After his father’s death, blue-furred, bipedal creature Twig is reluctantly designated the new Placeling, whom “this world and all the ones beyond are depending on,” in this lightly creepy graphic novel series opener by Young (The Me You Love in the Dark) and Strahm (Into Radness). After arriving late to his first assignment, Twig and his snarky, yellow slug-like companion Splat are given a glowing red gem and instructed to take it to the Pathsayer, a diviner of mystical objects’ origins. But when the pair show up at the Pathsayer’s residence, they find him dead. Using the Pathsayer’s tools, Twig determines the gem’s destination, severely damaging it in the process, and the duo embark on a series of side quests to repair it before a “darkness covering all things” descends upon the world. The narrative’s gentle tone smartly contrasts the art’s occasionally grotesque visuals; in brilliantly hued palettes, Strahm renders distorted landscapes populated by innovative technologies, anthropomorphic ruins, and softly rounded critters sporting an astounding array of teeth. While Young’s plot follows a well-trod quest trajectory, clever tweaks and subversions keep it feeling fresh. Ages 12–up. (Nov.)

Every hero needs help, and Twig is no different. As a placeling, his job is to literally place legendary items along the path for the true heroes to find. But it's Twig's first day, and he will need lots of help. Though he's only supposed to enable the quests of others, he quickly becomes embroiled in his own hero's journey, which treads familiar ground (three magical quests, etc.), but a few unexpected twists along the way keep that journey fresh. While it's not surprising for artwork to elevate a graphic novel, Strahm's vividly colored and wildly imaginative scenes take the story to a whole new level. His adorable and inventive Muppet-like character designs create an instant connection with each character and investment in the journey. Arrestingly beautiful and densely detailed single-panel landscape shots meant to simply document Twig's journey intriguingly build the world far better than words ever could. Twig's journey wraps up neatly and quickly by the end of this volume, so let's hope that he and his friends are off on another adventure soon.