best new graphic novels 2021

The Best Comic Book Series or Original Graphic Novel of 2021 Winner

The comics that wowed us over the course of 2021..

Whether you prefer epic superhero sagas, chilling horror tales or intimate, character-driven drama, the comic book industry had a lot to offer in 2021.

IGN narrowed down this impressive lineup to the 10 best comic books of the year. The nominees were ongoing series, limited series or standalone graphic novels, as long as they were published in the last 12 months. But there can only be one winner...

This is IGN's Best Comic Book Series or Original Graphic Novel of 2021...

Weapon X's Barry Windsor-Smith is a true living legend of the comic book industry, despite not having published a new project since 2006. That finally changed this year thanks to Monsters, a graphic novel that has been in various stages of development since the 1980s. This book showcases a true master at work, weaving a tale about an Army recruit subjected to horrible experiments and exploring themes of trauma and redemption. -Jesse Schedeen

These are our nominees for the Best Comic Book Series or Original Graphic Novel of 2021...

• The Best Comic Book Series or Original Graphic Novel of 2021

After the Rain

John Jennings and David Brame's graphic novel adapts author Nnedi Okorafor's short story "On the Road," and there's nothing else quite like it. After the Rain blends Nigerian folklore with visceral body horror in a story that focuses on an American policewoman visiting her Nigerian family. After being confronted by a horrifically injured boy at her front door, she finds herself swept up in a terrifying journey of discovery and survival. -Jesse Schedeen

Barbalien: Red Planet

The Black Hammer franchise has expanded in all sorts of directions in the last few years, but Barbalien: Red Planet may just be the best spinoff yet. This limited series from writers Tate Brombal and Jeff Lemire and artist Gabriel Hernandez Walta explores the plight of the Martian refugee, a being forced to hide his true self in more ways than one. This is a series that adds compelling new wrinkles to the Martian Manhunter archetype and proves once more that Black Hammer is the go-to choice for stories that combine classic superhero tropes with deep character drama. -Jesse Schedeen

Daredevil has consistently ranked as one of Marvel's best monthly comics since writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Marco Checchetto took over the relaunched series in 2019, and that certainly didn't change in 2021. The series has only grown more fascinating thanks to the shocking dual twist of Matt Murdock turning himself into police custody and Elektra taking up the mantle in his place. No Marvel series has a stronger pedigree, but this run has no problem standing alongside the absolute greats. -Jesse Schedeen

The Good Asian

We're always down for a good, hardboiled detective noir, and The Good Asian is easily one of the best in recent memory. Writer Pornsak Pichetshote and artist Alexandre Tefengki introduce readers to Edison Hark, a self-loathing private eye investigating a murder in 1930s Chinatown. This series excels both as a gripping murder mystery and a look at a particularly dark and racially charged time in US history. -Jesse Schedeen

The X-Men franchise as a whole is the best it's been in a long time, but certain books really stand out from the crowd. Case in point: Hellions. Writer Zeb Wells and artists like Stephen Segovia make the most of this odd bunch of D-List mutant misfits. The series is frequently hilarious (especially with Mister Sinister calling the shots), but it's also a surprisingly deep look at a group of damaged outcasts trying to be something more. Who would have thought John Greycrow would be one of the breakout Marvel characters of 2021? -Jesse Schedeen

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr

Ram V was IGN's pick for the best comic book writer of 2020. If anything, he's only had a more impressive showing in 2021. V's crowning achievement this year is definitely The Many Lives of Laila Starr, an ongoing fantasy series created with artist Felipe Andrade. In this engrossing saga, the avatar of Death is fired and forced to find a new home in the body of a mortal woman. The results are simply stunning. -Jesse Schedeen

The Nice House on the Lake

James Tynion IV may have written some of DC's most iconic superheroes, but it's the horror genre where his talents shine brightest. The Nice House on the Lake is yet another reminder of that fact. Reuniting Tynion with Detective Comics artist Alvaro Martinez Bueno, this series follows a group of people all linked by their friendship with the wealthy, eccentric Walter. When Walter offers them a lavish vacation at his lakeside manor, how could any of them refuse? Naturally, that's where things go terribly, terribly wrong. -Jesse Schedeen

The past few years have been very rough on Dick Grayson, which makes DC's revamped approach to Nightwing a very welcome one indeed. Leave it to the Injustice: Gods Among Us team of writer Tom Taylor and artist Bruno Redondo to immediately revitalize Nightwing and his corner of the DCU. More than a little reminiscent of Matt Fraction and David Aja's legendary Hawkeye run, the series delivers all the fun superhero antics, soul-searching and vibrant visuals we could ask for in a Nightwing story. -Jesse Schedeen

James Harren is one of the most talented and unique artists working in the industry today, and one need only flip through a few pages of Ultramega to understand why. This series puts a bombastic spin on the kaiju genre, with the three titular heroes being all that stands in the way of complete annihilation. It's a wild ride that any giant monster fan owes it to themselves to experience. -Jesse Schedeen

What was the coolest comic book plot twist of 2021?

All IGN Best of 2021 Entertainment Categories

• The Best Movie of 2021
• The Best Performance in a Movie in 2021
• The Best Director of a Movie in 2021
• The Best Horror Movie of 2021
• The Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Movie of 2021
• Best TV Series of 2021
• Best Performance in a TV Series in 2021
• Best Comic Book TV Series of 2021
• Best Animated TV Series of 2021
• Best New TV Series of 2021
• Best TV Episode of 2021
• Best Anime of 2021

IGN's Best of 2021 Awards were designed by:

Lead Design + Art Direction: Julia Rago

Motion Graphics: Will Batchelor

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2021 Best Graphic Novels for Adults Reading List

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The Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table is thrilled to announce the final 2021 Best Graphic Novels for Adults Reading List. This year's reading list highlights the best graphic novels for adults published in late 2020 and through 2021, and we hope it will increase awareness of the graphic novel medium, raise voices of diverse comics creators, and aid library staff in the development of graphic novel collections.

Best Graphic Novels for Adults 2021 Selection Committee

• Jessica Jenner, Chair - Student, University of Arizona School of Library Science
• Rachel Bild - Young Adult Librarian, Skokie Public Library
• Shelley E. Carr - Resource Sharing Coordinator, University of San Francisco
• Kristina Feeney - Student, Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies
• Chloe Horning - Librarian, Bellevue College Library
• Kyla Hunt - Librarian, Austin, TX
• Leah Ly - Retailer, Manager, Fantom Comics
• Tashia Miller - Reference Librarian, Washtenaw Community College
• Jameson N. Rohrer - Librarian - Sacramento Public Library
• Stephanie Smith - Adult and YA Librarian, East Hampton Public Library
• Edward Whatley - Instruction & Research Services Librarian, Georgia College & State University Library

The Best Graphic Novels for Adults committee would like to recognize and thank Midwest Tape for allowing all committee members free access to Hoopla® during this term of service.

2021 Best Graphic Novels for Adults - Top Ten

Ballad for Sophie. Written by Filipe Melo. Art by Juan Cavia. Color by Juan Cavia, Sandro Pacucci, and Santiago Villa. Background art by Juan Cruz Rodriguez. Letters by Gabriela Soares. 2021. Top Shelf Productions, $24.99 (9781603094986). Following the life of a pianist turned showman, this fictional biography explores the intricacies of relationships, art, and life.

Department of Truth, Volume 1: The End of the World. Written by James Tynion IV. Art by Martin Simmonds. Letters by Aditya Bidikar. Design by Dylan Todd. Edited by Steve Foxe. 2020. Image Comics, $9.99 (9781534318335). Cole Turner is recruited to work for the Department of Truth, which is responsible for making sure that conspiracy theories do not become the truth. As he gets deeper into the Department, he realizes he may have gotten caught up in a much larger conspiracy than he ever could have imagined.

Dune: The Graphic Novel, Book 1. Adapted by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Art by Raúl Allén and Patricia Martín. 2020. Abrams Comic Arts, $24.99 (9781419731501). Two political houses fight for control of the planet Arrakis. Paul, who has a messiah complex, and the desert people of the planet are at odds, and Paul and the opposing parties try to eliminate one another at every turn. There is constant espionage. Trust no one. A fantastic first volume adaptation of Dune.

Far Sector. Written by N.K. Jemisin. Art by Jamal Campbell. Letters by Deron Bennett. 2021. DC Comics, $29.99 (9781779512055). For the past six months, newly chosen Green Lantern Sojourner Jo Mullein has been protecting the City Enduring, a massive metropolis of 20 billion people. The city has maintained peace for over 500 years by stripping its citizens of their ability to feel. As a result, violent crime is virtually unheard of, and murder is nonexistent.

The Good Asian, Volume 1. Written by Pornsak Pichetshote. Art by Alexandre Tefenkgi. Color by Lee Loughridge. Letters and design by Jeff Powell. Cover art by Dave Johnson. Edited by Will Dennis. 2021. Image Comics, $14.99 (9781534320949). Chinatown noir starring the first generation of Americans to come of age under an immigration ban, the Chinese, rampant murders, abusive police, and a world that seemingly never changes.

Invisible Differences. Written by Julie Dachez. Art by Mademoiselle Caroline. 2020. Oni Press, $19.99 (9781620107669). Marguerite is having a difficult time with her work life, her personal life, and, well, life in general, and she does not understand why others view her differently. She finally investigates the root of her uncomfortability. After a journey of tough conversations with her loved ones, doctors, and the internet, she discovers that she has Asperger’s.  Her life has profoundly changed – for the better.

My Alcoholic Escape from Reality. Written by Nagata Kabi.  Art by Nagata Kabi. Translated by Jocelyne Allen. Adapted by Lianne Sentar. 2021. Seven Seas, $14.99 (9781645059998). In the midst of the success of her first graphic memoir, My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, Nagata Kabi is struggling with her mental health. She takes up drinking heavily to escape, but when she is hospitalized for severe stomach pains and is diagnosed with pancreatitis, she must learn to survive without it.

Norse Mythology, Volume 1. Written by Neil Gaiman. Art by P. Craig Russell, Mike Mignola, Jerry Ordway, Piotr Kowalski, David Rubín, Jill Thompson, and Lovern Kindzierksi. Letters by Galen Showman. 2021. Dark Horse, $29.99 (9781506718743). A series of Norse Myths, including those that feature Loki, Thor, Freya, and others, are told in this volume. Each story is illustrated by a different comic artist including Mike Mignola and Jerry Ordway.

Run: Book One. Written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin. Art by Nate Powell and L. Fury. 2021. Abrams ComicArts, $24.99 (9781419730696). To John Lewis, the civil rights movement came to an end with the signing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. It was after helping organize the Mississippi Freedom Summer and the ensuing delegate challenge at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.  All too often, the depiction of history ends with a great victory.

Stone Fruit. Written by Lee Lai. Art by Lee Lai. 2021. Fantagraphics, $24.99 (9781683964261). Ray and Bron isolate from each other and attempt to repair their broken family ties – Ray with her single-mother sister and Bron with her teenage sister who does not fully grasp the complexities of gender identity. Taking a leap of faith, each opens up and learns they have more in common with their siblings than they ever knew.

2021 Best Graphic Novels for Adults - Official List

After the Rain. Written by Nnedi Okorafor. Art by David Brame. Adapted by John Jennings. Letters by Damian Duffy. 2021. Abrams Books, $22.99 (9781419743559). An adaptation of a short story by Nnedi Okorafor, this story explains the aftermath of a violent storm and the effect on the community.

Blue in Green. Written by Ram V. Art by Anand Rk and John Pearson. 2020. Image Comics, $17.99 (9781534317130).   A jazz musician goes home following the death of his mother and discovers secrets which threaten to devour him even as they prompt him to pursue greatness.

Bubble. Written by Jordan Morris and Sarah Morgan. Art by Tony Cliff and Natalie Riess. 2021. First Second, $19.99 (9781250245564). A delivery guy, Mitch, is bitten by an Imp, an alien monstrosity that has invaded the city of Fairhaven, in Morgan’s apartment. He gains superpowers, and they decide to team up on Huntr, a gig-based job app through which they hunt and kill Imps for money.

Chasin’ the Bird. Written by Dave Chisholm. Art by Dave Chisholm and Peter Markowski. 2020. Z2 Comics, $24.99 (9781940878386). Several different people shine a light on the legend of Charlie Parker’s time in California. This is part biography, part historical fiction, all love letter to jazz.

Cyclopedia Exotica. Written by Aminder Dhaliwal. Art by Aminder Dhaliwal. Color by Nikolas Ilic. 2021. Drawn & Quarterly, $24.95 (9781770464377). In a world where cyclops are another group of human life, Cyclopedia Exotica circulates several stories of cyclops living in today’s modern world. Each character seeks the same things as the two-eyed community–finding love, navigating life and careers, and cultivating their communities as humans.

The Day the Klan Came to Town. Written by Bill Campbell.  Art by Bizhan Khodabendeh. 2021. PM Press, $15.95 (9781629638720). A fictionalized retelling of the “Karnegie Day” riot in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, when the KKK decided to storm a town of “undesirables.” Told from the point of view of an Italian immigrant, it focuses on the town’s resistance and how they drove the KKK out of their land.

The Delicacy. Written by James Albon. Art by James Albon. 2021. Top Shelf Productions, $24.99 ( 9781603094924). Two brothers move from their secluded island to London to start a farm-to-table restaurant. After debuting a new dish featuring a mysterious mushroom they found on the farm, business really starts to boom, and Tulip gets caught up in the rush of the business - dangerously so.

Fangs. Written by Sarah Andersen. Art by Sarah Andersen. 2020. Andrews McMeel Publishing, $14.99 (9781524860677). A slice-of-life tale of everyday love, from the perspective of a 300-year-old vampire who has never found love before.

Fictional Father. Written by Joe Ollmann. Art by Joe Ollmann. 2021. Drawn & Quarterly, $24.95 (9781770464636). Caleb, an obscure painter, grew up with a negligent father and an aloof mother. Ironically, Caleb’s father was the creator of a comic strip called “Sonny Side Up.” The strip depicted a father and son whose loving relationship was everything Caleb’s relationship with his father was not. When Caleb’s father dies, Caleb makes the fateful decision to take over the strip.

In. Written by Will McPhail. Art by Will McPhail. 2021. Houghton Mifflin, $28.00 (9780358345541). Nick is an illustrator who mixes his own projects with ads. He begins to find authentic human connections and is let into the worlds of the people he meets. Nick’s journey occurs alongside the beginnings of a relationship with Wren, a spirited oncologist at a nearby hospital.

The Incredible Nellie Bly. Written by Luciana Cimino. Art by Sergio Algozzino. 2021. Abrams, $24.99 (9781419750175). Nellie describes her trip around the world in 72 days, her interview with Belva Lockwood, the first female presidential candidate, and much more. The graphic novel paints a beautiful portrait of a courageous woman and all the good she created while defying societal expectations.

No One Else. Written by R. Kikuo Johnson. Art by R. Kikuo Johnson. 2021. Fantagraphics, $16.99 (9781683964797). Charlene is a single mother who is caring for her infirm father and young son. When her father passes away, Charlene decides to quit her job as a nurse and enroll in medical school. While her relationship with her brother Robbie is often strained, Robbbie provides a bit of stability and needed attention for Charlene’s son.

Plunge. Written by Joe Hill. Art by Stuart Immonen. 2020. DC Comics, $24.99 (9781779506887). This story takes inspiration from The Thing and Alien movies and also has a touch of the spiral-obsessed Uzumaki manga series. An Arctic research ship that went missing 40 years earlier has mysteriously sent out a new signal. A salvage vessel discovers the assumed-dead crew, and chaos ensues!

Rebecca and Lucie in the Case of the Missing Neighbor. Written by Pascal Girard. Art by Pascal Girard. Translated by Aleshia Jensen. 2021. Drawn & Quarterly, $21.95 (9781770464643). Rebecca is a new mom, nearing the end of her maternity leave. When she witnesses something potentially sinister in her neighborhood that may be connected to the disappearance of a local man, she decides to investigate…with baby Lucie in tow. This pair of unlikely and unqualified detectives make surprising discoveries due to Rebecca’s boldness and persistence.

Reckless. Written by Ed Brubaker. Art by Sean Phillips and Jacob Phillips. 2020. Image Comics, $24.99 (9781534318519). Meet Ethan Reckless: Your trouble is his business, for the right price. But when a fugitive from his radical student days reaches out for help, Ethan must face the only thing he fears…his own past.

Remina. Written by Junji Ito. Art by Junji Ito. Translated by Jocelyne Allen. 2020.  VIZ Media, $22.99 (9781974717477). A mysterious planet is discovered by a scientist, and, to honor its discovery, he names it after his daughter, Remina. When questions about the true nature of planet Remina start to worry the population, the scientist and Remina herself come under scrutiny as fame gives way to fanatical infamy.

Sensor. Written by Junji Ito. Art by Junji Ito. Translated by Jocelyne Allen. 2021. VIZ Media, $19.99 (9781974718900). A young woman, Kyoko, visits a village at the foot of a volcano that has golden hairlike fibers everywhere, giving the citizens psychic abilities like telepathy and the ability to peer into the expanse of the cosmos. They then were put to death by the shogunate for not denouncing their faith and were tossed into the volcano.

Shadow Life. Written by Hiromi Goto. Art by Ann Xu. 2021. First Second, $24.99 (9781626723566). Fed up with life in an assisted living home, aging Kumiko mounts a daring escape and succeeds in reclaiming a life lived on her own terms.  But, before long, strange things begin to happen. Is Kumiko’s mind playing tricks, or are there darker supernatural forces at work?

Thirsty Mermaids. Written by Kat Leyh. Art by Kat Leyh. 2021. Gallery 13, $29.99 (9781982133573). Using magic, three mermaids transform into humans so they can party on land, but they soon realize they do not know how to turn back. These fish out of water must adjust to life on land with the help of a friendly bartender while they search for the spell that will return them to their mermaid forms.

This Is How I Disappear. Written by Mirion Malle. Art by Mirion Malle. Translated by Aleshia Jensen and Bronwyn Haslam. 2021. Drawn & Quarterly, $24.95 (9781770464612). Follows twenty-something Clara as she navigates her job, publishing a book, relationships, mental health, and just generally existing…to varying degrees of success.

Thor, Volume 1: Devourer King. Written by Donny Cates. Art by Nic Klein. Color by Matthew Wilson. Letters by Vc Joe Sabino. Edited by Wil Moss. 2020. Marvel, $17.99 (9781302920869). Thor, now King of Asgard, teams up with Galactus to prevent the Black Winter from returning.

Tono Monogatari. Written by Shigeru Mizuki. Art by Shigeru Mizuki. Translated by Zack Davisson. 2021. Drawn & Quarterly, $24.95 (9781770464360). The cultural equivalent of Brothers Grimm’s fairy tales, Tono Monogatari is a defining text of Japanese folklore and one of the country’s most important works of literature.

Trese, Volume 1: Murder on Balete Drive. Written by Budjette Tan. Art by Kajo Baldisimo. 2020. Ablaze, $19.99 (9781950912193). Alexandra Trese works with police and governments to uncover and solve mysterious crimes on the streets of the Philippines while also interacting with the gods and spirits of the mythological realm.

Under-Earth. Written by Chris Gooch. Art by Chris Gooch. 2020. IDW Publishing, $29.99 (9781603094771). Under-Earth takes place in an underground landfill where the debris from humanity is sifted through by prisoners considered irredeemable by society. The story follows several inmates who struggle to make a better life in a place with no sky and always under the watchful eyes of the prison guards.

The Waiting. Written by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim. Art by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim. Translated by Janet Hong. 2021. Drawn & Quarterly, $24.99 (9781770464575). This fictional story is inspired by the lives of many Korean families who were separated when the country split into North and South. After seventy years, Gwija, now an elderly woman, still dreams of reconnecting with her lost son. Her daughter, Jina ponders the promise she made to help try and find him.

Wonder Woman: Dead Earth. Written by Daniel Warren Johnson. Art by Daniel Warren Johnson. Color by Mike Spicer. Letters by Rus Wooton. 2020. DC, $29.99 (9781779502612). Diana wakes up from a centuries-long sleep to discover a post-apocalyptic world. Humans are running out of food and being hunted by monsters, and there is not a hero to be found.

YOU DIED: An Anthology of the Afterlife. Written by and Art by multiple contributors. Edited by Kel McDonald and Andrea Purcell. 2021. Iron Circus Comics, $20.00 (9781945820632). YOU DIED celebrates the vibrant, cultural expressions of “the great equalizer.” This thrilling, life-affirming, whirlwind of a book is an inspirational volume to be treasured through times of both loss and abundance.

Non-Fiction

Across the Tracks: Remembering the Tulsa Race Massacre and Black Wall Street. Written by Alverne Ball. Art by Stacey Robinson. Contributions by Reynaldo Anderson and Colette Yellow Robe. 2021. Abrams Books, $15.99 (9781419755170). Celebrates the African American people who built “Black Wall Street” and briefly describes the history of the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Ballad of an American: A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson. Written by Sharon Rudahl. Art by Sharon Rudahl. Edited by Paul Buhle and Lawrence Ware. 2020. University of Rutgers, $19.95 (9781978802070). Tells the story of Paul Robeson, a singer, actor, scholar, athlete, and activist who achieved global fame. He became a symbol for multicultural and multiracial democracy in the arts and in politics. This beautifully drawn retelling of his life allows the readers to fully grasp his lasting impact.

The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History. Written by David F. Walker. Art by Marcus Kwame Anderson. 2021. Ten Speed Press, $9.99 (9781984857705). A strong retelling of the origins and history of the Black Panther Party, The Black Panther Party captures dramatic moments, key figures, and the cultural, political, and social conditions that led to the formation of one of the most important political organizations active during the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

The Body Factory: From the First Prosthetics to the Augmented Human. Written by Héloïse Chochois. Art by Héloïse Chochois. Translated by Kendra Boileau. 2021. Graphic Mundi, $18.95 (9780271087061). Revealing details about famous amputees throughout history, this graphic novel explores various topics of the invention of the tourniquet, phantom limb syndrome, types of prostheses, and trans-humanist technologies.

Catalogue Baby: A Memoir of (In)fertility. Written by Myriam Steinberg. Art by Christache. 2021. Ingram, $24.95 (9781989603642). A deeply moving tragicomic graphic memoir about a single woman’s efforts to conceive in her forties. A few months after Myriam Steinberg turned forty, she decided she could not wait any longer to become a mother. But Myriam’s journey was far from straightforward. She experienced the soaring highs and devastating lows of becoming pregnant and then losing her babies.

Chartwell Manor. Written by Glenn Head. Art by Glenn Head. 2021. Fantagraphics, $29.99 (9781683964254). As a young teenager, author Glenn Head was sent to Chartwell Manor, a New Jersey boarding school. There, he and the other students were subjected to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.

Cheeky: A Head-to-Toe Memoir. Written by Ariella Elovic. Art by Ariella Elovic. 2020. Bloomsbury, $26.00 (9781635574524). The funny, exuberant, inspiring antidote to body shame–a full-color graphic memoir celebrating the imperfections of the author’s female body in all its glory.

Crude: A Memoir. Written by Pablo Fajardo and Sophie Tardy-Joubert. Art by Damien Roudeau. 2021. Graphic Mundi, $19.95 (9780271088068). A graphic novel exploring Texaco’s involvement in the Amazon, as well as the ensuing legal battles between the oil company, the Ecuadorian government, and the region’s inhabitants, from the perspective of Ecuadorian lawyer and activist Pablo Fajardo.

Factory Summers. Written by Guy Delisle. Art by Guy Delisle. Translated by Helge Dascher and Rob Aspinall. 2021. Drawn & Quarterly, $22.95 (9781770464599). Factory Summers is a memoir of the three summers the author spent working in a paper plant as a teenager. The story follows his struggle with the demanding work and his efforts to fit in with his coworkers.

For Justice: The Serge and Beate Klarsfeld Story. Written by Pascal Bresson. Art by Sylvain Dorange. Translated by Nanette McGuinness. Adapted for the English language by Mark Waid. 2021. Life Drawn, $19.99 (9781643375243). This work tells the story of Serge and Beate Klarsfeld as they continue to demand justice for victims of the Holocaust. The book does an excellent job exploring Europe’s complicated reckoning of its past.

Kimiko Does Cancer: A Graphic Memoir. Written by Kimiko Tobimatsu. Art by Keet Geniza. 2020. Arsenal Pulp Press, $16.95 (9781551528199). Told in memoir format, Kimiko Tobimatsu describes her experiences as a young, queer, mixed-race woman with no health problems who is suddenly diagnosed with breast cancer. Kimiko attempts to form a new life for herself while also building new boundaries and learning new ways to communicate with her family and her partner.

Let’s Make Dumplings. Written by Hugh Amano. Art by Sarah Becan. 2021. Ten Speed Press, $19.99 (9781984858757). Let’s Make Dumplings is a comic book cookbook that provides recipes, history, and context for a variety of Asian dumplings. From making wrappers to sauces, this graphic novel covers every step of the dumpling making process.

My Life in Transition: A Super Late Bloomer Collection. Written by Julie Kaye. Art by Julie Kaye. 2021. Andrews McMeel Publishing, $24.99 (9781524860462). This collection illustrates six months of Julia’s life as an out trans woman struggling to find support from bio family, realizing the importance of chosen family, experiencing moments of dysphoria and mis-gendering, learning to lean on friends in times of need, and finding peace in the fact that life keeps moving forward.

Papaya Salad. Written by Elisa Macellari. Art by Elisa Macellari. Translated by Carla Roncalli Di Montorio. 2020. Dark Horse, $24.99 (9781506719139). Papaya Salad tells the story of the author’s childhood visit to Thailand, where she forms a bond with her gentle, literary uncle Sompong. Through Uncle Sompong’s stories, the reader learns the distinctive history of a family shaped by international voyages and the shadows of World War II.

Parenthesis. Written by Élodie Durand. Art by Élodie Durand. 2021. Top Shelf Productions, $9.99 (9781603094818). This graphic memoir follows the creator through her experiences with seizures and memory loss due to a brain tumor.

Power Born of Dreams: My Story is Palestine. Written by Mohammad Sabaaneh. Art by Mohammad Sabaaneh. 2021. Street Noise, $15.99 (9781951491147). Hope and solidarity can stretch further and deeper, once strength is drawn from stories, and power is born of dreams. Translating headlines into authentic, lived experiences, these stories come to life in the striking linocut artwork of Mohammad Sabaaneh, helping readers to see Palestinians not as political symbols, but as people.

Quarantine Comix: A Memoir of Life in Lockdown. Written by Rachael Smith. Art by Rachael Smith. 2021. Icon Books, $12.99 (9781785787836). Rachael Smith’s delightful comics helped people isolated all over the world feel connected. At times laugh-out-loud funny, at others, bittersweet, philosophical, or downright silly, this collection of 200 drawings tells the story of one woman overcoming loneliness and self-doubt with exquisite, wry humor and raw honesty.

Queer as All Get Out: 10 People Who’ve Inspired Me. Written by Shelby Criswell. Art by Shelby Criswell. 2021. Street Noise Books, $18.99 (9781951491079). Short biography of overlooked people from the queer community. The graphic novel draws from people globally and covers the history of their lives.

Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band. Written by Christian Staebler and Sonia Paoloni. Art by Thibault Balahy. 2020. IDW Publishing, $19.99 (9781684057146). Redbone tells a vivid story about a neglected chapter of American history. Part research journalism, part biography, the novel does an excellent job highlighting the difficulties the band members faced just trying to identify as themselves while also being a rock band and having to support their families.

Save It for Later: Promises, Protest, and Parenthood. Written by Nate Powell. Art by Nate Powerll. 2021. Abrams Books, $24.99 (9781419749124). A series of essays about politics and parenthood, very relevant to today’s adults and the obstacles people face within their communities, families, and society.

The Secret to Superhuman Strength. Written by Alison Bechdel. Art by Alison Bechdel. 2021. Houghton Mifflin, $12.99 (9780544387652). In this graphic memoir, Alison Bechdel explores her relationship to fitness, self-awareness, and authors of the past.

Seek You. Written by Kristen Radtke. Art by Kristen Radtke. 2021. Pantheon, $30.00 (9781524748067). Seek You is an intense meditation on loneliness that has only become more relevant in the wake of the pandemic. Radtke details various studies on loneliness that have been performed as well as showing how loneliness has played into American culture over the years. These are interwoven with the author’s own experiences with loneliness.

Wake: The HIdden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts. Written by Rebecca Hall. Illustrated by Hugo Martínez. Letters by Sarula Bao. 2021. Simon & Schuster, $29.99 (9781982115180). Part memoir, part exploration of history, Rebecca Hall, JD, PhD, delves into the rarely studied and largely ignored role women had in slave revolts.  

Welcome to the New World. Written by Jake Halpern. Art by Michael Sloan. 2020. Metropolitan Books, $21.99 (9781250305596). Welcome to the New World provides an original view of the immigrant experience. Ibrahim Aldabaan and his family flee the country and head to the U.S., landing on 2016 Election Day. Knowing little English, having few friends and even less money, the family finds a way to make a home.

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Best comics and graphic novels of 2021

Alison Bechdel on her exercise obsession and a spectacular cold war epic from Marvel veteran Barry Windsor-Smith are among this year’s finest

O ver the last 12 months, graphic novels have explored everything from injustice to hedonism. But perhaps unsurprisingly in a year that saw many reflect on their lives, a crop of fine memoirs dominated the shelves.

The biggest event of the year was the return of Alison Bechdel . The Secret to Superhuman Strength (Jonathan Cape) is a meditation on exercise and happiness that paints the Vermont cartoonist as a “neurotic wretch”, moving between sporting obsessions as relationships come and go. Karate, running, cycling, skiing and yoga all promise peace of mind, but it never lasts. Bechdel’s previous books have made her one of the superstars of graphic fiction, and this funny, perceptive and merciless account shows that, while her personal bests may have slipped, her talent remains undimmed.

Lauded in her native France, Élodie Durand’s Parenthesis (Top Shelf; translated by Edward Gauvin) is finally available in English. Durand’s young life was shattered by a tumour that brought severe memory loss, epilepsy, pill after pill and operation after operation. She draws tense consultations, giant tumours and gouged self-portraits in a desperately affecting book about the struggle to hold on to yourself when your world is in pieces.

Sabba Khan’s family moved from Kashmir to east London before she was born. The artist and architectural designer puts her overlapping identities at the heart of The Roles We Play (Myriad), which explores history, culture, family ties and psychotherapy. Imaginative framing, expressive sketches and thoughtful prose combine in a fascinating debut full of acute observations (after the 2005 London bombings, her headscarf has “grown louder than me”), with a recommended song for every chapter.

Where Khan explains herself with scrupulous care, Shira Spector’s Red Rock Baby Candy (Fantagraphics) spins a chaotic spectacle of bright collages and strange visions, her text bouncing off drum kits and reaching into bloodstains and ink spills. Vibrant illustrations sit alongside descriptions of her father’s cancer diagnosis and her attempts to conceive in an inventive debut memoir that’s as deeply felt as it is stylistically playful.

The finest British graphic novel of the year was In. by Will McPhail (Sceptre), a clever and touching account of a young illustrator dealing with his mother’s illness and his own ennui. This beautifully composed debut mixes nuanced observation with hipster satire, and scalpel-sharp one-liners about the things that don’t matter with stumbling attempts to articulate the things that do.

It has been some time since Barry Windsor-Smith was a promising newcomer – the comics veteran began his career drawing for Marvel 50 years ago – but Monsters (Jonathan Cape) is likely to be his defining work. This big, bruising epic about an attempt to create a cold war supersoldier features Nazi scientists, helicopter gunfights and psychic powers. But while Windsor-Smith doesn’t shirk on spectacle, he’s more interested in pulling back the curtain on sordid military-industrial compromises, and showing how hate leaches from one man to another in a study of violence, redemption and parenthood.

Exploitation echoes down the centuries in historian Rebecca Hall’s Wake (Particular), which delves into the neglected story of female slavery and resistance. Hall combines re-creations of revolts with an account of her own research, which is held back by unhelpful archivists and myopic official histories. She uncovers vital details, such as why women played a crucial role in slave-ship mutinies – they were often left unchained on deck. Aided by Hugo Martínez’s stark artwork, Hall compellingly describes the terror and resilience of people who were brought across the ocean in shackles and enslaved for generations, speaking of reckonings still to come.

Slavery shadows Dash Shaw’s Discipline (New York Review of Books), a startling, panel-free work that follows a Quaker family ruptured by the American civil war. Brother Charles abandons pacifism to fight for the Union, while his sister Fanny deals with schisms at home in a book whose powerful images spring out of white space. The seasons change as war takes its toll, and earnest letters – adapted from real correspondence – beat with tension beneath their matter-of-fact surface.

There was hedonism too this year, in the return of Brecht Evens, whose The City of Belgium (Drawn and Quarterly) explores a bacchanalian nightscape. Three characters, their lives on the edge of change, dance their way through lurid bars and dark passageways in a swirl of tall tales and lush inking. Evens is a master of crowd scenes and colour, and his psychedelic symphony bleeds into a pensive, washed-out dawn that suggests that even the wildest trips must end sometime.

Simon Hanselmann drew a webcomic every day for the first nine months of the pandemic. The collected Crisis Zone (Fantagraphics) sees his longstanding cast of witches and anthropomorphic animals cram themselves into a house, bicker, shoot pornography and take drugs. They are hit by Covid and become the subjects of a reality TV show in a provocative and funny descent into social-media notoriety and violence.

For something more wholesome, settle down with Esther’s Notebooks (Pushkin; translated by Sam Taylor), in which cartoonist Riad Sattouf lays out a series of strips based on his friend’s daughter’s Paris schooldays. They’re not exactly escapist – racism and the spectre of terrorism intrude on the playground frighteningly early – but these three funny, insightful volumes, packed with phone envy, classroom politics and friendship, are a comic treat.

• Best books of the year
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Best YA Graphic Novels of 2021

NOV. 9, 2021

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT

by Harmony Becker ; illustrated by Harmony Becker

An unforgettable story of personal growth in an exquisitely rendered setting. Full review >

FEB. 23, 2021

GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS

by Abby Howard ; illustrated by Abby Howard

Unsettling in the best way. Full review >

AUG. 3, 2021

by John Lewis & Andrew Aydin ; illustrated by L. Fury & Nate Powell

An intimate, powerfully revealing look at a crucial, complex time, through the eyes of a true American hero. Full review >

by L.L. McKinney ; illustrated by Robyn Smith

An essential superhero story for this moment. Full review >

MARCH 9, 2021

by Erika Moen & Matthew Nolan ; illustrated by Erika Moen & Matthew Nolan

Puts the graphic in the graphic-novel format, in the best and most educational way. Full review >

FEB. 22, 2022

by Nathan Page ; illustrated by Drew Shannon

Another winning installment. Full review >

MARCH 30, 2021

by Stan Stanley ; illustrated by Stan Stanley

A noir fantasy—part adventure, part love story, all the way spectacularly creepy. Full review >

AUG. 31, 2021

edited by Julie Vang , Tea Rozman & Tom Kaczynski

Will strongly evoke both thought-provoking insights and empathy. Full review >

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Our 11 most anticipated graphic novels of the fall

From DC and Marvel’s superheroics to off-beat nonfiction, there’s a reason for every comic fan to get pumped

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Share All sharing options for: Our 11 most anticipated graphic novels of the fall

It’s that time of year again where we wait for some cooler weather to roll in and hunker down with a brand new stack of comics. Continuing to act as a soothing balm for everything that ails us, this fall’s new releases offer more than their fair share of unexpected delights for those prepared to get cozy and read everything straight through ‘til the end.

From webcomics-turned-print-editions and beloved caped crusaders getting a whole new outlook, to historical smut and heart-wrenching personal narratives, this generous fall line-up is guaranteed to keep expectant readers on their toes.

These are Polygon’s most anticipated graphic novels for fall 2021!

Smut Peddler Presents: Sordid Past

Written and drawn by Anderjak, Lucy Bellwood, Dapperpunch, Erica Henderson, et al, edited by Andrea Purcell; available Sep. 7

If there’s one thing that people look for when fall rolls around, it’s ways to keep cozy, or maybe even heat up — and Iron Circus Comics has no problem providing a bit of steam when it comes to their erotically-charged fall anthology. Featuring some of the most beloved names in both mainstream comics and indie publishing houses such as Eisner-winner Erica Henderson ( Dracula, Motherf*cker!), sea-faring adventure cartoonist Lucy Bellwood ( Baggywrinkles ), E.K. Weaver, and many others, this collection of stories offers sex-positive, consent-driven erotica with an anchor in historical research and the delightful smut of human history.

So whether your thing is taking a horny-on-main trip down memory lane to the 1990s, diving into the depths of ancient Egypt, or exploring the playful side of the otherwise prudish Victorian era, Sordid Past is ready to heat up your fall reading somewhere in-between the realm of porn and history. What’s not to look forward to?

ShortBox Fair

Various Creators; runs Oct. 1-31

Founded in Yorkshire, England in 2016 by journalist and editor Zainab Akhtar, independent publisher ShortBox has become one of the places to go for readers looking for meticulously curated and wholly enjoyable comics. With real life conventions in short supply this year due to the pandemic — creating a sink hole for some of the best and boldest of the indie comics scene in the process — ShortBox is here to offer not just one collection to sate your comic collector needs, but an entire month of creator-owned digital comics available exclusively on the ShortBox GumRoad page .

ShortBox Comics Fair will run from Oct. 1-31, and is slated to feature 48 artists, all of whom have created comics exclusive to the ShortBox Comics Fair. Running the gamut between mainstream creators such as David LaFuente ( Harley Quinn Annual ) and Victoria Ying ( Diana, Princess of Amazons ) to indie superstars and online creators like Molly Mendoza, Mochipanko, and Sophia Foster-Dimino, there will certainly be no shortage of varying art styles, storytelling, and incredible talent.

BRZRKR Vol. 1

Written by Matt Kindt and Keanu Reeves, drawn by Ron Garney; available Oct. 5th

Half man, half god, and compelled to violence at the cost of his own well-being, a man known only as Berzerker wanders the world in search of refuge. The only way he finds it, however, is working for the U.S. Government, agreeing to fight the battles that are just too gruesome for the average soldier. For his efforts, Berzerker is promised the key to unlock the truth behind his blood-soaked curse, and potentially the way to finally end it.

With decades of acting chops (and some iconic roles, to boot) under his belt, Keanu Reeves touts his comic book writing debut alongside co-writer and New York Times bestseller Matt Kindt ( MIND MGMT ) in this collection of the hit series’ first four issues. With the pacing of an action film, an engaging script, some John Wick flair, and gratuitous amounts of gore, this is a collection that action fans will want to speed through in one go.

The Waiting

Written and drawn by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, translated by Janet Hong; available Oct. 19

Drawn and Quarterly’s always superb fall line-up includes this follow-up story of a family wrought with anguish during the height of the Korean War; yet another heart-wrenching, visceral tale from Gendry-Kim.

Based on the once-secret experiences of her mother, Gendry-Kim deftly illustrates the (fictional) story of Gwija, a girl married off young in hopes of saving her from invading Japanese forces, whose life spent building a beautiful family and navigating unrest in the wake of war leaves her in old age wondering about the connections lost and the husband and son she had been separated from for nearly 70 years.

A story of colonization and political unrest whose ripples echo through so many portions of today’s history, this graphic novel followup to Gendry-Kim’s Grass is guaranteed to give readers as much perspective from her storytelling as it does awe with her staggeringly affective inks and unpredictable layouts.

Enigma: The Definitive Edition

Written by Peter Milligan, drawn by Duncan Fegredo; available Oct. 20

Presented with breathtaking new cover art by original series artist Duncan Fegredo, Enigma returns to grace the shelves once again after nearly 30 years! A visceral tale of self discovery and sexuality set against the backdrop of superheroes, villains, and a meta-understanding of comics storytelling, Michael Smith’s ordinary life is turned upside down when the characters from his favorite childhood comic begin to come to life. As he sets out on a personal mission with Enigma ’s creator to uncover the meaning behind their disturbing and unsettling appearances in reality, Michael’s quest becomes a step out of the closet and into a world of something bigger than himself.

Brimming with an intimacy and self-awareness seldom seen in modern comics, this collection brings an unbroken version of Milligan’s lyrical scripting and the calculated chaos of Fegredo’s early ink-work that will have readers kicking up their feet and daydreaming of the halcyon days of Vertigo’s beautiful weirdness.

Lore Olympus Vol 1.

Written and drawn by Rachel Smythe; available Nov. 2

If you’ve spent any time on the comics internet over the past ten years, there’s a chance that you’ve read some of Smythe’s Lore Olympus in some form or another. Through animation-influenced cartooning and color work that can only be described as full-tilt bisexual lighting, this volume — previously serialized as a digital comic on Webtoon — collects the first installment of the romantic and deeply perceptive retelling of one of Greek mythology’s most famous stories.

The Goddess of Spring, Persephone, has been raised in the mortal realm. After promising to train as a sacred virgin, however, she’s granted access to the glamorous world of the Gods on Olympus. A night of partying with her roommate Artemis reveals that life only gets more complicated from there, as she finds a spark with Hades, God of the Underworld, and is forced to navigate the relationships, personal power, and politics of living among the Gods. Smythe’s unmatched storytelling is packed with gossip, a contemporary stylishness, and the beautiful answers to “What if Greek gods were hot millennials?” Actually holding it in your hands, will be an astonishing treat.

Dreadnoughts: Breaking Ground

Written by Michael Carroll, drawn by John Higgins; available Nov. 9

It’s a well-established fact that Judge Dredd is the law. What makes new spin-off Dreadnoughts different is that it takes a look back in time and asks the question, “Just how did America end up a fascistic police state in the first place?”

Set in 2035, the story — which originally ran in Britain’s Judge Dredd Megazine — is part police procedural, part political horror story, and entirely timely. As the United States struggles to deal with a police force with massively expanded powers, one of the new guard of Judges begins an investigation into a child kidnapped from a commune that really doesn’t want the authorities looking into what they’ve been up to. Carroll keeps readers on their toes by reminding them that, even the most well-meaning ultimate authority will cause more problems than they solve. It’s a rare cop story that’s well aware of just how dangerous the police can be, and why unlimited power is a bad idea in anyone’s hands, even the self-proclaimed “good guys.”

The Dreaming: Waking Hours

Written by G. Willow Wilson, drawn by Nick Robles; available Nov. 16

As hype for The Sandman begins to ramp back up after 30 years collecting dust on shelves, this volume acts as both a continuation of Gaiman’s seminal 1990s series as well as the recently completed Sandman: The Dreaming . While old fans will delight in the appearance of many beloved characters, the story offers original concepts and characters, and contemporary twist on those familiar faces.

New mom and Shakespeare scholar Lindy is struggling to find a balance in order to finish her thesis, and in her restless sleep she meets Ruin — a young nightmare created by the king of Dreams. Accidentally delivered into the Waking World, it turns out that Ruin has the potential to amount to far more than his name might suggest — but what could possibly create more of a mess than a nightmare falling in love with a human? Complimented artist Nick Robles’ fine attention to detail and elegant line work, G. Willow Wilson’s tale is full of heart, intrigue, and surprises, surpassing the magical weaving of story that has come to define the Sandman universe.

Immortal Hulk Vol 10: Of Hell and Death

Written by Al Ewing, drawn by Joe Bennett; available Nov. 30

Since i began in the unburned year of 2018, The Immortal Hulk has kept readers from all backgrounds and tastes entirely hooked. Ewing’s gift for going full-ham on angles readers never expect, paired with Bennett’s kinetic artwork, have created one of the most fully-formed and unique Hulk comics since the character’s Silver Age origins.

Now as the series comes to its end, readers can finally experience the smashing finale of Ewing’s Hulk saga in one massive collection, as the series reaches the fulcrum of humanity’s fight against the Hulk and the various gamma monsters that were once believed to have been controlled and subdued. As radioactive brutes swarm the center of New York City, however, a showdown with a skeptical group of Avengers awaits, with the heroes ready to take on the fight, but this is an entirely different kind of Hulk. For a story that has swung from horror nightmare to anti-capitalist narrative and back again, there’s no telling what’s in store for Marvel’s jade giant.

Nightwing Vol 1: Leaping Into the Light

Written by Tom Taylor, drawn by Bruno Redondo; available Dec. 14

Poor Dick Grayson hasn’t had an easy few years. After more than a decade of rumors that he would soon be killed off in one event comic or another, he was shot in the head during Tom King’s Batman run and left an amnesiac . He renamed himself “Ric” and watched as other characters took on the Nightwing mantle and ran around with the Batcrew. Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s arrival on the hero’s title promised a return to basics, but actually offers something much better: A superhero comic that’s fun, optimistic, and wants to do something more than just hitting people a bunch.

It’s not just that fans get to see a Nightwing who’s remembered how to smile, nor that he’s gained a supporting cast that includes Batgirl herself, Barbara Gordon, and a cute pup sidekick who might be named Haley and might be named Bitewing. Where Taylor and Redondo succeed is delivering a hero that’s as kind as he is agile, and who wants to make the world a better place in large ways as well as small. Dick Grayson will never be Bruce Wayne, but this volume will convince you why that’s a good thing.

Deserter: Junji Ito Story Collection

Written and drawn by Junji Ito; available Dec. 21

Would it truly be spooky season if we didn’t have a new and entirely unsettling story from the master of horror manga? This December sees Viz Media release yet another volume of spine-chilling stories from famed horror mangaka Junji Ito, this time featuring several of the long-time creators’ earliest works. A pair of unrelated girls look identical, but aren’t twins; a boy’s nightmare threatens to infest the nature world; and a family of resentful survivors hide a World War II soldier who has deserted the army, trapping him in a mental prison with the belief that the war has continued well after it’s true end.

Featuring Ito’s signature artistic style of clean lines and discomforting expressions, the collection showcases nearly a dozen of Ito’s pre-fame works. This brand new edition helps to truly cement the notion that, despite having a career nearly four decades long, Ito is a creator whose work has been impeccably chilling since it’s very earliest days.

Polygon’s fall preview

• Our 25 most anticipated games coming this fall
• The 27 new movie releases to check out this fall
• The 23 TV premieres to catch this fall
• Our 12 most anticipated anime new to the fall 2021 season
• 17 major sci-fi and fantasy books arriving in fall 2021
• All the scary, spoopy movies and shows coming to Netflix for Halloween
• The Cowboy Bebop team aims to go deeper than a simple anime remake
• Best new board games and role-playing games of fall 2021

What to Read: 4 Graphic Works

By Gal Beckerman Sept. 1, 2021

As always, we’re on the lookout for that unique combination of words and images that comes together in the best graphic novels.

Here are four we recommend this week, from a comics biography of a Spanish surrealist to retro drawings of female pro wrestlers →

NIGHT BUS, by Zuo Ma. Translated by R. Orion Martin. (Drawn & Quarterly, $34.95.) The riches of Chinese underground comics are only now finding their way to American readers, and this story — of a woman on a long, fantastical bus ride through a night of horrors and wonders — is a highlight.

QUEEN OF THE RING, by Jaime Hernandez. (Fantagraphics, $24.99.) Best known for his groundbreaking series, “Love and Rockets,” Hernandez here presents 125 drawings he’s made over four decades of female pro wrestlers from the sport’s heyday in the 1960s and ’70s.

BUÑUEL: In the Labyrinth of the Turtles, by Fermín Solís. Translated by Lawrence Schimel. (SelfMadeHero, $22.99.) This is more than a standard-issue comics biography of the Spanish surrealist Luis Buñuel. It captures him at a moment of crisis, when he almost embraces social realism and abandons his dreamy style, only to discover his unique art.

TRUE WAR STORIES, edited by Alex De Campi and Khai Krumbhaar. (Z2 Comics, $24.99.) This comics anthology contains 15 true stories about American soldiers abroad, from the Philippines to Iraq, celebrating the everyday heroism of those who serve.

Check out other newly published titles out this week.

Or read more book news:

Explore More in Books

Want to know about the best books to read and the latest news start here..

The political artist Edel Rodriguez drew some of the most provocative images of the Trump presidency. His new graphic memoir skewers the powerful once more .

Barbra Streisand’s 970-page memoir, “My Name is Barbra,” is a victory lap past all who ever doubted or diminished her, our critic writes .

Rebecca Yarros drew on her experience with chronic illness and life in a military family to write “Fourth Wing,” a huge best seller that spawned a spicy fantasy series .

Do you want to be a better reader?   Here’s some helpful advice to show you how to get the most out of your literary endeavor .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

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The Best Graphic Novels of 2021

By Zack Quaintance — The Best Graphic Novels of 2021 list is now here, a full month after 2021 has, in fact, ended. It’s late ( again this year ) because I was reading as many comics from last year as possible (and, not to brag, but I think I got a pretty good number knocked out). The end result is before you now, featuring a wide range of publishers, including Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics, First Second, DC Comics, and more.

This was such a good year for new graphic novels, and, really, for readers of all ages and sensibilities. This best graphic novels of 2021 set has entries that range from serious to charming to shocking to understated (all the things!). It’s also a list that touches many corners of the world, geographically, featuring work from Japan, Israel, and West Africa. But enough rambling! Check out the full list of 20 selections below…

Best Graphic Novels of 2021

Alone In Space - A Collection Creator: Tillie Walden Publisher: Avery Hill Publishing A collection of Tillie's three longform comics with Avery Hill: "I Love This Part," "The End of Summer," and "A City Inside." Plus the early sketches, short comics for magazines and webcomics such as "What It's Like To Be Gay In An All-Girls Middle School" that shot her to fame on both sides of the Atlantic and have never been collected before. Why It’s Cool: Tillie Walden has established herself as one of the most interesting cartoonists with ethereal and haunting books like On a Sunbeam (2018) and Are You Listening? (2019) . Her next project will be a set of graphic novels for Skybound’s new YA imprint, set in the world of The Walking Dead and focused on the character of Clementine — and the glimpses we’ve had of these books so far have been incredible. All of that is to say that Walden is a major talent, and this year we got a collection of her early stories, which give a glimpse not only into her own journey to focusing and honing her talent, but into the general development of unique creatives. These stories are rewarding on their own merits, but when taken in the context of Walden’s life and career, this collection is elevated to the ranks of the best graphic novels of 2021. Buy It Here: Alone In Space

Chartwell Manor Creator: Glenn Head Publisher: Fantagraphics Books No one asks for the childhood they get, and no child ever deserved to go to Chartwell Manor. For Glenn Head, his two years spent at the now-defunct Mendham, NJ, boarding school ― run by a serial sexual and emotional abuser of young boys in the early 1970s ― left emotional scars in ways that he continues to process. This graphic memoir ― a book almost 50 years in the making ― tells the story of that experience, and then delves with even greater detail into the reverberations of that experience in adulthood, including addiction and other self-destructive behavior. Head tells his story with unsparing honesty, depicting himself as a deeply flawed human struggling to make sense of the childhood he was given. Why It’s Cool: You can read my full review of Chartwell Manor from the spring, but this is a harrowing and deeply honest memoir comic that takes a stark look at the central trauma of cartoonist Glenn Head’s life. In this work, Head looks back to his childhood at a notorious boarding school run by a headmaster who would later face criminal charges for abuse. The work in the book uses Head’s vast alternative cartooning schools in interesting and measured ways, unleashing his looser sensibilities where it fits but for the most part laying out a disturbing account of what Head experienced, as well as how it informed the rest of his life. Perhaps the decision that most elevates this work is dedicating the second half to the ways that trauma has spiderwebbed out through not only Head’s life but the other boys he encounters later as adults. As a result, Chartwell Manor is haunting and memorable in ways few comics achieve. Buy It Here: Chartwell Manor via Amazon Buy It Digitally: Chartwell Manor via comiXology

Crisis Zone Creator: Simon Hanselmann Publisher: Fantagraphics Books In March 2020, as the planet began to enter lockdown, acclaimed cartoonist Simon Hanselmann decided that what the world needed most was free, easily accessible entertainment, so he set out to make the greatest webcomic ever created! The result is also certain to be one of the most acclaimed and eagerly anticipated graphic novels of 2021. As the Covid-19 pandemic continued to escalate far beyond any reasonable expectations, Crisis Zone escalated right alongside, in real time, with daily posts on Instagram. Crisis Zone's battle mission was to amuse the masses: no matter how horrible and bleak everything seemed, at least Werewolf Jones wasn’t in your house! Over the course of 2020, Crisis Zone has amassed unprecedented amounts of new fans to the Megg and Mogg universe and is presented here, unabridged and uncensored, with a slew of added pages and scenes deleted from the webcomic, as well as an extensive “Director’s Commentary” from Hanselmann himself. Why It’s Cool: This book complies the Instagram comic that Simon Hanselmann made in real time throughout most of the first year of the pandemic, one that I’ve previously written about as the best comics work of 2020 (we also had a suitably madcap roundtable about it). This is a story that evolves along with the pandemic, keying off on the individual moments that gave the odd and disorienting year definition, from Tiger King and Animal Crossing to the murder of George Floyd and the resulting protests. It’s also a deeply human work, in which Hanselmann’s madcap characters show growth in more direct ways than they have in the other books of his in which they’ve long appeared. Be warned, this is definitely a work for folks with a certain sense of humor — readers must be amenable to many many scenes involving dildos — but it easily ranks as one of the defining graphic novels of 2021. Buy It Here: Crisis Zone Buy It Digitally: Crisis Zone via comiXology

Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? Writer: Harold Schecter and Eric Powell Artist: Eric Powell Letterer: Phil Balsman Publisher: Albatross Funny Books One of the greats in the field of true-crime literature, Harold Schechter, teams with five-time Eisner Award-winning graphic novelist Eric Powell to bring you the tale of one of the most notoriously deranged murderers in American history, Ed Gein. This is an in-depth exploration of the Gein family and what led to the creation of the necrophile who haunted the dreams of 1950s America and inspired such films as Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs. Schechter and Powell's true-crime graphic novel takes the Gein story out of the realms of exploitation and gives the reader a fact-based dramatization of these tragic, heartbreaking and psychotic events. Why It’s Cool: Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? is one of the best and most thorough true crime comics in years. It’s meticulously well researched, drawing from primary sources to depict a gruesome set of events in the 1940s and 1950s, as well as the complex psychology that motivated the man at the center of it all. What elevates this work to one of the best graphic novels of 2021 is the way it connects the dots between the real world events and their impact on the American fascination with true crime, serial killers, and depravity, played out in the classic film Psycho to the wave of slasher films it continues to inspire to this day. Moreover, this is a chilling reading experience, one that will immerse you and leave you rattled to your core. If you’d like to know more, be sure to read our full Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? review. Buy It Here: Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? Buy It Digitally: Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? via comiXology

Djeliya Creator: Juni Ba Publisher: TKO Studios, 2021 Inspired by West African folklore and stories handed over centuries, this unique graphic novel follows the adventures of Mansour Keita, last prince of a dying kingdom, and Awa Kouyaté, his loyal Djeli, or 'royal storyteller' as they journey to meet the great wizard who destroyed their world and then withdrew into his tower, never to be seen again. On their journey they'll cross paths with friend and foe, from myth and legend alike, and revisit the traditions, tales, and stories that gave birth to their people and nurture them still. But what dark secret lies at the heart of these stories, and what purpose do their tellers truly serve? Why It’s Cool: Quite frankly, I don’t think we’ve ever seen cartooning quite like the work Juni Ba lays out in Djeliya, especially not in the context of sci-fi/fantasy storytelling that appeals to adults who enjoy genre fare as well as to teen and young adult readers . I had the chance to interview Juni Ba while writing for NPR , and he detailed using the West African folklore he grew up with to create art and narrative that felt wholly new, with a chic future-leaning aesthetic that also honors the past. Buy It Here: Djeliya Buy It Digitally: Djeliya via comiXology

Fictional Father Writer/Artist: Joe Ollmann Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly Caleb is a middle-aged painter with a non-starter career. He also happens to be the only child of one of the world's most famous cartoonists, Jimmi Wyatt. Known for the internationally beloved father and son comic Sonny Side Up, Jimmi made millions drawing saccharine family stories while neglecting his own son. Why It’s Cool: There are two primary qualities that landed Fictional Father on my list of best graphic novels of 2021. First and foremost, it’s an excellent character-driven story that feels lived-in and real. It’s the story of a man with a cold and removed father, who loved work and fame perhaps more than he loved his son, a fact complicated by that work and fame centering on a fictional father-son relationship. There are just so many great small details that bring this to life, from the main characters sobriety to the subtle touches that make supporting characters feel as real as the lead. The second central quality to this book is its reverence for the newspaper comic strip. This is a book that takes place around the edges of one of the grand (and endangered) traditions of the comics medium, and that extra layer will be appreciated by anyone who’s ever felt vested in newspaper strip characters. For more, checkout our full Fictional Father review from the summer. Buy It Here: Fictional Father Buy It Digitally: Fictional Father via comiXology

Friday: Book One - The First Day of Christmas Writer: Ed Brubaker Artist: Marcos Martín Colorist: Muntsa Vicente Publisher: Image Comics Collected in print for the first time—a young adult detective hero finally grows up in the first volume of this genre-defying, post-YA masterpiece from award-winning creators ED BRUBAKER (RECKLESS, FRIEND OF THE DEVIL, PULP, KILL OR BE KILLED) and MARCOS MARTIN (THE PRIVATE EYE, Daredevil). Friday Fitzhugh spent her childhood solving crimes and digging up occult secrets with her best friend Lancelot Jones, the smartest boy in the world. But that was the past. Now she’s in college, starting a new life on her own—or so she thought. When Friday comes home for the holidays, she’s immediately pulled back into Lance’s orbit and finds that something very strange and dangerous is happening in their little New England town… This is literally the Christmas vacation from Hell, and they may not survive to see the New Year. Why It’s Cool: Marcos Martín and Munsta Vincente are one of the best and most talented duos making assembly line comics, and they are teamed here with writer Ed Brubaker. That’s a lot of top-tier creators, but what makes this book all the more special in my opinion is that they’re all pushing each other. Brubaker continues to put out the most consistent crime and noir comics in the industry with regular collaborator Sean Phillips (see the Reckless series, which made this list’s honorable mentions), but in this one, he looks backward, penning a story that serves as almost a deconstruction of regular YA tropes. Martín then gives the entire thing a unique aesthetic, indebted in equal parts to 1970s hipster fashion and small-town New England. It all coheres surprisingly well, and while it was first published in installments (one of only three entries on this year’s list released that way), it reads better as a whole, feeling like the youth detective novels that inspired the book. Read our full review of Friday: Book One - The First Day of Christmas. Buy It Here: Friday - Book One

Fungirl Creator: Elizabeth Pich Publisher: Silver Sprocket Fungirl is a hapless (hopeless) mess of a woman crashing through life, leaving mayhem in her wake. Her oblivious antics infuriate her roommate-slash-ex-girlfriend and threaten any opportunity for employment, but surely Fungirl will figure it all out... eventually. A love letter to that chaotic friend with a heart of gold! Why It’s Cool: Humor in comics is hard, yet Fungirl is hilarious basically from start to finish. In these cartoons, the titular Fungirl is a high-energy agent of chaos, careening from situation to situation (none of which are that implausible) in which she almost uniformly makes things worse. The cartooning in this book is clean and sharp, and the punchlines consistently deliver some of the best humor in all of 2021 comics. Like Crisis Zone before it, readers must be willing to entertain a certain sense of humor (again, here there by dildos), but it’s all in good fun, adding up to one of the best graphic novels of 2021. Buy It Here: Fungirl

Himawari House Creator: Harmony Becker Publisher: First Second Books A young adult graphic novels about three foriegn exchange students and the pleasures, and difficulties, of adjusting to life in Japan. Living in a new country is no walk in the park-Nao, Hyejung, and Tina can all attest to that. The three of them became fast friends through their time together in the Himawari House in Tokyo and attending the same Japanese cram school. Nao came to Japan to reconnect with her Japanese heritage, while Hyejung and Tina came to find freedom and their own paths. Though each of them has their own motivations and challenges, they all deal with language barriers, being a fish out of water, self discovery, love, and family. Why It’s Cool: This book is an incredible moving story about familial roots, cultural identity, and fast friendships forged while searching for all of the above. It’s touching from start to finish, but one thing I found particular well-done in this graphic novel — which is suitable for both adults and teens — was the craft. The lettering does a seamless job of conveying what languages the characters are speaking — or trying to speak, or speaking but not smoothly — without slowing down the story or taking readers out of the book. Communication is central to the book’s events, and I absolutely loved how speech was conveyed. Moreover, Himawari House is a touching story of friendship during a pivotal if confusing time of life, an easy choice for the best graphic novels of 2021 list. Buy It Here: Himawari House

I Am Not Starfire Writer: Mariko Tamaki Artist: Yoshi Yoshitani Letterer: Aditya Bidikar Publisher: DC Comics From New York Times bestselling author Mariko Tamaki (Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass) and artist Yoshi Yoshitani (Zatanna and the House of Secrets) comes a story about Mandy, the daughter of super-famous superhero Starfire. Seventeen-year-old Mandy, daughter of Starfire, is not like her mother. Starfire is gorgeous, tall, sparkly, and a hero. Mandy is not a sparkly superhero. Mandy has no powers. She’s a kid who dyes her hair black and hates everyone but her best friend, Lincoln. To Starfire, who is from another planet, Mandy seems like an alien, like some distant, angry, light-years away moon. And ever since she walked out on her SATs, which her mom doesn’t know about, Mandy has been even more distant. Everyone thinks Mandy needs to go to college and become whoever you become at college, but Mandy has other plans. Or she did until she gets partnered with Claire, the person she intensely denies liking but definitely likes a lot, for a school project. When someone from Starfire’s past arrives, Mandy must make a choice: give up before the battle has even begun, or step into the unknown and risk everything to save her mom. I Am Not Starfire is a story about teenagers and/as aliens; about knowing where you come from and where you are going; and about mothers. Why It’s Cool: My friends, I was not ready for how charming this book is. I Am Not Starfire is an absolute riot of a graphic novel, taking the recognizable character of Starfire from the Teen Titans (who is essentially unchanged here) and giving her an awkward teenage daughter, with whom she outwardly shares next to nothing in common. Whereas Starfire is famous and powerful and traditionally gorgeous (definitely portrayed here in the it girl socialite mode), her daughter Mandy simply is not. It’s an A+ slice of life comic concept, and the creators here spin such a wonderful mix of touching moments and jokes from it. The humor is great throughout, but what really elevates this one to the best graphic novels of 2021 status is the way it captures the stressful time of life (age 16 - 18) where for the first time one is making decisions about the direction of their life. I absolutely loved this one, with its fearless and unique use of familiar superhero characters. Buy It Here: I Am Not Starfire Buy It Digitally: I Am Not Starfire

In Creator: Will McPhail Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Nick, a young illustrator, can’t shake the feeling that there is some hidden realm of human interaction beyond his reach. He haunts lookalike fussy, silly, coffee shops, listens to old Joni Mitchell albums too loudly, and stares at his navel in the hope that he will find it in there. But it isn’t until he learns to speak from the heart that he begins to find authentic human connections and is let in—to the worlds of the people he meets. Nick’s journey occurs alongside the beginnings of a relationship with Wren, a wry, spirited oncologist at a nearby hospital, whose work and life becomes painfully tangled with Nick’s. Illustrated in both color and black-and-white in McPhail’s instantly recognizable style, In elevates the graphic novel genre; it captures his trademark humor and compassion with a semi-autobiographical tale that is equal parts hilarious and heart-wrenching—uncannily appropriate for our isolated times. Why It’s Cool: When I got a press copy of In by Will McPhail earlier this year, I’d never heard of the cartoonist, who had done quite a bit of work for The New Yorker. But I checked out his cartoons for the magazine, and I enjoyed them quite a bit — so I dove into this book, and friends? I was absolutely blown away by Will McPhail’s In. The book has trace amounts of the gag-heavy visual work required to regularly generate New Yorker cartoons, but it’s all framed around a really compelling narrative about loneliness by design, inability to connect with others, and what prevents us from fully opening up. While Will told me in an interview the book was conceived and mostly created before the pandemic, it’s hard not to connect with such a touching story of loss and loneliness while shut up at home and distancing. The end effect is a question about the holistic reasons we as a people can’t truly connect, and it’s moving work indeed. I wrote a full review of In prior to release, already suspecting it would land on this year-end list. Buy It Here: In - A Graphic Novel by Will McPhail

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr Writer: Ram V. Artist: Filipe Andrade Letterer: AndWorld Design Publisher: BOOM! Studios Humanity is on the verge of discovering immortality. As a result, the avatar of Death is cast down to Earth to live a mortal life in Mumbai as twenty-something Laila Starr. Struggling with her newfound mortality, Laila has found a way to be placed in the time and place where the creator of immortality will be born. Will Laila take her chance to stop mankind from permanently altering the cycle of life, or will death really become a thing of the past? Why It’s Cool: The Many Deaths of Laila Starr is another of the three books on our list that were originally published in periodical format, and I’ve selected here because I think it reads coherently on the whole. It’s a beautiful story — poetic in both text and visuals — about death in Mumbai, about the forces that shape the concept and the way life sort of moves around them. I found this book gorgeous and moving on all levels, and entirely singular, so different was it from anything else I read this past year, landing it a spot on the best graphic novels of 2021 list. Also, don’t miss my full interview with writer Ram V. and artist Filipe Andrade . Buy It Here: The Many Deaths of Laila Starr Buy It Digitally: The Many Deaths of Laila Starr via comiXology

My Alcoholic Escape From Reality Creator: Nagata Kabi Publisher: Seven Seas An emotional new diary comic from Nagata Kabi, creator of My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness. Nagata Kabi's downward spiral is getting out of control, and she can't stop drinking to soothe the ache of reality. After suffering from unbearable stomach pains, she goes to the hospital, where she is diagnosed with pancreatitis - and is immediately hospitalized. A new chapter unfolds in Nagata Kabi's life, as she struggles to find her way back to reality and manga creation in the wake of her breakdown. Why It’s Cool: A diary comic that follows creator Nagata Kabi essentially hitting rock bottom with her drinking, My Alcoholic Escape From Reality is so well-told that it transcends the very personal details shared within. This might all sound familiar, as it was largely the same formula that made Nagata’s My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness work so well. Again here, Nagata is vulnerable and generous in sharing what happened to her, and she’s willing to get so specific with small details, that this book raises questions around more universal struggles, namely the ways we cope with life and how they can slide into becoming far greater problems, or in the case of this one, problems with the potential to greatly alter one’s life. Power and moving, My Alcoholic Escape From Reality is one of the most memorable comics I read this past year. Buy It Here: My Alcoholic Escape From Reality Buy It Digitally: My Alcoholic Escape From Reality via comiXology

Night Bus Creator: Zuo Ma Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly Night Bus blends autobiography, horror, and fantasy into a vibrantly detailed surreal world that shows a distinct talent surveying his past. Nature infringes upon the man-made world via gigantism and explosive abundance - the images in Night Bus are often unsettling, not aimed to horrify, but to upset the balance of modern life. Why It’s Cool: I’m fairly certain that I’ve never read anything quite like Night Bus, an excellent blend of everyday life — things like family, traversing the city, taking care of others — with touches of horror and fantasy. What really helped to land Zuo Ma’s book on my list of best graphic novels of 2021 was the way the book trusts the reader to draw connections and meaning from the incredible artwork being laid out on the page. It makes it all feel much more powerful and rewarding. Buy It Here: Night Bus

Save It For Later Creator: Nate Powell Publisher: Abrams ComicsArts From Nate Powell, the National Book Award–winning artist of March, a collection of graphic nonfiction essays about living in a new era of necessary protest In this anthology of seven comics essays, author and graphic novelist Nate Powell addresses living in an era of what he calls “necessary protest.” Save It for Later: Promises, Protest, and the Urgency of Protest is Powell’s reflection on witnessing the collapse of discourse in real time while drawing the award-winning trilogy March, written by Congressman John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, this generation’s preeminent historical account of nonviolent revolution in the civil rights movement. Powell highlights both the danger of normalized paramilitary presence symbols in consumer pop culture, and the roles we play individually as we interact with our communities, families, and society at large. Each essay tracks Powell’s journey from the night of the election—promising his four-year-old daughter that Trump will never win, to the reality of the Republican presidency, protesting the administration’s policies, and navigating the complications of teaching his children how to raise their own voices in a world that is becoming increasingly dangerous and more and more polarized. Why It’s Cool: This book — a collection of graphic essays — is essential reading for our times, a powerful and haunting glimpse at cartoonist Nate Powell’s efforts to parent responsibly amid so much national turmoil. This manifests in a series of different short stories, all of which are tied together by Powell’s connected drives to do right by his children and also live in a way that makes the world — his family, community, and country — a better place to live. You may have read some of these essays before, but reading them now collected together is an essential experience, making this one a core pick on my best graphic novels of 2021 list. Read my full Save It For Later review , as well as a phone interview I conducted with Powell . Buy It Here: Save It For Later Buy It Digitally: Save It For Later via comiXology

The Secret to Superhuman Strength Creator: Alison Bechdel Publisher: Mariner Books Comics and cultural superstar Alison Bechdel delivers a deeply layered story of her fascination, from childhood to adulthood, with every fitness craze to come down the pike: from Jack LaLanne in the 60s ("Outlandish jumpsuit! Cantaloupe-sized guns!") to the existential oddness of present-day spin class. Readers will see their athletic or semi-active pasts flash before their eyes through an ever-evolving panoply of running shoes, bicycles, skis, and sundry other gear. But the more Bechdel tries to improve herself, the more her self appears to be the thing in her way. She turns for enlightenment to Eastern philosophers and literary figures, including Beat writer Jack Kerouac, whose search for self-transcendence in the great outdoors appears in moving conversation with the author’s own. This gifted artist and not-getting-any-younger exerciser comes to a soulful conclusion. The secret to superhuman strength lies not in six-pack abs, but in something much less clearly defined: facing her own non-transcendent but all-important interdependence with others. Why It’s Cool: The first line in the preview text for this one calls it “deeply layered”, and I’m hard-pressed to think of a better (or even different) way to describe this book. Like the best works of memoir, it dances between highly personal and movingly universal, bringing in readers with a focus on fads in physical fitness, winning a bet that the majority of folks who’d pick this one up would have experience dabbling with the same. But quickly the fitness elements of this story become little more than framework, giving way to a powerful and honest tale of deep, lifelong personal growth, of pushing to process trauma in ways that make one better not just for themselves but for the people who love them as well…ultimately giving this wonderful book’s title a poetic double meaning. Buy It Here: The Secret to Superhuman Strength Buy It Digitally: The Secret to Superhuman Strength via comiXology

Tunnels Creator: Rutu Modan Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly When a great antiquities collector is forced to donate his entire collection to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Nili Broshi sees her last chance to finish an archeological expedition begun decades earlier - a dig that could possibly yield the most important religious artifact in the Middle East. Motivated by the desire to reinstate her father's legacy as a great archeologist after he was marginalized by his rival, Nili enlists a ragtag crew-a religious nationalist and his band of hilltop youths, her traitorous brother, and her childhood Palestinian friend, now an archeological smuggler. As Nili's father slips deeper into dementia, warring factions close in on and fight over the Ark of the Covenant! Why It’s Cool: This book uses what is essentially a family quest story to tell an interesting narrative about Israel and Palestine. On the surface, the book is about the children of an archaelogist making one last push to satisfy his life’s work and find the Ark of the Covenant. And it’s told incredibly well, complete with action, suspense, heart, and deep wells of humor. There’s also bigger symbolism in play too, involving the relationship of the two communities and the conduct between them. No surprise that a story about a tunnel under a wall is rich with metaphors, but this one might catch you off guard with how engaging and entertaining it is from the first page onward. Buy It Here: Tunnels

Wake: The Hidden History of Woman-Led Slave Revolts Writer: Rebecca Hall Artist: Hugo Martínez Publisher: Simon and Schuster Part graphic novel, part memoir, Wake is an imaginative tour-de-force that tells the “powerful” (The New York Times Book Review) story of women-led slave revolts and chronicles scholar Rebecca Hall’s efforts to uncover the truth about these women warriors who, until now, have been left out of the historical record. Why It’s Cool: I think it’s fair to describe comics as a medium that exaggerates things, sometimes including titles, but Wake - The Hidden History of Woman-Led Slave Revolts is exactly as it bills itself, a fascinating accounting of pieces of history that the vast majority of people are not aware of. That was what struck me the most about this work, that Rebecca Hall had truly unearthed history that had been oppressed and suppressed to the point of nearly being lost. And it’s not just a few things — this is one of the most educational graphic novels I’ve ever read, and it’s told quite well, using Hall’s own research process as a framing structure for all the information she found. Buy It Here: Wake - The Hidden History of Woman-Led Slave Revolts

The Waiting Creator: Keum Suk Gendry-Kim Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly The Waiting is the fictional story of Gwija, told by her novelist daughter Jina. When Gwija was 17 years old, after hearing that the Japanese were seizing unmarried girls, her family married her in a hurry to a man she didn't know. Japan fell, Korea gained its independence, and the couple started a family. But peace didn't come. The young family fled south. On the road, while breastfeeding and changing her daughter, Gwija was separated from her husband and son. Why It’s Cool: The Waiting takes this year’s prize for graphic novel that made me cry the hardest, doing so with a fictionalized story of an aging mother who lost her oldest son while evacuating from North to South Korea. It follows that mother’s daughter, who lives around the periphery of her mother’s central life tragedy and the ways it continues to effect her long into old age. What results is a touching family story that speaks to the damaging personal impacts of major and tumultuous world events. Buy It Here: The Waiting

Yummy: A History of Desserts Creator: Victoria Grace Elliott Publisher: Random House Graphic Cake is delicious, and comics are awesome: this exciting nonfiction graphic novel for kids combines both! Explore the history of desserts through a fun adventure with facts, legends, and recipes for readers to try at home. Have you ever wondered who first thought to freeze cream? Or when people began making sweet pastry shells to encase fruity fillings? Peri is excited to show you the delicious history of sweets while taking you around the world and back! The team-up that made ice cream cones! The mistake that made brownies! Learn about and taste the true stories behind everyone's favorite treats, paired with fun and easy recipes to try at home. After all, sweets-and their stories-are always better when they're shared! Why It’s Cool: This book will absolutely charm you silly from page one, with its bright artwork, pithy scripting, and adorable character designs. Beneath all of that, however is a deep and serious look at the actual history of desserts, which lo and behold were a relatively recent development in human history. What emerges from this is an idea of a shared humanity, that people have more in common than we realize, even if we can’t always unite around it. I absolutely savored this book like a truly excellent dessert, making it an easy pick for my best graphic novels of 2021. Buy It Here: Yummy - A History of Desserts

Did you enjoy this list? Check out more honorable mentions, complete with some linked reviews: Berzerkid, Cyclopedia Exotica , Everyone is Tulip , Factory Summer , Far Sector , Graveneye , Heaven No Hell , Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters Vol. 1 , Monsters , Onion Skin , Reckless - Destroy All Monsters , and Stone Fruit

Also, don’t miss last year’s the best graphic novels of 2020! Plus other best of 2021 coverage, including Best Comics - Staff Picks , and Best Comics - Zack’s Picks!

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase .

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The Best Graphic Novels and Memoirs, According to Experts

Graphic novels push the boundaries of storytelling by using imagery to bring fantastical worlds to life. They can make historical moments accessible and display human emotions that easily get lost in translation in prose. That’s to say it’s not all superheroes and monsters: There’s a whole wide world of literary graphic novels and memoirs to explore. We spoke to 14 experts —including book critics and librarians as well as artists and graphic novelists themselves — to find the best stuff out there. Below, a curated yet wide-ranging list of books that runs the gamut from necessary historical nonfiction to an intimate family portrait. Following the tradition of our Reading Lists , each of the 11 books below were recommended by two or more experts.

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel was the only book recommended by four experts: Teresa Wong , Kate Dehler , Kristen Radtke , and Anya Davidson . The memoir is an intimate family history of when Bechdel comes out as a lesbian and discovers that her father was also gay. Weeks after the revelation, her father dies, leaving Bechdel to grieve and come to terms with these newfound truths. Radtke, who’s a writer and illustrator herself, and whose book Seek You is featured on this list, credits Bechdel as an influence on her own work. “I probably wouldn’t have become a comic artist myself if it wasn’t for Alison Bechdel. I feel like a lot of comic artists can say that,” she says, adding that it was a “breakthrough book” to get more mainstream readers “to read books of comics and treat them as literature.” Wong, author of the graphic memoir Dear Scarlet: The Story of My Postpartum Depression , also calls it “hugely influential” because Bechdel digs into her family secrets through “remarkable imagery and layout work” that has stuck with her. “Reading such an emotional, complex story isn’t always as fun as Bechdel’s made it,” Dehler, who’s an artist, says of the self-proclaimed family tragicomic. “The novel is truly hilarious.” Dehler adds that reading the book “feels really intimate — it’s laid out like I’m peeking into a family album. It isn’t overproduced, either, which gives it a raw, honest quality.”

Marjane Satrapi’s book Persepolis , which has since been made into an animated movie, was recommended by three experts. The book follows Satrapi’s life in Tehran from age 6 to 14, a time during the Islamic Revolution and later the Iran–Iraq War. Varud Gupta, author of the graphic novel Chhotu: A Tale of Love and Partition , says Satrapi captures this moment in time “so effortlessly, bringing alive the history and culture of the period through both humor and sadness to weave a captivating part memoir, part political narrative.” Wong calls it “the biggest influence on my own work, because until then I hadn’t realized that you could use comics and in that way to tell a really highly personal story, to tell a true story. And to tell it so beautifully, too.” All three of the experts say Satrapi’s artwork is done in a way that feels deeply relatable to readers. “The cozy illustrations feel like I’m in somebody’s home being told this story,” says Jordan Sondler, author of the graphic book Feel It Out , adding that the intimacy makes this difficult topic “more easily digestible,” while Gupta says Persepolis “uses the graphic novel medium to the full potential.” The book brings a foreign time and place to life through “very simple details allowing the reader to really understand the range of emotions and feelings of the characters.”

Visual artist Janie Korn , illustrator Liana Finck , and freelance comics journalist Anya Davidson all recommend Daniel Clowes’s graphic novel Ghost World. Korn, who discovered the book in her late teens says she “​​felt as if I was in conversation with my oddball peers” and praised the work’s “subtle, snappy wit and easy realism.” Ghost World follows Enid Coleslaw and Rebecca Dopplemeyer as they “float through that awkward limbo that bridges childhood and adulthood,” Korn explains. She appreciates how “cutting and sarcastic” the characters are as they “narrate the existence of suburban adolescence, snarking at the quirks and ironies and collecting eccentric misfits on the way.” Korn adds, “Underpinning it all, effortlessly, is angst and melancholy — and, like, what could be funnier than that?”

Seek You by Kristen Radtke explores loneliness in America through the lens of historical and cultural topics. “Most people think of fiction when they think of graphic books. However, nonfiction stories can be told through pictures, too, allowing for a true story to come even more alive for the reader,” says book reviewer Jordan Snowden . Harry Harlow’s psychological study of monkeys, the invention of the laugh track, and the rise of Instagram are just a few of the historical moments covered in the book. “It’s just so wide-ranging and interesting. It kind of feels like the most wonderful textbook on psychology that you’ve ever read except it’s a comic and it’s about loneliness. It’s just remarkable,” says Malaka Gharib, author of the graphic memoir I Was Their American Dream . The “groundbreaking” book “changes the game in what we expect, supplying information and scientific information to the public using this format.”

Both Beth Hetland, a comics professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Leigh Hurwitz, the outreach librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library, mention BTTM FDRS by Ezra Claytan Daniels and Ben Passmore. The novel takes place in the fictional working-class neighborhood of “Bottomyards” on Chicago’s South Side. “As artists, fashion designers, and DJs gentrify the neighborhood, there is a gooey, horrifying presence engulfing one crumbling factory turned cheap apartment complex,” Hurwitz explains, calling the book an “Afro-futurist horror-comedy” that deals with “gentrification, urban blight, housing, and race.” She adds, “You will want to stay in this book forever.”

Roz Chast’s graphic memoir Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant was recommended by both Wong and Finck. The book tackles the somber subject of her parents aging in an “extremely funny” way, according to Wong, who adds that the book is also “sad and heartbreaking.” While Chast is known for injecting dark humor into all of her work, this particular memoir stands out to Wong. “I really am in awe of how she can balance the dark with the light and be entertaining as well as meaningful and impactful.”

“ Grass is one of the more recent graphic memoirs that I’ve read that really touched me,” says Wong. She explains that it’s “not an easy read”: It tells the story of a Korean woman taken hostage during World War II to be a comfort woman for Japanese soldiers. “It is a very dark time in history, but it’s an important one to learn about,” Wong says. Radtke echoes these points, too, calling it a “devastating” book that “everyone should read.” Done in the style of traditional Chinese and East Asian ink-wash painting, the artwork in Grass is “very evocative” and “matches the story well,” according to Wong.

For a lighter, “deeply hilarious” read, Radtke and Korn love Walter Scott’s Wendy: Master of Art series. “I absolutely adored being an interloper at the University of Hell, Canada, alongside Wendy as she pursues her MFA,” says Korn, who enjoyed delving into the “chaotic, hilariously art-world antics.” Both she and Radtke recommend this for artists specifically, since “anyone who’s ever been to art school, or wanted to be an artist or, like, failed in an artistic endeavor will see themselves in their pages,” Radtke explains. Adding to the situational humor, “the lines in the book are funny,” says Radtke who thinks the “classically comic” style further communicates Scott’s jokes. “The characters pulsate and sweat and look visually like the caricatures that they are,” Korn explains. “For example, the most accomplished student in the program, who is almost otherworldly, is drawn as a literal alien. When the students gather at a bar and get increasingly drunk, their faces begin to turn into scribbles and slide off their skulls.”

From Hell was recommended by Finck and Hetland, who says, “This book is a master class in writing.” The crime-fiction graphic novel paints a picture of who the serial killer Jack the Ripper was and what his motivations were. “The way that Alan Moore weaves together a wide range of source material in his narrative is nothing short of wizardry,” says Hetland. As for the artwork, she explains that Campbell’s drawings “encapsulate some of the frenetic chaos of the media frenzy and fear at the time” and effectively capture the “foggy London atmosphere” through “immediate, swift” illustrations.

Radtke and Davidson both recommend Emil Ferris’s My Favorite Thing Is Monsters. The fictional graphic diary is told from the perspective of a 10-year-old who’s trying to solve the murder of her upstairs neighbor. Radtke notes that all of Ferris’s illustrations are drawn with ballpoint pen on lined paper, setting it apart from most other graphic novels. “Emil is able to have such control of her pen in a way that I just don’t see,” Radtke explains. “The images feel extremely three-dimensional even when she’s just using pen, and it speaks so well to the young narrator. It feels very alive and youthful.” Radtke says this book has mass appeal since it draws in fans of more traditional comics and literary readers. “It really straddles that line in such an interesting way,” she says.

Davidson and Hetland recommended The Hard Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis. The graphic novel follows a couple as they try to conceive and build a home, all while political strife builds in the world they live in, too. “It’s a book that came out prior to the events of 2016 and is a story crafted from Davis’s fears of where the country was headed,” Hetland explains, adding that it “feels deeply personal in how it talks about the choices we make for the future.” Davis’s artwork portrays “deep-seated feelings that can be hard to name or pinpoint,” Hetland says. “Describing how someone feels or their internal thoughts just isn’t as poignant as bearing witness.”

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S.W. Sondheimer

When not prying Legos and gaming dice out of her feet, S.W. Sondheimer is a registered nurse at the Department of Therapeutic Misadventures, a herder of genetic descendants, cosplayer, and a fiction and (someday) comics writer. She is a Yinzer by way of New England and Oregon and lives in the glorious 'Burgh with her husband, 2 smaller people, 2 cats, a fish, and a snail. She occasionally tries to grow plants, drinks double-caffeine coffee, and has a habit of rooting for the underdog. It is possible she has a book/comic book problem but has no intention of doing anything about either. Twitter: @SWSondheimer

View All posts by S.W. Sondheimer

As stay-at-home drags on into its 11th month, a lot of us are finding novels a difficult challenge. Not because they aren’t wonderful. Not because we’ve lost our love of stories. Not because our favorite authors have suddenly forgotten how to write.

It’s because the “new normal” still isn’t normal. Because we hate it and FFS, we want our lives back. Because the math says it’s getting worse, not better, and even with new leadership in place, even with reasonable people and science at the helm, it’s still going to take time for our world to return for a modicum of rationality and order, and we still don’t have any sort of estimate as to when that might be…

I write this not to wind anyone up, but to let you know I’m right there with you. I feel your frustration at having one of my primary escapes, reading, taken away from me. I come to offer an alternative to novels that may not only fulfill your need for a good brain quest but kickstart your brain, prime it for those words and images you so very much want to devour.

I write this to slide some new and upcoming graphic novels into your TBR as alternatives to words-only works as a lot of readers I know are finding them more engaging in these trashfire times.

After the Rain by Nnedi Okorafor, John Jennings, and David Brame

Abrams is making a foray into the ever expanding world of graphic novel publishing with an adaptation of Okorafor’s short story “On the Road” from her 2013 collection Kabu Kabu .

Former Chicago police officer Chioma is visiting her grandmother in Nigeria when a vicious storm hits their village. In the midst of that storm, a boy, terribly injured, knocks on their door. He touches Chioma’s hand and suddenly she can smell the spirit world, see ghosts, feel plants breathing.

Will these new powers take control of Chioma or will she embrace them and allow them to become an essential part of her being? Will she continue to deny her heritage or will she allow herself to be everything she has the potential to be? After the Rain explores the boundaries we draw within ourselves, the way we seek to compartmentalize to fit in, and the remarkable people we find within ourselves when we break those barriers down.

In: A Graphic Novel by Will McPhail

Slice of Life

Nick is an artist. He’s pretty good at it. He is not, however, good at people. He is, in fact, pretty terrible at people. He does what he thinks will help him fit in: works at outrageous, hipster coffee shops (mmmm, cactus milk), innocently sketches random people and gets called a creep, and drinks milk stout even though he hates it.

Then one night he meets Wren on the subway. Her quirkiness matches his and she’s easy to talk to and smart and funny. Before he knows it, he’s helping her move and finally, finally, settling into the life he’s been looking for.

Until his mom reveals she has pancreatic cancer. And Wren is her oncologist.

In isn’t an easy read but it’s a moving, sweet, sad, beautiful one. I felt some feelings I didn’t know I needed to feel. The catharsis ended up being good for me.

Katie the Catsitter by Colleen AF Venable and Stephanie Yue

Superhero/Adventure

Katie is not excited about summer vacation. Her best friend is going to sleep away camp and Katie is going…nowhere, unless she can earn some money fast . After trying a few different things, none of which work out, she takes a catsitting job for her upstairs neighbor.

Her upstairs neighbor who always seems to be out when the city’s most notorious supervillain is doing capers.

Also, the cats have superpowers.

Katie the Catsitter is hilarious. It’s adorable and witty and the art is fantastic. It is exactly what my poor, overtaxed gray matter needs right now. Random House Graphics continues to smash it out of the park in their second year of gifting us with fantastic content.

Allergic by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter

A lot of folx have used stay at home as an opportunity to procure new or additional fur children, and that is absolutely fantastic . Many of these new family members are shelter pets who need extra time and attention, at least at the beginning of their tenure, and if we’re looking for something positive in the morass, people having the time to give that attention is certainly wonderful.

Watching friends frolic with a new pupper when you can’t have one is tough for adults, let alone kiddos, though, and explaining the medical ins and outs of allergies to the youngs is a complex proposition and leaves out the most important part of the conversation: alternatives. Allergic , however does a great job of both : couching the “no” in a way that makes it clear it’s an adult’s job to make sure their kids are healthy and safe while also reminding bigs and littles that fur and feathers aren’t the only pet options.

Star Wars: Rebels by Akira Aoki

Sci-Fi, Space Opera

Star Wars has always been one of my most beloved escapes.

I have been, and continue to be, of the mind that the best Star Wars of the last decade—with the possible exceptions of Rogue One and The Mandalorian —has been the animated properties, with Rebels rising to the top of that sub-bunch. Is the manga a retelling of the series? Sure. But as we’ve discussed in the past, western story to manga translations are always an interesting study in emphasis shift and character interpretation. Plus, if we’re being honest, I’ll consume this story in any form at any time because: found family, gray Jedi, non-toxic masculinity, kick-ass women with full ranges of emotion, and Ezra is just…freaking adorable. There’s something about Aoki’s style that suits these characters particularly well and gives this first Rebels arc a little something extra. I eagerly await the translation of Vol. 2.

I hope one of these rabbit holes is useful to you as an escape, a jump start, or both. And if someone tells you graphic novels aren’t books, throw an xxxHolic omnibus at their head; I promise it will have the same impact as a Chernow biography, thus proving their complete and total wrongness. Actually, don’t do that, it’s a terrible idea. Throwing things is wrong. Usually. But you get my point.

Happy reading.

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Screen Rant

The 10 best graphic novels (updated 2023).

Have you been looking for a graphic novel with great artwork and an enticing story? If so, check out our list of the best graphic novels as of 2023.

Graphic novels are soaring in popularity now and have been a cherished medium for a long time. As more books are adapted into graphic novels, their presence on bookshelves and online will continue to grow. You may have always thought a graphic novel is a comic book that depicts superheroes, but that's not always true. There are many different types of graphic novels, the same way you would find any other type of book .

The world of graphic novels continues to grow as popular novels start becoming adapted to the graphic space. These books are growing in popularity without signs of slowing down.

Choosing the best graphic novels isn't always an easy decision. There are tons to pick from and more are being added to the zeitgeist every day. They also cover a wide range of topics, genres, and illustration styles. Here we have rounded up the best graphic novels on the market to make your search a bit easier. Since there are so many options, we decided to give you a leg up on the search.

Look at this roundup and pick out your next read. We've included some pros & cons of each of these graphic novels for you to review. Once you've read through this guide and considered the unique appeal of each novel, use it to find the next graphic novel on your to-read list! Graphic novels have been prevalent for many years. These types of novels have been riveting audiences going back to even your grandparents' times. If you are on the fence about jumping onto the graphic novel bandwagon, then there are a few things you should know about them.

On the brink of the Arab Spring, Anna, an American girl living with her ex-pat family, and Layla, and Egyptian girl, are best friends. Anna’s mother’s cancer has returned and she struggles with fitting in, worries about the future, and even fears if she’s inherited the same cancer-causing gene. Meanwhile, Layla’s family is facing a health crisis and hard medical decisions of their own. Their friendship is tested when their cultural perspectives around family and medicine don’t align, but a crisis at the Tahrir Square demonstration shows them both what’s really important.

From the get-go, the human elements of their friendship that can survive cultural traditions and assumptions are there. You’ll fall in love with the relatable characters and root for them to overcome their struggles. The book borrows a lot from anthropology and can cover tough subjects, but the comic makes these difficult subjects easy to understand for all audiences.

Lissa: A Story About Medical Promise, Friendship, and Revolution

The golden age, the high soft lisp, the art of war, the city of ember, the complete maus.

Lissa centers around a friendship that transcends major social divides. You will love the story of how their friendship survives different perspectives, medical trauma, and a crisis that brings them together amidst revolutionary unrest in 2011 Egypt.

• Breaks down heady concepts into an engaging read
• Relatable characters with strong themes of diversity, friendship, and understanding
• Interesting for young girls
• Sad story. Expect difficult situations and themes.

Furthermore, if you have decided that you want to get a graphic novel but aren't sure how to choose one, you are in the right place.

Tilda is the main character and rightful heir to her father's throne. She wants to make life better for everyone. However, her younger brother challenges her, and as a man in this time period, he gets the throne and exiles Tilda. Tilda and her faithful companions are on the run and have a lot of work to do to regain the throne that is rightfully hers.

The Golden Age is an excellent graphic novel. The images alone could tell the tale. The only drawback is that the tale is a familiar one that has been told before many times throughout history. Also, there are some parts that are hard to follow. Overall, this is a worthwhile read for anyone.

The Golden Age is among the best graphic novels because it is a riveting tale of a historical period that includes political elements. You will love how this story comes to life in such detailed and beautiful images that you almost don't even need the words. When looking for a graphic novel that you won't be able to put down, then The Golden Age is the one you want.

• Beautiful pictures
• Excellent character development
• This book is a revelation
• Some things are difficult to follow

Henandez will take you on an inventive and sometimes steamy tale that will have you developing connections with the characters. Each book in his series can either be stand-alone or as part of a group; you will be satisfied at the end of each book. Many fall under the spell of Rosalba "Fritz" Martinez, including many husbands. This graphic novel will continuously surprise you as you won't be able to guess what is coming up next.

Most people will begin reading this graphic novel as a teenager and continue well into adulthood; that is why The High Soft Lisp is one of the best graphic novels on the market. The main drawback is that this book is not intended for kids, and you should be skeptical, allowing teenagers to read it. Overall, this book is an excellent choice if you enjoy graphic novels.

The High Soft Lisp by Gilbert Hernandez is an incredible graphic novel that you will sincerely enjoy. This book makes it on the list of the best graphic novels because of how intense and surprising this story can be. You will appreciate how original and inventive this book can be. It's a great book that you will want as part of your collection.

• Enjoyable read
• Great illustrations
• A surprising story
• Not intended for young adults

This story is the sad story of a boy who is asked to draw a picture of his family. The only problem is that family takes on a different meaning for Jarrett as his mom is an addict who comes in and out of his life. His father is someone he doesn't even know. This young boy lives with his grandparents, who are loud and outspoken. This book tackles the difficulties children encounter who don't come from a standard nuclear family and the issues they take on being in a family that is grappling with addiction.

Overall, Hey, Kiddo is a great graphic novel that you should get. The only drawback is that the book, though inspiring, is dark and sad. This memoir is a book that will capture its audience quickly and leave you more knowledgeable about the challenges faced when dealing with addiction.

Hey, Kiddo is a profoundly deep and riveting book that has made the best graphic novels list. This book was a finalist in the Nation Book Awards, and it is a tale that will capture your heart. This story is one that you will love to add to your collection of graphic novels as it tells a tale that is often swept under the rug but should be talked about more often.

• Excellent story
• Very inspiring
• Images are remarkable
• Can be sad and dark at times

This story is a provocative story about coming-of-age. The story is about a teenager who got himself into some trouble and is facing prosecution for murder and armed robbery. The whole story is told by Steve as he comes to terms with what is happening, including Juvie, the trial, and his life. He portrays his thoughts as though watching his own life in movie form.

Monster is among the best graphic novels because of how amazing this book really can be and the impact it can have on teens. The main drawback is that the main character seems to change persona so quickly that it's challenging to keep up with.

Monster is a fantastic graphic novel written by Walter Dean Myers and Guy A. Sims. The illustrations by Dawud Anyabwile are incredible and make this book much more riveting. This book helps you to see yourself more clearly, and it is a genuinely stand-out graphic novel. The adaption of this book is one that will create a new generation of fans.

• Very compelling story
• In-depth and realistic
• Excellent images
• Main character has a changing persona

Furthermore, there is little differentiation between flashbacks and the current time. Overall, this book is a great read.

New York Times bestselling cartoonist Kate Beaton releases her memoir about her move from the tight-knit East Coast of Canada to the oil fields where she worked to pay off her student loans. She documents the adjustment from an idyllic, culturally distinct home in Nova Scotia to Albertan oil drilling, where accidents occur daily but are never talked about.

With her illustrations, Beaton transforms the machinery, oil fields, and Canadian landscape into the Oz to her small-town Nova Scotian Kansas. From the beginning, Beaton sets up the stakes as a young woman from a small town who has to make difficult choices. The adversity can seem like a lot and even for people who aren’t from her part of the world, this can hit close to home.

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

If you’re looking for a new title about surviving hard situation in the face of adversity, look no further. If you’re a fan of the Hark! A Vagrant comic series, Kate Beaton dropped her life story in 2022 in graphic novel form. It’s a real treat that gives fans of the Vagrant comic series a glimpse into where the author came from.

• Great for fans of the Hark! A Vagrant series
• Richly and smartly illustrated
• Engaging and relatable story
• Tough situations and themes can be difficult to read

This graphic novel was written by Sun Tzu, who has been thought to be a military general as well as an advisor to the king in Southern China. The state it represents is Wu, and the book takes place sometime around the 6th Century BCE. Though the authorship does raise some doubt among modern scholars, the book is still influential and riveting. This book is about military strategy and treaties that make The Art of War incredibly impactful.

Overall, The Art of War should be owned by any graphic novel enthusiasts. The only real drawback of this book is that it is concise comparatively. However, that can be a good thing if you are looking to get through a book relatively quickly. One thing that will bring this graphic novel home for you is the images that tell a story all of their own.

The Art of War takes its place among the best graphic novels because it is filled with small details that make it attractive. From the binding to the intense story, you will love this graphic novel and want it as part of your collection. The book isn't overly graphic, but enough that it makes for a great read. This book is one you are going to want to read a few times over.

• An excellent story
• Beautiful colored images
• Brings you back to the history of 5th Century BC
• Somethings are hard to understand

The City of Ember talks about two children who have spent most of their lives in darkness. Lina is one of the children, and she lives her life in optimism, believing that there is something beyond the city she lives in. Doon is more practical. He believes he can fix the blackout issues if given a chance. Eventually, the two teams up and uncover something much more going on. This dystopian story is incredible as it brings a hopeful message.

This book is an extraordinary tale that will leave you wanting more. The chapter edition of the book is excellent; the graphic one brings it to life. The only drawback is that it leaves you with questions that have no answers to them. Overall, The City of Ember is an excellent book that will steal your imagination and take you on an awesome ride.

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau is among the best graphic novels because it is a story about a doomed city, and everyone loves an adventure. This book was initially made to be a novel, and it was adapted to be a graphic novel in order to bring the riveting tale to life through a series of well-done illustrations that make it even better. You will love this book.

• A fun story
• Characters are well developed
• Images add to the uniquness of the story
• You are left with a lot of questions

This graphic novel is about a Jewish survivor of Europe during the Hitler era. Maus is an approach to the stuff that you don't want to speak about through a diminutive time. The story is told in cartoon form, with the mice being Jews and the Nazis being cats. This astonishing tale will bring you through one of the grisliest times in history through a unique take that is going to capture you. A story that follows bloody pawprints through history and brings about a meaning that applies to everyone.

Overall, The Complete Maus is among the best graphic novels on the market because of how intense and mesmerizing it is. As this book is written from the view of a son to an Auschwitz survivor, the author appears to be a bit harsh on his father. A powerful book that you will love and read over again.

This book is a Pulitzer prize-winning story that is riveting. You will love how intense this book can be on the realities of a time our world prefers to ignore. If you are looking for one of the best graphic novels, then The Complete Maus is the one you want. You will learn and appreciate every step of this book as you go through the fantastic tale of survival.

• A riveting story
• Easy to read
• Images add to the story
• The son is a bit harsh on his father

The story itself isn't as important as the themes the book covers. Watchmen is more about morality and politics. It encompasses true humanity and what it is to be a superhero. The book can be dark and isn't light reading. You will not expect what transpires in this graphic novel, but you will love it just the same. You will see the human condition through intensely honest eyes as it is lasting power. This graphic novel is going to leave you in your seat.

Overall, Watchmen is a graphic novel you want to read. It makes it on the list of the best graphic novels because of how truthful it is. Besides being dark, one of the hardest parts of this book is that it offers no real answers to improving the human condition. It could have proposed new ideas. However, despite that, this graphic novel does raise important questions that are worth thinking about.

Watchmen is considered one of the best graphic novels in history and has won the Hugo award for the chronicle of falling from grace. You will sincerely love this groundbreaking series that was written by the same author who wrote V for Vendetta. The images are high-quality and recolored that will make them more intensely gratifying.

• An interesting take on being a superhero
• Excellent images that add to the story
• A neat depiction on what life could have been
• Offers no real solution to the human condition

Why You Should Read Graphic Novels

There are many reasons why graphic novels should make it onto your reading list:

They are appealing to both reluctant readers and those who are advanced. The pictures and texts make these novels fun and more appealing to anyone who struggles with reading, and the storylines backed by images are appealing to those who love to read.

Many traditional books have been turned into graphic novels. If there's ever been a classic novel you've wanted to read, chances are you can find a graphic version.

The best graphic novels are excellent tools for teaching. These novels are great for teaching inference and for breaking down harder-to-read stories and headier subjects. The vocabulary is often complex and literary devices can be taught from these novels. The non-linear formats make them unique and more engaging.

The format of the graphics can also help those who are trying to learn English or another language. Plus, they are suitable for children who have special needs. Images are an excellent tool for helping those who find vocabulary challenges.

Many graphic novels have in-depth messages that are brought home by the combination of images and conversations. Graphic novels aren't just for superheroes anymore. There are many slice-of-life stories and many have large moral dilemmas.

How To Choose A Graphic Novel

If you are new to the graphic novel movement, then you are going to need some help picking the right one for you.

Genre – One thing most people seem to forget is that a graphic novel is a format, not a genre. The genre encompasses the type of story you're reading, from literary to romance to Western and science fiction. Pick the genre you usually enjoy reading about when you pick out your first graphic novel.

Illustrations – If you find a graphic novel that has an excellent storyline but subpar images, then you are going to be disappointed. The novel you choose should have images that are going to draw you in as well as a riveting story. Also, art is subjective and graphic novels come in many visual styles. From a traditional "comic book" style to realism, the illustrations also fit the tone of the story. You'll find different visual styles that enhance the story and communicate deeper themes with images, not just the words on the page.

Get Advice – Sometimes, picking the best graphic novel is still challenging. Therefore, you want to get advice from a graphic novel enthusiast. Most readers of graphic novels have a crucial way to pick one, and they can help you find yours.

Choosing the best graphic novel is still difficult for everyone because of the sheer velocity of novels that the market has to offer. The list above shows you some of the best novels on the market today. Take a look and pick the one that appeals to you most.

Happy reading!

Q: What’s the difference between a graphic novel and a comic book?

While many people dismiss graphic novels as comic books, they are two distinct forms of literature. Though both focus on storytelling through illustration, comic books appear as serials and periodicals. If the comic book series is serialized, the story happens over a sequence of events, it can be difficult to understand one comic book in a series without having read the prior releases. If it's episodic, usually slice-of-life stories, you can jump into any issue and immerse yourself in the issue's story without a lot of background information. Think of comic books like TV shows and graphic novels like movies. The best graphic novels are complete stories from beginning to end, though just like traditional novels and movies, they may be part of a series.

Graphic novels are longer than the average comic book and cover a complete range of genres including mysteries, classics, historical fiction, realistic fiction, and non-fiction. Comic books typically focus on superheroes with some exceptions.

Q: How does a graphic novel work?

Unlike traditional novels which include only text—or text with an occasional illustration in children’s books—graphic novels are complete novels written in comic book format. The storyline progresses in panels or frames with both text and illustrations. Text is typically within a box, and dialogue and characters' thoughts are in speech bubbles. The story is also told more visually, and a good graphic novel will tell you just as much if not more about the story with visual cues. You’ll find graphic novels in both paperback and hardcover formats.

Q: Should I limit my child or teen’s reading of graphic novels and steer them toward traditional novels?

According to most educators, reading the best graphic novels is just as good for children and young adults as traditional novels. Though it’s best to encourage students to read a variety of literary styles, graphic novels have as much merit as traditional ones. Young children still learn to decode words and follow storylines, and teens and young adults can enjoy a variety of storytelling styles, just as in traditional novels. In fact, many educators point out some advantages of graphic novels, including promoting a better understanding of sequencing through the paneled storytelling format. They also encourage visual perception and art appreciation. Some studies indicate that graphic novels promote better comprehension because they encourage visual memory.

Graphic novels promote literacy every bit as much as traditional novels and reinforce the same reading, punctuation, and grammar skills. Some studies suggest a benefit for readers with autism because they are able to visually read cues from characters’ expressions.

Q: Are graphic novels and Manga the same?

Manga and graphic novels have much in common, but Manga are Japanese comics. The Japanese have a long history of illustration and animation in literature and pop culture. Manga follows a format very much like paperback novels with many books featuring black and white artwork and others in full color. Not only is the style of illustration very distinctively Japanese, but they are read from right to left. Manga features English translations with the original Japanese artwork.

Q: Are graphic novels just for kids?

There are many great graphic novels for kids and it’s clear that they are a favorite genre for children. However, there are also many fantastic graphic novels for adults in all genres from horror, history, and true crime, to Shakespeare. Many adult readers also enjoy a wide range of erotic in graphic novels.

Q: Are the illustrations in graphic novels considered fine art?

The complex illustrations found in both comic books and graphic art novels are absolutely works of art. In fact, some of the most instantly recognizable artwork in popular culture comes from graphic novels. Although graphic art illustrators are uniquely talented, the illustrations aren’t traditional “fine art” because the work is so widely available in print. There is also a distinction made between art created as a means of expressing an artist’s unique vision or that created for beauty, and the artwork created for a specific purpose such as illustrations for a story.

The 10 best graphic novels of 2023

A woman tries to reconnect with her lost family, roz chast explores the kingdom of dreams and more in these remarkable books.

Comics publishers released a dizzying array of work in 2023, from heartfelt memoirs and inventive biographies to fictional reflections on identity and family. These 10 exceptional titles represent a small slice of the best graphic novels available today, but they collectively speak to the range and richness of the medium.

‘Monica,’ by Daniel Clowes

Clowes counts among the greatest living cartoonists, and in “ Monica ,” his first book in more than seven years, he continues to prove why. The story follows a woman’s lifelong struggles to reconnect with her lost family members, a narrative that slips in and out of reality as it goes. Playfully reworking the visual history of the comics medium itself, “Monica” offers a trenchant and unnerving reflection on what we owe the past. ( Book World review .)

‘Roaming,’ by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki

Taking place over five days, “ Roaming ” follows three young women on a visit to New York in 2009. Over the course of their stay, their connections with one another break down, even as their understandings of themselves grow. Cousins Jillian and Mariko Tamaki revel in the time-distorting magic of true young adulthood, when a week can feel like a year, and a day can change your life.

‘The Talk,’ by Darrin Bell

Bell’s trailblazing, Pulitzer Prize-winning portfolio includes editorial cartoons about U.S. race relations. Here, he delivers a depth-charge of a memoir, insightfully tracing his experiences with California police, from his innocence-shattering encounter with a Los Angeles officer while holding a toy water gun as a child to his view from fatherhood. He powerfully portrays having “the talk” with his own son about staying safe as a young Black male in America, particularly in relation to those entrusted “to protect and serve.” (Read Book World’s feature about Bell .)

‘I Must Be Dreaming,’ by Roz Chast

“The fact that [dreams] exist at all is kind of miraculous,” the legendary New Yorker cartoonist Chast writes in this beguilingly quirky memoir. We give ourselves blissfully over to Chast as our tour guide through the “Dream District of our brains.” Drawing in her familiar vibratory style, she details a bizarre series of oneiric adventures, including one in which Glenn Close’s “chest and face were covered with thousands of baby spiders,” and another in which she has to care for a murderous “baby from the future.”

‘Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller: The Man Who Created Nancy,’ by Bill Griffith

This beautifully crosshatched biography is a love letter to the talents of the legendary creator of the comic strip “Nancy” and the comedically precise world he created in his art. Griffith (creator of “Zippy the Pinhead”) explores how one man could so thoroughly devote himself to coming up with minimalist, mind-bending gags (or “snappers,” as Bushmiller called the final panels in each of his cartoons, when the real joke was revealed). This story — like Bushmiller’s character Sluggo — is “lit.” ( Book World review .)

‘The Super Hero’s Journey,’ by Patrick McDonnell

If you’re a fan of McDonnell’s beloved comic strip “Mutts,” you partly have Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to thank. McDonnell wonderfully reveals his childhood path toward becoming a Marvel Comics “True Believer” in this keepsake memoir celebrating a life entranced and inspired by the storytelling and art of the comics company once known as the “House of Ideas.”

‘Shubeik Lubeik,’ by Deena Mohamed

“ Shubeik Lubeik ,” which translates to “Your wish is my command,” plays out in an alternate Egypt where bottles and cans containing wishes are literally bought and sold, the genies of old transformed into consumer goods available to those wealthy enough to afford them. Mohamed builds out that fantastical conceit in surprisingly human directions through interlocking stories rendered in precise and emotionally resonant inks. ( Book World review .)

‘Family Style: Memories of an American From Vietnam,’ by Thien Pham

In this young-adult immigration memoir, Pham recounts his journey from a refugee camp in Thailand to life in the United States through the foods that he and his family ate along the way. Pham deftly draws us into stirring sense memories — not only of place but also taste — using an immersive, autumnal palette.

‘The Naked Tree,’ by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim

This graphic adaptation of Park Wan-suh’s novel of the same name is an expertly controlled unfurling of fresh emotions. Unfolding in Korea in the early 1950s, it traces the growing connection between a young woman and a painter who has escaped from the north, and their relationship is set against the roiling conflict sweeping the country. Gendry-Kim’s version, translated by Janet Hong, is told through gorgeously balanced brushstrokes.

‘Boys Weekend,’ by Mattie Lubchansky

“ Boys Weekend ” kicks off as the transfeminine Sammie heads off to a bachelor party on the artificial island El Campo, a libertarian dystopia peppered with science fictional pleasure palaces. The exaggerated, cartoonish aesthetics and bright colors are an apt fit for the resulting chaos of the story, which quickly spins off into quasi-Lovecraftian horror. ( Book World review .)

Honorable mentions: “The Gull Yettin,” by Joe Kessler; “The Second Fake Death of Eddie Campbell,” by Eddie Campbell; “The He-Man Effect: How American Toymakers Sold You Your Childhood,” by Brian “Box” Brown.

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From stunning memoirs to sustainability guides, this year’s Best Graphic Novels list features 25 unforgettable works that take comics to new heights.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Alsaqa, Jordan. Cooking with Monsters: The Beginner’s Guide to Culinary Combat . illus. by Vivian Truong. IDW. ISBN 9781684059836. Gr 8 Up –New students at the Gourmand Academy of Culinary Combat learn how to battle monsters and become great chefs, while dealing with school stress as well as friendship and family drama. A fun, action-packed, and engaging story that would be a great choice for reluctant readers.

Annable, Graham. Eerie Tales from the School of Screams .  First Second. ISBN 9781250195043. Gr 6 Up –Students take turns standing up in front of the class to share eerie stories. Each tale is terrifying in a different way, but the school itself has its own scary secrets. Great for readers who love suspenseful and chilling stories with a Twilight Zone vibe.

Bell, Darrin. The Talk.   Holt. ISBN 9781250805140. Gr 10 Up –Bell’s experiences illustrate racism’s effect on the way Black youth learn to navigate the world and also on society at large. Dramatic art breaks out of a confining panel structure, making the story bigger yet more personal. The final result is a beyond powerful memoir.

Brown, Don. 83 Days in Mariupol: A War Diary . HarperCollins/Clarion. ISBN 9780063311565. Gr 9 Up –Brown chronicles the Russian army’s 2022 invasion and capture of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. The black-and-white illustrations bring the city’s devastation to life, while the story shines a light on the horrors people experienced while trying to survive the relentless Russian attacks.

Chantler, Scott. Squire & Knight . First Second. ISBN 9781250249340. Gr 3-5 –When a bold-but-brainless knight and a slight-but-smart squire arrive in Bridgetown, they find it’s missing its bridge. While the knight rushes off to find and fight a dragon, the squire (the true hero) pursues the problem from another direction. Chantler’s palette of Halloween neutrals sets the perfect mood for this clever story in which moments of tension and danger are balanced by humor.

Cohen, Emily Bowen. Two Tribes .  Harper/Heartdrum. ISBN 9780062983589. Gr 5 Up– Mia lives in Los Angeles with her Jewish mother and stepfather. Using money from her bat mitzvah, she sneaks away to Oklahoma to see her birth father and learn about their shared Muscogee heritage. Through narrative and art, key aspects of Jewish and Muscogee traditions are explored, giving a fresh look at honoring multicultural identities.

Craft, Jerry. School Trip .   Harper/Quill Tree. ISBN 9780062885531. Gr 4-8 –As Jordan enters his last year of middle school, he receives an acceptance letter from an art school. Does he really want to be the new kid again? This heartfelt, must-read conclusion perfectly complements Craft’s previous titles. Readers will be reluctant to let these characters go.

Estrela, Joana. Pardalita . tr. from Portuguese by Lyn Miller-Lachmann. Levine Querido. ISBN 9781646142552. Gr 8 Up –Raquel has a crush on classmate Pardalita, admiring her from afar, and finally connects with her through theater. The quiet pace of this sweet romance mirrors Raquel’s growing attraction. The art shines, especially in moments when it’s more evocative than literal in expressing movement and emotion.

Glasheen, Kate. Constellations .   Holiday House. ISBN 9780823450718. Gr 10 Up –Vulnerable and piercing, Glasheen’s debut follows a nonbinary teen in the 1980s who faces pressures of gender conformity and begins misusing alcohol, landing them in a rehab program. Dynamic watercolor pages unveil a healing story about recovery, friendship, and being true to one’s self—one that leaves a lasting impression.

Grimes, Nikki. Garvey’s Choice: The Graphic Novel . illus. by Theodore Taylor III. Wordsong. ISBN 9781662660023. Gr 4-9– Garvey is not an athlete like his older sister, which makes it hard to bond with his dad. But Garvey’s friends help him find his voice—figuratively and literally—by joining chorus, which helps them connect through music. Grimes’s tanka poems from the original book translate beautifully in the graphic novel format; Taylor’s night sky illustrations are especially striking.

Hatke, Ben. Things in the Basement . First Second. ISBN 9781250909541. Gr 3-5 –A trip to the basement laundry to retrieve a missing sock turns into an epic journey as Milo ventures through the never-ending cavern, making unusual friends and encountering danger. Hatke displays a genius for setting as well as character; each level Milo descends features a different style of art, architecture, and sculpture. A stellar story about courage and friendship.

Krosoczka, Jarrett J. Sunshine . Scholastic/Graphix. ISBN 9781338356328. Gr 7 Up –Krosoczka’s tender follow-up to Hey, Kiddo depicts a life-changing experience at Camp Sunshine, a summer camp for children with severe illness, and their accompanying families. The warmth from the relationships formed throughout the story radiates off the pages. This book has a lasting impact.

Lai, Remy. Ghost Book .   Holt. ISBN 9781250810410. Gr 4 Up –July Chen has a secret: she can see ghosts. When she meets a boy who’s trapped between life and death, she tries to save him, only to find their fates are more intertwined than either could imagine. This touching and emotional story contains an enticing mix of friendship, love, Chinese mythology, and magical dumplings.

Lee, Deb JJ. In Limbo . First Second. ISBN 9781250252654. Gr 8 Up –In this breathtaking memoir, Lee masterfully portrays the experience of being in between worlds and cultures as a first-generation Korean American navigating high school. Emotion and detail fuel the ink-washed pages as adolescence, mental health, loneliness, and a fragile mother-daughter relationship are explored with nuance and raw honesty. A stunning piece of work that takes the comics medium to new heights.

Martín, Pedro. Mexikid . Dial. ISBN 9780593462287. Gr 5-8 –Pedro’s family embarks on a road trip from California to Mexico to help his abuelito before bringing him back to the U.S. to live with them. An unpredictable fusion of humorous and reflective moments that gives fascinating insights into one family’s many stories while hinting at larger cultural questions.

Myer, Sarah. Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story .   First Second. ISBN 9781250268792. Gr 8 Up –Myer’s immersive memoir recounts the feeling of not belonging as a South Korean child who was adopted at birth by a white family in rural Maryland, and the monstrous anger and anxiety that formed as a result of bullying. Doubling as a love letter to anime, the book features dynamic artwork throughout in this validating read about identity.

Nguyen, Trang & Jeet Zdũ ng . Saving H’Non: Chang and the Elephant . illus. by Jeet Zdũng. tr. from Vietnamese by Trang Nguyen & Jeet Zdũng. Dial. ISBN 9780593406731. Gr 4-8 –Young wildlife conservationist Chang and her boss, who work at a national park in Vietnam, rescue abused and injured elephant H’Non from her handler and work to rehabilitate her so she can enjoy the “five freedoms” all elephants deserve. Done in a journalistic sketchbook style, the art is lush and detailed. This story has the power to inform, engage, and engender great empathy.

Pham, Thien. Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam . First Second. ISBN 9781250809711. Gr 9 Up– Pham’s memoir entwines food with memory as he recounts his journey from Vietnam to America. Told with humor and heart, his life story from childhood through adulthood shines a light on the challenges and joys of his immigrant experience. Evocative art adds warmth and emotion.

Ramm, Meggie. Batcat .   Abrams/Amulet. ISBN 9781419756573. Gr 2 Up– When Batcat leaves home to find magic spell ingredients, they meet other creatures, such as ghosts, bats, and cats, who question their unusual appearance. This story is a funny yet thoughtful exploration of a nonbinary character, who is neither bat nor cat, discovering that you can be different and be awesome all while staying true to yourself.

Santat, Dan. A First Time for Everything .   First Second. ISBN 9781626724150. Gr 5-9 –A heartwarming memoir about an awkward student who emerges from his self-imposed shell over the course of a trip to Europe in 1989. Humor and sentiment take center stage as the expressive artwork demonstrates his world expanding and his identity emerging. A poignant self-discovery story.

Sindu, SJ. Shakti .   illus. by Nabi H. Ali. Harper-Alley. ISBN 9780063090132. Gr 3-7 –Featuring rich, expressive illustration, Sindu and Ali’s enchanting graphic novel follows Shakti who calls upon a Hindu goddess to help save her new town of Amherst, MA, after she discovers it has been cursed by school-bully witches. The result is a high-stakes narrative that braids mythology, family, and harmony into an enthralling coming-of-age story.

Steinkellner, Emma. Nell of Gumbling: My Extremely Normal Fairy-Tale Life . Random/Labyrinth Road. ISBN 9780593570661. Gr 4 Up –Nell lives in the magical town of Gumbling, but to the folks who nest there, it’s just home—until a pair of siblings arrive to transform it into Castletown, setting up a “small town vs. big development” conflict. This sweet and quirky story of magical adventures, friendship angst, and the challenges of growing up is told through Nell’s illustrated journal and will charm readers.

Sterling, Zachary. Mabuhay!   Scholastic/Graphix. ISBN 9781338738643. Gr 4 Up –In this love letter to food trucks and Filipino culture, siblings JJ and Althea pay little attention to their family’s folktales—until they start coming true. Weaving humor throughout, this heartwarming story gives new meaning to embracing one’s heritage. A high-energy delight that places folklore, family, and food center stage.

Tang, Betty C. Parachute Kids . Scholastic/Graphix. ISBN 9781338832686. Gr 4 Up– A family trip from Taiwan to California in 1981 turns from American Dream to nightmare when Feng-Li’s parents tell her and her two siblings that they will be staying—on their own. Feng-Li plays peacemaker between her brother and sister as they face overwhelming challenges. A memorable and compelling immigration story.

Wheeler, Kate & Trent Huntington. Team Trash: A Time Traveler’s Guide to Sustainability . Holiday House. ISBN 9780823452279. Gr 3-6 –Science fair partners Charlie and Oliver accidentally activate a time machine that whisks them away to different ages and places to learn about trash and recycling. A cute, smart, and incredibly informative book about recycling, upcycling, composting, and other STEAM topics.

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The Best Comic Book Series or Original Graphic Novel of 2021 Winner

The comics that wowed us over the course of 2021..

Whether you prefer epic superhero sagas, chilling horror tales or intimate, character-driven drama, the comic book industry had a lot to offer in 2021.

IGN narrowed down this impressive lineup to the 10 best comic books of the year. The nominees were ongoing series, limited series or standalone graphic novels, as long as they were published in the last 12 months. But there can only be one winner...

This is IGN's Best Comic Book Series or Original Graphic Novel of 2021...

Weapon X's Barry Windsor-Smith is a true living legend of the comic book industry, despite not having published a new project since 2006. That finally changed this year thanks to Monsters, a graphic novel that has been in various stages of development since the 1980s. This book showcases a true master at work, weaving a tale about an Army recruit subjected to horrible experiments and exploring themes of trauma and redemption. -Jesse Schedeen

These are our nominees for the Best Comic Book Series or Original Graphic Novel of 2021...

After the Rain

John Jennings and David Brame's graphic novel adapts author Nnedi Okorafor's short story "On the Road," and there's nothing else quite like it. After the Rain blends Nigerian folklore with visceral body horror in a story that focuses on an American policewoman visiting her Nigerian family. After being confronted by a horrifically injured boy at her front door, she finds herself swept up in a terrifying journey of discovery and survival. -Jesse Schedeen

Barbalien: Red Planet

The Black Hammer franchise has expanded in all sorts of directions in the last few years, but Barbalien: Red Planet may just be the best spinoff yet. This limited series from writers Tate Brombal and Jeff Lemire and artist Gabriel Hernandez Walta explores the plight of the Martian refugee, a being forced to hide his true self in more ways than one. This is a series that adds compelling new wrinkles to the Martian Manhunter archetype and proves once more that Black Hammer is the go-to choice for stories that combine classic superhero tropes with deep character drama. -Jesse Schedeen

Daredevil has consistently ranked as one of Marvel's best monthly comics since writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Marco Checchetto took over the relaunched series in 2019, and that certainly didn't change in 2021. The series has only grown more fascinating thanks to the shocking dual twist of Matt Murdock turning himself into police custody and Elektra taking up the mantle in his place. No Marvel series has a stronger pedigree, but this run has no problem standing alongside the absolute greats. -Jesse Schedeen

The Good Asian

We're always down for a good, hardboiled detective noir, and The Good Asian is easily one of the best in recent memory. Writer Pornsak Pichetshote and artist Alexandre Tefengki introduce readers to Edison Hark, a self-loathing private eye investigating a murder in 1930s Chinatown. This series excels both as a gripping murder mystery and a look at a particularly dark and racially charged time in US history. -Jesse Schedeen

The X-Men franchise as a whole is the best it's been in a long time, but certain books really stand out from the crowd. Case in point: Hellions. Writer Zeb Wells and artists like Stephen Segovia make the most of this odd bunch of D-List mutant misfits. The series is frequently hilarious (especially with Mister Sinister calling the shots), but it's also a surprisingly deep look at a group of damaged outcasts trying to be something more. Who would have thought John Greycrow would be one of the breakout Marvel characters of 2021? -Jesse Schedeen

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr

Ram V was IGN's pick for the best comic book writer of 2020. If anything, he's only had a more impressive showing in 2021. V's crowning achievement this year is definitely The Many Lives of Laila Starr, an ongoing fantasy series created with artist Felipe Andrade. In this engrossing saga, the avatar of Death is fired and forced to find a new home in the body of a mortal woman. The results are simply stunning. -Jesse Schedeen

The Nice House on the Lake

James Tynion IV may have written some of DC's most iconic superheroes, but it's the horror genre where his talents shine brightest. The Nice House on the Lake is yet another reminder of that fact. Reuniting Tynion with Detective Comics artist Alvaro Martinez Bueno, this series follows a group of people all linked by their friendship with the wealthy, eccentric Walter. When Walter offers them a lavish vacation at his lakeside manor, how could any of them refuse? Naturally, that's where things go terribly, terribly wrong. -Jesse Schedeen

The past few years have been very rough on Dick Grayson, which makes DC's revamped approach to Nightwing a very welcome one indeed. Leave it to the Injustice: Gods Among Us team of writer Tom Taylor and artist Bruno Redondo to immediately revitalize Nightwing and his corner of the DCU. More than a little reminiscent of Matt Fraction and David Aja's legendary Hawkeye run, the series delivers all the fun superhero antics, soul-searching and vibrant visuals we could ask for in a Nightwing story. -Jesse Schedeen

James Harren is one of the most talented and unique artists working in the industry today, and one need only flip through a few pages of Ultramega to understand why. This series puts a bombastic spin on the kaiju genre, with the three titular heroes being all that stands in the way of complete annihilation. It's a wild ride that any giant monster fan owes it to themselves to experience. -Jesse Schedeen

All IGN Best of 2021 Entertainment Categories

• The Best Movie of 2021
• The Best Performance in a Movie in 2021
• The Best Director of a Movie in 2021
• The Best Horror Movie of 2021
• The Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Movie of 2021
• The Best Comic Book Series or Original Graphic Novel of 2021
• Best TV Series of 2021
• Best Performance in a TV Series in 2021
• Best Comic Book TV Series of 2021
• Best Animated TV Series of 2021
• Best New TV Series of 2021
• Best TV Episode of 2021
• Best Anime of 2021

IGN's Best of 2021 Awards were designed by:

Lead Design + Art Direction: Julia Rago

Motion Graphics: Will Batchelor

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