The 25 Best Comic Books of 2017

17. Sticks Angelica
Writer/Artist: Michael DeForge
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Sticks Angelica is not Michael DeForge’s most serious work. Rendered in black, white and magenta, it’s a vehicle for play. That’s not to say it doesn’t have melancholy moments. The plot is full of missed connections between characters and places, the meaning behind an utterance failing to jump the gap from one brain to another. All of these scenes are faintly sad, but they also have some sweetness to them. The geese, fish, deer, bears, humans, insects and rabbits who populate the book keep trying to reach one another; sometimes, but not frequently, they succeed. The ideas are interesting, and the individual strips, with their delicate patterns and intelligent use of color, produce a mindful, existential experience. Is there meaning in the world? In the wilderness? In the universe? Who knows. But there is art, and DeForge is making it. Hilary Brown

16. California Dreamin’
Writer/Artist: Penelope Bagieu
Publisher: First Second
Pénélope Bagieu’s California Dreamin’: Cass Elliot Before the Mamas & the Papas offers a daunting proposition. The era of ‘60s flower-child music is over-romanticized, the outlines of Elliot’s life are well known and the subject is primarily auditory, which makes it difficult for a medium that doesn’t cater to that sense. But Bagieu clears those hurdles with style while depicting the life of a woman who made huge musical contributions, despite struggling with her body image and substance abuse. The cartoonist works in pencils, with no color, but the graphic novel doesn’t need bright hues to roil with life. Bagieu’s line feels personal, as though the reader puts it down on the page with their eyes as they read it. Instead of being cleaned with ink and Photoshop, the aesthetic has an organic quality that fits the story of a woman defined by rough and soft contrasts. It’s a wary love song to a complicated artist who provided the world with moments of flowery joy. Hilary Brown

15. Everything Is Flammable
Writer/Artist: Gabrielle Bell
Publisher: Uncivilized Books
Gabrielle Bell’s comics arrive from unexpected angles. Whether her stories are dream-like fiction or drawn from life, Bell avoids the predictable, leading the reader to sucker-punch emotional truths that emerge organically from words and pictures. Her work is subtle in its execution and grand in its scope, and never quite goes where one might expect. Over the decades, the focus of Bell’s work has shifted slightly: the off-beat surrealism of her shorter works collected in 2009’s Cecil and Jordan in New York has given way to the nuanced nonfiction of books like 2012’s The Voyeurs. Bell’s latest confessional, Everything is Flammable from Uncivilized Books, chronicles her experience after a fire consumes her mother’s California house. The graphic novel experiments with structure, telling Bell’s story along with several other narratives that serve as counterpoints. It’s a deft narrative, a moving story with a tactile sense of place throughout. Tobias Carroll

14. Boundless
Writer/Artist: Jillian Tamaki
Publisher: Drawn & Quartery
At its core, Jillian Tamaki’s Boundless is a series of short stories examining concepts of connection—the ever-constant search for purpose. What makes the book feel simultaneously so contemporary and yet time-capsule specific is the pervasive lens through which this theme is explored: a chronicling of modern interactions with technology and culture, often with a focus on how the former has impacted the latter. In the age of tech, connection comes via consumption, relationships with culture defining relationships with people, and defining the individual self.

But people don’t change. As much as the means, modes and dressing may alter, human nature remains constant. People want belonging, place, fulfillment, to feel part of it all, or part of something. In “Body Pods,” a woman charts her partners in relation to their enthusiasm for a cult film. Developments in the actors’ lives and the production of a remake parallel events and meaning in her own. “Jenny” posits a mirror Facebook, where information gleaned from the site is used to create another “you.” The titular character becomes fixated on the differences between her and her mirror self’s lives—the possibilities of alternative, better paths. “Sex Coven” is an internet fable about a strange music file that takes on mythic qualities. At first it’s overlooked, gaining a small following, an object of popularity and misunderstood hysteria, before becoming a thing around which commercialism and “irony” arise. In “Darla!” a retro sitcom finds a new life on the internet, giving its director renewed relevance as he makes the convention circuit rounds, even as he worries he’s part of a joke and that people aren’t “getting it” the way it was intended. Boundless is many things: contemplative, cynical, amusing, surreal, but mostly it anchors Tamaki as a formidable essayer of modern life, and undeniably one of the finest cartoonists of this generation. Zainab Akhtar

13. Paper Girls
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Cliff Chiang
Publisher: Image Comics
After encapsulating the nostalgia of Midwestern ‘80s youth in its first year, Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang’s sci-fi bildungsroman has only gotten weirder and better as its mysteries unfurl. Image’s latest blockbuster takes four girls on a Cleveland paper route and thrusts them into a time-space conflict between the aging establishment and youthful disruptors. And though golden-era Spielberg may have served as a starting point, Vaughan’s excellent characterization and rising stakes ratchet the tension past escapism: what does a kid do when she learns that she won’t survive into adulthood? And worse: how does a kid respond when she learns she’ll age into a mediocre, uninspired adult? These existential buzzkills loom over a candy-colored topiary of giant, warring water bears, dinosaur-mounted authoritarians and analogue robots. Artist Cliff Chiang and colorist Matt Wilson immerse the fantastic around adolescent girls who look and react like adolescent girls, a seriously impressive feat in comics. Sean Edgar

12. Extremity
Writer/Artist: Daniel Warren Johnson
Publisher: Image Comics/Skybound
Paste named Extremity one of its most anticipated comics of 2017, and for good reason: Space Mullet’s Daniel Warren Johnson has long been one of the comic industry’s best-kept secrets, an “artist’s artist” who hasn’t quite broken through to the wider readership. Extremity, his violent, bizarre Skybound debut, finally rectifies that travesty. Like an outer-space Fury Road, Extremity is a bloody, fast-paced tale of tribal warfare in a sci-fi world that never conquered class stratification. And like Fury Road’s George Miller, Johnson thrusts his readers right into protagonist Thea’s revenge-driven conflict at breakneck speed, making for one of the most purely exciting comics in recent memory. Steve Foxe

11. The Abominable Mr. Seabrook
Writer/Artist: Joe Ollmann
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
In his introduction to The Abominable Mr. Seabrook, cartoonist Joe Ollmann writes movingly about what attracted him to the globetrotting scribe: his honesty and his insecurity. (Ollmann also notes that both he and his subject have struggled with alcohol, and both blended/blend a desire to believe in the supernatural with an inherent skepticism.) Above and beyond, this volume, which encompasses the scope of a life, makes the case for Seabrook’s continued relevance as a writer, and charts an unsettling decline and fall. Ollmann has been involved with continuing Seabrook’s legacy in other ways as well, helping facilitate the release of new editions of Seabrook’s books Asylum (about his efforts to get sober) and The Magic Island (an account of his visit to Haiti). Before reading Ollmann’s clear-headed and empathic account, the name William Seabrook may have been foreign; by the end of it, readers will likely want to order one of his books—the mark of a comprehensive and compelling literary biography. Tobias Carroll

10. Songy of Paradise
Writer/Artist: Gary Panter
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Following his cover version comics of Dante in Jimbo’s Inferno and Jimbo in Purgatory, legendary punk artist Gary Panter now completes his trilogy (sorta) with Songy in Paradise. In many ways—its title, its dimensions, its less-than-100-percent reverential approach to canonical literature—it’s a continuation of the project. In others, it’s a departure. Rather than featuring Jimbo, Panter’s alter ego with a buzz cut, it takes Songy, a simple hillbilly, as its protagonist. And, despite the book’s title, which seems to suggest the last third of The Divine Comedy, in which Dante ascends through the celestial spheres, it tackles Milton’s Paradise Regained. It’s a Protestant tale rather than a Catholic one, written in blank verse that sets its sights on majesty rather than Dante’s nimble concatenations.

It’s also a lot to take in, and although it’s partially a joke, it’s also partially not. If Panter were only making the case that Songy is a moron, you might be able to file the book under parody, but Songy in Paradise is as serious as it is goofball, as awesome (in the original meaning) as it is entertaining, as much of a tribute to Milton’s vision as it is a testament to Panter’s own. Hillary Brown

9. The Mighty Thor
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artists: Russell Dauterman, Others
Publisher: Marvel Comics
“What’s the best Thor run?” used to have an easy answer, or rather two easy answers: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby did more than create Marvel’s version of the Norwegian thunder god in the ‘60s—they crafted a sprawling epic that was often more creative than their Fantastic Four run. Then in the 1980s, a long creative drought ended when Walt Simonson brought a cosmic scale and sense of humor back to the title, along with his gorgeous, dynamic art. But these untouchable runs are in touching distance, thanks to Jason Aaron and a string of talented artists. Since taking over the Odinson in 2012, Aaron has been crafting a multidimensional, multi-Thor saga that’s more ambitious and fun than anything else Marvel’s been putting out in the same time frame, or maybe any time frame, even under the latest Legacy banner with the milestone 700th issue. With the Jane Foster Thor saga, Aaron has incorporated a meta-element into the comic seamlessly, as Odin’s rejection of female Thor represents comic fans who can’t handle change, especially change involving women. Odin—the ultimate old white man—stands for male domination at its worst, and he’s supported by dumbass followers who hang “False Thor” signs that mirror the complaints of change-hating and/or misogynist fans. When Foster clobbers Odin with Mjolnir, it’s a beautiful moment. As she puts it, “…when you’re a ninety-pound woman dying of cancer…it does feel pretty good to punch god in the face.” Mark Peters

8. Hostage
Writer/Artist: Guy Delisle
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Guy Delisle’s library has largely stemmed from the cartoonist’s international ventures through exotic geographies including Jerusalem, Burma, North Korea and China. His intimate, stylized lines escorted readers through the areas via travelogues, volleying exciting bits on culture and history with each new panel sequence. Hostage is a jarring departure in both tone and approach. The 436-page doorstop relays the trials of Christophe Andre, a Doctors without Borders employee who was tossed into solitary confinement for 100 days while working in North Caucasus. Instead of the breakneck parade of culture clash and architecture, Delisle now traps readers inside four grim walls alongside his protagonist for a very, very, very long time. This book is an exercise in brutal empathy, a meditation on the sparsely worded monotony and terrifying ambiguity of human captivity. The result is simply intense, a crystalline example of what sequential storytelling is capable of communicating. Sean Edgar

7. You & a Bike & a Road
Writer/Artist: Eleanor Davis
Publisher: Koyama Press
In March of 2016, Eleanor Davis decided to ride her bicycle from her parents’ house in Arizona to Athens, Georgia, where she lives. Here and there, she drew things she saw and put them on Instagram. Followers received little dispatches as she made her way from Southwest to Southeast. Sometimes she was discouraged. Other times she seemed overcome at the beauty of the world or the kindness of strangers. The story unfolds slowly, without a classical narrative structure or predictable spikes of drama, but it is fascinating. You & a Bike & a Road collects those drawings and captures the journey, while compressing the time that it took. It’s easily one of the year’s best books; The sense of immediacy and unfiltered emotion—its most notable features—are rare and difficult to do well. Hilary Brown

6. 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank
Writer: Matthew Rosenberg
Artist: Tyler Boss
Publisher: Black Mask Studios
Matthew Rosenberg and Tyler Boss’ wildly inventive and fearless tale of adolescents facing adult realities shipped just two of its five issues in 2017, but we can’t deny how well the creative team stuck the landing. The book thrives off sharp characterization, coupled with Tyler Boss’ pin-point facial expressions and hilarious fantasy sequences, and an impending darkness lurking behind it all. Within this mini-series from publisher Black Mask, childhood friends Paige, Pat, Berger and Walter hatch a plan to steal cash to pay off a group of thieves intimidating Paige’s father. The inherent clever oozing out of these panels is breathy and rhythmic, probably obscuring the fact that this work was meticulous labor that took years to complete. Like a gorgeous remix of ‘80s nostalgia art directed by visual icon Saul Bass, 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank ultimately ventured into our hearts. Sean Edgar

5. Black Hammer
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artists: Dean Ormston, David Rubin
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Black Hammer is Jeff Lemire’s remix of every Silver-Age superhero beat he’s ever concocted. Lemire and artists Dean Ormston and David Rubin jet into a post-modern buffet where Adam Strange is a wily, nonsensical hermit and Mary Marvel is an alcoholic middle-aged woman stuck in the super-powered body of a child. These characters are inexplicably trapped in the rural town of Rockwood, caged in by an invisible fence that kills them if they pass through. The series’ second year has only hinted at the cavernous depth waiting to be explored; the relationships, careers and decades hiding behind each player. As fun as it can be to watch the creators revel in their laissez faire capes sandbox, Black Hammer’s haunting characterization—conveyed with subtlety by Ormston—is what elevates it to excellence. Only in these pages does a shape-shifting alien’s acceptance of his sexuality feel just as epic as a battle with a cosmic anti-god. Sean Edgar

4. Spinning
Writer/Artist: Tillie Walden
Publisher: First Second
Tillie Walden is a marvel of empathy, a cartoonist who can dive into emotions at a molecular level through dynamic panels with shifting perspectives. That talent has funneled the journey from youth to adulthood in works including I Love This Part, A City Inside and The End of Summer. Spinning glides over similar truths in Walden’s memoir of competitive ice skating. The 400-page journey feels intimate and personal without straying into self-important extremes, diagramming the treasured epiphanies that spur kids to abandon defunct dreams and embrace new ones. Walden renders the taut calfs and frozen pools with a devotion that underlies the 10 years she spent practicing the sport. The door-stop book offers the same breathless humanity as Craig Thompson’s Blankets and the Tamaki cousins’ This One Summer, and a perfect palette cleanser to segue into the colder months. Sean Edgar

3. Doom Patrol
Writer: Gerard Way
Artists: Nick Derington, Mike Allred
Publisher: DC Comics/ Young Animal
In a not-altogether-surprising turn of events, it took Young Animal architect Gerard Way and illustration sensation Nick Derington a bit longer than anticipated to wrap the first arc of their psychedelic Doom Patrol reinvention, although fans of the franchise will be hard pressed to argue that initial arc “Brick by Brick” wasn’t worth the wait. Way and Derington, with ample assistance from colorist Tamra Bonvillain, distill the gonzo appeal of Grant Morrison and Richard Case’s storied run—as well as Rachel Pollack and company’s oft-overlooked follow-up—with genuinely new ideas, a feat that’s rarer than it should be in the modern comic climate. During an era of reboots eager to trash previous continuities, Way, Derington and Bonvillain (with a reliably great guest assist from Mike and Laura Allred) folded years of reality-jettisoning storytelling into a fresh story of an EMT in over her head, and a gyro that’s more than just tasty street food. Doom Patrol didn’t ship as many issues as expected in 2017, but every long-awaited installment proves the vital need for Young Animal’s thesis statement: Comics for Dangerous Humans. Steve Foxe

2. Mister Miracle
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Mitch Gerads
Publisher: DC Comics
With the Mister Miracle maxiseries, Tom King and Mitch Gerads attempt to build a new literary touchstone in comics. Just as Watchmen channeled the Cold War nihilism of the ‘80s, Ghost World tackled the isolation of the ‘90s and The Ultimates straddled post-9/11 patriotism and the unchecked military force, this book aims to reflect the pre-apocalyptic dissonance of now—a toxicity that gave King an anxiety attack so severe it landed him in the ER. It’s a lofty goal, but after reading the first four issues, damn if they’re not on the right track. The series catches a zeitgeist of discord in its pages, confining Jack Kirby’s messianic escape artist in a cage of his own malaise. Like his pencil work in The Sheriff of Babylon—also written by King—Gerads’ subtle facials expressions and body language harmonize with naturalistic dialogue, lending each sigh and quip a new gravitas. This isn’t just an immaculately produced comic, but a comic designed for relevance. Sean Edgar

1. My Favorite Thing Is Monsters
Writer/Artist: Emil Ferris
Publisher: Fantagraphics
The first volume of Emil Ferris’ debut comic, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, was scheduled for release in October 2016, timed to coincide with Halloween. But the company that owned the ship carrying the printed books went bankrupt, leaving its cargo in a terrible limbo that delayed the book until February of this year. In some ways, the hiccup was fitting. Ferris’ book has been anticipated for much longer and undergone multiple iterations. It’s the sort of achievement that requires a certain sense of mission to complete. But it’s here now courtesy publisher Fantagraphics, and it was well worth the wait.

Oversized with a paper binding, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters feels heftier than if it had a board cover, yet ephemeral at the same time. The story draws on EC Comics, Holocaust literature, detective fiction, monster movies, children’s literature à la Harriet the Spy and more, weaving a complex tapestry through the 1960s that surprisingly parallels our current era. Are its monsters a metaphor or a reality? And are the people in it who look like monsters the ones we need to fear? Ferris doesn’t supply simple answers. Instead, her work fuses the style and atmosphere of noir godfather Raymond Chandler with the passionate moral intensity found beating beneath a good episode of Tales from the Crypt. Hillary Brown