Award-winning Oregon comic shops to launch adult and children’s monthly subscription box services in summer 2026
Katie Pryde and Andréa Gilroy–proprietors of the award-winning comic shops Books With Pictures in Portland and Eugene, OR–are thrilled to announce the launch of the Graphic Novel Library. The new nation-wide subscription box shares the stores’ ongoing efforts to build community and literacy to a national audience.
Inspired by their combined decades of expertise as comic shop retailers, educators, and scholars, Pryde and Gilroy carefully curate one newly released graphic novel in each monthly subscription box. In addition, each box includes discussion questions, exclusive prints and bookmarks, and even miniature papercraft versions of each title.
“We want to lead with delight, from the experience of opening each subscription box, to settling in to read, to exploring the nuances of each book within a community of other readers,” says Pryde. “For both kids and adults, building a robust reading habit has to start with pleasure.”
The Graphic Novel Library extends Books with Pictures’ mission to find comics and graphic novels for everyone–both longtime enthusiasts looking for something new and curious readers figuring out where to begin. And while Pryde and Gilroy insist on the element of surprise as part of the experience, first several months will include work from publishers across the world of sequential art, including Drawn & Quarterly, Oni Press, DC Comics, Fantagraphics, and more.
Gilroy explains: “We both read very broadly, and we believe that part of what makes the medium of graphic novels so spectacular is how it works across all genres. We want to share that breadth with our subscribers, who can expect to receive a surreal slice-of-life one month, a superhero romance the next, and then historical fiction, or maybe a memoir.”
Community is also a big part of the joy of comics, and Graphic Novel Library subscribers will also have access to both in-person and virtual book club meet-ups, via a dedicated and moderated Discord server.
“Lots of us have had a hard time finding our way back to community in the strange years since the COVID lockdowns. Among other things, the Graphic Novel Library wants to provide a space for that,” says Pryde. “As we build our membership, we look forward to connecting with libraries, cafes, and other spaces to host Graphic Novel Library book clubs across the country.”
The initial subscription boxes will be shipped out in the first week of June 2026, with new ones following each month. The children’s box is $20 a month, and adult subscriptions are $25 a month. Subscriptions are available through graphicnovellibrary.org.
Katie Pryde is a queer single mom who has lived in Portland since 2009. Katie has worked and volunteered in bike advocacy, literary publishing, education, and tech. She has been running the award-winning Books with Pictures full time since May 2016. She is also a leader in the broader comics retail community, serving on the board of ComicsPro.
Andréa Gilroy earned her PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Oregon (UO) in 2015 with a dissertation focused on comics. After graduation, she worked as a comics educator, curated comics exhibits, and spoke at conferences and conventions. In 2020, she opened Books With Pictures Eugene in Eugene, OR.