Who’s that on the cover of the November 1 issue of Kirkus Reviews? Yes, it’s Greg Heffley, the hapless tween protagonist of the long-running Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, drawn for us by his creator, Jeff Kinney—possibly the first time that a fictional character, rather than an author, has appeared on the cover of the magazine.

The occasion for this departure from tradition is the publication of Partypooper (Amulet/Abrams, October 21), Book 20 in the series. What began as a webtoon in 2004 was first published between hard covers in 2007, and it’s still going strong. (This year, the Wimpy Kid books will have sold 300 million copies worldwide.) Not many series have that kind of staying power, especially when, as Kinney explains to young readers’ editor Mahnaz Dar in the cover story, the protagonist remains essentially unchanged—not to mention perpetually stuck in middle school—over the course of two decades. But Greg’s perennially questionable behavior is, in fact, the key to his success. “Kids need something to rely on,” Kinney tells Mahnaz, “especially in an ever-changing world, and comics can do that.” After all, the author points out, Charlie Brown remained the same during his 50 years headlining the Peanuts cartoon strip. 

Kids aren’t the only ones who like an antihero. How else to explain the popularity of an adult series like Mick Herron’s Slough House novels, in which Jackson Lamb heads a team of screw-ups from the British spy agency MI5 who’ve been relegated to the titular dead-end office. Like Greg Heffley, Jackson isn’t exactly a model of good behavior, but as Herron explained in an interview a few years ago, “Rudeness is often very entertaining. We all enjoy reading about characters who are unchained, as it were, who are unafraid of saying whatever they like.” Gary Oldman perfectly captures Lamb’s brand of dyspepsia in the Apple TV+ adaptation of the books, now in its fifth season. The publication of Book 9 in the series, Clown Town (Soho Crime, September 9), gives readers hope that plenty more is to come. In a starred review, our critic wrote, “The best news of all: The climax leaves the door open to further reports from the hilariously misnamed British Intelligence.”

Meanwhile, readers with a taste for difficult characters have a new treat in store: an English mystery series with another complex, not-always-likable protagonist. Tim Sullivan’s series starts with The Dentist (Atlantic Crime, October 21), which introduces Detective Sergeant George Cross. According to our review, the “meticulous Cross—who’s on the autism spectrum—has a very high success rate but difficulty partnering with other detectives.” Here he’s paired with DS Josie Ottey, a Black single mother, as they investigate the murder of a homeless man in a park in Somerset, England. “I root for him even when he is at his most confounding and irritating and hope readers will feel the same way,” the author has written of his creation. Seven other Cross mysteries have already been published in the U.K., and the U.S. publisher plans to release them all between now and the middle of 2026. May there be many more installments to come.

Tom Beer is the editor-in-chief.