It’s MarchApril?? Well, it’s never a bad time to read a list of our favorite comics from small presses, indie presses, and creators who self-publish! Specifically favorites — best-of lists promise a lot, and we’d rather just let you know what we loved. So grab a comic and hang out in that nice spring weather.
You’re the Center of Attention
Gina Wynbrandt
kuš, February 2023
This is the comic I spent the most time thinking about in 2023. Gina Wynbrandt’s long been an indie fave of mine, from Big puss* to her Harry Styles fantasies to this year’s alarmingly relatable, interactive Goodnight Phone. But her comic, mini kuš! #112, full of baby nursery pink, blue, and yellow and crammed with quasi-celebrity cameos, has stayed on my mind. Part of it has to do with the rawness of Wynbrandt’s work — she’s not afraid to make herself the butt of the joke. In this comic, she’s invited to be a contestant on a game show called You’re the Center of Attention, where she’s asked to make an increasingly bigger idiot of herself in front of a rowdy live studio audience, all in the pursuit of nebulous fame.
Wynbrandt uses similar line widths for both outlines and details, giving all her figures a slightly uncanny, overly rendered feeling, sometimes verging into grotesque. Every smile line, eye crinkle, and hair strand is the same weight as a jawline or the rendering of a chair. People’s expressions feel carved deep — Natalie Portman (moonlighting as a PA named Jackie) is both recognizable and de-glamoured.
This comic isn’t autobio, obviously, but Wynbrandt’s tendency to make herself the main character in her surreal pop culture fantasies makes it harder to separate the narrative’s self-depreciation from the artist. One of the remaining takeaways from this comic was a desperate urge to say to comic!Gina, girl, you deserve to love yourself! And then I think, maybe I should be more forgiving of my self-indulgences as well.
— Kat Overland
Shubeik Lubeik
Deena Mohamed
Pantheon, January 2023
The English-language edition of Shubeik Lubeik (recommended in our February round-up post) collects a trilogy of graphic novels originally published in Egypt, where the entirety of the story is set. In a universe only a step removed from our own, bottled wishes are not only real but also very much a part of contemporary culture. People are still people, however, and wishes have become subject to the same restrictions and legalities that apply to every other aspect of society. The wealthy have access to high-quality wishes, while those of more modest means risk the unintended consequences of dubious wishes. Still, wishes don’t make daily life any less mundane, nor do they make the intricacies of human nature any less magical.
Shubeik Lubeik displays an originality and boldness of craftsmanship that encourages me to recommend the book to anyone studying comics. The artistry rewards careful attention to detail, and the pages provide a wealth of excellent models for anyone interested in the techniques of framing, composition, and structure. Deena Mohamed’s monochromatic inkwork looks fantastic in every context, and I’m in awe of how the art contributes to the story in surprising and effective ways.
Thankfully, the almost monumental quality of Shubeik Lubeik doesn’t mean that it’s not an incredible pleasure to read. Brilliantly observed worldbuilding contributes to a textured sense of place that’s highly specific to Egypt in the twenty-first century while immediately resonanting with anyone encountering the text in translation. I flew through this book the first time I read it, but the vibrancy of the art and setting drew me back even after I learned how the story ends. Even on subsequent rereads, the jokes still land, and I still cry alongside the characters, and the irreverent wisdom of the final few pages still fills me with joy. What more could anyone wish for?
— Kathryn Hemmann
Popping in here to add that Shubeik Lubeik is truly the most creatively crafted story I read all year, and I can say that earnestly because I sneakily read my 2023 entry right after we slipped into 2024. It was so complex, funny, and heart-wrenching. — Alenka Figa
Darlin’ And Her Other Names, Part 1: Marta
Olivia Stephens
Self-published, Spring 2023
Back when I reviewed this reworked version of Olivia Stephen’s comic, now titled Darlin’ and Her Other Names, I wrote that it was “a quiet song amongst all the noise.” This werewolf-western-horror-romance comic took my breath away and continues to do so with every reread I complete. This first part in an ongoing comic introduces Marta who is a survivor – as a Black woman in the late 1800s and also someone who shapeshifts into a werewolf-like creature. Stephen’s artwork here is dark and intentional, no page or panel feels like a wasted effort. I love the color scheme she presents the story in with spots of color: red sprinkled here and there.
As much as this comic is about survival – it is about a Black woman and her chosen companion, an Indigenous man named Edgar, and being transformed and redeemed. The violence and the acts of revenge stand out as poetic in this comic which adds to the overall story when I think about agency and power hierarchies. I feel so connected to Marta as a fictional character in her moments of rage and her tenderness too. When I see her on page with blood on her mouth, I feel validated in my moments of weakness and hurt when I think back on all the awful events this year. Darlin’ And Her Other Names, Part 1: Marta is the comic that you need to read if you missed it in 2023. I wrote that reading it feels like a hard-earned reward after enduring 2023, may you too read it and feel the same.
— Carrie McClain
The Chromatic Fantasy
HA
Silver Sprocket, October 2023
The first and most important thing you must know about The Chromatic Fantasy is that it is INDULGENT. This is certainly the best description of the comics’ colors; HA’s color work reminds me of Molly Mendoza or Sloane Leong, not because it’s fundamentally similar, but because it’s so explosive and emotionally communicative. HA also beautifully employs patterns, letting them slide off characters’ clothes and onto their bodies, enveloping them in long-yearned-for moments of comfort and safety.
Sorry — I’m supposed to tell you what this comic is about, which is important, but the plot is less important than the colors, the character designs, and the characters’ personal development. The Chromatic Fantasy is about Jules, a trans man stuck in a very strict and strange nunnery dedicated to keeping a devil at bay. Jules strikes a very intimate deal with that devil in exchange for the chance to escape into the world and live as himself. It’s out in the world, amid many gay crimes, that Jules meets Casper, another crime-oriented trans man. They hit it off like a house on fire — and there is some literalness to that, as Jules’ devil gives him fire powers — and fall into a relationship that takes them to surreal but, ultimately, healing places.
The Chromatic Fantasy has one of those settings that is fantastical and thus old-timey, but HA boldly tosses away any concern for period-appropriate world-building. This comic is a fantasy that is plagued by real life. The characters have cell phones and alarms, but they’re still late for meetings. They struggle with imposter syndrome and the banal expectations conservative cisgender society impresses on trans people. Their devils are sometimes indistinguishable from the vitriol within their minds, and the way out of such toxic relationships is not straightforward. The Chromatic Fantasy is ultimately about being indulgent and beautiful, about touching and loving (and often, f*cking) someone in a delightful, comfortable, and wild way, and about stumbling towards love and indulgence while trying to stomp down all the bullsh*t. There’s nothing else like it.
— Alenka Figa
Impossible People: A Completely Average Recovery Story
Julia Wertz
Black Dog & Leventhal, May 9, 2023
None of my friends were talking about reading this book this year, so I assumed nobody else read it, but it tied for first place in the PW Critic’s Poll, so clearly other people who are not me did also read this and like it. I read Drinking at the Movies back in college, so I was excited to read a new comic from Julia Wertz. Out of all the mental illness graphic memoirs I read this year (at least 3), this one was by far the funniest, and thus the most enjoyable to read. And Wertz’s art is very good: her architecturally precise NYC cityscapes are unmatched by any other living cartoonist, and her way of drawing people is consistent and funny if not always the most aesthetically appealing. I’m impressed with her ability to make these memories she’s recreating from more than a decade ago feel like they’re happening in real-time. The character of Wertz, as depicted on the page, is compelling. You feel for her, you want her to succeed, but you can also see clearly what is getting in the way. I enjoyed this book!
— Masha Zhdanova
Grand Slam Romance (Book 1)
Ollie Hicks and Emma Oosterhous
Abrams, May 23, 2023
The wildest thing about this comic is that I haven’t seen anyone talking about it when it seems like something that would be a hit online. (Editor’s note: see Louis’ cutting-edge review of issue one from 2019!) It’s an extremely horny, funny, messy lesbian magical girl softball romcom! Incredible, what more could anyone want? Mickey Monsoon, the star pitcher of the Belle City Broads, wants nothing more than to win the softball championships… when their super-hot magical girl ex-childhood best friend Astra appears on the scene, seducing everyone on the field and crushing the BCBs into the dust. The only way for Mickey to get revenge is to join a new team led by Astra’s ex… and fall in love? A lot happens in this single-volume graphic novel. It’s so funny and so gay, and the magical girl powers are fueled by “being in touch with your queerness and dedication to the sport”! Fantastic, incredible, no notes!
— Masha Zhdanova
Occulted
Ryan Estrada (co-writer), Jeongmin Lee (artist) and Amy Rose (co-writer)
Iron Circus Comics, June 6, 2023
In Occulted, which Carrie reviewed for us in September, Amy’s family attends a retreat with free yoga, only to get sucked into the cult that is hosting it. Amy’s father and older sisters leave fairly soon, but Amy stays with her mother, who gets involved more and more deeply. Occulted, co-written by Amy Rose and Ryan Estrada with art by Jeongmin Lee, sensitively (and sometimes hilariously!) conveys the terrible things about the cult Amy Rose grew up in, for upper middle-grade readers.
Books are important to this story, as the cult’s self-published material, including a children’s book about a giant tortoise and an explanation of how Gandhi was a sexy, shirtless alien, are all Amy was allowed to read. She sought out forbidden books in off-limits areas of the cult compound, however, and read voraciously about the historical figures who had been fictionalized for her, and medical books to try to help her mom.
Eventually, of course, Amy Rose breaks free, and readers see a bit of her life as a teen and young adult beginning to heal from the psychological abuses and neglect of her years in the cult. As is generally the case with childhood memoirs, not all threads are wound up nicely. Various relationships, such as Amy’s with her mom, don’t get closure. The focus is on Amy’s own experiences rather than the overall story of the cult, and while that may lead to some frustration, I’m sure any reader’s frustration with the lack of closure mirrors Rose’s own.
I heard Ryan Estrada talk about Occulted at the Comics and Graphics Novels day of Publisher’s Weekly’s annual U.S. Book Show last year. Estrada, who co-wrote the celebrated Banned Books Club graphic novel also published by Iron Circus Comics, said he worked with Rose to develop a story about her experience with the cult that would accurately and engagingly convey what it was like for her while also staying appropriate for a child audience.
As Estrada put it, the focus was showing the story “from a child’s eyes” as Amy figures out how toxic the environment around her is. Even though the specifics of Amy’s story are unique, many readers will find the theme of “being trapped in situations you can’t control” resonates.
Estrada also noted that he originally intended to draw the story of Occulted himself but that his art was too “goofy” for such an important story. He was thrilled to recommend his friend Jeongmin Lee, whose art provides a beautiful face for the book. Rose and Estrada write together well, and Lee’s lovely art, with its clear lines and expressive faces on the wide cast of characters makes Occulted a gripping story, well told.
— Emily Lauer
Girl Juice Vol.1
Benji Nate
Drawn & Quarterly, May 2023
This year, I made my way out to Silver Sprocket’s storefront in San Francisco. While there, I was on a mission to get some small press comics. It was hard to settle on just a few titles, but Girl Juice (covered by Joan Zahra Dark last year)was at the top of my list.
I had seen a few of Benji Nate’s strips posted online, and they tickled me. Now, I got my hands on a physical collection of them – a book destined to become a go-to comfort read akin to Woman World. Girl Juice has such a distinct, hilarious, and unapologetic voice that will resonate with so many twenty-something-year-olds.
I lost count of the times I texted a page from Girl Juice to a friend or ran to my roommate to show them the book. Girl Juice felt like a window into our lives. I have such a soft spot for slice-of-life comics and manga, and Girl Juice scratched that itch and reminded me just how silly life as a woman can be.
Girl Juice doesn’t need any bells and whistles to win over readers. It just needs Nate’s comedic genius, adorable art, and memorable cast of characters.
— Caitlin Sinclair Chappell
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