By Zack Quaintance — DC Comics Spring 2023 YA graphic novels lineup has arrived, featuring characters Lois Lane, Harley Quinn, and Static from the Milestone Universe. The publisher has unveiled plot summaries, release dates, and creative teams for all three, which continue the publisher’s YA pattern of delivering new, modern takes on established characters from interesting and dynamic creative teams.

As you’ll see below, the three books in DC Comics Spring 2023 YA graphic novel lineup are varied. We’ve got the text from DC’s official announcement for the lineup below. Leading the way is Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story, which sees writer Sarah Kuhn returning to the DC Universe to team with artist Arielle Jovellanos, a rising star who illustrated last year’s excellent graphic novel, Black Star. You can find all the info about that one — as well as the Harley Quinn and Static books — below…

Enjoy!

DC Spring 2023 YA Books

Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story
Writer: Sarah Kuhn
Artist: Arielle Jovellanos
Publication Date: 4/4/2023 
Pricing: $16.99 US / $22.99 CAN.

Writer Sarah Kuhn (From Little Tokyo with Love) returns to the DC Universe with Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story. With expressive and lively art by Arielle Jovellanos (Black Star), Girl Taking Over follows Lois, an ambitious small town girl tackling summer in the big city with gusto. Lois is excited about her internship, her cosmopolitan apartment, and the future she sees unfolding before her, only to find that things rarely go according to plan. 

When Lois uncovers a potentially explosive scandal, she must team up with the last person she’d expect to publish her own website for young women. And as Lois discovers who she really is and what she actually wants, she becomes embroiled in her own scandal that could destroy everything she's worked so hard to create.

On sale April 4, 2023, Girl Taking Over is a charming young adult original graphic novel about finding the strength to embrace the messiness of life.

The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley
Writer: Melissa Marr
Artist: Jenn St-Onge
Publication Date: 5/2/2023 
Pricing: $16.99 US / $22.99 CAN.

Harleen Quinzel is many things, a gymnast, anxious, broke—but is it possible there is something else inside her? Something… evil?

 In The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley, on sale May 2, 2023, New York Times Bestselling author Melissa Marr (Wicked Lovely) and celebrated artist Jenn St-Onge (Bingo Love) dive into the battle between good and evil and find they’re not black and white (and red).

When Harleen signs up to participate in a clinical research trial with her girlfriend, Pamela, the most she can hope for is extra cash in her wallet and a chance to get her anxiety under control. But what she gets instead are increasingly larger gaps in her memory and stolen mementos from some guy named Jack she’s never met. Soon, Harleen discovers she’s sharing her life with Harley—a take-no-prisoners, who-cares-about attendance, maybe-we-oughtta-save-the-bunnies kind of girl. She is the opposite of Harleen in many ways. She is anarchy in a cute dress. And in this Jekyll and Hyde story, Harleen discovers that maybe evil ain’t so bad—as long as she doesn’t get caught.

Static: Up All Night
Writer: Lamar Giles
Artist: Paris Alleyne
Release Date: 6/6/2023
Pricing: $16.99 US / $22.99 CAN.

Finally, on sale June 6, 2023, Static, Milestone’s most popular super hero, makes his graphic novel debut in Static: Up All Night. Written by two-time Edgar Award finalist Lamar Giles (Not So Pure And Simple) with art by Eisner Award-winning Paris Alleyne (The All-Nighter), Static—AKA Virgil Hawkins—discovers that even Super Hero abilities can’t mend a broken heart.

Virgil Hawkins has just gone through a bad break up. He can’t get over his ex, so his best friend Richie has an idea for how to distract him: attend a music festival in their city of Dakota. But wouldn’t you know it—his ex is in attendance. And that’s just the beginning of his troubles.

In this madcap story of one night, a series of encounters and events leads to an adventure involving Super-Villains, a diner, a reluctant rapper, and a size-changing kleptomaniac, as well as Virgil’s frequent bad decision making. The roster features some familiar faces from both the Dakotaverse and the Static Shock animated series in a coming of age tale about the cost of being a hero, and what’s possible when you have friends you can count on.

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He has written about comics for The Beat and NPR Books, among others. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.