Best Graphic Novels and Comic Books of 2016
Best 2016, Best Books, Best Year-End, Fiction & Literature, Graphic Novels

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:

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

carpet-sweeper-tales-by-julie-doucet
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.”

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30 .) Cheap Novelties: The Pleasures Of Urban Decay by Ben Katchor

cheap-novelties-the-pleasures-of-urban-decay-with-julius-knipl-real-estate-photographer-by-ben-katchor
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.

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29 .) Hilda and the Stone Forest by Luke Pearson

hilda-and-the-stone-forest-hilda-5-by-luke-pearson
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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!

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28 .) Lumberjanes, Vol. 3: A Terrible Plan by Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis

lumberjanes-vol-3-a-terrible-plan-lumberjanes-collected-editions-3-by-noelle-stevenson-shannon-watters-carolyn-nowak
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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).

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27 .) Mockingbird by Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk

mockingbird-vol-1-i-can-explain-mockingbird-2016-1-by-chelsea-cain
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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!

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26 .) The Arab Of The Future 2: A Childhood In The Middle East, 1984-1985: A Graphic Memoir by Riad Sattouf

the-arab-of-the-future-2-a-childhood-in-the-middle-east-1984-1985-a-graphic-memoir-larabe-du-futur-2-by-riad-sattouf
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.”

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25 .) The One Hundred Nights Of Hero: A Graphic Novel by Isabel Greenberg

the-one-hundred-nights-of-hero-by-isabel-greenberg
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.”

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24 .) The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North, Erica Henderson and Rico Renzi

the-unbeatable-squirrel-girl-volume-3-squirrel-you-really-got-me-now-the-unbeatable-squirrel-girl-3-by-ryan-north
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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!

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23 .) The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen

the-wicked-the-divine-vol-4-rising-action-the-wicked-the-divine-18-22-by-kieron-gillen-jamie-mckelvie
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.

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22 .) Faith Volume 1: Hollywood And Vine by Jody Houser

faith-volume-1-hollywood-vine-faith-1-by-jody-houser
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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?”

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21 .) Megg and Mogg in Amsterdam and Other Stories by Simon Hanselmann

megg-mogg-in-amsterdam-megg-mogg-owl-by-simon-hanselmann
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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

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20 .) Mooncop by Tom Gauld

mooncop-by-tom-gauld
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.”

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19 .) The Legend of Wonder Woman by Renae De Liz

the-legend-of-wonder-woman-vol-1-origins-by-renae-de-liz
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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!”

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18 .) Big Kids by Michael DeForge

big-kids-by-michael-deforge
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.”

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17 .) Dark Night: A True Batman Story by Paul Dini and Eduardo Risso

dark-night-a-true-batman-story-by-paul-dini-eduardo-risso
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.”

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16 .) Last Look by Charles Burns

last-look-by-charles-burns
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.

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15 .) Rolling Blackouts: Dispatches From Turkey, Syria, And Iraq by Sarah Glidden

rolling-blackouts-dispatches-from-turkey-syria-and-iraq-by-sarah-glidden
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.”

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14 .) The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew

the-art-of-charlie-chan-hock-chye-by-sonny-liew
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.”

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13 .) Sheriff Of Babylon by Tom King and Mitch Gerads

the-sheriff-of-babylon-volume-1-bang-bang-bang-the-sheriff-of-babylon-1-by-tom-king
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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?”

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12 .) Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet by Ta-Nahesi Coates & Brian Stelfreeze

black-panther-a-nation-under-our-feet-book-1-black-panther-volume-vii-a-nation-under-our-feet-1-by-ta-nehisi-coates
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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!

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11 .) Hot Dog Taste Test by Lisa Hanawalt

hot-dog-taste-test-by-lisa-hanawalt
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.

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10 .) Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughn and Cliff Chiang

paper-girls-vol-1-paper-girls-collected-editions-1-by-brian-k-vaughan-cliff-chiang
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.

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9 .) Plutona by Emi Lenox, Jeff Lemire and Jordie Bellaire

plutona-4-plutona-4-by-jeff-lemire
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.

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8 .) Wonder Woman: The True Amazon by Jill Thompson

wonder-woman-the-true-amazon-by-jill-thompson
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.”

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7 .) Monstress Volume 1: Awakening by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

monstress-volume-1-awakening-monstress-1-by-marjorie-m-liu
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.

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6 .) Panther by Brecht Evens

panter-by-brecht-evens
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.”

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5 .) Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir by Tom Hart

rosalie-lightning-a-graphic-memoir-by-tom-hart
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.”

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4 .) Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

ghosts-by-raina-telgemeier
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.

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3 .) The Vision by Tom King

the-vision-volume-1-little-worse-than-a-man-the-vision-1-by-tom-king
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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!

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2 .) Patience by Daniel Clowes

patience-by-daniel-clowes
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.

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1 .) March: Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell

march-book-three-march-3-by-john-lewis-andrew-aydin
Lists It Appears On:

  • 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.”

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#32-212 Best Comic & Graphic Novels of 2016



 

#BookAuthorList
(Books Appear on 2 Lists Each)
32Adulthood Is a Myth (Sarah’s Scribbles, #1)Sarah AndersenGoodreads
Herald Net
33Bitch PlanetAV Club
EW
34Black HammerJeff LemirePaste
Mental Floss
35Boy’s ClubMatt FurieVulture
The Guardian
36Clean RoomGail SimoneAV Club
Amazon
37Giant DaysJohn AllisonPaste
Booklist Online 2
38Goldie VanceEW
Tor
39Goodnight PunpunInio AsanoHerald Net
AV Club
40House of PenancePeter J. TomasiPaste
Lazy Gamer
41If We All Spat at Once They’d DrownReadings
Readings
42IrminaBarbara YelinLibrary Journal
The Guardian
43Mary Wept Over the Feet of JesusChester BrownThe Globe and Mail
CBA
44Midnighter/Midnighter and ApolloSteve OrlandoTor
Paste
45Steve OrlandoJeff LemirePaste
Lazy Gamer
46Ms. MarvelG. Willow WilsonEW
Goodreads
47Nod AwayJoshua CotterPaste
Mental Floss
48Saga, Volume 6Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona StaplesGoodreads
CBA
49Secret WarsJonathan Hickman, Esad Ribic, Ive Svorcina, and Paul RenaudVulture
Mental Floss
50Something New: Tales from a Makeshift BrideLucy KnisleyGoodreads
Library Journal
51SupermanMax Landis with various artistsAV Club
Mental Floss
52Tetris: The Games People PlayBox BrownPaste
Mental Floss
53The Mighty ThorJason AaronPaste
Lazy Gamer
(Books Appear on 1 Lists Each)
544 KIDS WALK INTO A BANKMatthew Rosenberg and Tyler BossMental Floss
555,000 km Per SecondManuele FiorSlate
56A Girl On The ShoreAV Club
57A Walk in EdenAnders NilsenEntropy
58After Nothing ComesAidan KochEntropy
59Agent 73AV Club
60Agents Of The RealmAV Club
61AgonyAV Club
62AIDAN KOCHAFTER NOTHING COMESThe Globe and Mail
63All Star BatmanLazy Gamer
64Angel CatbirdMargaret AtwoodReadings
65Bacchus, v.1Eddie CampbellBooklist Online
66BAND FOR LIFEANYA DAVIDSONThe Globe and Mail
67Batman #51EW
68BECOMING UNBECOMINGUna Arsenal Pulp PressMental Floss
69Bird in a CageRebecca RoherCBA
70Black Magick Volume 1: Awakening, Part One (Black Magick 1)Greg Rucka and Nicola ScottAmazon
71Black WidowTor
72Blammo #9AV Club
73Brighter Than You ThinkAlan MooreStar Tribune
74Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic EyeJon Rivera, Gerard Way & Michael Avon OemingEntropy
75Compass South: Four PointsHope LarsonSchool Library Journal
76Cook Korean! A Comic Book With RecipesRobin HaNPR
77CopraPaste
78CormoranceReadings
79CosplayersPaste
80Cousin JosephJules FeifferWashington Post
81Darth VaderAV Club
82DC Comics BombshellsAV Club
83DC Comics’ RebirthEW
84DC Universe: Rebirth #1 (DC Universe: Rebirth 2016, #1)Geoff JohnsGoodreads
85DEATHSTROKEChristopher Priest, Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz and Jeromy CoxMental Floss
86DemocracyAlecos Papadatos and Abraham KawaBooklist Online
87Demon, Volume 1Jason ShigaNPR
88Divinity IIEW
89Doctor AphraTor
90Don’t Come in HerePatrick KyleEntropy
91Doom PatrolTor
92Drawing Funny is Oslo DavisReadings
93Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New OrleansDon BrownBooklist Online 2
94El DeafoReadings
95Enter The KannVictor PuchalskiEntropy
96ExitsDaryl SeitchikAmazon
97Faster than LightBrian HaberlinHerald Net
98FathersonAV Club
99Ganges #5AV Club
100Geis: A Matter of Life & DeathAlexis DeaconSlate
101Ghetto Brother: Warrior to PeacemakerJulian VolojBooklist Online
102GorgeousCathy G. JohnsonSlate
103Gotham AcademyEW
104GratNIN: KGMRAV Club
105Gutt GhostEnzo GarciaEntropy
106Harrow CountyCullen BunnPaste
107HawkeyeTor
108Head Lopper: The Island or A Plague of BeastsAndrew MacLeanEntropy
109Hellboy in Hell: The Death CardMike MignolaThe Guardian
110Hip Hop Family Tree Volume 4Ed PiskorHerald Net
111HippopotamisterJohn Patrick GreenSchool Library Journal
112Hot or Not: 20th Century Male ArtistsJessica CampbellCBA
113How to Be Perfect: An Illustrated GuideRon Padgett and Jason NovakAmazon
114How to Survive in the NorthLuke HealyPublishers Weekly
115How to Talk to Girls at Partiesign
116Howard the DuckChip Zdarsky and Joe QuinonesThe Guardian
117HubertBen GijsemansThe Guardian
118Human Body TheaterMaris WicksBooklist Online 2
119In Search of Lost Time: Swann’s WayThe Guardian
120In The Sounds And SeasAV Club
121In-Between DaysTeva HarrisonCBA
122InjectionWarren Ellis and Declan ShalveyThe Guardian
123Invisible Ink: My Mother’s Secret Love Affair with a Famous CartoonistBill GriffithBooklist Online
124Ivar: TimewalkerLazy Gamer
125Jacob Bladders And The State Of The ArtAV Club
126Kim & KimTor
127King BabyKate BeatonNPR
128KlausGrant Morrison & Dan MoraEntropy
129Libby’s DadEleanor DavisEntropy
130Little RobotBen HatkeBooklist Online 2
131Meat Cake BibleAV Club
132Mighty JackBen HatkeSchool Library Journal
133MiserylandKeiler RobertsReadings
134Moebius Library: The World of EdenaMoebiusAmazon
135Moon CopPaste
136Moon Girl And Devil DinosaurAV Club
137Mox NoxReadings
138MunchSteffen KvernelandThe Guardian
139My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol 1Emil FerrisThe Guardian
140Narwhal: Unicorn of the SeaBen ClantonSchool Library Journal
141Neil Gaiman’s How to Talk to Girls at PartiesNeil Gaiman and Gabriel BáAmazon
142New Super-ManTor
143NighthawkAV Club
144Notes on a ThesisThe Guardian
145ODY-C: Cycle OneMatt FractionNPR
146ON A SUNBEAMTillie WaldenMental Floss
147Orange: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1Ichigo TakanoGoodreads
148Paracuellos Volume 1Carlos GiménezNPR
149Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat! Volume 1: Hooked On A FelineKate LethNPR
150Paul Up NorthMichel Rabagliati, translated by Helge DascherCBA
151Pretty Deadly Volume 2: The BearKelly Sue DeConnickNPR
152Prince Of CatsAV Club
153Princess Jellyfish 1Akiko HigashimuraAmazon
154Providence: Act 1Alan Moore and Jacen BurrowsThe Guardian
155Puke ForceAV Club
156Rat Queens, Vol. 3: DemonsKurtis J. WiebeGoodreads
157Real Deal ComixAV Club
158RingsideJoe Keatinge & Nick BarberEntropy
159RuinsPeter KuperBooklist Online
160RULES FOR DATING MY DAUGHTERMike DawsonMental Floss
161Saving GraceThe Guardian
162Science Comics: DinosaursMK ReedSchool Library Journal
163Secret PathGord Downie & Jeff LemireCBA
164Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”Miles HymanStar Tribune
165SickAV Club
166Sir Afred No. 3Tim HensleyEntropy
167Small Gods: A Discworld Graphic NovelTerry PratchettGoodreads
168Snow WhiteMatt PhelanSchool Library Journal
169Soft CityThe Guardian
170Soldier’s Heart: The Campaign to Understand My WWII Veteran FatherCarol TylerBooklist Online
171Some Other Animal’s MeatEmily CarrollEntropy
172Someone Please Have Sex With MeGina WynbrandtReadings
173Space DumplinsCraig ThompsonBooklist Online 2
174SparxAV Club
175SPIDER-WOMAN #5Dennis Hopeless and Javier RodriguezMental Floss
176SPIDEY ZINEHannah BlumenreichMental Floss
177Stan and NanThe Guardian
178SuperMutant Magic AcademyJillian TamakiBooklist Online 2
179Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental ProfessorLynda BarryBooklist Online
180The BackstagersTor
181The Best American Comics 2016Roz Chast (editor)NPR
182The Birth of KitaroShigeru Mizuki and Zack DavissonAmazon
183The Caped Crusade: Batman And The Rise Of Nerd CultureGlen WeldonNPR
184The Collapsing WomanHeather BenjaminEntropy
185THE CREEPY CASE FILES OF MARGO MALOODrew WeingMental Floss
186The Fade OutEd BrubakerLibrary Journal
187The Familiar, Volume 3: Honeysuckle & PainMark Z. DanielewskiNPR
188THE FLINTSTONESMark Russell, Steve Pugh and Chris ChuckryMental Floss
189The Greatest Of MarlysLynda BarryNPR
190The Longest Day Of The FutureAV Club
191The MeekAV Club
192The Nameless CityFaith Erin HicksSchool Library Journal
193THE NIBMental Floss
194The Only ChildGuojingBooklist Online 2
195The Return of the Honey BuzzardThe Guardian
196The Richest Duck In The WorldAV Club
197The Secret Loves of Geek GirlsReadings
198The Spider KingJohn Vann and Simone D’ArminiEntropy
199The White Donkey: Terminal LanceMaximilian UriarteNPR
200Things From The FloodSimon StålenhagNPR
201Threads. The Calais cartoon.Kate EvansEntropy
202Tim GingerJulian HanshawBooklist Online
203Time ClockReadings
204TonoharuStar Tribune
205Two BrothersFabio Moon and Gabriel BaBooklist Online
206VNCNTFRTZVincent FritzEntropy
207WE ALL WISH FOR DEADLY FORCEMental Floss
208We Stand on GuardBrian K. VaughanHerald Net
209What Am I Doing Here?Abner DeanThe Guardian
210WHAT IS OBSCENITY?Rokudenashiko; edited by Anne Ishii and Graham KolbeinsMental Floss
211White Sand Volume 1 (White Sand, #1)Brandon SandersonGoodreads
212Written and Drawn by HenriettaLiniers.Booklist Online 2


The 27 Best Graphic Novel Book Lists Used



SourceArticle
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