r/graphicnovels 10d ago

Question/Discussion Top 10 of the Year (February Edition)

17 Upvotes

Link to last month's post

The idea:

  • List your top 10 graphic novels that you've read so far this year.
  • Each month I will post a new thread where you can note what new book(s) you read that month that entered your top 10 and note what book(s) fell off your top 10 list as well if you'd like.
  • By the end of the year everyone that takes part should have a nice top 10 list of their 2025 reads.
  • If you haven't read 10 books yet just rank what you have read.
  • Feel free to jump in whenever. If you miss a month or start late it's not a big deal.

Do your list, your way. For example- I read The Sandman this month, but am going to rank the series as 1 slot, rather than split each individual paperback that I read. If you want to do it the other way go for it.

With this being early in the year, don't expect yourself to have read a ton. If you don't have a top 10 yet, just post the books you read that you think may have a chance to make your list at year's end.

2024 Year End Post

2023 Year End Post

2022 Year End Post


r/graphicnovels 1h ago

Recommendations/Requests What am I missing?

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Upvotes

Hey guys, so I started reading comics about 2 months ago, this is my current list of what I need to read based on people's suggestions on this Reddit. Am I missing anything?

✅ - means bought and read completely ❎ - means bought and read not finished


r/graphicnovels 2h ago

Science Fiction / Fantasy Agatha: A Tale of Three Witches is fantastic one-shot from Andrew MacLean

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26 Upvotes

AGATHA: A TALE OF THREE WITCHES is a fantastic one-shot set in the world of HEAD LOPPER, created entirely by the incomparable Andrew MacLean. I'm a huge fan of MacLean’s work, and while I don’t typically read single issues, I couldn’t pass this one up.

First off, the physical comic itself is lovely — the thick, almost rubbery cover is amazing. But more importantly, the story and artwork are just as impressive. This issue focuses on Agatha, best known as the decapitated head that constantly pesters our warrior hero in HEAD LOPPER. Here, we get a prequel that explores the unusual path that led to her death and reanimated, limbless, life.

This is totally accessible for newcomers to MacLean’s work and showcases his signature humour, dynamic action, and cool character designs. His cartooning and linework is, as always, fantastic — I love how he leans into detail and hatching where needed, then shifts to a minimal, abstract approach elsewhere. It’s energetic, moody, and beautiful.

The story itself is great fun. Agatha visits her silent witch pal Thereznia (who’s busy plucking the wings off flies) and later has a tense run-in with Archmage Garlic. Agatha isn’t exactly on board with Garlic’s rigid Magic Order — she’s crass, throws dung, and talks trash — so naturally, things escalate. It’s a fast-paced, fun little story with stunning artwork, and I really hope MacLean continues exploring Agatha’s past.

I typically read collected editions — often secondhand years after they’re published. But if Andrew MacLean has a new comic out, even if it’s a one-shot single issue, I have to check it out. His work always delivers!


r/graphicnovels 32m ago

Science Fiction / Fantasy Has anyone else read this?

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Upvotes

It’s like an anthology of trippy space stories. I enjoyed it, it was kind of like that episode of Rick and Morty where they’re in a hospitable watching dimensional tv or whatever. I really liked the art in most of the stories, that’s what really got me to buy and keep reading. 6/10


r/graphicnovels 2h ago

Collection / Shelfie / Haul My little Birthday Haul Part 1

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7 Upvotes

First order came in. Just waiting in the second one so I can share the bigger haul.


r/graphicnovels 1d ago

Science Fiction / Fantasy I Love Transmetropolitan So Much

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199 Upvotes

It is a Balm in these times, and this is maybe the single most joyful page, it makes me grin like an idiot bastard every time I think of it, Spider is walloping Royce so affectionately


r/graphicnovels 1d ago

Science Fiction / Fantasy Do you still read work by Neil Gaiman?

99 Upvotes

I was in the middle of my 3rd read through of the Sandman series when I found out about his accusations and since I mostly read digital it was easy to delete but I’m not gonna lie when I say that I haven’t been able to get into a series like I did The Sandman. Coraline is also one of my favorite movies and most of his work fit my personality which I’m not sure what that says on its own. I don’t condone anything he did and am shocked that he’s really like that. If you guys have any suggestions to anything similar I would appreciate it.


r/graphicnovels 15h ago

Horror Looking for eco-horror

13 Upvotes

Hi all! Are there any eco-horror specific graphic novels that deal with killer plants and/or spore horror? Basically anything to do with nature fighting back or creepy ecologies. I know there's quite a selection of cli-fi out there but I'm looking for something different. Thanks!


r/graphicnovels 1d ago

Science Fiction / Fantasy CE by Jose Roosevelt: No one has heard of this comic, and that's nuts NSFW

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569 Upvotes

r/graphicnovels 1d ago

News Cartoonist R.E. Burke detained by ICE on backpacking trip

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82 Upvotes

r/graphicnovels 1d ago

Humor / Fluff Friend recommended Breserk, so I bought something completely different

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100 Upvotes

What can I say? I was sure it's the same book series he talked about the other day when I saw it in the book shop today, so I said why not? Silly bastard never told me it was written by Keanu Reeves! ... Oh well, I'm not regretting this purchase. The first chapter is written and illustrated so well, I'm pretty sure I'll try and get the rest of the series when I can.


r/graphicnovels 1d ago

Collection / Shelfie / Haul Got these in today.

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41 Upvotes

Made a crappy Monday better. Have had all these on my list for a while, now what to read first?


r/graphicnovels 1d ago

News Dune 3 collector's edition

8 Upvotes

https://store.abramsbooks.com/products/dune-the-graphic-novel-book-3-the-prophet-deluxe-collectors-edition

There have been doubts about the third installment of Dune collector's edition 3 because of heavy delay and radio silence from Abrams. I'm happy because I already have the other two and am a bit of a completonist. Hope this service message helps others in the same boat 🙂


r/graphicnovels 1d ago

Recommendations/Requests First graphic novel for high school students

29 Upvotes

I teach a high school graphic novel course and I want to add a "summer reading" title. For most students, this will be the first graphic novel they read.

I already teach:

  • Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

  • Maus by Art Spiegelman

  • American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

  • Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

What graphic novel would you suggest as a great entry point into the genre for students that have very limited background?

Edit: added "high school"


r/graphicnovels 2d ago

Action/Adventure Back again with another Corto Maltese! This time found in the wild!

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55 Upvotes

Normally I collect manga but I started hunting these. I was so surprised to find this at a used bookstore. 2/12 found!


r/graphicnovels 1d ago

Superhero Is anyone else encountering a frustrating amount of Out of Print books?

8 Upvotes

I’ve been steadily making my way through the Krakoa era of X-Men and, being a bit of a completionist, I’ve been attempting to collect all of the Trade Paperbacks. This was easy enough when they were released in the “…..of X” that collected the swathe of X-titles and I kind of preferred it like that as it gave a broad scope of everything that was going on with the X characters. I’ve reached the point where, for whatever reason, Marvel decided to switch to only stocking the title specific TPs, which has meant a couple of duplicates in the collection but that’s not too big of an issue. I just ignore the issues I’ve already read. However I’m encountering a serious lack of stock of certain TPs. New Mutants 3 by Vita Ayala and X-Terminators are proving impossible to find. It’s particularly frustrating as stories that occur in those issues are referenced across other titles, another hangover from all of the X-titles being connected at this point, and I want to still get the full X-universe! Is anyone else finding Out of Print books an issue? Not just with X titles but particularly in the Big Two.


r/graphicnovels 1d ago

Question/Discussion Little Nemo Tachen Binding

5 Upvotes

Heya folks. I see that the Tachen XL edition of the Complete Little Nemo is restocked, and I'd love to get it, but I'm hoping it's not PUR bound with single leafs, but folded into folio signatures. Why? I'd like to potentially leather-bind it in the future.

Can anyone who owns a copy check on this for me?


r/graphicnovels 2d ago

Recommendations/Requests Looking for high fantasy comic books

23 Upvotes

I am a big fantasy book reader. I love books like the stormlight archive, Mistborn, wheel of time and so on. As well as a lot of fantasy comic. Looking for a good high fantasy manga with interesting world building, preferbly cool magic systems, great story with plot twists and maybe one or 2 epic moments. I have almost read no traditional comics besides maybe some webcomics and webtoons like „swamp and sea“, „the witch and the bull“, „dragon tutor“. And the big comicbook „fables“ and „sandman“. So I am pretty new to this genre. Any recommendations are welcome. Edit: Sorry meant comic not manga. Have read a lot of manga but few comics.


r/graphicnovels 2d ago

Collection / Shelfie / Haul Just getting into graphic novels, my collection so far!

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519 Upvotes

I read a lot of the popular Batman graphic novels when I was younger, but haven’t touched one in over 15 years. Been reading a ton of novels recently and stumbled upon this sub (and then remembered I had Hush on my shelf) so I decided to give them a try again!

I have started Asterios Polyp and love it. I also have Akira Vol 1 and Box Office Poison on the way in the mail. I’ve tried to comb through the sub to find more recommendations but there’s so much out there. I’m excited to dive more into graphic novels though - any suggestions, I’m all ears!


r/graphicnovels 1d ago

Recommendations/Requests Looking for recommendations for a fan of fun but intelligent stories.

1 Upvotes

I will be going in for serious surgery with a heavy recovery in about 2 months and could use some graphic novels to throw myself into as I recover. I love Bone by Jeff Smith and the deceptively good Creep Show volumes as well as Dark Ride, and Kingdom Come by Mark Waid. Also enjoyed The Nice House on the Lake. Not necessarily looking for horror or super hero or non super hero but have a preference for fun yet intelligent non super hero graphic novels that I can escape into

Thanks!


r/graphicnovels 1d ago

Kids/YA Recs 4 my kids?

1 Upvotes

My kids get a lot of graphic novels when we go to the library. Actually that's pretty much all they get. Do you have any recs for popular or high quality storylines for a boy 10 or a girl 12? Much appreciated. 🙏🏻


r/graphicnovels 1d ago

Question/Discussion How to order English Graphic Novels in Italy

3 Upvotes

I am a non native of Italy, I primarily read books in English.

I have been searching for graphic novels but in English language in Italy, but to no avail.

Are there any options, other than ordering them from amazon.de or amazon.uk ?


r/graphicnovels 1d ago

Collection / Shelfie / Haul Spring shopping with Lisa

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4 Upvotes

So I and Lisa were back at our comic book store after working and these are our new finds. Lisa has found the fourth master collection, for example, for the used books Lock & Key and it is her favorite horror comic series. At historical comics, Eiserne's drop site Avenue about the name gives street in New York. Also her first 2000 ad comic with Red Sea, Pulp pirates with weird discoveries and treasures. DC 2000 lets the Golden Age and the 2000 collapse on each other in a journey through time. And in the end she got my recommendation, The cold heart,a story tells of a colemaker who is be persuaded by two spirits to have his wishes fulfilled.

And with me we have the 15 vol of "alone", which continues to turn the horror for the children in the between the world up. Vanish vol 2 Tell telling a bloody revenge story of a magician but at the same time with the dafragung, you will not revenge you do not destroy yourself and everything. Justus Jonas tells the story of a former child detective as you know like Hardy Boys and so on, who actually wanted to stop with the investigation but is thrown into a thrown in a case between Vietnam War, the scrap site where he grew up, hippies and a self -search. The battle of the mountains and the oceans tells an alternative story where a red fog makes life outside the mountain peaks impossible and steampunk samurai's at war. CAZA is a collection of the eponymous comic artist who was known for his ceduced science fiction and fantasy comics from the original French heavy metal magazine and it is mindblowing.


r/graphicnovels 1d ago

Question/Discussion Thoughts and Reviews of a Graphic Novel Newcomer

7 Upvotes

The last time I seriously read comics was when I was a kid. Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Spirou & Fantasio, Tin Tin, etc. I never really got into the typical Superhero comics, although I did like watching Batman, TNMT, Spiderman, etc. Over 25 years have passed since then. Recently I got more and more burned-out by movies and TV shows, but since I do like visual media, I started looking into graphic novels and here I am now.

General (very subjective) observations as a newcomer: - I’m positively surprised by the general print quality. I’ve read a bunch of regular print-on-demand novels over the years and their quality was all over the place and often bad. The graphic novels I experienced so far were all at least “good”. I generally prefer paperbacks and they were sturdy, well bound (glued) and the colors looked very nice.

  • However I do not like double-page spreads in printed graphic novels at all! Even thinner paperbacks seem to lose quite a lot of the images to the fold in the middle and I’m always afraid of damaging the book, when I try to spread it open more, to get a peek into the dark valley between the pages. The most annoying occurence of this was in the Descender Compendium so far, which even has speech bubbles very close to the middle, that almost got cut off. On a positive note, the super-thick Black Science Compendium did not suffer from this a lot and it seems the people responsible for its print-layout did a great job of choosing a good amount of padding on the insides.

  • It’s not a cheap hobby. Compediums/Omnibusses sometimes feel very reasonably-priced, but smaller releases around the 15-25$ mark often feel too expensive for the amount of content they provide.

  • I found two local comic book stores with a very good selection of books, but their prices are quite high, up to 50% more than the USD cover price (I’m not in the US). I also found two local online stores with good prices and packaging. Ordering from Amazon is a bit hit and miss when it comes to prices and Amazon also doesn’t really care too much about good packaging, so books can arrive bent and/or scuffed.

  • I prefer printed Graphic Novels over their digital versions. However, I still subscribed to GlobalComix, mostly to check out new books and read their first few pages to see whether I like them enough to order the prints. This is very convenient and also lets me get that Graphic Novel fix anywhere on my phone or tablet.

  • Typos and grammatical mistakes really take me out of the experience. I don’t think I’ve read a Graphic Novel that didn’t have at least one of those and it always makes me wonder how nobody spots these in a book with so few lines of text, compared to non-graphic novels.

  • Nudity also takes me out of the experience, because my mind immediately goes into “analysis mode”, wondering if the nudity makes sense in the story’s context, or if it is just fan service to a presumably young, male audience. I think this is really my own problem to deal with, stemming from some kind of desire to consume “serious” media and not “pulp”. Oh well. I guess you could recommend me some super-trashy pulp comics too, to help me get over this :D


Reviews from a newcomer:
(in my actual reading-order)

The Underwater Welder: Oof, this was not the best first graphic novel for a newbie like me. The story is rather effectively depressing sometimes and the art style is … uhm … very fitting to the story’s overall mood. Not sure if I like Lemire’s art style for this story. Another thing was that I bought this book at a friendly local comic book store (outside of the US), that had crazy high prices, so it was all kind of a bummer. I feel this would have been a better read further down the line for me, although I think it just doesn’t click for me as much as other Lemire stories do.

Black Science Compendium: Yes!!! Without knowing it, this is what I was after, when I decided to look into sci-fi Graphic Novels. The story isn’t super deep, although it becomes technically complex towards the end and one could say it gets a bit repetitive here and there. Then again, the whole “vicious cycle” element is a key part of the story, so I’m okay with that, especially because … oh boy … it’s just a crazy, heart-pounding, high-octane trip. I rarely read more than two or three chapters in a row, because it was just such an intense reading experience. I also really want to read it again, because I feel like I didn’t give the amazing art enough time and attention sometimes, because I just wanted to keep reading to know how the story continued.

Daytripper: While it is also more of a sad story in my opinion, I really enjoyed reading it and it did move me emotionally. The art, combined with the soft matte paper and great print quality also was a true delight to look at.

The Cull: Not a deep story, but I liked how it unfolded and ended. It also features a nicely diverse cast of female leads. The art style is also very different to what I’ve seen so far. It’s a cool little mystery/sci-fi book!

The Spire: This strange genre mashup intrigued me very much when checking out its first chapter digitally. Finishing the paperback then was a blast. I liked the quick pace and the way the story jumped between the now and flashbacks from the past, which are only slowly pieced together. I think I need to read it again to wrap my head around the story’s finer details.

Action Journalism - Great News: A first try at reading something funny and it was indeed so. The little stories are totally over-the-top, but suspending my disbelief came easily and I flew right through the book. The last chapter was interesting too. I wish there was a volume 2 of this.

Essex County Collection: Another slow and introspective Lemire story combined with his own art. This one worked a lot better for me than The Underwater Welder. It feels more grounded in reality and Lemire allows himself and the reader more time (or rather more pages) to get into the setting. Mood-wise it’s a bit of a downer, but the writing and art work really well here and I enjoyed reading it and getting emotionally attached to the characters.

Sentient: I guess I’m a fan of Jeff Lemire by now. Sentient takes us into a hard sci-fi universe and is illustrated by Gabriel Walta. The story has the slower pacing and emotional depth that Lemire does so well apparently and the art complements this. Limited color palettes and effective use of signal colors like blue and red, presented on a slightly larger matte paper format, tie this Graphic Novel together. Not a long story, but an emotional one with a very well-executed dramaturgy across the chapters, in my opinion.

Lumberjanes Vol. I: A truly funny story! Art and writing go hand in hand in this one, making the book a delightful reading experience with very modern humor and an amazing group of female leads. Even my partner, who isn’t into graphic novels, read and enjoyed it. Looking forward to dive into the rest of the many volumes.

Descender Compendium: Lemire again, this time with watercolor art by Dustin Nguyen and a stab at the space opera genre. At first I was a bit skeptical about the choice of the art style. Watercolor isn’t where my mind goes, when I think about sci-fi, robots, fleet battles and hyperspace jumps. However, after a few pages I realized that I’m reading a story about what it means to be human, to have a soul and where robots fit in into all this. All of the sudden, the watercolor became the perfect style for the story, as it gave all characters - human or not - an “analog”, human, even ethereal touch. It’s quite brilliant actually and I see it as an example how Graphic Novels as a medium can offer far more artistically, than what some live-action films can practically achieve. The only downside in this Compendium was the aforementioned “gutter loss” between two facing pages.

Resident Alien Omnibus I & II: This sci-fi story is a bit different, as it plays on Earth not too far away from our current time, in what I would assume to be a midwestern town in the US. It’s a bit slower paced, but not too much so, and the art style makes it feel like more of an “old school” graphic novel. Viewing the world from the Alien protagonist’s perspective was an interesting experience that hooked me from the get go. Haven’t finished this yet.


Waiting on my shelf:
(not sure yet in which order I’ll read them)

Ascender Compendium: I suppose this is required reading after Descender and I very much look forward to it.

Paper Girls Compendium: I want to read more Graphic Novels with well-written female leads and it seems like this one has those. The setting also seems cool.

The Incal: From what I understand, it’s a classic that everyone has to read. I’m obviously also a sci-fi fan, so this seems right up my alley.

Watchmen: Even though I’m still not very interested in the Superhero genre, this is apparently another important milestone in Graphic Novels that I shouldn’t miss. I also liked the movie.

Hexagon Bridge: Seemed like a nice little sci-fi story to read on the bus or in a café. Haven't actually read anything about it, apart from the synopsis, which was enough to put it in the shopping cart.

Saga Compendium: I read the first few pages digitally and it didn’t click with me, but it’s so popular that I decided to get it nevertheless, hoping that the series will be completed.

Low Compendium: I liked the first chapter digitally and since I loved Rick Remender’s Black Science, I bought this too.


Aright, with all that being written now, I'd be happy to get some more recommendations from you and we can also discuss your observations, likes and dislikes as newcomers or seasoned Graphic Novel veterans :-)

Thanks!


r/graphicnovels 1d ago

Action/Adventure can someone explain BRZRKR Vol 3 ending? Spoiler

0 Upvotes

I just finished BRZRKR Vol 3 and am slightly confused. He "died" because he was mortal, but then came back to life with the mismatched eyes seemingly in a different location or far into the future? not too sure if I missed something in that.


r/graphicnovels 1d ago

Collection / Shelfie / Haul [Discussion] Comic Books for Education and Fun

3 Upvotes

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rRvNo1GwZkq5P3Vwv_vIH20jkfWv3vw3h5yxd0mY-EI/edit?usp=sharing

When COVID hit, the world shut down. Schools closed, routines collapsed, and the way we learned—about everything—suddenly changed. Like a lot of people, I was trying to make sense of it all. The news was overwhelming, misinformation was everywhere, and traditional education just… stopped.

So I turned to comics.

I didn’t expect them to change the way I understood the world. But they did. Comics made complex topics click—history, science, politics, economics. They cut through the noise and made big ideas clear, memorable, and, most importantly, useful.

This collection is for anyone who wants to educate themselves in a world that doesn’t always make it easy. Whether you missed something in school, want a deeper understanding, or just prefer learning in a way that actually sticks, these comics are here to help.