I may not have reviewed as many comics in 2023, but I still kept up with reading on a regular basis. From mainstream series to new indie productions, here are my favorite comics and graphic novels of the year.

Local Man // Tim Seeley & Tony Fleecs

Imagine being a superhero. Now imagine being a superhero that does something so unforgivable in the public eye that you have to retreat to your hometown and move back in with your parents. This is the foundation for Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs’s new series, as it follows Jack Xavier, who operates with the powers of Hawkeye or Deadshot. Local Man deals with issues of regret and grief, while still feeling like a new take on superhero fare. There’s elements of Robert Kirkman’s Invincible series at play as well, but Local Man has plenty of its own to say. Jack has to deal with the fallout of his actions both internally and externally, as virtually everyone, including his parents, is either actively antagonistic towards him or passively disappointed. Oh, and there’s a super powered threat to humanity to stop, to go along with it. Turns out you can never really go home again, after all.

Silk // Emily Kim

What do you get when you take the exploits of Cindy Moon and blend them with the conceit of Inception? You get something like Emily Kim’s Silk volume 2, and it’s everything the character and world should be. Of course, you can’t have an adventure set in the world of Spider-Man without a struggle between its hero’s private and costumed life, and Silk continues to make Cindy’s story feel less and less like a re-tread of Peter Parker’s story. I admire Kim’s ability to make the series go in increasingly bonkers directions while still grounding it with intense emotional stakes. Last year’s volume one was admittedly a bit of a letdown compared to the rest of the series, but volume two came back to life with a vibrancy – thanks in part to artist Ig Guara – that mainstream comics need.

Undiscovered Country // Charles Soule & Scott Snyder

Great sci-fi uses its conceit to shine a light on the issues facing today’s world, and that’s exactly what Charles Soule and Scott Snyder’s Undiscovered Country does. The idea of an isolated United States is a fascinating premise to begin with, but the series has thrown new, exciting twists and turns throughout its run. 2023’s issues saw our heroes trapped in a kind of Groundhog Day scenario as they relive America’s past in order to reckon with their current predicament – namely, stopping an airborne virus that’s decimated the world’s population (sound familiar)? The path towards Aurora has been laid out in front of our heroes since the beginning, but more and more bizarre obstacles continue to spring up, and Undiscovered Country gets better and better.

We Are Scarlet Twilight // Benjamin Morse

Is We Are Scarlet Twilight perfect? Maybe not; there’s at least one spelling or grammatical error in each of its first four issues. But Benjamin Morse’s comic makes up for its faults by being a fun, fresh superhero romp. The series is a kind of 1930s serial riff on Blade, but manages to insert a new kind of humor and specificity to make it a series to look forward to in the years to come. Maybe it’s my fondness for the kind of pulpy detective noirs that We Are Scarlet Twilight pokes fun at, but I was quickly sucked in by the worldbuilding and characters that Morse accomplished in just a few pages. Morse, who also serves as illustrator, nails the tone and style while making a unique statement about America’s past, and still having fun along the way.

Void Rivals // Robert Kirkman

Comics legend Robert Kirkman’s newest appears to be a curious project at first. Why tell a hard sci-fi Romeo and Juliet riff in the Transformers universe? The answers aren’t yet entirely clear, but Kirkman has certainly earned the benefit of the doubt by now. Two space pilots from rival planets marooned in the distance must learn how to work together to get back home. Sounds familiar enough, right? That’s exactly what Kirkman wants, and Void Rivals lays the groundwork for what can be fruitful material that can last for years, with solid character work and effective stakes. The first six issues of the series likely won’t ultimately go down as the best when all is said and done, but there’s a solid foundation built of empathetic characters and a unique conceit.