The Men's Health Comic Book Omnibus

By Erik Larsen
"It's a vastly expansive world, full of unique and bizarre characters. A superhero story that isn't afraid to veer off into insane tangents that push the limits of the genre. It's also just a fun book."

By Garth Ennis and Steve Dillion
"A wholly unique mishmash of westerns, vampire stories and religion. A deeply moving character story that is at times as hard to read as it is compelling. It's an emotional rollercoaster of stories that are sad, funny, violent, beautiful, heart-warming and disturbing."

By Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
"A creative team that have honed their craft together over the last 30 years. This, to me, is the evolution of their talents in its ultra-impressive final form. In some ways, it's a familiar noir-tinged detective story, but it's something wholly new and different at the same time."

By Junji Ito
"Manga’s master of horror, Junji Ito, not only created a haunting, terrifying protagonist in the title character, but also reinvented the succubus horror archetype for the modern world. Tomie is a beautiful young girl with a vengeful, jealous heart. Body horror abounds."

By Alan Moore
"To say this is a book about Jack The Ripper is like saying Moby Dick is about a guy who goes fishing. It’s comics wizard Alan Moore’s best, most compelling work, told from multiple points of view and containing worlds in its story of murder, corruption and class. Stunning visuals by Eddie Campbell carry it beyond."

By Kelly Sue DeConnick
"Simply a revelation. A magically literate compendium of ideas and images that make one pause to rethink what can be achieved with these decades-old characters, if one has the will and the talent. Four superstar artists do the work of their careers to bring Kelly Sue DeConnick’s tale to life."

By Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
"Certainly the greatest, most definitive story about the Man of Steel told in this century. It’s a perfect diving point for readers who say they don’t “like” Superman. I’m certain they will after reading this."

By Tom King, Mitch Gerads, and Evan “Doc” Shaner
"This update of an older DC hero named Adam Strange is an action-packed tale about the way war changes us and about the dark choices we’ll make to protect the ones we love. Beautifully written and exquisitely drawn."

By Jeff Smith
"One part funny animal book, one part fantasy epic. A singular artistic achievement by one of the world's best cartoonists."

By Jack Kirby
"The King of Comics may have created far more popular characters and stories, but this is my personal favorite. Post-apocalyptic adventure fueled by pure imagination and creativity."

By Grant Morrison and Chas Troug
"There are a lot of great comics that get straight-up weird, break the fourth wall, and subvert the medium. But 30-some years later, Morrison’s run on Animal Man is still one of the best to do it. Amidst mind-bending storylines about cartoon coyotes challenging god and Morrison examining the nature of comics itself, there’s Buddy Baker, the power absorbing Animal Man, a second-rate superhero and family man who's refreshingly relatable—proving you don’t have to be the most popular character to have one of the most interesting and memorable books on the shelf."

By Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
"Saga. This book has everything. Forbidden love, bounty hunters, people with TV heads, organic spaceships, magic, a teal cat that knows “you didn’t wash your hands.” There’s a reason this space opera is known for being a great “intro” for new comic readers, and it’s because Vaughan and Staples’ knack for creating some of the most creative, endearing, often bonkers characters and situations that will keep you turning the page till you’re eight volumes in and well past your bedtime. This book is what really got me hooked into comics as an adult, and I know it will be for you once you crack open the first issue."

By Alan Moore and David Lloyd
"This comic was the first that made me break into tears. It showed me how comics can be powerful, filled with emotions and ideas. Comics can change your mind, and V was this for me. Masterful and brave storytelling."

By Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli
"It has everything for me, one of my favorite artists ever and a seminal moment about Batman's development through the character’s history. It’s an immortal piece that I visit again and again every time I need to face Batman. It shows it’s not just Bruce, because the Batman myth is never as powerful as it is when it’s also about Gordon and Gotham City. That’s what portraits the character."

By Darko Macan and Edvin Biuković
"One of my favorites ever. It builds its own fictional world-stage just in its first few pages using parts of our real world horror, and it’s disturbing how easily you get into it. It’s brutally honest. Biuković was a master in comics, and it shows in his pages."

By Matt Wanger and Amy Reeder
"A truly beautiful retelling of one of DC’s most powerful, but lesser known, magic-wielders."

By Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra
"A fascinating post-apocalyptic adventure with legit mystery at its center—and a deeply emotional and satisfying conclusion."

By Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
"Because DUH. Infinitely re-readable."

By Kate Beaton
"A beautiful look at isolation from community and the ravages of the oil sands in Canada. Beaton’s work here is personal and illuminating as she details the people around her and their impact on her life, for better or worse. At times heartbreaking, it shows the lengths we’re willing to go to in order to survive in a capitalist world that has little concern for people or environment."

By Grant Morrison and Philip Bond
"Just a goddamn romp. A youthful '90s Bonnie and Clyde trek through Britain, featuring sex and crime and wild characters. One of Morrison’s best works and featuring perfect, cool cartooning by Bond."

By Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli
"A masterclass on how to create the perfect superhero story. Matt Murdock falls and rises in the streets of New York, and has never looked better under the artistic stewardship of a young Mazzucchelli. You’ll gasp and cheer at the pacing and triumphs."

By Alan Moore and David Lloyd
"Look, someone else is gonna say Watchmen, but I find myself revisiting V for Vendetta a lot in my life, and every time the graphic novel slaps harder than ever. It’s so much fun to read Alan Moore build a political and ever-poignant dystopian narrative from the ground up, and the Guy Fawkes design for V makes for one of the most elegant and startling characters in comics history."

By Mariko and Jillian Tamaki
"I don’t care who’s reading this, and what age they’re at: This One Summer is hands-down a storytelling masterpiece. Mariko Tamaki knows how to make you feel humanity and warmth in any of her characters, and Jillian Tamaki’s art is visual poetry. What may be a coming-of-age story for two young women is the most universally poetic book for all readers."

By Junji Ito
"Thank goodness American readers have been giving Junji Ito his flowers in recent years. While there’s literally dozens of amazingly creepy Junji Ito yarns to recommend, Uzumaki is that standalone “chef’s kiss” in terms of terror, pacing, incredible art, and ick factor."

By Katsuhiro Otomo
"One of the definitive pillars of the cyberpunk genre. Gorgeous art and storytelling from top to bottom."

By Brian Michael Bendis
"Bendis wrote, for me, the Spider-Man stories with his Ultimate Spider-Man run. And it gave us Miles Morales. The guy is a legend."

By Bryan Lee O’Malley
"This book was such a fun and weird mash of all the things I loved to do growing up: video games, playing in bands, being supremely awkward. No notes."

By Emil Ferris
"I can’t think of a better book to illustrate what comics are capable of. An intensely engaging personal narrative, a distinct, singular vision, and some of the most creative use of space I’ve ever seen in a comic. All drawn with ball point pens, and at an absurdly high level. Every comic professional should feel pressured by this book to carry the medium forward, as Ferris has done."

Adapted by Santiago Garcia and David Rubin
"This graphic novel is my favorite adaptation/translation of Beowulf, and I’ve read many. The art is executed so unbelievably well, with some of the best pacing and use of perspective I’ve ever seen in a comic. Intimidatingly good."

By Mike Mignola
"Throughout the Hellboy series and its many spin-off stories and series, Mignola marries his unmistakable signature art style with his encyclopedic knowledge of mythology and folklore to give us one of my favorite series of all time. It’s a story that encompasses generations, and to this day I can pick up any single chapter of it, have a great time, and be inspired to make something beautiful."

By Walt Kelly
"As a child, I loved Walt Kelly’s Pogo. The comic strip followed the shenanigans of a litter of cute animals in a swamp, but it was loaded for bear. Or what Kelly called “bugbears,” stand-ins for players in the political scene. Even cute animal comics could be layered with coded messages."

By George Herriman
"Another favorite is George Herriman’s Krazy Kat, about an unrequited love triangle between a cat, a mouse, and a dog. The three were stuck in an endless death spiral of love, a great tease of what adult life could be like."

By Roz Chast
"Chast hilariously prepares you for the joys of aging. For a magazine like Men’s Health, which I imagine has plenty of male readers, I’d highly recommend getting out of your comfort zone and reading comics from the female POV–it’s good for your health!"

By Alison Bechdel
"An important, clarifying memoir that also happens to feature some of the best cartooning of all time."

By Grant Morrison
"The one true Superman story; nothing before was as good, and nothing since has even come close."

By Brian K. Vaughan
"An awe-inspiring painted space epic (a true SAGA), written by one of the biggest mensches in human history."

By Mike Mignola
"Mike Mignola's sprawling, ninety-plus-volume epic is the ultimate graphic novel—a self-contained interlinked mythology that draws from every worldwide folk and pulp tradition imaginable. If you're a fan of stories, there's something in Hellboy for you."

By Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, and Various Artists
"Growing up, there is no doubt in your mind that Batman is the greatest of all time, which is why it was so shocking to my young mind when he was broken by Bane in the "Knightfall" arc of the early '90s. Plus, it introduced the world to Azrael, the only man in Gotham willing to punch God."

By Various Artists
"This is the book that brought us together. Though Collin prefers Volume 1 (Heinberg/Cheung) and Jackson Volume 2 (Gillen/McKelvie), the truth is that both sagas tell a punk-rock rebel scream of a story, showcasing the first adventures of some of the greatest new characters in the Marvel Universe. New readers couldn't ask for a better introduction."

By Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
"Simultaneously a comic where the plot is "two people stop time when they orgasm, so use this gift to rob banks, hence Sex Criminals" and a heartfelt, mature, and sensitive examination of sexuality, insecurity and everything. Plus gags, mainly ball-gags."

By Emily Carroll
"A collection of exquisite short gothic horror stories where Carroll takes your hand, leads you in the darkness and, with the gentlest of touches, creeps under your skin forever."

By Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
"This is a meta-superhero fantasy about heroism and despair, where an ultimate workout changes your identity forever. This one is written just for you, Men's Health readers."

By Dan Clowes
"It's really hard to pick a favorite from Dan Clowes's work, and I actually like The Death Ray more, but in many ways this is the perfect starting point for a modern Clowes enthusiast—a small town mystery presented as a collection of one-page comic strips. It's filtered through the various personalities who live there, each with their own voice, which Clowes communicates through shifts in his own style, showing off his absolute mastery of the medium and the comics form. He's arguably the greatest cartoonist living today, and you owe it to yourself to read his work."

By Pat Mills, Kevin O'Neill, Jesus Redondo, Bryan Talbot
"Collects Books One to Four of the long-running '80s comic strip by Pat Mills and various artists, most notably the late Kevin O'Neill—a true mad genius operating in full command of his powers, and also the only comic artist to be banned by the Comics Code Authority for his art style alone. Jesus Redondo and Bryan Talbot also contribute mesmerizing sequences of their own, tailored perfectly to their strengths. These four books comprise a complete story with a beginning, middle and end, and it all makes for an amazing introduction to just how powerful, exciting and, yes, thrill-powered this particular era of UK comics was. I can guarantee that this is like nothing you've ever seen."

By Jack Kirby
"Jack Kirby is a name that everyone should know, and this was him at his rawest and most revelatory, an attempt to tell vast cosmic truths and personal experiences through the kind of grandiose sci-fi spectacle that was, by now, his meat and drink. The villain Darkseid has been diluted over the years, reduced to simply a Very Powerful Bad Guy—here, he's the original raw force at the center of man, an attempt to nail one creator's concept of evil incarnate down to the word and the image."

By Ezra Clayton Daniels and Ben Passmore
"A lush and disgusting horror story that gives Cronenberg and Candyman, BTTM FDRS asks: what happens when extractive capitalism turns all our best utopian aspirations to nightmares? Gentrification gets weird—the neighborhood may be cheap, but the building might literally eat you. Ben Passmore is one of the best colorists in the game, and the whole comic is as fun as it is biting."

By Inés Estrada
"The not-so-distant future built by Estrada in Alienation really sucks—the environment is dead, people live isolated lives in little pods… Elizabeth and Carlos are a young couple trying to make it through, and their main escape is into the fantasy world of virtual reality. But something is going horribly wrong—a virus is in the system, and it seems to have the ability to jump from the virtual to the material world. Estrada’s rendering of virtual reality is especially delightful, filled with magic, driving home the tragic loss of the actual world."

By Shigeru Mizuki
"Originally published in Japan in 1973, Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths was translated to English in 2011. It reminds me of classics of the “war is hell” genre like Johnny Got His Gun or Full Metal Jacket—based on Mizuki’s own experience in the Imperial Japanese Army, the book follows a company sent on a suicide mission with a darkly comic voice. For history buffs, it will shift your understanding of WWII, for manga fans, it will blow apart your understanding of Japanese comics."

By Nate Garcia
"Garcia, 21 years young, is already a legend and one of the best in the sequential arts game. Laugh out loud funny cowboy comics that are both full of energy and hauntingly melancholic in equal measure."

By Josh Pettinger
"Pettinger is an acidly dry British man who writes about old fashioned blockheads and doomed romance. Dark, surreal and hilarious. Classic British comedy!"

By Alex Graham
"A horny, grimy, nightmarish '70s period piece that's both giddily hilarious and deeply unsettling. Fantastic character work by Graham, whose previous book Dog Biscuits was nominated for the L.A. Times Book Prize."

By Charles Soule and Ryan Browne
"Everyone on Earth wakes up with their own personal genie. Everyone on Earth is granted one wish. The chaos that follows is epic, and makes for unputdownable reading."

By Elliott Kalan, Andrea Mutti, and Taylor Esposito
"One of the funniest—and scariest—piss-takes on the '80s slasher genre, and our current state of malaise and compliance with horror. Long live Maniac Harry and the New Yorkers who’ve shrugged their shoulders and just decided to live with him."

By Chad Bowers, Chris Sims, and Ghostwriter X
"I don’t know if these brilliant, overlooked issues were ever collected into a trade paperback, but this was one of the smartest (and weirdest) video game adaptations I’ve ever read. Based on a very real Atari video game that offered a very real prize (a jeweled sword) that was famously never completed (I think the company went bankrupt). Bowers & Sims weave an amazing tale about aging, loss, regret and redemption around a for-real cheesy video game from the '80s. Go find the single issues if you can, or buy a trade if it exists."

By Kyle Starks and Piotr Kowalkski
"This comic perfectly answers the question: where do movie monsters and slashers go in between their killing sprees? The answer is a planned community in the suburbs, where they squabble with each other and attend HOA meetings. The book is both hilarious and a goretastic splatterfest that will satisfy any horror fan."

By James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez
"A terrifying character study about friendships, trauma, and the end of the world. The art is so moody and expressive, and serves the twisty-turny sci-fi horror plotting. I don't want to spoil anything, so believe me when I say... GO READ THIS BOOK!"

By Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev
"These two masterful collaborators come back together to tell a tale about a young teen girl who might be the criminal prodigy of her generation. A love letter to the films of crime noir with a modern twist. The only thing sharper than Bendis's dialogue is Maleev's killer pencils."

By Robert Crumb
"The one that paved the way for Indie comics."

By Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru, Mike Esposito
"One single issue, with a beginning and end. Had the Metal Men not become a series, this would be considered a classic."

By Al Williamson and Frank Frazetta
"No proper Frazetta cover but an amazing collection from some of the top comics artists of the day."

By Justin Green
"This groundbreaking work of confessional self-mythology is the most profound, original and mature product of the “first wave” of underground cartoonists."

By Bill Griffith
"Griffith was one of the smartest, most talented, and driven of the core underground comics group. TOT3 is a tightly-packed bouquet of blissfully malicious social parodies."

By Tim Hensley
"A floating world of classic comic book tropes configured to take the reader into a sweetly subversive tunnel of pure effect."

By David Mazzucchelli
"This book feels like a cartoonist’s comic. The reasons why I love this book are endless, but one of them is that it's so well written and considered, down to each shape and color and line used to create the characters. I love the story, I love how it’s told, I love the color choices, and I love reading and rereading this book!"

By Mariko and Jillian Tamaki
"This book is beautifully drawn, and written to capture that difficult in-between time of growing up when you are leaving childhood. I love this one in particular because of how nuanced the characters’s relationships are with each other and how thoughtfully the story is paced."

By Eleanor Davis
"This is not just a single story graphic novel, it’s a collection of Eleanor Davis’s short story works. It contains a huge variety of stories, styles, and themes, all of which are interesting and engaging in their own right."

By Taiyo Matsumoto and Soho Tono
"A masterful blend of whimsy and depth by my one of my all-time favorite favorites, Cats of the Louvre offers perspectives on art, life, and the passage of time through a community of cats living secret lives in the world's most famous museum."

By Mary M. Talbot and Bryan Talbot
"Amidst a timely revival of surrealism, where the women are belatedly getting their due, this book shines as an introduction to the unbridled spirit of Carrington. Read this first, then pick up her novel The Hearing Trumpet. Be sure to get the edition with the extraordinary afterward by Olga Tokarczuk."

By writer/illustrator Art Spiegelman
"The grandest and most influential of them all; the one by which all other graphic novels are judged. The story puts you in the terrifying mindset of what it was like to have a target on your back in Nazi-occupied Poland. Maus is a perpetual—and, unfortunately, still timely—cautionary tale. The fact it was one of the books banned in schools proves it’s a must-read."

By writer/illustrator Derf Backderf
"Another graphic novel proving that superheroes aren’t necessary for a story to be gripping. This personal history of the Kent State shooting offers a strong mix of journalism and memoir through the lens of the students. It felt like I’d been given far more information than what was covered at that time. A page-turner, immersive and gritty, that serves as powerful reportage and a lasting memorial."

By writers John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, and illustrator Nate Powell
"This three-part series drives home the lessons and importance of civil rights and societal fairness through the life of the late Congressman John Lewis. The risks he took are powerful and inspiring—and timelier than ever given our national unrest."

By Chris Claremont & Brent Anderson
"Still the quintessential X-Men story by a mile. And probably the best 'persecuted superhumans' story ever done."

By Deena Mohamed
"The title is (sort of) Arabic for "Your wish is my command." An impossibly good graphic novel about a world where wishes come true."

By Joe Kelly and J.M Ken Niimura
"When it comes to comics and heavy themes, it's hard to do better than Joe Kelly and Ken Niimura's masterpiece. The reveal at the end will leave you devastated and thankful that you're alive RIGHT NOW, and reading such an incredible story."

By Kate Beaton
"Kate Beaton is a storyteller of the purest caliber, and this slice of life, coming of age biopic is one that's both eye opening and moving. It deals with so many things we're all dealing with in 2023, but does so in an organic and honest way. Kate does in one page what books fail to do in 200. Read this."

By Hayao Miyazaki
"This is an epic, and has inspired so many that have read it, including yours truly. Before he was known for his movies, Hayao Miyazaki was making comics and building worlds with old-school pencil and paper. I can honestly say that without this story I wouldn't be the creator I am today. These two coffee table tomes will AWE your ASS. Open up and get your life changed."

By Lynda Barry
"In What It Is, Lynda Barry creates a part graphic memoir and part instructional guide to finding “where images live.” This winner of a MacArthur Fellowship leads reluctant adult drawers back to the joy of storytelling through image making. Anyone entertaining becoming a cartoonist or embracing any creative process should read this book. Considered the Queen Of Alternative Comics, Barry continues to innovate and inspire."

By Ron Rege Jr.
"Ron Rege Jr.’s Skibber Bee Bye is a bewildering and beautiful fable of two young mice and a sad elephant. Themes of American history, self- immolation, love and grief are tenderly shared through masterly line work. Rege Jr. is a true original in the idiosyncratic world of cartoonists."

By Shaun Tan
"Shaun Tan’s The Arrival is a wordless narrative about immigrant experience. Oscar winning animator/artist Tan’s gorgeous sepia toned drawings evoke Ellis Island arrivals and navigating a fantastical city. This book follows in his ongoing and timely themes of being an outsider and searching for belonging."

By Kelly Sue DeConnick, Valentine De Landro, Robert Wilson IV, Cris Peter, and Clayton Cowles
"Feeling in the mood for revolution? Yeah, me too. DeConnick and De Landro's Bitch Planet is what you're looking for. A sharp, pulpy, sci-fi satire that bites and punches in all the best ways—a book that changes you."

By Tom King, Mitch Gerads, and Clayton Cowles
"A book that proves definitively that superhero comics can be superhero comics, while also being so much more. A gorgeous, heartbreaking, and shockingly relatable journey that covers everything from the existential nightmares of war to the horrors and joys of first time parenting."

By Charles Burns
"Though the young mutants of the X-Men are a first and obvious love for me, this seminal look at mutating teens—as a result of a plague they're spreading to each other through sexual contact—is equal turns horrifying and poignant. An important and beautiful work that will follow you the rest of your life."

By Ezra Clayton Daniels
"A beautiful sci-fi story about cloning, personal identity, and enduring love. What you'd get if David Lynch and Samuel Delaney collaborated on a comic book."

By Jonathan Hickman and Tomm Coker
"The occult origins of the world's financial systems are slowly uncovered by an erstwhile detective. There are two volumes so far, it's a masterpiece."

By Emil Ferris
"A kind of detective story—there's a 10-year-old girl trying to solve a mystery—that becomes an exploration of history, tragedy, and the monstrous. An instant classic that everyone should own."

By Chris Claremont and Barry Windsor Smith
"How do you boil down decades of amazing material to just a few? A personal favorite that blew my 14-year-old mind from the moment I saw it on the newsstand to the last page would be Uncanny X-men #205. Shocking, violent, written by Chris Claremont with incredible art by Barry Windsor Smith. That book made me want to draw comics."

By Matt Fraction and David Aja
"A more recent book I love for its beautiful design and storytelling is Hawkeye - My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction and David Aja. It’s funny, heartfelt, action-packed, and just gorgeous. I’m always pushing this book on friends looking for something fresh."

"And then there’s a whole world of manga out there, some of my faves: Pluto an absolute classic by Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka, a lovely fantasy story, Witch Hat Atelier by Kimome Shirahama and presently, Asadora, also by Naoki Urasawa, about a girl who learns to fly and is then recruited to save the Tokyo Olympics from a Kaiju."

By Kate Beaton
"There's something perfectly timelessly hilarious about Kate Beaton's comic strips. Clearly, she is a genius as her longer work, Ducks, amply demonstrates. But the one-two punch of these nerdily specific strips is a joy that people who fell in love with greats like Calvin and Hobbes will appreciate."

By Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth
"I believe every household should have a copy of this book. It's a gorgeously vibrant comic. It's also maybe the most extensive, most thoughtful, book on gender and sex I have ever encountered. This book, which is Silverberg and Smythe's third on the subject, is about how to navigate a world of bodies, including our own, with love and empathy. A must read."

By Emil Ferris
"I have a tendency to recommend this book. To me, it covers all the basics. The art is mind blowing. It's a personal story, a monster story, a crime story. It's huge, and you can put it on your night table and dig into it every night or consume it over a very interesting weekend. Enjoy."

By Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
"If the graphic novel form has a Ulysses, this is it. Watchmen made Moore a legend, but From Hell is better, a knotty, salty, grand Guignol that paints the late 19th century so vividly, reading it is practically the same as time-travel."

By Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli
"The Dark Knight Returns fell like a bolt of lightning and fundamentally changed how audiences thought of Batman. The Miller/Mazzucchelli team went even further in Year One, recasting the origin of the Caped Crusader into the ultimate work of smoky, searing noir. Gotham has never been realer or more terrifying."

By Art Spiegelman
"A profoundly personal, utterly unique meditation upon the Holocaust and the crimes of the Nazi party, Maus showed that comic books can be high art—and high literature too."

By Bill Sienkiewicz
"A stunningly-painted, genre-blending psychodrama that follows a detective hunting down a serial killer; a true masterpiece of the form."

By Yukito Kishiro
"One of my favorite cyberpunk sci-fi epics that explores the intersection of the body, identity, and war through cybernetics and emotionally-rich fight choreography drawn in detailed, dimensional inks."

By Enki Bilal
"Another gorgeously painted comic that follows a man who returns from a 30-year sentence spent orbiting the Earth in cryosleep, a journalist with a dead alien lover, Egyptian space gods all set against a fascist France dealing with nuclear fallout."

By Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez
"My favorite comic of all time. It's the only comic that's ever made me cry. I think there should be statues to those guys all over the world. I think it is a monument of storytelling, and comics and humanity. It's just a beautiful, perfect piece of work."

By Howard Chaykin and Ken Bruzenak
"It was hugely influential on me. I've been gifted to work with Howard, and love and adore him. But encountering that in my youth changed the way I thought about everything. It really was the first time I saw the visual complexity that comic narratives were capable of."

By Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez
"A love letter to the glorious intersection of West Coast hardcore and SoCal Mexican-American culture, this comic made me laugh 'til my stomach hurt and cry my eyes out. It’s like Jaime made a comic book that stared into my soul."

By Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
"Easily the most pivotal, influential graphic novel of all time, you see two Maestros of the craft deconstructing the superhero paradigms of the past with an eye fixed firmly on the future."

By Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon
"I edited this comic, so I’m biased, but it’s safe to say that no other comic paved the road for today’s creator-owned comics than Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s gloriously raunchy macabre Spaghetti Western."

By Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
"My first pick goes to Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, for defining and changing the medium and what comics can achieve. One of the greatest comic books ever made."

By Frank Miller and Lynn Farley
"One of the most influential comics of all time, a masterpiece in style and in writing."

By Will Eisner
"Eisner is a comics genius who innovated the medium as no one else, and The Spirit is his seminal creation. Enough said."

By Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá
"Intimate yet thrilling, Daytripper follows Brazilian obituary writer Brás de Oliva Domingos through pivotal moments of his life (small spoiler ahead…) as he examines how his existence might be summarized if he passed away at different times. It's a beautifully crafted exploration of mortality, meaning, and the struggle to make each day count."

By Kentaro Miura
"Profane, insane, and heartbreaking, Berserk is manga at its most epic and a fun entry point for Western comic fans who haven’t cracked a manga yet."

By Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
"When they have sex, time stops. For real. This is one of those premises that is perfectly suited to the pages of a comic, and Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky really plow this field for all its potential (pun intended)."

By Jeff Lemire
"Jeff Lemire has pretty thoroughly earned his reputation as a modern master at this point, but no book from his library has more throughly enthralled (or gutted) me than this deeply powerful exploration of grief and human frailty cast through the lens of urban fantasy. A perfect recommendation for readers looking to broaden their appreciation of what comics can be."

By Dave Baker
"When cartoonist Dave Baker passed me a copy of his newest work at a convention a few months ago, I had no idea I would be diving into one of the comic medium’s most impressively inventive graphic novels of the past decade—a kind of undulating, pseudo-pulp Möbius strip that splices self-referential metatext, graphic design-inspired side quests, and 80 years of comic history together in way that would no doubt eek a smile out of Thomas Pynchon himself."

By Matt Lesniewski
"Most artists, especially early in their careers, tend to wear their influences on their sleeve. So it’s exceedingly rare when one arrives seemingly fully formed with an original style entirely their own—and a galling level of talent to match. Such was the case with Matt Lesniewski, who earned an Eisner Award nomination for his very first published work, The Freak, in 2019. But with his latest and greatest graphic novel (full disclosure: published by Oni Press), Lesniewski has elevated to a near-inhuman level of fluid movement and insane detail to tell the story of a band of outcasts, bound together by their marginal existence and struggling to survive on a rugged alien world that’s also shaped like a giant hand floating in the vacuum of space. (Hell yeah.) Easily his most compelling and riveting work to date!"

By Grant Morrison and Various Artists
"One of comics's most prolific and best writers exploring all the topics most important to them in a book that still yields discoveries after multiple re-reads."

By Art Spiegelman
"The comic that would define the heights one can accomplish by fusing the personal, historical, and experimental—and reaching out to a whole generation of non-comic readers in the process."

By David Lapham
"As just the comic that's given me the most consistent joy for almost three decades."

By Nina Bunjevec
"A gorgeously and meticulously illustrated surrealist nightmare from the point of view of a delusional sexual predator. You will see what glorious sights he sees. You will feel revoltingly complicit. This is what the horror genre is capable of."

By Pat Dorian
"A boldly inked and well researched deep dive into the true life story of Lon Chaney, 'The Man Of A Thousand Faces,' who defined horror cinema in its earliest days. But who are we really under the masks we wear? Art itself can be a stalking killer."

By Emil Ferris
"The peak of 'monster kid' mania in the 1960s, as Chicago reels under political upheaval. 10-year-old Karen, obsessed with monsters and solving the mysterious death of her holocaust-survivor neighbor, jots all her innermost thoughts down in breathtaking ballpoint pen illustrations for all of us to read in this masterpiece of cartooning. Horror is around every corner. Monsters are real."

By Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber
"With nonstop jokes and amazing art, Fraction and Lieber call back to the insanity of Silver Age Superman comics and depict what it’s like being a relatively normal person living in a city where the mayor is literally a dinosaur."

By Ryan North, Iban Coello, and Ivan Fiorelli
"Ryan North takes the concept of the Fantastic Four and reinterprets it through the lens of The Twilight Zone. Spooky, self-contained sci-fi stories with a humorous twist make this stand apart from any other superhero comic on the stands."

By Paul Dini and Bruce Timm
"A zany super villain road trip as Harley and Ivy are on the run from the cops, Batman, and movie producers. From the creators of Batman: The Animated Series, this book takes everything a step further with its humor, expressive art, and vibrant colors."

By Dan Clowes
"Clowes at his most surreal. A David Lynch conspiracy theory fever dream. Wholly original, literary and inspiring. Shows off the power of comic books—because this story only works as a comic. The lovelorn Potato Girl and the Dog Map are just two things in this story that you will never be able to forget."

By David Lapham
"Set in the late '70s and early' 80s, this epic crime comic is both a maze of intertwining crime stories and a bittersweet tale of childhood innocents crashing into a world full of messed-up grown-ups. Lapham's adherence to an 8-panel grid for the entire series makes this one of the most immersive comics ever written. It's one of those stories where you never want to know what's in the trunk."

By Kerascoët and Fabien Vehlmann
"Don't let the wonderful and whimsical watercolor art fool you. This is a dark book about a group of faeries that dives right into the deep end of social politics manipulation and candy-coats its bitter truths in what may be the most horrific setting for a story that I've ever read. Not for the faint of heart."