Mel Hilario and Lauren Davis, illustrated by Katie Longua
Agent Cupcake
(Oni Press, November 2025)
A Comics Beat exclusive preview
Go undercover and crack the case in Agent Cupcake, perfect for fans of Mac B. Kid Spy and Spy School!
Twelve-year-old Miguel Mangayayam has always loved one thing: mystical beasts. So he’s thrilled when he’s hired by the Mystical Beasts Bureau (MBB) to be their first ever human spy where he’ll use his encyclopedic knowledge of hippogriffs, mermaids, dragons, and more to solve the latest cases. Even better? He’s partnered with the supercool unicorn superspy, Agent Cupcake! Together, they’ll go undercover, gather intel, crack codes, and collect clues to solve the MBB’s toughest mysteries. But when they receive reports that unicorns are losing their magical powers, Miguel and Agent Cupcake will have to put their spy skills to the test to figure out why, even if it means going up against a mega corporation like HOARD. Could someone be trying to steal magic to put unicorns out of business?
Join the MBB and solve the case in the candy-colored mystical world of Agent Cupcake, all while learning facts about real life spies and spycraft in the next graphic novel from the dream team that brought you Debian Perl: Digital Detective: Mel Hilario, Lauren Davis, and Katie Longua!
Katie Longua has the power to make anything more magical. She has designed toys, developed video games, created logos, illustrated comic book covers, and drawn frame-worthy infographics. Her self-published comics include the award-winning RÖK, Her Space Opera, and Munchies. She’s done work for BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment, Image Comics, IDW Comics, Oni Press, Tapas Media, the San Francisco Exploratorium, Girls Make Games, Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, and Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates. With a personal color palette that is both art and manifesto, she lives in a haunted house with her partner, Josh, and a small army of transforming robots.
Mel Hilario is a writer who empowers readers by helping them understand the world around them. She received her MFA in creative writing from Mills College, has been a recipient of the Elizabeth George Foundation Grant and residencies at VONA (Voices of our Nations Arts), Las Dos Brujas Writers Workshop, Writing by Writers, and Hedgebrook. She has developed characters for toy lines, masterminded educational workbooks, and written wrenching essays, most recently for the Kindred Souls anthology Angry Women. She lives in Oakland, California, with two of the largest cats her friends have ever seen.