Batman: Knightfall
Vol. 1 by Chuck Dixon & Doug Moench
I went back to this 90’s story just to cross it off my Batman bucket list, but surprisingly found a great story of Bruce Waybe being pushed beyond his limits. The way Bane is introduced and slowly chips away at Batman from the shadows is still great to read all these years later.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
By Gabrielle Zevin
Platonic love has rarely been explored so deeply as it is here. This book shows what a gift companionship can be, and how art can become an expression of that kind of love. But even if we think we know everything about a person, there are their perspectives and experiences that we can never fully understand.
The Book Eaters
By Sunyi Dean
Fighting against the patriarchy with a side of human brain slurping; what more could you want? The fantastical society this book created is wholly original, but the darkness and conflict within is all too familiar, acting as a kind of microcosm for human civilization as a whole.
X-Men: Red
Vol. 1 by Tom Taylor & Manmud Asrar
Vol. 2 by Al Ewing & Stefano Caselli
The Krakoan Era of X-Men comics remains strong, but the best title this year was set not on the mutant island, but on the Red Planet, where a society of mutants called the Arakki have settled. Al Ewing expands their culture and takes larger than life characters like Storm and Magneto and gives them incredible arcs, including my favorite comic moment of the entire year.
It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth
By Zoe Thorogood
Zoe Thorogood turns the comic medium inside out and back again to tell an incredibly meta and personal story about depression and self worth. Her voice is so strong and captivating that this remains an entertaining read even when it explores the darkest depths of our mind. This reminded me of why people tell stories in the first place.