Welcome to The A.V. Club’s monthly comics preview, where we recommend new books to check out over the next few weeks. This month, we’ve got five noteworthy picks, including a highly anticipated manga translation, two queer graphic novels exploring same-sex relationships in very different contexts, a racing drama by an industry legend, and the latest incarnation of DC’s Deadman.
Billy Bat Vol. 1 by Naoki Urasawa, Takashi Nagasaki, and Kristi Iwashiro (June 2)
Given the worldwide popularity of mangaka Naoki Urasawa, it’s surprising that it has taken nearly 20 years for his historical conspiracy thriller, Billy Bat (Kana), to finally make its way to the U.S. Co-written with frequent collaborator Takashi Nagasaki and translated by Kristi Iwashiro, Billy Bat follows a Japanese American cartoonist in 1949 as he travels to Tokyo to investigate a claim that he plagiarized his cartoon bat detective character, Billy Bat. The comic within a comic showcases Urasawa’s pristine cartooning fundamentals through its cast of anthropomorphized animals, paying tribute to the history of the comic-book medium while establishing a point of contrast for the visual upgrade that comes when the action jumps to Kevin Yamagata falling down the rabbit hole of his bat drawing’s history. Those fundamentals bring life to the human characters as the scale of the narrative and the artwork drastically expands, setting the stage for a sprawling conspiracy rooted in the fear and paranoia that spread across the globe following World War II.
Billy Bat (Image: Kana)
The Deadman by W. Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo, and Chris O’Halloran (June 3)
DC has had a lot of success reuniting proven creative teams on new titles in 2026. The Vertigo revival consists entirely of writers and artists who have previously worked together, and new superhero titles like Lobo and The Deadman (DC Comics) benefit greatly from established creative chemistry. The Deadman is the second DC project by the Ice Cream Man team of writer W. Maxwell Prince, artist Martín Morazzo, colorist Chris O’Halloran, and letterer Good Old Neon after last year’s gonzo Superman: The KryptoniteSpectrum, and Deadman’s roots in horror make this property an even better fit for a team that has deep experience experimenting within that genre. The Deadman #1 is a jam-packed first issue that introduces readers to former acrobat turned undead superhero Boston Brand while setting up a new status quo that can power years of future stories. Morazzo and O’Halloran are adept at navigating tonal shifts from the down-to-Earth vibe of Deadman working his day job as a “guardian of spirits” to scenes of demon action and homicidal suspense, and Good Old Neon deserves extra kudos for how his lettering infuses Prince’s novelistic scripting with energy and personality.
The Deadman (Image: DC Comics)
M1: Monster Racing League #1 by Jae Lee, Robert Windom, Lily Windom, and June Chung (June 10)
Jae Lee’s evolution as an artist over 35 years is one of the great creative journeys in modern American comics, hitting the scene working within the exaggerated aesthetics that defined the artists of the Image revolution before shifting his visual style to prioritize atmosphere and graphic design. The past five years have been especially fruitful for Lee, whose collaborations with writer Robert Windom showcase his versatility as an action storyteller that can adapt to distinct narrative environments. Seven Sons is a thriller steeped in religious imagery, This EndsTonight is a wacky action comedy homage to Quentin Tarantino, and M1: Monster Racing League (Image Comics)is a sci-fi racing drama blending fast cars and physical mutations.
Co-written by Robert and Lily Windom with colors by June Chung and letters by Joe Sabino, the ongoing M1:MRL follows a 17-year-old Japanese American girl who moves to Tokyo and discovers the city’s underground racing scene. It gives Lee the opportunity to design sleek vehicles and racing suits while playing with his puzzle piece panel layouts to build tension and create motion, and Chung’s lush colors amplify the graphic impact of Lee’s compositions. “Play” is an important word here, and the free-spirited joy and humor in the visuals make this feel like another artistic step forward for Lee, one that is driven by a sense of fun and infectious enthusiasm.
M1: Monster Racing League (Image: Image Comics)
Charity & Sylvia by Tillie Walden (June 16)
After three years of excellent Clementine graphic novels set in the miserable universe of The Walking Dead, Tillie Walden makes a hard pivot with Charity & Sylvia (Drawn & Quarterly), a tender and cozy nonfiction graphic novel about the oldest documented queer relationship in the United States. Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake were an openly lesbian couple in 1800s Vermont, and Walden’s deeply sensitive storytelling gives their romance the emotional weight and reverence it deserves as a foundational moment in U.S. queer history. Walden does meticulous research to bring Charity and Sylvia’s story to the page, incorporating journals, poems, and letters that she found among thousands of documents about the couple in a small Vermont museum 60 miles from Walden’s own home. Walden’s appreciation for the rural Vermont environment shines through in her nature illustrations and the period-accurate detail of the settings, props, and costumes. She has an exceptional understanding of how to manipulate a 3×4 panel grid to convey specific emotions and vary pacing, drawing the reader deeper and deeper into this past community and the headspaces of the titular women.
Charity & Sylvia (Image: Drawn & Quarterly)
Fish And Water by Gengoroh Tagame and Anne M. Ishii (June 23)
The COVID-19 pandemic is arguably the most significant collective trauma of this century, sending shockwaves through every country to reveal how their governments and communities responded to a global health crisis. In-person connections became precious during lockdown, a reminder that in an increasingly digital social environment, we still yearn for the physical presence of others. All of this makes the pandemic ripe material to explore through art, and Gengoroh Tagame’s Fish And Water (Pantheon Books) uses the pandemic as the backdrop for a romance about two “straight” men whose friendship develops into something more. Translated by Anne M. Ishii, Fish And Water delves into the emotional toll of forced isolation and moving through a world where every person is a potential health threat, which makes Koji and Akira’s bond even more of an oasis for the two men. Tagame’s work combines a charming sitcom sensibility with simmering sexual desire, recognizing that humor and heat go hand in hand. It’s also a great story about how food brings people together, and Tagame uses meals to build intimacy by satisfying both physical and emotional hunger.
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