EXPLORER HC (2025)

Seven author/artists tie their scary or exhilarating nautical adventures to metaphorical underpinnings. Captain Ahab-like obsession with catching the big one leads a sailor into a cave that is really a giant mouth. One young castaway meets a crab ghost. Another meets someone she never expected to see: an older version of herself. A young island girl is lured to join tiki-masked celebrants who turn out to be dead. Beautifully drawn, each artist works in a different style, but all share humor, suspense, and a buoyant tone. Young readers will be entertained, and maybe a little scared, by this one-of-a-kind, alone-on-an-island tales of mystery and magic.

"A bullied boy discovers a door guarded by a sly monster . . . A painting of a door opens in a forgotten Egyptian tomb . . . A portal in the park promises to turn you into a much cooler version 2.0-if you can just get the bugs out . . . Edited by New York Times bestselling comics creator Kazu Kibuishi, who is also a contributor, the third volume in this highly praised series gathers some of the foremost and fastest-rising talents in comics for kids: Jen Wang (Koko Be Good), Johane Matte (Explorer: The Mystery Boxes), Steve Hamaker (colorist of Jeff Smith's Bone series), Faith Erin Hicks (Friends with Boys), DougHolgate (Zack Proton series), and Jason Caffoe (Explorer: The Lost Islands and Flight). Readers maynever walk into a room the same way again. "