There’s a 1 on the spine of Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him. Jake Spooky is a punk rock ghost. He’s got the surly soul of today’s teens and throws up wolves, at least in this first book does that. Jake lives with Brand-O, a cool, flip-flop-wearing human with an old-school television as his head and an upright walking cat who doesn’t speak much, named Quincy. Elementary school graphic novel readers-Are you not entertained? If a graphic novel were a character in a movie, then Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him is Maximus Decimus. Its absurd, playful content gleefully runs circles around other early reader, graphic novels. Amidst all of this running, it still has the bandwidth to ask an obvious question, and yes, we are.
The DNA of Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him is shared with Deeply Dave. Deeply Dave was one of our favorite graphic novels of 2025. Michael Grover’s latest graphic novel proves that there’s something in the water. Specifically, it’s something in his water that allows him to think so far outside of the box. Jake Spooky, much like last year’s release, seems to veer out of control at times and will leave some readers trying to follow the plot.
However, it only appears to lose control. A manic graphic novel isn’t something that every young reader will gravitate towards or fully appreciate the first time they read it. Some young readers like their main characters in capes or household pets taking on big personalities and riffing fart metaphors. If that’s the only type of graphic novel that you enjoy then Jake Spooky might be a tough sell for you to dig. The jokes in Jake Spooky aren’t as obvious as some of the ones in its alluded contemporaries.
Can you laugh or smirk at the idea of a giant-sized punk rock ghost on the moon about to eat dozens of wolves that it regurgitated? Just before doing so, it bemoans that fact in a very deadpan fashion by saying, “But this is my burden.” And you may ask yourself, how is it that the punk rock ghost came to be on the moon? And you may ask yourself, why does this ghost get sick with wolves coming from its bile? And you may say to yourself, “what if this trio played music on the beach to a horde of wolves?”
But then, you’ll question how Jake, the punk rock ghost ended up on the moon. But, before you can posit that query you need to find out what precipitated, Morgan Fray, the local meteorologist to issue a fake forecast.
Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him is a great graphic novel. It’s certainly one of the best graphic novels of 2026. The plot in Jake Spooky moves so quickly that a one-sentence description doesn’t do it justice. Imagine a wonderful meal where there’s a bite of your top ten favorite foods. There’s some sashimi, pizza, eggs, lobster, shrimp, tofu, sushi, okonomiyaki, Fruit Loops, walnuts, chocolate or whatever. It’s a recipe that makes no sense when its ingredients are listed, but is oh-so delicious when you eat it. A kind of inexplicable enjoyment akin to Sid and Marty Kroft, Itchy & Scratchy (except without the violence), Adventure Time, Lancelot Link, Get Smart or The Amazing World of Gumball.
Those examples are television shows, but the feeling of reading something so original, fresh, and almost otherworldly is the same. It grabs your attention. You try not to pay attention to it, because you’re busy or don’t care about books, but its bright pink, black and white cover draws you in like an Anglerfish. The same three colors are used inside the book too, with pink only being used occasionally, and mainly by the punk rock ghost. Your curiosity gets the better of you, and Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him sucks another (reluctant) reader into its vortex. The number 1 on the book’s spine implies that there are more stories in the cannon. The part of your elementary school brain that used to silently mock kids who wanted to read, now wants to see what those kids have in their backpacks. This is great stuff. It might take those kids aged eight and up a moment to realize it, but they will.
Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him is by Michael Grover and is available on Toon Books, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers.
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