Dave Justus, Lilah Sturges, and Joe Eisma have teamed for Student Government, a new young adult original graphic novel debuting in March 2025 from Maverick.
At America’s second-oldest university, four earnest, clever, and desperate teens on the interim student government exploit a charter loophole in an effort to save their school from being demolished, facing down pressures on campus and escalating hostility from the Board of Regents in a story both hilarious and heartfelt.
Student Government is born of a long term creative relationship that goes back to 2009. “I was still stapling my own minicomics when Lilah and I first met Joe on Free Comic Book Day, 2009, and by day’s end we were determined to work together,” said writer Dave Justus in a press release from Maverick. “Since then, the two of them have become household names in comics, and I can no longer afford staples. When Lilah and I first began envisioning Student Government, it included several hallmarks of our previous collaborations — dark comedy, social commentary, parent/child schisms, churros — and it was truly a unique experience to all be in the same room, everyone throwing in ideas as Joe expertly brought the world and characters to life. We pitched it as a “mature readers” title, full of casually profane gallows humor and political cynicism… but to the credit of Mike Marts and the editorial crew at Mad Cave, they saw in our proposal all the elements of a compelling Young Adult graphic novel. Which meant we, and a hand-picked creative team, got to craft it under the Maverick imprint, shepherded by editor supreme Lauren Hitzhusen. (Ask her about the very serious “business chili” that kicked off our working relationship, deep in the heartburn of Texas.) As we developed the book with her, we realized that we didn’t have to sacrifice any of the comedy or the politics… but we gained story threads of courage, compassion, optimism, and all the different things that the word “family” can mean.”
Co-writer Lilah Sturges concurred. “I literally couldn’t be happier that Student Government is finally a reality! Dave, Joe and I have been talking about doing a book together for over a decade and it’s clear that it was meant to be,” she said. “This is one of the most fun, funny, and collaborative projects I’ve ever worked on–it’s just a great group of people, including Lauren Hitzhusen and everyone else at Mad Cave. And when you have a great group of people doing what they love, the result is almost always going to be fantastic–and I really hope that Student Government is a case in point! It’s a book for everyone who likes comedy, bunnies, and justice being served–and isn’t that everyone?”
Student Government for readers ages 12-17 is scheduled to arrive on March 11, 2025, with a cover price of $14.99.
