Great stories this week, 19–25 October

The new graphic novels and collected comics listed for 19–25 October are Front Desk: The Graphic Novel, listed for 20 October, and two collected editions in the comics week of 21 October: DC Finest: Doom Patrol – The End Sanctifies the Means and Ghost Rider Epic Collection: To Slay a Demon. Release dates can change, so check them before buying.

This is not a full release calendar. It covers only the titles we could check against pages opened for this edition, plus one book we would put in a reader's hands first. If you are newer to the form, our guide to reading a comic is a good place to begin, and the notes below explain how we used the word 'listed'.

Our pick to read: Front Desk, the graphic novel

Front Desk: The Graphic Novel, by Kelly Yang and Fumio Obata, is listed for 20 October. It adapts the award-winning middle grade novel about Mia, whose family lets immigrants stay in empty motel rooms for free. The book is an adaptation of a novel rather than an original graphic story.

That date comes from a children's books listing and has not been confirmed with the publisher, so check a retailer or publisher page before buying. It is the only in-window children's title we could check, which makes it our pick for anyone after an accessible graphic novel this week. Labels overlap between graphic novel and comic, so our note on graphic novel versus comic book sets out the difference.

Good news this week, as reported

The items below come from a good news roundup dated 18 October. The roundup links its stories to social media posts, and we have not checked them independently, so treat each one as a report rather than a confirmed fact.

Reports say Brazil's Amazon deforestation alerts fell to their lowest level in 13 years, dropping by more than a third on the previous year. Reports also say Norway has established its largest-ever marine protected area, the new Andfjorden reserve, and that Nepal's wild tiger population has more than tripled.

There are human stories too. Reports describe Gilbert Kirk, 71, whose home was struck when a tree came through it in a storm. After he appealed on local television, strangers arrived with building materials. The roundup gives no date beyond its own publication date. It also reports that Samburu women at Kenya's Reteti Elephant Sanctuary help rescue and care for orphaned elephants.

We have not confirmed any anniversaries of true stories falling between 19 and 25 October, so this edition has no history item. The items above are the only real-world stories from this week that we could check.

Books and comics: what is out this week?

The 21 October comics week includes DC Finest: Doom Patrol – The End Sanctifies the Means, a bookshelf edition gathering Cliff Steele, Dorothy Spinner, Kate Godwin, George and Marion, and the disembodied head of Niles Caulder. Ghost Rider Epic Collection: To Slay a Demon is listed for the same week.

Both are collected editions rather than single issues, and this list does not cover single issues or other titles for the week. Doom Patrol and Ghost Rider are both long-running characters, and our look at the greatest superhero comic runs is a place to start if you want to see how they earned their reputations.

For context, a UK list published on 12 October covered the week of 13 October, one week before this window. It included Escape from Skull Island 2 and Comet Club by Yi Yang, described as the English-language debut of a Chinese cartoonist. Both fall outside 19–25 October, so they are not part of this week's picks.

Before you buy: dates and screen news

Release dates change, so confirm the 21 October collected editions and the 20 October Front Desk date with the publisher or a dated retailer schedule before buying. Manga releases for the window have not been confirmed; if that is your interest, our manga starter guide covers where to begin.

We have also not confirmed any film, series or documentary based on a true story or a comic that opens or airs between 19 and 25 October. Front Desk is an adaptation of a novel, but no screen version is confirmed. For a wider look at how comics fare on screen, see our piece on the best and worst comic book adaptations.

In this edition, 'listed' means a date appears on a book or comics listing we opened, not a date confirmed by a publisher. The two collected editions come from a comics preview dated 16 October, and the Front Desk date comes from a children's books list dated 1 October. We have not seen a publisher statement for any title here.

How this edition was checked: four pages were opened, dated 1 October, 12 October, 16 October and 18 October. Each is cited in the sources list below. Anything not on those pages has been left out rather than guessed.