’s Best Buddy by Renee French (Toon)
The Big Wet Balloon by Liniers (Toon)
Bean Dog & Nugget: The Ball by Charise Mericle Harper (Knopf)
Bean Dog & Nugget: The Cookie by Charise Mericle Harper (Knopf)
Binky: License to Scratch by Ashley Spires (Kids Can Press)
Goat on a Boat by John Sazaklis, Jessica Bradley (Capstone Stone Arch Books)
Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye #6: Going, Going, Dragon by Colleen AF Venable, Stephanie Yue (Graphic Universe)
Hocus Pocus Takes the Train by Sylvie Desrosiers, Remy Simard (Kids Can Press)
Johnny Boo #5: Johnny Boo Does Something! by James Kochalka (Top Shelf Productions)
Odd Duck by Cecil Castellucci, Sara Varon (First Second)
Otto’s Backwards Day by Frank Cammuso, Jay Lynch (Toon)
Patrick Eats His Peas by Geoffrey Hayes (Toon)
Robot, Go Bot! by Dana Meachen Rau, Wook Jin Jung (Random House)
Squish #5: Game On by Jennifer L. Holm, Matt Holm (Random House)
ELEMENTARY+
A Cat Named Haiku by Mark Poulton, Dexter Weeks (Arcana Studio)
Adventures in Cartooning: Characters in Action by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, Alexis Frederick-Frost (First Second)
Bigfoot Boy #2: The Unkindness of Ravens by J. Torres, Faith Erin Hicks (Kids Can Press)
Bluffton: My Summers with Buster by Matt Phelan (Candlewick Press)
Chicagoland Detective Agency #5: The Bark in Space by Trina Robbins, Tyler Page (Graphic Universe)
Elephants Never Forget #2: Big Top Otto by Bill Slavin (Kids Can Press)
Explorer: The Lost Islands by Kazu Kibuishi, various (Abrams)
Fairy Tale Comics: Classic Tales Told by Extraordinary Cartoonists by Chris Duffy, various (First Second)
Jim Henson’s The Storyteller by Jim Henson, various (Archaia)
Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland by Rod Espinosa (Dark Horse)
Lio: Making Friends by Mark Tatulli (Andrews McMeel)
Lunch Lady and the Video Game Villain #9 by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Knopf)
Mermin #1: Out of Water by Joey Weiser (Oni Press)
Mermin #2: The Big Catch by Joey Weiser (Oni Press)
The Misadventures of Salem Hyde #1: Spelling Trouble by Frank Cammuso (Abrams)
Mouse Guard Vol. 2: Legends of the Guard by David Petersen (Archaia)
Mouse Guard Vol. 3: The Black Axe by David Petersen (Archaia)
Mr. Puzzle Super Collection! by Chis Eliopoulos (Capstone Young Readers)
Nancy Drew & the Crew Clue #2: Secret Sand Sleuths by Sarah Kinney, Stan Goldberg (Papercutz)
Nancy Drew & the Crew Clue #3: Enter the Dragon Mystery by Sarah Kinney, Stan Goldberg (Papercutz)
Olympians #5: Poseidon: Earth Shaker by George O’Connor (First Second)
Olympians #6: Aphrodite: Goddess of Love by George O’Connor (First Second)
Pantalones, TX: Don’t Chicken Out by Yehudi Mercado (Archaia)
Princeless #2: Get Over Yourself by Jeremy Whitley, Emily Martin (Action Lab Entertainment)
Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Comics by Pedro Rodriguez (Capstone)
Scene But Not Heard by Sam Henderson (Top Shelf Productions)
Silver Six by A.J. Lieberman, Darren Rawlings (Graphix)
Sketch Monsters #2: The New Kid by Joshua Williamson, Vinny Navarrete (Oni Press)
SMASH: Trial by Fire by Chris Bolton, Kyle Bolton, Christina Mackin, Sarah Barrie Fenton (Candlewick Press)
Stone Rabbit #8: Robot Frenzy by Erik Craddock (Random House)
Terra Tempo: The Four Corners of Time by David Shapiro, Christopher Herndon, Erica Melville (Craigmore Creations)
Tommysaurus Rex by Doug TenNapel (Graphix)
Vamplets #1: The Nightmare Nursery by Gayle Middleton, Dave Dwonch (Action Lab Entertainment)
Wars in Toyland by Joe Harris, Adam Pollina, Nolan Woodard, Brent McCarthy (Oni Press)
MIDDLE GRADE+
The Adventures of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks (Dark Horse)
Astronaut Academy #2: Re-Entry by Dave Roman (First Second)
Avalon Chronicles #2: The Girl and the Unicorn by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, Emma Vieceli (Oni Press)
Ben Franklin for Beginners by Tim Oglin (For Beginners)
Battling Boy #1 by Paul Pope (First Second)
Brody’s Ghost #4 by Mark Crilley (Dark Horse)
Buzz by Ananth Panagariya, Tess Stone (Oni Press)
Courtney Crumrin #4: Monstrous Holiday Special Edition by Ted Naifeh (Oni Press)
Curses! Foiled Again by Jane Yolen, Mike Cavallaro (First Second)
Dogs of War by Sheila Keenan, Nathan Fox (Graphix)
Fairy Quest #1 by Paul Jenkins, Humberto Ramos (Boom)
G-Man #3: Coming Home by Chris Giarrusso (Image Comics)
The Great American Dust Bowl by Don Brown (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Greek Mythology for Beginners by Joe Lee (For Beginners)
Gunnerkrigg Court #4: Materia by Tom Siddell (Archaia)
Halloween Legion: The Great Goblin Invasion by Martin Powell, Thomas Boatright, Diana Leto (Dark Horse)
Hopeless, Maine #2: Inheritance by Tom & Nimue Brown (Archaia)
Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal #2: Creation Myths by Jim Henson, Brian Holguin, Brian Froud, Alex Sheikman (Archaia)
Jinx: Little Miss Steps by J. Torres, Rick Burchett, Terry Austin, John Workman (Archie)
Kid Beowulf and the Rise of El Cid by Alexis Fajardo (Kid Beowulf Comics)
The Lost Boy by Greg Ruth (Graphix)
Molly Danger #1 by Jamal Igle, Juan Castro, Romulo Farjardo Jr. (Action Lab Entertainment)
Monster on the Hill by Rob Harrell (Top Shelf Productions)
My Boyfriend is a Monster #7: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Robin Mayhall, Kristen Cella, Dirk I.
Tied, Jane Irwin (Graphic Universe)
My Boyfriend is a Monster #8: A Match Made in Heaven by Trina Robbins, Yuko Ota, Xian Nu Studio (Graphic Universe)
Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: Donner Dinner Party by Nathan Hale (Amulet)
Papercutz Slices #5: The Farting Dead by Stefan Petrucha, Rick Parker (Papercutz)
Paul Robeson for Beginners by Paul Von Blum, Elizabeth VonNotias, Ramsess (For Beginners)
Percy Jackson & the Olympians #2: Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan, Robert Vendetti, Attila Futaki, Tamas Gaspar (Disney-Hyperion)
Percy Jackson & the Olympians #3: Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan, Robert Vendetti, Attila Futaki, Gregory Guilhaumond (Disney-Hyperion)
Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani, Maris Wicks (First Second)
The Reasons for Dragons by Chris Northrop, Jeff Stokely (Archaia)
Spera Vol. 2 by Josh Tierney, Giannis Milonogiannis, Kyla Vanderklugt, Afu Chan, and Timothy Weaver (Archaia)
Spera Vol. 3 by Josh Tierney, Afu Chan & various (Archaia)
Stardoll #1: Secrets & Dreams by JayJay Jackson (Papercutz)
Who is AC? By Hope Larson, Tintin Pantoja (Atheneum)
Will & Whit by Laura Lee Gulledge (Amulet)
HIGH SCHOOL
A Boy & A Girl by Jamie S. Rich, Natalie Nourigat (Oni Press)
Bad Machinery #1: The Case of the Team Spirit by John Allison (Oni Press)
Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang (First Second)
Crater XV by Kevin Cannon (Top Shelf Productions)
Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff (First Second)
The Gettysburg Address: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey and Aaron McConnell (William Morrow Paperbacks)
The Great War: July 1, 1916: the first day of the Battle of the Somme by Joe Sacco, Adam Hochschild (W.W. Norton)
Little Fish: a Memoir From a Different Kind of Year by Ramsey Beyer (Zest)
Marble Season by Gilbert Hernandez (Drawn & Quarterly)
March Book 1 by Rep. John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (Top Shelf Productions)
The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet: A Play by William Shakespeare by Gareth Hines (Candlewick Press)
Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong by Prudence Shen, Faith Erin Hicks (First Second)
Over the Wall by Peter Wartman (Uncivilized Books)
Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley (First Second)
Templar by Jordan Mechner, LeUyen Pham, Alex Puvilland (First Second)
War Brothers: The Graphic Novel by Sharon McKay, Daniel LaFrance (Annick Press)
Bad Houses by Sara Ryan, Carla Speed McNeil (Dark Horse)
SERIALIZED COMIC BOOK (FRANCHISE)
Adventure Time by Ryan North, Braden Lamb, Shelli Paroline (Boom)
Annoying Orange by Scott Shaw!, Mike Kazaleh (Papercutz)
Avatar: The Last Airbender-The Search, Part 1 by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante Di Martino, Bryan Konietzko, Gurihiru (Dark Horse)
Batman Lil Gotham (DC)
Ben Ten Omniverse: Ghost Ship by Cory Levine, Alan Brown (Perfect Square)
Best of the Three Stooges #2 by Norman Mauer, Pete Alvarado (Papercutz)
Beware the Batman (DC)
Bravest Warriors by Joey Comeau, Mike Holmes (Boom)
Emerald City of Oz (Marvel)
Garfield by Mark Evanier & Gary Barker (Boom)
Ghostbusters by Erik Burnham, Dan Schoening (IDW)
Hello Kitty: Here We Go by Jacob Chabot & Jorge Monlongo (Perfect Square)
Kevin Keller (Archie)
Lego Ninjago by Greg Farshtey, Jolyon Yates (Papercutz)
Life With Archie (Archie)
Loony Tunes (DC)
Mameshiba by James Turner, Jorge Monlongo (Perfect Square)
Marvel Universe Avengers Assemble (Marvel)
Max Steel #1: The Parasites by Brian Smith, Jan Wijngaard (Perfect Square)
Mega Man by Ian Flynn (Archie)
Monsuno Combat Chaos by Sebastian Girner, Ray-Anthony Height, Nate Lovett (Perfect Square)
Loony Tunes (DC)
Mr. Men Little Miss #1: Mr. Strong: Good Thing I Came Along by Michael Daedalus Kenny, Gabriel Corbera (Perfect Square)
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic by Katie Cook, Andy Price, Heather Breckel, Robbie Robbins (IDW)
Peanuts (Boom)
New Crusaders By Ian Flynn, Ben Bates (Red Circle Comics-Archie)
Popeye by Roger Langridge, Vince Musacchia, Tom Neely, Bruce Ozella (IDW)
Power Rangers Megaforce by Stefan Petrucha, PH Marcondes (Papercutz)
PowerPuff Girls by Various (IDW)
Scooby Doo (DC)
Simpsons Comics by Various (Bongo)
Sonic Universe by Ian Flynn, Tracy Yardly, Jim Amash, various (Archie)
SpongeBob Comics by Derek Drymon, Gregg Schigiel, Jacob Chabot, James Kochalka & more. (Bongo)
Star Wars Ewoks: Shadows of Endor by Zack Giallongo (Dark Horse)
Strawberry Shortcake by Georgia Ball, Heather Nuhfer, Amy Mebberson (Ape Entertainment)
Superman Family Adventures by Art Balthazar, Franco (DC)
Ugly Dolls (Viz)
Voltron Force by Brian Smith, Jacob Chabot (Perfect Square)
SERIALIZED COMIC BOOK (CREATOR OWNED)
Aw, Yeah Comics by Art Balthazar & Franco (Aw, Yeah)
Bodie Troll by Jay P. Fosgitt (Red 5 Comics)
Hero Bear and The Kid by Mike Kunkle
Roger Langridge’s Snarked by Roger Langridge, Lisa Moore (Boom)
Skyward by Jeremy Dale (Action Lab)
Super Dinosaur by Robert Kirkman, Jason Howard, Cliff Rathburn (Image Comics)
HYBRID
Big Nate Flips Out (#5) by Lincoln Peirce (HarperCollins)
Captain Underpants #10: Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers by Dav Pilkey (Scholastic)
Desmond Pucket Makes Monster Magic by Mark Tatulli (Andews McMeel)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid #6: Hard Luck by Jeff Kinney (Amulet)
Dork Diaries #6: Tales from a Not-So-Happy Heartbreaker by Rachel Renee Russell (Aladdin)
Dragonbreath #8: Nightmare of the Iguana by Ursula Vernon (Dial)
Dragonbreath #9: The Case of the Toxic Mutants by Ursula Vernon (Dial)
Ellie McDoodle Diaries: The Show Must Go On by Ruth McNally Barshaw (Bloomsbury USA)
Flora & Ulysses: An Illuminated Adventure by Kate DiCamillo, K.G. Campbell (Candlewick Press)
Popularity Papers #5: The Awesomely Awful Melodies of Lydia Goldbltatt and Julie Graham-Chang by Amy Ignatow (Amulet)
Popularity Papers #6: Love and Other Fiascos with Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang by Amy Ignatow (Amulet)
Stuck in the Middle (of Middle School): A Novel in Doodles by Karen Romano Young (Feiwel & Friends)
Vordak the Incomprehensible: Time Travel Trouble by Scott Seegert, John Martin (Egmont USA)
WEBCOMICS
(many of these really fall into the vague “all-ages” category. Hopefully soon we can start separating which comics are specifically produced for kid readers)
Bad Apple Castle by Elio
Chili’s World by Santiago Casares
Chim Chum by Adrian Ropp
Cody the Cavalier by Jamie Cosley
Creepy Crowley by Steven Lewis
Cucumber Quest by Gigi D.G.
Ellie on Planet X by James Anderson
Gronk by Katie Cook
Last of the Polar Bears by Lindsay Cibos
Little Guardians by Ed Cho and Lee Cherolis
Little Vampires by Rebecca Hicks
My Sister, the Freak by Dani Jones
Nemu*Nemu by Audra Furuichi and Scott Yoshinaga
Princess at Midnight by Andi Watson
Red’s Planet by Eddie Pittman
Rocket Robinson by Sean O’Neill
Saturday Morning Webtoons by Various
Space Kid! by John MacLeod
Solstoria by Angelica Maria
Tales of the Brothers Three by Joshua Hauke
Untold Tales of Bigfoot by Vincent Dorse
Winters in Lavelle by Kasey Van Hise
Yeti for Hire by Jeff Crowther
DIGITAL COMICS
Solution Squad #1 by Jim McClain and Rose McClain
COMICS MAGAZINES
Beano
Minnie & Daisy
The Phoenix
To find out which of these comics kids think are the best of the year check out the KCR! Kids Comics Awards!
And for more about the world of all ages comics and kidlit join the Kids’ Comics Revolution!, a podcast hosted by Dave Roman & Jerzy Drozd.
My comic Solution Squad was made for upper elementary/middle schoolers and came out in April, 2013! I’d love it if you would include it!
Cool. I added it to the Digital Comics section.
Thanks! It’s in print, too, by the way!
Hi, my book A Cat Named Haiku 2: The Dust Bunny from Arcana Studio was released last year. It was written by me with artwork by Dexter Weeks. It tells the tale of the day in the life of a cat, as he makes a new friend all told in the Japanese form of poetry haiku.
There’s no age listing on Amazon. What category would you say the book belongs in?
Elementary.
You should consider adding the all-ages Space Kid! to your webcomics section. It’s the best! http://spacekidcomics.com/
Added!
Life with Archie is not a kids comic. It is an adult comic.
Thanks for the heads up! I removed it from the list.
This is a great list! Some quality reading for kids of all ages. Great work
I’ll Just copy my comment here. My Ah Heck!! The Angel Chronicles volume 3 came out in March 2013 for about ages 10 and up. It’s under my creator owned company Zorilita -Mary Bellamy.
I illustrate a kid-friendly webcomic entitled, “The Dust Bunny Mafia.” Think of it as a modern Looney Tunes. You can read it at http://Comics.DustBunnyMafia.com.
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The Avatar : The Last Airbender – The Lost Adventures graphic novel is a collection of long-out-of-print, fan-favorite comics previously published in Nickelodeon Magazine and the Avatar : The Last Airbender DVD collections between 2005 and 2011. It also includes the Free Comic Book Day issue