Werewoofs

I enjoyed this graphic novel! I have loved other pieces illustrated by Val Wise and this was no different, great art style with a bit of heart.

This was a really fun take on the werewolf. The dog aspect was really fun and cute. The characters were fun and I really liked them. The plot was fun and interesting. It had some great twist and was really interesting. I can not wait for the next issue to come out!

Review to come November 19th to blog/goodreads.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

This was such a fun, at times funny, read! Perfect for the Halloween season (which is when I read the book). There are werewolves, cute weredogs, friendship, LGBT and normal romance that had me shipping a lot, and more. 

Meet Mara, a werewolf girl who lives with her dad and her cousin. Everything seems fine.. until her father disappears and her schoolfriends are attacked by dogs and turn into weredogs. I really loved Mara and loved that despite everything she stood up for herself and didn't let her worthless cousin control her. It wasn't the easiest decision and I really wanted to give her a hug, but I was also proud of her. I love that she took that group of schoolmates under her wings and tried to help them as much as she could, however I do feel that she could have at least told them the truth. I do understand why not, but I just wish she had. Now you can just guess what happens when they find out. :| I loved how Mara made plans to stop her cousin and I loved how she and her new friends tried to make all the plans. 

The friends/schoolmates at first, I loved it. OK, I did feel sorry for them that they are now weredogs. One day you are struggling through life as a teen and the next you are also a weredog and have to control that (because emotions, yay). But I loved that we learned more and more about them and saw them learn about their powers and get better at controlling them. Especially Lorenzo and Alvern from the group got some extra attention. 

As I said there is plenty of romance and plenty of times I found myself rooting for these characters. For instance one of the guys Lorenzo is in love with another guy at school and I just had a laugh how he used his weredoggy powers to find out more about the guy. Maybe not entirely the right way to find out about your crush, but I just found it adorable and hoped that Lorenzo would one day be able to just be himself with the guy. Not his dog. But himself. 

Zev was just a big fat nope for me. I didn't like the guy from the moment I saw him. Something just was off about him. I definitely wasn't a fan. And throughout the book I got more and more angry at the guy. For doing what he did. For rallying the other werewolves like that, knowing full well that they would have a hard time saying no because of the alpha stuff + the fact that this is their home. I was hoping someone would bring Zev down a nudge or twenty.... 

The ending was so very much action-packed and I was on the edge of my seat (well, curling up in bed actually) to see how it all would end. About Mara's dad. About Zev. About the big robbery. About everything. And I just love love love that the author gave us a sort of epilogue in which we see more about the characters and what happens next. One scene had me almost crying (the one with the wolves at Mara's house). 

The art was really well done, I love the style. 

All in all, HIGHLY recommended. This was so much fun! Full of exciting things. Weredogs and werewolves. It was fab!

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

A brilliant story with themes on friendship, family and finding one's purpose. Mara is a werewolf who fits into the human world. Her dad goes missing and her cousin resumes the Alpha's position. Throw in some tainted pet food and we have a conundrum. I look forward to the next installment.

This is a mystery of a werewolf girl named Mara whose life goes a little unrailed. Her father mysteriously, and uts up to her to find him. She, also, has to help four classmates find their way into being WereWoofs!

I loved the art work and story. There was so much going on, but it was nicely paced. I loved Mara. She was strong willed and dedicated to her beliefs. I adored each challenge the friends went through in order to make their lives and WereWoofs synch.

Werewoofs was a fun read; although the story was a little more intense than I expected. I appreciated that it centred around a group of misfits too. Bonus: The illustrations were cute!

This is a cute idea for a graphic novel, and I think that teens in particular will enjoy reading this. I enjoyed the concept of the weredogs and werewolves being friends. It had a lot of ideas packed into this one graphic novel, and I was giggling and enjoying much of the adventure.

Joelle began her writing career as an advertising copywriter, creating award-winning campaigns for brands like In-N-Out Burger, Kleenex and Lexus. Since making the jump to screenwriting, she's written several romantic comedy and family telefilms including Hallmark Channel's Paris, Wine and Romance. Joelle has also written comics for Blizzard, DC, Marvel, and Dynamite Entertainment. Graphic novels for IDW/Lion Forge Comics include reboots of the NBC classic shows Saved By the Bell and Punky Brewster. Her newest graphic novel is the YA horror book, WereWoofs.
The small, Midwest town of Howlett was established, long ago, by werewolves. When ordinary humans came in, they drove the werewolves underground, but all that’s going to change when the pack alpha disappears and his nephew takes over. Working at the Paw Paw dog food mill gives him certain advantages, including corrupting the donated food at local animal shelters with the virus that creates werewolves.
In the meantime, the baby of the pack, Mara, is struggling in high school. She’s been branded the freak of the class and has no friends. When a pack of dogs from the shelter break free and attack her classmates, however, she instantly gains some friends, especially when they begin shifting into dogs themselves. Her knowledge of werewolves and werewolf training helps them bond, but that still doesn’t solve the mystery of the missing alpha nor what caused the dogs in the shelter to go crazy.
WereWoofs is a great YA graphic novel. There are horror elements, to be sure, but nothing too scary that a middle-grade or YA reader will be completely put off. Furthermore, the scenes of bullying and teasing in high school, as well as the problems with teachers, grades, crushes, etc. will connect well with a YA audience, as well as many adult readers. Val Wise’s cartoon style fits the narrative and the audience well, too. The characters are detailed enough to be realistic and not too cartoony, but they’re soft enough to not be overly realistic or scary; there’s an excellent balance that Wise has achieved with her art which only serves to propel the narrative further.
Overall, WereWoofs is a fun story about lycanthropy and high school. It’s not too graphic or over-the-top, but it’s also not too cheesy as to upset or put off any of its target readers. It’s a solid mystery, open-ended mystery tale combined with high school drama that makes for a fun read.

I'm so happy to see more werewolf themed graphic novels these days. This one was a lot of fun with the were-dogs!! No spoilers but there is death in this comic.

Werewoofs is fantastic, inventive graphic novel fantasy that draws upon lore to engage readers. Recommended reading for fun and engagement.

I received an advanced copy of Werewoofs through Netgalley so I could share my review with you!

When a group of high school students are turned into weredogs in an unexpected attack, they are forced to work together in spite of their many differences. They find an unlikely ally in Mara, a werewolf from a nearby family, who is searching for her missing father. Together this group of “Werewoofs” will stand up against a dangerous rival pack and learn important truths about themselves along the way!

You can get your copy of Werewoofs today from New Paradigm Studios!

I love Val Wise’s illustration style so much, I specifically requested Werewoofs so that I could read another story with his art! I cannot imagine a more perfect pairing than Wise’s illustrations and Joelle Sellner’s werewolf storyline. I especially enjoyed how the characters connected with each other, and how they drove the plot forward. Werewoofs feels like the book equivalent of a classic childhood Halloween movie!

My Recommendation-
If you have been looking for a fun graphic novel to help crush your end-of-year reading goal, you should pick up a copy of Werewoofs! This story would be perfect for people who aren’t quite ready to move on from the Halloween monster aesthetic of last season.

In this graphic novel we follow Mara and her family, a pack of werewolves as they try to navigate life in their small town. When Mara's father goes missing, her new friends (who can transform into dogs after getting bitten) help her try to find out what happened to him. Meanwhile, her cousin Zev, has taken over as alpha of the pack and is forcing everyone to rob businesses in town in order to get money. Can Mara and her new friends find her dad and stop Zev before it's to late?

This was a really great graphic novel. I enjoyed all of the characters and the artwork was very nice as well. Overall, I think that this book was a great read. If you like the supernatural then I think this is the book for you!

Werewoofs is a middle-grade graphic novel about a group of kids who all turn into shapeshifters and form a supportive friend group. The characters were diverse enough to be relatable to kids today. I liked the way their interactions with one another were thoughtful and considerate, and when a kid was being rude, they would call each other on it.

There was quite a bit of backstory included and multiple plots were happening at the same time, so it seems like the foundation for a series. This would be a great addition to middle-grade and up graphic novel collections.

A unique twist on the werewolf legend! Werewoofs is a neat cartoon about a group of teens who unexpectedly turn into were-dogs after being bitten by wild dogs. They must learn to navigate these new changes alongside the threat of a new werewolf alpha and his grand plans for domination.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. Werewoofs suffers from younger cover syndrome. This has a lot more going on than the cover suggests. Standing up to your family, death, werewolves and working with people who are different that you.

Werewoofs is a new graphic novel written and illustrated by Joelle Sellner and Vale Wise. Since I've been craving a good werewolf story (ideally one with a sense of humor), I couldn't resist nabbing this one for a quick read.

High school can be tough – nobody is going to argue that point. But one group of friends in the Midwest is going through more changes than the average teen, for they all have begun turning into weredogs.

No, they don't know why this is happening. But they're hoping to find out. In the meantime, they're going to help their new friend, Mara, find her missing father. Who also happens to be a werewolf, naturally.

Werewoofs is somehow very odd and cute – in almostperfectly equal proportions. There are elements to enjoy from this graphic novel, that much is certain. I personally really enjoyed learning about each of the characters. In fact, I would have loved it if more time had been spent on this element.

I'm going to give bonus points for having cute weredog forms (I love it), a solid sense of humor, fantastic friendships (we could all use a friend group that loyal), and LGBT representation. On that note, I will give props for the art style. Not only was it a ton of fun, but it was the perfect complement to this plot.

NOTE: This review will be published sometime in February 2022 on noflyingnotights.com. If you would like a direct link, email me at lisa@rabey.net.


It’s been a few decades since I was a teen but the memory of what it was like is still prescient. The pressure of getting good grades; figuring out who I was; dealing with trauma like losing a parent, these are all universal themes and something we can all relate to in one way or another.

The kids of the midwestern town of Howlette (get it? Howl-lette) have a lot going on. Jae works for his parent’s jewelry store while twins Isabelle and Lorenzo, whose parents are never home, have unrequited crushes on Jae and Jaxon respectively. Alvern lost his parents and recently moved to Howlette from Philadelphia. Mara’s father, the alpha of the local werewolf pack, has gone missing and her mom has been gone from her life for years. There is a lot going on for the kids, plus the pressure of doing well in school, getting ready for college, fitting in, and just overall being kids. I may remember what it was like to go through some of those things but being right in the moment of them is sharper still.

One day, the kids are attacked by a quartet of vicious dogs. Mara, the lone wolf (get it?) comes in to save them. She directs the kids on how to clean up their wounds and the kids are grateful for her kindness. The following day, the wounds have all nearly healed but individually the kids don’t feel so hot. When Jae turns into an Airdale in the nurse’s office, you know things are going to change and quickly.

With a slight horror twist, Werewoofs is also a mystery to find Mara’s dad who has disappeared. Mara’s familial relationships also come into play in a big way when her cousin Zev takes over as alpha and attempts to turn the pack from peace loving and working with humans to wanting to destroy humans and take over Howlette.

There is a lot going on here as the kids work together and individually on their stuff: Lorenzo becomes a dog to befriend his crush Jaxon to the kids working together to help protect Jae’s parents from a robbery done by Mara’s cousin Zev and the rest of the werewolf pack as well as solve the mystery of what happened to Mara’s dad.

Joelle Sellner is a versatile writer having written everything for advertising campaigns for Lexus and Kleenex to movies on The Hallmark Channel and Lifetime. She also has a long resume of animation writing for such projects as Lego Friends, DC Super Hero Girls, and Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. If that weren’t enough, she’s also written for Blizzard, DC, and Marvel. She’s got the chops and it shows. The script is tightly plotted and the characters are fully realised so you get to experience the pain and joy of all the kids as well as the adults. She leaves no stone unturned and makes sure all the plot points are covered.

Val Wie is an illustrator who has worked on the graphic novel Cheer Up!: Love and Pom Poms as well as anthologies and other works for YA and adults. Wise’s work concentrates on the body, transness, and romance which is evident here. The character come in a wide range of sizes, genders, and sexual identities as well as racial backgrounds. The art feels natural and akin to our daily lives where we come in contact with all sorts of people from a wide variety of backgrounds and in Werewoofs, this is very important. While the kids are fairly self-confident in who they are, there are some struggles such as Lorenzo grappling with his queerness and his single statement to his sister that she doesn’t get what it’s like to be him. (Thankfully, Lorenzo gets his crush.)


This graphic is styled as being volume one and I hope that is true. The kids of Howlette have earned a fan and seeing more stories, solving more mysteries, and learning about themselves and others would make for a great read.

The age range of the book is 12 - 17 but I heartily recommend it for all ages. It will be a great addition to collections that showcase diversity, equity, and inclusion as not only a great starting point to talk to kids about the changes they are about to go through but also to have the representation of those changes.

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

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WereWoofs, by Joelle Sellner, Val Wise
★★★★★
160 Pages


Wow! The world is fully of judgy, moody teenagers. Who are, apparently, weres... Except, they're not.
At first, I was a bit worried, because all the kids seemed to be bratty and annoying, but then...weren't we all, at that age? As the story progressed, you really saw how each character had their own journey, that they grew and matured over the time they spent together.

This was a great YA comic with a lot of heart and touching moments. You've got your jock, your geek, your fierce gay kid, and the loner-loser type that fills every school. Here, they push beyond their boundaries to become friends and we even see some romantic sparks.

The artwork was really nice and fitted the story well. Overall, a great read.

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Charlie's reviewJan 22, 2022 · edit
really liked it
bookshelves: e-arcs-read, read-2022

"Werewoofs" was so fun and was giving me serious throwback vibes to the TV series "Teen Wolf" and the comic "Beasts of Burden", both of which are amazing and firm favourites of mine.
Another positive for me was the beautiful artwork... Val Wise was the artist for "Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms" which is another fab graphic novel that I really enjoyed, so this all added up into a great read for me personally.
I loved the overall story of the werewolves and mystery surrounding Mara's missing dad but I also really enjoyed the high school drama and characters individual struggles such as football try outs, pushy/absent parents, grades and crushes. The only thing I wasn't that keen on was the instant friendship the group had after becoming weredogs even though some of them had been at odds only a few days previously. Despite this I enjoyed seeing them bond and bicker and loved all of their characters.
A great read and I can't wait for volume 2!

Thank you NetGalley and New Paradigm Studios for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great graphic novel that worked well as both a supernatural story and a contemporary story. It was nice to see the everyday problems of high school juxtaposed with the problems of dealing with the supernatural. The art style was fun with well drawn characters, and it helped move the story along. The story does a nice job of wrapping things up while also allowing for the continuation of the series. Looking forward to another installment.

Mara has got things bad. Her father has gone missing and her slacker of a housemate/cousin wants the whole pack to be at his beck and call, and to become the alpha criminals their nature allows them to be. Oh, my bad – Mara and co are werewolves, passing very nicely as humans in plain sight in a small American town. But some of her fellow school pupils have it bad, too – some tampering at the local pet sanctuary has resulted in some rather unusually-powered mutts, and each has tried to take a chunk out of some disparate teenaged kids – and passed some equally unusual powers along too.

What this isn't is some poor man's "Ginger Snaps". It never wants to equate being a werewolf with rampant hormonal teenagerdom. What it wants to do is equate werewolf tics and tropes with all the tetchiness, awkwardness and so on that being a high school student entails. So here are unrequited gay crushes, track and ball try-outs, detentions and groundedness, and so many emotional beats that can provoke the new powers in the leads. And all of this is not only interesting, it actually manages to disguise the way the two pulls on Mara's attention, namely her cousin and her new friends, are set to combine for so long that you're annoyed you didn't see it coming.

What follows kind of drops the teenage metaphors and just goes for the genre read, but it's no bad thing at that. The artwork is pleasant, even if it is a task to keep track of who is who and what is what. I think a kind of LotR "here's one more ending I've thought up, guys! and here's another!!" finishing spell definitely keeps this at four stars and no higher, but it's worth the look – it brings a different dimension to the usual werewolf story, avoiding the classic kind and the urban fantasy kind, to be something very now, and really quite welcome.

Mara and the rest of her family are werewolves. By day they live like humans and try to do so the rest of their lives too after the last pack alpha got murdered for leading their pack down a life of crime. The pack is now trying to be respectable humans. Mara's cousin Zev was the alpha's son and doesn't agree with the pack's new way of life and is living with Mara and her dad. Mara tries to go to school and do well for her father. One day her dad goes missing and she gets concerned but Zev lies to the police and says away for work. Afterschool Mara witnesses some classmates get bit by a pack of wild dogs and over the course of the next few days discover they are now weredogs or werewoofs. The group of them discover what happened to Mara's dad and help the peace of their community. The illustrations were nice and easy to follow and the characters seemed like real people with real problems. I think a lot of readers could relate to them, even with their new supernatural abilities.

This graphic novel has so much heart. Perfect for teens that love comics this story is wholesome and compelling.

This Found Family work has literally no right to be even a quarter of the cuteness that it is. I had to put this down at several points to prevent me from squee-ing at work.
Mara is a really sweet protagonist that makes you want to root for her, and the way that she supports those around her is amazing, inspiring and heartwarming.

If you are having a bad day, pick up this book it will make it better.

This YA graphic novel tells the tale of a group of teenagers who get bitten by some dogs and get turned into weredogs. Mara, a loner, and also an actual werewolf, sets off to help them investigate how weredogs are even possible. What ensues is Mara’s self discovery where she lets others in to her world and creates a new pack that has her back and helps her grieve the loss of her father while also showing her the beauty of friendship.

Joelle Sellner's work is so amazing. I read this particular graphic novel months ago and it was an instant hit! A social outcast who not only solves the mystery of her father's disappearance but also makes friends and grows into her own by the end. What a beautiful blossoming of character development and relation to the troubles of teens.

I have already recommended this one to many people when it is released!

I originally considered purchasing this book for my juvenile graphic novel section, but I think I will place it in my teen section due to one swear word and a little blood. I think it would be really engaging for older tweens and younger teens. It also fits a much-needed niche of paranormal without the romance. Super fun, and the characters are all fairly fleshed out with individual struggles and opinions.