I will be the first to admit, I have criticized Marvel over the years for their lack of stories for young readers. Today they took a big step forward in changing that. Marvel will join forces with Scholastic to publish all new original graphic novels for young readers.
It all starts in the Spring of 2021. The launch title will be Miles Morales: Shock Waves. The story will be written by bestselling author Justin A. Reynolds (Opposite of Always and the forthcoming novel, Early Departures) with art by Eisner Award-nominated artist Pablo Leon. In this story, “Miles Morales is a normal school kid who happens to juggle school at Brooklyn Visions Academy while swinging through the streets of Brooklyn as Spider-Man. After a disastrous earthquake strikes his mother’s birthplace of Puerto Rico, Miles springs into action to help set up a fundraiser for the devastated island. But when a new student’s father goes missing, Miles begins to make connections between the disappearance and a giant corporation sponsoring Miles’ fundraiser. Who is behind the disappearance, and how does that relate to Spider-Man?”
Following that will be all-new adventures following Kamala Khan, written by rising graphic novel writer Nadia Shammas, and Shuri, written by New York Times bestselling author Roseanne A. Brown. These stories will all be a part of the Scholastic’s Graphix Media. Marvel and Scholastic had released a couple of stories together before, but this seems like a much larger initiative.
“Our relationship with the Marvel publishing team is a true collaboration and partnership,” said Debra Dorfman, VP & Publisher, Licensing, Media & Brands. “As we grow our OGN list in licensing under Graphix Media, we can’t think of a better team to work with. How lucky are we to have Justin A. Reynolds and Pablo Leon collaborating on the first book about Miles Morales? We are equally as thrilled to welcome Nadia Shammas and Roseanne A. Brown to Scholastic.”
“After launching our prose novels with Scholastic earlier this year, we’ve seen a huge demand for more Marvel stories and entry points into the Marvel Universe,” said Sven Larsen, Vice President, Licensed Publishing, Marvel. “These middle grade OGNs are the perfect next step to bring more readers in with the visual storytelling Marvel fans know and love. We’re thrilled to build our collaboration with Scholastic and tell brand-new stories that represent the world around us, both through our characters and the creative teams behind them. We can’t wait to introduce you to this next chapter for Marvel’s heroes.”
More information will be shared about these releases in the coming months.
Photo Credit: Marvel/Scholastic