In this month’s roundup Marissa and Iurgi go through some of the latest news, their recent reads and their favourite picks from this month’s crop of new titles.
01:04 News in brief
04:22 Recent reads:
14:07 News:
A debut manga about a second-hand bookshop owner has won the top prize at Japan’s prestigious Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prizes, highlighting new talent and stories centred on book culture.
Rainbow reads - since June is Pride Month, several organisations have put together lists of not-to-miss LGBTQ+ titles. School Library Journal, NY Public Library, Global Comix; NYPL’s list of suggested reads for adults included Australian author Campbell Whyte’s recent release Luna Express, set in Perth and featuring magical girls kicking butt in the moonlight
A panel explores graphic medicine, showing how comics communicate health experiences, combining storytelling, art, and science to humanise illness, support education, and connect audiences.
Lee Lai’s graphic novel Cannon continues to win. Taking the top prize at the 2026 Doug Wright Awards, highlighting excellence in Canadian comics and celebrating emerging and established creators.
For people living in Melbourne, there’s a new indie comics festival in town. MAKE, the Melbourne Alternative Comics Expo will be taking place in October. The full program is not out yet, but the festival has announced it will go for three days.
ALIA Graphic’s Notable Australian Graphic Novels of 2025 list is out now. This year, for a second time the notables were judged by a judging panel from all across Australia. Library staff who put their hand up to help us judge and decide the most outstanding graphic novels by Australian creators from last year. The ALIA Graphic committee wants to sincerely thank everyone who volunteered, read the graphic novels and gave us their thoughts and reviews. We really appreciate it and congratulations to all the Notables and to all Australian creators. Check out the notables list here: https://graphic.alia.org.au/notables-lists/
28:30 New titles:
Billie B Brown’s Secret Mystery Club Book 1: Spooky House by Sally Rippin, Aki Fukuoka (Figment Books)
Lore Olympus: Volume Ten by Rachel Smythe (Inklore)
Encore! by Miles Toriko Burks (HarperCollins)
Unordinary Vol. 4 by uru-chan (Harper Collins)
Ichi the Witch Vol. 2 by: Osamu Nishi, Shiro Usazaki (VIZ Media)
Fish and Water by Gengoroh Tagame (Pantheon Graphic Library)
Charity and Sylvia by Tillie Walden (Drawn & Quarterly)
To stay up to date, for the full roundup of news, resources and new titles and our social media links visit our website: https://graphic.alia.org.au/
The ALIA Graphic Groove Theme 2025 courtesy of Clint Owen Ellis https://www.clintowenellis.com/
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