The Combined Best Comics & Graphic Novels of 2022!

Finally.

Over the last 5 months there have been many, many websites with “Best of 2022” lists concerning comic books, manga and graphic novels. If you’ve looked at a few, you may have noticed some of the same books on different lists and seen some unique to only that list.

I went through 213 different URLs with “Best Of” Lists regarding comics and combined them into a spreadsheet. There are almost 3,280 different listings of books from these websites. I should note that I’ve included books that were given honourable mentions. In short, if somebody thought it was a good book that you should check out, it’s on here.

This year the #1 book was Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton, published by Drawn & Quarterly. Ducks was picked more than double the amount of times than the #2 book. I’ve been doing these lists since 2015 and no #1 book had that big of a spread between it and the #2 book. This is the 2nd time Kate’s book was #1 on this list, with Step Aside, Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant Collection being tied for that spot in 2015. Congratulations to the very talented and intelligent Kate Beaton for making paying off your student loans pay you.

Ducks by Kate Beaton - Best GN of 2022

The #2 book was Fantastic Four: Full Cirlce by Alex Ross (Abrams ComicArts). It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood (Image Comics) and The Night Eaters, Book 1: She Eats the Night by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Abrams ComicArts) tied for the 3rd spot. The Nice House on the Lake by last years shout out James Tynion IV, Álvaro Martínez Bueno and Jordie Bellaire (DC Comics) are your top 5 recommended books of the year.

Below are all the books with 5 mentions or more.

Book Title Count Writer Artist Publisher
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands 58 Kate Beaton Kate Beaton Drawn & Quarterly
Fantastic Four: Full Circle 28 Alex Ross Alex Ross and Josh Johnson Abrams ComicArts
It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth 26 Zoe Thorogood Zoe Thorogood Image Comics
The Night Eaters, Book 1: She Eats the Night 26 Marjorie Liu Sana Takeda Abrams ComicArts
The Nice House on the Lake 25 James Tynion IV Álvaro Martínez Bueno and Jordie Bellaire DC Comics
Squire 23 Nadia Shammas and Sara Alfageeh Sara Alfageeh Quill Tree Books
One Beautiful Spring Day 20 Jim Woodring Jim Woodring Fantagraphics
Do A Powerbomb! 19 Daniel Warren Johnson Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer Image Comics
Wash Day Diaries 18 Jamila Rowser Robyn Smith Chronicle Books
Little Monarchs 18 Jonathan Case Jonathan Case Margaret Ferguson Books
Monkey Meat 17 Juni Ba Juni Ba Image Comics
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest 17 Mark Waid Dan Mora, Travis Moore and Tamra Bonvillain DC Comics
Immortal X-Men 17 Kieron Gillen Lucas Werneck, Michele Bandini, David Curiel and Diijo Lima Marvel Comics
AXE: Judgment Day 17 Kieron Gillen Valerio Schiti and Marte Gracia Marvel Comics
Catwoman: Lonely City 17 Cliff Chiang Cliff Chiang DC Comics
Talk to My Back 17 Yamada Murasaki Yamada Murasaki Drawn & Quarterly
Saga 16 Brian K. Vaughan Fiona Staples Image Comics
Step By Bloody Step 16 Si Spurrier Matías Bergara and Mattheu Lopes Image Comics
Clementine 16 Tillie Walden Tillie Walden Image Comics
X-Men: Red 16 Al Ewing Various Marvel Comics
Keeping Two 16 Jordan Crane Jordan Crane Fantagraphics
Frizzy 15 Claribel A. Ortega Rose Bousamra First Second
Acting Class 15 Nick Drnaso Nick Drnaso Drawn & Quarterly
Chainsaw Man 15 Tatsuki Fujimoto Tatsuki Fujimoto VIZ Media
The Human Target 14 Tom King Greg Smallwood DC Comics
Swim Team 14 Johnnie Christmas Johnnie Christmas HarperAlley
Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice 14 Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes Dawud Anyabwile Norton Young Readers
Birds of Maine 14 Michael DeForge Michael DeForge Drawn & Quarterly
Time Zone J 14 Julie Doucet Julie Doucet Drawn & Quarterly
The Many Deaths of Laila Starr 14 Ram V Filipe Andrade BOOM! Studios
Eight Billion Genies 13 Charles Soule Ryan Browne Image Comics
Nightwing 13 Tom Taylor Various DC Comics
Public Domain 13 Chip Zdarsky Chip Zdarsky Image Comics
Miss Quinces 13 Kat Fajardo Kat Fajardo and Mariana Azzi Graphix
Enter the Blue 12 David Chisholm David Chisholm Z2 Comics
Flung Out of Space 12 Grace Ellis Hannah Templer Abrams ComicArts
Isla to Island 12 Alexis Castellanos Alexis Castellanos Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Men I Trust 11 Tommi Parrish Tommi Parrish Fantagraphics
That Texas Blood 11 Chris Condon Jacob Phillips Image Comics
The Flash 11 Jeremy Adams Various DC Comics
Shuna’s Journey 10 Hayao Miyazaki Hayao Miyazaki First Second
She-Hulk 10 Rainbow Rowell Rogê Antônio, Luca Maresca, Takeshi Miyazawa and Rico Renzi Marvel Comics
Thieves 10 Lucie Bryon Lucie Bryon Nobrow
The High Desert: Black. Punk. Nowhere—A Memoir 10 James Spooner James Spooner Harper
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow 10 Tom King Bilquis Evely and Mattheus Lopes DC Comics
Lore Olympus 10 Rachel Smythe Rachel Smythe Random House Worlds
Who Will Make the Pancakes 10 Megan Kelso Megan Kelso Fantagraphics
Chivalry 10 Neil Gaiman Colleen Doran Dark Horse Books
Sir Ladybug 10 Corey R. Tabor Corey R. Tabor Balzer + Bray
Detention 9 Tim Hensley Tim Hensley Fantagraphics
Sabretooth 9 Victor LaValle Leonard Kirk and Rain Beredo Marvel Comics
Reckless: The Ghost in You 9 Ed Brubaker Sean Phillips and Jacob Phillips Image Comics
Poison Ivy 9 G. Willow Wilson Marcio Takara, Brian Level, Atagun Ilhan and Arif Prianto DC Comics
Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure 9 Lewis Hancox Lewis Hancox Graphix
Amazing Spider-Man 9 Zeb Wells Various Marvel Comics
Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese-American 9 Laura Gao Laura Gao Balzer + Bray
Goodbye, Eri! 9 Tatsuki Fujimoto Tatsuki Fujimoto VIZ Media
Reckless: Follow Me Down 9 Ed Brubaker Sean Phillips and Jacob Phillips Image Comics
Look Back 9 Tatsuki Fujimoto Tatsuki Fujimoto VIZ Media
The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza 9 Mac Barnett Shawn Harris Katherine Tegen Books
A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance 9 Rick Remender André Lima Araújo and Chris O’Halloran Image Comics
Spy x Family 9 Tatsuya Endo Tatsuya Endo VIZ Media
Fine: A Comic About Gender 9 Rhea Ewing Rhea Ewing Liveright
The Good Asian 9 Pornsak Pichetshote Alexandre Tefenkgi and Lee Loughridge Image Comics
The Flamingo 9 Guojing Guojing Random House Studio
Always Never 9 Jordi Lafebre Jordi Lafebre and Clémence Sapin Dark Horse Books
Invisible 9 Christina Diaz Gonzalez Gabriela Epstein Graphix
Cat + Gamer 8 Wataru Nadatani Wataru Nadatani Dark Horse Books
The Tryout 8 Christina Soontornvat Joanna Cacao and Amanda Lafrenais Graphix
Crickets 8 Sammy Harkham Sammy Harkham Commonwealth Comic Book Company
Akane-Banashi 8 Yuki Suenaga Takamasa Moue VIZ Media
The Liminal Zone 8 Junji Ito Junji Ito VIZ Media
Mamo 8 Sas Milledge Sas Milledge BOOM! Studios
Detective Comics 8 Ram V Rafael Albuquerque, Ivan Reis, Danny Miki and Dave Stewart DC Comics
Moon Knight 8 Jed MacKay Allesandro Cappuccio, Federico Sabbatini and Rachelle Rosenberg Marvel Comics
Action Comics 8 Phillip Kennedy Johnson Riccardo Federici, Will Conrad, Dale Eaglesham, Mike Perkins, and David Lapham DC Comics
Once & Future 8 Kieron Gillen Dan Mora and Tamra Bonvillan BOOM! Studios
Days of Sand 8 Aimée de Jongh Aimée de Jongh SelfMadeHero
Galaxy: The Prettiest Star 8 Jadzia Axelrod Jess Taylor and Cris Peter DC Comics
Love and Rockets: The First Fifty: The Classic 40th Anniversary Collection 8 Gilbert, Jaime and Mario Hernandez Gilbert, Jaime and Mario Hernandez Fantagraphics
Kaiju No. 8 8 Naoya Matsumoto Naoya Matsumoto VIZ Media
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin 8 Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and Tom Waltz Esau Escorza, Isaac Escorza and Ben Bishop IDW Publishing
Wingbearer 8 Marjorie Liu Teny Issakhanian Quill Tree Books
Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths 7 Joshua Williamson Various DC Comics
Suzanne: The Jazz Age Goddess of Tennis 7 Tom Humberstone Tom Humberstone Avery Hill Publishing
As a Cartoonist 7 Noah Van Sciver Noah Van Sciver Fantagraphics
The Thing: The Next Best Thing 7 Walter Mosley Tom Reilly and Jordie Bellaire Marvel Comics
The Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton 7 Kyle Starks Chris Schweizer Image Comics
Joseph Smith and the Mormons 7 Noah Van Sciver Noah Van Sciver Abrams ComicArts
The Third Person 7 Emma Grove Emma Grove Drawn & Quarterly
Batman 7 Chip Zdarsky Jorge Jimenez and Tomeu Morey DC Comics
Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons 7 Kelly Sue DeConnick Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha, Nicola Scott and Hi-Fi DC Comics
Twin Cities 7 Jose Pimienta Jose Pimienta Random House Graphic
The Aquanaut 7 Dan Santat Dan Santat Graphix
What Is Home, Mum? 7 Sabba Khan Sabba Khan Street Noise Books
Devil’s Reign 7 Chip Zdarsky Marco Checchetto and Marcio Menyz Marvel Comics
Smahtguy: The Life and Times of Barney Frank 7 Eric Orner Eric Orner Metropolitan Books
The Department of Truth 7 James Tynion IV Various Image Comics
Run on Your New Legs 6 Wataru Midori Wataru Midori Yen Press
Witches: The Complete Collection 6 Daisuke Igarashi and Jamal Joseph Jr. Daisuke Igarashi Seven Seas Entertainment
Ride On 6 Faith Erin Hicks Faith Erin Hicks First Second
Orochi 6 Kazuo Umezu and Molly Tanzer Kazuo Umezu VIZ Media
DC Pride 2022 6 Various Various DC Comics
Salamandre 6 I.N.J. Culbard I.N.J. Culbard Dark Horse Books
The Greatest Thing 6 Sarah Winifred Searle Sarah Winifred Searle First Second
Ultrasound 6 Conor Stechschulte Conor Stechschulte Fantagraphics
One-Punch Man 6 ONE Yusuke Murata VIZ Media
The Projector and Elephant 6 Martin Vaughn-James Martin Vaughn-James New York Review Comics
Chef’s Kiss 6 Jarrett Melendez Danica Brine and Hank Jones Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group
Walk Me to the Corner 6 Anneli Furmark Anneli Furmark Drawn & Quarterly
Daredevil 6 Chip Zdarsky Marco Checchetto, Rafael de Latorre and Matthew Wilson Marvel Comics
The Keeper 6 Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes Marco Finnegan Abrams ComicArts
Jujutsu Kaisen 6 Gege Akutami Gege Akutami VIZ Media
Sakamoto Days 6 Yuto Suzuki Yuto Suzuki VIZ Media
Pinball: A Graphic History of the Silver Ball 6 Jon Chad Jon Chad First Second
It Won’t Always Be Like This: A Graphic Memoir 6 Malaka Gharib Malaka Gharib Ten Speed Press
The Real Riley Mayes 5 Rachel Elliott Rachel Elliott Balzer + Bray
Killing Stalking: Deluxe Edition 5 Koogi Koogi Seven Seas Entertainment
Freestyle: A Graphic Novel 5 Gale Galligan Gale Galligan and K Czap Graphix
Your Pal Fred 5 Michael Rex Michael Rex Viking Books for Young Readers
Forest Hills Bootleg Society 5 Dave Baker Nicole Goux Simon & Schuster
20th Century Men 5 Deniz Camp Stipan Morian Image Comics
The Joy of Quitting 5 Keiler Roberts Keiler Roberts Drawn & Quarterly
Crumbs 5 Danie Stirling Danie Stirling Clarion Books
Rogues’ Gallery 5 Hannah Rose May and Declan Shalvey Justin Mason and Triona Farrell Image Comics
A Frog in the Fall 5 Linnea Sterte Linnea Sterte Peow Studio
X-Terminators 5 Leah Williams Carlos Gomez and Bryan Valenza Marvel Comics
Schappi 5 Anna Haifisch Anna Haifisch Fantagraphics
Ghost Cage 5 Caleb Goellner and Nick Dragotta Nick Dragotta Image Comics
My Aunt Is a Monster 5 Reimena Yee Reimena Yee Random House Graphic
Radical: My Year with a Socialist Senator 5 Sofia Warren Sofia Warren IDW Publishing
Defenders Beyond 5 Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez Javier Rodriguez Marvel Comics
Katie the Catsitter: Best Friends 4 Never 5 Colleen AF Venable Stephanie Yue and Branden Lamb Random House Graphic
Aquaman: Andromeda 5 Ram V Christian Ward DC Comics
Ice Cream Man 5 W. Maxwell Prince Martin Morazzo and Chris O’Halloran Image Comics
Growing Pangs 5 Kathryn Ormsbee Molly Brooks Random House Graphic
Mazebook 5 Jeff Lemire Jeff Lemire Dark Horse Books
Something is Killing the Children 5 James Tynion IV Werther Dell’Edera BOOM! Studios
What’s the Furthest Place from Here? 5 Matt Rosenberg Tyler Boss, Josh Hickson, Roberto Lopez Ortiz and Sweeney Boo Image Comics
The Well 5 Jake Wyatt Choo First Second
Red Scare: A Graphic Novel 5 Liam Francis Walsh Liam Francis Walsh Graphix
Huda F Are You? 5 Huda Fahmy Huda Fahmy Dial Books
Newburn 5 Chip Zdarsky and Nadia Shammas Jacob Phillips and Ziyed Yusuf Ayoub Image Comics
Heartstopper 5 Alice Oseman Alice Oseman Graphix
Tokyo Revengers 5 Ken Wakui Ken Wakui Seven Seas Entertainment
We Only Kill Each Other 5 Stephanie Phillips Peter Krause and Ellie Wright Dark Horse Books
Iron Man 5 Christopher Cantwell, Kurt Busiek, and Gerry Duggan Various Marvel Comics
My Hero Academia 5 Kohei Horikoshi Kohei Horikoshi VIZ Media

The full spreadsheet with pivot tables for books, writers, artists, publishers and more is available here.

Regarding Publishers:

This year Image Comics was the most popular publisher with 89 different titles.

Marvel was 2nd place (again) with 84 different titles.

DC drops from 1st to 3rd with 69 different titles.

VIZ Media moves from 5th to 4th with 56 different titles.

and Fantagraphics gets the 5th spot with 48 titles.

47 Self-Published books made the list too.

The 3 most popular web comics were (again!) Batman: Wayne Family Adventures by CRC Payne, StarBite, Maria Li and Lan Ma (4 picks), The Nib and I’m Fine I’m Fine Just Understand by ND Stevenson trying for 2nd place with 2 picks each.

Caveats:

Where a reviewer/writer wrote ‘best of’ lists for multiple websites, I’ve cross referenced their lists and removed books that were named twice. I did not think it would be fair if those writers could tip the popularity scale by naming the same book(s) over and over again on multiple websites. Sadly, there was an increase of websites publishing lists with no credit to who (or whom) created the list. In those cases I marked them as n/a but the practice of not crediting writers is a shameful one.

If a writer wrote for multiple sites, but one of those sites picks was a group effort, I did not remove books that are listed twice.

I generally did not include lists that were a mixed of prose books and graphic novels unless there were a significant number of graphic novels on the list, or they had a list of GNs only and put a GN on a otherwise list of prose books. I did find there were more lists like that this year, which was one of the reasons it took me this long to finish this. Many YA prose books have Graphic Novel looking covers and I need to examine previews to determine if it’s comics or not. If this continues to be the trend I may need to just focus on GN/Comics only lists.

I did not use lists where the website was not in English and the books appeared to be translated versions.

With inkers and colourists I often, but not always included them within the Artist section. Where there were multiple (usually more than 5) involved in a book, or in the title’s run over the course of the year, various was used instead of listing them all. In some cases I combined those involved even if they worked on the title for different issues. Where the translaters were credited (without me having to really dig for it) are mentioned on column G of the data. The same goes for the editors of anthologies.

For simplicity sake, if a list named a specific comic book issue or specific volume of a graphic novel, I removed those specifics and just listed the series title, with rare exceptions. The same goes with issue #s. My apologies to the reviewers of those books.

Some reviewers included books that were published in 2021 or earlier. Normally the amount of times these books were mentioned isn’t significant, but I am seeing more and more books pop up that were comics series last year and came up again this year as a collected edition. Most notable for this year is The Many Deaths of Laila Starr, which tied for #1 last year, got 14 picks this year.

Most of the lists were general ‘best/favourite books’ of 2022, but I also included lists dedicated to young readers, manga, LGBTQ+, etc… What type list is noted on column B in the spreadsheet.

A small number of lists also had rankings and those are included in Column C.

This list of websites this list is compiled from:

ABC Canberra https://www.abc.net.au/canberra/programs/drive/book-club-recommendations-2022/101775420
AIPT https://aiptcomics.com/2022/12/18/aipt-comics-podcast-episode-202-best-comics-of-2022/
AIPT https://aiptcomics.com/2022/12/20/aipts-best-comics-of-2022-part-1/
AIPT https://aiptcomics.com/2022/12/22/aipts-best-comics-of-2022-part-2/
ALA https://www.ala.org/rt/gncrt/best-graphic-novels-adults-reading-list-2022
ALA https://www.ala.org/rt/gncrt/best-graphic-novels-children-reading-list-2022
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=s9_acss_bw_cg_BHPNOV20_2b1_w?node=17296348011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-2&pf_rd_r=0KFGJ2FX17ZEWNA94KE3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=be85bac0-da1d-4ea4-a991-8f056d7023e6&pf_rd_i=17296227011
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=s9_acss_bw_cg_BHPNOV20_2c1_w?node=17296349011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-2&pf_rd_r=0KFGJ2FX17ZEWNA94KE3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=be85bac0-da1d-4ea4-a991-8f056d7023e6&pf_rd_i=17296227011
Anime Hunch https://animehunch.com/dandadan-tops-japans-nationwide-bookstore-employees-recommended-manga-2022-ranking/
Anime Soul King https://www.animesoulking.com/2023/01/15/the-best-manga-of-2022-recommendations/
Anlist https://anilist.co/article/Top-10-Romance-Manga-of-2022
Anlist https://anilist.co/article/Top-10-Action-Manga-of-2022
Asian Movie Pulse https://asianmoviepulse.com/2022/12/best-manga-releases-of-2022/
Autostraddle https://www.autostraddle.com/92-of-the-best-queer-books-of-2022/
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/books/barnes-nobles-best-books-of-2022/barnes-nobles-best-graphic-novels-of-2022/_/N-29Z8q8Z2x7q
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/books/barnes-nobles-best-books-of-2022/barnes-nobles-best-young-reader-books-of-2022/_/N-29Z8q8Z2x83
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/books/barnes-nobles-best-books-of-2022/barnes-nobles-best-manga-manhwa-of-2022/_/N-29Z8q8Z2x7v
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/books/barnes-nobles-best-books-of-2022/barnes-nobles-best-picture-books-of-2022/_/N-29Z8q8Z2x7x
Beneath The Tangles https://beneaththetangles.com/2022/12/27/best-manga-of-2022/
Big Comic Page https://bigcomicpage.com/2022/12/23/bcps-top-10-comics-of-2022/
Book Riot https://bookriot.com/best-comics-of-2022/
Book Riot https://bookriot.com/bestbooks2022/
Borg https://borg.com/2022/12/15/borgs-best-of-2022-the-best-books/
Brightly https://www.readbrightly.com/middle-grade-chapter-books-2022/
Broken Frontier https://www.brokenfrontier.com/broken-frontier-awards-2022-winners/
But Why Tho? https://butwhytho.net/2022/12/year-in-review-top-indie-comics-of-2022/
But Why Tho? https://butwhytho.net/2022/12/year-in-review-top-superhero-comics-of-2022/
But Why Tho? https://butwhytho.net/2022/12/best-top-manga-of-2022/
CBC https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-best-canadian-comics-of-2022-1.6681575
CBR https://www.cbr.com/best-comics-2022/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/cbrs-top-100-comics-of-2022-100-76/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/cbrs-top-100-comics-of-2022-75-51/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/cbrs-top-100-comics-of-2022-50-26/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/cbrs-top-100-comics-of-2022-25-11/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/cbrs-top-100-comics-of-2022-10-1/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/best-dc-comic-issues-2022/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/marvel-comics-greatest-2022/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/best-new-ongoing-manga-2022/
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200121216_chipublib_teens/2203506479_best_teen_graphic_novels_and_manga_of_2022?_gl=1*1cpl9yo*_ga*NzQ5OTQ3MzIwLjE2NzQwMDQ4Njk.*_ga_G99DMMNG39*MTY3Njk0ODYxMy40LjEuMTY3Njk0ODY0MC4wLjAuMA..
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200121216_chipublib_teens/2203497959_best_teen_nonfiction_of_2022?_gl=1*1cpl9yo*_ga*NzQ5OTQ3MzIwLjE2NzQwMDQ4Njk.*_ga_G99DMMNG39*MTY3Njk0ODYxMy40LjEuMTY3Njk0ODY0MC4wLjAuMA..
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/199702383_chipublib_adults/2207078629_best_books_of_2022?_gl=1%2A1kirrze%2A_ga%2ANzQ5OTQ3MzIwLjE2NzQwMDQ4Njk.%2A_ga_G99DMMNG39%2AMTY3Njk0ODYxMy40LjEuMTY3Njk0ODY0MC4wLjAuMA..&page=2
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200049033_chipublib_kids/2205109719_best_fiction_for_younger_readers_of_2022?_gl=1*1kirrze*_ga*NzQ5OTQ3MzIwLjE2NzQwMDQ4Njk.*_ga_G99DMMNG39*MTY3Njk0ODYxMy40LjEuMTY3Njk0ODY0MC4wLjAuMA..
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200049033_chipublib_kids/2205123673_best_informational_books_for_older_readers_of_2022?_gl=1*1kirrze*_ga*NzQ5OTQ3MzIwLjE2NzQwMDQ4Njk.*_ga_G99DMMNG39*MTY3Njk0ODYxMy40LjEuMTY3Njk0ODY0MC4wLjAuMA..
Comic Book Club https://comicbookclublive.com/2022/12/28/best-graphic-novels-of-2022/
Comic Book Herald https://www.comicbookherald.com/best-comics-of-2022/
Comic Book Revolution https://www.comicbookrevolution.com/the-10-best-manga-of-2022/
Comic Book Revolution https://www.comicbookrevolution.com/the-10-best-comic-book-series-of-2022/
Comic Book Revolution https://www.comicbookrevolution.com/the-10-best-comic-book-single-issues-of-2022/
Comic Book Revolution https://www.comicbookrevolution.com/the-5-best-comic-book-storylines-of-2022/
Comic Book Yeti https://www.comicbookyeti.com/post/al-s-top-10-webcomics-of-2022
Comic Frontline https://comicfrontline.com/2022/12/28/best-comic-books-of-2022-winners/
Comic Frontline https://comicfrontline.com/2022/12/20/best-comic-books-of-2022-writer-penciller-ongoing-series-publisher-single-issue/
Comic Frontline https://comicfrontline.com/2022/12/13/best-comic-books-of-2022-best-under-the-radar-series-mini-maxi-series-shocking-moment-new-series-new-creative-team/
Comic Frontline https://comicfrontline.com/2022/12/06/best-comic-books-of-2022-best-male-character-female-character-villain-indie-title-1/
Comic Frontline https://comicfrontline.com/2022/11/22/best-comic-books-of-2022-cover-artist-event-one-shot-cover/
ComicBook.com https://comicbook.com/comics/news/2022-comicbook-golden-issue-award-best-graphic-novel-ducks-kate-beaton/
ComicBook.com https://comicbook.com/comics/news/the-2022-comicbook-com-golden-issue-award-for-best-limited-comic-series/
ComicBook.com https://comicbook.com/comics/news/2022-golden-issue-award-best-ongoing-comic-amazing-spider-man/
ComicBook.com https://comicbook.com/anime/news/2022-golden-issue-award-best-manga-series/
Comicon https://www.comicon.com/2022/12/29/comicons-5-best-digital-webcomics-of-2022/
Comicon https://www.comicon.com/2022/12/27/comicons-5-best-single-issues-of-2022/
Comicon https://www.comicon.com/2022/12/27/comicons-5-best-comic-series-of-2022/
Comicon https://www.comicon.com/2022/12/27/comicons-5-best-ogns-of-2022/
Comics Beat https://www.comicsbeat.com/the-beats-30-best-comics-of-2022/
Comics Grinder https://comicsgrinder.com/2022/12/19/best-comics-and-graphic-novels-of-2022/
Comics Wrorth Reading https://comicsworthreading.com/2023/01/04/my-favorite-comics-and-manga-of-2022/
Comics XF https://www.comicsxf.com/2022/12/19/comicsxfs-best-comics-of-2022/
Cybils http://www.cybils.com/2023/01/cybils2022-graphic-novels.html
Cybils http://www.cybils.com/2023/01/cybils2022-easy-reader-early-chapter-books.html
Den of Geek https://www.denofgeek.com/comics/best-comics-2022/
Denver Library https://www.denverlibrary.org/all-ages/list/staff-picks/staff-favorites-2022-graphic-format-books
Diverse Tech Geek https://www.diversetechgeek.com/10-favorite-graphic-novels-2022/
Diverse Tech Geek https://www.diversetechgeek.com/10-favorite-webcomics-2022-edition/
Doom Rocket https://doomrocket.com/best-comics-2022/
EW https://ew.com/books/the-best-comic-books-of-2022/
Fiction Talk https://fictiontalk.com/2023/01/03/best-graphic-novels/
Film School Rejects https://filmschoolrejects.com/best-comic-books-2022/
Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2022/12/16/the-best-graphic-novels-of-2022/?sh=4e103e1319b3
Game Rant https://gamerant.com/best-manga-2022/
Games Radar https://www.gamesradar.com/best-comics-2022/
Geek Girl Authority https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/best-webtoon-series-2022/
Geek Hard Show https://geekhardshow.com/2023/01/andrews-picks-ten-best-comics-of-2022/
Geek Network https://geek-network.com/geek-network-top-10-best-comics-of-2022/
Geek Vibes Nation https://geekvibesnation.com/the-gvn-talking-comics-best-of-2022/
Geekcast Radio https://www.geekcastradio.com/comics/top-100-comics-of-2022/
GLAAD https://www.glaad.org/mediaawards/34/nominees
Globe and Mail https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-top-5-graphic-novels-of-2022/
Go Book Mart https://gobookmart.com/web-stories/10-best-graphic-novels-of-2022/
Go BookMart https://gobookmart.com/top-10-manga-of-2022/
Good OK Bad http://goodokbad.com/index.php/about/2022comics
Good Reeds https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-graphic-novels-comics-2022
Gosh https://goshlondon.com/gosh-best-of/2022/
Graphic Policy https://graphicpolicy.com/2023/01/01/bretts-favorite-comics-of-2022-and-a-reflection-on-the-past-year/
Horn Book https://www.hbook.com/story/fanfare-2022-booklist
Horror News Network https://www.horrornewsnetwork.net/2022-horror-comic-award-winners/
IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/best-comic-book-series-graphic-novel-2022
Imagination Soup https://imaginationsoup.net/middle-grade-books-2022/
Imagination Soup https://imaginationsoup.net/best-picture-books-2022/
Imagination Soup https://imaginationsoup.net/the-best-chapter-books-of-2022/
Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/review/2022/12/28/best-irish-comic-books-of-2022/
Japan Geeks https://japan-geeks.com/best-manga-of-2022/
Joshua Adelglass https://joshuaedelglass.com/joshs-favorite-graphic-novels-of-2022/
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-indie-childrens-books-of-2022/
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-ya-graphic-literature-2022
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-graphic-middle-grade-2022
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-beginning-readers-of-2022
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/candlewicks-best-books-2022
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/lerners-best-books-2022
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-picture-books-of-2022-for-animal-lovers
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-picture-books-of-2022-about-nature
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-science-and-medicine-books-2022
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-memoirs-2022
Kotaku https://kotaku.com/best-manga-2022-one-punch-man-hell-paradise-chainsaw-ma-1849920639
Laughing Place https://www.laughingplace.com/w/articles/2022/12/29/the-year-in-marvel-comics-the-best-of-2022/
Level Up Entertainment https://levelupentertainment.com/news/2020/12/16/2022-didnt-completely-suck-awards
Library Journal https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/Best-Graphic-Novels-of-2022
Lit Reactor https://litreactor.com/columns/the-must-read-horror-graphic-novels-of-2022
Literary Hub https://lithub.com/the-best-reviewed-graphic-literature-of-2022/
Locus Magazine https://locusmag.com/2023/02/2022-recommended-reading-list/
Looper https://www.looper.com/1098307/the-best-comics-of-2022-so-far/
Los Angeles Public Library https://www.lapl.org/books-emedia/lapl-reads/book-lists/best-2022-graphic-novels
Marvel https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/2022-year-in-review-best-marvel-comic-issues
Matthew Price https://matthewlprice.com/2023/01/08/best-graphic-novels-of-2022/
Medium https://cryptoscatology.medium.com/the-cryptoscatology-top-ten-the-best-comic-books-of-2022-b0b7bfa20500
Medium https://medium.com/@TTCGroup/my-top-10-comic-books-of-2022-33e162f7b3ee
Medium https://medium.com/@atthehelm/comics-make-the-world-go-round-five-best-series-of-2022-5688d120c237
Medium https://medium.com/@lukewhenderson/the-10-best-graphic-novels-i-read-in-2022-1067339d4f11
Mercury News https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/12/08/best-graphic-novels-2022-free-comic-book-day-founder-gives-his-8-picks/
MLMILLERWRITES https://mlmillerwrites.com/2022/12/28/my-favorite-horror-comic-books-of-2022/
Monkeys Fighting Robots https://monkeysfightingrobots.co/justin-mundays-favorite-comics-of-2022/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2022-yir-webcomic/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2022-yir-digital-first-series/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2022-yir-single-issue/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2022-yir-one-shot/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2022-yir-reprint/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2022-yir-anthology/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2022-yir-licensed/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2022-yir-non-manga/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2022-year-in-review-best-ongoing-series/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2022-yir-mini/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2022-yir-new-series/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2022-yir-concluded-series/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2022-yir-manga-series/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2022-yir-ogn/
Multnomah County Library http://bestof.multcolib.org/2021/#tags=comics%2Fgraphic+novels&view=covers&year=2022
Nerdy Book Club https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2022/12/29/the-2022-nerdies-graphic-novels-announced-by-katherine-sokolowski/
Nerdy Book Club https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2022/12/28/the-2022-nerdies-early-readers-and-chapter-books-announced-by-alyson-beecher/
New York Public Library https://www.nypl.org/books-more/recommendations/comics-2022/adults
New York Public Library https://www.nypl.org/books-more/recommendations/best-books/teens?f%5B0%5D=terms%3AComics
New York Public Library https://www.nypl.org/books-more/recommendations/best-books/kids?f%5B0%5D=terms%3AGraphic%20Novels
New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/22/books/notable-books.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-books-general&variant=show&region=BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT&block=storyline_flex_guide_recirc
New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/best-books-2022
NPR https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view=covers&year=2022
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2022/12/james-favorite-comics-of-2022-romance.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2022/12/james-favorite-comics-of-2022.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2022/12/seans-favorite-comics-of-2022.html
Parents https://www.parents.com/best-childrens-books-2022-6950985
Paste Magazine https://www.pastemagazine.com/books/lists/best-comics-of-2022/
Polygon https://www.polygon.com/2022/12/6/23488554/best-comics-2022-graphic-novels
Pop Culture and Comics https://www.popcultureandcomics.com/post/pop-s-best-comics-graphic-novels-movies-and-tv-of-2022
Pop Culture Squad https://popculturesquad.com/2022/12/31/year-in-review-2022-the-best-new-comics-and-ogns-of-the-year/
Pop Matters https://www.popmatters.com/best-books-2022
Powells https://www.powells.com/staff-top-fives-2022
Powells https://www.powells.com/post/best-books/best-books-of-2022-nonfiction
Powells https://www.powells.com/post/best-books/best-books-of-2022-scifi-fantasy-horror-romance-graphic-novels
Powells https://www.powells.com/post/best-books/best-books-of-2022-kids-and-young-adult
Publishers Weekly https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/91182-beaton-s-ducks-tops-pw-s-2022-graphic-novel-critics-poll.html
Random Thoughts https://lars.ingebrigtsen.no/2022/12/20/the-best-comics-of-2022/
Reddit r/comicbooks poll https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/comments/1010igv/here_we_have_it_your_rcomicbooks_bestof_2022/
Reddit r/ImageComics https://www.reddit.com/r/ImageComics/comments/10o7mrm/rimagecomics_best_of_2022/
Reddit: culturefan https://www.reddit.com/r/graphicnovels/comments/100l8b8/this_guy_lists_50_favorite_comics_of_2023/j2jbs14/
Reddit: MakeWayForTomorrow https://www.reddit.com/r/graphicnovels/comments/100l8b8/this_guy_lists_50_favorite_comics_of_2023/j2i83hx/
School Library Journal https://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/story/best-graphic-novels-2022-slj-best-books
School Library Journal https://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/story/slj-top-10-manga-2022
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/best-comic-books-2022-marvel-dc-graphic-novels/
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/best-new-manga-2022-deamons-shadow-ruridragon/
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/the-best-continuing-manga-of-2022/
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/best-new-horror-comics-2022-creepshow-slumber-vineyard/
Seattle Public Library https://www.spl.org/books-and-media/books-and-ebooks/staff-picks/seattle-staff-faves-2022-nonfiction
Seattle Public Library https://www.spl.org/books-and-media/books-and-ebooks/staff-picks-for-teens/seattle-staff-faves-2022-teen-books
She Reads https://shereads.com/best-graphic-novels-coming-2022/
Skokie Public Library https://skokielibrary.info/lists/3047/2022-staff-picks-graphic-novels/
Skokie Public Library https://skokielibrary.info/lists/3032/staff-picks-2022-fiction-graphic-novels-readers-and-nonfiction-for-grades-k-3/
Skokie Public Library https://skokielibrary.info/lists/3027/staff-picks-2022-graphic-novels-and-nonfiction-for-grades-4-5/
Skokie Public Library https://skokielibrary.info/lists/3029/staff-picks-2022-books-for-babies-through-preschool/
Skokie Public Library https://skokielibrary.info/lists/3030/staff-picks-2022-picture-books-for-grades-k-3/
Skokie Public Library https://skokielibrary.info/lists/3028/staff-picks-2022-books-for-grades-6-8/
Stack Overflow https://geekdad.com/2023/01/stack-overflow-our-favorite-books-of-2022/
Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/best-graphic-novels-2022-reviewed/
Texas Public Library https://txla.org/news/2022-maverick-graphic-novel-reading-list-announced/
Texas Public Library https://txla.org/tools-resources/reading-lists/maverick/current-list/
The Comics Journal https://www.tcj.com/the-best-comics-of-2022/
The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/dec/03/the-best-comics-and-graphic-novels-of-2022
The Indianapolis Public Library https://indypl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1652485239/2216635351
The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/review/2022/12/10/the-irish-times-best-graphic-novels-of-2022/
The Mary Sue https://www.themarysue.com/best-comics-and-graphic-novels-2022/
The Pop Verse https://www.thepopverse.com/best-comic-comics-graphic-novels-2022-popverse
The True Japan https://thetruejapan.com/the-best-new-manga/#:~:text=The%2010%20Best%20New%20Manga%20in%202022%201,%28Motoo%20Nakanishi%2C%202021%20%E2%80%93%20Present%29%20…%20More%20items
The Turnaround Blog https://theturnaroundblog.com/2023/01/13/our-favourite-comix-from-2022-graphic-novel-staff-picks/
Toledo Public Library https://www.toledolibrary.org/blog/tlcpl-best-books-of-2022
Toronto Star https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2022/12/21/year-in-review-our-reviewers-pick-their-top-5-historical-fiction-graphic-novel-and-horror-books-of-2022.html
Walden Pond Books https://bookshop.org/lists/best-comics-graphic-novels-for-adults-2022
Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/11/17/best-graphic-novels/
Waterstones https://www.waterstones.com/blog/the-best-books-of-2022-manga
Waterstones https://www.waterstones.com/blog/the-best-books-of-2022-teenage-and-young-adult
Waterstones https://www.waterstones.com/blog/the-best-books-of-2022-baby-and-toddler
Waterstones https://www.waterstones.com/blog/the-best-books-of-2022-childrens-fiction
What Do We Do All Day https://www.whatdowedoallday.com/best-graphic-novels-2022/
Why So Blu? https://whysoblu.com/the-best-comics-of-2022/
Women Write About Comics https://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2023/01/wwacs-favorite-big-press-comics-of-2022/
Women Write About Comics https://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2023/01/favorite-small-press-books-of-2022/
Yuri Anime News https://www.yurianimenews.com/yurimanga/top-10-yuri-manga-of-the-year-2022
Yuricon https://okazu.yuricon.com/2022/12/31/okazu-top-yuri-of-2022/

San Diego Comic Con 2022

I went to San Diego Comic Con and recorded 18 panels.
I also took 81 pictures of pro’s, cosplay, some building advertisements and a few other odds and ends.

I felt some anxiety regarding this convention. It wasn’t the Covid, although there was that too, it was just the travel to and from the convention. The airport I fly out of (Toronto Pearson) has been the news a lot lately regarding flights being cancelled, luggage going missing and all sorts of bad stuff.

It’s also been 3 years since I’ve done this convention. I normally pack and prepare a lot for the con. I decided to bring noise cancelling headset with me so I could better hear what’s playing on my laptop during the flight. That worked well. Because I was afraid of my luggage disappearing on me I figured out a way to pack 5 days worth of clothes and stuff into a carry on bag that I normally use for 3 day trips. Apparently my bag was still considered too big for carry on they still took it, but I know it made it on the same plane I was on and I didn’t have to pay extra for it.

I made it to the airport 3 hours early as suggested by Air Canada. They told all to go into this lounge area where I saw people sleeping on the floor (eek!). They called out flights and if you were on them you then go to go through security. People trying to go through security early and get to their gates were yanked and sent back by staff. I saw this happening at multiple points through the whole process. Still, there was a backlog due to there not being enough customs agents available to process everybody quickly enough to make their flights.

The most nerve-wracking part was for myself and others going to San Diego was standing in a long lineup, looking at our phones and knowing we are not going to meet our boarding time. At all. We were wondering out loud will the plane take off half empty or will they delay the flight and let us get on? Thankfully the answer was to delay the flight an hour. After getting through all the various security checkpoints I ran to my gate and got on the plane in time.

I’ll say the Airport employees were doing the absolute best they could under trying circumstances. They were even calling out boarding times and pulling out people out of lines and rushing them to the front to try and get them on their flight on time. It was the customs that real bottleneck that was holding things up.

I had opted for the Early Bird special and got a hotel room at Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina, which I’ve stayed at once before. This time they put me in their Bay Tower which is around the corner from the main hotel. It has a nicer view and I liked my room quite a bit.

What I didn’t like about the hotel was the cost of a bottle of Pop was absolutely insane at $5.60. The Convention, which is also insanely overpriced is $4.50 for the same bottle. I did the customary trip to Ralph’s and bought some drinks and snacks for the rest of the week.

I had met up some friends at the hotel and we went to the convention to get our Covid clearance. I did download and use the Clear App prior to going to San Diego. We had made our way through the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina and got our Covid wristbands. It was weird wearing those wristbands for 5 days straight and I wasn’t sure if it would hold up, particularly when showering, but it did.

San Diego Covid Wristband

As I’m coming from Canada I don’t get my badge mailed to me, so I got in line up to get my badge. That went through okay but I think the process was a little better in previous years with signs and more staffing. On Preview night the con was a late in opening up (advertised 6:00pm, but it was 6:30pm when they actually opened), which annoyed the crowd quite a bit, which then annoyed the convention security and staff. In this case I do fall on the side of those that paid for tickets and were expecting the advertised opening time for 6:00pm to be correct. San Diego is an expensive convention to go to and lots of people save up all year to go to the show. I don’t think you can blame them when they expect the show to open at the time the con said it would open at.

When I got in the first thing I noticed about the exhibition floor was the red carpet was no longer there. This was hugely disappointing as I have flat feet and spending a long time on them is hard enough, having to do it on concrete is much harder. I could only be on them for an hour or so before the pain got to the point where I needed to sit down. I normally make a point to walk the entire floor and see all the booths but decided I wasn’t going to do that this year. I was glad to read (from Gary Sassaman) that the decision to not do the carpet was one the convention center made and not Comic con. They were going to spray down the convention center for Covid and that would be easier without the Carpet. Here’s hoping next year the carpet is back.

The vast majority of the con goers were wearing masks indoors as required. Of course with that many people, you’re going to have people who take off their masks or pull it down under their nose once inside. On occasion I did see convention staff tell people that masks were required to be inside. Outside the con was a different story, as a whole lot of people took off their masks once outdoors, in restaurants/bars and at their hotel. It’s not surprising to hear a lot of people got Covid after the con, despite Comic Con doing their best to prevent that.

I’ve been to a few conventions this year prior to the Comic Con and I felt safe at Comic Con. The Toronto Fan Expo in March required masks as per the government mandates that were still in effect. TCAF had no mask mandate (and couldn’t due to it being a public library) but they had signs asking people to wear masks, which most people did. I just went to Montreal Comic Con for 1 day 3 weeks ago and there was no masks mandate and few people wore them. I just heard a dealer there that was wearing a mask got yelled at by people for it. He took off his mask and did the show without it and caught Covid. I wore a fresh N95 masks from the airport, at San Diego and back again and did not catch Covid.

Stuff I learned at comic con.

– Scott Bakula has a horrible New Orleans accent (according to a New Orleans con goer on the shuttle bus).
– Jim Starlin admitted to ripping off Darkseid to create Thanos (according to people from the Kirby Museum).
– DC wouldn’t do a follow up to Batman: The Cult despite it being a top seller. They wanted Bernie Wrightson to do a new Swamp Thing with Len Wein and that didn’t happen. Starlin re-did the follow up story as Punisher: POV.
– Digital lettering has certain quirks which are difficult to work around.
– If the 2000 X-men movie flopped, the Bankruptcy judge that was running Marvel was going to take rights to the Marvel characters and individually auction them off to the highest bidder.
– Little kids would write to DC Comics love advice letter columns and detail their sexual abuse by family members or members of clergy. DC felt they could do nothing about it.
– Barbara Randall Kesel is pretty awesome.
– Willy Mendez was a much bigger part of the underground comics than previously known and that hasn’t been acknowledged until Kim Munson did research her career and wrote and article giving Willy her due.
– Jimmy Palmiotti always has interesting stories to tell about dealing with Hollywood people.
– Joe Shuster may not have drawn the underground erotic art that has been credited to him.
– When Marvel was stonewalling on returning Jack Kirby’s art in the 1980s, using the argument it was custom practice that publishers kept the art, Frank Miller was behind getting DC to publish an letter saying it was their view that art belong to the artist, undercutting Marvel’s argument. This was surprising as Bill Gaines, still alive and running MAD Magazine under DC, was still adamant about publishers owning the art.

DC Letter to the Comics Journal regarding Jack Kirby's art return, printed in TCJ 105

I did a little bit of shopping at the con, but not as much as years past. One of the sad things about San Diego is the Gold and Silver section is shrinking. Less and less dealers are coming to the con and those that do often don’t have what I’m looking for and also aren’t interested in discounting very much. I can’t say I blame them, San Diego is an expensive show and it’s just not a show where lots of back issue buyers show up.

Another issue I’m finding more and more is something a dealer friend told me about many years ago. Some dealers don’t acknowledge the grade ‘Good’. Books that are in Good grade get labelled Very Good and stickered with Very Good prices. Then Very Good books get labelled Fine and so forth. I bought a couple of books that were higher in grade and price than I wanted to pay, just to reward the dealer for accurately grading and pricing their books.

I took some pictures of cosplayers and recorded some videos, particularly of a cosplay knight sword fighting which looked fun for those doing it.

I also took a video of this moving Baby Yoda, which was neat. I wondered if it might have been Grant Imahara’s (from Mythbusters) as he created one to send around to hospitals for sick children before he died, but didn’t bother to ask.

Unique for me this year was attending the Eisner’s and getting to sit at a table. In the past when I attended the Eisner’s, publishers and nominated creators get to sit at tables and get a free dinner. Pro’s that didn’t fit in either category sad it chairs behind the tables. As I was an Eisner judge in 2020, but there was no in person ceremony so I never got to experience that. The same thing happened with the judges in 2021. The Eisner’s (specifically Jackie Estrada) was able to get us 20/21 judges a table to sit at and enjoy a dinner, which a nice thing to experience.

As normal with the con, it was also nice to see and catch up with old friends and make some new ones. As usual with the convention, there are people who expect to run into and don’t and those you unexpectedly end up spending a lot of time chatting with. This year I was on a panel, the 3rd time I was on a panel at San Diego. I’m having to get used to public speaking again. Way back when I was in college (1992-1995) I had to do presentations all the time and got pretty good at them by year 2, but I’ve done extremely little public speaking in the years since. My old, had to learn as this doesn’t come naturally to me, public speaking skills have atrophied quite a bit. Ah well, I’ll get better if I keep at it.

I did walk around artists alley towards the last half of Sunday. That’s always one area that Comic Con can improve. I never understood why they place it at the other end of the convention away from where all the comics books are sold. I know a lot of bigger name creators don’t bother with artist alley at San Diego because they don’t make very much money there. Most of the bigger names usually end up getting their own tables either in the self publisher area, the original art area or just sit with their publisher tables. I have no desire to return to NYCC but I have to admit their artist alley section is really good and you’ll see plenty of well known creators there making money.

Then there was the flight home. This was also a little nerve wracking at I’ve been hearing horror stories about US airports. I got to the airport 2 hours early as per Air Canada’s instructions (8am Pacific time). I have to say, San Diego was extremely quick and efficient in getting people through security. I got through everything within a half hour, the quickest in any airport ever. The flight coming in was delayed by 3 hours though. That gave me time to work on my convention pictures and panel recordings. Went I got back to Toronto it then took an hour and a half to get my luggage through, which really sucked. I was planning on going to a restaurant I normally hit that’s just outside of Toronto. It was sadly closed by the time I got there and had to settle for McDonalds 24hour drive through. I got home just before 2am (Eastern) in the morning.

In the end, I really enjoyed going to San Diego and don’t regret going at all. The event takes a lot out of you, that I’m writing this almost a week later tells you how long it takes me to recover from it. I am thinking about doing another convention later on this year but I haven’t decided which one yet.

The Combined Best Comics & Graphic Novels of 2021!

Over the last 5 months there have been many, many websites with “Best of 2021” lists concerning comic books, manga and graphic novels. If you’ve looked at a few, you may have noticed some of the same books on different lists and seen some unique to only that list.

I went through 232 different URLs with “Best Of” Lists regarding comics and combined them into a spreadsheet. There are almost 3,500 different listings of books from these websites. I should note that I’ve included books that were given honorable mentions. In short, if somebody thought it was a good book that you should check out, it’s on here.

This year the #1 book was a tie between 2 books. The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V, Filipe Andrade and Inès Amaro (BOOM! Studios) and Monsters by Barry Windsor-Smith (Fantagraphics) are were both picked 34 times by reviewers.

For those that are unaware, Monsters sprung from a 1984 pitch that Barry Windsor-Smith made to Jim Shooter, then EIC of Marvel Comics that got approved. Before Barry could finish working on the comic a plagiarized version of his story appeared in an issue of Incredible Hulk. The details of this have been covered by Brian Cronin here and here. Barry was justifiably upset about this and did not complete the comic. Barry’s story had a significant impact in the Hulk Comics and was later used in one of the Hulk movies.

Since then Barry has been re-working the story from a Hulk story to something much grander and more in-depth to the issues of child abuse. It’s nice to see the story come out after all these years and get this level of critical acclaim.

James Tynion IVI also feel the need to give a shout out to James Tynion IV who had 2 books in the top 5 with The Department of Truth (also on last year’s list) and The Nice House on the Lake. He also by far had the highest number of reviewers (or groups of reviewers) at 83, picking one of his 9 books this year. Chip Zdarsky had more books picked at 12, with 1 book being co-written by Donny Cates. Also doing well was Jeff Lemire with 11 books total with 2 being co-written.

 

 

Pivot tables have been created to show which books appeared on the number of lists. Here are the books with 5 mentions or more:

Book Title Count Writer Artist Publisher
The Many Deaths of Laila Starr 34 Ram V Filipe Andrade and Inès Amaro BOOM! Studios
Monsters 34 Barry Windsor-Smith Barry Windsor-Smith Fantagraphics
The Department of Truth 32 James Tynion IV Martin Simmonds Image Comics
Nightwing 31 Tom Taylor Bruno Redondo, Robbi Rodriguez and Adriano Lucas DC Comics
The Nice House on the Lake 27 James Tynion IV Alvaro Martinez Bueno and Jordie Bellaire DC Comics
The Good Asian 27 Pornsak Pichetshote Alexandre Tefenkgi, Lee Loughridge and Dave Johnson Image Comics
The Secret to Superhuman Strength 27 Alison Bechdel Alison Bechdel Mariner Books
The Immortal Hulk 24 Al Ewing Various Marvel Comics
Far Sector 24 N.K. Jemisin Jamal Campbell DC Comics
Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts 22 Rebecca Hall Hugo Martínez Simon & Schuster
Stone Fruit 22 Lee Lai Lee Lai Fantagraphics
Nubia: Real One 20 L. L. McKinney Robyn Smith DC Comics
The Girl From The Sea 19 Molly Knox Ostertag Molly Knox Ostertag and Maarta Laiho Graphix
Run: Book One 19 John Lewis, Andrew Aydin L. Fury and Nate Powell Abrams ComicArts
Cyclopedia Exotica 19 Aminder Dhaliwal Aminder Dhaliwal Drawn and Quarterly
Crisis Zone 19 Simon Hanselmann Simon Hanselmann Fantagraphics
The Legend of Auntie Po 18 Shing Yin Khor Shing Yin Khor Kokila
Asadora! 18 Naoki Urasawa Naoki Urasawa VIZ Media
Factory Summers 17 Guy Delisle Guy Delisle Drawn and Quarterly
Barbalien: Red Planet 17 Jeff Lemire and Tate Brombal Gabriel Hernandez Walta and Jordie Bellaire Dark Horse Books
The Waiting 16 Keum Suk Gendry-Kim Keum Suk Gendry-Kim Drawn and Quarterly
Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness 16 Kristen Radtke Kristen Radtke Pantheon
In: A Graphic Novel 16 Will McPhail Will McPhail Mariner Books
Daredevil 16 Chip Zdarsky Various Marvel Comics
Tunnels 15 Rutu Modan Rutu Modan Drawn and Quarterly
The Other History of the DC Universe 14 John Ridley Giuseppe Camuncoli, Alex Dos Diaz, Andrea Cucchi and Jose Villarrubia DC Comics
Stray Dogs 14 Tony Fleecs Trish Forstner, Brad Simpson and Tone Rodriguez Image Comics
Himawari House 14 Harmony Becker Harmony Becker First Second
Black Widow 14 Kelly Thompson Elena Casagrande and Rafael de Latorre Marvel Comics
Beta Ray Bill: Argent Star 14 Daniel Warren Johnson Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer Marvel Comics
Reckless: Destroy All Monsters 13 Ed Brubaker Sean Phillips and Jacob Phillips Image Comics
No One Else 13 R. Kikuo Johnson R. Kikuo Johnson Fantagraphics
Lore Olympus 13 Rachel Smythe Rachel Smythe Del Rey
Hellions 13 Zeb Wells Stephen Segovia and Rain Beredo Marvel Comics
Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? 13 Harold Schechter Eric Powell Albatross Funnybooks
Djeliya: A West African Fantasy Epic 13 Juni Ba Juni Ba TKO Studios
Barbaric 13 Michael Moreci Nathan Gooden and Addison Duke Vault Comics
Cheer Up!: Love And Pompoms 13 Crystal Frasier Val Wise Oni Press
Save it For Later: Promises, Protest and Parenthood 12 Nate Powell Nate Powell Abrams ComicArts
Heaven No Hell 12 Michael DeForge Michael DeForge Drawn and Quarterly
Borders 12 Thomas King Natasha Donovan Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Thirsty Mermaids 11 Kat Leyh Kat Leyh Gallery 13
Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons 11 Kelly Sue DeConnick Phil Jimenez, Hi-Fi, Arif Prianto and Romulo Fajardo Jr. DC Comics
Strange Adventures 11 Tom King Mitch Gerads and Evan Shaner DC Comics
Catwoman: Lonely City 11 Cliff Chiang Cliff Chiang DC Comics
The Crossroads at Midnight 10 Abby Howard Abby Howard Iron Circus Comics
The Silver Coin 10 Various Michael Walsh, Gavin Fullerton and Toni Marie Griffin Image Comics
TMNT: The Last Ronin 10 Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and Tom Waltz Esau & Isaac Escorza IDW Publishing
The Swamp Thing 10 Ram V Mike Perkins, Mike Spicer and John McCrea DC Comics
Shadow Life 10 Hiromi Goto Ann Xu First Second
Made in Korea 10 Jeremy Holt George Schall Image Comics
Katie the Catsitter 10 Colleen AF Venable Stephanie Yue Penguin Random House
Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters 10 Laura Samnee and Chris Samnee Chris Samnee and Matt D. Wilson Oni Press
Fictional Father 10 Joe Ollmann Joe Ollmann Drawn and Quarterly
Garlic and the Vampire 10 Bree Paulsen Bree Paulsen Quill Tree Books
Dead Dog’s Bite 10 Tyler Boss Tyler Boss Dark Horse Books
Die 10 Kieron Gillen Stephanie Hans Image Comics
Discipline 10 Dash Shaw Dash Shaw New York Review Comics
Chainsaw Man 10 Tatsuki Fujimoto Tatsuki Fujimoto ViZ Media
Boys Run the Riot 10 Keito Gaku Keito Gaku Kodansha Comics
Ultramega 9 James Harren James Harren and Dave Stewart Image Comics
Trots and Bonnie 9 Shary Flenniken Shary Flenniken New York Review Comics
The Me You Love in the Dark 9 Skottie Young Jorge Corona Image Comics
The Black Panther Party 9 David F. Walker Marcus Kwame Anderson Ten Speed Press
Red Room: The Unsocial Network 9 Ed Piskor Ed Piskor Fantagraphics
Red Rock Baby Candy 9 Shira Spector Shira Spector Fantagraphics
Reckless 9 Ed Brubaker Sean Phillips and Jacob Phillips Image Comics
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow 9 Tom King Bilquis Evely and Mattheus Lopes DC Comics
Something is Killing the Children 9 James Tynion IV Werther Dell’Edra and Miquel Muerto BOOM! Studios
Robin 9 Joshua Williamson Various DC Comics
Spy x Family 9 Tatsuya Endo Tatsuya Endo VIZ Media
My Begging Chart 9 Keiler Roberts Keiler Roberts Drawn and Quarterly
I Never Promised You A Rose Garden 9 Mannie Murphy Mannie Murphy Fantagraphics
Mazebook 9 Jeff Lemire Jeff Lemire Dark Horse Books
Once & Future 9 Kieron Gillen Tamra Bonvillain, Dan Mora BOOM! Studios
Allergic 9 Megan Wagner Lloyd Michelle Mee Nutter Graphix
Reckless: Friend of the Devil 8 Ed Brubaker Sean Phillips and Jacob Phillips Image Comics
Radiant Black 8 Kyle Higgins Marcelo Costa, Eduardo Ferigato and David Lafuente Image Comics
Nocterra 8 Scott Snyder Tony S. Daniels and Tomeu Morey Image Comics
It’s Life as I See It: Black Cartoonists in Chicago, 1940–1980 8 Various Various New York Review Comics
Human Target 8 Tom King Greg Smallwood DC Comics
Ballad for Sophie 8 Filipe Melo Juan Cavia Top Shelf Productions
The Dreaming: Waking Hours 7 G. Willow Wilson Nick Robles, Mat Lopes and Javier Rodriguez DC Comics
The Golden Hour 7 Niki Smith Niki Smith Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Tono Monogatari 7 Shigeru Mizuki Shigeru Mizuki Drawn and Quarterly
Superman and the Authority 7 Grant Morrison Mikel Janin and Jordie Bellaire DC Comics
Pawcasso 7 Remy Lai Remy Lai Henry Holt and Co. BYR Paperbacks
That Texas Blood 7 Chris Condon Jacob Phillips Image Comics
Rorschach 7 Tom King Jorge Fornés and Dave Stewart DC Comics
Strange Academy 7 Skottie Young Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado Marvel Comics
Night Bus 7 Zuo Ma Zuo Ma Drawn and Quarterly
Moon Knight 7 Jed Mackay Alessandro Cappuccio and Rachelle Rosenberg Marvel Comics
Iron Man 7 Christopher Cantwell CAFU and Juann Cabal Marvel Comics
Living with Viola 7 Rosena Fung Rosena Fung Annick Press
November Vol. IV 7 Matt Fraction Elsa Charretier Image Comics
Eternals 7 Kieron Gillen Esad Ribic Marvel Comics
Home Sick Pilots 7 Dan Watters Caspar Wijngaard Image Comics
COVID Chronicles: A Comics Anthology 7 Various Various Graphic Mundi
Chartwell Manor 7 Glenn Head Glenn Head Fantagraphics
After the Rain 7 Nnedi Okorafor and John Jennings David Brame Harry N. Abrams
Artie and the Wolf Moon 7 Olivia Stephens Olivia Stephens Graphic Universe ™
Tidesong 6 Wendy Xu Wendy Xu Quill Tree Books
The Flash 6 Jeremy Adams Fernando Pasarin DC Comics
The Blue Flame 6 Christopher Cantwell Adam Gorham Vault Comics
Superman: Son Of Kal-El 6 Tom Taylor John Timms, Gabe Eltaeb and Hi-Fi DC Comics
Static: Season One 6 Vita Ayala ChrisCross and Nikolas Draper-Ivey DC Comics
Robin and Batman 6 Jeff Lemire Dustin Nguyen DC Comics
Snow Angels 6 Jeff Lemire Jock Comixology Originals
Squad 6 Maggie Tokuda-Hall Lisa Sterle Greenwillow Books
Skulldigger + Skeleton Boy 6 Jeff Lemire Tonči Zonjić Dark Horse Books
The City of Belgium 6 Brecht Evens Brecht Evens Drawn and Quarterly
Sensor 6 Junji Ito Junji Ito VIZ Media
Let’s Talk About It 6 Erika Moen, Matthew Nolan Erika Moen, Matthew Nolan Random House Graphic
Infinitum: An Afrofuturist Tale 6 Tim Fielder Tim Fielder Amistad
Kaiju No. 8 6 Naoya Matsumoto Naoya Matsumoto ViZ Media
Ice Cream Man 6 W. Maxwell Prince Martin Morazzo and Chris O’Halloran Image Comics
My Love Mix-Up! 6 Wataru Hinekure Aruko VIZ Media
I Am Not Starfire 6 Mariko Tamaki Yoshi Yoshitani DC Comics
Jukebox 6 Nidhi Chanani Nidhi Chanani First Second
Fire Power 6 Robert Kirkman Chris Samnee Image Comics
Geiger 6 Geoff Johns Gary Frank and Brad Anderson Image Comics
Graveneye 6 Sloane Leong Anna Bowles TKO Studios
Guardians of the Galaxy 6 Al Ewing Juann Cabal, Marcio Takara and Juan Frigeri Marvel Comics
Batman: Wayne Family Adventures 6 CRC Payne StarBite, Maria Li and Lan Ma Webtoon – https://www.webtoons.com/en/slice-of-life/batman-wayne-family-adventures/list?title_no=3180&page=1
Batman: Urban Legends 6 Various Various DC Comics
Bubble 6 Jordan Morris and Sarah Morgan Tony Cliff and Natalie Riess First Second
Blue Period 6 Tsubasa Yamaguchi Tsubasa Yamaguchi Kodansha Comics
Friday 6 Ed Brubaker Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente Image Comics
The Parakeet 5 Espé Espé Graphic Mundi
Wonder Girl 5 Joelle Jones Adriana Melo and Jordie Bellaire DC Comics
When I Grow Up: The Lost Autobiographies of Six Yiddish Teenagers 5 Ken Krimstein Ken Krimstein Bloomsbury Publishing
The Joker 5 James Tynion IV Guillem March DC Comics
The Hazards of Love 5 Stan Stanley Stan Stanley Oni Press
X-Men 5 Jonathan Hickman and Gerry Dugan Various Marvel Comics
What’s the Furthest Place From Here? 5 Matthew Rosenberg Tyler Boss Image Comics
The Wrong Earth 5 Tom Peyer and Paul Constant Jamal Igle, Juan Castro, Frank Cammuso, Gary Erskine and Tom Feister AHOY Comics
Witch Hat Atelier 5 Kamome Shirahama Kamome Shirahama Kodansha Comics
The Mystery Of The Meanest Teacher: A Johnny Constantine Graphic Novel 5 Ryan North Derek Charm and Wes Abbot DC Comics
Tiny Tales: Shell Quest 5 Steph Waldo Steph Waldo HarperAlley
Turtle in Paradise 5 Jennifer L. Holm Savanna Ganucheau Random House Graphic
The Strange Death of Alex Raymond 5 Dave Sim and Carson Grubaugh Dave Sim and Carson Grubaugh Living the Line
Stillwater 5 Chip Zdarsky Ramón Pérez Image Comics
Scout’s Honor 5 David Pepose Luca Casalanguida and Matt Milla Aftershock Comics
Runaways 5 Rainbow Rowell Natacha Bustos and Andres Genolet Marvel Comics
Poison Ivy: Thorns 5 Kody Keplinger Sara Kipin, Jeremy Lawson and Steve Wands DC Comics
Parenthesis 5 Élodie Durand Élodie Durand Top Shelf Productions
Red Flowers 5 Yoshiharu Tsuge Yoshiharu Tsuge Drawn and Quarterly
Rebecca & Lucie in the Case of the Missing Neighbor 5 Pascal Girard Pascal Girard Drawn and Quarterly
Sir Edward Grey: Acheron 5 Mike Mignola Mike Mignola Dark Horse Books
Salt Magic 5 Hope Larson Rebecca Mock Margaret Ferguson Books
Renegade Rule 5 Ben Kahn, Rachel Silverstein Sam Beck Dark Horse Books
The Amazing Spider-Man 5 Various Various Marvel Comics
Karmen 5 Guillem March Guillem March Image Comics
I Walk with Monsters 5 Paul Cornell Sally Cantirino and Dearbhla Kelly Vault Comics
Look Back 5 Tatsuki Fujimoto Tatsuki Fujimoto VIZ Media
No One Returns from the Enchanted Forest 5 Robin Robinson Robin Robinson First Second
Inferno 5 Jonathan Hickman Valerio Schiti, Stefano Caselli and R. B. Silva Marvel Comics
Monstress 5 Marjorie Liu Sana Takeda Image Comics
Monster Friends 5 Kaeti Vandorn Kaeti Vandorn Random House Graphic
Mamo 5 Sas Milledge Sas Milledge BOOM! Studios
I Breathed A Body 5 Zac Thompson Andy MacDonald Aftershock Comics
Dark Knights of Steel 5 Tom Taylor Yasmine Putri DC Comics
Detective Comics 5 Mariko Tamaki Dan Mora, Viktor Bogdanovic, Daniel Henriques and Jordie Bellaire DC Comics
Haha 5 W. Maxwell Prince Various Image Comics
Crude: A Memoir 5 Pablo Fajardo, Sophie Tardy-Joubert Damien Roudeau Graphic Mundi
Fist of the North Star 5 Buronson Tetsuo Hara ViZ Media
A Sign Of Affection 5 Suu Morishita Suu Morishita Kodansha Comics
Celestia 5 Manuel Fior Manuel Fior Fantagraphics
Bad Sister 5 Charise Mericle Harper Rory Lucey First Second

The full spreadsheet with pivot tables for books, writers, artists, publishers and more is available here.

Regarding Publishers:

This year DC Comics was the most popular publisher with 105 different titles.

Marvel was 2nd place with 88 different titles.

Image was 3rd with 67 different titles.

Dark Horse was close behind with 60 different titles.

VIZ Media was 5th with 51 different titles.

59 Self-Published books made the list too.

The two most popular web comics were Batman: Wayne Family Adventures by CRC Payne, StarBite, Maria Li and Lan Ma (5 picks) and The Gift of Time by Lauren Weinstein (4 picks).


Caveats:

Where a reviewer/writer wrote ‘best of’ lists for multiple websites, I’ve cross referenced their lists and removed books that were named twice. I did not think it would be fair if those writers could tip the popularity scale by naming the same book(s) over and over again on multiple websites. Sadly, there was an increase of websites publishing lists with no credit to who (or whom) created the list. In those cases I marked them as n/a but the practice of not crediting writers is a shameful one.

If a writer wrote for multiple sites, but one of those sites picks was a group effort, I did not remove books that are listed twice.

I generally did not include lists that were a mixed of prose books and graphic novels unless there were a significant number of graphic novels on the list, or they had a list of GNs only and put a GN on a otherwise list of prose books. I did find there were more lists like that this year, which was one of the reasons it took me this long to finish this. Many YA prose books have Graphic Novel looking covers and I need to examine previews to determine if it’s comics or not. If this continues to be the trend I may need to just focus on GN/Comics only lists.

I did not use lists where the website was not in English and the books appeared to be translated versions.

With inkers and colourists I often, but not always included them within the Artist section. Where there were multiple (usually more than 5) involved in a book, or in the title’s run over the course of the year, various was used instead of listing them all. In some cases I combined those involved even if they worked on the title for different issues.

For simplicity sake, if a list named a specific comic book issue or specific volume of a graphic novel, I removed those specifics and just listed the series title, with rare exceptions. The same goes with issue #s. My apologies to the reviewers of those books.

Some reviewers included books that were published in 2020 or earlier. Normally the amount of times these books were mentioned isn’t significant, but I am seeing more and more books pop up that were comics series last year and came up again this year as a collected edition.

Most of the lists were general ‘best/favourite books’ of 2021, but I also included lists dedicated to young readers, manga, LGBTQ+, etc… What type list is noted on column B in the spreadsheet.

A small number of lists also had rankings and those are included in Column C.

This list of websites this list is compiled from:

AIPT https://aiptcomics.com/2021/12/21/best-comics-2021-part-1/
AIPT https://aiptcomics.com/2021/12/23/aipts-best-comics-of-2021-part-2/
AIPT https://aiptcomics.com/2021/12/26/aipt-comics-podcast-episode-153-best-comics-of-2021/
AIPT https://aiptcomics.com/2021/12/31/aipts-best-manga-and-anime-of-2021/
ALA https://www.ala.org/rt/gncrt/2021-best-graphic-novels-children-reading-list
ALA https://www.ala.org/rt/gncrt/2021-best-graphic-novels-adults-reading-list
Alex Jaffe https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2022/01/03/my-2021-top-three-alex-jaffe
Anchorage Daily News https://www.adn.com/arts/books/2021/12/25/our-reviewers-favorite-books-of-the-north-from-2021/
Anime Planet https://www.anime-planet.com/users/MangaInLibraries/lists/best-and-worst-manga-2021–new-york-comi-793223
Anime UK News https://animeuknews.net/2021/12/anime-uk-news-review-of-2021-part-2-manga-and-light-novels/
Autostraddle https://www.autostraddle.com/best-queer-books-2021/#comics
AV Club https://www.avclub.com/the-best-comics-of-2021-1848298433
Between the Shelves https://between-the-shelves.com/2021/12/2021-yearly-wrap-up/
Big Comic Page https://bigcomicpage.com/2021/12/27/best-comics-of-2021-mark-edition/
Big Comic Page https://bigcomicpage.com/2021/12/24/best-comics-of-2021-ceej-edition/
Book Riot https://bookriot.com/bestbooks2021/
Book Riot https://bookriot.com/best-childrens-books-of-2021/
Book Riot https://bookriot.com/ya-comics-from-2021/
Bookshop https://bookshop.org/lists/the-best-comics-and-graphic-novels-for-adults-2021
Borg https://borg.com/2021/12/16/borgs-best-of-2021-the-best-books/#more-65343
Boston Globe https://apps.bostonglobe.com/arts/graphics/2021/12/best-of-2021-books/
Brightly https://www.readbrightly.com/middle-grade-chapter-books-2021/
Broken Frontier https://www.brokenfrontier.com/broken-frontier-awards-2021-results/
Broken Frontier https://www.brokenfrontier.com/celebrating-2021-ten-uk-small-press-comics-you-need-to-own/
But Why Tho? https://butwhythopodcast.com/2021/12/09/year-in-review-top-manga-of-2021/
But Why Tho? https://butwhythopodcast.com/2021/12/09/best-bl-manga-of-2021/
But Why Tho? https://butwhythopodcast.com/2021/12/21/year-in-review-top-comics-of-2021/
Buzzfeed https://www.buzzfeed.com/farrahpenn/the-best-ya-books-of-2021
CBC https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-best-canadian-comics-of-2021-1.6286450
CBR https://www.cbr.com/best-2021-shojo-anime-manga/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/cbrs-top-100-comics-of-2021-100-76/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/cbrs-top-100-comics-of-2021-75-51/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/cbr-top-100-comics-of-2021-50-26/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/cbr-top-100-comics-of-2021-25-11/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/cbr-top-100-comics-of-2021-10-1/
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200121216/2000678559
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200121216/2009930559
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200121216/2000663789
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/199702383_chipublib_adults/2006114679_best_books_of_2021?_ga=2.153138168.1115847762.1641860361-228142177.1640674497&_gl=1%2Awqumni%2A_ga%2AMjI4MTQyMTc3LjE2NDA2NzQ0OTc.%2A_ga_11XNMTZ0HG%2AMTY0MTg2MDM2MC4xLjEuMTY0MTg2MDkyNi4w&page=4
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200049033_chipublib_kids/2006120199_best_informational_books_for_older_readers_of_2021?_ga=2.203013969.1115847762.1641860361-228142177.1640674497&_gl=1*18haqyu*_ga*MjI4MTQyMTc3LjE2NDA2NzQ0OTc.*_ga_11XNMTZ0HG*MTY0MTg2MDM2MC4xLjEuMTY0MTg2MDk2NS4w
CNN Philippines https://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/literature/2021/12/31/our-best-komiks-of-2021.html
Code List (has payway) https://codelist.biz/2022/01/01/best-of-2021-part-5-comics-update-mexico/&ct=ga&cd=CAEYAioUMTEzNzM1MjU2Njc2OTE0Njc3NjcyGTEzMTcyY2ZkMzg2MTIxNzk6Y2E6ZW46Q0E&usg=AFQjCNG9T30R1WWOpoHnDe4XqZdRI-ZHrg
Comic Book Case https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/best-comics-2021-1-5-zack
Comic Book Case https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/best-comics-2021-zack-part-2
Comic Book Case https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/2022/1/4/best-comics-of-2021-16-to-25-zacks-picks
Comic Book Case https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/best-comics-2021-staff
Comic Book Herald https://www.comicbookherald.com/best-comics-of-2021/
Comic Book Revolution https://www.comicbookrevolution.com/best-comic-book-series-of-2021/
Comic Book Revolution https://www.comicbookrevolution.com/best-comic-book-single-issues-of-2021/
Comic Book Revolution https://www.comicbookrevolution.com/best-comic-book-storylines-of-2021/
Comic Front Line https://comicfrontline.com/2021/12/27/best-comic-books-of-2021-best-writer-penciler-ongoing-series-publisher-single-issue/
Comic Front Line https://comicfrontline.com/2021/12/20/best-comic-books-of-2021-under-the-radar-series-mini-series-shocking-moment-new-series/
Comic Front Line https://comicfrontline.com/2021/12/16/best-comic-books-of-2021-female-character-villain-indie-title-1/
Comic Front Line https://comicfrontline.com/2022/01/03/best-comic-books-of-2021-winners/
ComicBook https://comicbook.com/comics/news/2021-comicbook-golden-issue-awards-nominees-best-comics-comic-books/
ComicBook https://comicbook.com/anime/news/2021-golden-issue-award-best-manga/
Comicon https://www.comicon.com/2021/12/30/comicons-5-best-digital-webcomics-of-2021/
Comicon https://www.comicon.com/2021/12/28/comicons-5-best-single-issues-of-2021/
Comicon https://www.comicon.com/2021/12/28/comicons-5-best-comic-series-of-2021/
Comicon https://www.comicon.com/2021/12/28/comicons-5-best-ogns-of-2021/
Comics Grinder https://comicsgrinder.com/2021/12/29/best-comics-and-graphic-novels-of-2021/
Comics XF https://www.comicsxf.com/2021/12/17/best-comics-of-2021/
Cory Doctorow https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/08/required-ish-reading/
Cybils http://www.cybils.com/2022/01/2021-finalists-graphic-novels.html
Cybils http://www.cybils.com/2022/01/2021-finalists-easy-readers-and-early-chapter-books.html
Daily Herald Tribune https://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/entertainment/books/brown-what-were-the-top-10-comics-in-2021
DC Comics https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2022/01/06/my-2021-top-three-tim-beedle
Den of Geek https://www.denofgeek.com/comics/the-best-comics-of-2021/
Denver Library https://www.denverlibrary.org/teen/list/staff-favorites-2021-teen-books
Diverse Tech Geek https://www.diversetechgeek.com/10-favorite-graphic-novels-2021/
Diverse Tech Geek https://www.diversetechgeek.com/10-favorite-webcomics-2021-edition/
Donovan Morgan Grant https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2022/01/05/my-2021-top-three-donovan-morgan-grant
Doom Rocket https://doomrocket.com/hot-press-10-the-best-comics-of-2021/
Dual Shockers https://www.dualshockers.com/top-20-best-manga-of-2021-revealed-kono-manga-ga-sugoi/
EW https://ew.com/books/best-comics-of-2021/
Film School Rejects https://filmschoolrejects.com/best-comic-books-2021/
Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2021/12/17/the-best-graphic-novels-of-2021/?sh=13a17da64614
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2021/12/29/four-color-apocalypse-year-in-review-top-ten-original-graphic-novels-2/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2021/12/28/four-color-apocalypse-2021-year-in-review-top-ten-contemporary-collections/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2021/12/26/four-color-apocalypse-2021-year-in-review-top-ten-vintage-collections/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2021/12/21/four-color-apocalypse-2021-year-in-review-top-ten-comics-series/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2021/12/21/four-color-apocalypse-2021-year-in-review-top-ten-single-issue-comics/
Games Radar https://www.gamesradar.com/best-comic-comics-2021-books-graphic-novels/
Geek Cast Radio https://www.geekcastradio.com/comics/top-100-comics-of-2021/
Geek Hard Show https://geekhardshow.com/2022/01/andrews-picks-ten-best-comics-of-2021/?doing_wp_cron=1642360816.2018659114837646484375
Geek Vibes Nation https://geekvibesnation.com/gvn-talking-comics-the-best-comics-of-2021-according-to-gvn/
GLAAD https://www.glaad.org/blog/glaad-announces-nominees-33rd-annual-glaad-media-awards?fbclid=IwAR0ZE-0VL6b-2yJNgrhvl9uLai-LRguhkX8vsNl1ZrFi8lHAZmJcm9LeDVY
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-graphic-novels-comics-2021
Gosh https://goshlondon.com/kids/kids-gosh-best-of/?sort=newest
Gosh https://goshlondon.com/gosh-best-of/2021/
Graphic Novel Resources https://graphicnovelresources.blogspot.com/2022/01/my-2021-favorites.html
Graphic Policy https://graphicpolicy.com/2022/01/06/the-best-comics-of-2021/
Graphic Policy https://graphicpolicy.com/2022/01/01/bretts-favorite-comics-of-2021-and-a-reflection-on-the-past-year/
Graphic Policy https://graphicpolicy.com/2022/01/02/logans-favorite-comics-of-2021/
Graphic Policy https://graphicpolicy.com/2022/01/03/we-were-scared-horror-in-the-year-2021/
Grovel https://www.grovel.org.uk/category/best-of/best-graphic-novels-of-2021/
GWW https://thegww.com/best-comic-books-of-2021-gww-picks/
Horn Book https://www.hbook.com/story/fanfare-2021-booklist
Horror DNA https://www.horrordna.com/features/james-top-10-horror-comics-of-2021
Horror News Network https://www.horrornewsnetwork.net/horror-news-network-2021-comic-awards-best-mini-series-of-the-year/
Horror News Network https://www.horrornewsnetwork.net/horror-news-network-2021-comic-awards-best-series-of-the-year/
Horror News Network https://www.horrornewsnetwork.net/horror-news-network-2021-comic-awards-best-one-shot/
IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/best-comic-book-graphic-novel-2021
Imagination Soup https://imaginationsoup.net/best-chapter-middle-grade-books-2021/
Imagination Soup https://imaginationsoup.net/best-picture-books-2021/
Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/best-books-for-christmas-2021-fiction-biography-sport-and-children-s-books-1.4732325
Jenn Haines https://www.facebook.com/jenn.haines.3/posts/10165842984015635
Kelly Knox https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2022/01/04/my-2021-top-three-kelly-knox
Kinder Comics https://www.kindercomics.org/blog/favoritesof2021
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-indie-childrens-books-of-2021/#raes-first-day
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-wordless-picture-books-2021/#alien-nation-bassi
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-middle-grade-nature-books-of-2021/
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-books-of-2021-for-beginning-readers/#see-the-dog
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-middle-grade-history-2021/#african-icons
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-middle-grade-graphic-fiction-of-2021/
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-memoirs-of-2021/#seek-you
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-ya-graphic-novels-of-2021/#himawari-house
Kotaku https://kotaku.com/the-11-best-manga-of-2021-1848272848
Laughing Place https://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/2021/12/30/the-year-in-marvel-comics-the-best-of-2021/
Level Up Entertainment https://levelupentertainment.com/news/2020/12/16/2021-didnt-completely-suck-awards
Library Journal https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/Best-Graphic-Novels-2021
Literary Hub https://lithub.com/the-best-reviewed-graphic-literature-of-2021/
Looper https://www.looper.com/680727/the-best-comics-of-2021/
Los Angeles Public Library https://www.lapl.org/books-emedia/lapl-reads/book-lists/best-2021-graphic-novels
Lotus Land https://www.lotuslandcomics.com/2021/12/the-best-comics-of-2021.html#.Yb1rxrLaCcM.twitter
Madison Public Library https://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/reading-and-viewing/book-lists/graphic-novels-middle-grade-readers
Medium https://seamas.medium.com/the-best-comics-of-2021-by-me-the-celebrated-author-s%C3%A9amas-oreilly-7b1542b265c9
MiddleEastEye https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/five-best-arab-comic-graphic-novel-releases-this-year
Mulitversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2021-yir-reprint/
Mulitversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2021-yir-single-issue/
Mulitversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2021-yir-one-shot/
Mulitversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2021-yir-anthology/
Mulitversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2021-yir-licensed/
Mulitversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2021-yir-digital-first/
Mulitversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2021-yir-limited/
Mulitversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2021-yir-webcomic/
Mulitversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2021-yir-manga/
Mulitversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2021-yir-concluded/
Mulitversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2021-yir-new-series/
Mulitversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2021-yir-translated/
Mulitversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2021-yir-ongoing/
Mulitversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2021-yir-ogn/
Mulitversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/reader-poll/results-daredevil-ongoing-21/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2021-creators-yir-1/
Multnomah County Library http://bestof.multcolib.org/2021/#tags=comics%2Fgraphic+novels&view=covers&year=2021
Nerdist https://nerdist.com/article/best-comics-of-2021-nubia-static-night-bus-dc-marvel/
Nerdy Book Club https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2021/12/29/the-2021-nerdies-graphic-novels-announced-by-katherine-sokolowski/
Nerdy Book Club https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2021/12/28/the-2021-nerdies-early-readers-and-chapter-books-announced-by-alyson-beecher/
New York Public Library https://www.nypl.org/books-more/recommendations/best-books/adults?year=2021&f%5B0%5D=terms%3AComics
New York Public Library https://www.nypl.org/books-more/recommendations/best-books/teens?year=2021&f%5B0%5D=terms%3AComics
New York Public Library https://www.nypl.org/books-more/recommendations/best-books/kids?year=2021&f%5B0%5D=terms%3AGraphic%20Novels
New York Public Library https://www.nypl.org/books-more/recommendations/comics/adults
New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/books/review/artists-best-illustrated-childrens-books.html
New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/03/books/review/25-best-childrens-books.html
New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/10/books/best-graphic-novels-2021.html
NPR https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#tags=comics+%26+graphic+novels&view=covers&year=2021
Omaha Public Library http://topshelf.omahalibrary.org/#/tag/comic-graphic-novel
Orange County Register https://www.ocregister.com/2022/01/12/5-graphic-novels-to-read-now-tunnels-leonard-cohen-and-more/
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2021/12/rachels-2021-favorites-part-1.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2021/12/rachels-2021-favorites-part-2-graphic.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2021/12/seans-2021-favorites-long-box-short-box.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2021/12/robs-2021-favorites-part-1-short-list.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2021/12/robs-2021-favorites-part-2-my-favorite.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2021/12/james-2021-favorites-part-1-non-fiction.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2021/12/james-2021-favorites-part-2-superheroes.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2021/12/james-2021-favorites-part-3-favorite.html
Parents https://www.parents.com/fun/entertainment/books/best-chapter-books-for-kids-ages-5-to-12/
Pipedream Comics https://pipedreamcomics.co.uk/the-top-10-small-press-and-indie-comics-of-2021/
Pipedream Comics https://pipedreamcomics.co.uk/best-small-press-and-indie-comics-2021-20-11/
Pipedream Comics https://pipedreamcomics.co.uk/best-small-press-and-indie-comics-of-2021-30-21/
Pipedream Comics https://pipedreamcomics.co.uk/best-small-press-and-indie-comics-2021-40-31/
Pipedream Comics https://pipedreamcomics.co.uk/best-indie-and-small-press-comics-2021-50-41/
Polygon https://www.polygon.com/22821264/best-comics-2021-marvel-dc-manga
Pop Matters https://www.popmatters.com/best-books-2021-list-feature/5
Portsmouth NH Libraries https://portsmouth.bywatersolutions.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-shelves.pl?op=view&shelfnumber=1555
Portsmouth NH Libraries https://portsmouth.bywatersolutions.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-shelves.pl?op=view&shelfnumber=1548
Portsmouth NH Libraries https://portsmouth.bywatersolutions.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-shelves.pl?op=view&shelfnumber=1549
Portsmouth NH Libraries https://portsmouth.bywatersolutions.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-shelves.pl?op=view&shelfnumber=1546
Powells https://www.powells.com/staff-top-fives
Publishers Weekly https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/88132-bechdel-s-secret-to-superhuman-strength-wins-pw-s-2021-graphic-novel-critics-poll.html
Publishers Weekly https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2021/young-adult
Publishers Weekly https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2021/comics
Publishers Weekly https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2021/middle-grade
Publishers Weekly https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2021/picture-books
Rad Raptor https://radraptor.com/index.php/2022/01/04/tims-best-comic-books-of-2021/
Rad Raptor https://radraptor.com/index.php/2022/01/01/jeff-conollys-best-comics-of-2021/
Rad Raptor https://radraptor.com/index.php/2021/12/31/andrews-best-comic-books-of-2021/
Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/graphicnovels/comments/rfhtw2/my_top_reads_of_2021_i_recommend_them_all/
SBNation https://www.nunesmagician.com/2021/12/31/22851917/tniaams-top-comic-books-of-2021
School Library Journal https://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/?detailStory=best-graphic-novels-2021-slj-best-books
School Library Journal https://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/?detailStory=slj-top-10-manga-2021
School Library Journal https://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/?detailStory=slj-book-reviews-editors-favorite-books-read-in-2021
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/image-comics-best-books-2021/
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/best-comic-books-2021-marvel-dc/
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/best-single-issues-comics-2021/
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/best-marvel-comic-books-2021/
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/best-new-manga-titles-2021/
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/best-non-superhero-comic-books-2021/
Seattle Public Library https://www.spl.org/books-and-media/books-and-ebooks/staff-picks/seattle-staff-faves-2021-fiction?page=3
Sequential Planet https://sequentialplanet.com/best-comics-of-2021-comic-book-of-the-year/
Skokie Public Library https://skokielibrary.info/lists/2634/2021-staff-picks-graphic-novels/
Skokie Public Library https://skokielibrary.info/lists/2626/2021-staff-picks-grades-6-8/
Skokie Public Library https://skokielibrary.info/lists/2625/2021-staff-picks-grades-4-5/
Skokie Public Library https://skokielibrary.info/lists/2623/2021-staff-picks-ages-0-5/
Syfy https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/best-comic-books-of-2021
TCJ https://www.tcj.com/the-best-comics-of-2021/
Texas Public Library https://txla.org/news/2022-maverick-graphic-novel-reading-list-announced/
Texas Public Library https://txla.org/news/2022-little-maverick-graphic-reading-list-announced/
The Beat https://www.comicsbeat.com/best-comics-of-2021-list/
The Globe and Mail https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-the-globe-100-the-books-we-loved-in-2021/
The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/dec/05/the-best-graphic-novels-of-2021
The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/dec/07/best-comics-and-graphic-novels-of-2021
The Indianapolis Public Library https://indypl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1652485239/2013756539
The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-best-graphic-novels-of-2021-take-a-murderously-funny-trip-through-lockdown-1.4748160
The Mary Sue https://www.themarysue.com/2021-graphic-novel-gift-guide/
The Oklahoman https://www.oklahoman.com/story/entertainment/2021/12/30/taking-look-best-graphic-novels-2021/9035786002/
The Oklahoman https://www.oklahoman.com/story/entertainment/2022/01/07/word-balloons-which-periodical-comics-were-hits-2021-nightwing-and-daredevil-top-list/9081523002/
The Scotland Herald https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19788922.best-graphic-novels-2021/
The Turnaround Blog https://theturnaroundblog.com/2021/03/16/queer-graphic-novel-reads-lgbtq-comics-for-2021/
The Turnaround Blog https://theturnaroundblog.com/2021/11/24/turnarounds-2021-staff-picks-graphic-novels/
The Turnaround Blog https://theturnaroundblog.com/2021/11/30/turnarounds-2021-staff-picks-nonfiction/
Toledo Public Library https://www.toledolibrary.org/tlcpl-best-books-of-2021
Tor https://www.tor.com/2021/12/16/best-young-adult-science-fiction-fantasy-and-horror-of-2021/
Under the Radar https://www.undertheradarmag.com/blog/under_the_radars_2021_holiday_gift_guide_part_6_books_and_graphic_novels
University of Pennsylvania https://www.gse.upenn.edu/news/penn-gse%E2%80%99s-best-books-young-readers-2021
Variety https://variety.com/shop/the-best-comics-of-2021-1235127525/
Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/11/18/best-graphic-novels/
Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2021/11/17/best-childrens-books-2021/
Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/11/18/best-feel-good-books/
What Culture https://whatculture.com/comics/10-best-short-marvel-comic-series-of-2021
Why So Blu? https://whysoblu.com/the-best-comics-of-2021/
Yuricon https://okazu.yuricon.com/2021/12/30/top-yuri-of-2021/

Under Appreciated Comic Book Artists

What if I told you the artist that co-created the following characters:

Black Widow
Hawkeye
Mantis
Wonder Man
Sunfire
The Swordsman
The Mandarin
Crimson Dynamo
Titanium Man
Immortus
The Collector
Count Neferia
Mr. Hyde
Cobra
Power Man (would later become Goliath, then Atlas)
Living Laser
The Porcupine
Firebrand
The Living Pharaoh/The Living Monolith
The Rainbow Raider
Nubia
Happy Hogan
Pepper Potts
Alex Summers (would become Havok)
Lorna Dane (would become Polaris)
Dr. Bill Foster (would become Black Goliath)
Captain George Stacy

…is perpetually viewed as a lesser creator?

Don HeckDon Heck doesn’t get the respect he deserves. People often compare Heck to Kirby, Ditko and other creators that were working at Marvel during the 1960s and I think that’s really unfair. I get people look at their respective art/storytelling and prefer Kirby, Ditko, etc.. to Heck and find him the lesser of the bunch.

My argument is regarding his ability to co-create popular, long lasting characters. Many creators have tried to do this, be it for Marvel, DC, or somewhere else. Most attempts fail at reaching the level of success that any of the above list of characters. It’s really, really hard to come up with a character that other writers want to use in shared universe, that in the hands of other creators are entertaining enough that readers will be satisfied enough with the comic they purchased and buy the next one. It’s not like you can tick off a series of boxes in a ‘create a popular character’ manual and get guaranteed success. Don Heck came up with a bunch of those characters, collaborating with a variety of writers and did it for damn near 20 years.

I think if you were to look at his accomplishments and instead of comparing him against Kirby and Ditko, and instead compare them against everybody else who worked in the comic industry from the late 1930s to today, you’ll find that there are only a tiny handful of creators that have done more in that regard than Don Heck has. Many who’ve done less get a more respect than Don Heck does and I’m not saying they don’t deserve their respect, I’m just saying Don Heck gets a lot less than he deserves. Heck gets compared to Kirby and Ditko and he is the only artist that gets compared that way. Nobody looks at say, Jim Starlin or Walt Simonson and decides they are lesser creators because they weren’t Jack Kirby. Nor should anybody do that and they shouldn’t also do that to Don Heck.

Iron CrossAlso, please note that list above is only a partial list of characters Don Heck created. Earlier today I was researching who created a character named Iron Cross. The character made its debut in Invaders #35, but wikipedia said he appeared in issue #36. Checking on Grand Comics Database and reading the actual comic made it clear the character first appeared in #35. Wikipedia also says Frank Robbins was his co-creator despite not having drawn either comic. Don Heck was the artist who drew the first appearance of Iron Cross.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I reached out the writer/editor of the comic and co-creator of Iron Cross, Roy Thomas and asked him who co-created Iron Cross with him. Below is his response to my e-mail (reprinted with permission):

Hi Jamie —

The artist who designed and first drew Iron Cross was Don Heck, fitting since he was also the first story-drawing Iron Man artist. Much of THE INVADERS #35 is taken from the abortive LIBERTY LEGION #1 that was prepared but then never published as a stand-alone comic; I had Alan Kupperberg add the sequence at the start of the issue, which of course doesn’t feature Iron Cross.

Thanks for the kind words,
Roy

So add Iron Cross to that list of characters that Don Heck co-created. I recognize that the character is not very well known or popular compared to the list of characters above, but he has very occasionally been used by other creators since his creation. The last appearance (outside of reprints) that I could find was a 2011 mini series called Invaders Now! done by Alex Ross, Christos Gage, Caio Reis, Vinicius Andrade and Simon Bowland. A new version of the character was created by James Robinson and Steve Pugh for a 2014 New Invaders series.

Something that’s a part of the Eisner Awards that I really like is the Bill Finger Award. It’s for comic book writers who were under appreciated and is given to a deceased and living creator every year. I wish there was a similar award for under appreciated artists. Personally I think it ought to be named after Harry G. Peter, who we have proof co-created Wonder Woman but is not officially recognized as such. All American editors at that time really didn’t like Harry’s work and didn’t want him drawing the title and only got the job at the insistence of Wonder Woman’s co-creator William Moulton Marston. Among the artists I think should be considered for such an award is Bob Brown, Dick Ayers, Paul Ryan, Alan Kupperberg and Don Heck.

* Image of Don Heck comes from League of Comic Geeks.

The Combined Best Comics & Graphic Novels of 2020!

Over the last 5 months there have been many, many websites with “Best of 2020” lists concerning comic books, manga and graphic novels. If you’ve looked at a few, you may have noticed some of the same books on different lists and seen some unique to only that list.

I went through 235 different URLs with “Best Of” Lists regarding comics and combined them into a spreadsheet. There are over 3,500 different listings of books from these websites. I should note that I’ve included books that were given honorable mentions. In short, if somebody thought it was a good book that you should check out, it’s on here.

This year I made a more of an effort to find best of lists with Manga on them. I find it odd that Manga in North America is as large as traditional comics publishers but there are much fewer ‘Best of Manga’ lists out by Manga reviewers. I did find some which likely lead to a particular Manga publisher getting more titles on the list this year.

Gene Luen Yang

Gene Luen Yang

 

The big story this year is Gene Luen Yang whose books were the #1 (Dragon Hoops) and #2 (Superman Smashes the Klan) books on the list. This is the first time an author took the first two spots with different books in a year. ComicsBeat picking him as the Comics Industry Person of the Year is very fitting.

 

 

Pivot tables have been created to show which books appeared on the number of lists. Here are the books with 5 mentions or more:

Book Title Count Writer Artist Publisher
Dragon Hoops 38 Gene Luen Yang Gene Luen Yang First Second
Superman Smashes the Klan 36 Gene Luen Yang Gurihiru DC Comics
The Magic Fish 34 Trung Le Nguyen Trung Le Nguyen Random House Graphic
When Stars Are Scattered 32 Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed Victoria Jamieson, Iman Geddy Dial Books
The Immortal Hulk 31 Al Ewing Various Marvel Comics
Daredevil 30 Chip Zdarsky Marco Checchetto, Francesco Mobili, Jorge Fornes, Nolan Woodard, Rachelle Rosenberg, Mattia Iacono Marvel Comics
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist 29 Adrian Tomine Adrian Tomine Drawn & Quarterly
The Department of Truth 29 James Tynion IV Martin Simmonds Image Comics
Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy Olsen 29 Matt Fraction Steve Leiber, Nathan Fairbairn DC Comics
Far Sector 28 NK Jemisin Jamal Campbell DC Comics
X-Men 28 Jonathan Hickman Leinil Francis Yu, R.B. Silva, Matteo Buffagni Marvel Comics
Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio 26 Derf Backderf Derf Backderf Harry N. Abrams
Snapdragon 25 Kat Leyh Kat Leyh First Second
Class Act 24 Jerry Craft Jerry Craft Quill Tree
Blue in Green 21 Ram V Anand RK, John J. Pearson Image Comics
Wonder Woman: Dead Earth 21 Daniel Johnson Daniel Johnson, Mike Spicer DC Comics
John Constantine: Hellblazer 21 Simon Spurrier Aaron Campbell, Jordie Bellaire DC Comics
Pulp 20 Ed Brubaker Sean Phillips, Jacob Phillips Image Comics
Marauders 20 Gerry Duggan, Vita Ayala Stefano Caselli, Matteo Lolli, Mario Del Pennino, Edgar Delgado, Federico Blee, Erick Arciniega Marvel Comics
Twins 20 Varian Johnson Shannon Wright Graphix
Dracula, motherf**ker! 19 Alex de Campi Erica Henderson Image Comics
Hellions 19 Zeb Wells, Tini Howard Stephen Segovia, David Curiel, Carmen Carnero Marvel Comics
Something Is Killing The Children 19 James Tynion IV Werther Dell’Edera BOOM! Studios
Paying the Land 19 Joe Sacco Joe Sacco Metropolitan Books
Flamer 19 Mike Curato Mike Curato Henry Holt and Co
Batman: The Three Jokers 18 Geoff Johns Jason Fabok, Brad Anderson DC Comics
Strange Adventures 18 Tom King Mitch Gerads, Doc Shaner DC Comics
Bitter Root 18 David F. Walker, Chuck Brown Sanford Greene, Sofie Dodgson Image Comics
Thor 18 Donny Cates Nic Klein, Aaron Kuder, Matthew Wilson Marvel Comics
Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir 18 Robin Ha Robin Ha Balzer + Bray
Go with the Flow 18 Lily Williams, Karen Schneemann Lily Williams First Second
The Sky is Blue with a Single Cloud 17 Kiniko Tsurita Kiniko Tsurita Drawn & Quarterly
Once & Future 17 Kieron Gillen Tamra Bonvillain, Dan Mora BOOM! Studios
Slaughterhouse-Five: The Graphic Novel 17 Kurt Vonnegut, Ryan North Albert Monteys BOOM! Studios
Fire Power 16 Robert Kirkman Chris Samnee, Matthew Wilson Image Comics
Billionaire Island 16 Mark Russell Steve Pugh, Chris Chuckry Ahoy Comics
Familiar Face 15 Michael DeForge Michael DeForge Drawn & Quarterly
Wendy: Master of Art 15 Walter Scott Walter Scott Drawn & Quarterly
Banned Book Club 15 Kim Hyun Sook, Ryan Estrada Hyung-Ju Ko Iron Circus Comics
Sports is Hell 15 Ben Passmore Ben Passmore Koyama Press
Jack Kirby: The Epic Life Of The King Of Comics 14 Tom Scioli Tom Scioli Ten Speed Press
Stillwater 14 Chip Zdarsky Ramón K. Pérez, Mike Spicer Image Comics
A Map to the Sun 14 Sloane Leong Sloane Leong First Second
Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir 14 Tyler Feder Tyler Feder Dial Books
Dark Nights: Death Metal 13 Scott Snyder Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia DC Comics
The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott 13 Zoe Thorogood Zoe Thorogood Avery Hill Publishing
Hedra 13 Jesse Lonergan Jesse Lonergan Image Comics
Long Way Down 13 Jason Reynolds Danica Novgorodoff Atheneum
X of Swords 12 Various Various Marvel Comics
Dancing After TEN 12 Vivian Chong, Georgia Webber Vivian Chong, Georgia Webber Fantagraphics
X-Men: Marvels Snapshots #1 12 Jay Edidin Tom Reilly, Chris O’Halloran Marvel Comics
You Brought Me the Ocean 12 Alex Sanchez Julie Maroh DC Comics
Vision 12 Julia Gfrörer Julia Gfrörer Fantagraphics
Year of the Rabbit 12 Tian Veasna Tian Veasna Drawn & Quarterly
The Man Without Talent 11 Yoshiharu Tsuge Yoshiharu Tsuge New York Review Books
Chasin’ the Bird: Charlie Parker in California 11 Dave Chisholm Dave Chisholm, Peter Markowski Z2 Comics
The Contradictions 11 Sophie Yanow Sophie Yanow Drawn & Quarterly
Displacement 11 Kiku Hughes Kiku Hughes First Second
Ice Cream Man 11 W. Maxwell Prince Martin Morazzo, Chris O’Halloran Image Comics
Stepping Stones 10 Lucy Knisley Lucy Knisley, Whitney Cogar Random House Graphic
X-Factor 10 Leah Williams David Baldeon Marvel Comics
Moms 10 Yeong-shin Ma Yeong-shin Ma Drawn & Quarterly
Spy x Family Vol. 1 10 Tatsuya Endo Tatsuya Endo VIZ Media
DCeased: Dead Planet 10 Tom Taylor Trevor Hairsine, Gigi Baldissini, Stefan Guadiano, Rain Beredo DC Comics
Maids 10 Katie Skelly Katie Skelly Fantagraphics
X-Force 10 Benjamin Percy Dustin Weaver, Joshua Cassara Marvel Comics
Big Black: Stand at Attica 10 Frank “Big Black” Smith, Jared Reinmuth Améziane Archaia
The Other History Of The DC Universe #1 9 John Ridley Giuseppe Camuncoli, Andrea Cucchi, Jose Villarrubia DC Comics
The Deep and Dark Blue 9 Niki Smith Niki Smith Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Ice Cream Man Presents: Quarantine Comix Special #1 9 Various Various Image Comics
Black Widow 9 Kelly Thompson Elena Casagrande. Jordie Bellaire Marvel Comics
Don’t Go Without Me 9 Rosemary Valero-O’Connell Rosemary Valero-O’Connell Shortbox
Becoming Horses 9 Disa Wallander Disa Wallander Drawn & Quarterly
Suicide Squad 9 Tom Taylor Bruno Redondo, Adriano Lucas DC Comics
Chainsaw Man 9 Tatsuki Fujimoto Tatsuki Fujimoto VIZ Media
Excalibur 9 Tini Howard Various Marvel Comics
AdventureMan 9 Matt Fraction Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson Image Comics
Heartstopper 9 Alice Oseman Alice Oseman Graphix
Batman 9 James Tynion IV Jorge Jimenez, Tomeu Morey DC Comics
The Low, Low Woods 9 Carmen Maria Machado Dani, Tamra Bonvillain DC Comics
Paul at Home 9 Michel Rabagliati Michel Rabagliati Drawn & Quarterly
Portrait of a Drunk 8 Florent Ruppert, Jerome Mulot, Olivier Schrauwen Florent Ruppert, Jerome Mulot, Olivier Schrauwen Fantagraphics
S.W.O.R.D. 8 Al Ewing Valerio Schiti, Marte Gracia Marvel Comics
J&K 8 John Pham John Pham Fantagraphics
Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy 8 Jeff Lemire Tonci Zonjic Dark Horse Books
Goblin Girl 8 Moa Romanova Moa Romanova Fantagraphics
Alienated 8 Simon Spurrier Chris Wildgoose, Andre May BOOM! Studios
Shadow of the Batgirl 8 Sarah Kuhn Nicole Goux DC Comics
Undone by Blood or the Shadow of a Wanted Man 8 Zac Thompson, Lonnie Nadler Sami Kivelä, Jason Wordie AfterShock Comics
Crisis Zone 8 Simon Hanselmann Simon Hanselmann Web Comic
We Only Find Them When They’re Dead 8 Al Ewing Simone Di Meo BOOM! Studios
Venom 8 Donny Cates, David Michelinie Various Marvel Comics
Check, Please!, Book 2: Sticks & Scones 8 Ngozi Ukazu Ngozi Ukazu First Second
Beetle & the Hollowbones 8 Aliza Layne Aliza Layne, Natalie Riess, Kristen Acampora Atheneum
Fights: One Boy’s Triumph Over Violence 8 Joel Christian Gill Joel Christian Gill Oni Press
Seven Secrets 8 Tom Taylor Daniele Di Nicuolo, Walter Baiamonte, Katia Ranalli BOOM! Studios
Guardians of the Galaxy 8 Al Ewing Marcio Takara, Federico Blee Marvel Comics
Usagi Yojimbo 8 Stan Sakai Stan Sakai, Tom Luth IDW Publishing
Coffin Bound 8 Dan Watters Dani Image Comics
Breakwater 8 Katriona Chapman Katriona Chapman Avery Hill Publishing
Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Dreams 8 Steve Horton, Michael Allred Michael Allred, Laura Allred Insight Comics
Crossover 7 Donny Cates Geoff Shaw, Dee Cunniffe Image Comics
Séance Tea Party 7 Reimena Yee Reimena Yee Random House Graphic
Donut Feed the Squirrels 7 Mika Song Mika Song Random House Graphic
Ex.Mag 7 Various Various Peow Studios
Empyre 7 Al Ewing, Dan Slott Valerio Schiti, Marte Gracia Marvel Comics
The Dreaming: Waking Hours 7 G. Willow Wilson Nick Robles, Mat Lopes DC Comics
The Green Lantern: Season Two 7 Grant Morrison Liam Sharp, Steve Oliff DC Comics
Pea, Bee, & Jay Vol. 1 7 Brian “Smitty” Smith Brian “Smitty” Smith HarperAlley
Killadelphia 7 Rodney Barnes Jason Shaw, Luis NCT Image Comics
All Together Now 7 Hope Larson Hope Larson, Hillary Sycamore, Katrina Edwards Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Come Home, Indio: A Memoir 7 Jim Terry Jim Terry Street Noise Books
Basketful of Heads 7 Joe Hill Leomacs, Dave Stewart DC Comics
Gideon Falls 7 Jeff Lemire Andrea Sorrentino, Dave Stewart Image Comics
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 7 Sophie Campbell Sophie Campbell, Ronda Pattison IDW Publishing
I Know You Rider: A Memoir 7 Leslie Stein Leslie Stein Drawn & Quarterly
Black Heroes of the Wild West 7 James Otis Smith James Otis Smith TOON Graphics
Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier 7 Jim Ottaviani Maris Wicks First Second
Lightfall: The Girl and the Galdurian 7 Tim Probert Tim Probert HarperAlley
My Hero Academia 7 Kōhei Horikoshi Kōhei Horikoshi VIZ Media
Solutions and Other Problems 7 Allie Brosh Allie Brosh Simon and Schuster
Primer 6 Jennifer Muro, Thomas Krajewski Gretel Lusky DC Comics
Ping Pong 6 Taiyo Matsumoto Taiyo Matsumoto VIZ Media
Arlo & Pips: King of the Birds 6 Elise Gravel Elise Gravel HarperAlley
Umma’s Table 6 Yeon-Sik Hong Yeon-Sik Hong Drawn & Quarterly
A Man and His Cat 6 Umi Sakurai Umi Sakurai Square Enix Manga
The Swamp 6 Yoshiharu Tsuge Yoshiharu Tsuge Drawn & Quarterly
Glass Town: The Imaginary World of the Brontës 6 Isabel Greenberg Isabel Greenberg Harry N. Abrams
Noisemakers: 25 Women Who Raised Their Voices and Changed the World 6 Various Various Knopf Books for Young Readers
Wynd 6 James Tynion IV Michael Dialynas BOOM! Studios
Decorum 6 Jonathan Hickman Mike Huddleston Image Comics
Redfork 6 Alex Paknadel Nil Vendrell, Giulia Brusco TKO Studios
Kill A Man 6 Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Steve Orlando Al Morgan AfterShock Comics
Bang! 6 Matt Kindt Wilfredo Torres, Nayoung Kim Dark Horse Books
Parable of the Sower:  A Graphic Novel Adaptation 6 Octavia E. Butler, Damian Duffy John Jennings Harry N. Abrams
Witch Hat Atelier 6 Kamome Shirahama Kamome Shirahama Kodansha Comics
Money Shot 6 Tim Seeley, Sarah Beattie Rebekah Isaacs, Kurt Michael Russell Vault Comics
November 6 Matt Fraction Elsa Charretier, Matt Hollingsworth Image Comics
Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer 6 Gillian Goerz Gillian Goerz Dial Books
Black Stars Above 6 Lonnie Nadler Jenna Cha, Brad Simpson Vault Comics
Die 6 Kieron Gillen Stephanie Hans Image Comics
The Times I Knew I Was Gay 6 Eleanor Crewes Eleanor Crewes Scribner
Green Lantern: Legacy 6 Minh Lê Andie Tong DC Comics
Reckless 5 Ed Brubaker Sean Phillips, Jacob Phillips Image Comics
Avengers 5 Jason Aaron Various Marvel Comics
What We Don’t Talk About 5 Charlot Kristensen Charlot Kristensen Avery Hill Publishing
Catherine’s War 5 Julia Billet, Claire Fauvel Claire Fauvel HarperAlley
Blood On The Tracks 5 Shuzo Oshimi Shuzo Oshimi Vertical Comics
Child Star 5 Box Brown Box Brown First Second
A Cat Story 5 Ursula Murray Husted Ursula Murray Husted Quill Tree
Hotell 5 John Lees Dalibor Talajić, Lee Loughridge AWA Studios
Lost Soldiers 5 Aleš Kot Luca Casalanguida, Heather Moore Image Comics
Sex Criminals 5 Matt Fraction, Chip Zdarsky Chip Zdarsky Image Comics
Boston Corbett 5 Andy Douglas Day Andy Douglas Day Sonatina
Lonely Receiver 5 Zac Thompson Jen Hickman AfterShock Comics
We Served the People: My Mother’s Stories 5 Emei Burell Emei Burell Archaia
Plunge 5 Joe Hill Stuart Immonen, Dave Stewart DC Comics
The Dark Matter of Mona Starr 5 Laura Lee Gulledge Laura Lee Gulledge Amulet Books
Iron Man 5 Christopher Cantwell C Cafu, Frank D’ARMATA Marvel Comics
Giga 5 Alex Paknadel John Le, ROSH Vault Comics
Titan 5 François Vigneault François Vigneault Oni Press
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin 5 Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Tom Waltz Esau Escorza, Isaac Escorza, Luis Antonio Delgado, Kevin Eastman, Samuel Planta IDW Publishing
Consent (for Kids!): Boundaries, Respect, and Being in Charge of You 5 Rachel Brian Rachel Brian Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Be Gay, Do Comics 5 Various Various IDW Publishing
The Plot 5 Michael Moreci Tim Daniel, Kurt Michael Russel Vault Comics
Kodi 5 Jared Cullum Jared Cullum Top Shelf Productions
Justice League Dark 5 Ram V Various DC Comics
The Phantom Twin 5 Lisa Brown Lisa Brown First Second
Undiscovered Country 5 Scott Snyder, Charles Soule Giuseppe Camuncoli, Daniele Orlandini, Matt Wilson Image Comics
Amazing Spider-Man 5 Nick Spencer, Matthew Rosenberg Various Marvel Comics
Fence 5 C.S. Pacat Johanna the Mad BOOM! Studios
Fangs 5 Sarah Andersen Sarah Andersen Andrews McMeel Publishing
The Butcher Of Paris 5 Stephanie Phillips Dean Kotz, Jason Wordie Dark Horse Books
Eight-Lane Runaways 5 Henry McCausland Henry McCausland Fantagraphics
Bug Boys 5 Laura Knetzger Laura Knetzger Random House Graphic
Teen Titans: Beast Boy 5 Kami Garcia Gabriel Picolo DC Comics
Dead Day 5 Ryan Parrott Evgeniy Bornyakov, Juancho Velez AfterShock Comics
Excellence 5 Brandon Thomas Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez Image Comics
The Last Halloween: Book 1 5 Abby Howard Abby Howard Iron Circus Comics

The full spreadsheet with pivot tables for books, writers, artists, publishers and more is available here.

Regarding Publishers:

DC Comics was again the most popular publisher with 122 different titles.

Marvel was again 2nd place with 90 different titles.

Image stayed at 3rd place with 76 different titles.

VIZ improved to 4th place with 50 different titles.

Dark Horse Books dropped to 5th place with 36 different titles.

There were also 49 Self-Published books that made the list.

The most popular web comics were Simon Hanselmann’s Crisis Zone (8)
Olivia Jaimes’ Nancy (4) and Rachel Smith’s Quarantine Comix (3)

Caveats:

The vast majority of books are listed under their imprint names, not their head publisher names.

Where a reviewer/writer wrote ‘best of’ lists for multiple websites, I’ve cross referenced their lists and removed books that were named twice. I did not think it would be fair if those writers could tip the popularity scale by naming the same book(s) over and over again on multiple websites. Sadly, there was an increase of websites publishing lists with no credit to who (or whom) created the list. In those cases I marked them as either n/a or various but the practice of not crediting writers is a shameful one.

If a writer wrote for multiple sites, but one of those sites picks was a group effort, I did not remove books that are listed twice.

I generally did not include lists that were a mixed of prose books and graphic novels unless there were a significant number of graphic novels on the list.

I did not use lists where the website was not in English and the books appeared to be translated versions.

With inkers and colourists I often, but not always included them within the Artist section. Where there were multiple (usually more than 5) involved in a book, or in the title’s run over the course of the year, various was used instead of listing them all. In some cases I combined those involved even if they worked on the title for different issues.

For simplicity sake, if a list named a specific comic book issue or specific volume of a graphic novel, I removed those specifics and just listed the series title, with rare exceptions. The same goes with issue #s. My apologies to the reviewers of those books.

Some reviewers included books that were published in 2019 or earlier. Normally the amount of times these books were mentioned isn’t significant but I found this year there were a lot more 2019 and earlier books mentioned in these lists. I suspect reviewers having more time on their hands due to Covid were reading unread books from previous years and including them on their lists.

Most of the lists were general ‘best/favourite books’ of 2020, but I also included lists dedicated to young readers, manga, LGBTQ+, etc… What type list is noted on column B in the spreadsheet.

A small number of lists also had rankings and those are included in Column C.

This list of websites this list is compiled from:

A.V. Club https://aux.avclub.com/the-best-comics-of-2020-1845983246
ALA http://www.ala.org/yalsa/2021-great-graphic-novels-teens
Alu https://twitter.com/WSJ_manga/status/1339453430876794882?s=19 (also: https://alu.jp/article/TLPEf6L0gNgxNdmaC81c)
Amino https://aminoapps.com/c/anime/page/blog/top-10-romance-manga-of-2020/3YtB_upP6Zg1prg8LJvbmwL0WDNG5
Amino https://aminoapps.com/c/comics/page/blog/my-top-30-comics-of-2020-guidelines-honorable-mentions/wPio_uB8WGLQKWZn6VxvpZ8raJjB6v
Amino https://aminoapps.com/c/comics/page/blog/my-favorite-comics-of-2020-part-1-30-21/NxiM_u3MgM5Q4E3bEZ6DzMke8QKBkX
Amino https://aminoapps.com/c/comics/page/blog/my-favorite-comics-of-2020-part-2-20-11/aai0_uK1aZqY01e06vYMXDb0KJlwMo
Amino https://aminoapps.com/c/comics/page/blog/my-top-10-comics-of-2020/baio_uBDZkjGm7qoYLZJ3Dv6d63GbL
Between the Shelves https://between-the-shelves.com/2020/12/2020-yearly-wrap-up/
Big Comic Page https://bigcomicpage.com/2020/12/23/bcps-best-of-2020-ceej-edition/
Big Comic Page https://bigcomicpage.com/2020/12/22/bcps-best-of-2020-mark-edition/
Big In Japan Grayman https://biginjapangrayman.wordpress.com/2020/12/30/top-reads-of-2020/
Bleeding Cool https://bleedingcool.com/comics/james-hepplewhites-top-6-comics-of-2020/
Book by Book https://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2021/01/best-books-read-in-2020.html
Book Riot https://bookriot.com/best-childrens-books-of-2020/
Book Riot https://bookriot.com/queer-comics-and-manga/
Borg https://borg.com/2020/12/18/borgs-best-of-2020-the-best-comics-and-games/
Boston Globe https://apps.bostonglobe.com/arts/graphics/2020/12/best-books-of-2020/
But Why Tho? https://butwhythopodcast.com/2020/12/17/year-in-review-top-comics-of-2020/
But Why Tho? https://butwhythopodcast.com/2020/12/18/year-in-review-top-manga-of-2020/
Canada Live https://canadalive.news/2020/12/30/comics-the-best-of-2020/
CBC https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-best-canadian-comics-of-2020-1.5840897
CBC https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-best-canadian-ya-and-middle-grade-books-of-2020-1.5831743
CBR https://www.cbr.com/best-dc-comics-2020-gift-guide/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/best-indie-comics-2020-gifts-holidays/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/marvel-best-2020-comics-for-gifting/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/best-comics-2020-cbr-editor-picks/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/cbr-editor-picks-the-best-manga-of-2020/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/marvel-comics-best-stories-releases-2020/
CBR https://www.cbr.com/dc-must-read-comics-2020/
Comic Attack https://comicattack.net/canet-top-5-of-2020-fan-poll-results/
Comic Attack https://comicattack.net/ca-top-5-of-2020-fan-poll-results-pt-2/
Comic Book Herald https://www.comicbookherald.com/best-comics-of-2020/
Comic Book Lounge https://comicbooklounge.com/2021/01/05/best-of-2020/
Comic Book Revolution https://www.comicbookrevolution.com/best-of-2020-manga-series/
Comic Book Revolution https://www.comicbookrevolution.com/best-of-2020-comic-book-single-issues/
Comic Book Revolution https://www.comicbookrevolution.com/best-of-2020-comic-book-storylines/
Comic Book Revolution https://www.comicbookrevolution.com/best-of-2020-comic-book-series/
Comic Bookcase https://www.comicsbookcase.com/reading-lists-archive/best-single-issue-comics-2020
Comic Booked https://comicbooked.com/comic-bookeds-best-of-2020/
Comic Frontline https://comicfrontline.com/2020/12/13/best-comic-books-of-2020-best-male-female-character-villain-indie-title-1/
Comic Watch https://comic-watch.com/news/comic-watchs-top-dc-comics-picks-of-2020
Comic Watch https://comic-watch.com/news/comic-watchs-top-indie-comic-picks-of-2020
Comic Watch https://comic-watch.com/news/comic-watchs-top-marvel-comics-picks-of-2020
Comic Years https://comicyears.com/comics/the-best-non-superhero-comics-of-2020/
Comicon https://www.comicon.com/2020/12/28/comicons-7-best-ogns-of-2020/
Comicon https://www.comicon.com/2020/12/28/comicons-7-best-comic-series-of-2020/
Comicon https://www.comicon.com/2020/12/28/comicons-7-best-single-issues-of-2020/
Comicon https://www.comicon.com/2020/12/30/comicons-7-best-digital-webcomics-of-2020/
Comics Beat https://www.comicsbeat.com/the-50-best-comics-of-2020/
Comics Bookcase https://www.comicsbookcase.com/reading-lists-archive/best-comics-2020-comics-bookcase-staff
Comics bookcase https://www.comicsbookcase.com/reading-lists-archive/ariel-baska-2020-comics
Comics Bookcase https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/best-comics-2020-top-5
Comics Bookcase https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/best-comics-2020-6-to-11
Comics Bookcase https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/best-comics-2020-16-to-25
Den of Geek https://www.denofgeek.com/comics/the-best-comics-of-2020/
Dennis Vogen https://dennisvogen.com/2020/12/31/best-comics-of-2020/
Diverse Tech Geek https://www.diversetechgeek.com/anthonys-2020-graphic-novel-picks/
Doom Rocket https://doomrocket.com/best-comics-2020/
Entertainment Weekly https://ew.com/books/the-best-comics-of-2020/
Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2020/12/18/the-best-graphic-novels-of-2020/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2021/01/06/four-color-apocalypse-2020-year-in-review-top-10-original-graphic-novels/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2021/01/05/four-color-apocalypse-2020-year-in-review-top-10-contemporary-collections/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2021/01/05/four-color-apocalypse-2020-year-in-review-top-10-vintage-collections/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2020/12/28/four-color-apocalypse-2020-year-in-review-top-10-ongoing-series/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2020/12/24/four-color-apocalypse-2020-year-in-review-top-10-single-issues/
Four Color Apocalypse (Ryan Carey) https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2020/12/29/four-color-apocalypse-2020-year-in-review-top-10-special-mentions/
Geek Cast Radio https://www.geekcastradio.com/comics/top-100-comics-of-2020/
Geek Hard https://geekhardshow.com/2021/01/andrews-picks-ten-best-comics-of-2020/
Geek Tyrant https://geektyrant.com/news/tommys-favorite-things-of-2020
Globe and Mail (behind Paywall) https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-the-globe-100-our-favourite-books-of-2020/
God Hates Geeks https://godhatesgeeks.com/the-geeeek-awards-best-comics-of-2020-joker-war-vs-x-of-swords/
GoodReads https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-graphic-novels-comics-2020
Grovel https://www.grovel.org.uk/category/best-of/best-graphic-novels-of-2020/
Hipinion https://forums.hipinion.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=142718
IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/best-comic-book-series-2020
IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/best-limited-comic-books-graphic-novels-2020
Jenn Haines https://www.facebook.com/jenn.haines.3/posts/10164546654750635?__cft__[0]=AZWbL9duRQcp5LkcAfaDKpK2ILQBaBDmcTZpODGRsZEX0e7PfEFsWPIF9ca8Z4TdwG0EGPOBdrx2WbhsAm_H_FF5mYSw
Library Journal https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=best-books-of-2020-graphic-novels
Literary Hub https://lithub.com/the-best-reviewed-graphic-literature-of-2020/
London Free Press https://lfpress.com/entertainment/local-arts/graphic-novels-dan-browns-top-picks-of-2020
Looper https://www.looper.com/302819/best-comics-of-2020/
Los Angeles Public Library https://www.lapl.org/books-emedia/lapl-reads/book-lists/best-2020-graphic-novels
Madison Public Library https://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/reading-and-viewing/book-lists/graphic-novels-2020
Medium https://cryptoscatology.medium.com/the-top-ten-graphic-novels-of-2020-da089f7c6f81
Medium https://level.medium.com/level-chops-it-up-about-the-best-comics-of-2020-c5866e219e95
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2020-yir-ogn/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2020-yir-ongoing/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2020-yir-new-series/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2020-yir-completed-series/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2020-yir-one-shot/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2020-yir-manga/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2020-yir-webcomic/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2020-yir-best-digital-first/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2020-yir-single-issue/
Nerdist https://nerdist.com/article/best-comics-of-2020/
New York Public Library – Adults https://www.nypl.org/books-more/recommendations/best-books/adults?f%5B0%5D=terms%3AGraphic%20Novels
New York Public Library – Kids https://www.nypl.org/books-more/recommendations/best-books/kids?f%5B0%5D=terms%3AGraphic%20Novels
New York Public Library – Teens https://www.nypl.org/books-more/recommendations/best-books/teens?f%5B0%5D=terms%3AComics
New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/09/books/review/best-graphic-novels.html?partner=IFTTT
New York Times – Children’s Books https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/books/review/best-childrens-books.html
NPR https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#reset=true&tags=comics+%26+graphic+novels&year=2020
Nunes Magician https://www.nunesmagician.com/2020/12/31/22198138/tniaams-top-comic-books-of-2020-marvel-comics-ranking-recommendations
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2020/12/seans-favorite-comics-of-2020-long.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2020/12/james-favorite-comics-for-2020.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2020/12/mikes-favorite-comics-of-2020.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2021/01/robs-favorite-comics-of-2020-part-1.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2021/01/robs-favorite-comics-of-2020-part-2.html
Pipedream Comics https://pipedreamcomics.co.uk/best-indie-and-small-press-comics-2020-50-41/
Pipedream Comics https://pipedreamcomics.co.uk/best-indie-and-small-press-comics-2020-40-31/
Pipedream Comics https://pipedreamcomics.co.uk/best-indie-and-small-press-comics-2020-30-21/
Pipedream Comics https://pipedreamcomics.co.uk/best-indie-and-small-press-comics-2020-20-11/
Pipedream Comics https://pipedreamcomics.co.uk/best-indie-and-small-press-comics-of-2020-10-2/
Pipedream Comics https://pipedreamcomics.co.uk/the-winner-of-best-indie-and-small-press-comics-2020-is/
Polygon https://www.polygon.com/comics/22179033/best-comics-2020
Pop Culture Squad https://popculturesquad.com/2020/12/22/year-in-review-best-new-comics-of-2020/
Pop Matters https://www.popmatters.com/best-books-2020-fiction-2644659425.html?rebelltitem=23#rebelltitem23
Pop Matters https://www.popmatters.com/best-books-2020-non-fiction-2644659215.html
Portsmouth NH Libraries https://portsmouth.bywatersolutions.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-shelves.pl?op=view&shelfnumber=1056
Portsmouth NH Libraries https://portsmouth.bywatersolutions.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-shelves.pl?op=view&shelfnumber=1053
Powells https://www.powells.com/post/lists/the-best-scifi-fantasy-horror-and-graphic-novels-of-2020
Powells https://www.powells.com/post/lists/best-of-kids-and-ya-2020
Publisher Weekly https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2020/comics#book/book-1
Publishers Weekly https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/85141-kent-state-on-top-of-pw-s-2020-graphic-novel-critics-poll.html
Publishers Weekly https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/85201-children-s-publishers-choose-their-favorite-reads-of-2020.html
Rate Your Music https://rateyourmusic.com/list/mrlackadaisical/favorite-comics-2020/
Review Fix https://reviewfix.com/2020/12/2020-graphic-novel-year-in-review/
Right Stuf https://www.rightstufanime.com/post/Best-Manga-Of-2020
Scary Mommy https://www.scarymommy.com/booked-mindy-kaling-scary-mommy-book-club/
School Library Journal https://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/?detailStory=best-graphic-novels-2020-slj-best-books
School Library Journal https://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/?detailStory=SLJ-Top-10-Manga-of-2020
School Library Journal https://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/12/19/comics/
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/2020-best-new-comics-marvel-dc-launched/
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/best-marvel-dc-comics-missed-overlooked-in-2020/
Seattle Public Library https://www.spl.org/books-and-media/books-and-ebooks/staff-picks/graphic-novels-we-love-2020
Sequential Planet https://sequentialplanet.com/best-comics-of-2020-best-limited-series/
Sequential Planet https://sequentialplanet.com/best-comics-of-2020-best-single-issues/
Sequential Planet https://sequentialplanet.com/best-comics-of-2020-best-new-series/
100 Scope Notes https://100scopenotes.com/2020/12/19/top-20-books-of-2020-the-full-list/
411 Mania https://411mania.com/movies/the-2020-411-comic-book-awards-winners/
Adventures in Poor Taste https://aiptcomics.com/2021/01/03/aipt-comics-podcast-episode-104-best-in-comics-2020/
ALA GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS ROUND TABLE http://www.ala.org/rt/gncrt/best-graphic-novels-adults-reading-list
AutoStraddle https://www.autostraddle.com/67-of-the-best-queer-books-of-2020/#comics
Book Riot https://bookriot.com/best-books-of-2020
Broken Frontier https://www.brokenfrontier.com/celebrating-2020-ten-small-press-comics-need-own/
Broken Frontier https://www.brokenfrontier.com/broken-frontier-awards-2020-zoe-thorogood-shazleen-khan-avery-hill-gosh-comics/
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200121216_chipublib_teens/1769533449_best_teen_graphic_novels_and_manga_of_2020
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200049033_chipublib_kids/1772749279_best_fiction_for_younger_readers_of_2020
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200049033_chipublib_kids/1772060709_best_fiction_for_older_readers_of_2020
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200049033_chipublib_kids/1772725699_best_informational_books_for_older_readers_of_2020
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/199702383_chipublib_adults/1772946599_best_books_of_2020
Comic Watch https://comic-watch.com/news/comic-watch-presents-the-2021-annual-watchie-awards-nominees
ComicBook https://comicbook.com/anime/news/2020-comicbook-golden-issue-awards-best-manga-my-hero-academia/
ComicBook https://comicbook.com/comics/news/2020-comicbookcom-golden-issue-awards-best-graphic-novel-dracula/
ComicBook https://comicbook.com/comics/news/2020-comicbookcom-golden-issue-awards-best-ongoing-comic-xmen/
ComicBook https://comicbook.com/comics/news/2020-comicbookcom-golden-issue-awards-best-limited-series-supermans-pal-jimmy-olsen-dc/
Comics Bookcase https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/best-graphic-novels-2020
Cybils http://www.cybils.com/2021/01/2020-finalists-graphic-novels.html
Denver Library https://teens.denverlibrary.org/booklist/best-brightest-teen-graphic-novels-2020
Free Library of Philadelphia https://libwww.freelibrary.org/blog/?action=post&id=4442
Glaad https://www.glaad.org/blog/glaad-announces-nominees-32nd-annual-glaad-media-awards
Gosh! https://goshlondon.com/gosh-best-of/adult-2020/
Gosh! https://goshlondon.com/gosh-best-of/kids-2020/
Gotham Calling https://www.gothamcalling.com/2020s-books-year-part-1/
Gotham Calling https://www.gothamcalling.com/2020s-books-year-part-2/
Gotham Calling https://www.gothamcalling.com/2020s-books-year-part-3/
Gotham Calling https://www.gothamcalling.com/2020s-books-year-part-4/
Gotham Calling https://www.gothamcalling.com/2020s-books-year-part-5/
Graphic Novel Resources https://graphicnovelresources.blogspot.com/2021/01/my-favorite-books-of-2020.html
Graphic Policy https://graphicpolicy.com/2021/01/01/logans-favorite-comics-of-2020/
Graphic Policy https://graphicpolicy.com/2021/01/01/bretts-favorite-comics-of-2020-and-a-reflection-on-the-past-year/
Horn Book https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=fanfare-2020-booklist
Horror DNA https://www.horrordna.com/features/james-top-10-horror-comics-of-2020
Horror News Network http://www.horrornewsnetwork.net/2020-horror-comic-award-winners/
Imagination Soup https://imaginationsoup.net/best-middle-grade-chapter-books-2020/#anchor-4
Iowa City Public Library https://www.icpl.org/books-more/staff-picks/lists/icpl-top-picks-2020-sci-fifantasy-graphic-novels
Kinder Comics https://www.kindercomics.org/blog/25-favorite-print-comics-of-2020
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/best-of/2020/nonfiction/books/
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/best-of/2020/middle-grade/books/
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-graphic-ya-books-of-2020
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-ya-romance-of-2020/
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-lists/best-ya-biography-and-memoir-of-2020
Level up Entertainment https://levelupentertainment.com/news/2020/12/16/2020-didnt-completely-suck-awards
Libraririe D+Q https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/posts/staff-picks-2020-anna
Libraririe D+Q https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/posts/staff-pick-2020-teddy
Libraririe D+Q https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/posts/staff-picks-2020-arizona-oneill
Libraririe D+Q https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/posts/staff-picks-2020-saelan-twerdy
Libraririe D+Q https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/posts/2020-s-picks-catherine
Libraririe D+Q https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/posts/staff-picks-2020-alyssa-favreau
Libraririe D+Q https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/posts/staff-picks-2020-chantal
Libraririe D+Q https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/posts/staff-picks-2020-rachel
Libraririe D+Q https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/posts/staff-picks-2020-francine
Libraririe D+Q https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/posts/staff-picks-2020-mara
Libraririe D+Q https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/posts/staff-picks-2020-gigi
LRM Online https://lrmonline.com/news/best-comics-of-2020-the-comic-source-awards-part-1/
LRM Online https://lrmonline.com/news/best-comics-of-2020-the-comic-source-awards-part-2/
Multnomah County Library http://bestof.multcolib.org/2020/#/tag/comics-graphic
Nerdy Book Club https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2020/12/29/the-2020-nerdies-graphic-novels-announced-by-katherine-sokolowski/
New Retro Wave https://newretrowave.com/2020/12/31/top-10-comics-graphics-novels-of-2020/
Now Read This! https://www.comicsreview.co.uk/nowreadthis/2020/12/18/wins-top-ten-best-and-most-enjoyable-must-read-this-list-2020/
Omaha Public Library http://topshelf.omahalibrary.org/
Rad Raptor https://radraptor.com/index.php/2020/12/30/jeff-conollys-top-10-comic-books-of-2020/
Rad Raptor https://radraptor.com/index.php/2020/12/27/andrews-top-ten-comics-of-2020/
Read Brightly https://www.readbrightly.com/best-books-of-2020-tweens/
Ready Steady Cut https://readysteadycut.com/2021/01/01/the-best-and-worst-comics-from-2020/
Skokie Library https://skokielibrary.info/lists/2121/2020-staff-picks-graphic-novels/
Skokie Library https://skokielibrary.info/lists/2087/2020-staff-picks-2020-grades-4-5/
Skokie Library https://skokielibrary.info/lists/2088/2020-staff-picks-grades-6-8/
Skokie Library https://skokielibrary.info/lists/2119/2020-staff-picks-teen/
Smash Pages http://smashpages.net/2021/01/04/our-favorite-comics-of-2020/#more-26391
Solrad https://solrad.co/solrads-the-best-comics-of-2020
Sora News https://soranews24.com/2020/12/31/10-amazing-manga-to-read-over-the-winter-holidays/
Sputnik Music https://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?listid=194593
Syfy https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/comics-wire-best-comics-of-2020-this-weeks-hot-reads
TCJ https://www.tcj.com/the-best-comics-of-2020/
Texas Library Association https://txla.org/news/2021-little-maverick-reading-list-announced/
Texas Library Association https://txla.org/tools-resources/reading-lists/maverick/current-list/
The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/28/best-comics-and-graphic-novels-of-2020
The Guardian (author Pick – Sophie Yanow) https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/dec/06/the-best-books-of-2020-picked-by-our-acclaimed-guest-authors
The Hearld https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18960140.best-graphic-novels-2020-according-metaphrog-edward-ross-ricky-miller/
The Hollywood Reporter https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/the-best-comics-of-2020
The Indianapolis Public Library https://indypl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1652485239/1788894799
The Oklahoman https://oklahoman.com/article/5679827/word-balloons-comics-fight-back-despite-challenging-year
The Sun Daily https://www.thesundaily.my/buzz/10-mangas-to-read-before-the-end-of-2020-YN5348818
The Turnaround Blog https://theturnaroundblog.com/2020/11/27/turnarounds-2020-staff-picks-graphic-novels/
The Young Folks https://www.theyoungfolks.com/books/150210/12-best-graphic-novels-of-2020/
Today https://www.today.com/shop/25-best-kids-books-2020-t203124#anchor-GraphicNovels
Toledo Library https://www.toledolibrary.org/blog/great-comics-of-2020
University of Pennsylvania https://www.gse.upenn.edu/news/educators-playbook/best-books-young-readers-2020
Waking Brain Cells https://wakingbraincells.com/2021/01/13/
Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/2020-graphic-novels/2020/11/16/f8c1c876-242c-11eb-952e-0c475972cfc0_story.html
What Culture https://whatculture.com/comics/10-best-comic-books-of-2020-2
Why So Blu? https://whysoblu.com/the-best-comics-of-2020/
Xavier Files https://www.xavierfiles.com/2020/12/17/xavier-files-best-comics-of-2020/
Yuricon https://okazu.yuricon.com/2020/12/29/okazu-top-yuri-manga-of-2020/

The Combined Best Comics & Graphic Novels of 2019!

Over the last few months there have been many, many websites with “Best of 2019” lists concerning comic books, manga and graphic novels. If you’ve looked at a few, you may have noticed some of the same books on different lists and seen some unique to only that list.

I went through over 208 different URLs with “Best Of” Lists regarding comics and combined them into a spreadsheet. There are almost 3,200 different listings of books from these websites. I should note that I’ve included books that were given honorable mentions. In short, if somebody thought it was a good book that you should check out, it’s on here. Pivot tables have been created to show which books appeared on the number of lists. Here are the books with 5 mentions or more:

Book Title Count Writer Artist Publisher
House of X/Powers of X 61 Jonathan Hickman Pepe Larraz, R.B. Silva, Marte Gracia Marvel Comics
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me 55 Mariko Tamaki Rosemary Valero-O’Connell First Second
The Immortal Hulk 42 Al Ewing Joe Bennet Marvel Comics
The Hard Tomorrow 34 Eleanor Davis Eleanor Davis Drawn & Quarterly
They Called Us Enemy 31 George Takei, Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott Harmony Becker Top Shelf Productions
Die 31 Kieron Gillen Stephanie Hans Image Comics
Rusty Brown 28 Chris Ware Chris Ware Pantheon
Guts 28 Raina Telgemeier Raina Telgemeier Graphix
These Savage Shores 26 Ram V Sumit Kumar Vault Comics
Little Bird 25 Darcy Van Poelgeest Ian Bertram Image Comics
New Kid 24 Jerry Craft Jerry Craft Quill Tree Books
DCeased 24 Tom Taylor Trevor Hairsine, Neil Edwards DC Comics
Are You Listening? 23 Tillie Walden Tillie Walden First Second
When I Arrived At The Castle 22 Emily Carroll Emily Carroll Koyama Press
The River at Night 22 Kevin Huizenga Kevin Huizenga Drawn & Quarterly
Once & Future 21 Kieron Gillen Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain BOOM! Studios
Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen 20 Matt Fraction Steve Lieber DC Comics
Clyde Fans 20 Seth Seth Drawn & Quarterly
Spider-Man: Life Story 19 Chip Zdarsky Mark Bagley Marvel Comics
Daredevil 19 Chip Zdarsky Marco Checchetto, Lalit Kumar Sharma, & Jorge Fornes Marvel Comics
Criminal 19 Ed Brubaker Sean Phillips Image Comics
Stargazing 19 Jen Wang Jen Wang First Second
Green Lantern 18 Grant Morrison Liam Sharp DC Comics
Hot Comb 18 Ebony Flowers Ebony Flowers Drawn & Quarterly
Bloom 18 Kevin Panetta Savanna Ganucheau First Second
Is This How You See Me? 17 Jaime Hernandez Jaime Hernandez Fantagraphics
Gender Queer 17 Maia Kobabe Maia Kobabe Lion Forge
BTTM FDRS 17 Ezra Claytan Daniels Ben Passmore Fantagraphics
Silver Surfer: Black 16 Donny Cates Tradd Moore & Dave Stewart Marvel Comics
Middlewest 16 Skottie Young Jorge Corona Image Comics
Gideon Falls 16 Jeff Lemire Andrea Sorrentino Image Comics
Kid Gloves 16 Lucy Knisley Lucy Knisley Fantagraphics
This Was Our Pact 16 Ryan Andrews Ryan Andrews First Second
Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations 15 Mira Jacob Mira Jacob One World
Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass 15 Mariko Tamaki Steve Pugh DC Comics
Naomi 14 Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker Jamal Campbell DC Comics
Pumpkinheads 14 Rainbow Rowell Faith Erin Hicks First Second
Queen of the Sea 14 Dylan Meconis Dylan Meconis Walker Books
Bitter Root 14 David F. Walker, Chuck Brown Sanford Greene Image Comics
Crowded 14 Christopher Sebela Ro Stein, Ted Brandt Image Comics
Mister Miracle 13 Tom King Mitch Gerads DC Comics
Making Comics 12 Lynda Barry Lynda Barry Drawn & Quarterly
Batman: Last Knight On Earth 12 Scott Snyder Greg Capullo DC Comics
The Wicked + The Divine 12 Kieron Gillen Jamie Mckelvie, Matt Wilson Image Comics
Invisible Kingdom 11 G. Willow Wilson Christian Ward, Christian Ward Dark Horse Comics
Pittsburgh 11 Frank Santoro Frank Santoro New York Review Books
Paper Girls 11 Brian K. Vaughan Cliff Chiang, Matthew Wilson Image Comics
Best Friends 11 Shannon Hale LeUyen Pham First Second
Witch Hat Atelier 11 Kamome Shirahama Kamome Shirahama Kodansha Comics
Giant Days 11 John Allison Max Sarin BOOM! Studios
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man 10 Tom Taylor Juan Cabal Marvel Comics
Lois Lane 10 Greg Rucka Mike Perkin DC Comics
Something Is Killing the Children 10 James Tynion IV Werther Dell’edera, Miquel Muerto BOOM! Studios
Assassin Nation 10 Kyle Starks Erica Henderson Image Comics
Superman Smashes The Klan 10 Gene Luen Yang Gurihiru DC Comics
Murder Falcon 10 Daniel Warren Johnson Daniel Warren Johnson Image Comics
X-Men 9 Jonathan Hickman Leinil Francis Yu Marvel Comics
Batman: Curse of the White Knight 9 Sean Murphy Sean Murphy DC Comics
Second Coming 9 Mark Russell Cayetano Valenzuela, Richard Pace Ahoy Comics
This Woman’s Work 9 Julie Delporte Julie Delporte Drawn & Quarterly
White Bird 9 R.J. Palacio R.J. Palacio Knopf Books for Young Readers
Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt 9 Kieron Gillen Caspar Wijngaard Dynamite
Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare 9 Yuhki Kamatani Yuhki Kamatani Seven Seas Entertainment
Blackbird 9 Sam Humphries Jen Bartel Image Comics
The Plot 9 Tim Daniel, Michael Moreci Joshua Hixson Vault Comics
The White Trees 9 Chip Zdarsky Kris Anka Image Comics
Kiss Number 8 9 Colleen AF Venable Ellen T. Crenshaw First Second
Doomsday Clock 9 Geoff Johns Gary Frank, Brad Anderson DC Comics
I Was Their American Dream 9 Malaka Gharib Malaka Gharib Clarkson Potter
Coda 9 Simon Spurrier Matias Bergara BOOM! Studios
Nancy: A Comic Collection 8 Olivia James Olivia James Andrews McMeel Publishing
Absolute Carnage 8 Donny Cates Ryan Stegman Marvel Comics
Mooncakes 8 Suzanne Walker Wendy Xu Oni Press
Clue: Candlestick 8 Dash Shaw Dash Shaw IDW Publishing
Leaving Richard’s Valley 8 Michael DeForge Michael DeForge Drawn & Quarterly
Captain Marvel 8 Kelly Thompson Lee Garbett, Carmen Carnero, James Stokoe, Annapaola Martello Marvel Comics
Ascender 8 Jeff Lemire Dustin Nguyen Image Comics
Ice Cream Man 8 W. Maxwell Prince Martin Morazzo Image Comics
Batman 8 Tom King Various DC Comics
Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey 8 Akiko Higashimura Akiko Higashimura Seven Seas Entertainment
Cats Of The Louvre 8 Taiyo Matsumoto Taiyo Matsumoto VIZ Media
The Okay Witch 8 Emma Steinkellner Emma Steinkellner Aladdin Books
Grass 8 Keum Suk Gendry-Kim Keum Suk Gendry-Kim Drawn & Quarterly
Bad Gateway 8 Simon Hanselmann Simon Hanselmann Fantagraphics
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 7 Jordie Bellaire Dan Mora, Raul Angulo BOOM! Studios
Harleen 7 Stjepan Sejic Stjepan Sejic DC Comics
Marauders 7 Gerry Duggan Matteo Lolli Marvel Comics
Road of Bones 7 Rich Douek Alex Cormack IDW Publishing
Sentient 7 Jeff Lemire Gabriel Walta TKO Studios
Frogcatchers 7 Jeff Lemire Jeff Lemire Gallery 13
Runaways 7 Rainbow Rowell Various Marvel Comics
Conan the Barbarian 7 Jason Aaron Mahmud Asrar, Gerrardo Zaffino and Garry Brown Marvel Comics
A Fire Story 7 Brian Fies Brian Fies Harry N. Abrams
The Handmaid’s Tale 7 Margaret Atwood Renée Nault Nan A. Talese
Dial H for Hero 7 Sam Humphries Arist Devn, Joe Quinones DC Comics
Sobek 7 James Stokoe James Stokoe Shortbox
Venom 7 Donny Cates Ryan Stegman, Mark Bagley, Iban Coello Marvel Comics
Justice League 7 Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV Jorge Jimenez, Francis Manapul DC Comics
In Waves 7 A.J. Dungo A.J. Dungo Nobrow
Waves 7 Ingrid Chabbert Carole Maurel Archaia
Komi Can’t Communicate 6 Tomohito Oda Tomohito Oda VIZ Media
Ironheart 6 Eve Ewing Lucian Vecchio Marvel Comics
The Batman Who Laughs 6 Scott Snyder Jock, David Baron DC Comics
Money Shot 6 Tim Seeley, Sarah Beattie Rebekah Isaacs Vault Comics
King Thor 6 Jason Aaron Esad Ribić, Ive Svorcina Marvel Comics
Snow, Glass, Apples 6 Neil Gaiman Colleen Doran Dark Horse Comics
Sabrina the Teenage Witch 6 Kelly Thompson Veronica Fish Archie Comics
Cannabis: The Illegalization of Weed in America 6 Box Brown Box Brown First Second
Bradley of Him 6 Connor Willumsen Connor Willumsen Koyama Press
The War of the Realms 6 Jason Aaron Russell Dauterman Marvel Comics
Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: A Graphic Novel 6 Rey Terciero Bre Indigo Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Fearscape 6 Ryan O’Sullivan Andrea Mutti Vault Comics
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 6 Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, Tom Waltz Various IDW Publishing
East of West 6 Jonathan Hickman Nick Dragotta Image Comics
Thor 6 Jason Aaron Mike del Mundo Marvel Comics
The Walking Dead 6 Robert Kirkman Charlie Adlard, Cliff Rathburn Image Comics
Off Season 6 James Sturm James Sturm Drawn & Quarterly
Copra 6 Michel Fiffe Michel Fiffe Image Comics
Sara 6 Garth Ennis Steve Epting, Elizabeth Breitweiser TKO Studios
The Drifting Classroom HC 5 Kazuo Umezz Kazuo Umezz VIZ Media
Outer Darkness 5 John Layman Afu Chan Image Comics
Angel 5 Bryan Edward Hill Gleb Melnikov, Gabriel Cassata BOOM! Studios
Internet Crusader 5 George Wylesol George Wylesol Avery Hill Publishing
X-Force 5 Benjamin Percy Joshua Cassara Marvel Comics
Far Sector 5 N.K. Jemisin Jamal Campbell DC Comics
Commute: An Illustrated Memoir of Female Shame 5 Erin Williams Erin Williams Harry N. Abrams
For Real 5 James Romberger James Romberger Uncivilized Books
Bezimena 5 Nina Bunjevac Nina Bunjevac Fantagraphics
How I Tried To Be A Good Person 5 Ulli Lust Ulli Lust Fantagraphics
Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Crisis in a Half Shell #6 5 James Tynion IV Freddie E. Williams I, Jeremy Colwell, Kevin Eastman IDW Publishing
Meet the Skrulls 5 Robbie Thompson Marcos Martin Marvel Comics
Kramer’s Ergot #10 5 Various Various Fantagraphics
Faithless 5 Brian Azzarello Maria Llovet BOOM! Studios
Bury the Lede 5 Gaby Dunn Claire Roe BOOM! Studios
Excellence 5 Brandon Thomas Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez Image Comics
Drawing Power: Women’s Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival 5 Various Various Harry N. Abrams
The Unstoppable Wasp 5 Jeremy Whitley Gurihiru Marvel Comics
Cannonball 5 Kelsey Wroten Kelsey Wroten Uncivilized Books
Usagi Yojimbo 5 Stan Sakai Stan Sakai IDW Publishing
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol 4: The Tempest 5 Alan Moore Kevin O’Neill Top Shelf Productions
Amazing Spider-Man 5 Nick Spencer, Clay Chapman, Zeb Wells, Keaton Patti Various Marvel Comics
Reincarnation Stories 5 Kim Deitch Kim Deitch Fantagraphics
Penny Nichols 5 M.K. Reed, Greg Means Matt Wiegle Top Shelf Productions
Grip 5 Lale Westvind Lale Westvind Perfectly Acceptable Press
Wasted Space 5 Michael Moreci Hayden Sherman Vault Comics
I Know What I Am: The Life and Times of Artemisia Gentileschi 5 Gina Siciliano Gina Siciliano Fantagraphics
American Carnage 5 Bryan Hill Leandro Fernandez DC Comics
Beastars 5 Paru Itagaki Paru Itagaki VIZ Media
Alienation 5 Inés Estrada Inés Estrada Fantagraphics
Swimming In Darkness 5 Lucas Harari Lucas Harari Arsenal Pulp Press
Monstress 5 Marjorie Liu Sana Takeda Image Comics
Operatic 5 Kyo Maclear Byron Eggenschwiler Groundwood Books
Skip 5 Molly Mendoza Molly Mendoza Nobrow
Creation 5 Sylvia Nickerson Sylvia Nickerson Drawn & Quarterly
Pilu of the Woods 5 Mai K. Nguyen Mai K. Nguyen Oni Press
Black Hammer: Age of Doom 5 Jeff Lemire Dean Ormston, Dave Stewart Dark Horse Comics
King of King Court 5 Travis Dandro Travis Dandro Drawn & Quarterly
Cosmoknights 5 Hannah Templer Hannah Templer Top Shelf Productions
Marvel Comics #1000 5 Various Various Marvel Comics
Friendo 5 Alex Paknadel Martin Simmonds Vault Comics
The Wild Storm 5 Warren Ellis Jon Davis Hunt DC Comics
Canto 5 David M. Booher Drew Zucker IDW Publishing

The full spreadsheet with pivot tables for books, writers, artists, publishers and more is available here.

Regarding Publishers:

This year DC Comics was the most popular publisher with 97 different titles.

Marvel was 2nd place with 83 different titles.

Image dropped to 3rd with 78 different titles.

Dark Horse had 43 different titles.

Fantagraphics  had 41 different titles.

55 Self-Published books made the list too.

Caveats:

One thing I tried be more consistent with this year was using the imprint name with publishers. In the past I would put EG Raina Telgemeier’s books under the umbrella company name Scholastic instead of it’s imprint name Graphix, then I would put First Second books under imprint name First Second and not their umbrella company name of Macmillan. Now they are all under the imprint name and that applies to comic book publishers as well.

Where a reviewer/writer wrote ‘best of’ lists for multiple websites, I’ve cross referenced their lists and removed books that were named twice. I did not think it would be fair if those writers could tip the popularity scale by naming the same book(s) over and over again on multiple websites. Sadly, there was an increase of websites publishing lists with no credit to who (or whom) created the list. In those cases I marked them as Unknown but the practice of not crediting writers is a shameful one.

If a writer wrote for multiple sites, but one of those sites picks was a group effort, I did not remove books that are listed twice.

I generally did not include lists that were a mixed of prose books and graphic novels unless there were a significant number of graphic novels on the list.

I did not use lists where the website was not in English and the books appeared to be translated versions.

With inkers and colourists I often, but not always included them within the Artist section. Where there were multiple (usually more than 5) involved in a book, or in the title’s run over the course of the year, various was used instead of listing them all. In some cases I combined those involved even if they worked on the title for different issues.

For simplicity sake, if a list named a specific comic book issue or specific volume of a graphic novel, I removed those specifics and just listed the series title, with rare exceptions. The same goes with issue #s. The vast majority of reviewers listed House of X and Powers of X as one series. There were a few odd cases of a reviewer picking a single issue or only one of those series, I’ve listed them as the combined House of X/Powers of X. Also, 4 people chose Bad Weekend: Criminal – I changed it to just Criminal as that’s what most reviewers picked. My apologies to the reviewers of those books.

Some reviewers included books that were published in 2018 or earlier. Normally the amount of times these books were mentioned isn’t significant but this year one book is. Mister Miracle which was popular on last years list (when it was running as a comic book) is also popular on this years list when it was collected and published as a graphic novel.

Most of the lists were general ‘best/favourite books’ of 2019, but I also included lists dedicated to young readers, manga, LGBTQ+, etc… What type list is noted on column B in the spreadsheet.

A small number of lists also had rankings and those are included in Column C.

This list of websites this list is compiled from:

411 Mania https://411mania.com/movies/the-2019-411-comic-book-awards-house-of-x-batman-conan-more/
Adventures In Poor Taste https://www.adventuresinpoortaste.com/2020/01/07/aipts-favorite-comics-of-2019/
Advocate https://www.advocate.com/books/2019/12/23/best-lgbtq-graphic-novels-2019
Affino https://www.affino.com/blogs/my-blog–stefan/best-of-entertainment-for-2019—albums-songs-movies-tv-and-graphic-novels
Already has another list? https://radraptor.com/index.php/2020/01/03/rad-raptors-top-ten-comics-of-2019/
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_7?ie=UTF8&node=17296227011
Amazon.ca https://www.amazon.ca/s?i=stripbooks&bbn=17932503011&rh=n%3A916520%2Cn%3A2418666011%2Cn%3A2418668011%2Cn%3A3034670011%2Cn%3A17932503011%2Cn%3A13932641&dc&fst=as%3Aoff&qid=1575173553&rnid=927726&ref=sr_pg_1
Animo Apps https://aminoapps.com/c/comics/page/blog/kitemans-top-50-comics-of-2019-guidelines-and-honorable-mentions/Q8iX_ulXVbYbYn2klkjBn8dL6l3JMd
Animo Apps https://aminoapps.com/c/comics/page/blog/kitemans-top-50-comics-of-2019-50-41/zqix_uDpgp2mB2qxBoEQXQb2w2wMGg
Animo Apps https://aminoapps.com/c/comics/page/blog/kitemans-top-50-comics-of-2019-40-31/NxiM_u3eDBa4Dxl7LWkBYboq2VmL43
Animo Apps https://aminoapps.com/c/comics/page/blog/kitemans-top-50-comics-of-2019-30-21/EJiP_uvZ5dKDvM4n8QGPamd6Y2zNj
Animo Apps https://aminoapps.com/c/comics/page/blog/kitemans-top-50-comics-of-2019-20-11/k2iG_upYKGdmrrBwYvGE6LWKjWeGWx
Animo Apps https://aminoapps.com/c/comics/page/blog/kitemans-top-50-comics-of-2019-10-1/xxi2_u38ger2wGYJpPww7abw5W0DEo
Animo Apps https://aminoapps.com/c/comics/page/blog/comics-best-of-2019/Q8iX_ulo3PnoQPB3g1BRBdqXndLJ0l
Austin Texas Library https://library.austintexas.gov/recommended/whats-hot/721800
AutoStraddle https://www.autostraddle.com/55-of-the-best-queer-books-of-2019/
AV Club https://aux.avclub.com/the-20-best-comics-of-2019-1840464630
Berkeley Place https://berkeleyplaceblog.com/2019/12/11/my-favorite-comics-of-2019/
Big Comic Page https://bigcomicpage.com/2019/12/17/bcps-best-of-2019-mark-edition/
Big Comics Page https://bigcomicpage.com/2019/12/17/bcps-best-of-2019-ceej-edition/
Big Shiny Robot https://bigshinyrobot.com/editorial/the-wizeguy-best-of-2019/
Black Sci-Fi https://blacksci-fi.com/top-black-comics-of-2019/
Booklist https://www.booklistonline.com/Top-10-Graphic-Novels-2019-Sarah-Hunter/pid=9722377?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
Booklist https://www.booklistonline.com/Top-10-Graphic-Novels-for-Youth-2019-Sarah-Hunter/pid=9722320
Bookriot https://bookriot.com/2019/12/06/2019-graphic-memoirs/
Borg https://borg.com/2019/12/29/borgs-best-of-2019-the-best-in-comics/
Broken Frontier http://www.brokenfrontier.com/broken-frontier-awards-2019-announcing-winners/
Brooklyn Public Library https://www.bklynlibrary.org/
But Why Tho? https://butwhythopodcast.com/2019/12/25/top-comics-of-2019/
But Why Tho? https://butwhythopodcast.com/2019/12/27/year-in-review-top-comic-issues-of-2019/
CBC https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-best-canadian-comics-of-2019-1.5382861
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200121216_chipublib_teens/1526338949_best_teen_graphic_novels_and_manga_of_2019
Comic Attack https://comicattack.net/canet-2019-fan-poll-results-pt-1/
Comic Attack https://comicattack.net/canet-2019-fan-poll-results-pt-2/
Comic Book Herald https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-best-comics-of-2019/
Comic Book Lounge https://comicbooklounge.com/2020/01/01/2019-books/
Comic Book Revolution https://www.comicbookrevolution.com/top-10-comic-books-of-2019/
Comic Front Line https://comicfrontline.com/2019/12/02/best-comic-books-of-2019-cover-artist-event-one-shot-cover/
Comic Frontline https://comicfrontline.com/2019/12/23/best-comic-books-of-2019-best-1-under-the-radar-series-mini-series-shocking-moment-new-series/
Comic Frontline https://comicfrontline.com/2019/12/30/best-comic-books-of-2019-best-writer-penciler-ongoing-series-publisher-single-issue/
Comic Frontline https://comicfrontline.com/2020/01/06/best-comic-books-of-2019-winners/
Comicbook https://comicbook.com/comics/2019/12/31/the-2019-golden-issue-nominees/#10
ComicBooked https://comicbooked.com/comic-bookeds-best-of-2019/
Comicon http://www.comicon.com/2019/12/31/comicons-most-progressive-comics-of-2019/
Comicon http://www.comicon.com/2019/12/27/comicons-7-best-comic-series-of-2019/
Comicon http://www.comicon.com/2019/12/27/comicons-7-best-ogns-of-2019/
Comicon http://www.comicon.com/2019/12/31/comicons-5-best-digital-webcomics-of-2019/
Comics and More https://comics-and-more.blogspot.com/2020/01/top-ten-comics-of-2019.html
Comics Bookcase https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/2019/12/24/best-comics-of-2019-contributor-picks
Comics Bookcase https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/2019/12/27/best-single-issues-of-2019-house-of-x-superman-and-the-walking-dead
Comics Bookcase https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/2019/12/27/best-new-comics-series-of-2019-vault-comics-undiscovered-country-dawn-of-x-and-more
Comics Bookcase https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/2019/12/28/best-comics-of-2019-16-25
Comics Bookcase https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/2019/12/28/best-comics-of-2019-6-15
Comics Bookcase https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/2019/12/29/best-comics-of-2019-1-5
Comics Bookcase https://www.comicsbookcase.com/updates/2020/1/6/best-graphic-novels-of-2019-bttm-fdrs-guts-the-replacer-rusty-brown-and-more
Comics Bulletin http://comicsbulletin.com/comics-bulletins-best-of-2019-part-1-the-series/
Comics Bulletin http://comicsbulletin.com/comics-bulletins-best-of-2019-part-2-the-stories/
Comics The Gathering https://www.comicsthegathering.com/blogs/stephengervais/13342/our-favorite-books-2019
ComicsBeat https://www.comicsbeat.com/the-best-comics-of-2019/
Cosmic Comics https://www.cosmiccomics.vegas/reviews/reviews-comics/top-comic-books-of-2019/
Cybils http://www.cybils.com/2020/01/2019-finalists-graphic-novels.html
Den of Geek https://www.denofgeek.com/us/books/284857/best-comics-of-2019
Denver Library https://kids.denverlibrary.org/booklist/best-brightest-graphic-novels-2019
Doom Rocket https://doomrocket.com/best-comics-2019/
Drawn & Quarterly Bookstore http://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/posts/staff-picks-2019-flore
Entertainment Weekly https://ew.com/books/2019/12/20/the-best-comics-of-2019/
Entropy https://entropymag.org/best-of-2019-comics-graphic-novels/
Fantagraphics http://fantagraphics.com/flog/whats-in-store-best-comix-of-2019/
Folio https://www.foliomag.com/books-print-people/
Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2019/12/13/the-best-graphic-novels-of-2019/#702938ab584d
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2019/12/08/four-color-apocalypse-year-in-review-top-ten-original-graphic-novels/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2019/12/08/four-color-apocalypse-2019-year-in-review-top-ten-special-mentions/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2019/12/07/four-color-apocalypse-2019-year-in-review-top-ten-collected-editions-contemporary/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2019/12/06/four-color-apocalypse-2019-year-in-review-top-ten-collected-editions-vintage/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2019/12/04/four-color-apocalypse-2019-year-in-review-top-ten-ongoing-series/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2019/12/01/four-color-apocalypse-2019-year-in-review-top-ten-single-issues/
Fox Force Five News http://www.foxforcefivenews.com/top-10-comics-of-2019-featuring-invisible-kingdom-sentient-these-savage-shores/
Free Library of Philadelphia https://libwww.freelibrary.org/blog/post/3972
Fully Booked https://www.fullybookedonline.com/books/best-books-of-2019/graphic-novel-and-manga.html
Gamespot https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/the-best-comics-and-graphic-novels-of-2019/2900-3330/
Geek Cast Radio https://www.geekcastradio.com/comics/top-100-comics-of-2019/
Geek Hard Show https://geekhardshow.com/2020/01/andrews-picks-ten-best-comics-of-2019/?doing_wp_cron=1578192893.4391438961029052734375
Geekade https://geekade.com/staff-picks-best-book-or-comic
Gizmodo https://io9.gizmodo.com/our-favorite-comics-of-2019-1840377374
Glaad https://www.glaad.org/mediaawards/31/2020%20nominees
Good Reads https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-graphic-novels-comics-2019
Gosh! https://www.goshlondon.com/blog/2019/11/13/the-gosh-best-of-2019-kids
Gosh! https://www.goshlondon.com/blog/2019/11/13/the-gosh-best-of-2019-adult
Graphic Novel Resources https://graphicnovelresources.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-graphic-novels-of-2019.html
Graphic Policy https://graphicpolicy.com/2020/01/01/alexs-best-comics-of-2018-2/
Grovel http://www.grovel.org.uk/category/best-of/best-graphic-novels-of-2019/
Heroic Girls http://www.heroicgirls.com/the-20-best-graphic-novels-of-2019/
Hipinion https://forums.hipinion.com/viewtopic.php?t=132816&p=8225146
Hipinion https://forums.hipinion.com/viewtopic.php?p=8245968#p8245968
Hollywood Reporter https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/best-comics-2019-1265254
Horror DNA https://www.horrordna.com/features/james-top-10-horror-comics-of-2019
Horror News Network http://www.horrornewsnetwork.net/horror-news-networks-comic-awards-2019-best-anthology/
Horror News Network http://www.horrornewsnetwork.net/horror-news-networks-comic-awards-2019-best-one-shot/
Horror News Network http://www.horrornewsnetwork.net/horror-news-networks-comic-awards-2019-best-mini-series/
Horror News Network http://www.horrornewsnetwork.net/horror-news-networks-comic-awards-2019-series-of-the-year/
Huffington Post India https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/best-graphic-novels-of-2019_in_5ddf7e5ee4b0d50f329ca1f2
Hyperallergic https://hyperallergic.com/531363/best-of-2019-our-top-25-books/
IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/12/05/best-comic-book-series-2019
IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/12/05/best-limited-comic-book-mini-series-2019
IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/12/05/best-original-graphic-novel-2019
Imagination Soup https://imaginationsoup.net/best-childrens-nonfiction-books-2019/
Imagination Soup https://imaginationsoup.net/2019-best-middle-grade-chapter-books-graphic-novels/
Inside Pulse https://insidepulse.com/2019/12/20/the-column-top-10-comics-of-2019/
Iowa City Public Library https://www.icpl.org/books-more/staff-picks/lists/icpls-favorite-books-2019-graphic-novels
Jenn Haines Picks https://www.facebook.com/jenn.haines.3/posts/10162725101695635
John Lees https://www.patreon.com/posts/my-top-ten-of-32576302
Kinder Comics https://www.kindercomics.org/blog/2019favorites
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/lists/best-middle-grade-graphic-novels-of-2019/new-kid-craft/
Levelup Entertainment https://levelupentertainment.com/blog/2019/12/13/2019-didnt-completely-suck-awards-best-game-t62g5
Library Journal https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=best-graphic-novels-2019-best-books
Los Angeles Public Library https://lapl.org/collections-resources/lapl-reads/book-lists/best-2019-graphic-novels
Manga Worth Reading https://mangaworthreading.co/manga-worth-reading-2019/
Monkeys Fighting Robots https://monkeysfightingrobots.co/best-comic-book-single-issues-of-2019/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2019-year-in-review-anthology/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2019-in-review-translated/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2019-in-review-reprint/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2019-in-review-digital-first/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2019-in-review-webcomic/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2019-in-review-ongoing/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2019-in-review-ogn/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2019-in-review-limited-series/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2019-in-review-one-shot/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2019-in-review-best-single-issue/
Multiversity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2019-in-review-new-series/
Multnomah County Library http://bestof.multcolib.org/2019/
Nerdy Book Club https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2019/12/30/the-2019-nerdies-graphic-novels-announced-by-katherine-sokolowski/
New Retro Wave https://newretrowave.com/2019/12/15/top-ten-comics-of-2019/
New York Public Library https://www.nypl.org/bestbooksadults2019
New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/books/review/best-childrens-books.html
New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/17/books/review/best-comics-of-the-year-hillary-chute-ed-park.html
Newsarama https://www.newsarama.com/48427-best-shots-the-best-of-2019.html
Nijomu http://www.nijomu.com/reviews/comics-i-enjoyed-in-2019/
NPR https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#tags=comics+%26+graphic+novels&view=covers&year=2019
Omaha Public Library http://topshelf.omahalibrary.org/
Outright Geekery https://www.outrightgeekery.com/2019/12/27/family-comic-friday-best-2019/
Outright Geekery https://www.outrightgeekery.com/2019/12/26/best-new-comic-series-of-2019/
Panel Patter http://www.panelpatter.com/2019/12/seans-favorite-comics-of-2019.html
Panel Patter http://www.panelpatter.com/2019/12/james-favorite-comics-of-2019.html
Panel Patter http://www.panelpatter.com/2019/12/mikes-25-favorite-comics-of-2019.html
Panel Patter http://www.panelpatter.com/2019/12/neils-favourite-comics-of-2019.html
Panel Patter http://www.panelpatter.com/2020/01/robs-favorite-comics-of-2019-part-1.html
Panel Patter http://www.panelpatter.com/2020/01/robs-favorite-comics-of-2019-part-2.html
Paste https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/12/holiday-gift-guide-comic-book-readers-2019.html
Paul’s Picks https://paulspicks.blog/2019/12/23/paulspicks-best-graphic-novels-of-2019/
Pipe Dream Comics http://pipedreamcomics.co.uk/indie-comic-of-the-year-2019-50-41/
Pipeline Comics https://www.pipelinecomics.com/my-top-10-favorite-bd-albums-of-2019/
Polygon https://www.polygon.com/comics/2019/2/8/18215983/best-comics-2019-dc-marvel-image-collections
Pop Matters https://www.popmatters.com/best-books-2019-fiction-2641548365.html
Pop Matters https://www.popmatters.com/best-books-2019-non-fiction-2641136347.html
Powells https://www.powells.com/post/lists/best-science-fiction-fantasy-horror-and-graphic-novels-of-2019
Publisher’s Weekly https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2019/comics
Publisher’s Weekly https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/81991-they-called-us-enemy-tops-pw-s-graphic-novel-critics-poll.html
Publisher’s Weekly https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/82038-children-s-publishers-choose-their-favorite-reads-of-2019.html
Rad Raptor https://radraptor.com/index.php/2019/12/21/andrews-top-ten-comics-of-2019/
Rad Raptor http://radraptor.com/index.php/2020/01/01/jeff-conollys-top-10-comics-of-2019/
Rad Raptor https://radraptor.com/index.php/2020/01/03/rad-raptors-top-ten-comics-of-2019/
Rad Raptor https://radraptor.com/index.php/2020/01/06/tims-top-ten-comics-of-2019/
Ranker https://www.ranker.com/list/new-manga-2019/anna-lindwasser
Read Brightly https://www.readbrightly.com/middle-grade-books-2019/
Reading with a flight ring https://readingwithaflightring.weebly.com/my-best-books-of-the-week/my-best-books-for-2019
Readings https://www.readings.com.au/news/our-favourite-graphic-novels-and-comics-for-kids-in-2019
Ready Steady Cut https://readysteadycut.com/2020/01/01/the-best-comics-of-2019/
Salon https://www.salon.com/2020/01/04/5-must-read-graphic-novels-you-missed-last-year/
Sam Noir Picks https://www.facebook.com/sam.noir.90/posts/1344224295749268
School Library Journal https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=best-graphic-novels-2019-slj-best-books
School Library Journal http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2019/12/19/31-days-31-lists-2019-comics-graphic-novels/
School Library Journal https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=top-10-manga
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/best-indie-comics-miniseries-2019/
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/best-marvel-comics-2019-miniseries/
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/best-dc-miniseries-2019/
Shortlist https://www.shortlist.com/lists/best-books-roundup-401608
Skokie Library https://skokielibrary.info/lists/1531/2019-staff-picks-graphic-novels/
Sliver of Ice https://sliverofice.com/comics/the-best-and-the-worst-of-2019-comic-books?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SheHulk-67AndGreen-AComicBlog+%286%277%22+and+Green+-+A+Comics+Blog%29
Soda and Telepaths https://sodaandtelepaths.com/staff-picks-top-comic-book-releases-of-2019/
SyFy https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/year-in-review-best-new-comic-books-2019
Syfy https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/syfy-fangrrls-favorite-comics-of-2019
Texas Library Association https://txla.org/tools-resources/reading-lists/maverick/current-list/
Texas Library Association https://txla.org/tools-resources/reading-lists/little-maverick/current-list/
The Comics Journal http://www.tcj.com/the-best-comics-of-2019/
The Globe and Mail https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-the-globe-100-books-that-shaped-2019/ (paywall)
The Good Men Project https://goodmenproject.com/all-things-geek/all-things-geek-best-books-of-2019-gift-guide-xela/
The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/30/best-comics-and-graphic-novels-of-2019
The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/08/best-graphic-novels-of-2019-seth-chris-ware
The Herald https://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/18106162.graphic-content-choice-best-graphic-novels-year/
The Herald https://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/18085772.graphic-content-cartoonists-choose-best-year/
The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-best-comics-of-2019-stunning-debuts-canon-revamps-and-more-1.4109568
The London Free Press https://lfpress.com/entertainment/books/brown-ruinworld-tops-my-list-of-the-best-graphic-novels-of-2019
The Oklamian https://oklahoman.com/article/5650625/word-balloons-top-10-comics-series-of-2019?custom_click=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+newsok%2Fhome+%28NewsOK.com+RSS+-+Home%29
The Oklamian https://oklahoman.com/article/5651313/word-balloons-top-10-graphic-novels-of-2019
The Quietus https://thequietus.com/articles/27603-behold-2019-comics-best-of-review
The Strand https://www.strandbooks.com/strand-blog?utm_content=buffer28c09#/entry/entry262-best-of-comics
The Turnaround Blog https://theturnaroundblog.com/2019/11/28/turnarounds-2019-staff-picks-graphic-novels/
Thrillist https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/best-graphic-novels-comic-books-2019
Villain Media https://villainmedia.com/jorge-solis-top-10-comic-books-of-2019/
Waking Brain Cells https://wakingbraincells.com/2020/01/09/best-graphic-novels-2019/
Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-best-graphic-novels-memoirs-and-story-collections-of-2019/2019/11/20/447e7f76-0722-11ea-8292-c46ee8cb3dce_story.html
What Culture http://whatculture.com/comics/10-best-comic-books-of-2019
Why So Blu? https://whysoblu.com/the-best-comics-of-2019/
Wired https://www.wired.com/story/best-comics-2019/
YA Book Nerd https://yabooknerd.blogspot.com/2020/01/top-ten-graphic-novels-of-2019.html?m=0
YALSA http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2020/01/02/2020-great-graphic-novels-for-teens-list-announced/
YALSA http://www.ala.org/yalsa/2020-great-graphic-novels-teens
Yuricon http://okazu.yuricon.com/2019/12/29/okazu-top-yuri-manga-of-2019/

 

The Combined Best Comics & Graphic Novels of 2018!

Over the last few months there have been many, many websites with “Best of 2018” lists concerning comic books and graphic novels. If you’ve looked at a few, you may have noticed some of the same books on different lists and seen some unique to only that list.

I went through over 194 different “Best Of” Lists regarding comic books and graphic novels and combined them into a spreadsheet. There are over 3,000 different listings of books from these websites. I should note that I’ve included books that were given honorable mentions. In short, if somebody thought it was a good book that you should check out, it’s on here. Pivot tables have been created to show which books appeared on the number of lists. Here are the books with 5 mentions or more:

 

Book Title Count Writer Artist Publisher
The Prince and the Dressmaker 46 Jen Wang Jen Wang First Second
Sabrina 41 Nick Drnaso Nick Drnaso Drawn and Quarterly
On A Sunbeam 39 Tillie Walden Tillie Walden First Second
Mister Miracle 37 Tom King Mitch Gerads DC Comics
Berlin 34 Jason Lutes Jason Lutes Drawn and Quarterly
Immortal Hulk 32 Al Ewing Joe Bennett, Ruy José, Paul Mounts Marvel Comics
Saga 28 Brian K. Vaughan Fiona Staples Image Comics
Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles 26 Mark Russell Mike Feehan, Sean Parsons, Paul Mounts DC Comics
Woman World 24 Aminder Dhaliwal Aminder Dhaliwal Drawn and Quarterly
Why Art? 24 Eleanor Davis Eleanor Davis Fantagraphics
Venom 24 Donny Cates Ryan Stegman Marvel Comics
Infidel 23 Pornsak Pichetshote Aaron Campbell, Jose Villarrubia Image Comics
Be Prepared 23 Vera Brosgol Vera Brosgol First Second
Young Frances 21 Hartley Lin Hartley Lin AdHouse Books
Gideon Falls 21 Jeff Lemire Andrea Sorrentino Image Comics
The Lie and How We Told It 20 Tommi Parrish Tommi Parrish Fantagraphics
My Boyfriend Is A Bear 20 Pamela Ribon Cat Farris Oni Press
Hey, Kiddo 20 Jarrett J. Krosoczka Jarrett J. Krosoczka Scholastic
Upgrade Soul 19 Ezra Claytan Daniels Ezra Claytan Daniels Lion Forge
All the Answers 19 Michael Kupperman Michael Kupperman Simon & Schuster
X-Men: Grand Design 18 Ed Piskor Ed Piskor Marvel Comics
Nancy 18 Olivia Jaimes Olivia Jaimes United Features Syndicate
Dirty Plotte: The Complete Julie Doucet 17 Julie Doucet Julie Doucet Drawn and Quarterly
Crowded 17 Christopher Sebela Ro Stein, Ted Brandt, Triona Farrell Image Comics
Bingo Love 17 Tee Franklin Jenn St-Onge, Joy San Image Comics
Black Hammer: Age of Doom 17 Jeff Lemire Dean Ormston, Rich Tommaso, Dave Stewart Dark Horse Comics
Monstress 16 Marjorie Liu Sana Takeda Image Comics
Prism Stalker 16 Sloane Leong Sloane Leong Image Comics
Abbott 16 Saladin Ahmed Sami Kivelä Boom!
My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies 15 Ed Brubaker Sean Phillips Image Comics
Frontier #17 15 Lauren Weinstein Lauren Weinstein Youth In Decline
X-Men Red 14 Tom Taylor Mahmud Asrar, Carmen Carnero, Roge Antonio Marvel Comics
Coyote Doggirl 14 Lisa Hanawalt Lisa Hanawalt Drawn and Quarterly
Check, Please!: #Hockey 14 Ngozi Ukazu Ngozi Ukazu First Second
Batman 14 Tom King Lee Weeks, Jorge Fornés, Mikel Janin, Mark Buckingham, Clay Mann, Joëlle Jones, Michael Lark DC Comics
Batman: White Knight 14 Sean Murphy Sean Murphy DC Comics
Yellow Negroes and Other Imaginary Creatures 13 Yvan Alagbé Yvan Alagbé New York Review Comics
The Mighty Thor 13 Jason Aaron Russell Dauterman, Matt Wilson Marvel Comics
Passing for Human 13 Liana Finck Liana Finck Random House
Runaways 13 Rainbow Rowell Kris Anka, Matthew Wilson Marvel Comics
Parallel Lives 13 Olivier Schrauwen Olivier Schrauwen Fantagraphics
Eternity Girl 13 Magdalene Visaggio Sonny Liew DC Comics
Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World 13 Pénélope Bagieu Pénélope Bagieu First Second
Poochytown 12 Jim Woodring Jim Woodring Fantagraphics
Coda 12 Simon Spurrier Matias Bergara Boom!
Skyward 11 Joe Henderson Lee Garbett Image Comics
Ice Cream Man 11 W. Maxwell Prince Martin Morazzo, Chris O’Halloran Image Comics
Girl Town 11 Carolyn Nowak Carolyn Nowak Top Shelf
The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins 10 Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy, Carey Pietsch Carey Pietsch First Second
The Wild Storm 10 Warren Ellis Jon Davis-Hunt DC Comics
Speak: The Graphic Novel 10 Laurie Halse Anderson Emily Carroll Farrar, Straus and Giroux
One Dirty Tree 10 Noah Van Sciver Noah Van Sciver Fantagraphics
Love That Bunch 10 Aline Kominsky-Crumb Aline Kominsky-Crumb Drawn and Quarterly
Isola 10 Brenden Fletcher, Karl Kerschl Karl Kerschl, Msassyk Image Comics
Fearscape 10 Ryan O’Sullivan Andrea Mutti, Vladimir Popov Vault Comics
Doctor Star and the Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows 10 Jeff Lemire Max Fiumara, Dave Stewart Dark Horse Comics
Chlorine Gardens 10 Keiler Roberts Keiler Roberts Koyama Press
The Cardboard Kingdom 9 Chad Sell Chad Sell Knopf Books
Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310 9 Chip Zdarsky Chip Zdarsky Marvel Comics
Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection 9 Junji Ito Junji Ito Viz
Justice League Dark 9 James Tynion IV Alvaro Martinez DC Comics
Grip 9 Lale Westvind Lale Westvind Perfectly Acceptable Press
Dark Nights Metal 9 Scott Snyder Greg Capullo DC Comics
All Summer Long 9 Hope Larson Hope Larson Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction 9 Inio Asano Inio Asano Viz
Black Panther 9 Ta-Nehisi Coates Daniel Acuña Marvel Comics
The Winner 8 Karl Stevens Karl Stevens Retrofit Comics
These Savage Shores 8 Ram V Sumit Kumar, Vitorio Astone Vault Comics
Thor 8 Jason Aaron Mike Del Mundo, Christian Ward Marvel Comics
The Weatherman 8 Jody Leheup Nathan Fox Image Comics
Soft X-Ray/Mindhunters 8 A. Degen A. Degen Koyama Press
Paper Girls 8 Brian K. Vaughan Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson Image Comics
Home After Dark 8 David Small David Small Liveright
Kill or Be Killed 8 Ed Brubaker Sean Phillips Image Comics
Brat 8 Michael DeForge Michael DeForge Koyama Press
Black Hammer: The Quantum Age 8 Jeff Lemire Wilfredo Torres, Dave Stewart Dark Horse Comics
West Coast Avengers 7 Kelly Thompson Stefano Caselli Marvel Comics
Thanos Wins 7 Donny Cates Geoff Shaw Marvel Comics
Supergirl: Being Super 7 Mariko Tamaki Joëlle Jones DC Comics
The Wicked + The Divine 7 Kieron Gillen Jamie McKelvie, Matt Wilson Image Comics
Your Black Friend And Other Strangers 7 Ben Passmore Ben Passmore Silver Sprocket
The Seeds 7 Ann Nocenti David Aja Dark Horse Comics
Sleepless 7 Sarah Vaughn Leila del Duca Image Comics
Eternal 7 Ryan K. Lindsay Eric Zawadski, Dee Cunniffe Black Mask Studios
East of West 7 Jonathan Hickman Nick Dragotta Image Comics
Fake Blood 7 Whitney Gardner Whitney Gardner Simon & Schuster
Love And Rockets 7 Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez Fantagraphics
Fence 7 C.S. Pacat Johanna the Mad, Joana Lafuente Boom!
Friendo 7 Alex Paknadel Martin Simmonds Vault Comics
Illegal 7 Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin Giovanni Rigano Sourcebooks
Green Lantern: Earth One 7 Gabriel Hardman Corinna Bechko DC Comics
Bitter Root 7 David F. Walker, Chuck Brown Sanford Greene, Rico Renzi Image Comics
All the Sad Songs 7 Summer Pierre Summer Pierre Retrofit Comics
Doomsday Clock 7 Geoff Johns Gary Frank DC Comics
Aquicorn Cove 7 Katie O’Neill Katie O’Neill Oni Press
Action Comics 7 Brian Michael Bendis Ryan Sook, Patrick Gleason, Yanick Paquette DC Comics
Belonging: A German Reckons With History And Home 7 Nora Krug Nora Krug Scribner
Blammo #10 7 Noah Van Sciver Noah Van Sciver Kilgore Books
Superman 6 Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason Barry Kitson, Scott Hanna, Gabriel Eltaeb DC Comics
The New World 6 Aleš Kot Tradd Moore Image Comics
The Dreaming 6 Simon Spurrier Bilquis Evely, Mat Lopes DC Comics
Shit is Real 6 Aisha Franz Aisha Franz Drawn and Quarterly
Shanghai Red 6 Christopher Sebela Joshua Hixson Image Comics
My Brother’s Husband 6 Gengoroh Tagame Gengoroh Tagame Pantheon
My Hero Academia 6 Kohei Horikoshi Kohei Horikoshi Viz
Rogue & Gambit 6 Kelly Thompson Pere Pérez Marvel Comics
Photographic: The Life Of Graciela Iturbide 6 Isabel Quintero Zeke Peña Harry N. Abrams
Justice League 6 Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV Jorge Jimenez, Jim Cheung, Francis Manapul, Mikel Janin, Doug Mahnke DC Comics
Is This Guy for Real?: The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman 6 Box Brown Box Brown First Second
From Lone Mountain 6 John Porcellino John Porcellino Drawn and Quarterly
Farmhand 6 Rob Guillory Rob Guillory, Taylor Wells Image Comics
Judas 6 Jeff Loveness Jakub Rebelka Boom!
Hawkeye: Kate Bishop 6 Kelly Thompson Leonardo Romero Marvel Comics
Giant Days 6 John Allison Max Sarin, Whitney Cogar Boom!
I Am Young 6 M. Dean M. Dean Fantagraphics
Art Comic 6 Matthew Thurber Matthew Thurber Drawn and Quarterly
Assassinistas 6 Tini Howard Gilbert Hernandez, Rob Davis IDW
A Perfect Failure: Fante Bukowski 3 6 Noah Van Sciver Noah Van Sciver Fantagraphics
Black Bolt 6 Saladin Ahmed Christian Ward Marvel Comics
Death Or Glory 6 Rick Remender Bengal Image Comics
Amazing Spider-Man 6 Nick Spencer Ryan Ottley Marvel Comics
Captain America 6 Ta-Nehisi Coates Leinil Francis Yu, Sunny Gho Marvel Comics
The Dead Hand 5 Kyle Higgins Stephen Mooney, Jordie Bellaire Image Comics
Von Spatz 5 Anna Haifisch Anna Haifisch Drawn and Quarterly
The Pervert 5 Michelle Perez Remy Boydell Image Comics
The Weaver Festival Phenomenon 5 Ron Regé Jr. Ron Regé Jr. Self-Published
Wasted Space 5 Michael Moreci Hayden Sherman, Jason Wordie Vault Comics
Wonder Woman: Earth One 5 Grant Morrison Yanick Paquette DC Comics
The Nameless City 5 Faith Erin Hicks Faith Erin Hicks First Second
The Vision 5 Tom King Gabriel Hernandez Walta Marvel Comics
The New World: Comics From Mauretania 5 Chris Reynolds Chris Reynolds New York Review Comics
The Bride Was a Boy 5 Chii Chii Seven Seas Entertainment
The Nib: Death 5 Various Various The Nib
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl 5 Ryan North, Will Murray Erica Henderson, Zac Gorman, Derek Charm Marvel Comics
Multiple Man 5 Matthew Rosenberg Andy Macdonald Marvel Comics
Oblivion Song 5 Robert Kirkman Lorenzo De Felici Image Comics
Manfried The Man 5 Caitlin Major Kelly Bastow Quirk Books
Long Lost 5 Matthew Erman Lisa Sterle Scout Comics
Koshchei The Deathless 5 Mike Mignola Ben Stenbeck, Dave Stewart Dark Horse Comics
Flavor 5 Joseph Keatinge Wook Jin Clark, Tamra Bonvillain Image Comics
Euthanauts 5 Tini Howard Nick Robles IDW
Descender 5 Jeff Lemire Dustin Nguyen Image Comics
Dognurse 5 Margot Ferrick Margot Ferrick Perfectly Acceptable Press
Cosmic Ghost Rider 5 Donny Cates Dylan Burnett Marvel Comics
Angloid 5 Alex Graham Alex Graham Kilgore Books
Darth Vader: Lord Of The Sith 5 Charles Soule Giuseppe Camuncoli, Jim Cheung Marvel Comics
All-New Wolverine 5 Tom Taylor Juan Cabal, Marco Failla, Djibril Morissette-Phan, Ramon Rosanas, David Lopez Marvel Comics
Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation 5 Ari Folman David Polonsky Pantheon
Beneath The Dead Oak Tree 5 Emily Carroll Emily Carroll Shortbox

 

Of interest Tillie Walden’s On a Sunbeam, which showed up as a web comic in 2016 and 2017 now shows up at #3 in print form on this years list. Olivia Jaimes take on Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy is the top ranking web comic (unless you count On a Sunbeam) getting far more mentions than any webcomic previously. While I normally remove the issue number on mainstream titles to make the list more useful to readers, I made an exception with Chip Zdarsky’s Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310 because so many people made reference to it. Also, Captain America is on here with 6 mentions but 2 of those mentions were for the Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, Matthew Wilson run.

The full spreadsheet with pivot tables for books, writers, artists, publishers and more is available here


Regarding Publishers:

Image was the most popular with 90 different titles.

DC and Marvel are tied for 2nd with 73 different titles.

Fantagraphics is 3rd with 52 different titles.

Dark Horse has 42 titles.

Boom! did well with 33 titles.

104 Self-Published books made the list too.

Caveats:

Where a reviewer/writer wrote ‘best of’ lists for multiple websites, I’ve cross referenced their lists and removed books that were named twice. I did not think it would be fair if those writers could tip the popularity scale by naming the same book(s) over and over again on multiple websites. Sadly, there was an increase of websites publishing lists with no credit to who (of whom) created the list. In those cases I marked them as Unknown but the practice of not crediting writers is a shameful one.

If a writer wrote for multiple sites, but one of those sites picks was a group effort, I did not remove books that are listed twice.

I generally did not include lists that were a mixed of prose books and graphic novels unless there were a significant number of graphic novels on the list.

I did not use lists where the website was not in English and the books appeared to be translated versions.

With inkers and colourists I often, but not always included them within the Artist section. Where there were multiple (usually more than 5) involved in a book, or in the title’s run over the course of the year, Various was used of listing them all. In some cases I combined those involved even if they worked on the title for different issues.

For simplicity sake, if a list named a specific comic book issue or specific volume of a graphic novel, I removed those specifics and just listed the series title, with rare exceptions. Apologies to the reviewers of those books.

Some writers included books that were technically published in 2017 and at least 1 just listed best books they read that year, but the vast majority of those lists were 2018 books. The number of non 2018 books in the spreadsheet is very tiny and insignificant to the overall list.

Most of the lists were general ‘best/favourite books’ of 2018, but I also included lists dedicated to young readers, manga, etc… What type list is noted on column B in the spreadsheet.

A small number of lists also had rankings and those are included in Column C.

This list of website this list is compiled from:

101 Comics https://101comics.com/best-comic-series-of-2018/
Advenures In Poor Taste http://www.adventuresinpoortaste.com/2018/12/14/aipts-favorite-comics-of-2018-part-1-the-best-of-everything-else/
Advenures In Poor Taste http://www.adventuresinpoortaste.com/2018/12/17/aipts-favorite-comics-of-2018-part-2-the-best-series/
Advocate https://www.advocate.com/books/2018/12/20/best-lgbtq-graphic-novels-2018#media-gallery-media-0
Affino https://www.affino.com/blogs/blogs/best-of-entertainment-2018—film-tv-albums-songs-and-graphic-novels
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=s9_acss_bw_cg_BOTY18_3c1_w?node=17388344011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-4&pf_rd_r=RRZ5ZWV6QTNM30GW5G3J&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=09b4dfa3-c856-4416-85ee-67abbfa4b511&pf_rd_i=17388344011
Autostraddle https://www.autostraddle.com/50-of-the-best-lgbt-books-of-2018-441796/
AVClub https://aux.avclub.com/the-best-comics-of-2018-1830657952
Bam Smack Pow https://bamsmackpow.com/2018/12/31/time-year-top-ten-comic-books-2018/
Barnes And Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/our-favorite-comics-graphic-novels-of-2018/
Barnes And Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/best-manga-of-2018/
BATMAN’S BOOKCASE https://www.batmansbookcase.com/updates/2018/12/28/best-comics-of-2018-batmans-bookcase-contributor-picks
BATMAN’S BOOKCASE https://www.batmansbookcase.com/updates/2018/12/28/taylor-pechters-top-5-comics-of-2018
BATMAN’S BOOKCASE https://www.batmansbookcase.com/updates/2018/12/28/the-stewart-bros-top-10-comics-of-2018
BATMAN’S BOOKCASE https://www.batmansbookcase.com/updates/2018/12/31/top-comics-of-2018-16-25
BATMAN’S BOOKCASE https://www.batmansbookcase.com/updates/2018/12/31/top-comics-of-2018-6-15
BATMAN’S BOOKCASE https://www.batmansbookcase.com/updates/2019/1/1/top-comics-of-2018-1-5
BATMAN’S BOOKCASE https://www.batmansbookcase.com/updates/2019/1/1/best-single-comic-book-issues-of-2018
Berkley Place http://berkeleyplaceblog.com/2018/12/10/the-best-comic-books-of-2018/
Big Comic Page https://bigcomicpage.com/2018/12/21/bcp-best-of-2018-mark-editio/
Big Comic Page https://bigcomicpage.com/2018/12/23/bcp-best-of-2018-ceej-edition/
Big Comic Page https://bigcomicpage.com/2018/12/29/bcp-best-of-2018-indy-edition
Book Riot https://bookriot.com/2018/12/04/best-comics-of-2018/
Booklist Online https://www.booklistonline.com/Top-10-Graphic-Novels-2018-Sarah-Hunter/pid=9677963
Booklist Online https://www.booklistonline.com/Top-10-Graphic-Novels-for-Youth-2018-Sarah-Hunter/pid=9676799
Boston Globe http://apps.bostonglobe.com/arts/graphics/2018/12/year-end-books-2018/#graphic-novels
Broken Frontier http://www.brokenfrontier.com/celebrating-2018-ten-uk-small-press-comics-need-jayde-perkin-cat-sims-peony-gent/
Brooklyn Public Library https://www.bklynlibrary.org/
Bustle https://www.bustle.com/p/8-graphic-novels-comics-that-make-really-thoughtful-unique-gifts-13161953
CBC https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-best-canadian-comics-of-2018-1.4944651
CBR https://www.cbr.com/marvel-venom-best-comic-2018/
Chicago Public Library https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200121216/1304495217
Colby Sharp https://www.mrcolbysharp.com/2018/
Comic Book Herald https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-best-comics-of-2018/
Comic Obsessed https://comicobsessed.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-top-ten-best-dc-comics-of-2018.html?spref=tw
ComicBook.com https://comicbook.com/comics/2018/12/18/2018-golden-issue-award-winner-best-comic-series/
ComicBook.com https://comicbook.com/marvel/2018/12/18/2018-golden-issue-award-winner-best-limited-comic-series/
ComicBook.com https://comicbook.com/comics/2018/12/18/2018-golden-issue-award-winner-best-graphic-novel/
ComicBook.com https://comicbook.com/comics/2018/12/18/2018-golden-issue-award-winner-best-new-comic-series/
ComicBook.com https://comicbook.com/comics/2018/12/18/2018-golden-issue-award-winner-best-indie-comic/
Comicon http://www.comicon.com/2018/12/31/comicons-7-best-digital-webcomics-of-2018/
Comicon http://www.comicon.com/2018/12/31/comicons-most-progressive-comics-2018/
Comicon http://www.comicon.com/2018/12/27/comicons-7-best-comic-series-of-2018/
Comicon http://www.comicon.com/2018/12/26/comicons-7-best-original-graphic-novels-of-2018/
Comicon http://www.comicon.com/2018/12/26/comicons-7-best-single-comic-issues-of-2018/
Comicosity http://www.comicosity.com/2018-the-10-comic-books-that-turned-our-heads/
Comicosity http://www.comicosity.com/2018-the-world-of-graphic-novels/
Comics Alternative http://comicsalternative.com/episode-303-our-favorite-comics-of-2018/
Comics Beat http://www.comicsbeat.com/the-best-comics-of-2018/
Comics Beat http://www.comicsbeat.com/the-best-manga-of-2018/
Cranboyz http://cranboyz.blogspot.com/2018/12/popas-favorite-comics-of-2018-in-no.html
Daily Grindhouse http://dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/grindhouse-comics-column-top-ten-graphic-novels-2018/
Den of Geek https://www.denofgeek.com/us/books/278336/best-comics-of-2018
Denver Public Library https://kids.denverlibrary.org/booklist/best-brightest-graphic-novels-2018
Diverse Tech Geek https://www.diversetechgeek.com/2018/12/19/10-favorite-comics-2018/
Doom Rocket https://doomrocket.com/best-comics-2018/
Dustin Harbin http://www.dharbin.com/blog/post.php?s=the-year-in-media
EW https://ew.com/books/best-comics-2018/
Extra Inks http://extra-inks.comicssociety.org/2019/01/19/2018-faves/
Eye On Comics http://www.eyeoncomics.com/?p=4360
Fanfare https://fanfareland.com/andrews-top-10-comics-of-2018/
Five Books https://fivebooks.com/best-books/best-comics-2018/
Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2018/12/07/the-best-graphic-novels-of-2018/#7d193f494aad
Forbidden Planet https://www.forbiddenplanetnyc.com/the-18-best-comics-of-2018/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2018/12/02/four-color-apocalypse-2018-year-in-review-top-10-ongoing-series/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2018/12/05/four-color-apocalypse-2018-year-in-review-top-ten-contemporary-collections/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2018/12/06/four-color-apocalypse-2018-year-in-review-top-ten-vintage-collections/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2018/12/08/four-color-apocalypse-2018-year-in-review-top-ten-special-mentions/
Four Color Apocalypse https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2018/12/01/four-color-apocalypse-2018-year-in-review-top-ten-single-issues/
Free Library https://libwww.freelibrary.org/blog/post/3583
Gamespot https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/the-best-superhero-comics-of-2018-batman-captain-m/2900-2433/
Geek Cast Radio https://www.geekcastradio.com/comics/m-articles-comics/top-100-comics-of-2018/
Geek Fair http://www.geekfair.co.uk/best-comics-of-2018-part-1/
Geek Fair http://www.geekfair.co.uk/best-comics-of-2018-part-2/
Geeks World Wide https://thegww.com/gwws-best-comics-of-2018/
Goodeads https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-graphic-novels-comics-2018
Gosh London https://www.goshlondon.com/blog/2018/11/6/the-gosh-best-of-2018-kids
Gosh London https://www.goshlondon.com/blog/2018/11/6/the-gosh-best-of-2018-adult
Graphic Novel Resources http://graphicnovelresources.blogspot.com/2019/01/my-favorite-graphic-novels-of-2018.html
Graphic Policy https://graphicpolicy.com/2019/01/01/logans-favorite-comics-of-2018/
Grovel http://www.grovel.org.uk/category/best-graphic-novels-2018/
Herad Scotland https://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/17298714.graphic-content-our-choice-of-the-best-graphic-novels-of-the-year/
Heroic Girls http://www.heroicgirls.com/the-best-graphic-novels-of-2018-for-kids-and-teens/
Heroic Girls http://www.heroicgirls.com/the-best-graphic-novels-of-2018-for-adults/
Hollwood Reporter https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/best-comics-2018-1171840
Huffington Post https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2018/12/07/2018-was-a-great-year-for-graphic-novels-here-s-proof_a_23610578/
HyperAllergic https://hyperallergic.com/474333/best-graphic-novels-of-2018/
ICPL http://blog.icpl.org/2018/12/30/icpl-top-staff-picks-for-2018-graphic-novels/
IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/12/10/best-comic-book-series-of-the-year-2018
IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/12/10/best-original-graphic-novel-2018
IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/12/10/best-limited-comic-book-or-mini-series-2018
IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/12/10/best-new-comic-book-series-2018
Infinte Earths https://iearths.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-top-10-best-comics-of-2018.html
iO9 https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-best-comics-of-2018-1831216345
Jennifer Haines https://www.facebook.com/jenn.haines.3/posts/10161159899825635
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/lists/best-middle-grade-graphic-novels-of-2018/
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/lists/best-ya-books-of-2018-facing-trauma/
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/lists/best-ya-nonfiction-of-2018/
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/lists/best-ya-books-of-2018-that-explore-family-and-self/
Kirkus https://www.kirkusreviews.com/lists/best-ya-science-fiction-of-2018/last-pick/#feature
Lewton Bus http://lewtonbus.net/editorials/jonathan-hansens-favorite-comics-of-2018/
LF Press https://lfpress.com/entertainment/books/graphic-novel-on-vinyl-tops-my-list-of-the-years-best-graphic-novels
Library Journal https://www.libraryjournal.com/?page=best-books-2018
Mega City Comics https://megacitycomics.wordpress.com/2018/12/14/top-15-graphic-novels-of-2018/
Monkey Fighting Robots https://www.monkeysfightingrobots.co/best-of-2018-top-5-comic-book-single-issues/
Multiersity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2018-new-series/
Multiersity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2018-best-anthology/
Multiersity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2018-best-translated-material/
Multiersity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2018-original-graphic-novel/
Multiersity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2018-limited-series/
Multiersity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2018-best-reprint/
Multiersity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2018-best-digital-first/
Multiersity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2018-best-webcomic/
Multiersity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2018-one-shot/
Multiersity Comics http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2018-best-ongoing/
Mutcolib http://bestof.multcolib.org/2018/#/_
Nerdy Book Club https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2018/12/30/the-2018-nerdies-graphic-novels-announced-by-katherine-sokolowski/
New York Public Library https://www.nypl.org/books-music-movies/recommendations/best-books/ya
New York Public Library https://www.nypl.org/bestbooksadults2018
Newsarama https://www.newsarama.com/43276-best-of-best-shots-2017-our-review-crew-picks-the-best-of-the-year.html
Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/best-comic-books-1179816
Nijomu http://www.nijomu.com/reviews/comics-i-enjoyed-reading-in-2018/
North Tonawanda Public Library http://www.ntlibrary.org/best-graphic-novels-of-2018/
NPR https://apps.npr.org/best-books-2018/#/tag/comics-and-graphic-novels
Nylon https://nylon.com/best-illustrated-books-2018
NYTimes https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/19/books/review/100-notable-books.html
Omaha Library http://topshelf.omahalibrary.org/
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2018/12/james-18-favorite-comics-of-2018.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2018/12/seans-favorite-limited-comic-series-2018.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2018/12/seans-favorite-first-issues-2018.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2018/12/seans-favorite-ongoing-comics-2018.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2018/12/neil-favourite-comic-reads-of-2018.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2018/12/mikes-favorite-comics-of-2018.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2019/01/robs-favorite-comics-of-2018-part-1.html
Panel Platter http://www.panelpatter.com/2019/01/rob-favorite-comics-of-2018-final-29.html
Paste Magazine https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/12/the-10-best-superhero-comics-of-2018.html
Paste Magazine https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/12/the-25-best-comic-books-of-2018.html
Paste Magazine https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/12/the-15-best-sci-fi-fantasy-comics-of-2018.html
Paste Magazine https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/12/the-15-best-horror-comics-of-2018.html
Paste Magazine https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/12/the-20-best-kids-comics-of-2018.html
Pastrami Nation http://pastramination.com/best-of-2018-comic-books/
Polygon https://www.polygon.com/comics/2018/10/19/17983626/best-comics-2018-marvel-dc-batman
Powells https://www.powells.com/post/lists/best-science-fiction-fantasy-horror-and-graphic-novels-of-2018
Print Magazine https://www.printmag.com/comics-and-animation/2018-best-biography-comics/
Print Magazine https://www.printmag.com/comics-and-animation/3-best-graphic-novels-for-kids-2018/
Print Magazine https://www.printmag.com/comics-and-animation/best-graphic-novels-for-teens/
Publishers Weekly https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2018/comics
Publishers Weekly https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2018/young-adult#book/book-9
Random Thoughts https://lars.ingebrigtsen.no/2018/12/31/the-best-comics-of-2018/
Readings https://www.readings.com.au/news/graphic-novels-and-comics-we-loved-in-2018
School Library Journal https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=top-10-graphic-novel
Scifi Pulse http://www.scifipulse.net/comic-books-2018-the-year-in-review/
Screen Rant https://screenrant.com/best-comic-books-2018/
Sequential State https://sequentialstate.com/blog/comics-that-challenged-me-in-2018-the-complete-list/
Smash Pages http://smashpages.net/2018/12/27/smash-pages-favorite-comics-of-2018/
Spy https://spy.com/2019/entertainment/books-music-movies/best-graphic-novels-2018-saga-marvel-149805/
Study Breaks https://studybreaks.com/culture/reads/the-8-most-important-graphic-novels-of-2018/
Super Skull http://www.superskullshow.com/episodes-all/2018/12/12/best-comics-of-2018
SyFy https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/syfy-fangrrls-favorite-comics-of-2018
TCJ http://www.tcj.com/the-best-comics-of-2018/
Tech Aeris https://techaeris.com/2018/12/31/top-6-best-comic-books-2018/
Texas Library Association https://txla.org/tools-resources/reading-lists/maverick/current-list/
The Bookshelf Corner https://thebookshelfcorner.wordpress.com/2018/12/20/reading-2018-best-of-manga/
The Comeback https://thecomeback.com/pop-culture/the-five-best-comic-books-of-2018-mister-miracle-west-coast-avengers-and-the-wicked-divine-lead-strong-year.html
The Daily Dot https://www.dailydot.com/parsec/best-new-comics-2018/
The Globe and Mail https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/130252.Globe_Mail_The_Globe_100_Best_Books_Of_2018/ (public)
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-the-globe-100-our-favourite-books-of-2018/#comics (subscriber)
The Good Men Project https://goodmenproject.com/all-things-geek/gift-guide-2018-books-xela/
The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2018/dec/01/guardian-review-best-books-of-2018
The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-best-graphic-novels-of-2018-1.3734219
THE OKLAHOMAN https://newsok.com/article/5619205/word-balloons-best-graphic-novels-of-2018
The Smart Set https://thesmartset.com/comic-countdown-2018/
The Verge https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/13/18136739/best-comics-2018-runaways-girl-town-emily-carroll
The Woolamaloo Gazette http://www.woolamaloo.org.uk/?p=6377
Thrillist https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/best-comics-graphic-novels-2018
Toledo Library http://www.toledolibrary.org/blog/best-comics-and-graphic-novels-of-2018
Tor https://www.tor.com/2018/12/12/pull-list-best-comics-of-2018/
Turnaround https://theturnaroundblog.com/2018/11/23/turnarounds-best-of-2018-graphic-novels/
Under The Radar http://www.undertheradarmag.com/news/under_the_radars_holiday_gift_guide_2018_part_10_graphic_novels_and_books/
Villain Media https://villainmedia.com/jorge-solis-top-10-best-comic-books-list-of-2018/
Vulture https://www.vulture.com/2018/12/best-comics-2018.html
Vulture https://www.vulture.com/2018/12/best-superhero-stories-2018.html
WAKING BRAIN CELLS https://wakingbraincells.com/2019/01/10/2018-best-graphic-novels/
Washngton Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-10-best-graphic-novels-of-2018/2018/11/13/a192b760-e2d7-11e8-ab2c-b31dcd53ca6b_story.html
What Culture http://whatculture.com/comics/10-best-comic-books-of-2018
What Culture http://whatculture.com/comics/10-most-underrated-comic-books-of-2018
Why So Blu http://whysoblu.com/best-comics-of-2018/
Wired https://www.wired.com/story/best-comics-2018/
Women Write About Comics https://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2019/01/wwac-favorite-big-press-comics-2018/
Women Write About Comics https://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2019/01/wwacs-favorite-small-press-comics-of-2018/
Your Chicken Enemy http://www.yourchickenenemy.com/2018/12/books-we-liked-2018-rob-clough-kim.html
Your Chicken Enemy http://www.yourchickenenemy.com/2018/12/books-we-liked-2018-ryan-carey-philippe.html
Your Chicken Enemy http://www.yourchickenenemy.com/2018/12/books-we-liked-2018-nick-hanover-sara-l.html
Your Chicken Enemy http://www.yourchickenenemy.com/2018/12/books-we-liked-2018-francesca-lyn-david.html
Your Chicken Enemy http://www.yourchickenenemy.com/2018/12/books-we-liked-2018-matt-vadnais-justin.html

The Combined Best Comics & Graphic Novels of 2017!

Over the last few months there have been many, many websites with “Best of 2017” lists concerning comic books and graphic novels. If you’ve looked at a few, you may have noticed some of the same books on different lists and seen some unique to only that list.

I went through over 136 different “Best Of” Lists regarding comic books and graphic novels and combined them into a spreadsheet. There are over 2,100 different listings of books from these websites. I should note that I’ve included books that were given honorable mentions. In short, if somebody thought it was a good book that you should check out, it’s on here. Pivot tables have been created to show which books appeared on the number of lists. Here are the books with 5 mentions or more:

 

Book Title Count Writer Artist Publisher
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters 64 Emil Ferris Emil Ferris Fantagraphics
Mister Miracle 45 Tom King Mitch Gerads DC Comics
The Best We Could Do 36 Thi Bui Thi Bui Harry N. Abrams
Boundless 32 Jillian Tamaki Jillian Tamaki Drawn & Quarterly
Batman 27 Tom King Mikel Janin DC Comics
You & A Bike & A Road 26 Eleanor Davis Eleanor Davis Koyama Press
Spinning 24 Tillie Walden Tillie Walden First Second
Black Hammer 21 Jeff Lemire Dean Ormston, David Rubin Dark Horse Comics
My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness 20 Nagata Kabi Nagata Kabi Seven Seas
Shade The Changing Girl 19 Cecil Castellucci Marley Zarcone DC Comics
Anti-Gone 19 Connor Willumsen Connor Willumsen Koyama Press
The Mighty Thor 17 Jason Aaron Russell Dauterman Marvel Comics
Songy Of Paradise 16 Gary Panter Gary Panter Fantagraphics
Hostage 15 Guy Delisle Guy Delisle Drawn & Quarterly
Everything Is Flammable 14 Gabrielle Bell Gabrielle Bell Uncivilized Books
The Flintstones 13 Mark Russell Steve Pugh, Rick Leonardi DC Comics
Paper Girls 13 Brian K. Vaughan Cliff Chiang Image Comics
Monograph 12 Chris Ware Chris Ware Rizzoli
Real Friends 12 Shannon Hale Leuyen Pham First Second
Giant Days 12 John Allison Max Sarin, Liz Fleming, Whitney Cogar BOOM! Studios
Crickets No. 6 12 Sammy Harkham Sammy Harkham American Comics
Mirror Mirror II 11 Various Various 2dcloud
One More Year 11 Simon Hanselmann Simon Hanselmann Fantagraphics
Saga 11 Brian K. Vaughan Fiona Staples Image Comics
Doom Patrol 11 Gerard Way Nick Derington DC Comics
Roughneck 11 Jeff Lemire Jeff Lemire Gallery 13
The Customer Is Always Wrong 10 Mimi Pond Mimi Pond Drawn & Quarterly
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl 10 Ryan North Erica Henderson Marvel Comics
Batman / Elmer Fudd Special #1 10 Tom King Lee Weeks DC Comics
Sex Fantasy 10 Sophia Foster-Dimino Sophia Foster-Dimino Koyama Press
Rock Candy Mountain 9 Kyle Starks Kyle Starks Image Comics
Silver Surfer 9 Dan Slott Michael Allred And Laura Allred Marvel Comics
Pretending Is Lying 9 Dominique Goblet Dominique Goblet New York Review Comics
Redlands 9 Jordie Bellaire, Vanesa Del Rey Jordie Bellaire, Vanesa Del Rey Image Comics
Uncomfortably Happily 9 Yeon-Sik Hong Yeon-Sik Hong Drawn & Quarterly
My Brother’s Husband 9 Gengoroh Tagame Gengoroh Tagame Pantheon
God Country 9 Donny Cates Geoff Shaw Image Comics
4 Kids Walk Into A Bank 9 Matthew Rosenberg Tyler Boss Black Mask Studios
Sticks Angelica, Folk Hero 8 Michael Deforge Michael Deforge Drawn & Quarterly
Spill Zone 8 Scott Westerfeld Alex Puvilland First Second
Wonder Woman 8 Greg Rucka Nicola Scott, Liam Sharp, Romulo Fajardo Jr. DC Comics
Iceland 8 Yuichi Yokoyama Yuichi Yokoyama Retrofit/Big Planet
Aliens: Dead Orbit 8 James Stokoe James Stokoe Dark Horse Comics
Brave 8 Svetlana Chmakova Svetlana Chmakova Yen Press
Black Bolt 8 Saladin Ahmed Christian James Ward Marvel Comics
Dark Nights: Metal 8 Scott Snyder Greg Capullo DC Comics
Pope Hats #5 7 Ethan Rilly Ethan Rilly Adhouse Press
Now #1 7 Various Various Fantagraphics
All’S Faire In Middle School 7 Victoria Jamieson Victoria Jamieson Dial Books
The Complete Strange Growths, 1991-1997 7 Jenny Zervakis Jenny Zervakis Spit and a Half
Crawl Space 7 Jesse Jacobs Jesse Jacobs Koyama Press
Secret Weapons 7 Eric Heisserer Raul Allen, Patricia Martin Valiant
Motor Crush 7 Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart Babs Tarr, Cameron Stewart Image Comics
Extremity 7 Daniel Warren Johnson Daniel Warren Johnson, Mike Spicer Image Comics
Mis(H)Adra 7 Iasmin Omar Ata Iasmin Omar Ata Gallery 13
The Girl From The Other Side: Siúil, A Rún 7 Nagabe Nagabe Seven Seas
Everyone’s A Aliebn When Ur A Aliebn Too: A Book 7 Jomny Sun Jomny Sun Harper Perennial
Deathstroke 7 Christopher Priest Diogenes Neves DC Comics
Hawkeye 7 Kelly Thompson Leonardo Romero, Michael Walsh, Jordie Bellaire Marvel Comics
The Wild Storm 6 Warren Ellis Jon Davis-Hunt DC Comics
How To Read Nancy: The Elements Of Comics In Three Easy Panels 6 Paul Karasik, Mark Newgarden Fantagraphics
Fante Bukowski Two 6 Noah Van Sciver Noah Van Sciver Fantagraphics
The Black Monday Murders 6 Jonathan Hickman Tomm Coker, Michael Garland, Rus Wooton Image Comics
Bitch Planet 6 Kelly Sue Deconnick Valentine De Landro, Taki Soma Image Comics
Language Barrier 6 Hannah K. Lee Hannah K. Lee Koyama Press
Providence 6 Alan Moore Jacen Burrows Avatar Press
Nightlights 6 Lorena Alvarez Lorena Alvarez Nobrow Press
Poppies Of Iraq 6 Brigitte Findakly And Lewis Trondheim Lewis Trondheim Drawn & Quarterly
Imagine Wanting Only This 6 Kristen Radtke Kristen Radtke Pantheon
The Wicked + The Divine 6 Kieron Gillen Jamie Mckelvie, Matt Wilson Image Comics
Pashmina 6 Nidhi Chanani Nidhi Chanani First Second
America 6 Gabby Rivera Joe Quinones, Ramon Villalobos Marvel Comics
House Of Women 6 Sophie Goldstein Sophie Goldstein Fantagraphics
Ms. Marvel 6 G. Willow Wilson Adrian Alphona, Takeshi Miyazawa Marvel Comics
The Stone Heart: The Nameless City 6 Faith Erin Hicks Faith Erin Hicks, Jordie Bellaire First Second
I’M Not Here 6 GG GG Koyama Press
Venice 5 Jiro Taniguchi Jiro Taniguchi Fanfare/Ponent Mon
Royal City 5 Jeff Lemire Jeff Lemire Image Comics
Batman Annual #2 5 Tom King Lee Weeks, Michael Lark, Elizabeth Breitweiser, June Chung, Deron Bennett DC Comics
Aquaman 5 Riccardo Federici, Dan Abnett Stjepan Sejic, Various DC Comics
Savage Town 5 Declan Shalvey Philip Barrett, Jordie Bellaire Image Comics
Mech Cadet Yu 5 Greg Pak Takeshi Miyazawa BOOM! Studios
Education 5 John Hankiewicz John Hankiewicz Fantagraphics
Sunburning 5 Keiler Roberts Keiler Roberts Koyama Press
To Laugh That We May Not Weep: The Life And Art Of Art Young 5 Art Young,‎ Art Spiegelman,‎ Frank Young Art Young Fantagraphics
Farmer Ned’S Comic Barn 5 Gerald Jablonski Gerald Jablonski Fantagraphics
As The Crow Flies 5 Melanie Gillman Melanie Gillman Iron Circus Comics
The Interview 5 Manuele Fior Manuele Fior Fantagraphics
Bolivar 5 Sean Rubin Sean Rubin Archaia
The Tea Dragon Society 5 Katie O’Neill Katie O’Neill Oni Press
The Wendy Project 5 Melissa Jane Osborne Veronica Fish Papercutz
Mighty Jack And The Goblin King 5 Ben Hatke Ben Hatke First Second
Black Panther 5 Ta-Nehisi Coates Various Marvel Comics
Black 5 Various Various Black Mask Studios
The Unworthy Thor 5 Jason Aaron Olivier Coipel Marvel Comics
Kill Or Be Killed 5 Ed Brubaker Sean Phillips Image Comics
Monstress 5 Marjorie Liu Sana Takeda Image Comics
Spy Seal 5 Rich Tomasso Rich Tomasso Image Comics
Where’s Halmoni? 5 Julie Kim Julie Kim Little Bigfoot
The Abominable Mr. Seabrook 5 Joe Ollmann Joe Ollmann Drawn & Quarterly
Shaolin Cowboy: Who’ll Stop The Reign? 5 Geof Darrow Geof Darrow Dark Horse Comics
Fire!! The Zola Hurston Neale Story 5 Peter Bagge Peter Bagge Drawn & Quarterly
Baking With Kafka 5 Tom Gauld Tom Gauld Drawn & Quarterly
Voices In The Dark 5 Marcel Beyer, Ulli Lust Ulli Lust New York Review Comics
5 Worlds, V.1: The Sand Warrior 5 Mark Siegel, Alexis Siegel Mark Siegel, Xanthe Bouma, Matt Rockefeller, Boya Sun Random House
Tenements, Towers & Trash 5 Julia Wertz Julia Wertz Black Dog & Leventhal

Also of note, a handful of reviewers included a webcomic within it’s best books lists. Tilly Walden’s On A Sunbeam got the most (4) mentions this year, which is remarkable as she tied for the most mentions last year. Like last year The Nib got 2nd place as a general site and Nib hosted specific comics Sarah Glidden’s The Art of War and Jess Parker’s Who Was The Somerton Man were also mentioned. Tied for 2nd with 3 mentions is Michael DeForge’s Leaving Richard’s Valley.  It should be said that several Self-Published and very small press comics were both web comics and printed books. I did not do a through check, but it’s possible that some of those books are available as web comics and vice versa.

The full spreadsheet with pivot tables for books, writers, artists, publishers and more is available here.

Regarding Publishers:

Image was the most popular with 74 different titles.

DC was 2nd with 54 different titles.

Fantagraphics and Marvel are tied for a close 3rd with 53 different titles.

Dark Horse has 30 titles.

First Second did well with 24 titles.

58 Self-Published books made the list too.

Caveats:

Where a reviewer/writer wrote ‘best of’ lists for multiple websites, I’ve cross referenced their lists and removed books that were named twice. I did not think it would be fair if those writers could tip the popularity scale by naming the same book(s) over and over again on multiple websites.

If a writer wrote for multiple sites, but one of those sites picks was a group effort, I did not remove books that are listed twice.

I generally did not include lists that were a mixed of prose books and graphic novels.

I did not use lists where the website was not in English and the books appeared to be translated versions.

I did not use nominations/winners for awards.

With inkers and colourists I often, but not always included them within the Artist section. Where there were multiple (usually more than 5) involved in a book, or in the title’s run over the course of the year, Various was used of listing them all. In some cases I combined those involved even if they worked on the title for different issues.

For simplicity sake, if a list named a specific comic book issue or specific volume of a graphic novel, I removed those specifics and just listed the series title, with rare exceptions. Apologies to the reviewers of those books.

Some writers included books that were technically published in 2016 and at least 1 just listed best books they read that year, but the vast majority of those lists were 2017 books. The number of non 2017 books in the spreadsheet is very tiny and insignificant to the overall list.

Most of the lists were general ‘best/favourite books’ of 2017, but I also included lists dedicated to young readers, manga, etc… What type list is noted on column B in the spreadsheet.

A small number of lists also had rankings and those are included in Column C

 

A Reading Life – https://areadinglife.com/2017/11/28/best-of-2017-books-for-adults/
A Reading Life – https://areadinglife.com/2017/11/29/best-of-2017-books-for-young-adults/
A Reading Life – https://areadinglife.com/2017/11/30/best-of-2017-books-for-children/
Adventures in Poor Taste – http://www.adventuresinpoortaste.com/2018/01/02/the-year-in-queer-the-top-10-lgbtq-comics-of-2017/
Advocate – https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2018/1/03/best-lgbt-graphic-novels-2017
All The Wonders – http://www.allthewonders.com/podcasts/some-of-the-top-middle-grade-graphic-novels-of-2017-books-between-episode-40/
Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=17388344011
Anime News Network – https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2017-12-29/best-manga-and-light-novels-of-2017/.125750
AV Club – https://www.avclub.com/the-best-comics-of-2017-1820879242
Bam! Smack! Pow! – https://bamsmackpow.com/2017/12/31/top-comic-books-2017/
Barnes and Nobel – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/best-comics-graphic-novels-2017/
Barnes and Nobel – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/best-new-manga-series-2017/
Ben Towle – http://www.benzilla.com/?p=6266
Booklist Online – https://www.booklistonline.com/Top-10-Graphic-Novels-2017-Sarah-Hunter/pid=8966988
BookList Online – https://www.booklistonline.com/Top-10-Graphic-Novels-for-Youth-2017-Sarah-Hunter/pid=8964161
Bounding Into Comics – http://boundingintocomics.com/2017/12/27/the-10-best-comic-books-of-2017/
CBC – http://www.cbc.ca/books/the-best-canadian-comics-and-graphica-of-2017-1.4453579
CBR – https://www.cbr.com/tag/bestcomics2017/
Chicago Public Library – https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/200121216_chipublib_teens/1058615227_best_teen_graphic_novels_and_manga_of_2017
ComicBook.com – http://comicbook.com/comics/2018/01/01/the-10-best-indie-comics-of-2017/#1
Comicon.com – http://www.comicon.com/2017/12/26/comicons-8-best-comic-series-of-2017/
Comicon.com – http://www.comicon.com/2017/12/26/comicons-8-best-original-graphic-novels-of-2017/
Comicon.com – http://www.comicon.com/2017/12/26/comicons-8-best-single-comic-issues-of-2017/
Comicon.com – http://www.comicon.com/2017/12/28/comicons-8-best-webcomics-of-2017/
Comicon.com – http://www.comicon.com/2017/12/29/comicons-most-progressive-comics-2017/
Comicosity – http://www.comicosity.com/best-of-2017-graphic-novel/
Comicosity – http://www.comicosity.com/best-of-2017-series/
Comicosity – http://www.comicosity.com/best-of-2017-single-issue/
Comics Alternative – http://comicsalternative.com/young-readers-reviews-of-good-night-planet-the-dam-keeper-and-misfit-city-as-well-as-a-look-back-at-2017/
Critical Hit – https://www.criticalhit.net/comics-toys/20-best-comic-books-2017/
Cryptoscatology – http://cryptoscatology.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-cryptoscatology-top-ten-best-comic.html
Daniel Elkin – http://www.danielelkin.com/2017/12/top-13-small-press-comics-i-reviewed-of.html
Den of Geek – http://www.denofgeek.com/us/books-comics/best-comics-of-2017/269562/best-comics-2017-comicbooks
Denver Public Library – https://kids.denverlibrary.org/booklist/best-brightest-graphic-novels-2017
Entropy – https://entropymag.org/best-of-2017-comics-graphic-novels/
EPL (Edmonton Public Library) – https://epl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/664197898_comicsprof/1032066367_best_graphic_novels_2017
EW – http://ew.com/books/best-comics-2017/best-comics-of-2017/
Fantagraphics – http://fantagraphics.com/flog/whats-store-top-comix-2017/
Fantom Comics – http://fantomcomics.tumblr.com/post/169268628241/fantoms-favorite-comics-of-2017
Forbes – https://www.forbes.com/pictures/5a2aaf04a7ea432f2e756465/best-graphic-novels-of-20/#262f8e171d9b
Forbidden Planet – http://forbiddenplanet.blog/2017/best-year-2017-matts-picks/
Forbidden Planet – http://forbiddenplanet.blog/2017/best-year-2017-richmonds-picks/
Forbidden Planet – http://forbiddenplanet.blog/2018/best-of-the-year-2017-joes-picks/
Forbidden Planet – http://forbiddenplanet.blog/2018/best-year-2017-richard-begs-forgiveness-tardiness/
Free Library of Philadelphia – https://libwww.freelibrary.org/blog/post/3168
Fresh Toast – https://thefreshtoast.com/culture/best-comic-books-from-each-major-publisher-in-2017/
Gamespot – https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/the-10-best-comics-of-2017/2900-1711/
Geeks – https://geeks.media/best-comics-of-2017-for-fans-of-every-genre
Good OK Bad – http://goodokbad.com/index.php/about/2017comics
Good Reads – https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-graphic-novels-comics-2017
Gosh London – https://www.goshlondon.com/blog/2017/11/17/the-gosh-best-of-2017-kids
Gosh London – https://www.goshlondon.com/blog/2017/11/9/the-gosh-best-of-2017
Graphic Policy – https://graphicpolicy.com/2018/01/04/alexs-best-2017/
Guide Live – https://www.guidelive.com/comic-books/2017/12/14/perfectpanels-10-best-comic-books-2017
Hell Machine Jog (Joe McCulloch) – https://twitter.com/snubpollard/status/947651965797961728
Herald Scotland – http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/15784889.Graphic_Content__From_werewolves_to_cross_dressing__our_choice_of_books_of_the_year/
Herald Scottland – http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/15783879.Graphic_Content__Cartoonists_choose_their_comics_and_graphic_novels_of_the_year/
Heroic Girls – http://www.heroicgirls.com/best-graphic-novels-2017-kids-teens/
Hipinion – http://forums.hipinion.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=115077
Hollywood Reporter – https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/best-comics-2017-1070417
i09 – https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-15-best-comics-of-2017-1821292444
ICPL – http://blog.icpl.org/2017/12/30/icpl-top-staff-picks-for-2017-graphic-novels/
ICV2 – https://icv2.com/articles/columns/view/39263/the-10-best-graphic-novels-2017
ICV2 – https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/39211/top-10-kids-graphic-novels-2017
Infinite Earths – https://iearths.blogspot.ca/2017/12/the-top-10-best-comics-of-2017.html?m=1
Inverse – https://www.inverse.com/article/39420-best-comics-2017-writers-ninjak-batgirl-kaijumax-flintstones
IVC2 – https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/39236/top-10-manga-2017
Kevin Huizenga – https://kevinh.blogspot.com/2017/12/2017-time-capsule.html
Kirkus – https://www.kirkusreviews.com/lists/best-middle-grade-graphic-novels-2017/
Kitsap Regional Library – http://www.krl.org/blog/best-graphic-novels-teens-2017
Large Hearted Boy – http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2017/12/favorite_graphi_6.html
Lars Ingebrigtsen – https://lars.ingebrigtsen.no/2017/12/14/the-best-comics-of-2017/
Leo Weekly – https://www.leoweekly.com/2017/12/leo-looks-back-best-comic-books-2017/
Let’s Talk Picture Books – http://www.letstalkpicturebooks.com/2017/12/best-graphic-novels-of-2017.html
Library Journal – http://lj.libraryjournal.com/bestbooks2017/graphic_novels.php
Lisa Hanawalt – https://twitter.com/lisadraws/status/946879618551726080
Matt Seneca – http://mattseneca.tumblr.com/post/169372094107/2017-a-fuck-ass-year
Multiversity Comics – http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2017-in-review-best-miniseries/
Multiversity Comics – http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2017-in-review-best-new-series/
Multiversity Comics – http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2017-in-review-best-ongoing-series/
Multiversity Comics – http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2017-in-review-best-single-issue/
Multiversity Comics – http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2017-in-review-graphic-novel/
Multiversity Comics – http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news-columns/2017-in-review-webcomic/
Multiversity Comics – http://www.multiversitycomics.com/reader-poll/2017-readers-choice/
Newsarama – https://www.newsarama.com/37961-best-of-best-shots-2017-our-review-crew-picks-the-best-of-the-year.html
NJ – http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2018/01/what_was_the_best_comic_book_series_of_2017_comic.html
NPR – http://apps.npr.org/best-books-2017/#/tag/comics-and-graphic-novels
Observation Deck – https://observationdeck.kinja.com/comic-books-2017-1821374651
Panel Platter – http://www.panelpatter.com/2017/12/james-2017-favorites-in-17-ridiculous.html
Panel Platter – http://www.panelpatter.com/2018/01/rob-m-favorite-sci-fi-and-fantasy.html
Panel Platter – http://www.panelpatter.com/2018/01/rob-ms-favorite-anthologies-of-2017.html
Panel Platter – http://www.panelpatter.com/2018/01/rob-ms-favorite-horror-comics-of-2017.html
Panel Platter – http://www.panelpatter.com/2018/01/rob-ms-favorite-horror-comics-of-2017.html
Panel Platter – http://www.panelpatter.com/2018/01/rob-ms-favorite-indie-books-of-2017.html
Panel Platter – http://www.panelpatter.com/2018/01/rob-ms-favorite-superhero-style-comics.html
Paste – https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/12/the-10-best-kids-comics-of-2017.html
Paste – https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/12/the-25-best-comics-of-2017.html
Pierce County Library – http://www.piercecountylibrary.org/books-materials/pierce-county-favorites/Default.htm
Polygon – https://www.polygon.com/comics/2017/12/22/16807870/comics-2017-marvel-dc
Publisher Weekly – https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2017/comics
Publishers Weekly – https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/75675-my-favorite-thing-is-monsters-tops-annual-pw-graphic-novel-critics-poll.html
Readings – https://www.readings.com.au/news/graphic-novels-and-comics-we-loved-in-2017
Ryan C’s Four Colour Apocalypse – https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2017/12/07/2017-year-in-review-top-10-single-issues/
Ryan C’s Four Colour Apocalypse – https://fourcolorapocalypse.wordpress.com/2017/12/13/2017-year-in-review-top-10-collected-editions-contemporary/
School Library Journal – http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/12/20/31-days-31-lists-day-twenty-2017-comics-for-kids/
School Library Journal – http://www.slj.com/2017/11/reviews/best-of/top-10-graphic-novels-2017/
Scifi Pulse – http://www.scifipulse.net/comic-books-2017-the-year-in-review/
Sequential State – https://sequentialstate.com/blog/comics-challenged-2017-complete-list/
Slackjaw Punks – http://slackjawpunks.com/top-5-comics-of-2017/
Spy – http://spy.com/2017/entertainment/books-music-movies/best-graphic-novels-2017-comics-72376/
Super Skull – http://www.superskullshow.com/episodes-all/2017/12/7/super-skulls-best-graphic-novels-of-2017
SyFy – http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/syfy-wires-best-ongoing-genre-comics-of-2017
The Beat – http://www.comicsbeat.com/the-beats-best-comics-of-2017/
The Comics Journal – http://www.tcj.com/the-best-comics-of-2017/
The Comics Reporter – http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/fff_results_postr_491_books_of_2017/
The Guardian – https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/03/rachel-cooke-best-graphic-novels-2017-joff-winterhart-driving-short-distances-grandville-talbot
The Hundreds – https://thehundreds.com/blogs/content/best-2017-graphic-novels
The Irish Times – https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/living-colour-favourite-comics-and-graphic-novels-of-2017-1.3324716
The Smart Set – https://thesmartset.com/comic-countdown/
The Verge – https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/22/16807260/best-comics-of-2017
Turnaround – https://theturnaroundblog.com/2017/12/21/top-comic-books-of-2017/
Under The Radar – http://www.undertheradarmag.com/blog/under_the_radars_holiday_gift_guide_2017_part_9_books_and_graphic_novels/
Unwinnable – https://unwinnable.com/2018/01/03/the-best-comics-of-2017/
Uproxx – http://uproxx.com/hitfix/best-comics-2017/
Vice – https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/paqaxk/the-ten-best-comics-of-2017
Villain Media – https://villainmedia.com/jorge-solis-top-10-comic-books-2017/
Vulture – http://www.vulture.com/2017/12/10-best-comics-2017.html
Washington Post – https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-10-best-graphic-novels-of-2017/2017/11/10/ded1688c-af85-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.74d0cde5c002
Waukegan Public Library – https://www.waukeganpl.org/2017-review-graphic-novels/
WhatCulture – http://whatculture.com/comics/10-best-comic-books-of-2017
WhatCulture – http://whatculture.com/comics/10-best-comic-books-of-2017-so-far
Why So Blu? – http://whysoblu.com/best-comic-books-2017/
Wired – https://www.wired.com/story/best-comics-2017/
Women Write About Comics – http://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2018/01/03/small-press-bites-faves-of-2017-edition/
Women Write About Comics – http://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2017/12/30/wwacs-favorite-big-press-comics-of-2017/
Zainab Akhtar – https://twitter.com/comicsandcola/status/941346392492167168

Milton Griepp Interview

Milton Griepp at the 2010 C2E2

Milton Griepp at the 2010 C2E2

Originally published in May of 2004. This is another one of my comic business type interviews. One of the most significant events to happen in the comics industry was Marvel buying Heroes World and exclusively distributing their comics through them. That started a chain reaction leading to Diamond having a virtual monopoly on comic book distribution to the direct market. Milton Griepp had a unique view of those events that I don’t think anybody else had asked him about.

 

Milton Griepp Interview

Milton Griepp has been in the comics industry for 30 years as a publisher, distributor, retailer and consultant. He once ran the largest direct distribution comic book company Capital City Distribution. He was involved with the Internet retail company NextPlanetOver.com and is currently running ICv2.com, a pop culture industry news Website. Along the way he has also done lots of consulting on the comic book industry. In this interview we go through his career and he gives us his analysis of the comic book industry. He also examines the effect other media are having on comics and whether manga’s popularity will last.

 

Jamie: Let’s take it from the beginning. I’m sure that like most in this industry you started as a reader. What kind of comic books got you hooked?

Milton Griepp: The first comic I remember reading was a Carl Barks Disney comic and I continued to read those. I also read a lot of DCs. Superboy, The Legion and Superman were probably the three things I read the most. I inherited a collection from my cousin that was mostly 50’s comics, including a lot of DC’s, and I continued buying those until the 60’s. In his collection were things like the Fox and Crow and other funny animal stuff that I read. When I got to college, I started reading Marvels and I also read a lot of undergrounds which were coming out in great numbers at that time.

 

Jamie: When about did you get involved in the business end of comics?

Milton Griepp: From a friend in high school. When we were in college he started a business advertising in shopper papers in northern Wisconsin, buying collections, and taking them to conventions and selling them there or selling them though the Comic Buyers Guide. I started going to shows with him in the early 70s, about 72 and 73, and working behind the table with him was my first exposure to comics as a retailer.

 

Jamie: When did you move into distribution?

Milton Griepp: That experience in the comics business got me a job in 1976 with a company called Wisconsin Independent News Distributors which carried some magazines and books and had a comic department. I was hired for the comic department. So that was my first distribution experience. The territory was fairly limited: mostly Wisconsin, a little of Illinois, a little bit of Minnesota. Then they went out of business and their business got absorbed by a company called Big Rapids Distribution Company, which at one time became the largest direct distributor in the late 70s. I worked for them, also out of Wisconsin.

 

Jamie: I understand you and John Davis teamed up to form Capital City (Distribution). When about did that happen?

Milton Griepp: I hired John at WIND and we also worked together at Big Rapids. When Big Rapids went out of business, John talked me into starting a business that would handle just comics. Both Big Rapids and Wisconsin Independent News Distributors had comics as a small part of the company, along with book and magazine distribution. So the idea that was different was to do something that specialized in comics. That was in the early 1980s.

 

Jamie: I understand at one point a group of smaller distributors all combined to take Capital to a national distributor?

Milton Griepp: I don’t know where you got that impression.

 

Jamie: That never happened?

Milton Griepp: That never happened, but we did do some small acquisitions. Our first location outside of Wisconsin was–we bought a little company called North Eastern Ohio News, which was primarily a comics distributor, based in the Cleveland area. We did some other small acquisitions over the years but most of our growth was by sales efforts one store at a time.

 

Jamie: I understand Capital was #2 going up to #1 competing against Diamond most of the way . . . Were you surprised when Marvel decided to pull out, buy Heroes World and distribute exclusively through them?

Milton Griepp: Just to set the stage, Capital was #1 until Diamond bought Bud Plant. Diamond was #2 and Bud Plant was #3 and the combination of those two companies made them larger than we were. So we were #2 at the time Marvel did their deal with Heroes World.

I guess in one sense it wasn’t a surprise, as Marvel had been making noises about being dissatisfied with the direct distribution system for a couple of years, primarily because they didn’t think they were getting their due as the largest publisher. But primarily I was surprised, because I didn’t think anybody would do anything that stupid.

 

Jamie: At that time, what did you think would happen to the comic industry?

Milton Griepp: Well, it was a very dynamic situation. We really didn’t know what to expect, so we ran the business on several tracks trying to prepare for different contingencies. There was a lot of damage done to the business during that period. Heroes World was really incapable of distributing Marvels nationally, so that was happening. Also, at the same time, the market was declining rapidly after a period of explosive growth during the early 90’s. And other publishers were maneuvering, deciding what they were going to do in the wake of Marvel’s decision. So it was an unpredictable situation, and it required a number of contingency plans for different eventualities.

 

Jamie: Looking back, do you wish you had tried harder to get DC to go exclusive with Capital instead of Diamond, with some other deal you could have made them?

Milton Griepp: Well, DC came to us and other companies and said they were thinking about going with a single company for their distributor as Marvel had. And we did pitch them hard to go with Capital; we couldn’t have tried any harder to do that. We were also trying to convince them not to go with a single distributor, and we felt they could have taken a leadership position with the retailers and distributors and united the rest of the industry against the model that Marvel was developing with the single distributor model. It would have gotten a lot of good will and a lot of support and I believe that would have been a very viable and successful action for them.

In the end I see DC’s choice as the most conservative option, which is not surprising as DC is part of a large company and that creates a tendency towards conservatism. The first instance of conservatism was that they followed what Marvel had done (Marvel was #1, DC was #2) and they followed to a single distributor. The second conservative choice was picking Diamond, as they were larger than we were, and so it represented less risk of losing business to choose Diamond than it did to choose Capital. So they took the two low-risk decisions and that led them to Diamond.

 

Jamie: How do you think the exclusive agreements between publishers and distributors have affected the industry?

Milton Griepp: Well, it’s brought stability and I think that’s had both positive and negative affects. On the positive side, considering the circumstances (this is very important), publishers had a reliable way to reach the market and through a very profitable company that always pays its bills. Given the volatility in what was happening to the smaller distributors at the time, that was a good thing for publishers and ultimately the industry.

It was also good for retailers because they were experiencing the same upheaval in terms of where and how they got their products. So after the transition period when Diamond took over the Capital stores after they bought Capital City, that led to a very reliable system of distribution for retailers. That was a good thing.

On the negative side, the fact that there were fewer viewpoints at the distribution level slowed innovation to some degree. I don’t know how much of that effect there was, but you have to assume that a number of companies all working in that field with a variety of viewpoints would have led to faster change and more innovation.

 

Jamie: After Diamond bought out Capital, did they offer you a position there?

Milton Griepp: They didn’t and I really didn’t expect one. I was a CEO and they didn’t need a CEO and they didn’t need a COO. They had Steve Geppi as the CEO and a very capable COO with Chuck Parker. They didn’t really have a position that fit my skills so I didn’t expect an offer and didn’t receive one.

 

Jamie: After that you started working with NextPlanetOver.com. What was that experience like?

Milton Griepp: Actually that was a while after the Capital sale, and both before and after that I did some consulting in the field.

Well, the NextPlanetOver experience was a unique time and place. It was in San Francisco, and at a venture-funded Internet company at the peak of the dot com boom. That was a really interesting time and place to be geographically, from a business history point of view, and from a technological innovation point of view. It was a really interesting thing to see.

I’d seen a lot of bubbles before in the pop culture products business, you know especially when there is a resale market involved. Like the black and white comics–there was a bubble and then everybody produces them, then there’s too many and then the market collapses. I hadn’t seen a capital bubble of this type, which was that the cost of capital was very low and the money was flowing into all kinds of Internet businesses. So that was new to see, and although there were some negative outcomes, the experience was very positive. I learned a lot about private equity, learned a lot about technology and the Internet.

Capital was a very technologically progressive company; even in the early 90s we were doing order uploads and using electronic communication with our customers. But this was on a different level, because we were on the real cutting edge, at that time, of the development of e-commerce technology. So we sold off the company at the end and that was a negative, but the experience of being there at that time and place and how much I learned was very positive, on balance.

 

Jamie: There was controversy at that time, particularly when they were being located at the same warehouse Diamond was shipping comics from. What did you think about that at the time?

Milton Griepp: Well, it wasn’t really located at the same place. Diamond was doing order fulfillment for NextPlanetOver. NextPlanetOver bought merchandise from Diamond and rather than Diamond doing one big shipment to NextPlanetOver they shipped it directly to NextPlanetOver’s customers. That was a very efficient system in that it gave NextPlanetOver access to a large inventory and allowed the company to offer that to its customers without being in possession before it was being purchased.

It was on the original model that Amazon was built on–an inventory-less model where the product was offered, then acquired from a wholesaler at the time of sale. So from a business point of view I think it made a lot of sense. There was some controversy from the reaction from retailers thinking NextPlanetOver had a special deal that was going to hurt them. But ultimately there was very little threat to brick and mortar retailers from that arrangement. The controversy boomed and then tailed off. It wasn’t unexpected and ultimately didn’t affect our business.

 

Jamie: Out of the whole ordeal what did you learn about trying to sell comic books online?

Milton Griepp: I wouldn’t really call it an ordeal. There were certainly parts of it that were an ordeal, but over-all there were also some positive things about it.

From my first involvement in the company, I wanted it focused not on selling comic books online (periodicals), but on selling graphic novels, toys, apparel–selling the things that customers bought other than comics. Comics are really too cheap to sell through a traditional shopping cart model where you are selling, at that time, a two dollar product one at a time. It just wasn’t an efficient model and ultimately we did change the orientation of the product mix to emphasize the other product lines that Diamond also offered.

The subscription service model that’s been around for many years works well for selling periodical comics via mail order or via the Internet. Selling one at a time is just not a terribly efficient model, which was what I thought going in and that was proven by the results. We did re-orient the mix to focus on some of the higher-priced items and I’d say that was the upshot of the learning experience there–that selling comics like backlist in an “off-the-rack” situation was not a viable business model, but I do think, as other businesses have proven since, selling graphic novels, toys, and the higher-priced stuff works fine.

 

Jamie: During that time you were also doing some consulting work. Were there any clients in particular you could name that you worked with?

Milton Griepp: Well, I’ll talk a bit about the categories I’ve worked with. I worked with publishers, I worked with retailers, toy companies, international consulting firms, educational firms, educational institutions, investment firms. My clients generally prefer that I advise them without revealing their identities.

 

Jamie: When coming up with ICv2.com, why did you decide to go as a Website instead of as a printed magazine?

Milton Griepp: I had just come out of a Web business, and I learned a lot about it, so I had this knowledge base on how to do it. It seemed inexpensive to start a Website as a result of improving technology at the time. When we started NextPlanetOver, for example, the code for the content area had to be all written from scratch. By the time I started ICv2, things like the search function could be acquired relatively inexpensively instead of writing it from scratch. That learning experience of how to develop the Website relatively inexpensively allowed saving a non- trivial amount of money.

The reason I wanted to do it on the Web was to use that knowledge, and I felt the Web was a superior way of delivering news. Obviously it’s faster and more accessible; also it involves the ability to interact with the user, which does not exist in print. I also believed I could develop an audience at a lower cost on the Web than in print so it was a classic business model-driven decision.

 

Jamie: Last year ICv2.com did a printed magazine called the ICv2 Retailers Guide to Graphic Novels. How successful was that?

Milton Griepp: Actually we’ve done a number of magazines; I think the number is over 10, in three categories. We do the ICv2 Retailers Guide to Anime and Manga, the ICv2 Retailers Guide to Graphic Novels, and the ICv2 Retailers Guide to Games.

I started pitching the first magazine at San Diego a year and a half ago and was really surprised at the response, which was that advertisers that were resistant to the idea of advertising online were receptive to the idea of advertising in a magazine. I think it’s just a matter of preference that people have established over the years with certain types of media. So that was a big response on the advertisers’ side.

On the content side, the magazine was also a good fit with our online content. The online content is very fast; we publish daily, with shorter articles, primarily news. The print medium allowed us to take a longer view of things, do more analysis, more features, more in-depth reporting. I think the two media, online and print, are complementary and we really like the way they fit together. I think both are important to how ICv2 serves its audience and advertisers. So online was a good place to start and print was a good place to expand to.

 

Jamie: Despite doing well in bookstores, many comic book retailers are having a hard time selling manga. What do you think retailers have to do to move manga like the bookstores do?

Milton Griepp: Well, I want to push back on the idea that comic stores are having a lot of difficulty selling manga. Obviously they are selling a lot more manga than they were a few years ago and I think that’s going to continue. The thing is, some comic stores are a lot better than others at manga, and I think it’s a matter of how they merchandise the manga line, also what their clientele base is like, and how they retail to their clientele.

The reason bookstores have grown much faster than comic book stores have over the last few years is that bookstores have a larger female audience and a lot of the manga content is directed at female consumers. So a comic store that focuses on superheroes or action adventure material that has a primarily male audience is going to miss out on a lot of manga sales because there is a lot of material that doesn’t appeal to that action adventure audience.

On the other hand, I have seen some comic stores do a very good job with manga. In fact, the best manga stores I’ve seen are comic stores that carry far greater variety than the best bookstores. They also have better product knowledge at the counter than the best bookstores. So I think that comic stores can be extremely successful with manga, it’s just a matter of how they merchandise it, who their clientele is and how they reach out to their clientele–a store that is friendly for consumers of both sexes and all ages (as the manga audience in bookstores is a little bit younger than the typical comic book store audience). So comic stores can reach that audience, but historically comic stores have been a male-supported distribution channel and that presents barriers in some stores.

 

Jamie: ICv2.com has been tracking sales numbers for quite some time. Are there any particular tends you’ve noticed that others in the industry should know?

Milton Griepp: Well, first of all there has been a change a little over a year ago in how Diamond puts out their numbers, how they calculate indexes, and that has affected our ability to do year-to-year comparisons. Between 2000 and 2002, we were able to do year-to-year comparisons which were extremely useful, because it tracked what was happening in comic stores in that period, which was the first growth that had happened in about a decade. That was really a good thing to track.

Now we’re just getting to the end of the first year with Diamond and its new numbers. Once again, the first month we did comparisons for, the market was up and that was a good thing. In the long run, Diamond using actual numbers instead of pre-orders for their index is going to be very positive because it’s a much more accurate snapshot of the market.

In terms of overall trend analysis, by looking at the comic stores and other channels, the biggest growth is graphic novel sales in bookstores. The biggest thing happening there is that bookstores are replacing newsstand distribution, which collapsed for comics in the last five to ten years, as a feeder system into comic book stores. In other words, consumers are exposed to comics in book stores and if they want to find a broader range of titles they’ll end up in a comic store. Before, it used to be that happened from magazine-type outlets and newsstands, convenience stores, those kinds of outlets, where people pick up a comic book and then find their way to a comic store later. I think that’s a huge, huge shift in the comic business.

I mentioned earlier the fact that younger readers and female readers are finding comics in bookstores and that’s a hugely positive trend for the entire industry. Opening up the market to female readers to a greater degree doubles the available pool of consumers.

Getting younger kids reading comics is positive because it will hopefully build lifetime consumers. The comic market has been aging dramatically for the last 10 to 12 years, and this can reverse that trend. Those are really positive things happening in the comics business, the fact that the business in comic stores is also growing, those are positive things.

I think we’re seeing a greater impact of other media on comic sales, specifically movies and television. Obviously the Batman movie had a huge impact on Batman product sales in the late 80s and early 90s, but now there’s a whole plethora of media influences on comic sales just in the last few years. Smaller movies like Ghost World and American Splendor, something like Road to Perdition or From Hell and the mega-blockbusters like Spider-Man, Hulk, and X-men, those have all been really positive events for comic sales.

On television now, not only are there a number of cartoons being done based on American comics but the anime, which is tied to manga, are also popularizing those properties to a great degree. So movies and television are having a much greater impact than they had in the past, which is obviously a very positive thing for the comics business.

There is a bunch of positive trends sort of coalescing in the industry and it’s a good time for the comic business.

 

Jamie: I noticed that movies don’t seem to help the superhero comics quite as much as do the independent comics.

Milton Griepp: Spider-Man and Hulk moved a lot of product through all channels and it lifted Spider-Man graphic novels to the top of the charts. The bookstores moved a lot of Spider-Man product, as did the comic stores, so I think there is a connection. Recent Marvel movies have shown that. I think it doesn’t always work that way, The Punisher, for example. The early indication is it’s not moving product quite as well as Hellboy is. So I think it depends on the combination of the movie and the material.

 

Jamie: How do you see the comic book industry changing in the next 5 years?

Milton Griepp: I see the comic audience growing in a number of demographic groups, including adults that are interested in comics as literature. Certainly there is a pop culture aspect to them, but comics are being taken more seriously as real literature. This has been going on for a while, but for the last couple of years we’ve really accelerated that trend. And at the same time, we see the market for comics growing among younger readers, girls, and women. Comics being reviewed by book reviewers in the literary establishment also opens up an even larger, more serious reading audience of adults. So again we see multiple audiences in which the comics medium is growing. So I think those are very positive trends.

Another aspect that is unlike some previous growth trends of the comic business: none of this is being based on the after-market value, so the risk of collapse in the business due to a collapse of after-market values or overproduction or whatever just isn’t there in the same way as was there in earlier growth periods. That again is a very, very positive trend.

 

Jamie: So you don’t think manga is just a fad then? (laughs)

Milton Griepp: It’s been going on too long to be a fad. The Japanese stuff has been growing since the early 80s, so you can’t take a 25-year trend and say “It’s a fad.”

 

Jamie: yes . . .

Milton Griepp: Certainly there are times where it gets super-hot and then cools off. Pokemon was a huge phenomenon and it exploded, then there was space for a while and shrinks back a little bit, but I don’t think it’s a fad. I wrote something in 2000-2001 that said something to the effect that we’re witnessing a change in world culture, in the sense that more and more pop culture is coming from Asia. You can almost say that as American culture took over from British as the ruling popular culture, now we’re seeing a move towards Asian pop culture.

Hollywood is not going anywhere, American television is not going anywhere, American comics is not going anywhere; but there is a growing influence in all markets from Asian pop culture. Something like Kill Bill is ostensibly an American movie, but it’s got elements of Hong Kong action movies, little pieces of old American movies, there is anime in the first volume.

You can see the Asian influence growing in American pop culture in so many ways. So that’s another reason that I don’t think manga is just a fad.

Brian Hibbs Interview

Originally published September of 2001. The follow up part was published a month later. What was interesting about this interview is that not too long after it Brian Hibbs would sue Marvel Comics for their refusal to accept returns on late or significantly altered books, as per Marvel’s own legally binding Terms of Service said they would do. Marvel settled the case out of court by giving comic shops credit for those books, which retailers were very thankful of. Shortly after that Brian was one of the founding members of ComicsPro, a trade organization for direct market comic shops.

 

An Interview With Brian Hibbs

Brian Hibbs is a very active comic retailer who owns a comic store called Comix Experience in San Francisco. Lately, he has been responding to public comments by both Editor in Chief Joe Quesada and President of Marvel Publishing Bill Jemas. Recently, Bill Jemas had an interview with GrayHavenMagazine.com in which he gave a number of surprising answers to questions concerning how stores should display comics, the price of Marvel vs. DC books, how quickly Marvel books sell and the very controversial no-overprint policy. In this interview, Brian responds to some of those statements by Bill Jemas and also talks about other topics concerning the industry.

 

Jamie: Tell us about your experience in comics. How long have you been a retailer, what’s your store like and what else you do in the industry?

Brian Hibbs: Comix Experience has been around for 12 years now. Opened April Fools day in 1989, but I’ve worked in comic retail for 16 years, something like that. I worked in another store before I opened my own. I’ve also done a little work in distribution, the only thing I haven’t done is publishing, actually. What’s the store like? We’re primarily a bookstore oriented comic shop. Trade paperbacks and Graphic Novels are our focus. We’ve been nominated and won national and local awards for excellence, that kind of thing.

 

Jamie: What’s different from your store than typical comic stores, I understand you are different in how you rack things?

Brian Hibbs: Yeah, we do genre racking and things like that, but I don’t know what a “typical” comic shop really is. Even among the stores that I would consider my peers and who run excellent comic shops, I don’t think any of us do things the same ways or stock things the same ways. It’s one of the things I like about the comics business, actually.

 

Jamie: Variety eh?

Brian Hibbs: Yeah, exactly. We’re really focused on reading. I guess the biggest difference I can say between us and the “average” store, we simply don’t allow speculation of any kind. You’re not allowed to buy more than two copies of any comic from us unless you tell us in advance that you want it. We’re completely focused on reading. That’s why we’re trade paperback and graphic novel oriented because I tend to think that’s a superior format for the reader, rather than a collector.

 

Jamie: I understand you also have a column?

Brian Hibbs: Yeah I write a… well, it’s not a monthly column anymore. It was monthly for many years there, about 8 years, in Comics and Games Retailer Magazine published by Krause Publications (the people that do Comics Buyers Guide). And yeah, I’ve written a hundred and six of them so far, about a third of them are up on our website if your readers want to check them out.

 

Jamie: That’s at ComixExperience.com right?

Brian Hibbs: Right.

 

Jamie: Are you in touch with a lot of retailers around North America?

Brian Hibbs: Yeah I like to think so, at least (laughter). Most of them are my friends and then there’s also things like some Robert Scott’s Forum on Delphi, which is a message board just for comic retailers, every day. There’s lots of threads going on back and forth there.

 

Jamie: Okay, we’re going to come up to Bill Jemas here. One of the things he mentioned in that Grayhaven interview was that he never read a comic book prior to becoming President of Marvel Publishing. Do you think that is a good or a bad thing?

Brian Hibbs: I tend to think it’s probably a bad thing. Comics is a very idiosyncratic business. We’re not like virtually any other business you can name. The things that work well in the comics field wouldn’t work well in other fields. I talk to a lot of other retailers who aren’t comic retailers and I tell them some of the ways our business works and they go “WhuuuHuh?” (laughter). They don’t get it, you know? But on the other side, I don’t think there is anything necessarily wrong with having an outsider’s perspective as long as you’re perceptive to the way the business actually works. Jemas, I understand, comes from Sports Cards and my perception has been that he is doing any number of steps that are appropriate for the sports card business but I don’t believe are very appropriate at all for the comic book business.

 

Jamie: One other comment that Jemas made was, “The simple fact is that the vast majority of retailers are doing very well with Marvel and are pleased with our current policies.” Do you agree with this?

Brian Hibbs: I would agree with the former part of the statement, I would very strongly disagree with the latter part. Certainly the retailers I speak to, I’d say only a third or less of them are “pleased” with the policies. Yeah sure, we’re selling more Marvel Comics but that’s a function of the fact that Marvel Comics are good and readable right now, not lack of stock availability. There was a long, long, long period…10 years…when they were just horrible tripe that nobody wanted (laughter). And now they’ve got really good creative teams on them, strong editorial directions. Of course the sales are going to be up in that context, but that doesn’t mean the policies to sell those comics to the retailers are necessarily wise or smart ones.

 

Jamie: Something else Jemas pointed out was that he thought the industry’s problems mainly stemmed from bad books. Do you think it was just bad books that hurt the industry for all those years?

Brian Hibbs: No, not at all. There’s bad books, bad stores, escalating price points, late shipping, inconsistent creators — all of these things play into it equally, I think. I don’t think you really can go, “Oh, it’s just bad comics.” Certainly looking at the sales charts, quality is not always a one-to-one relationship to sales. I’m sure you and I can both name any number of books that are excellent, superb comic books that just don’t sell very well in the average comic shop. I think that a lot of the problem is that most of the retailers do not appear to be stocking the wide range of material that would appeal to a wide range of people. They tend to focus primarily on the collectors and superhero completists. That’s certainly how this business, the direct market, evolved. I would tend to think bad stores are just as equal in the equation as bad content.

The real problem with the comics industry, as it stands at this moment, is there are simply not enough venues for you to buy comics in. There’s what? Three and a half thousand comic shops across this whole country? That’s really not very many at all, and more than that, the majority of them are concentrated in the big cities. There’s whole stretches of the country where you can go a hundred miles and there’s not a comic shop anywhere. Certainly there would be people interested in reading comics in those markets that aren’t being properly served. Even worse though, and this is going to sound a little arrogant and one thing I don’t like about interviews is you can’t see that I’m smiling when I say this, but about a year ago I did a tour of all the stores in San Francisco and went around looking at each one. I was looking for ideas mostly cause good retailers always learn from each other. But I realized that I don’t really have any “competition” in comic shops around San Francisco. Most of the stores here sell DC, Marvel and Image and that’s that, and that’s all they sell. They are much more focused on collectors only, and the stores remain small I believe because of that. Nobody in San Francisco has anywhere near the trade paperback selection that we do, except for Virgin. They’re the only ones that I would call my “competition” and they’re a media store or whatever. You don’t think of them as a place to go buy comic books, necessarily.

So I think the largest part of the problem is that there’s not enough good quality retailers out there. If someone does have an interest in comics that’s spurred by a movie or something else outside of comics, they’re probably not going to find what they want, in an environment that they want to shop in, because the direct market simply doesn’t have enough stores to give that to them. Outside of the direct market, you’re getting more and more venues that are beginning to carry graphic novels and trades, presented in a way that will appeal to people who aren’t interested in walking into a comic book shop every seven days to see what’s new that week. But again, I still think that it’s difficult if you’re a potential new consumer to just find a place to buy comics. When I was a kid growing up in New York, every little corner store had a rack of comics. That’s how I got into comics and everybody I know got into comics. We’ve lost the feeder mechanism to bring people into the marketplace, which is just a terrible shame.

 

Jamie: What sort of feeder mechanism should replace the one that we lost?

Brian Hibbs: Well, I think one of the problems is there is not enough of an incentive for new people to be opening comic shops. We also need the newsstands, there’s no doubt about it. In fact, I would be happy if newsstands went back to being 80-90% of comic sales, I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing at all. I don’t know that’s going to happen because the amount of money a non-comics store can make off comics, seems to be generally limited in terms of periodicals. In terms of the perennial, the paperback, I mean obviously every bookstore in America should be carrying comics, some have done very, very well with them. In terms of the direct market, the main thing is to provide more incentives and a better business climate to which to show new entrepreneurs that it is possible to actually make money, to be successful selling comic books. I easily think we could double the number of comic book shops in this country and we wouldn’t even come close to meeting the demand that’s out there. And I think unfortunately, a lot of mechanisms in this business are really not geared towards making retailers any money. I do pretty well running a comic book shop, I’m not rich or anything. I don’t think there is a rich comic book retailer in this country (laughter). But certainly, if people are willing to work hard and really have a passion and desire for the form, it’s a business I would absolutely encourage people to jump into.

 

Jamie: Bill Jemas thinks that the most successful comic shops are the ones that carry the most Marvel Comics. Do you agree?

Brian Hibbs: Well, pretty clearly not (laughter).

 

Jamie: No?

Brian Hibbs: As far as I am aware, as of my last conversation with Diamond on the subject, I am the largest single comic account in San Francisco. San Francisco is one of the largest markets for comics in the country, and Marvel is a fairly low proportion of my business. Marvel is certainly an important publisher, is certainly a publisher that you shouldn’t go, “Agghh… I don’t want this,” but to say that you can not be successful, which is certainly the implication there, without Marvel Comics, is an utter fallacy.

 

Jamie: What do you think the most successful comic shops carry, then?

Brian Hibbs: The most successful comic shops carry a wide and diverse range of material that appeals to both their regular ongoing customers, and to civilians as well. Regardless of who publishes that material.

 

Jamie: Okay. Here is another quote from Bill Jemas from the same interview. It says, “On average, Marvel Comics sell more than twice as fast as a DC book and nearly 3 times as fast as an Image book and – are you ready – Over 10 times faster than the average indy book.” Has this been true in your experience?

Brian Hibbs: No, and I don’t even know where those numbers come from. I saw that and tried to figure out exactly what he was talking about. I think he was talking about average print runs. The problem is, when you’re looking at average print runs in the direct market, what is reported is initial orders only. For example, he said “twice a DC book.” Yeah, that’s probably true if you count all the newsstand-oriented comics DC does. Like the children books, which sell you know, ten thousand or less copies in the direct market because they’re not really geared to the direct market, they’re geared outside the direct market. So you’re really comparing apples and oranges in that case. Certainly in my experience if you believe in a book as a retailer and you are honest and straightforward with your customers, the customers could not care less who publishes that comic book. It makes no difference whatsoever, you know? Do they say, “I want to see a movie tonight and I’m going to see a Warner Brothers movie?” No, they go see a movie they want to see, with stars they want to see in it, by directors they enjoy or possibly even the screen writer that they think is a good one. That… it’s just a silly statement on so many levels I don’t even know exactly how to address it (laughter). I can say that yeah, it doesn’t come out very often, but a book like Eightball we sell probably 2:1, 3:1 on our average Marvel Comic sale. But again, that’s not really comparing apples to apples which is the problem of doing comparative analysis in such a flippant manner.

 

Jamie: Regarding Marvels no-overprinting policy. They say it saves them money and helps the comic industry in a number of ways. I take it you disagree with this?

Brian Hibbs: Well, I don’t know if I disagree with whether it saves them money or not because I don’t have access to their accounting, but I don’t think it serves the comic industry in any particular way at all, no. The direct market was primarily based originally around back issues. The average comic shop had a difficult time getting new comics and it was primarily selling old back issue comics. Most retailers would stock specifically for back issues. In the store I worked at before opening Comix Experience, we would order another case for the warehouse on certain books. Because we knew over time we’d sell them, that just made financial sense. Now of course, comics were only 75 cents then so our unit costs were, oh 35 cents, something like that. So you can stock a whole lot more in that case when the unit costs were so low and the majority of your business is based around the back stock. But that changed. The market completely changed as prices went higher, people stopped buying back issues by-and- large. Or at least they stopped casually buying back issues. It used to be that someone would come into my store with 5 dollars and they spent 3 dollars on new comics, getting a few new comics or whatever, then they’d have 2 bucks left and they’d spend that on back issues, just to fill out a run. As prices escalated, that same 5 dollars only bought you one or two new comic books and people could no longer afford to keep up on all the new books that they wanted, let alone buying any back issues.

So, the tenor of ordering properly meant that the retailer had to become much more conservative in their ordering because there isn’t an automatic pipeline anymore to sell those comics that come off the stands. What I found over the last 6 or 7 years, lets say, if I do not sell the average comic book in the first 30 to 90 days, it does not sell. If I order 20 copies of something and I only sell 18 of them, I will probably not sell the remaining two copies any time in the near future. It may take 3 or 4 or 5 years. So when you look at the business from that point of view, from a historical here-is-where-we-came-from-and-why-are-circulation- numbers-dropping-so-much POV it suddenly doesn’t make any sense for a comic book retailer buying non-returnably to over-stock their store. Certainly an awful lot of stores went out of business in the 90’s because they were drowning in overstock. Some of the best stores in the country nearly went out of the business during the 90’s because their inventory went out of control. Thankfully, these guys figured it out and have reduced their extreme exposure. A no-overprint situation means all the burden is put on ordering and selling that book up-front the first time, even if you don’t have any appropriate information to do so.

I’ll give you an example. Prior to the relaunch with Grant Morrison on X-Men we hadn’t sold, um… lets say 70 copies, max, of any issue of X-Men in like the 5 year period proceeding that. On a Grant Morrison book, I’m pretty sure we never sold more than a 100 copies at any point. Same thing with a Frank Quietly book. So I looked at that, thought, “This book is going to be big and I’m going to order… what the hell, I’m going to order 125 copies, let’s do it.” That, I think, is showing confidence in it. And I sold out of those in two days. Now, I probably could have sold 200, I could have sold 250, I could have sold 300 copies. Who knows? But because there weren’t any re-orders available, I wasn’t able to find out and customers went without that comic book. Now I more than doubled what the previous month of X-Men was and I sold out in two days. I couldn’t get any more. I don’t see how that can be a good policy, by any means.

I suppose Jemas would argue the reason that I sold out so fast was because people thought it would be short printed or something, but I certainly don’t think so. This is certainly not information that we’ve been making a big push of in our store. I think it was just the right book at the right time. But it under-performed to what it could do. You look at something like Green Arrow where we again ordered very strong, we sold out instantly, we called up and DC had some more for us. And when they ran out of those they went and printed up some more…and they printed some more…and they printed some more a fourth time. Green Arrow is my best selling DC comic right now, at least superhero-wise. And that’s precisely because I could keep going back and getting more copies, and more copies, and more copies each time. And of course I learned to increase my order the next time. Going back to X-Men, I saw how fast the first one sold out and I put in an advance re-order for the second one and took it up to 200 copies. The book finally comes in, it’s 5 weeks late, which doesn’t help anything and I sold 125 copies. I got 75 copies sitting there that I’m not going to sell anytime soon. I just took a bath on that book. I just lost money on the second issue of X-Men because I couldn’t get any more of the first one! When you look at it in those terms, I don’t see how I’m not doing everything exactly as I’m supposed to. I’m showing, in fact, statistically more support for a publisher, Marvel Comics, than the average quote, unquote comic shop. The average comic shop went up by about 40% and I went up a 100%. I think that gives me a bit of justification in saying that no, this is not a good policy. You cost yourself sales, you cost me sales, you cost Grant Morrison, you cost the distributors money, I don’t see how anybody is going to be happy with that situation.
The thing is, overprinting isn’t as expensive as Bill would like people to believe.

 

Jamie: Or Joe Quesada?

Brian Hibbs: Well, with him too, I guess.

 

Jamie: I know you had a public back and forth with him on Newsarama about this as well.

Brian Hibbs: Absolutely. The thing is, that when you do an analysis of what it costs you to print a comic book, your initial costs are amortized against your initial print run. So if it costs you X dollars to print, X dollars for talent, and X dollars to ship it out, X dollars for the retailers, then your profit or loss comes out of your initial orders. To flip the switch and have the printers run off another 5,000 copies is costing virtually nothing, it’s costing them 10 or 15 cents a book. You don’t amortize the entire cost back against the increased print run, you see what I’m saying? In other words, instead of costing me $3,000 to print 10,000 copies, if I print 11,000 it’s costing me $3,100. There is a hundred dollar difference there, for the “extra” 1000 copies. It costs you far less to print the “extras” than it does to print the initial run.

So, from any point of view, running an overprint is a very economical and profitable thing. The last statistic I saw from several different publishers was that they only had to sell 1 out of 5 of those overprinted copies to make a profit. As long as you sell 20% of it that’s okay, you can throw the other 80% of it away and you still made more money than you would have made otherwise. So, I definitely don’t think it’s a good plan at all.

 

Jamie: I noticed in the memo that Marvel sent to retailers regarding the no-overprint policy, they mentioned that some of the books found their way into the black market. Did you ever have a problem with that?

Brian Hibbs: No, I haven’t. I seem to think that is much more of an east coast thing because they print them up there, right in Montreal. Right close to the border. And that’s where copies are going through. I know there is… I don’t want to say which retailer it is… but there is one retailer in Montreal who says it was and sometimes continues to be, a massive problem for them. Boxes falling off the truck, or whatever. But I don’t see that as an issue with overprinting per se, certainly the same thing can happen even if you’re not overprinting.

 

Jamie: More of a security issue.

Brian Hibbs: Exactly.

 

Jamie: There are several other things they said in that memo that I know you disagreed with in the past, I guess I’ll get you to comment on them publicly. They say they kept their prices at $2.25 while DC raised them to $2.50.

Brian Hibbs: Well, that’s demonstrably not so. At the time when they made that statement, if you went in and compared Marvel’s list of comics vs. DC’s list of comics, most of DC’s books were still $2.25. DC has any number of $1.99 books to try and act as feeder books. I mean mathematically, at the time, it was not so. But still Marvel prices a lot of books at $2.99 and $2.50 constantly. So I don’t know… I mean… statements like that makes me wonder about the press sometimes, that they just run a statement like that without even going and checking if it was true or not (laughter). When someone makes a statement you should go and fact- check it, before you print it as fact y’know? But that’s just me, I suppose.

 

Jamie: Marvel says as a result of their no overprint policy, they’ve been able to build an inventory of trade paper backs and keep them in print. But I’ve heard Marvel has been having some troubles keeping trade paper backs in print.

Brian Hibbs: Yes, Marvel has been pretty damn bad about keeping trade paperbacks in print. But again, you have to look at the right way of doing the business model on this. You don’t just print for your initial orders and plus an overage to cover for the next couple of months. It doesn’t make any sense to do that. It makes a lot more sense to print a 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 year supply of the books because your unit costs are going to be that much lower. If you go back to press on another 3 to 5 thousand copies or whatever those numbers they are printing on, it costs you so much more than if you increase your print run to 10 to 15 thousand, if you see what I mean. It doesn’t make any mathematical sense. Now, if the argument is by not overprinting single comics then we can afford to print more trade paperbacks, that seems to me to be a fallacious argument on the face of it. Look at the disparity of the cover prices on those. As I say, when it costs oh.. lets say 15 cents to print off an extra copy of a periodical comic book on a 15 dollar paperback you’re looking more at a 2 to 3 dollar cost, lets say. My numbers may be a little off there but you would have to be overprinting by a really, really, really enormous margin to even come close to the math on that working out. Again, the problem is that Marvel has been doing a pretty bad job of keeping trade paperbacks in print, in stock and available. I mean, right now you can’t buy Marvels, the Kurt Busiek-Alex Ross book. That, if anything, is a perfect thing to hand to someone that hasn’t read comics in a long time, and to get them excited about superheroes and Marvel superheroes, in particular. It’s the namesake book of the line and it hasn’t been in print for something like 4 or 5 months! That, to me, is just absurd (laughter).

 

Jamie: A number of people think the no-overprint policy is mainly designed to enhance the collectability of a sold out comic. Does this help you at all?

Brian Hibbs: I don’t think it helps anyone, really. Look, comics are collectible because of supply and demand. Placing an artificial ceiling on the supply is… well, I think it is manipulative to the marketplace. I was always taught that the market itself should decide what is collectible and what is not.

Why would a publisher be in the business of trying to manufacture collectibles? They don’t see any money from that. Marvel doesn’t get a piece of E-Bay action. If the logic is, “This makes the initial orders higher”, well, I really challenge that. Morrison’s first issue of X- Men took a 40% leap (though the numbers went back down by the third one to only 20% above pre-Morrison numbers). I see that more of a function of the talent involved, rather than any false limitation of the print run. Besides, if it really was working then why are the Ultimates all down, across the board, from April to August? Spidey dropped 4%, X- Men 6% and Team-Up a staggering 22%. That wouldn’t be happening if they were truly collectible.

One other thing to take into account, is that Marvel’s plan seems to be to TPB their best-selling books as soon as humanly possible. Often before 30 days has passed since the last single issue. Now historically, TPB release of material deflates and softens the collectible value of the original issues.

 

Jamie: They also mention posting sold out comics on their webpage as a positive thing, do you think that’s good?

Brian Hibbs: Sure, why not? I don’t know that I believe that the experience of reading a comic on the web, especially one with the kind of pop- up pages the Marvels have, is even remotely the same as reading a printed comic, but anything that exposes our material to potential new customers is probably a good thing.

What I’m curious about is whether or not it actually helps drive sales. Like how many hits they get, and if they can point to any information that it is actually moving more units. Reading the sales charts, no, I don’t think it does. At least in no measurable way.

 

Jamie: Marvel has also been focusing on movies, hoping that they’ll increase the sales of their comics. In your experience, does comic movies help the sales of comic books?

Brian Hibbs: Virtually never, outside of a quick aberrational blip. What it can possibly do is translate to a greater awareness of a character or a concept in general… but it doesn’t appear to sell any more comic books. A quick look at the historical sales charts will confirm that.

There are certain exceptions, of course: Ghost World has had a significant impact on sales of that TPB. Our unit sales in that case have increased tenfold over what they were before the film. But that’s a rare exception.

 

Jamie: Bill Jemas seems real big on promoting the Ultimate, especially Ultimate Spider-Man as a good starting on point for new comic readers.

Brian Hibbs: It is a reasonable one. The story is well crafted, clear and easy to follow, and gives a good starting point for someone interested in super-hero comics. The thing is, the average non-comics reader isn’t particularly interested in reading super-hero comics. You’re much better off handing them a Ghost World, or a Maus, something that more accurately speaks to real experiences in their lives. Having said that, sure, I could think of far worse “entry points.”

 

Jamie: Including female readers?

Brian Hibbs: People are people, regardless of their sex. All things considered though, I’d hand a new female reader Ghost World, I think, over Spider-Man. The only real female roles in Spidey are “wife” and “girlfriend.”

 

Jamie: Jemas recommends Marvel-hating indy fans to read Elektra as a date comic. Think that’ll work?

Brian Hibbs: I’m not sure that Elektra is even remotely “indy flavored” (whatever that might mean). It is a decent enough comic, but within the Marvel line, I think I’d give an “indy fan” Morrison’s X-Men, or maybe X-Force by Milligan and Allred. Those seem to me, to be closer to that sensibility.

One thing though, and this is coming from a store where we sell as many “indy” comics as we do “mainstream”… the customers aren’t really that separate. It is very, very, very common for the cat who buys JLA or X-Men to also pick up a copy of Peepshow or Eightball or whatever.

 

Jamie: What books would you recommend as beginner books for males and females?

Brian Hibbs: More things than I could cover in an interview! I’d say it depends on who exactly that customer is. One of the tricks you learn in retail is finding out what a person’s interests are, and then matching a book to that. Comics are wide and diverse enough that I’m pretty confident I have something for anyone who walks in the door. Our massive and continued growth, strikingly above industry norms, should justify that statement.

 

Jamie: Marvel has recently announced an incentive for their TPB line. Saying, if retailers order 14 of their 16 TPB, you’ll get an additional discount going by the amount of books you order. An example being if you order two of each, you get an extra 2% discount. Is this an incentive that most retailers can actually use?

Brian Hibbs: Sure, I think so. The nice thing about this plan is they’ve set their quantities fairly low. That extra 2% comes with only 2 copies bought, and that is, I think, a good tool to use to get the average store to actually stock TPBs in the first place. The only problem with the plan is that they’re mixing in reprints of OP titles into that mix… a few of which had a low enough sales velocity in the first place to go Out of Print.

But anything that encourages more retailers to get into the book side of things is, I think, a very fine idea. TPB sales are the engine that is driving my business, and are a much better business model than non-returnable periodical comics. The reason for this is Just-In- Time ordering. Rather than investing real heavily on untested “floppy” comics, you can stock and restock the periodical. Well, assuming the publisher actually has them available, that is.

When you’re establishing yourself and sell two copies of Watchmen every month, when you sell one of those copies you can order another one. You’re only out of anything for a week, at maximum, at any time and your constantly turning over your cash flow in a real respectful way. This is a good business model.

 

Jamie: Now there were some things that Jemas said that seem to be positive, progressive things like he thinks comics stores should be racking by content rather than alphabetically.

Brian Hibbs: Oh absolutely. We’ve done that for years. Now having said that, some of the smartest retailers in the business vehemently disagree with that. I know Jim Hanley really strongly believes he gets much, much, much more great sales out of racking alphabetically. And I believe that’s true for Jim. As I was saying earlier in the interview, no two stores are really alike. I believe that genre racking is getting me increased sales over what alphabetical racking would. Jim feels differently, more power to him. But yeah, I’m definitely with Jemas on that one. I think that’s a good and smart way to rack material.
[Note: Jim Hanley owns Jim Hanley’s Universe at 4 West 33rd Street, New York, NY]

[Jim Hanley’s store is now called JHU Comic Books and has since moved to 32 East 32nd Street, New York, NY]

Jamie: Bill mentioned Marvel is trying to get new readers by giving away free online comics and giving away free samples. Examples given are the 500,000 Spider-Man comics within a game magazine, free Wolverine and X-Men Comics when the X-Men Movie came out, and in the future the 1 million Spider-Man comics going out through the Buster Brown Shoe Stores.

Brian Hibbs: Well, it’s been in the future for over a year now, so I don’t know (laughter) how much I trust that last one there. I think giving out comics is probably the smartest thing you could possibly do. Having said that, I have never, not once ever, seen anyone come into my store because of the giveaways that Marvel has done. I don’t know if… this is entirely possible that it’s just a regional thing. I do not believe that they gave out any X-Men comics at any San Francisco showing of the X-Men. I mean, I was there opening day and I didn’t see any comics being given away. I’m sure it’s happening somewhere, and I think it’s a great plan, again I think it’s a really intelligent and smart thing to do. The best way is, you know, “The first one’s free, kid,” particularly if the content of what you’re giving away is good quality content. That’s why I think giving away Ultimate Spider-Man would be a really smart thing to do. Giving away some bad X-Men comics could actually hurt you at that point. If someone comes out and says, “That was a great movie, what’s this free comic? Ewww… it’s not very good at all.” I don’t know if you remember the TV Guide X-Men insert?

 

Jamie: Yeah, I don’t think I got it, but I heard about it.

Brian Hibbs: Yeah, it was really, really, really bad. It was everything that was wrong with the Chris Claremont X-Men. Just page after page of people coming in and saying, “My name is this and here is my power!” and you know it wasn’t interesting at all. I’m sure that turned more people off from comics than it could ever have gotten them to come into a store and say, “Hey, this is interesting, lets check this out.” So you have to be very careful when giving stuff away for free (laughter). To make sure it’s good, quality, appropriate material.

Here’s the thing though: if you’re doing these sort of giveaways… shouldn’t you be informing the local retailers so they can capitalize upon it? If they did giveaway X-Men comics at the X-Men movie, I sure didn’t know about it.

 

Jamie: Marvel says their goal over the next 5 years is to double their sales. Do you think they can do that?

Brian Hibbs: Yeah, sure. Sure. I mean, I don’t think they can do it as long as they have a policy in place that’s says once we sell out that’s it, period. You know? (laughter). I don’t think that’s going to happen until they remove the no overprint program. I don’t think it can happen. But otherwise? It’s completely doable, completely doable. It’s just a matter of putting out good comics, supporting the stores, letting people know that the comics exist, getting people excited about the content of the material. Yeah, Marvel’s got no where to go but up right now and I think that’s a good thing. What’s interesting particularly in my exchanges with Joe Quesada, we had a bunch of e-mails back and forth and I was really struck with the impression that they seem to think I’m like anti-Marvel or something. And nothing could be further than the truth, I want Marvel to succeed, you know? I want as many good quality publishers producing good, quality material out there doing as many strong things as they possibly can, in my store. But, I don’t like being called an idiot. I don’t like being told I’m full of self-loathing. I don’t like a policy that is very demonstrably costing me sales. All those things are very negative and horrible things and when I stand up and go, “Hey this is wrong” it’s from that point of view. Not because I hate Marvel or I’m anti-Marvel or something like that. That would be silly, I’m a comic book retailer, it’s my job to sell comic books. When the publisher gets in my way of selling those comic books, then we’re going to have a problem.

 

Jamie: Just out of curiosity, what’s your IQ score?

Brian Hibbs: What’s my IQ score?

 

Jamie: (laughter)

Brian Hibbs: I don’t remember. When I took the IQ test I was like 13, or something like that? But I qualified for Mensa, if that counts? But I don’t know, I don’t care. IQ numbers?

 

Jamie: Sorry, that was just a question I had to ask (laughter).

Brian Hibbs: That was a very ill considered statement on Bill’s part. And I think he made it much worse by issuing the second press release saying, “Yeah, I’m fooling around but oh, by the way, you’re still idiots.” You know, that’s how I read it. I didn’t want to read it that way but that’s… you know, here we are… comic shop retailers work really, really, really, really hard and we don’t make very much money. Not that we’re poor or anything like that, but then to have a some guy go, “Well if you don’t agree with me, than you’re a dope.” You know? Pfft. That doesn’t help anything. That doesn’t help morale. And particularly coming out after getting through the 90’s, morale is an issue that… if I were a publisher, morale would be an issue I would be very, very concerned with. I wouldn’t want you retailers going, “I don’t know if this guy is someone I want to do business with.” It’s just dumb.

 

Jamie: I understand that Marvel recently had another retailer press conference, one that you suggested to Joe Quesada at San Diego. Within this, they openly admitted that they only invited retailers that had the strongest growth of Marvel sales and they left you out of it. How does that color your view of them?

Brian Hibbs: Well, I don’t know the specifics of the statements that Bill or Joe or whoever made at the conference call, so I don’t know what their standard was. I will say though, that their most vocal critics like me, like Joe Field, like Matt Lehman, who were invited to the first retailer conference, were not invited to this one. How does that color my perception? I don’t know, I think it makes them cowardly, is what I think it does. I think that if you can’t have an intelligent conversation about a policy, particularly now that we’ve had some time behind us and we can start to judge if that policy has or has not worked.
I would point out that the SCC filings that Marvel just made as of last Tuesday (from when we are doing this interview) show that from quarter to quarter, from 2000 to 2001 that Marvel Publishing sales have gone down. They haven’t gone up, they’ve gone down.
I would point to the very sales charts from April to August, that every single one of those months, the vast majority of Marvel Comics have dropped in sales from month to month. Nineteen of the twenty-five books that are on all four month’s worth of sales charts have dropped. To me, this says, “Well, this policy isn’t really working is it?” Yeah, absolutely, X-Men has gone up 25%, or whatever and that is a great thing, that is a wonderful thing for them. But Avengers has dropped by 6% and Daredevil dropped by 15% and Tangled Web dropped by 32%. So, I think at this point you should be willing, as a publisher, to look at what the actual impact is. As opposed to what you believe, or what you want to have happen. I think it’s really important to look at those things critically. The smart publishers and the smart distributors (well, which is pretty much Diamond at this point but…) have come to realize that critical thought is a good thing and something that should be embraced. That if we go to them, me and any number of retailers go, “We don’t think it’s a good idea,” they’ll go, “Okay. We’re going to think about it again. We’re going to actually look at this carefully and ask ourselves, “does our plan make sense or does our plan not make sense?” If we still think it makes sense as a publisher than let us go back to the retailers and go “Here’s really why we think it’s making sense and here’s some tangible, provable things that we can point to.” Marvel doesn’t have any of that right now as far as I can tell, besides just blind rah-rah. “No-No, it’s working. Look, X-Mens up!” (laughter)

To me that doesn’t tell the whole story, that tells a very small part of the story. How much would X-Men be up if we could keep going back to the well and keep getting more copies? Frankly, I think X-Men could have done 200,000 copies rather than the 150,000 or so that it did. I really do, I really believe strongly that it could have done 200,000 copies. But we’ll never know now. And if I were a creator, I’d be really upset about that. you know? “Wait a minute, what do you mean? There’s people who want my comic and you won’t sell it to them?” (laughter). That’s silly. So, to sorta back up there, I think it is extremely short sighted to only invite people to a conference call that are there to, let us say, be “positive.” Unflinchingly so. I think it’s always a good thing to have dissenting voices and to listen to them carefully and pay attention to what they have to say. I would love it, I would adore it in fact, if Joe or Bill came into my store, walked around and went “Y’know, we think if you did this, your store would be a better place.” And I would listen to that. I listen every time anybody comes into my store and says, “You know, I don’t think this is right, I think you should do this.” I look at it, I evaluate it, I think about it and most of the time I actually end up trying people’s suggestions. You know, that’s how you get better. You don’t get better by going “Oh, you can’t come because you’re a big meany.”

 

Jamie: At the same conference call with a number of your peers, Bill Jemas referred to you as “Hairy Neck” and kept calling Joe Field’s Flying Colors store “Failing Colors.” How do you respond to something like that?

Brian Hibbs: I’m not sure, honestly. I think it is incredibly juvenile to resort to name-calling, particularly in front of a group of peers. Several of the people involved as participants called me to tell me how ashamed they felt hearing that. I don’t think it is good business to insult your customers.

 

Jamie: Switching topics a bit here, I understand there is a weekly War Machine Comic that’s coming out, part of the experimentation that Marvel is doing. And because of it being weekly it’s very hard for retailers to order it in proper numbers. Can you explain to the readers why that is?

Brian Hibbs: Okay, because we’re basically ordering sight unseen and we’ll probably end up ordering all 12 issues before the first issue even ships. Now this is assuming it ships on time. I’d like to believe that if they’re doing weekly comics they can do them on time. But Marvel has been very, very, very bad on timely shipping recently. When you order a comic you’re… if you’re a good retailer, you keep up to date on what you sell of your comics. So, let’s say for War Machine, I’m going to look at it and go this is going to sell relatively in some sort of proportion, be it up or down or in the middle of, lets say, Iron Man. That gives me a good benchmark to work from. But War Machine is black and white. But it’s weekly, it doesn’t have any of the same creators that Iron Man has, it is a character that has failed in his own series in the past and that people didn’t appear to like very much. So, you look at that and you’re going, “Well, do I order 50% of Iron Man? Do I order 70%? or do I order 110%?” There is no way to know. We’re guessing. Every time a comic book retailer places an order they are basically guessing. They’re educated guesses to be sure, we have data we can look back at. I can show you in cycle sheets where books just take sudden shifts whether it’s up or whether it’s down for no reason. It’s the exact same creator team from month to month, there is nothing that changed about the book, not a character has changed or anything like that, and all of a sudden a third of the customers go, “I don’t want this anymore,” all at once (laughter). And there is just no way to predict these things. Ordering comics is not a science, it’s an art. It’s like trying to see the future. What are my customers going to want 3 months from now? And it’s much, much worse in the case of a weekly book because there are so many issues you have to order in advance. Now, a normal comic book, if we’re lucky, we only have to order maybe two, maybe three issues in advance before the first one comes and we can actually see whether it sold or not. In this case, we’re basically going to have to order all of them. If not, it’s all but 3 and even then you can’t really tell from issue #1 what a series is going to sell for issue #12. You can sorta tell, but not really. I don’t know, is that making sense? I never know how to answer these questions, because for me, comics retailing is so ingrained that do it without thinking.

 

Jamie: I think you explained it as best you could, I understand it.

Brian Hibbs: Okay. Well, if you understand it, hopefully your readers will.

 

Jamie: I know some retailers have been little squeamish on selling some of Marvels non-code approved books to kids. An example being the eyeless Wolverine issue. What are your feelings on that?

Brian Hibbs: I think in an awful lot of communities, retailers really, really, really, really need to be squeamish about doing those kinds of things. Because community standards are the important issue when it comes to the acceptability of selling a book. I am blessed, well not blessed because I’ve very specifically opened my store here, but I’m blessed by being in San Francisco. Not only in San Francisco, but in an extremely liberal part of San Francisco. So those are not particular concerns that I have. But yeah, I would be very concerned if I was in a more conservative area with having that comic or any number of things that have been announced or have come out. Because if just one wrong person sees it, you can lose your store. It’s entirely possible. Just look at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and look at all the retailers that have gone to jail, or who have lost their store or lost thousands of dollars fighting conservative forces. In something that is especially perceived as children’s entertainment by the vast majority of America, IE. Superhero comics, I think that becomes an even bigger issue to be aware of. I would not consciously sell that issue of X-Force or that issue of Wolverine with the eyeball to a child. I wouldn’t do it and I’m in San Francisco. How much worse it must be if your in, I don’t know, Iowa or something like that? Something else of note is that I used to be on the board of directors for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. And at no point was Marvel ever interested in supporting the CBLDF or what it stood for. At the time their reasoning was something very close to, “Well you know, we just don’t produce comics like that.” And now they are producing comics like that and I will be very curious to see if a store does get arrested for selling some of this material, what Marvel will do. I’ll be very curious indeed.

 

Jamie: I wonder if some of this comes from our own ideas of what kids should and shouldn’t be seeing vs. what Network TV keeps showing. Some think we should just follow their lead and just think if they’re doing it, we can do it too.

Brian Hibbs: Well, yeah, maybe. I don’t know I really want to wade into the censorship issue or the appropriateness issue because frankly, I think that’s a decision the parents have to make. The parents need to decide what they are comfortable with their children viewing. In something like that first issue of X-Force, which was an excellent comic by the way, I really liked that comic a lot… but you know, it’s got a character that’s ripped apart by a machine gun and his guts are leaking out of his body. I mean, it’s shown and it’s very visual and I don’t think you’d even see that on Network Television. I think it was really irresponsible, particularly in a comic which had been completely and utterly safe for children for 115, or whatever, previous issues, to sudden have massive eviscerations (laughter). But I really think it’s… I don’t really have a problem with Marvel having their own rating system as long as it’s consistently and consciously applied. I don’t know that it is and that’s my big concern. As far as I understand from reading their press release on it, if I recall correctly the Ultimate Marvel line was supposed to be G rated comics, as it were. And I think there are things in there that are probably not G rated and aren’t being thought about. Things like the Kingpin crushing some guy’s head. Yeah okay, it happens off panel but if I recall correctly there’s a spurt of blood. You know, you feel it and I personally wouldn’t go, “Well, that’s a G rated thing”. Again I’m in liberal San Francisco, so I don’t have to worry about these kinds of things, thank God (laughter).

Hibbs Interview Responses:
Last months interview with Brian Hibbs got a lot of traffic and reactions around the web. We decided to follow up on it by asking for responses by those involved. First we made the offer to Bill Jemas as he was the most talked about person in the interview.

Bill Jemas responded with:
By the way Brian Hibbs is just Paul Levitz spokesmodel – so you could go ahead and attribute his opinions directly to the Sultan.

We talked to Paul Levitz and he replied with No Comment.

Brian Hibbs replied with:
Why do I have this horrible thought of me wearing pearls and high heels, and doing that Vanna White hand-gesture thing?
Geez, I could have lived without that image in my brain!
‘Spokesmodel’? Can’t the man even insult correctly? First ‘hairy neck’ (huh?), now this!
Anyway I have to assume that it is only since Mr Jemas took over Marvel Comics, that he started reading Comics and Games Retailer, where my opinion column Tilting at Windmills runs.

If he had read the column prior to that, he would see that I have strongly criticized the policies of all and any companies (including, yah, DC Comics) that work against the best interest of comic book retailers. And, of course, when DC does dumb things in the future (and they will, such is the nature of things), I’ll be there to discuss their mistakes with my readers.

And, of course, as the older columns continue to go up on www.comixexperience.com your readers (and Mr. Jemas!) will be able to see that for yourself.
I’d like to think better of my fellow man, but it seems to me the reason that Mr. Jemas dismisses cogent and specific criticism with random insults is that he can’t defend his own position in any other manner.

It frustrates me as a comics retailer that the COO of Marvel Comics is determined to follow policies that are pretty demonstrably costing both them, and myself, sales.
It frustrates me as a person that he has to resort to name-calling when faced with rational debate on the subject.

 

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