Exclusive: First Second Announces Vera Brosgol’s Plain Jane

The Anya’s Ghost & Be Prepared Cartoonist Returns to Graphic Novel Shelves Winter 2021

Comics Features Vera Brosgol
Exclusive: First Second Announces Vera Brosgol’s Plain Jane

We’re big fans of cartoonist Vera Brosgol around these parts, from her excellently spooky Anya’s Ghost to the all-too-real camp anxiety of Be Prepared, so it’s with great pleasure that we exclusively announce her next graphic novel for younger readers: Plain Jane, slated to hit shelves winter 2021 from publisher First Second. Protagonist Jane, as the title implies, is seemingly on the average side, but must confront that insecurity if she’s to have any hope of rescuing her crush from a sea-dwelling menace.

“I’ve had this book in my head for almost four years and am really excited to finally share it,” Brosgol told Paste. “It’s a completely different world to draw (no classrooms!) and a story that’s both personal and challenging. If you’ve seen me staring out to sea with my brow furrowed, this is why.”

Plain Jane is a few years off just yet, but eager readers can study up on First Second’s official description of the book below, as well as take a first look at Brosgol’s underwater interior art. Is that a selkie we spot? Guess we’ll find out for sure in 2021…

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Plain Jane
Writer/Artist: Vera Brosgol
Publisher: First Second
Release Date: Winter 2021
Jane is 13, looks nothing like your standard plucky heroine, and knows it. She lives in a fictional 18th century Maritimes village with her mean parents and is blamed for her baby brother being lost at sea years ago. But when Peter, her crush, is kidnapped by a beautiful mermaid, she puts aside her insecurities and dives into the sea to rescue him. With three gifts from a village crone, she swims down to find not only the mermaid, but all manner of monsters real and imagined.

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Plain Jane Art by Vera Brosgol

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Plain Jane Art by Vera Brosgol

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Plain Jane Art by Vera Brosgol

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Plain Jane Art by Vera Brosgol

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