The Best Comics & Graphic Novels of July

Cousin Joseph: A Graphic Novel, by Jules Feiffer
Pulitzer-Prize winner Jules Feiffer, whose career spans more than 60 years, returns to the world of 2014’s bestseller Kill My Mother with a prequel that also serves as the middle chapter of a trilogy. It stars Detective Sam Hannigan, head of the family and a cop who considers himself deeply moral even as he’s making shady payoffs on behalf of the mysterious Cousin Joseph. It’s a unique take on ’40s-era noir from a master.

Jughead, Vol. 1, by Chip Zdarsky and Erica Henderson
Twisted genius Chip Zdarsky and artist Erica Henderson turn their pens toward Archie’s best pal Jughead, and the results are magical. The book is genuinely funny, but the real trick here is in having made virtues of self-focused Jug’s laziness and insatiable appetite. He’s a hero simply by staying absolutely true to himself. In the first volume, that unbending will comes up against Riverdale High’s new principal, a man slowly sapping all of the fun from the place. Sparks and burgers will fly.

Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening, by Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda
Liu and Takeda create a stunningly beautiful alternate Asia as a background to the story of Maika Halfwolf, a woman in conflict with The Cumea, a coven of dark witches who want Maika’s life energy to fuel their spells. Her hope, or doom, comes from the psychic link that she shares with a monster of incredible power.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Vol. 1: BFF, by Amy Reeder, Brandon Montclare, and Natacha Bustos
Marvel’s been doing a pretty darned good job of creating and/or showcasing young female heroes lately, while simultaneously letting things get weird in grand comic book style. This book introduces Lunella Lafayette, a super-smart pre-teen girl who discovers that she harbors the life-changing, potentially superpower-granting Inhuman gene. She’s not at all happy about it, but finds herself on the adventure of a lifetime anyway when one of her gadgets opens a portal to another realm: Dinosaur World. Who wouldn’t want a dinosaur pal?

Mystery Girl, Vol. 1, by Paul Tobin, Alberto Albuquerque, and Marissa Louise
Tobin’s book stars Trine Hampstead, who has a unique power: she knows pretty much everything. She can answer any question put to her without hesitation, from the big to the mundane. There’s just one catch: she has no idea where she’s spent the last 10 years of her life, nor what circumstances gave her these abilities. Still, she’s set herself up as a detective, and she’s off to Siberia to work on the mystery of some flawlessly preserved mammoths—while being stalked by a killer.

Pretty Deadly, Vol. 2: The Bear, by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Ríos
DeConnick’s genre-defying creator-owned series continues. She and Emma Ríos have created a world that feels a bit like a western fantasy set in a hell that still manages to be a beautiful place to set the story of Death’s daughter. In this volume, the children of the dying Sarah Fields strike a bargain for an extra month to find her son, lost in the trenches of France.

Pacific Rim: Tales From The Drift, by Travis Beacham, Marcos Marz, and Joshua Fialkov
That 2014 Godzilla movie was pretty good, but Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, with giant mech suits battling equally enormous kaiju, was everything that a movie about monsters destroying cities could and should be. While we wait for the on-again, off-again, hopefully-will-happen-someday sequel, this series features plenty more jaeger vs. kaiju action.

Rick and Morty, Vol. 2, by Zac Gorman
Rick and Morty go full-on cyberpunk in their latest multi-verse spanning adventures. The team on this book have managed to keep the tone very close to that of the brilliant, frequently disturbing TV series. As a bonus, a story here takes us deeper into the world of hit cross-dimensional action series Ball Fondlers. About time, too.

Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka, Vol. 1, by Greg Rucka
After a long absence, Greg Rucka is back on the continuing Wonder Woman beat as part of DC’s Rebirth initiative (yay!), so what better time to revisit his original mid-’00s run, now back in print? The princess is an ambassador for peace from a culture of warriors, and Rucka plays that contradiction perfectly. In the first volume, Diana’s newly published book about Amazon beliefs makes the personal political when it sparks a firestorm on both Earth and Olympus. It’s the beginning of my personal favorite modern run on WW, and well worth checking out.

Saga, Vol. 6, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
There’s not much left to be said about Vaughan and Staples’ epic, weird, romantic science fiction adventure about a members of a family from two opposing sides of a galactic war fighting to protect and provide a future for their daughter. It’s one of the best, most-beloved ongoing series, and the latest volume finds Hazel becoming a toddler amidst the chaos.

Spider-Women, by Dennis Hopeless, Javier Rodriguez, Robbi Rodriguez, and Helen Chen
The various lady Spiders that took the stage during last year’s big Spider-Verse mega-crossover were among the highlights of that nutso event. This book sees the three breakout stars—Spider-Gwen (aka Gwen Stacy), Spider-Woman (aka Jessica Drew), and Silk (aka Cindy Moon—teaming up to battle a threat to Gwen’s universe.

Star Wars: Obi-Wan and Anakin, by Charles Soule and Marco Checchetto
Marvel’s run of Star Wars books has been largely focused around the time of the original movie, A New Hope, but they’re beginning to branch out a bit, starting with this series set during the prequels. I know, I know…but the Clone Wars animated series was able to do quite a bit of good in that controversial era, and, since we’ve never seen what Obi-Wan and Anakin were up to before the Clone Wars, this book fills in a crucial gap.

Vision, Vol. 1: Little Worse Than A Man, by Tom King and Gabriel Walta
King and Walta’s series reads like no other superhero book on the stands. Starting out as something of a suburban domestic drama involving the synthezoid Vision and the family that he (literally) created for himself, the story quickly takes some dark turns as a murder and ensuing cover-up lead the family deeper and deeper into the darkness. Creepy, poignant, and a big departure from typical superhero action.

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 5: Super Famous, by G. Willow Wilson and Takeshi Miyazawa
One of Marvel’s youngest and coolest heroes, Kamala Khan, is back. This time around, she’s balancing her newfound duties as an official Avenger against her responsibilities to Jersey City. She’s also found herself the unexpected face of a development project with sinister undertones.

Faith, Vol. 1: Hollywood and Vine, by Jody Houser, Francis Portela, and Marguerite Sauvage
Last, but hardly least, is Valiant’s hero Zephyr, going solo at last. She’s not just any hero…she’s a legit fangirl who creates listicles and posts cat videos by day while fighting crime by night in her new home of Los Angeles. Faith herself is funny, quippy, and real, while the book itself is charming and body-positive. It’s a west-coast-flavored ray of sunshine in a sometimes dark superhero world. (Oh, but there’s an alien invasion in the works, so not everything goes Faith’s way.)
What’s on your pull list?