DC Characters Get the YA Treatment

It seems that Marvel and Capstone have started a trend of comic book characters getting YA novels!

Mashable announced yesterday that – in a partnership between DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Consumer Products, and Random House Books for Young Readers – four iconic DC characters will each feature in their own young adult book. Starting in 2017, you will be able to find Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Catwoman in the YA section of your local bookstore.

Random House has rounded up some of their notable, best-selling authors to give the characters new life. Leigh Bardugo (The Grisha Trilogy, Six of Crows) will be writing about Wonder Woman, Marie Lu (The Young Elites) has her sights set on Batman, Matt de la Peña (Mexican Whiteboy) is behind Superman, and Sarah J. Maas (the Throne of Glass series) got Catwoman.

The books will be released in the order listed in the previous paragraph, with Bardugo’s Wonder Woman offering set to hit shelves in August of next year – one month after the scheduled release of the Wonder Woman movie.

According to Random House, the novels will “embrace themes of good vs. evil, coming-of-age romance, and superheroes from unexpected places who have the determination to achieve seemingly impossible dreams.”

As someone who primarily reads YA novels, I am beyond thrilled with this news, especially that the ladies are being given equal billing with the guys. On the heels of similar Black Widow and Lois Lane novels – and the upcoming Captain Marvel book – having both Wonder Woman and Catwoman getting their own titles is something that I am greatly looking forward to. This is a way to explore a lot of themes – hopefully not just romance – that currently affect young women (and women of all ages) by using familiar characters. It’s also a way to get girls into reading – or into comics – and will go a long way in informing mainstream media that superheroes are not just for boys. (So maybe then we can get some Black Widow merchandise – or a movie!)

Not to mention that I have read books by three of the four authors and am already a fan of their work. (I am particularly excited about Wonder Woman! I’ve read everything that Bardugo has written and I cannot wait.)

Personally, I hope they will be more like Gwenda Bond’s Lois Lane series than Margaret Stohl’s Black Widow book, where they are the main characters and not an adult helping to prop up the younger characters’ story.

What do you guys think of this news? Will you be hitting bookstores next year? Which book are you most excited for?

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary