Shakespeare, queer vampires, multi-verse punk rockers, and a dog scheming to take over his owner’s life…. this is just the selection of the brilliant madness you’ll find in our fave graphic novels of the year! Our publishers have truly pulled it out of the bag with publishing some of the most wild and memorable visual stories you’ll ever encounter.
We’ve got something for every reader; if you’re a fan of zany visuals or the hit series Love and Rockets, check out Jack’s selections, for action/adventure with a heap of grit see Leo and Em, and if you relish a literary graphic novel, Julia and Sinéad have you covered with some great picks from our beloved indie presses. Before we get into the recommendations, we’d also love to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all of the booksellers, publishers and readers who have enjoyed our blog over the past year. We hope you’ve had a wonderful 2023!
Jack
Proof That the Devil Loves You By Gilbert Hernadez 9781683967699 | Fantagraphics | Hardback | Published August 2023 | £24.99
Three Fritz B-movies: one is entirely new, while two of the tales are expanded from their original appearances in the ongoing Love and Rockets comic book series. The titular story, Proof That the Devil Loves You, is a fable about a free spirit, Bula, played by Fritz. Something strange is going on in a town very reminiscent of Palomar. Gisel and Kiki are determined to understand why the hamlet’s residents are acting so foolishly — is it something in the air? And why can’t Gisel leave? But when there’s a violent turn, evidence points toward the supernatural. Then, Fritz plays the role of an ‘astronette’ on an existential journey through space. Proof That The Devil Loves You is the latest in a series of graphic novels featuring Gilbert Hernandez’s character Fritz, a B-movie actress (and half-sister to his iconic Love and Rockets character, Luba) whose hourglass figure has earned her a cult following.
Pet Peeves By Nicole Goux 9781910395721 | Avery Hill Publishing | Paperback | Published May 2023 | £12.99
Bobbie’s life is going nowhere fast. She’s working at a bar, wanting to play music but never having the time or energy. The only bright spot is her dog — always cheerful, always cuddly, and always there for her. As the relentless day-in, day-out of work piles up, music and roommates and social plans begin to seem less and less important as Bobbie struggles to make rent and have any time to be creative. The only thing she has time for outside her job is her dog… and her dog is going to do everything he can to keep it that way.
The Heavy Bright By Cathy Malkasian 9781683966920 | Fantagraphics | Hardback | Published March 2023 | £39.99
Once, the world lived in harmony. People trusted and aided each other, dreamed freely, and communed with their ancestors. And then one day the eggs appeared. One thousand black eggs, heavy as pure lead, which by some mystical property, provoked greed and violence in all who came in contact with them. A family of brutish men managed to hoard the eggs and build a misogynistic dynasty that held all of the land in an iron grip. Years later, Arna, an orphaned young woman immune to the beguiling power of the eggs, is charged with a monumental mission: hunt down these formidable men, pilfer their eggs, and release the bright from the heavy. Along the way, she falls for the enchanting Sela, who shows her how beautiful the world can be.
Leo
Daredevil & Elektra by Chip Zdarsky Vol. 1: The Red Fist Saga Part One By Chip Zdarsky & Marco Checcetto 9781302926113 | Marvel — US | Paperback | Published Jan 2023 | £16.99
After the Reign… comes the dawn! In the wake of Wilson Fisk’s violent and visceral last act, it’s a new era for New York and the Man Without Fear! Matt Murdock has no choice but to leave behind everything he’s ever known — and Elektra is the last vestige of his former life. Everything Matt thought he knew about what it meant to be Daredevil is about to change! Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto continue their epic saga, tackling the journeys of both Matt and Elektra as they each deal with the brutal cost of taking on the Daredevil mantle. But new enemies mean Hell’s Kitchen is going to be darker than ever! And, as the two Daredevils start to put together a team, not everyone wants to be part of their vision of the future…
Mr. Villain’s Day Off 01 by Yuu Morikawa 9781646092239 | Square Enix Manga | Paperback | Published August 2023 | £14.99
One evil supervillain spends most of his time hatching nefarious plots to take over the world but on his days off, nothing gets between him and the cute pandas he adores! This fresh, charming comedy series answers the age-old question of what a villain does off the clock! The mysterious and dastardly man known only as the General within the evil organization plotting to take over the world is one of the top targets of Earth’s defensive unit, the Rangers. But on his precious days off, he’s more likely to be at the local zoo staring at his beloved pandas or trying out new ice cream flavors! Will his secret hobbies be jeopardized forever when his natural enemy — a Ranger hero out to save the Earth — catches him in the act?
Night of the Ghoul By Scott Snyder & Francesco Francavilla 9781506728353 | Dark Horse | Paperback | Published July 2023 | £18.99
A dazzling work of horror, intercutting between the present day and the story of a lost film. Horror masters Scott Snyder (American Vampire, Wytches) and Francesco Francavilla (Afterlife with Archie) collaborate for the first time! This graphic novel is a bold and bloody reimagining of horror monsters that celebrates classic creature features, while creating an unsettling and contemporary new kind of horror story. Horror film obsessive Forest Inman stumbles across a seemingly forgotten canister of old footage. Thinking he has found the legendary unreleased would-be classic 1936 film ‘Night of the Ghoul,’ he sets off on a dark odyssey to the California desert, where he’s warned that the film’s ghoul is far more than a work of fiction: it’s a very real monster who plans to kill him.
Julia
Bear By Staffan Gnosspelius 9781644212318 | Seven Stories Press | Hardback | Published March 2023 | £15.99
Bear, Staffan Gnosspelius’s debut book, is a gorgeous visual meditation on depression. In this deeply affecting, wordless picture book for adults, a bear is maddeningly afflicted with a cone that covers his head and that he is unable to take off. He furiously stomps and yells and tears at the cone, he implores the skies and fate for relief, he is drawn to dark and wild and scary places. The depths of his sadness feel like a defeat. It’s a battle he wages until he’s mentally and physically exhausted.
Then, one day, Bear hears notes of music, the humming of a friendly hare. The hare hovers nearby, concerned, sometimes driven away by Bear’s frustration and anger, more often staying close and gently offering support. The resulting book is both an emotional gut punch and a warm embrace, recognizable immediately to anyone who has ever suffered or loved someone who has suffered in similar dark places. In other words, all of us.
Macbeth By K. Briggs 9781910395738 | Avery Hill Publishing | Hardback | Published July 2023 | £16.99
A vivid graphic novel adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, faithful to the original text while providing a new lavish rendition. When three witches prophecy to Macbeth that he will one day become the King of Scotland, an epic of unhappiness, treachery, and blood begins. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s ambitions lead to an ever-growing path of murder as Macbeth grows ever-closer to the throne. But where will it all end? Only with death — and with madness. Influenced by the witches and magic of Macbeth, K. Briggs’s lush new graphic novel rendition of the classic provides a new interpretation of the Scottish play. Briggs, as a Shakespeare reader (and performer) from age twelve, brings their lifelong love of the Bard to this work.
Ms Davis: A Graphic Biography By Sybille Titeux de la Croix, Amazing Ameziane, Translated by Jenna Allen 9781683965695 | Fantagraphics | Hardback | Published March 2023 | £24.99
In Ms Davis, the acclaimed French cartooning duo tell a story of this seminal, revolutionary, 1960s icon through an accessible graphic novel narrative. Born in 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama, Angela Davis’ family fought in the civil rights movement against racial segregation enforced by the Ku Klux Klan. In 1968, she joined the Black Communist Party and travelled to Cuba, a journey which left its mark on her forever. In 1971, Davis was put on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List because several Black prisoners whose causes she had championed used weapons she owned in a Marin County courtroom gunfight. She went to prison despite her protestations of innocence. The Black People in Defense of Angela Davis formed, and soon the entire world would know her story and demand her freedom. In 1972, she was found not guilty by an all-white jury. Since then, she has dedicated her life to the fight for justice.
Sinéad
The Hard Switch By Owen D. Pomery 9781910395707 | Avery Hill Publishing | Hardback | Published Oct 2023 | £15.99
Ada, Haika, and Mallic are on a mission… one last mission, before everything, everywhere shuts down. They’re raiding old, abandoned spaceships and wrecks for the (sometimes-expensive) parts — and they make just enough money to get by. But living their nomadic, exploring life isn’t sustainable when they can’t afford fuel anymore. The time is coming when the mineral that makes inter-system jumps possible runs out. When it does, the scattered inhabitants of the vast galaxy will be stuck where they are. Everything will be different… unless the discovery in the latest wreck Ada, Haika, and Mallic are scavenging can unlock a whole new kind of interstellar transit.
Forty Lies By David Shenton 9780861662913 | Knockabout | Paperback | Published Oct 2023 | £16.99
British cartoonist David Shenton has been creating LGBT+ cartoons and comics since the 1970s when his work started appearing in publications such as Gay News, Him and Capital Gay. Forty Lies is a beautiful patchwork of fourty(ish) personal stories following Shenton’s history as a 70 year old gay man in Britain today. Through coming out, the Age of Consent, family rejection, dodgy boyfriends, shaky career prospects, police swoops, Section 28, the stern presence of HIV/AIDS, we are taken on a wild and beautiful journey. This is an essential read in the canon of British graphic novels.
Cuckoo By Joe Sparrow 9781916096073 | Shortbox | Paperback | Published August 2023 | £17
Dorothy Weaver is an anxious 19-year old still living at home with her mother and failing a vocational art course when memories of a mysterious childhood event start resurfacing. Something about a meteor in the garden… Now, she and others have begun manifesting strange powers. Are these powers a gift or a curse? Psychic phenomenon or mass delusion? Either way, Dorothy is changing — but into what?
Em
Spider-Punk: Battle of The Banned By Cody Ziglar & Justin Mason 9781302934620 | Marvel — US | Paperback | Published March 2023 | £15.99
Anarchy in the Spider-Verse! Hobie Brown is the head-spiked Spider-Punk — all set to protect Earth-138 with his ax in hand and his chaotic band of punk rockin’ heroes backing him! But even though the Norman Osborn of Hobie’s dimension is dead, will the chaos he created be too much for Spider-Punk and gang to handle? What secrets lie under the community center that Spidey and his crew call home base? And why is Taskmaster crashing the party to stomp out Spider-Punk? It all ties back to one thing, and Hobie had better figure it out fast! Prepare for an arachnid adventure like you’ve never seen before! Kick it!
Carmilla: The First Vampire By Amy Chu, Soo Lee & Sal Cipriano 9781506734644 | Berger Books | Paperback | Published Feb 2023 | £18.99
Before Dracula, before Nosferatu, there was… Carmilla. At the height of the Lunar New Year in 1990s New York City, an idealistic social worker turns detective when she discovers young, homeless LGBTQ+ women are being murdered and no one, especially the police, seems to care. A series of clues points her to Carmilla’s, a mysterious nightclub in the heart of her neighbourhood, Chinatown. There she falls for the next likely target, landing her at the centre of a real-life horror story and face-to-face with illusions about herself, her life, and her hidden past. Inspired by the gothic novel that started the vampire genre and layered with dark Chinese folklore, this queer, feminist murder mystery is a tale of identity, obsession and fateful family secrets.
The Final Girls By Cara Ellison & Sally Cantirino 9781506730912 | Dark Horse | Paperback | Published June 2023 | £20.99
When the world’s most powerful working hero asks her retired peers for help, they secretly agree to deal out punishment on another hero in the public eye. But when the weapon of publicity is wielded, it threatens to kick up all of the personal traumas of the heroes, past and present… What does justice look like when violence isn’t enough?