Wednesday is New Comics Day! Each week, The Comics Observer picks brand new releases worth checking out that should be suitable for someone who has never read comic books, graphic novels or manga before.

These are out today! If you like what you see here, click the links to see previews and learn more about them. Then head to your local comic book store, or check out online retailers like Things From Another World and Amazon. Let us know what you think in the comments below or on Facebook.

For a full list of this week’s new releases, see comiXology and ComicList.com.

(Disclaimer: These aren’t reviews. Recommendations based on pre-release press, previews, and The Comics Observer‘s patented crystal ball. Product descriptions provided by publisher.)

Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spy by Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spy
Written and illustrated by Nathan Hale
Published by Amulet Books
Genre: History
Ages: 8+
128 pages
$12.95

Nathan Hale, the author’s historical namesake, was America’s first spy, a Revolutionary War hero who famously said “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country” before being hanged by the British. In the Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series, author Nathan Hale channels his namesake to present history’s roughest, toughest, and craziest stories in the graphic novel format.
One Dead Spy tackles the story of Hale himself, who was an officer and spy for the American rebels during the Revolutionary War. Author Hale highlights the unusual, gruesome, and just plain unbelievable truth of historical Nathan Hale — from his early unlucky days at Yale to his later unlucky days as an officer — and America during the Revolutionary War.

District Comics, edited by Matt Dembicki

District Comics: An Unconventional History of Washington, DC
Edited by Matt Dembicki
Published by Fulcrum Publishing
Genre: Anthology, History
Ages: 10+
256 pages
$24.95

District Comics is a graphic anthology featuring lesser-known stories about Washington, DC, from its earliest days as a rustic settlement along the swampy banks of the Potomac to the modern-day metropolis. Spanning 1794-2009, District Comics stops along the way for a duel, a drink in the Senate’s speakeasy, a look into the punk scene, and much more.

Featuring stories by:

• Scott O. Brown, award-winning man of comics and Harvey Award nominee
• Chad Lambert, five-time Howard E. Day Memorial Prize finalist and writer for Kung Fu Panda and Megamind
• Jim Ottaviani, creator of The New York Times bestseller Feynman

Right State by Mat Johnson and Andrea Mutti

Right State
Written by Mat Johnson
Illustrated by Andrea Mutti
Published by Vertigo Comics
Genre: Political thriller
Ages: 18+
152 pages
$24.99

Just in time for the fall election, this race-against-time political thriller follows an ex-Special Forces commando who goes undercover with a militia group that’s plotting to assassinate the second African-American President of the U.S.

In the week leading up to a major campaign speech, the Secret Service discovers that an extremist militia group is plotting to assassinate America’s second African American President. The best chance to advert this crisis is to infiltrate the group using an ex-Special Forces war hero turned conservative media pundit named Ted Akers. While Aker’s politics make him a hero to the right-wing fringe and no friend to the current Administration, he takes the assignment and what follows is an adrenaline fueled race against time to stop a President from dying and a country from being ripped apart.

An original graphic novel by Mat Johnson (Incognegro, Dark Rain) and Andrea Mutti.