Marvel Partners With Scholastic For Young Adult Graphic Novel Line

There has been an explosion of all-ages and young adult comics over the past few years and the industry has definitely taken notice. Marvel is getting in on the action with a partnership with Scholastic to create a line of graphic novels for young readers beginning in Spring 2021. The multi-year deal will create books based on heroes such as Miles Morales, Kamala Khan, and Shuri. These will be launched as part of Scholastic’s Graphix Media line, building off of the prose collaboration program that began this year.

The first title from this partnership will be Miles Morales: Shock Waves from writer Justin A. Reynolds and artist Pablo Leon. It follows Miles as he juggles his life as a normal school kid at Brooklyn Visions Academy while swinging through the streets of Brooklyn as Spider-Man. When a disastrous earthquake hits his mother’s birthplace of Puerto Rico, Miles sets up a fundraiser to help. Things change when a new student’s father goes missing. Miles starts to make connections between the disappearance and a giant corporation sponsoring his fundraiser. Who is behind all this? How do they relate to Spider-Man?
“Ever since he entered the Marvel Universe a few years ago, Miles has struck a deep and personal chord with fans around the world,” said Lauren Bisom, Editor of Marvel’s juvenile publishing. “As Spider-Man, he embodies that classic coming-of-age story. But as Miles, he represents so much more—and his life experiences, his culture, and his ability to embrace his inner strength make him one of the most important and inspirational heroes in the Marvel Universe.”
Miles Morales: Shock Waves will be followed by a Kamala Khan original graphic novel written by Nadia Shammas and a Shuri book written by Roseanne A. Brown. More details will be released about these in the coming months.
“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.”
“The first books in our collaboration with Marvel have been enthusiastically received by critics and readers alike,” added Michael Petranek, Executive Editor and Manager, Graphix Media. “We are thrilled to bring fans of these amazing characters more stories to enjoy. We can’t wait to take our readers on new adventures and expand the breadth of our storytelling with Marvel.”
“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.”
I love this idea because kids love comics. It’s a no-brainer. The partnership with Scholastic is a good move as it has such a direct connection to the kids market. Just think of all the book fair flyers you get from school. This is a way to get in front of a huge amount of potential readers. As a parent of two kids who love super heroes and reading about them, I can’t wait to check these out.