Starting With Nimona and Ending With Superman
July 12, 2017 3:45 PM Subscribe
Yes, it's another list of "all time bests" to be debated, disputed, dissected, and deemed various levels of unworthiness. NPR Books' Summer Reader Poll 2017: 100 Favorite Comics And Graphic Novels got over 7000 different nominated works, whittled down to a hunnerd by a shockingly four-fifths female judging panel (Including G. Willow Wilson and C. Spike Trotman). Yes, there are subcategories for Superheroes, Newspaper Comics and Web Comics (which semi-oddly includes Homestuck and The Nib). Let the WebArguments begin!
Checked first for Finder.
Yep, OK to read the rest.
posted by Bee'sWing at 3:58 PM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
Yep, OK to read the rest.
posted by Bee'sWing at 3:58 PM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
Wow, that list is really skewed towards comics that were published in the past few years.
For comparison, here is The Comic Journal’s 100 best (English language) comics of the 20th Century, made in 2000.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 4:05 PM on July 12, 2017 [6 favorites]
For comparison, here is The Comic Journal’s 100 best (English language) comics of the 20th Century, made in 2000.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 4:05 PM on July 12, 2017 [6 favorites]
Oh wow, Megahex got a shoutout. So unputdownable, so queasily unsavory. <3
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 4:08 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 4:08 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Surprised that Achewood didn't make the cut, although not feeling fighty about it.
Good for them for deciding to leave out Dave Sim, R. Crumb and other works that haven't aged well.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:14 PM on July 12, 2017 [4 favorites]
Good for them for deciding to leave out Dave Sim, R. Crumb and other works that haven't aged well.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:14 PM on July 12, 2017 [4 favorites]
From TFA:
This isn't meant as a comprehensive list of the "best" or "most important" or "most influential" comics, of course. It's a lot more personal and idiosyncratic than that, because we asked folks to name the comics they loved. That means you'll find enormously popular mainstays like Maus and Fun Home jostling for space alongside newer work that's awaiting a wider audience.posted by Pallas Athena at 4:19 PM on July 12, 2017 [9 favorites]
As an old lady who read comic books as a kid in the 50's, either handed down from older cousins or read at the barber shop while my brother was getting his hair cut, I was surprised and pleased to see an old favorite on this list. I loved Carl Barks' duck comics, especially Uncle Scrooge. My husband loved them too, still has a collection of them. My favorite was the one about earthquakes being caused by little round creatures called Teries and Firmies rolling around deep under the earth in their subterranean home. My mother was a teacher and would not let us buy comic books, due to the 50's "comics are evil" scare, but I guess she did not care if we got them for free.
posted by mermayd at 4:26 PM on July 12, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by mermayd at 4:26 PM on July 12, 2017 [9 favorites]
Nimona was optioned by 20th Century Fox, and it now has a release date for 2020, which is a good sign that it’s out of development hell, and Fox has committed to it.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 4:31 PM on July 12, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 4:31 PM on July 12, 2017 [6 favorites]
Definitely a lot of classics in this list, which is not a bad thing.
At first I was like, "Will this be the list that finally shits on Watchmen?" but nope, it's actually a pretty balanced synopsis. And it got better from there even.
posted by GuyZero at 4:43 PM on July 12, 2017
At first I was like, "Will this be the list that finally shits on Watchmen?" but nope, it's actually a pretty balanced synopsis. And it got better from there even.
posted by GuyZero at 4:43 PM on July 12, 2017
From the Negative Zone:
so goodbye to things like the work of R. Crumb, and books like Cerebus and The Spirit. Towering achievements all, but tainted by racism and sexism
Yes, Cerebrus was sexist, but mostly it was impenetrable with a plot that makes War and Peace look like The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
posted by GuyZero at 4:45 PM on July 12, 2017 [4 favorites]
so goodbye to things like the work of R. Crumb, and books like Cerebus and The Spirit. Towering achievements all, but tainted by racism and sexism
Yes, Cerebrus was sexist, but mostly it was impenetrable with a plot that makes War and Peace look like The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
posted by GuyZero at 4:45 PM on July 12, 2017 [4 favorites]
Somehow Shade the Changing Man made the list! It's my favourite comic of all time, I think, and as of the last time I checked all the best parts haven't been collected into graphic novels. After the American Scream storyline it just gets more twisted up in its own manic weirdness, and it keeps escalating the bizarre things that happen and their inevitable horrible consequences over its entire 60+ issue run and the whole of it is breathtaking. Any way you can get ahold of the complete series, I cannot recommend it enough.
posted by spindle at 4:47 PM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by spindle at 4:47 PM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
I haven't read too many comics so I haven't read much on this list, but if I could read Through the Woods every October for the first time again, I would take whatever the monkey paw tradeoffs were.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 4:48 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 4:48 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm sad that Digger didn't make the list, but happy to see Zita the Space Girl, which is wonderful.
posted by suelac at 4:58 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by suelac at 4:58 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm sad that Digger didn't make the list, but happy to see Zita the Space Girl, which is wonderful.
Our eight year old, who has been devouring graphic novels of late, has a particular affection for Zita. This list will give me lots of ideas of what to give her next. Thanks!
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:02 PM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
Our eight year old, who has been devouring graphic novels of late, has a particular affection for Zita. This list will give me lots of ideas of what to give her next. Thanks!
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:02 PM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
The one I would have loved to see on the list is Widdershins, but so many of my faves are on there that it seems churlish to complain.
posted by Pallas Athena at 5:15 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Pallas Athena at 5:15 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
While someday, and soon, perhaps even now, a deconstruction of pop culture written and illustrated by a woman will truly top the list, Nimona is not that vehicle. And I love Nimona with the heat of a million suns.
The sheer rage at seeing Watchmen and Chris Ware so high over Will Eisner, I mean, I love Nimona, I love Moore and Gibbons, I love the high weirdness that is Jimmy Corrigan...
Nimona is flat out great. Perhaps the greatest of our time. Noelle Stevenson is not Will Eisner great (unless we're talking about "The Spirit" in which she far occludes him. We aren't. We're talking about A Contract With God.)
I'm still not as mad at Nimona topping the list as I am at Watchmen topping Eisner. I will bet you cash money Moore and Gibbons both are, too.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:17 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
The sheer rage at seeing Watchmen and Chris Ware so high over Will Eisner, I mean, I love Nimona, I love Moore and Gibbons, I love the high weirdness that is Jimmy Corrigan...
Nimona is flat out great. Perhaps the greatest of our time. Noelle Stevenson is not Will Eisner great (unless we're talking about "The Spirit" in which she far occludes him. We aren't. We're talking about A Contract With God.)
I'm still not as mad at Nimona topping the list as I am at Watchmen topping Eisner. I will bet you cash money Moore and Gibbons both are, too.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:17 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
and... nothing from Charles Burns
posted by Auden at 5:29 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Auden at 5:29 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
And, OK, yes, the '80s, The Dark Knight Returns was better in every way in deconstructing myth than Watchmen. Moore just went nuts in a more friendly way in the '90s and beyond than Miller.
Gaiman and Ennis and Ellis in the '90s - Transmetropolitain is a snapshot of the '90s that you can apply to basically every half-decade since. The Showcase2000 brit-comic breeding ground was absolutely, and still is, a revanchist Boy's Club - the ones who escaped and became famous and successful were semi-secret ultra-lefties. (Paging Simon Bisley to the courtesy phone!)
We need a solid decade of women writing Judge Hershey shoving crims heads through walls to save the decent but somewhat reckless Judge Dredd, and those writers going onto their own recurring series...
Nah. Fuck that. Nimona. It's a start. A good one.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:38 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Gaiman and Ennis and Ellis in the '90s - Transmetropolitain is a snapshot of the '90s that you can apply to basically every half-decade since. The Showcase2000 brit-comic breeding ground was absolutely, and still is, a revanchist Boy's Club - the ones who escaped and became famous and successful were semi-secret ultra-lefties. (Paging Simon Bisley to the courtesy phone!)
We need a solid decade of women writing Judge Hershey shoving crims heads through walls to save the decent but somewhat reckless Judge Dredd, and those writers going onto their own recurring series...
Nah. Fuck that. Nimona. It's a start. A good one.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:38 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
I didn't get any sense these were ordered from best to worst, even within categories. i don't think Watchman "topped" anything here.
posted by radiopaste at 5:40 PM on July 12, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by radiopaste at 5:40 PM on July 12, 2017 [11 favorites]
My daughter is SO salty that there is not a sequel to Nimona. I need to pick up Zita, and I highly recommend Cat's Cradle by Jo Rioux, but another that hasn't got the sequel it deserves, and my child sorely needs.
posted by geek anachronism at 5:41 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by geek anachronism at 5:41 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
A bit surprised to not see any of Joe Sacco's work in the non-fiction stuff. His books on Bosnia and Palestine are top notch.
Also bummed to see none of Michael Kupperman's work in there. I mean, he technically writes graphic novels, but they're almost too absurd and funny to be considered comics.
posted by Philipschall at 6:06 PM on July 12, 2017 [4 favorites]
Also bummed to see none of Michael Kupperman's work in there. I mean, he technically writes graphic novels, but they're almost too absurd and funny to be considered comics.
posted by Philipschall at 6:06 PM on July 12, 2017 [4 favorites]
Digger topped my list of regrettable omissions, and I also feel that a newspaper comics list that included Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes should've also included the gone-too-soon Cul-De-Sac. It represented the last step in the obvious evolution of 'comics with kids in them'. Still, any funny papers list that excluded Dilbert and Garfield had to be doing something RIGHT.
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:16 PM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:16 PM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
I think the complete lack of shoujo or josei manga is a huge, disappointing oversight here.
It's really better than most lists of this sort, but it's kind of Comics 101 and skews toward commonly available stuff -- so, mostly stuff that's fairly current and in print. That makes sense for what this list is.
And mostly, I guess, I have very little "why is that on there and not this?" with this list. It's fine. I'm sure it will lead people to discover a lot of cool stuff they haven't. I know it's not for me, though, because I mostly know of -- and have read a lot of -- everything here.
Sometimes I just want a comics list that digs a little bit deeper and weirder. But I have places to get that.
posted by darksong at 6:48 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's really better than most lists of this sort, but it's kind of Comics 101 and skews toward commonly available stuff -- so, mostly stuff that's fairly current and in print. That makes sense for what this list is.
And mostly, I guess, I have very little "why is that on there and not this?" with this list. It's fine. I'm sure it will lead people to discover a lot of cool stuff they haven't. I know it's not for me, though, because I mostly know of -- and have read a lot of -- everything here.
Sometimes I just want a comics list that digs a little bit deeper and weirder. But I have places to get that.
posted by darksong at 6:48 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
This is . . . well-timed, as I am within walking distance of my favorite comic shop which only happens three or four times a year.
This is also poorly timed, because I wasn't expecting to drop a hundred bucks on comics this trip, but so it goes.
posted by thecaddy at 7:00 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
This is also poorly timed, because I wasn't expecting to drop a hundred bucks on comics this trip, but so it goes.
posted by thecaddy at 7:00 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
I just want a comics list that digs a little bit deeper and weirder.
As noted, the list was from NPR, so 'shallow and un-weird' is to be expected, but I think Spike and Willow on the selection committee tried to dig deeper... or dive deeper, even if mostly what we got was a cannonball that soaked everyone around.
I'm just glad Squirrel Girl made the superheroes list. I wish Minna Sundberg's first completed work, A Redtail's Dream, were there instead of the work-in-progress SSSS, but glad Evan Dahm's current Vattu is there instead of his first work Rice Boy. And happy to see Carl Barks, Walt Kelly, E.C. Segar, George Herriman, Leonard Starr and Wally Wood & MAD's Original Idiots represented.
Yep, definitely a mixed bag, but a full shopping bag.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:20 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
As noted, the list was from NPR, so 'shallow and un-weird' is to be expected, but I think Spike and Willow on the selection committee tried to dig deeper... or dive deeper, even if mostly what we got was a cannonball that soaked everyone around.
I'm just glad Squirrel Girl made the superheroes list. I wish Minna Sundberg's first completed work, A Redtail's Dream, were there instead of the work-in-progress SSSS, but glad Evan Dahm's current Vattu is there instead of his first work Rice Boy. And happy to see Carl Barks, Walt Kelly, E.C. Segar, George Herriman, Leonard Starr and Wally Wood & MAD's Original Idiots represented.
Yep, definitely a mixed bag, but a full shopping bag.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:20 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
Good for them for deciding to leave out Dave Sim, R. Crumb and other works that haven't aged well.
Sim belongs in a separate category altogether. Cerebus is the epitome of a flawed masterpiece with equal emphasis on each word. Few cartoonists will ever approach Sim's mastery of the craft of comics storytelling and had he died about halfway through, we'd be evaluating his work differently.
I'm a tad surprised Lone Wolf and Cub showed up on NPR's list. I consider it another flawed masterpiece. Tons of craft, but drifting too far into rapey, lurid pulp-for-audience's-titilation's sake.
posted by Eikonaut at 7:20 PM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
Sim belongs in a separate category altogether. Cerebus is the epitome of a flawed masterpiece with equal emphasis on each word. Few cartoonists will ever approach Sim's mastery of the craft of comics storytelling and had he died about halfway through, we'd be evaluating his work differently.
I'm a tad surprised Lone Wolf and Cub showed up on NPR's list. I consider it another flawed masterpiece. Tons of craft, but drifting too far into rapey, lurid pulp-for-audience's-titilation's sake.
posted by Eikonaut at 7:20 PM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm fine with this list having more 21st century titles than we usually see on these lists. Classics are classics, but some are problematic and some are frankly not the easiest to read anymore. Between the giant world balloons and the lack of modern finishing and colouring techniques, going back to re-read some of my favourite comics of the 80's and 90's has been painful. I'll still look back on them foundly, but I'm not going to recommend X-Factor #87 or Dark Knight, Dark City to anyone who isn't an established comics reader.
Definitely some stuff I need to check out on here, like Monstress.
And to add one thing to their list:
Non-fiction - anything Guy Delisle but particularly Pyongyang
posted by thecjm at 7:24 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Definitely some stuff I need to check out on here, like Monstress.
And to add one thing to their list:
Non-fiction - anything Guy Delisle but particularly Pyongyang
posted by thecjm at 7:24 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
(Also, how have I never heard of Kill Six Billion Demons before?!)
posted by thecaddy at 7:25 PM on July 12, 2017
posted by thecaddy at 7:25 PM on July 12, 2017
Keeping Pallas Athena's comment in mind, there's a lot of stuff on the NPR list that hasn't aged well IMO. I'm actually in the process of weeding out my own comics collection, and there's a lot of stuff that came out 10-15 years ago that already hasn't aged well. I'm holding onto The Dark Knight Returns, but you can see the roots of just about every shitty thing that Frank Miller has said and done since then in it. And, if I had to pick out just one thing from Alan Moore, I would have put in Promethea over Watchmen, even though the latter holds up much, much better than TDKR; the former is wildly inventive, unabashedly didactic WRT Moore's view of magic, and even ultimately (if cautiously) optimistic regarding the human condition and its potential for improvement.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:48 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:48 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
Two of my absolute favourites - Homestuck and The Wicked + The Divine - are both on there, though I feel like they kinda undersell either.
geek anachronism: have you and your daughter checked out Lumberjanes?
posted by divabat at 8:33 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
geek anachronism: have you and your daughter checked out Lumberjanes?
posted by divabat at 8:33 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Kill Six Billion Demons is one of the more pleasant surprises for this webcomic addict... incredible artwork in a batshit crazy premise ... started out like other previous "drop a cute girl into a weird world" fantasies, but piled on the weird quickly and vividly!
And considering Noelle Stevenson's co-creator status on Lumberjanes, I'm kinda surprised it didn't make the list.
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:52 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
And considering Noelle Stevenson's co-creator status on Lumberjanes, I'm kinda surprised it didn't make the list.
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:52 PM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Castle Waiting! TJ and Amal! O Human Star! yes this is a good list yes.
posted by emjaybee at 8:58 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 8:58 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
No Bryan Talbot?
posted by Segundus at 9:42 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Segundus at 9:42 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
Checked my facts and I am wrong.
posted by koavf at 10:16 PM on July 12, 2017
To be honest, the only real turd on this list is God Loves, Man Kills, which features Claremont at his worst pushing mutants as a metaphor for the civil rights struggle, which really only works if you assume your audience is white, ignorant but well intentioned.
posted by MartinWisse at 12:04 AM on July 13, 2017
posted by MartinWisse at 12:04 AM on July 13, 2017
A lot on this list that's new to me, which is great, but I think it's a major omission not to represent the phenomenal work in Wimmen's Comix. Fantagraphics brought out a complete set a while ago containing pages by Aline Kominsky, Mary Fleener, Carol Lay, Dori Seda, Krystine Kryttre, Diane Noomin, Trina Robbins, and many more that should be household names.
posted by informavore at 2:26 AM on July 13, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by informavore at 2:26 AM on July 13, 2017 [7 favorites]
Well, any list with both Usagi Yojimbo and Carl Barks has to be reasonably good. I would probably have added Kaja & Phil Foglio's Girl Genius as well as Dana Simpson's Phoebe and Her Unicorn. And of course, there is not a lot of European comics here... the works of Hugo Pratt deserve to be on any top list.
The first half of Cerebus was amazing, and even when he went badly of the rails, the craftmanship remained — Sim's lettering alone is impressive.
posted by bouvin at 3:45 AM on July 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
The first half of Cerebus was amazing, and even when he went badly of the rails, the craftmanship remained — Sim's lettering alone is impressive.
posted by bouvin at 3:45 AM on July 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
MartinWisse:
posted by carbide at 5:27 AM on July 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
To be honest, the only real turd on this list is God Loves, Man Kills [...]No, Oh Joy Sex Toy is absolutely awful and a crappy use of the medium, even if its flaws aren't so conceptual.
posted by carbide at 5:27 AM on July 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
As a cerified comics nérd, I approve of this list, especially the acknowledgement of Carl Barks. But I considered only one omission, namely Le Garage Hermétique de Jerry Cornelius, but the list is excused by its inclusion of The Incal.
Also, I've got a few more possibilities to add to my library.
posted by arzakh at 5:32 AM on July 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Also, I've got a few more possibilities to add to my library.
posted by arzakh at 5:32 AM on July 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
A vote for Charles Burns here, especially his wonderful Black Hole that so perfectly captures the anomie and entropy of '70s suburban culture.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 5:38 AM on July 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 5:38 AM on July 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
I too loved that Shade: The Changing Man is in there. One of its issues is written in the second person to great effect (while the author was borrowing John Constantine, Milligan also wrote a good deal of Hellblazer).
I wish that Digger was on there, but I was pleased to see Bone there, something I have been lobbying to get my fiancee's nephew to read. (I'm giving him the first of the Scholastic versions for his birthday.)
I will add that I've read all of Lone Wolf and Cub and while it is a masterpiece, it's also one that shows its age. Also, for a comic so dedicated to accurately showing what things were like in the Edo period, it does have a fair bit of things like battle auras.
posted by Hactar at 8:00 AM on July 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
I wish that Digger was on there, but I was pleased to see Bone there, something I have been lobbying to get my fiancee's nephew to read. (I'm giving him the first of the Scholastic versions for his birthday.)
I will add that I've read all of Lone Wolf and Cub and while it is a masterpiece, it's also one that shows its age. Also, for a comic so dedicated to accurately showing what things were like in the Edo period, it does have a fair bit of things like battle auras.
posted by Hactar at 8:00 AM on July 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Almost all my favorites and things-recced-to-me-that-I-expect-to-become-a-favorite which had a reasonable chance of making it to the list made it to the list. The omission of Digger is strange, and I would have expected Scott Pilgrim (or Seconds) and I Kill Giants as well. Rurouni Kenshin would have been my pick over Fullmetal Alchemist, which I liked but lost my interest halfway through, but I know I'm an outlier there and anyway I agree that the list already has a shonen bias. Dumbing of Age is one of the most popular webcomics among my cohort, neilaglet is a delightful dose of pop culture-infused weird, and Thi Bui's The Best We Could Do is the book I am currently looking most forwards to on my to-read shelf.
Besides that, Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl dominate the "smart, fun, inclusive superheroes" conversation right now, which is understandable, because they're great! But for the record if you're up to date with Ms. Marvel and have a hankering for more in that vein, Silk and Blue Beetle are good places to start.
Totally by coincidence, yesterday I asked a group of comics-loving friends for their favorite underhyped comics starring and/or created by queer and/or poc folks. Here's the list so far:
- Jem and the Holograms
- Mirror, by Emma Rios and Hwei Lim
- Zodiac Starforce
- Black Magick
- After Hours by Yuhta Nishio
- My Brother's Husband by Gengoroh Tagame
- My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata Kabi
- InSEXTs (nsfw)
- Angela: Asgard's Assassin and Angela: Queen of Hell
- DC Bombshells (previously on MeFi). Described by one reccer as the book for people who liked the Wonder Woman film and want more of "that, but gayer."
- Young Avengers v2, which is not underhyped, but suggested as a prelude to the new ongoing America
- Midnighter
- Agents of the Realm
- Witchy
- Cucumber Quest
- Doctor Aphra (editor's note: while we're talking Star Wars books, the Lando miniseries too)
I'm also planning on checking out everything on this list and this bigger one that I haven't already read.
My friend who's a webcomic artist also mentioned that Kickstarter is a good place to look for new and interesting work these days, although the trick there is finding out about the comic while the funding drive is still running. I just discovered Bingo Love and the "pre-order if you missed the Kickstarter" link is broken and I am sad.
posted by bettafish at 8:56 AM on July 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
Besides that, Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl dominate the "smart, fun, inclusive superheroes" conversation right now, which is understandable, because they're great! But for the record if you're up to date with Ms. Marvel and have a hankering for more in that vein, Silk and Blue Beetle are good places to start.
Totally by coincidence, yesterday I asked a group of comics-loving friends for their favorite underhyped comics starring and/or created by queer and/or poc folks. Here's the list so far:
- Jem and the Holograms
- Mirror, by Emma Rios and Hwei Lim
- Zodiac Starforce
- Black Magick
- After Hours by Yuhta Nishio
- My Brother's Husband by Gengoroh Tagame
- My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata Kabi
- InSEXTs (nsfw)
- Angela: Asgard's Assassin and Angela: Queen of Hell
- DC Bombshells (previously on MeFi). Described by one reccer as the book for people who liked the Wonder Woman film and want more of "that, but gayer."
- Young Avengers v2, which is not underhyped, but suggested as a prelude to the new ongoing America
- Midnighter
- Agents of the Realm
- Witchy
- Cucumber Quest
- Doctor Aphra (editor's note: while we're talking Star Wars books, the Lando miniseries too)
I'm also planning on checking out everything on this list and this bigger one that I haven't already read.
My friend who's a webcomic artist also mentioned that Kickstarter is a good place to look for new and interesting work these days, although the trick there is finding out about the comic while the funding drive is still running. I just discovered Bingo Love and the "pre-order if you missed the Kickstarter" link is broken and I am sad.
posted by bettafish at 8:56 AM on July 13, 2017 [4 favorites]
Not just based on the quality of this list, but I'd rather see one million lists of "crowd favorites, then voted on by a panel" than one more "best" listicles based on a single person (usually a dude)/panel of people's (mostly dudes) opinion. It's maybe a questionable distinction in some ways, but I'm so much more interested in what people's favorite things are rather than anybody (even somebody I respect) tells me is the best.
(It took me, on and off, 42 years to get to this point living in this world, so I understand why the world itself isn't overall there; it still sucks.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:28 AM on July 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
(It took me, on and off, 42 years to get to this point living in this world, so I understand why the world itself isn't overall there; it still sucks.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:28 AM on July 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
Okay, universe, the very last thing I need in my life right now is to spend more time reading comic books. I'm already reading so many! This isn't fair! What I need is recommendations about going outside and socializing with other humans or at least doggos.
posted by zeusianfog at 9:41 AM on July 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by zeusianfog at 9:41 AM on July 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson
Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory
The White Lama by Jodorowsky & Bess
posted by Mesaverdian at 12:27 PM on July 13, 2017
Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory
The White Lama by Jodorowsky & Bess
posted by Mesaverdian at 12:27 PM on July 13, 2017
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