May 2023

Asian-American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month


May is AAPI Heritage Month, and to celebrate, we are spotlighting our favorite graphic novels created by Asian American & Pacific Islander American creators! AAPI Heritage Month was created to recognize the contributions and influence of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans to the history of the United States. 


By no means is this list exhaustive! Is there a graphic novel that you love that wasn't included in this list? Let us know over on social media @oxfordcomics!


Descender by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen


Following the story of TIM-21, a young robot traveling across space with his companions as they struggle to stay alive in a universe where robots have been outlawed and bounty hunters lurk on every planet. 


Written by Jeff Lemire with beautiful water-color illustrations by Dustin Nguyen, Descender is a heart felt space odyssey that questions what it truly means to be human.


For fans already caught up on Descender, check out the sequel series Ascender or their new collab book, Little Monsters


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Little Monsters TPB Volume 01 (Mature)
$16.99

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen


The Magic Fish is a semi-autobiographical debut graphic novel. It follows a young boy named Tiến Phong, a second generation Vietnamese-American. Tiến helps his mother learn english through the use of fairy tales while he struggles to tell her about his own sexuality. This beautifully illustrated graphic novel speaks to the complexity of family and how stories can bring us together even when we don’t know the words.


Although this is Nguyen's debut novel, he has done work for both Marvel and DC. 

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Made In Korea TPB (Mature)
$16.99

Made in Korea by Jeremy Holt


A Korean nine-year-old named Jesse is adopted and sent to live with a lovely couple in America. Equipped with a seemingly encyclopedic brain but socially awkward, the young girl’s journey through the complexities of race, gender, and identity hits a fork in the road when she discovers she’s not entirely human…yet. Adolescence just got a lot more emotional for the world’s first true A.I. system.


Jeremy Holt has received high praise from fellow comic writers such as Brian K. Vaughan (Saga, Paper Girl. If you loved this series already, check out more of their books!

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After Houdini Graphic Novel Volume 01
$16.99
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Skinned Hardcover Graphic Novel
$24.99

Monstress by Majorie Liu & Sana Takeda


Steampunk meets Kaiju in this original fantasy epic for mature readers. Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900's Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers.


Previously a lawyer, Liu now teaches comic book writing at MIT. She also has done extensive work for Marvel including X-23 and Black Widow. 

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Nyx TPB No Way Home
$19.99
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Monstress TPB Volume 01 (Mature)
$9.99
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Paper Girls TPB Volume 01
$9.99

Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan & Cliff Chiang


In the early hours after Halloween of 1988, four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls uncover the most important story of all time. Suburban drama and otherworldly mysteries collide in this smash-hit series about nostalgia, first jobs, and the last days of childhood.


Chiang's work can also be seen in DC's Catwoman Lonely City and Wonder Woman. 

The Good Asian by Pornsak Pichetshote, Alexandre Tefenkgi, & Lee Loghridge


Following Edison Hark—a haunted, self-loathing Chinese-American detective—on the trail of a killer in 1936 Chinatown, THE GOOD ASIAN is Chinatown noir starring the first generation of Americans to come of age under an immigration ban, the Chinese, as they’re besieged by rampant murders, abusive police, and a world that seemingly never changes.


Pichetshote and Tefenkgi have crafted a brilliant story that sheds light on a dark time in American history; the largely forgotten Chinese Exclusion Act while bringing San Francisco’s 1930’s China Town to life


Pichetshote is currently writing the mini-series Dead Boy Detectives from DC and you can find more of Tefenkgi's work in Outpost Zero.

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Outpost Zero TPB Volume 01
$14.99
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Good Asian TPB Volume 01 (Mature)
$16.99
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Many Deaths Of Laila Starr TPB
$14.99

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V & Filipe Andrade


A powerful new series for fans of The Wicked + The Divine and The Dreaming from Ram V (Justice League Dark) and Filipe Andrade (Captain Marvel) that explores the fine line between living and dying in Mumbai through the lens of magical realism. 


With humanity on the verge of discovering immortality, the avatar of Death is fired and relegated to the world below to live out her now-finite days in the body of twenty-something Laila Starr in Mumbai. Struggling with her new-found mortality, Laila has found a way to be placed in the time and place where the creator of immortality will be born...  but will Laila take her chance to permanently reverse the course of (future) history...or does a more shocking fate await her?


Ram V is a powerhouse of a writer that has done extensive work for DC, including Swamp Thing and the current run of Detective Comics. 

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Blue In Green Graphic Novel (Mature)
$17.99