The Best Comics & Graphic Novels of October 2016

Attack on Titan Anthology, by Scott Snyder, Gail Simone, Faith Erin Hicks, Tomer Hanuka, and Hajime Isayama
A huge array of talent from all over the world has come together in this comic celebration of the manga Attack on Titan. Some of the biggest names in the industry contribute original stories and art to this book, some of it unique to the Titans universe, and others reinterpreting the beloved mythos.

The Fade Out: Deluxe Edition, by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, and Elizabeth Breitweiser
Ed Brubaker has brought noir sensibilities to just about every project he’s worked in, including superhero books like Daredevil and Captain America. The Fade-Out is an old-school potboiler, a sordid tale of murder in old Hollywood—and it might be his best work yet. Gorgeous work from artist Sean Phillips and colorist Elizabeth Breitweiser doesn’t hurt one bit. It’s the story of Charlie Parish, a Hollywood screenwriter with PTSD, and his friend Gil, a blacklisted writer. Charlie wakes up in the room of a murdered starlet one day, and has to work out her story while bringing her killer to justice. This new hardcover edition collects the entire series.

Trees, Vol. 2, by Warren Ellis and Jason Howard
The first volume of Trees came as a bit of a surprise: a slow-burning allegory from one of comics’ masters of boundary-pushing science fiction, Warren Ellis. It introduced us to a place existing in the shadow of the titular trees, strange alien structures that landed on earth, causing great destruction but then…just remained, immobile. Those living beneath them having been established, volume two promises to go deeper into the mystery of the trees: why they’re here, and whether or not they truly are dormant.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe, by Ryan North and Erica Henderson
One of the most unexpected breakout stars of the modern Marvel U, Doreen Green (aka Squirrel Girl) has been popular enough to inspire a forthcoming TV series as well as her own standalone graphic novel (that’s this book right here). Nuts, right? (Hee, nuts. Because squirrels.) North and Henderson, the same team behind her ongoing book, pit Doreen against an evil duplicate of herself. Who also beats up the entire Marvel Universe.

Doctor Strange, Vol. 2: The Last Days of Magic, by Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo
Aaron’s mind-bending new series (with beautiful, trippy art from Bachalo) moves into high-gear as the Empirikul arrive in the Marvel Universe proper after having purged magic and sorcery from each dimension they’ve visited. Following volume one, the Sorcerer Supreme is hardly at his best, running short on magic and tricks. This book leads to a major change in the status quo for Strange and for Marvel magic in general.

The Mysterious World of Doctor Strange, by Billy Wrecks and Danny Graydon
Since we’re talking Doctor Strange, there’s an even better way to prepare yourself (mortal) for November’s Benedict Cumberbatch-stravaganza from Marvel Studios. It’s filled with facts and history about the Sorcerer Supreme and art and images from a half-century of Doctor Strange—perfect for longtime fans and noobs alike.

Last Look, by Charles Burns
Charles Burns’ brilliant X-ed Out trilogy, which concluded with 2014’s Sugar Skull, is presented here from beginning to end. It begins with the fever dream of a man named Doug, who follows his dead cat Inky through a black hole into a disturbing world of biological horror (a concern of Burns, at least since his breakout hit Black Hole). It’s a story of depression and healing for Doug, with the kind of ending that makes you reevaluate everything that came before.

Mockingbird, Vol. 1: I Can Explain, by Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk
Bobbi Morse has been around the Marvel Universe for a long time, her importance rising and falling over the years (she was dead for a while, which doesn’t usually help a character’s page count). Fortunately, a starring role (for a while, anyway) in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D TV show has brought her back to the spotlight. It’s about time, too: Mockingbird has a brilliant mind and major martial arts talents, and her new role is as a freelance asset for Maria Hill, who winds up investigating S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.

Wonder Woman: The True Amazon, by Jill Thompson
It’s a really good time to be a Wonder Woman fan. Greg Rucka, who had one of the all-time great runs on the book in the mid-’00s is back on the main book, Renae De Liz is doing a gorgeous retelling of Diana’s WWII era origin in The Legend of Wonder Woman, and now legendary writer/artist Jill Thompson is bringing us a standalone graphic novel (plus there’s that little movie thing). It’s shaping up to be a pretty great 75th anniversary year for the Amazing Amazon. And, not for nothing, those 75 years have featured surprisingly few female writers and artists, so it’s wonderful to see some amazingly talented women telling Diana’s stories.

The Discipline, Vol. 1, by Peter Milligan and Leandro Fernandez
Milligan and artist Fernбndez go dark with the new erotic conspiracy thriller from Image. The story follows Melissa Peake, a wealthy but bored housewife who is seduced by Orlando, a stranger looking to enlist her in an ancient war between The Discipline and The Stalkers. Check out our interview with Milligan and Fernбndez for more.

The Secret Loves of Geek Girls, by Hope Nicholson, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Margaret Atwood, Marjorie M. Liu, and Mariko Tamaki
This anthology includes an amazing array of talent, and a wide variety of autobiographical stories from women creators and fans discussing their secret and not-so-secret nerdy fixations: video games, comics, sci-fi, fantasy…you name it. This is an expanded and fancified version of a book that inspired a blockbuster Kickstarter; it’s very hard to come up with another offering as many legendary (and soon-to-be legendary) creators.

The Best American Comics 2016, by Roz Chast and Bill Kartalopoulos
Houghton Mifflin harcourt’s Best American series presents the best of the year in a variety of genres or media (the Short Stories book began in 1915; the comics series is a bit newer, debuting in 2006). The twist is that each volume is curated and edited by a leader in the field: in this case, it’s Roz Chast, multiple award-winning New Yorker cartoonist and author of the graphic-novel memoir Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?

The Return of the Honey Buzzard, by Aimee de Jongh
Aimee de Jongh’s debut work is the poignant, compelling story of Simon, a bookseller whose career is falling apart and who is growing increasingly withdrawn after witnessing a suicide. Retreating into haunting memories of the past, he meets a young girl named Regina who helps him to escape from himself—but also harbors mysteries of her own.

Neil Gaiman’s Troll Bridge, by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran
Colleen Doran collaborates with Neil Gaiman to adapt his story of Jack and the monster that he spends his entire life trying to overcome. A troll Jack meets as a child follows him into adulthood, and he has to learn to either face the beast, or let it continue to feed on his fears and doubts.

The Double Life of Miranda Turner, Vol. 1: If You Have Ghosts, by George Kambadais, Paulina Ganucheau, and Jamie S. Rich
Fun premise: Miranda Turner learns that her sister, now deceased, wasn’t just an international supermodel—she was also a super-hero called The Cat. Miranda only learns this when the ghost of her sister appears in her bedroom and asks for help finding her own murderer. Siblings, amirite?

The Metabaron, Book 1: The Techno-Admiral & The Anti-Baron: Oversized Deluxe, by Alexandro Jodorowsky, Jerry Frissen, and Valentin Secher
Jodorowsky’s beautifully illustrated, completely over-the-top science fiction series about the far future by way of Greek tragedy continues with this volume about one of the Metabarons and his friendly robot battling the evil Techno-Admiral.

DC Comics Encyclopedia: All-New Edition, by Matthew K. Manning and Alex Irvine
Things are always changing in the superhero universes of the big publishers, so it’s time for newly updated encyclopedia from DC. This coffee table book lays it all out: over 1,100 characters from A-to-Z, complemented by hundreds of illustrations.

Head Lopper, by Andrew MacLean
MacLean’s critically-acclaimed weird fantasy series gets a trade collection from Image. It’s about the travels of the legendary Head Lopper and his sidekick, the severed heard of Agatha. Queen Abigail of the Island of Barra asks the pair to eliminate the minions of an evil sorcerer, but they soon discover that, in doing so, they’re playing right into his hands.

Deadpool: Drawing the Merc with a Mouth—Three Decades of Amazing Marvel Comics Art, by Matthew K. Manning
Who’d have thought that we’d see the day when Deadpool would get a fancy artbook all to himself? This one covers 20 years of some of the best art featuring Wade, who began as a minor villain and has become one of Marvel’s most popular (anti)heroes. In addition to page after page of amazing (and amazingly weird) art, the book also has interviews with many of the artists and writers who turned the Merc with a Mouth into a phenomenon.

Hellboy in Hell, Vol. 2: Death Card, by Mike Mignola
Hellboy’s adventures conclude (for now, anyway) with the final volume featuring his post-mortem adventures in the underworld. Mignola’s been (almost) solely chronicling the adventures of his good-hearted demon for almost two decades, but he’s taking a break following this series. With guidance from a very poorly designed map, Hellboy faces trial for murder and brings about the end of Pandemonium.

The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 4: Rising Action, by Kieron Gillen and Jamie Mckelvie
Gillen and McKelvie’s brilliant series about gods reincarnated as rock stars with a very limited shelf life continues. The intensity (not to mention violence) are amped up dramatically here, as Baphomet, Laura, and the Morrigan prepare for full-scale god-war against Ananke.

Demon, Book 1, by Jason Shiga
Jason Shiga (best-known work for  2011’s wickedly funny Empire State) tells the story of Jimmy Yee, who has been desperately trying to kill himself for some time now. Turns out that he can’t die…unless he’s already dead, and just happens to have lost his mind.
What’s on your pull list?