Comics and More

"High By the Beach" by Lana Del Rey

YA may have blown up over the past decade, but it used to be a small section of bookstores.  In the early nineties, it consisted mostly of "teen thrillers," which mostly featured dark mysteries and serial killers, although there was some supernatural fare as well.  The authors of those days were ahead of their time and built an audience in teenagers, and paved the way for the YA that is beloved by so many today. Something I always really enjoyed about browsing for new teen thrillers was the covers.  Like with old video stores, it's fun to pick up a new title that you haven't seen before, drink in the illustrated image (as almost all teen thrillers were illustrations back in the 90's) and read the little teaser line.  It was usually something kind of cheesy like " Now I lay me down to die " (Kate Daniel's Sweet Dreams ), but every once in awhile a line would send a shiver down my back and I would think to myself that the book was going to be awesome...

I've scoured Previews Catalogue for the best of what the upcoming month has in store for comic shops.  Here's what's happening in October... Comic Books Angela: Queen of Hel #1 Marguerite Bennett, Kim Jacinto & Stephanie Hans Art Ops #1 Shaun Simon & Michael Allred Batman and Robin Eternal #1 James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder & Tony S. Daniel Black Magick #1 Greg Rucka & Nicola Scott Blade #1 Tim Seely & Logan Faerber Doctor Strange #1 Jason Aaron & Chris Bachalo Extraordinary X-Men #1 Jeff Lemire & Humberto Ramos Grumpy Cat #1 Ben McCool, Royal McGraw, Elliot Serrano & various Guardians of the Galaxy #1 Brian Michael Bendis & Valerio Schiti Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 Frank Barbiere & Brent Schoonover I Hate Fairyland #1 Skottie Young Invincible Iron Man #1 Brian Michael Bendis & David Marquez Karnac #1 Warren Ellis & Gerardo Zaffino Lu...

YA may have blown up over the past decade, but it used to be a small section of bookstores.  In the early nineties, it consisted mostly of "teen thrillers," which mostly featured dark mysteries and serial killers, although there was some supernatural fare as well.  The authors of those days were ahead of their time and built an audience in teenagers, and paved the way for the YA that is beloved by so many today. I think that what drew me personally to YA was my love for horror movies.  Growing up, I would stay up late watching Friday the 13th marathons and renting slasher films from the video stores.  I think that when I actually read some teen thrillers and realized that they were in the same vein as the movies that I loved so much, I became obsessed.  I'd always really enjoyed reading, but I become a voracious reader with YA books, and blew through the teen sections of bookstores quickly. YA Pioneers Nicole Davidson was one of my favorite YA authors g...