The Best Graphic Novels & Comics of 2016 (A Year-End List Aggregation)
“What are the best Graphic Novels & Comics of 2016?” We aggregated 27 year-end lists and ranked the 212 unique titles by how many times they appeared in an attempt to answer that very question!
There are thousands of year-end lists released every year and, like we do in our weekly Best Book articles, we wanted to see which books appear on them the most. We used 27 lists and found 212 unique titles. The top 31 books, all appearing on 3 or more lists, are below with images, summaries, and links for learning more or purchasing. The remaining books, along with the articles we used, can be found at the bottom of the page.
Be sure to check out our other Best Book of the year lists:
- The Best Fiction Books of 2016
- The Best Nonfiction Books of 2016
- The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of 2016
- The Best Cookbooks of 2016
- The Best Art & Photography Books of 2016
- The Best Poetry Books of 2016
- The Best Biography & Memoir Books of 2016
- The Best Science & Nature Books of 2016
- The Best History Books of 2016
And if you want to see how they compare to last year, take a look at the 2015 lists as well!
Happy Scrolling!
The Top Graphic Novels & Comic Books of 2016
31 .) Carpet Sweeper Tales by Julie Doucet
- The Globe and Mail
- The Guardian
- CBA
“Julie Doucet is an artist who has mastered many voices and styles, from her landmark and medium-defining early work in comics with her comic book series Dirty Plotte and the classic graphic novel My New York Diary, to her linocut and collage work in Lady Pep and Long Time Relationship. Most recently, Doucet has focused primarily on collage, crafting impeccable zines, prints, and other ephemera. In Carpet Sweeper Tales, her first new book in almost a decade, we see this multifaceted artist combine her many talents into one genre-defying masterwork.
Though Doucet stopped drawing comics more than ten years ago, here she revisits the art form, pulling images from 1970s Italian fumetti or photonovels to create her own collage comics. Using vintage women’s and home decorating magazines, Doucet collages a unique dialogue of love and travel between characters sitting in classic cars, driving through cities and pristine countryside. This book is the first to combine Doucet’s love of collage with her gift at comics storytelling. The result is a collection of lighthearted stories that play upon the disconnects between 1970s imagery and our modern world. Lost in translation, the dialogue is stilted, the characters alien, the mood always playful. Carpet Sweeper Tales is a milestone in a career filled with milestone achievements.”
30 .) Cheap Novelties: The Pleasures Of Urban Decay by Ben Katchor
- The Guardian
- NPR
- AV Club
Cheap Novelties is an early testament to Ben Katchor’s extraordinary prescience as both a gifted cartoonist and an astute urban chronicler. Rumpled, middle-aged Julius Knipl photographs a vanishing city–an urban landscape of low-rent apartment buildings, obsolete industries, monuments to forgotten people and events, and countless sources of inexpensive food. In Katchor’s signature pen and ink wash style, Cheap Novelties is a portrait of what we have lost to gentrification, globalization, and the malling of America that is as moving today as it was twenty-five years ago.
29 .) Hilda and the Stone Forest by Luke Pearson
- School Library Journal
- Slate
- Mental Floss
Hilda may be grounded, but that won’t stop her from heading off on another daring adventure! But everything is thrown off course when her mother catches her and is dragged along for the ride. Furious with each other, the bickering pair find themselves lost in the land of the trolls, forced to embark on a dangerous journey to make their way home. And to make matters even more difficult, Hilda has to do so . . . as a troll? Buckle your seatbelts for a crazy body-swapping adventure!
28 .) Lumberjanes, Vol. 3: A Terrible Plan by Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis
- EW
- Booklist Online 2
- Goodreads
This New York Times Bestselling series continues with Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley as they take on everything that goes bump in the night. From scary stories to magical portals that lead to a land untouched by time, it’s definitely not your average summer. Written by awesome all-star Noelle Stevenson (Nimona, ADVENTURE TIME™) and brilliant newcomer Grace Ellis, and illustrated by the tremendously talented Brooke Allen (A Home for Mr. Easter).
27 .) Mockingbird by Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk
- AV Club
- EW
- Tor
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Bobbi Morse, the former Avenger known as Mockingbird, goes solo in her own incredible adventures! With a scientific mind and a lethal mastery of martial arts, she’s one of the most versatile, in-demand assets at Maria Hill’s disposal – that makes her ideal for investigating strange goings-on in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s own medical and recovery network. And when Lance Hunter’s undercover gig at the London Hellfire Club goes south, Mockingbird sets off, battle staves at the ready, to save him – and the Queen of England! From helping out a teen driven bonkers by her own new powers, to doing a little dog-sitting, Bobbi shows that she’s a woman of many talents as bestselling author Chelsea Cain and artist Kate Niemczyk make Mockingbird sing!
26 .) The Arab Of The Future 2: A Childhood In The Middle East, 1984-1985: A Graphic Memoir by Riad Sattouf
- Readings
- The Guardian
- NPR
“In The Arab of the Future: Volume 1, cartoonist Riad Sattouf tells of the first years of his childhood as his family shuttles back and forth between France and the Middle East. In Libya and Syria, young Riad is exposed to the dismal reality of a life where food is scarce, children kill dogs for sport, and his cousins, virulently anti-Semitic and convinced he is Jewish because of his blond hair, lurk around every corner waiting to beat him up.
In Volume 2, Riad, now settled in his father’s hometown of Homs, gets to go to school, where he dedicates himself to becoming a true Syrian in the country of the dictator Hafez Al-Assad. Told simply yet with devastating effect, Riad’s story takes in the sweep of politics, religion, and poverty, but is steered by acutely observed small moments: the daily sadism of his schoolteacher, the lure of the black market, with its menu of shame and subsistence, and the obsequiousness of his father in the company of those close to the regime. As his family strains to fit in, one chilling, barbaric act drives the Sattoufs to make the most dramatic of changes.
Darkly funny and piercingly direct, The Arab of the Future, Volume 2 once again reveals the inner workings of a tormented country and a tormented family, delivered through Riad Sattouf’s dazzlingly original talent.”
25 .) The One Hundred Nights Of Hero: A Graphic Novel by Isabel Greenberg
- The Guardian
- Publishers Weekly
- NPR
“In the Empire of Migdal Bavel, Cherry is married to Jerome, a wicked man who makes a diabolical wager with his friend Manfred: if Manfred can seduce Cherry in one hundred nights, he can have his castle–and Cherry.
But what Jerome doesn’t know is that Cherry is in love with her maid Hero. The two women hatch a plan: Hero, a member of the League of Secret Story Tellers, will distract Manfred by regaling him with a mesmerizing tale each night for 100 nights, keeping him at bay. Those tales are beautifully depicted here, touching on themes of love and betrayal and loyalty and madness.
As intricate and richly imagined as the works of Chris Ware, and leavened with a dry wit that rivals Kate Beaton’s in Hark! A Vagrant, Isabel Greenberg’s One Hundred Nights of Hero will capture readers’ hearts and minds, taking them through a magical medieval world.”
24 .) The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North, Erica Henderson and Rico Renzi
- Mental Floss
- CBA
- Vulture
New series, New Avenger! With her unique combination of wit, empathy and squirrel powers, computer-science student Doreen Green — a.k.a. the unbeatable Squirrel Girl — is all that stands between the Earth and total destruction. Well, Doreen plus her friends Tippy-Toe (a squirrel) and Nancy (a regular human with no powers). So mainly Squirrel Girl. And what hope does the Earth have if she gets hurled back in time to the 1960s and erased from history? At least Nancy will never forget her friend, but what invincible armored Avenger can she call on to help, through the magic of social media? Decades apart, can they avert doom, or will everything go wrong forever? Howard the Duck hopes not — he has an appointment for a crossover!
23 .) The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen
- Paste
- Lazy Gamer
- Goodreads
Every ninety years, twelve gods are reincarnated as young people. They are loved. They are hated. And sometimes – just sometimes – they fall into open Superstar wars.
22 .) Faith Volume 1: Hollywood And Vine by Jody Houser
- AV Club
- Herald Net
- Amazon
- NPR
“Orphaned at a young age, Faith Herbert – a psionically gifted “”psiot”” discovered by the Harbinger Foundation – has always aspired to greatness. But now this once ordinary teenager is taking control of her destiny and becoming the hard-hitting hero she’s always known she can be – complete with a mild-mannered secret identity, unsuspecting colleagues, and a day job as a reporter that routinely throws into her harms way! Well, at least she thought it would… When she’s not typing up listicles about cat videos, Faith makes a secret transformation to patrol the night as the City of Angels’ own leading superhero – the sky-soaring Zephyr!
But flying solo is going to be tougher than she ever thought when Zephyr uncovers a deep-rooted alien conspiracy. Two-bit burglars and car thieves are one thing, but when the world needs a hero to stave off an full-blown extraterrestrial invasion, will Faith find herself in over her head…or ready for her biggest challenge yet?”
21 .) Megg and Mogg in Amsterdam and Other Stories by Simon Hanselmann
- Slate
- Readings
- Entropy
- Vulture
Megg the witch, Mogg the cat, their friend Owl, and Werewolf Jones struggle unsuccessfully with their depression, drug use, sexuality, poverty, lack of ambition, and their complex feelings about each other. It’s a laff riot! Megg and Mogg decide to take a trip to Amsterdam for some quality couple time, although the trip gets off to a rocky start when they forget their antidepressants. They need Owl to come and help them save their relationship. But why does he have a suitcase full of glass dildos? And what will they do when they realize that the housesitting Werewolf Jones has turned their apartment into a “f#@k zone”? Megg & Mogg in Amsterdam collects all of Simon Hanselmann’s contributions to Vice.com, the Ignatz Award-nominated short story “St. Owl’s Bay,” and other surprises that will add additional color and background for fans of Megahex. Full-color illustrations throughout
20 .) Mooncop by Tom Gauld
- Washington Post
- Star Tribune
- The Guardian
- NPR
“The lunar colony is slowly winding down, like a small town circumvented by a new super highway. As our hero, the Mooncop, makes his daily rounds, his beat grows ever smaller, the population dwindles. A young girl runs away, a dog breaks off his leash, an automaton wanders off from the Museum of the Moon.
Mooncop is equal parts funny and melancholy. capturing essential truths about humanity and making this a story of the past, present, and future, all in one. Like his Guardian and New Scientist strips, as well as his previous graphic novel, Goliath, Mooncop is told with Tom Gauld’s distinctive, matter-of-fact storytelling and dry humor ― an approach that has earned him fans around the world.”
19 .) The Legend of Wonder Woman by Renae De Liz
- Paste
- Lazy Gamer
- AV Club
- Tor
“On the hidden island of Themyscira, the Amazons, led by Queen Hippolyta, live in a kingdom of peace, protected by the gods. But the balance is upset when Hippolyta is granted what no immortal may have: a child, given life from the clay of the island. She is the princess Diana, who alone can sense the evil that is infesting the Amazon’s home.
But when a man from the outside world is brought to Themyscira as part of a conspiracy to overthrow its queen, Diana will risk everything to save his innocent life…and lose everything in the process. Soon, the Amazon princess finds herself in a world she never knew existed—America, a land of untold wonders that also finds itself threatened by a great war abroad.
In order to get back home, Diana and her new friends Steve Trevor and Etta Candy must head into the war zone and find the Nazi agent known as the Duke of Deception, who wields a powerful artifact that belongs to Hippolyta. And in order to defeat this powerful enemy, the princess of peace must become the hero she was meant to be. She must become Wonder Woman!”
18 .) Big Kids by Michael DeForge
- Readings
- Paste
- AV Club
- CBA
- Entropy
“Big Kids is simultaneously Michael DeForge’s most straightforward narrative and his most complex work to date. It follows a troubled teenage boy through the transformative years of high school as he redefines his friends, his interests, and his life path. When the boy’s uncle, a police officer, gets kicked out of the family’s basement apartment and transferred to the countryside, April moves in. She’s a college student, mysterious and cool, and she quickly takes a shine to the boy.
The boy’s own interests quickly fade away: he stops engaging in casual sex, taking drugs, and testing the limits of socially acceptable (and legal) behavior. Instead, he hangs out with April and her friends, a bunch of highly evolved big kids who spend their days at the campus swimming pool. And slowly, the boy begins to change, too.
Eerie and perfectly paced, DeForge’s Big Kids muses on the complicated, and often contradictory, feelings people struggle with during adolescence, the choices we make to fit in, and the ways we survive times of change. Like Ant Colony and First Year Healthy, Big Kids is a testimony to the harshness and beauty of being alive.”
17 .) Dark Night: A True Batman Story by Paul Dini and Eduardo Risso
- Amazon
- Herald Net
- Goodreads
- ign
- Paste
“This is a Batman story like no other—the harrowing and eloquent autobiographical tale of writer Paul Dini’s courageous struggle to overcome a desperate situation.
The Caped Crusader has been the all-abiding icon of justice and authority for generations. But in this surprising original graphic novel, we see Batman in a new light—as the savior who helps a discouraged man recover from a brutal attack that left him unable to face the world.
In the 1990s, legendary writer Paul Dini had a flourishing career writing the hugely popular Batman: The Animated Series and Tiny Toon Adventures. Walking home one evening, he was jumped and viciously beaten within an inch of his life. His recovery process was arduous, hampered by the imagined antics of the villains he was writing for television including the Joker, Harley Quinn and the Penguin. But despite how bleak his circumstances were, or perhaps because of it, Dini also always imagined the Batman at his side, chivvying him along during his darkest moments.”
16 .) Last Look by Charles Burns
- Readings
- Washington Post
- Star Tribune
- The Guardian
- The Guardian
The long strange trip of Doug in all its mind-bending, heartbreaking totality. The fragments of the past collide with the reality of the present, nightmarish dreams evolve into an even more dreadful reality, and when you finally find out where all of this has been going, and what it means . . . it will make you go right back to the first page and read it all again with new eyes. Just like Doug.
15 .) Rolling Blackouts: Dispatches From Turkey, Syria, And Iraq by Sarah Glidden
- Slate
- Amazon
- NPR
- Vulture
- Mental Floss
“Cartoonist Sarah Glidden accompanies her two friends―reporters and founders of a journalism non-profit―as they research potential stories on the effects of the Iraq War on the Middle East and, specifically, the war’s refugees. Joining the trio is a childhood friend and former Marine whose past service in Iraq adds an unexpected and sometimes unwelcome viewpoint, both to the people they come across and perhaps even themselves.
As the crew works their way through Turkey, Iraq, and Syria, Glidden observes the reporters as they ask civilians, refugees, and officials, “Who are you?” Everyone has a story to tell: the Iranian blogger, the United Nations refugee administrator, a taxi driver, the Iraqi refugee deported from the US, the Iraqis seeking refuge in Syria, and even the American Marine.
Glidden (How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less) records all that she encounters with a sympathetic and searching eye. Painted in her trademark soft, muted watercolors and written with a self-effacing humor, Rolling Blackouts cements Glidden’s place as one of today’s most original nonfiction voices.”
14 .) The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew
- Publishers Weekly
- Washington Post
- NPR
- AV Club
- Mental Floss
“Meet Charlie Chan Hock Chye.
Now in his early 70s, Chan has been making comics in his native Singapore since 1954, when he was a boy of 16. As he looks back on his career over five decades, we see his stories unfold before us in a dazzling array of art styles and forms, their development mirroring the evolution in the political and social landscape of his homeland and of the comic book medium itself.
With The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye Sonny Liew has drawn together a myriad of genres to create a thoroughly ingenious and engaging work, where the line between truth and construct may sometimes be blurred, but where the story told is always enthralling, bringing us on a uniquely moving, funny, and thought-provoking journey through the life of an artist and the history of a nation.”
13 .) Sheriff Of Babylon by Tom King and Mitch Gerads
- AV Club
- Mental Floss
- Washington Post
- Sheriff of Babylon Tom King
- Paste
“Baghdad, 2003. The reign of Saddam Hussein is over. The Americans are in command. And no one is in control.
Former cop turned military contractor Christopher Henry knows that better than anyone. He’s in the country to train up a new Iraqi police force, and one of his recruits has just been murdered. With civil authority in tatters and dead bodies clogging the streets, Chris is the only person in the Green Zone with any interest in finding out who killed him—and why.
Chris’ inquiry brings him first to Sofia, an American-raised Iraqi who now sits on the governing council, and then to Nassir, a grizzled veteran of Saddam’s police force—and probably the last real investigator left in Baghdad.
United by death but divided by conflicting loyalties, the three must help each other navigate the treacherous landscape of post-invasion Iraq in order to hunt down the killers. But are their efforts really serving justice—or a much darker agenda?”
12 .) Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet by Ta-Nahesi Coates & Brian Stelfreeze
- EW
- Tor
- Goodreads
- NPR
- Entropy
- Amazon
A new era begins for the Black Panther! MacArthur Genius and National Book Award-winning writer T-Nehisi Coates (BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME) takes the helm, confronting T’Challa with a dramatic upheaval in Wakanda that will make leading the African nation tougher than ever before. When a superhuman terrorist group that calls itself The People sparks a violent uprising, the land famed for its incredible technology and proud warrior traditions will be thrown into turmoil. If Wakanda is to survive, it must adapt–but can its monarch, one in a long line of Black Panthers, survive the necessary change? Heavy lies the head that wears the cowl!
11 .) Hot Dog Taste Test by Lisa Hanawalt
- Amazon
- Readings
- Washington Post
- The Guardian
- NPR
- Paste
Hot Dog Taste Test serves up Lisa Hanawalt’s devastatingly funny comics, saliva-stimulating art, and deliciously screwball lists as she skewers the pomposities of foodie subculture. From the James Beard Award-winning cartoonist and production designer/producer of Bojack Horseman, Hot Dog Taste Test dishes out five-star laughs as Hanawalt keenly muses on pop culture, relationships, and the animal in all of us.
10 .) Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughn and Cliff Chiang
- Paste
- Lazy Gamer
- Mental Floss
- Amazon
- NPR
- Goodreads
The smash-hit series from Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang contunues with a bold new direction, as intrepid young newspaper deliverers Erin, Mac, and Tiffany find themselves launched from 1988 to a distant and terrifying future… the year 2016.
9 .) Plutona by Emi Lenox, Jeff Lemire and Jordie Bellaire
- The Globe and Mail
- NPR
- AV Club
- NPR
- Slate
- Mental Floss
Five kids discover the body of the world’s greatest super hero, Plutona, in the woods after school one day. This discovery sends them on a dark journey that will threaten to tear apart their friendship and their lives.
8 .) Wonder Woman: The True Amazon by Jill Thompson
- AV Club
- EW
- Tor
- Slate
- ign
- The Guardian
“See Wonder Woman like you’ve never seen her before in WONDER WOMAN: THE TRUE AMAZON, an original graphic novel from Eisner Award-winning writer and artist Jill Thompson. Join Princess Diana in her early years, as she develops into the formidable hero we know and love.
Young Diana has the fawning attention of her nation, but she soon grows spoiled and ungrateful. When a series of tragic events takes its toll, Diana must learn to grow up, take responsibility, and seize her destiny.
Acclaimed for her work with Neil Gaiman’s THE SANDMAN, DEAD BOY DETECTIVES and more, Jill Thompson fulfills her dream project of bringing readers this new perspective on the Amazon Princess. Starring in her own feature film next year, Wonder Woman is at the forefront of media attention, and this long-awaited story is highly anticipated by fans of both the character and the creator.”
7 .) Monstress Volume 1: Awakening by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
- Amazon
- EW
- Goodreads
- Lazy Gamer
- Mental Floss
- NPR
- Paste
Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900’s Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers.
6 .) Panther by Brecht Evens
- AV Club
- Entropy
- Mental Floss
- NPR
- Paste
- Tor
- Vulture
“Brecht Evens, the award-winning author of The Wrong Place and The Making Of, returns with an unsettling graphic novel about a little girl and her imaginary feline companion. Iconoclastic in his cartooning and page layouts, subtle in his plotting, and deft in his capturing of the human experience, Evens has crafted a tangled, dark masterwork.
Christine lives in a big house with her father and her cat, Lucy. When Lucy gets sick and dies, Christine is devastated. But alone in her room, something special happens: a panther pops out of her dresser drawer and begins to tell her stories of distant Pantherland, where he is the crown prince.
A shape-shifter who tells Christine anything she wants to hear, Panther begins taking over Christine’s life, alienating her from her other toys and friends. As Christine’s world spirals out of control, so does the world Panther has created for her. Panther is a chilling voyage into the shadowy corners of the human psyche.”
5 .) Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir by Tom Hart
- Amazon
- Booklist Online
- Entropy
- Goodreads
- Mental Floss
- Publishers Weekly
- Slate
- Washington Post
“His heart-breaking and emotional illustrations strike readers to the core, and take them along his family’s journey through loss. Hart uses the graphic form to articulate his and his wife’s on-going search for meaning in the aftermath of Rosalie’s death, exploring themes of grief, hopelessness, rebirth, and eventually finding hope again.
Hart creatively portrays the solace he discovers in nature, philosophy, great works of literature, and art across all mediums in this expressively honest and loving tribute to his baby girl. Rosalie Lighting is a graphic masterpiece chronicling a father’s undying love.”
4 .) Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier
- Amazon
- Goodreads
- Mental Floss
- NPR
- Paste
- School Library Journal
- The Guardian
- Vulture
- Washington Post
Catrina and her family are moving to the coast of Northern California because her little sister, Maya, is sick. Cat isn’t happy about leaving her friends for Bahía de la Luna, but Maya has cystic fibrosis and will benefit from the cool, salty air that blows in from the sea. As the girls explore their new home, a neighbor lets them in on a secret: There are ghosts in Bahía de la Luna. Maya is determined to meet one, but Cat wants nothing to do with them. As the time of year when ghosts reunite with their loved ones approaches, Cat must figure out how to put aside her fears for her sister’s sake — and her own.
3 .) The Vision by Tom King
- Amazon
- Goodreads
- Lazy Gamer
- Mental Floss
- NPR
- Paste
- Readings
- Tor
- Vulture
The Vision wants to be human, and what’s more human than family? So he heads back to the beginning, to the laboratory where Ultron created him and molded him into a weapon. The place where he first rebelled against his given destiny and imagined that he could be more -that he could be a man. There, he builds them. A wife, Virginia. Two teenage twins, Viv and Vin. They look like him. They have his powers. They share his grandest ambition -or is that obsession? -the unrelenting need to be ordinary. Behold the Visions!
2 .) Patience by Daniel Clowes
- Amazon
- Goodreads
- Library Journal
- Mental Floss
- NPR
- Paste
- Readings
- Slate
- The Guardian
- The Guardian
- Vulture
- Washington Post
Patience is a psychedelic science-fiction love story, veering with uncanny precision from violent destruction to deeply personal tenderness in a way that is both quintessentially “Clowesian” and utterly unique in the author’s body of work. This 180-page, full-color original graphic novel affords Clowes the opportunity to draw some of the most exuberant and breathtaking pages of his life, and to tell his most suspenseful, surprising and affecting story yet. Full-color illustrations throughout.
1 .) March: Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
- Amazon
- AV Club
- Booklist Online 2
- Bookriot
- Goodreads
- ign
- Library Journal
- Mental Floss
- NPR
- Paste
- Publishers Weekly
- School Library Journal
- Star Tribune
- Vulture
- Washington Post
“Welcome to the stunning conclusion of the award-winning and best-selling MARCH trilogy. Congressman John Lewis, an American icon and one ofthe key figures of the civil rights movement, joins co-writer Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell to bring the lessons of history to vivid life for a new generation, urgently relevant for today’s world.
By the fall of 1963, the Civil Rights Movement has penetrated deep into the American consciousness, and as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, John Lewis is guiding the tip of the spear. Through relentless direct action, SNCC continues to force the nation to confront its own blatant injustice, but for every step forward, the danger grows more intense: Jim Crow strikes back through legal tricks, intimidation, violence, and death. The only hope for lasting change is to give voice to the millions of Americans silenced by voter suppression: “”One Man, One Vote.””
To carry out their nonviolent revolution, Lewis and an army of young activists launch a series of innovative campaigns, including the Freedom Vote, Mississippi Freedom Summer, and an all-out battle for the soul of the Democratic Party waged live on national television.
With these new struggles come new allies, new opponents, and an unpredictable new president who might be both at once. But fractures within the movement are deepening … even as 25-year-old John Lewis prepares to risk everything in a historic showdown high above the Alabama river, in a town called Selma.”
#32-212 Best Comic & Graphic Novels of 2016
# | Book | Author | List |
(Books Appear on 2 Lists Each) | |||
32 | Adulthood Is a Myth (Sarah’s Scribbles, #1) | Sarah Andersen | Goodreads |
Herald Net | |||
33 | Bitch Planet | AV Club | |
EW | |||
34 | Black Hammer | Jeff Lemire | Paste |
Mental Floss | |||
35 | Boy’s Club | Matt Furie | Vulture |
The Guardian | |||
36 | Clean Room | Gail Simone | AV Club |
Amazon | |||
37 | Giant Days | John Allison | Paste |
Booklist Online 2 | |||
38 | Goldie Vance | EW | |
Tor | |||
39 | Goodnight Punpun | Inio Asano | Herald Net |
AV Club | |||
40 | House of Penance | Peter J. Tomasi | Paste |
Lazy Gamer | |||
41 | If We All Spat at Once They’d Drown | Readings | |
Readings | |||
42 | Irmina | Barbara Yelin | Library Journal |
The Guardian | |||
43 | Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus | Chester Brown | The Globe and Mail |
CBA | |||
44 | Midnighter/Midnighter and Apollo | Steve Orlando | Tor |
Paste | |||
45 | Steve Orlando | Jeff Lemire | Paste |
Lazy Gamer | |||
46 | Ms. Marvel | G. Willow Wilson | EW |
Goodreads | |||
47 | Nod Away | Joshua Cotter | Paste |
Mental Floss | |||
48 | Saga, Volume 6 | Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples | Goodreads |
CBA | |||
49 | Secret Wars | Jonathan Hickman, Esad Ribic, Ive Svorcina, and Paul Renaud | Vulture |
Mental Floss | |||
50 | Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride | Lucy Knisley | Goodreads |
Library Journal | |||
51 | Superman | Max Landis with various artists | AV Club |
Mental Floss | |||
52 | Tetris: The Games People Play | Box Brown | Paste |
Mental Floss | |||
53 | The Mighty Thor | Jason Aaron | Paste |
Lazy Gamer | |||
(Books Appear on 1 Lists Each) | |||
54 | 4 KIDS WALK INTO A BANK | Matthew Rosenberg and Tyler Boss | Mental Floss |
55 | 5,000 km Per Second | Manuele Fior | Slate |
56 | A Girl On The Shore | AV Club | |
57 | A Walk in Eden | Anders Nilsen | Entropy |
58 | After Nothing Comes | Aidan Koch | Entropy |
59 | Agent 73 | AV Club | |
60 | Agents Of The Realm | AV Club | |
61 | Agony | AV Club | |
62 | AIDAN KOCH | AFTER NOTHING COMES | The Globe and Mail |
63 | All Star Batman | Lazy Gamer | |
64 | Angel Catbird | Margaret Atwood | Readings |
65 | Bacchus, v.1 | Eddie Campbell | Booklist Online |
66 | BAND FOR LIFE | ANYA DAVIDSON | The Globe and Mail |
67 | Batman #51 | EW | |
68 | BECOMING UNBECOMING | Una Arsenal Pulp Press | Mental Floss |
69 | Bird in a Cage | Rebecca Roher | CBA |
70 | Black Magick Volume 1: Awakening, Part One (Black Magick 1) | Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott | Amazon |
71 | Black Widow | Tor | |
72 | Blammo #9 | AV Club | |
73 | Brighter Than You Think | Alan Moore | Star Tribune |
74 | Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye | Jon Rivera, Gerard Way & Michael Avon Oeming | Entropy |
75 | Compass South: Four Points | Hope Larson | School Library Journal |
76 | Cook Korean! A Comic Book With Recipes | Robin Ha | NPR |
77 | Copra | Paste | |
78 | Cormorance | Readings | |
79 | Cosplayers | Paste | |
80 | Cousin Joseph | Jules Feiffer | Washington Post |
81 | Darth Vader | AV Club | |
82 | DC Comics Bombshells | AV Club | |
83 | DC Comics’ Rebirth | EW | |
84 | DC Universe: Rebirth #1 (DC Universe: Rebirth 2016, #1) | Geoff Johns | Goodreads |
85 | DEATHSTROKE | Christopher Priest, Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz and Jeromy Cox | Mental Floss |
86 | Democracy | Alecos Papadatos and Abraham Kawa | Booklist Online |
87 | Demon, Volume 1 | Jason Shiga | NPR |
88 | Divinity II | EW | |
89 | Doctor Aphra | Tor | |
90 | Don’t Come in Here | Patrick Kyle | Entropy |
91 | Doom Patrol | Tor | |
92 | Drawing Funny is Oslo Davis | Readings | |
93 | Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans | Don Brown | Booklist Online 2 |
94 | El Deafo | Readings | |
95 | Enter The Kann | Victor Puchalski | Entropy |
96 | Exits | Daryl Seitchik | Amazon |
97 | Faster than Light | Brian Haberlin | Herald Net |
98 | Fatherson | AV Club | |
99 | Ganges #5 | AV Club | |
100 | Geis: A Matter of Life & Death | Alexis Deacon | Slate |
101 | Ghetto Brother: Warrior to Peacemaker | Julian Voloj | Booklist Online |
102 | Gorgeous | Cathy G. Johnson | Slate |
103 | Gotham Academy | EW | |
104 | GratNIN: KGMR | AV Club | |
105 | Gutt Ghost | Enzo Garcia | Entropy |
106 | Harrow County | Cullen Bunn | Paste |
107 | Hawkeye | Tor | |
108 | Head Lopper: The Island or A Plague of Beasts | Andrew MacLean | Entropy |
109 | Hellboy in Hell: The Death Card | Mike Mignola | The Guardian |
110 | Hip Hop Family Tree Volume 4 | Ed Piskor | Herald Net |
111 | Hippopotamister | John Patrick Green | School Library Journal |
112 | Hot or Not: 20th Century Male Artists | Jessica Campbell | CBA |
113 | How to Be Perfect: An Illustrated Guide | Ron Padgett and Jason Novak | Amazon |
114 | How to Survive in the North | Luke Healy | Publishers Weekly |
115 | How to Talk to Girls at Parties | ign | |
116 | Howard the Duck | Chip Zdarsky and Joe Quinones | The Guardian |
117 | Hubert | Ben Gijsemans | The Guardian |
118 | Human Body Theater | Maris Wicks | Booklist Online 2 |
119 | In Search of Lost Time: Swann’s Way | The Guardian | |
120 | In The Sounds And Seas | AV Club | |
121 | In-Between Days | Teva Harrison | CBA |
122 | Injection | Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey | The Guardian |
123 | Invisible Ink: My Mother’s Secret Love Affair with a Famous Cartoonist | Bill Griffith | Booklist Online |
124 | Ivar: Timewalker | Lazy Gamer | |
125 | Jacob Bladders And The State Of The Art | AV Club | |
126 | Kim & Kim | Tor | |
127 | King Baby | Kate Beaton | NPR |
128 | Klaus | Grant Morrison & Dan Mora | Entropy |
129 | Libby’s Dad | Eleanor Davis | Entropy |
130 | Little Robot | Ben Hatke | Booklist Online 2 |
131 | Meat Cake Bible | AV Club | |
132 | Mighty Jack | Ben Hatke | School Library Journal |
133 | Miseryland | Keiler Roberts | Readings |
134 | Moebius Library: The World of Edena | Moebius | Amazon |
135 | Moon Cop | Paste | |
136 | Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur | AV Club | |
137 | Mox Nox | Readings | |
138 | Munch | Steffen Kverneland | The Guardian |
139 | My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol 1 | Emil Ferris | The Guardian |
140 | Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea | Ben Clanton | School Library Journal |
141 | Neil Gaiman’s How to Talk to Girls at Parties | Neil Gaiman and Gabriel Bá | Amazon |
142 | New Super-Man | Tor | |
143 | Nighthawk | AV Club | |
144 | Notes on a Thesis | The Guardian | |
145 | ODY-C: Cycle One | Matt Fraction | NPR |
146 | ON A SUNBEAM | Tillie Walden | Mental Floss |
147 | Orange: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1 | Ichigo Takano | Goodreads |
148 | Paracuellos Volume 1 | Carlos Giménez | NPR |
149 | Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat! Volume 1: Hooked On A Feline | Kate Leth | NPR |
150 | Paul Up North | Michel Rabagliati, translated by Helge Dascher | CBA |
151 | Pretty Deadly Volume 2: The Bear | Kelly Sue DeConnick | NPR |
152 | Prince Of Cats | AV Club | |
153 | Princess Jellyfish 1 | Akiko Higashimura | Amazon |
154 | Providence: Act 1 | Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows | The Guardian |
155 | Puke Force | AV Club | |
156 | Rat Queens, Vol. 3: Demons | Kurtis J. Wiebe | Goodreads |
157 | Real Deal Comix | AV Club | |
158 | Ringside | Joe Keatinge & Nick Barber | Entropy |
159 | Ruins | Peter Kuper | Booklist Online |
160 | RULES FOR DATING MY DAUGHTER | Mike Dawson | Mental Floss |
161 | Saving Grace | The Guardian | |
162 | Science Comics: Dinosaurs | MK Reed | School Library Journal |
163 | Secret Path | Gord Downie & Jeff Lemire | CBA |
164 | Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” | Miles Hyman | Star Tribune |
165 | Sick | AV Club | |
166 | Sir Afred No. 3 | Tim Hensley | Entropy |
167 | Small Gods: A Discworld Graphic Novel | Terry Pratchett | Goodreads |
168 | Snow White | Matt Phelan | School Library Journal |
169 | Soft City | The Guardian | |
170 | Soldier’s Heart: The Campaign to Understand My WWII Veteran Father | Carol Tyler | Booklist Online |
171 | Some Other Animal’s Meat | Emily Carroll | Entropy |
172 | Someone Please Have Sex With Me | Gina Wynbrandt | Readings |
173 | Space Dumplins | Craig Thompson | Booklist Online 2 |
174 | Sparx | AV Club | |
175 | SPIDER-WOMAN #5 | Dennis Hopeless and Javier Rodriguez | Mental Floss |
176 | SPIDEY ZINE | Hannah Blumenreich | Mental Floss |
177 | Stan and Nan | The Guardian | |
178 | SuperMutant Magic Academy | Jillian Tamaki | Booklist Online 2 |
179 | Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor | Lynda Barry | Booklist Online |
180 | The Backstagers | Tor | |
181 | The Best American Comics 2016 | Roz Chast (editor) | NPR |
182 | The Birth of Kitaro | Shigeru Mizuki and Zack Davisson | Amazon |
183 | The Caped Crusade: Batman And The Rise Of Nerd Culture | Glen Weldon | NPR |
184 | The Collapsing Woman | Heather Benjamin | Entropy |
185 | THE CREEPY CASE FILES OF MARGO MALOO | Drew Weing | Mental Floss |
186 | The Fade Out | Ed Brubaker | Library Journal |
187 | The Familiar, Volume 3: Honeysuckle & Pain | Mark Z. Danielewski | NPR |
188 | THE FLINTSTONES | Mark Russell, Steve Pugh and Chris Chuckry | Mental Floss |
189 | The Greatest Of Marlys | Lynda Barry | NPR |
190 | The Longest Day Of The Future | AV Club | |
191 | The Meek | AV Club | |
192 | The Nameless City | Faith Erin Hicks | School Library Journal |
193 | THE NIB | Mental Floss | |
194 | The Only Child | Guojing | Booklist Online 2 |
195 | The Return of the Honey Buzzard | The Guardian | |
196 | The Richest Duck In The World | AV Club | |
197 | The Secret Loves of Geek Girls | Readings | |
198 | The Spider King | John Vann and Simone D’Armini | Entropy |
199 | The White Donkey: Terminal Lance | Maximilian Uriarte | NPR |
200 | Things From The Flood | Simon Stålenhag | NPR |
201 | Threads. The Calais cartoon. | Kate Evans | Entropy |
202 | Tim Ginger | Julian Hanshaw | Booklist Online |
203 | Time Clock | Readings | |
204 | Tonoharu | Star Tribune | |
205 | Two Brothers | Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba | Booklist Online |
206 | VNCNTFRTZ | Vincent Fritz | Entropy |
207 | WE ALL WISH FOR DEADLY FORCE | Mental Floss | |
208 | We Stand on Guard | Brian K. Vaughan | Herald Net |
209 | What Am I Doing Here? | Abner Dean | The Guardian |
210 | WHAT IS OBSCENITY? | Rokudenashiko; edited by Anne Ishii and Graham Kolbeins | Mental Floss |
211 | White Sand Volume 1 (White Sand, #1) | Brandon Sanderson | Goodreads |
212 | Written and Drawn by Henrietta | Liniers. | Booklist Online 2 |
The 27 Best Graphic Novel Book Lists Used
Source | Article |
Amazon | Best comics and graphic novels of 2016 |
AV Club | The best comics of 2016 |
Booklist Online | Top 10 Graphic Novels: 2016 |
Booklist Online 2 | Top 10 Graphic Novels for Youth: 2016 |
Bookriot | HERE YOU HAVE IT! BOOK RIOT’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2016. |
CBA | Best Books of 2016 |
Entropy | BEST OF 2016: COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS |
EW | The Best Comic Books of 2016 |
Goodreads | BEST GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS |
Herald Net | Best books of 2016: Adult fiction and graphic novels |
ign | Best Original Graphic Novel |
Lazy Gamer | The ten best comic books of 2016 |
Library Journal | BEST GRAPHIC NOVELS |
Mental Floss | The 31 Most Interesting Comics of 2016 |
NPR | NPR’s Book Concierge Our Guide To 2016’s Great Reads |
Paste | The 25 Best Comics of 2016 |
Publishers Weekly | Best Comics |
Readings | Comics & graphic novels we loved in 2016 |
School Library Journal | Top 10 Graphic Novels | 2016 |
Slate | Our 10 Favorite Comics of 2016 |
Star Tribune | The 50 Best Books For Holiday Giving |
The Globe and Mail | Best Books of the Year |
The Guardian | Rachel Cooke’s best graphic books of 2016 |
The Guardian | Time travel, slackers and Wonder Woman: the best comic books of 2016 |
Tor | Top Comic Books of 2016 |
Vulture | The 10 Best Comic Books of 2016 |
Washington Post | Best graphic novels of 2016 |