At the end of each year, I look at the stacks of books surrounding me and think “…I should have read more.” So I can never claim to put together a “Best of” list for the year because I know I didn’t read everything and… thank heavens. That means there’s so much to choose from, and for the most part, I liked what I read.
These are Great Comics of 2023. Not all the Great Comics of 2023. Just a list of 10 I narrowed down, plus special mentions. The rules for inclusion:
- Should be reasonably accessible in one volume, either already or about to be when the first arc has finished.
- Unless it’s a standalone graphic novel (still comics), more than 1 or 2 issues had to come out this year. A book can start out strong and falter, so at least 3 issues need to establish this is one to recommend.
- Crossover events are right out for two reasons. The average reader looking to pick up a good read can be easily drowned in the muck of other continuity. And let’s face it – though DC’s Knight Terrors event was actually pretty good, the quality wasn’t consistent. No slight on editorial; line-wide crossovers have to be a nightmare to keep straight.
- Any given writer, no matter how good, should only get one slot here because if you like one, chances are you’ll like more and seek them out.
Books are listed in alphabetical order; it’s hard enough narrowing down to 10. If something you loved isn’t here, recommend it to me!
Captain America by J. Michael Straczynski, Jesus Saiz, and Lan Medina
It’s been a while since we’ve seen JMS writing comics for one of the Big Two. Over at AWA, he spent some time creating a universe, and I had The Madness as a great one. But as he did with his too brief run on Superman, Straczynski gets right to the core of Captain America by focusing on who he really is and was: Steve Rogers, decent human being. In 2023, I really needed to see that.
Saiz and Medina illustrate with gorgeous layouts and meticulous historical research. This volume of Captain America shows another side in Steve’s upbringing, and pits him unpowered against the growing movement of American Nazi sympathizers in… 1938. Historically accurate, historically shadowed, it just proves that what’s past is prologue. In the present day, Steve offers hope and dignity to the poor and unhoused, while a demon targets him for execution. The forces of evil want to remove sources of light, of course. Of all Marvel’s heroes, Captain America shines the brightest. Most of the time, he gets a creative team that keeps that at the forefront — but this run just feels extra special, with each issue giving us the moments of hope that we need.
Daredevil & Echo by Taboo, B. Earl, and Phil Noto
Fans looking forward to the Disney+ series Echo may get taken aback by this series. Both Echo and Daredevil fall into trouble here they never would in a television adaptation, though I’d sure like to it happen. In comics, no Marvel hero avoids the supernatural too long. Writers Taboo (of the Black Eyed Peas) and B. Earl have spent the past few years weaving more accurate indigenous mysticism and mythology into the Marvel Universe. Here, the result pits heroes of Hell’s Kitchen against the pits of Hell itself.
Their struggles against the villain called Demagoblin parallel a scheme from Hell at least a century earlier. Then, Matt Murdock’s ancestor may not have been on the side of the angels, may have been devilish, but fights to keep Hell from taking over the Kitchen.
All of it appears under the smooth lines of Phil Noto, an artist that makes the horrific more so by how restrained his figures are. As worlds collide, Noto never lets us lose sight of the people wearing the costumes.
The Enfield Gang Massacre by Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips
The thing that caught me up in That Texas Blood was the amount of world-building that Condon had done for his fictional Ambrose County. That and the hints of the supernatural that never quite break through but also never quite go away. Because of that world-building, it’s unsurprising that Condon and Phillips could go back further to show us exactly when the land got soaked in that Texas blood.
It’s a great Western with echoes of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but true to the creators’ style, it takes a while to figure out just who’s allegiant to who. The official history of Ambrose County may tell the story wrong, and that’s an extra layer of fascination. Each issue has had excerpts from a journalist’s notes trying to do the research, find the descendants of the Enfield Gang, and… well, we don’t know exactly where it’s going yet, but it’s clear Condon does.
As a side note, Phillips doesn’t just do incredible interiors. The covers of every issue evoke dime novels so well you can almost smell the gunsmoke. But they’re also evocative of old Whitman hardcovers so this book gets a bonus thumbs up from me.
Family Style: Memoirs of an American from Vietnam by Thien Pham
First off, though I met Pham last year at Wonder Con, I didn’t realize he had grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Currently an art teacher in an Oakland high school, his childhood hangouts weren’t too far from mine. Though I can’t be sure, I meet even have bought pastries from his family’s bakery. Seeing references to places I knew was a bonus, because by the time I got there in this touching memoir, he’d already had me hooked.
Pham divides his memoir up into chapters named after foods both Vietnamese and American. They line up with his childhood, his assimilation, and his maturing into the creator he is today. Though Pham’s cartooning style is spare but evocative the memories, the love of family, and the food he depicts carry emotional weight. As we’re facing times of turmoil in the immigration debate again, Family Style could be, should be must reading for what the American Dream means to people whose families came here for it whether willingly or driven from their homelands. It’s a simple but powerful work. (And he made me nostalgic for El Paseo de Saratoga.)
Junk Rabbit by Jimmie Robinson
The best science fiction tells us something about ourselves and the world we’re living in now. When Jimmie Robinson first announced Junk Rabbit, he described the lead as being like a technology Swamp Thing. If that means that the world of Junk Rabbit has strong horror elements to it, yes. But it’s also clear that humanity did it to ourselves.
In a far future world that still bears enough resemblance to 2023, climate change and pollution have driven humans into domed cities. Supposedly paradises, they’re oligarchies still dependent on those trapped outside the domes for resources. Those scrabbling to survive in their ramshackle towns have lost their history, but they still have an urban myth. They’re protected by the Junkyard Rabbit.
When the junkyards have become the landscape, why not? If the city comes attacking, the armored hero takes the attackers down handily. Even if suffering injuries that should maim or kill, the next time the Rabbit appears, it’s whole again. Perhaps even more dangerous than before. As two teens try to solve the mystery of the Rabbit, they’re also slowly uncovering the true history of their civilization.
Part cautionary tale, part superhero story, all great comic. Put Junk Rabbit on your list.
Messenger: The Legend of Muhammad Ali by Marc Bernardin and Ron Salas
If you’re old enough to remember Muhammad Ali in his heyday or shortly thereafter, you know he was a living legend. Bernardin and Salas bring that legend to life and then some, contextualizing some events and always working to humanize the man and his drive.
I reviewed the book back in September, and it’s stuck with me. As usual with sports for me, it’s the drama, the story that led up to events that catches me. But Ali was far more than a boxer, and these creators helped me remember why the next generation should know his name.
With this and Family Style, you should also keep an eye on publisher First Second Books. I still have a couple unread releases I picked up from Comic-Con this past summer, and I know they’re going to be good. See? This list can’t be a Best Of because I still have so much good stuff to read!
Night Fever by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Why yes, Sean is the father of Jacob Phillips (see above). Their styles are similar, and Sean clearly set an example for Jacob: find a writer that gets you, and together you can carve a path of quality. With Brubaker, Phillips the Elder turns out volume after volume of terrific graphic novels that feel like watching a gritty 1970s thriller. In the broadest sense, Night Fever is no different. But the story of a bored American businessman posing as somebody else for an elite party in Europe just got under my skin.
Perhaps it’s about middle-aged angst. As his business trip goes on, Jonathan Webb gets ensnared by the criminal Rainer who drives him into criminal acts. Webb pinballs around fear and excitement. The darker things get, the better Webb seems at it. With a touch of Hitchcock, Brubaker and Phillips lay out a story of temptation with no seeming way out. And we’re a bit complicit — Webb should be punished, but we really don’t want him to be.
I may have to disqualify Brubaker and Phillips in 2024, just because of course we know anything coming from them will be good.
Shazam! by Mark Waid and Dan Mora
The first few years of interviewing comics pros, I’d always ask which character they’d want to work on. Always — always — the answer came back “Shazam! the Original Captain Marvel.” (Okay, not always phrased that way.) In the past decades, many have taken their shot to mixed results. Part of the problem, of course, is that pesky name — the public knows a different Captain Marvel and DC tried to just call the character Shazam. Except that’s the magic word and an anagram of a mighty wizard’s name. The recent films borrowed from Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s rethinking of the character, but it’s still been an awkward fit transplanting this classic charming character into modern day.
But Waid and Mora got it right. They haven’t thrown away what Johns and Frank did; they just started building up and scraping away until the Captain started being the way he was originally. Not even the derailment of a summer crossover could throw off the rhythm.
This creative team amped up the whimsy. You’ve got brats from Gorilla City and space dinosaurs who love paperwork. Waid even brought back an old Doom Patrol villain who fits nicely with Captain Marvel. Because I think internally we can call him Captain Marvel again. The first arc bears the playful subtitle “Meet the Captain.” The story itself causes the gods (and Solomon) to meet who Billy Batson really is, which gives Waid and Mora the opportunity to give them more characterization than they usually get in this title.
They’re clearly moving Captain Marvel toward how he was originally, and doing so with a story that would have made the original creators Otto Binder and C.C. Beck proud.
Superman: The Harvests of Youth by Sina Grace
This is a great Superman story. This is not a Superman story. If you must, it includes a brief origin of how Clark Kent got his cape. As this is one of DC’s YA graphic novels, it may or may not matter. What does matter is that Sina Grace created a story of the kids of Smallville High that feels fresh and makes no bones about the struggles teens are having right now.
And Grace also proves that Clark Kent can be written as kind and decent and trying to do the right thing and still propel a gripping story forward. It’s hard enough for Clark to learn what he is, but in a way, that’s the challenge for everybody growing up. Who are we going to be? When you’re a teen, it’s also hard to see that who you’re going to be isn’t who you are now. You don’t have to look long on the internet to realize that it’s amplified that challenge for youth today.
Grace presents realistic teenagers, one of whom happens to secretly be an alien. They live in a town full of people good and bad. And Jonathan and Martha Kent are decent people raising a decent person who has superpowers. Thus, this may be the best “Superman” story you’ve read in years. There’s no crust of continuity — just a good story that may resonate with teens all too well. If you’re like me and far from teen years, be glad of the skill and the insight that Grace has brought to this. It’s simply beautiful.
Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha,
and Nicola Scott
Before I get too far, let me include a special shout-out to the colorists and letterers of this book: Arif Prianto, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Wesley Wong, Annette Kwok, and Clayton Cowles. Their work gives this DC Black Label book a consistent look, raising the bar on the art of the already masterful Jimenez, Ha, and Scott. All three artists are giants in the field; their work has never looked better than it does here.
Jimenez got the chance to set the look of the gods here. Though he’s not the first to give them an air of the inhuman, these are bold interpretations carried through and given spins by Ha and Scott in the second and third “books”, respectively. They have to be bold, because DeConnick weaves a history that balances mythology — the real, bloody kind — with DC continuity and believable characters. It’s about the creation and rise of the Amazon tribes, but you must have figured that out from the title.
You could call it a real page-turner, except the art is so sumptuous that you have to take your time to take it all in. While I have no insider knowledge, it’s hard to imagine that noted comics fan James Gunn hasn’t read this, and will likely use it as part of the blueprint for the upcoming Themyscira TV series, Paradise Lost. I’m not a betting man, but I’d bet on that.
Comics-adjacent novels that you should check out:
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks. America’s Dad knows his stuff — comics, World War II, and the landmines of producing movies in the era of streaming services. Of course, he knows actors best of all. So a novel melding all these things together could have been a mess — instead it’s a total joy. AND he also includes a code to read the screenplay of the movie within the novel that’s an original “comic book” property. While it may never actually become a Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, Hanks’ novel will reward you.
Starter Villain by John Scalzi. Part Despicable Me, perhaps, but setting a novel about would-be Bond villains in a world with no actual James Bond would be whimsical enough. That Scalzi throws in genetically modified cats and dolphins is icing on the cake. When substitute teacher Charlie inherits his Uncle Jake’s empire, complete with secret base in a volcano, he wants nothing to do with it. But fate — and a villainous organization — has other plans. Thanks to Scalzi, I’ve had a suspicion confirmed: supervillains have nothing on middle schoolers.
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