The best comics of 2020

Reimena Yee’s features characters struggling with loneliness and coming of age. Lora Xi, on the precipice of childhood and teenagerdom, befriends a ghost who, in her own way, is also terrified of growing up. Together they learn to embrace the magic of change. Yee’s work stands out because of this focus. With so much of the work in graphic novels being targeted, primarily, to young readers, it is refreshing to see a book that goes beyond imparting moral lessons. Yee’s breathtaking artwork teaches the reader to appreciate her unique style that often foregoes strict paneling, and for curious readers who might create their own works, the book’s back matter details the tools Yee used to create her book. Many people have taken up hobbies during the pandemic, and Séance Tea Party shows how one’s isolation can be filled with imagination. [M.L Kejera]

Although a lot of regularly scheduled comics saw interruptions and delays as Covid touched every part of the production schedule, there was a lot to celebrate, too. Middle-grade and YA books like continued to support the entire market with excellent stories and deep characterization, and long-running superhero properties like got injected with some much-needed energy. is the , a YA book that brings a beloved but often benched character back into action, telling her story with a fresh perspective for a new audience. Cassandra Cain is a character who’s easy to dismiss and even easier to misunderstand, but writer Sarah Kuhn and artist Nicole Goux have given readers a new chance to get to know her, and the book is an origin story that embraces only the parts of the canon that still serve the character. Cass’ life is shaped by trauma, but this book opens up her future to something brighter and safer, which is an opportunity the character rarely gets in monthly issues. The art is lovely thanks to Goux’s expressive characters and detailed backgrounds, elevated even further by colorist Chris Peter’s bright pastels and dark blues and purples. Shadow Of The Batgirl is everything you can and should ask of a YA book, especially one that tackles a character with a very complicated history. It’s a perfect introduction to Cass, DC canon, and superheroes as a genre for any reader. [Caitlin Rosberg]

ShortBox has quickly grown from a publisher to keep an eye on to becoming one of the best publishers of indie comics around. This year has showcased some of its best books, including the unassuming She Would Feel The Same by Emma Hunsinger (of “How To Draw A Horse” fame). She Would Feel The Same documents the aftermath of a seven-year-long relationship between two women. Unlike the heartbreaking betrayals found in stories that touch on slowly deteriorating love, the women in She Would Feel The Same fall out of love simply and at the same time. They mutually decide to end their relationship, and after splitting up their belongings, there are no tears, no screaming—just a handshake. She Would Feel The Same explores the terrifying implications of the often unexamined truth that the foundations of one’s life can change overnight. This quiet comic is haunting, delving deep into what arises as one regains their equilibrium after a loss. It’s an incredible, mature work about relationships, aloneness, and time. [Tiffany Babb]

Ben Passmore makes the kind of comics that are hard for some people to read. He tackles race and bigotry with the kind of clear-eyed focus that can make readers uncomfortable, and Passmore forces space for that discomfort and conflict without resolution. His work for The Nib is cutting and hilarious, sometimes at the same time, and his collaboration with Ezra Claytan Daniels on was one of our . exhibits much of the best of Passmore’s skills, offering pointed commentary about the state of both personal and universal politics. Set before the backdrop of the violent voyeurism of football, Sports Is Hell holds up a mirror that’s stripped of all the niceties that people hide behind. There is a protest that is called a riot, or maybe it’s vice versa. The toxic culture around fandom of any kind, sports and politics especially, is stripped bare and displayed for what it is. People who have the same goals find themselves wildly at odds when it comes to methods, and this wedge puts them in the line of fire of people who do not agree at all. Sports Is Hell isn’t a political cartoon in the way people traditionally understand them; it’s a book rather than a couple of panels, with an overarching plot and clearly defined characters that represent but are not real people. But it is a political comic in tone and meaning, exposing people and systems for their flaws and refusing to offer any trite solutions. It’s funny and heavy and starkly honest, and demands intention and thought from readers. [Caitlin Rosberg]

In , the gods of the cosmos are dead, their enormous bodies left adrift in the stars. What do you do when confronted with the fact that even in the endless beauty of space, there’s a grim reminder that all things die? If you’re writer Al Ewing and artist Simone di Meo, that’s just the beginning for a heist story wrapped up in a space odyssey. Ships travel the stars looking to find the corpses of these gigantic titans, looting their body parts in exchange for cash. Captain Georges Malik and the other members of the Viihan II want something more: to find where all the dead deities are coming from. Maybe even see a god before they become a gigantic corpse. Much like with Marvel’s Immortal Hulk, Ewing’s writing displays an appropriate gravity while also not being self-serious. There’s a sense of excitement that comes across in his writing, whether characters are reciting mottos or gods are getting cut up for a payday. Di Meo’s art is beautiful, equally colorful and cold. The story of the Viihan II and its crew is still fresh, and it’s a journey well worth taking. [Justin Carter]