Bobby Joseph's Graphic Novel List For Libraries
The Comics Laureate chooses his favourites Part One
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Bobby Joseph has chosen his graphic novel list for libraries which has a distinctly UK Comic Creators flavour for the Year of Reading 2026. This is part one of his choices. Don’t forget you can also get Tara Togs The Silence of Unicorns, JM Barries Peter Pan and the ComicScene Yearbook at our store here (or via Gardners)
Milk White Steed by Michael Kennedy
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly.
A series of individuals leave the West Indies and attempt to find their footing in the damp dinge of England’s counties. A child on his daily trike ride is stalked by a sinister, shape-shifting ligahoo. A blues singer’s wife hallucinates untoward revelations in the grips of high yellow fever when she inhales spores from psychedelic mushrooms growing unchecked in their apartment. A man dwells on his absent father, paints the man into a duppy myth, and bears the consequences of this fantastical undertaking.
Bone Broth by Alex Taylor
Publisher: SelfMadeHero
In this coming-of-age queer thriller, the young transmasculine Ash begins his transition into adult life by landing his first job at a ramen-noodle shop in London, prepping the bone broth. But as the financial landscape shifts under Ash’s feet, and after months of bonding with a series of challenging co-workers, everything suddenly stops dead. Literally. At a drunken staff party, Ash’s bullying boss turns up dead, and everyone’s been taking selfies with the corpse. Good thing Ash has already spent a year on the job…
Sensory: Life on the Spectrum: An Autistic Comics Anthology by Bex Ollerton and others
Publisher: Andrew McNeel Publishing
From artist and curator Bex Ollerton comes an anthology featuring comics from thirty autistic creators about their experiences of living in a world that doesn’t always understand or accept them. Sensory: Life on the Spectrum contains illustrated explorations of everything from life pre-diagnosis to tips on how to explain autism to someone who doesn’t have it, to suggestions for how to soothe yourself when you’re feeling overstimulated. With unique, vibrant comic-style illustrations and the emotional depth and vulnerability of memoir, this book depicts these varied experiences with the kind of insight that only those who have lived them can have.
The Witch’s Egg by Donya Todd
Publisher: Avery Hill
It was a spiderweb moon. And the imps did wonder. What dark delights wouldst the cat-witch conjure. By the Sardine Queen, by salt and the devil, by blackwormy earth, and by the deep, dark sea, the catwitch Urfi conjures an angel to love her and have children with her. But angels aren't meant for love, and with the embryonic egg of their unborn children, Urfi flees from her partner's violence, enduring terrible trials to find a new and safe home in the faery forest. As her children, Isobel, Batzel, and Mazel, grow up with her, they find the horrors their mother endured during her flight to the forest returning to their lives - this time for the three of them to defeat for good. With secret magic, solemn bonds of friendship, and sisterhood, they can at last stand against the threat of the angels' terror and insanity. A gorgeous intergenerational family story of promises made, promises kept, and a mother who would do anything to protect her daughters.
Grand Slam Romance by Ollie Hicks and Emma Oosterhous Publisher: Abrams ComicArts
Mickey Monsoon is the hotshot pitcher for the Belle City Broads, and their team is poised to sweep the league this season. But Mickey is thrown off their game when Astra Maxima shows up to catch for the Gaiety Gals, the Broads’ fiercest rival.
Years ago, Mickey and Astra were best friends . . . and maybe more. That was until Astra unceremoniously dumped Mickey to become a softball wunderkind at a private girl’s school in Switzerland. Now, Astra is flirty, arrogant, and reckless on the field—everything the rule-abiding Mickey hates.
Astra thinks Mickey’s cute and wants to fool around, despite their rocky history and the trail of jilted softballers that Astra leaves in her wake. Too bad the only thing Mickey wants is vengeance for their broken heart and wounded pride! But even they have to admit—Astra is a certified babe. And that’s not all: Astra isn’t just a softball superstar, she’s a full-fledged magical girl.
Full of wet mitts, hard hits, and a bevy of softball-playing babes, Grand Slam Romance: Book 1 is a flawless home run that is sure to knock readers out of the park.
Downlands By Norm Konyu
Publisher: Titan Comics
“Every village has its stories – those of the living – and those of the dead.”
After the sudden death of his twin sister, 14 year old James Reynolds becomes obsessed with her tale of a black hound, a folkloric creature that is regarded as a portent of death. Enlisting the aid of his elderly neighbour, who the local children call ‘The Witch’, he delves into the centuries of village history, folklore, and ghosts, until he uncovers a deeper secret beyond his darkest nightmares, beyond the sight of most, and beyond the mortal veil.
Set in the South Downs of England, a place that has been home to Celts, Romans, and Vikings, James’s story is interwoven with tales from his village that also blur the line between the living and the dea.
Phenomenomix by Hunt Emerson
Publisher: Knockabout Comics
Comics pages about Unexplained Phenomena. Hunt Emerson has drawn these pages for Fortean Times magazine since the mid-1980s; they're about the weird things that happen in the world - Vampires, Ghosts, Faeries, UFOs, Werewolves, Folk Beliefs, Miracles, Mystery Smells, Unknown Animals, Megaliths - all put through his comics filter... well, they make Hunt laugh! Many of the Unexplained Phenomena are based on some sort of documentary evidence. Just as many are invented by Emerson. He loves that marginal world. This book has been a long-term ambition of his: to present a selection of PHENOMENOMIX strips in a luxury comics album. An avalanche of comics, to be read by the fireside.
The Most Amazing Saturday Morning Rubbish Club by Bill Tuckey and Francisco de la Mora
Publisher: SelfMadeHero.
The Most Amazing Saturday Morning Rubbish Club is a creative collaboration between a writer and illustrator, both of whom have first-hand experience of parenting children with Special Needs, and therefore puts the lived experience of S.E.N.D. children at centre-stage. Its inspirational storyline appealing to parents and children, tells how three very different kids, each with their different needs and subject to the same low expectations, come to share their own unique skills to achieve their goals. These spirited characters meet in the park and unite to establish a litter-picking scheme. Touching, funny, and beautiful, this unique collaboration is indeed… most amazing.
Coma by Zara Slattery
Publisher: Myriad Editions
The world of Zara’s 15-day drug-induced coma, which she describes as ‘being trapped in a nightmare state that you can’t wake up from’ is rendered as a full-colour fantasy, with mythological creatures appearing out of nowhere as she battles to protect her three children against the forces of evil that threaten to engulf her. Meanwhile, her husband Dan tries to keep family life going as he faces the most difficult task of all: preparing the children for the likely loss of their mother. His diary, and that of the nurses in the Intensive Care Unit, who kept of record of Zara’s illness, interweave to make a heartbreaking graphic memoir.An extract from COMA was shortlisted for the Myriad First Graphic Novel Competition 2018 and longlisted for the Laydeez Do Comics Awards 2019.
Silk Cotton by Colleen Douglas
Rosarium Publishing
Peter has always been told “the stories” like every child in the Caribbean. The tales of the ancients bound to the Silk Cotton tree, the Supernatural monsters of Myths and Legends, whispered in hush tones lest the speaker be heard and meet with an untimely fate. Then the day arrived, when the woman who had been his “mother” is struck down by something that could only have come from his worst nightmares. Now Peter’s once ordered world crashes into stark reality. Grace Silk Cotton, the legendary Supernatural Churlie Queen and enforcer between the worlds, is his real mother. The Monsters are real, Peter is one himself, and the prophetic fight for supremacy, survival, the stories, and SILK COTTON has begun.
With thanks to John Freeman at DownTheTubes