Barbara Yelin, ILYA, Kay Medaglia and Myfanwy Tristram all feature on the publishing schedule of SelfMadeHero for Spring 2026.
SELFMADEHERO ANNOUNCE NEW GRAPHIC NOVEL TITLES FOR SPRING 2026
SelfMadeHero is delighted to announce an eclectic and stimulating quintet of new graphic novels for Spring 2026 from UK, French, and German creators. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved classic The Little Prince is reimagined by France’s eminent comics creator Joann Sfar in this 80th anniversary edition (March 2026). In February, comics creator ILYA brings us Romo the WolfBoy, a new series set at Blimey O’Riley’s Travelling Circus where a stagehand and a strange, wild boy find themselves investigating a paranormal mystery. Both titles continue our range of graphic novels for younger readers.
Moving on to more serious real-life subjects for adults, Barbara Yelin’s Emmie Arbel: The Colour of Memory – the haunting testimony of a Holocaust survivor – sees its release in early 2026, followed in May by Noisy Valley, Myfanwy Tristram’s stirring work of graphic journalism exploring the right to protest, told by people who raised their voices and demanded to be heard.
Finally, on a lighter note, Kay Medaglia, the creator of the popular One Year Wiser series, is back with Comic Therapy, a new collection of powerful inspirational meditations to lift our spirits and keep us all sane, centred, and cheerful.
THE LITTLE PRINCE
A graphic novel adapted from the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Original Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Adaptor / Artist: Joann Sfar Translator: Sarah Ardizzone
Harback / 120pp / Colour ISBN: 9781914224461
UK pub date: 19 March 2026
Price: UK £16.99
Meet the original Boy Who Fell to Earth. Stranded in the Sahara Desert, an aircraft pilot meets a strange little boy who tells him of his journey from another world. The Little Prince, by the French writer, illustrator, and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was written and published during the Second World War, to immediate acclaim, and its classic status has been embraced ever since. Whether as a children’s fairy tale or an existentialist fable, religious parable or political allegory, the “secret treasure” of its complex simplicity has only unfolded further truths over the years, like the petals of the precious flower of friendship it celebrates.
Vividly realized here, for yet another new generation, by the award-winning graphic novelist Joann Sfar, this stunning adaptation celebrates the 80th anniversary of its French edition, and confirms its wisdom of ages: that life (and love) can be hard; that “grown-ups are very strange”; and that our precious planet is intrinsic with our universal Nature.
De Saint-Exupéry’s aircraft disappeared in the wartime skies over the Mediterranean in July 1944, and his death has remained a mystery ever since. “The only reason to speak in riddles,” he wrote, in this prophetic masterpiece, “is to solve them.”
Joann Sfar was born in Nice in 1971. After gaining a degree in philosophy, and enrolling at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, he attended the Nawak workshop, where he met such artists as Lewis Trondheim, Emmanuel Guibert, and Christophe Blain. He published his first graphic novel in 1994, and has since produced over 130 titles, including Petit Vampire (Little Vampire), Le Chat du Rabbin (The Rabbi’s Cat), Donjon (Dungeon), and Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince). Whether in children’s stories or erotica, action fantasy or meditative reflection, he brings a total originality to all genres, and breathes new life into the comic form. His creative energy has also taken him to other media – to literature, radio drama, painting, and film, notably with Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life and the animated adaptations of his Chat du Rabbin and Petit Vampire.
ROMO THE WOLFBOY
Author: ILYA
Hardback / 256pp / Colour ISBN: 978-1-914224-44-7
Price: UK £25 / US $29.99 / CAN $37.95
UK pub date: 19 February 2026 US pub date: 1 September 2026
Romo, rumoured to be a wolf boy taken from the wild, and a young stagehand named Francis are the two newest members of Blimey O’Riley’s Travelling Circus. Together they will become Criminologists Extraordinaire, Specialists in the Paranormal – but this is only their first adventure…
When the circus comes to town in Victorian England, repeated acts of sabotage by a mysterious, giggling culprit turn Romo and Francis from rivals to friends. Can they work together to solve this baffling case, and even become a top act in the meantime?
ILYA (Ed Hillyer) is a comic book writer and artist whose work has been published by Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Image in the US, Kodansha in Japan, and numerous independent companies worldwide. His graphic novels include: Manga Shakespeare: King Lear, Skidmarks, Room for Love, Kid Savage, and the award-winning End of the Century Club series. His illustration clients have included the BBC, the Royal Academy of Arts, The Times and Guardian newspapers, and East End Life. ILYA was also the editor of the Mammoth Book of Best New Manga series, and his first prose novel, The Clay Dreaming, was published by Myriad Editions.
EMMIE ARBEL: The Colour of Memory
Author: Barbara Yelin
Editors: Charlotte Schallié and Alexander Korb Translator: Helge R. Dascher
Hardback / 192pp / Colour ISBN: 9781914224423
PRICE: UK £19.99 / US $27.99 / CAN $34.99
UK pub date: 22 January 2026, US pub date: 17 March 2026
Arrested with her family in her native Holland, deported, held in a series of Nazi concentration camps, and orphaned – all by the age of seven – Emmie Arbel transformed her childhood survival into a lifelong mission to stand against any such other horrors. With her home now in Israel, to where she and her brother emigrated with their foster-parents in the wake of the Holocaust, she still frequently travels abroad to report and record her testimony.
Working closely with Emmie herself, the acclaimed German graphic artist Barbara Yelin has created a brilliant portrait – what she calls a “visual biography” – of this remarkable woman: her rebellious spirit, her resilient humour, the seriousness of her contemplation. “Surviving is not over,” Emmie reflects. “Surviving is every day.”
Emmie Arbel: The Colour of Memory is at once a haunting portrayal of a historical atrocity; an inspiring account of a modern friendship; a beautiful work of art; and a meditation on memory itself. Because, as Barbara Yelin has put it, “The long arms of history wrap right around the present.”
Barbara Yelin was born in 1977 in Munich, and studied illustration at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. She became known as a comic book artist in France for Le Visiteur (The Visitor, 2004) and Le Retard (Delay, 2006). Her first publication in Germany was Gift (2010, with a text by Peer Meter), the story of a historical crime that brought her work to the attention of a wider audience. Her subsequent career has included her popular comic strip Riekes Notizen (Rieke’s Notes), first printed in the daily newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau in 2011, and The Summer of Her Life (with Thomas von Steinaecker, SelfMadeHero, 2020). Her graphic novel Irmina (SelfMadeHero, 2016) received an Eisner nomination. She lives and works in Munich.
TITLE: NOISY VALLEY: The Art of Protest
Author: Myfanwy Tristram
Paperback / 144pp / Colour ISBN: 9781914224430
Price: UK £14.99 / US $20.99 / CAN $25.99
UK pub date: 14 May 2026; US pub date: 19 May 2026
“It’s about what ordinary people do, because what we do… is quite extraordinary.”
Protest matters, and never more so than today – and yet our rights around dissent have been eroded in law. Noisy Valley is a beautifully illustrated work of graphic non-fiction exploring the importance of protest, and what it can achieve, through the voices of one vibrant community.
In every neighbourhood there are the activists, the ones who raise their voices. Myfanwy Tristram visited the Rhondda Valley in South Wales, inviting local people to recount their memories of the times they’d refused to take things lying down. Noisy Valley is the result: a graphic retelling of protests both past and present.
The area is best known for the miners’ strikes of the 1980s (and their support from the LGBT movement as documented in the film Pride), but its spirit of righteous dissent continues to rise against injustice. These stories tell how communities and individuals pushed back on a landfill site that poisoned local streams, a waste processing plant that destroyed an area of natural beauty, sexism in the workplace, and the closure of the local hospital. We dip into the historic Aldermaston marches and the Greenham women’s peace camp too.
Noisy Valley is a testament to protestors who – whatever the political climate – have believed in their power to get things changed.
Myfanwy Tristram is a graphic novelist based in Brighton, UK, whose work focuses on activism and social history. Her comics have been shortlisted for several awards. In 2017, she co-ordinated and published Draw the Line, depicting more than 100 simple actions to help change the world. Noisy Valley was shortlisted for the UK’s prestigious First Graphic Novel Award.
COMIC THERAPY: Meditations for Reflection
Author: Kay Medaglia
Hardback / 128pp / Colour ISBN: 9781914224393
Price: UK £13.99 / US $18.99 / CAN $23.99
UK pub date: 2 April 2026; US pub date: 7 April 2026
In Comic Therapy, readers will find a range of comic strips that blend heartwarming messages and gentle wit, creating a space where readers can unwind, laugh, and feel inspired – all within a few panels.
The charm of this collection of homely homilies lies in its ability to address real-life challenges with a sense of optimism, focusing on themes like self-compassion, resilience, and mindfulness. Each of its beautifully imagined sequences serves as a temporary retreat from the pressures and anxieties of daily life, with each page offering a blend of encouragement and humour. By using visual storytelling, Comic Therapy engages readers in a non-intrusive yet impactful way, inviting them to pause, smile, and reconnect with their inner calm.
This book is an invaluable resource for anyone looking for a momentary escape, a laugh in tough times, or a much-needed boost of positivity. Whether read all at once or savoured a little at a time, Comic Therapy builds into a toolkit of emotional wellness, and a perfect go-to for personal reflection, or to share with a friend in need of a cheerful lift.
Into a world filled with noise Comic Therapy sends a quiet voice of compelling reassurance, reminding us that it’s always OK to pause, reflect, and enjoy a light-hearted moment.
Kay Medaglia is the prolific author and illustrator behind the award-winning four-book One Year Wiser series from SelfMadeHero, and the creator of the best-selling Luna Sol Tarot. They have also contributed to the Huffington Post and the Elephant Journal. Originally from Ontario, Canada, Kay has lived in the UK for the past 18 year
