Chad Burdette
Earlier this week DC Comics announced You’re A Superhero!, a new early reader graphic novel from writer and actor Azie Tesfai and illustrator Penelope Rivera Gaylord, arriving November 3, 2026.
Created for readers ages 5–7, this uplifting story introduces young fans to six-year-old Mariam, a girl who loves superheroes but is not sure she sees them in her everyday world until she discovers that heroism is all around her.
Azie Tesfai is an actor, writer, and producer best known for her role on The CW’s Supergirl, while also making history as the first Ethiopian actor to portray a superhero on screen.
During the show’s final season, Tesfai expanded her creative footprint by co-writing an episode, marking the beginning of her transition into behind-the-scenes storytelling. She is also recognized for her role on the Golden Globe–nominated Jane the Virgin, and has recently appeared in Matlock and Bel-Air.
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Building on her success in front of the camera, Tesfai has quickly emerged as a formidable creative force behind it. She recently sold her original pilot, The Chase, to Universal Television for NBC and is developing multiple television projects across both scripted and unscripted formats.
Her scripted slate includes Sheba, while her unscripted work spans a docuseries in development with Amplify Pictures and Aldis Hodge, a dating series with Issa Rae’s Hoorae, and additional projects across film and television.
In You’re A Superhero!, Mariam wishes the heroes she sees on TV felt a little closer to home. But as she explores her neighborhood with her mom, she begins to notice the extraordinary people who make her community work: the building super who keeps everyone safe, the bus driver who knows every kid’s name, the electrician who brings light back to the block. Inspired by the real-life heroes around her, and by her super mom, Mariam learns the most important lesson of all: she is a superhero, too.
In the press release announcing the early graphic reader, Azie Tesfai said:
“I wrote this book because playing a superhero on television opened me up to a world filled with imagination, power, and possibility, one I hadn’t fully experienced when I was growing up.
It made me think about how meaningful it would have been to meet these heroes at a younger age and to see myself reflected in that world from the very beginning. With this story, and as DC begins an exciting new chapter in the kids’ space, I wanted children to have that experience early on.”
Tesfai is no stranger to superheroes. She played the Guardian on Supergirl, becoming the first Ethiopian and Eritrean person to portray a superhero on television, and the first CW actor to write for the network, penning the Guardian’s debut episode “Blind Spots.”
Her work on the series centered on community, inclusion, and the idea that everyone has the power to protect and uplift the people around them.
Tesfai continued:
“Telling the story through the lens of a young Ethiopian girl and her single mother allowed me to bring my culture into DC history for the first time, while inviting kids to meet some of the most iconic heroes, Superman, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Batman, and The Flash, right alongside her.
My hope is that You’re A Superhero! helps young readers fall in love with these legendary characters and, more importantly, recognize that the courage, strength, and imagination they admire already live inside them.”
Illustrator Penelope Rivera Gaylord brings Mariam’s world to life with warmth, humor, and expressive character design. A visual development artist whose credits include DC’s Diana and the Hero’s Journey middle grade graphic novel, Cartoon Network, Imagine Entertainment Kids and Family, and 9B Collective,
Gaylord has also illustrated several Little Golden Books, including Captain Marvel and Avengers: Battle on the Moon. Born in the Philippines and raised in the Washington, DC, area, she now creates stories alongside her husband Jerry, and pursues what she calls a “cowabunga lifestyle.”
You’re A Superhero! is the latest addition to DC’s growing line of early reader graphic novels, joining titles like Superman’s Good Guy Gang, Aquamanatee, Supergirl’s Zoo?per Heroes: Krypto’s Big Break, and Superman’s Good Guy Gang: Follow the Leader.
These books introduce young readers to the DC Universe through fun, accessible stories that celebrate courage, kindness, and the power of imagination.
You’re A Superhero!, by Azie Tesfai and Penelope Rivera Gaylord, arrives on November 3, 2026, wherever books and comics are sold. The book is available for preorder now through Penguin Random House.
