The BEST* Comics of 2023!
*according to a wide array of sources
Hello, everyone! As promised, here’s a roundup of some “Best Comics of 2023” lists in one convenient place. There’s some overlap, but I always enjoy finding one or two titles that were clearly the outlying favorites of a particular venue or critic. I’ve scheduled this to post while the Comics Book Club discusses Always Never, so this will be ready for general perusal once we’re done. Take notes for possible future Comics Book Club selections! :)
Lists
I’ll start with The Comics Journal, which had a master list for each one of their contributors and their own aggregation of Best Comics Lists of 2023 (scroll past the reviews), some of which appear below. I was happy to see local Chicago talent Caroline Cash and personal favorite Derek M. Ballard represented on the former list.
The Washington Post had a list of the 10 best graphic novels for 2023. Publisher’s Weekly had a list of fiction, poetry, and comics. Thankfully, the comics are listed first. It’s presented as a holiday gift guide, but we’re a bit late for that. There’s always Valentine’s Day!
Here’s The Guardian’s list of best graphic novels of 2023. They had an additional one from one of their contributors as part of a year-end list of suggestions.
SKTCHD listed 25 titles for the SKTCHD AWRDS that were singled out as favorites. From Cover to Cover also had a list of favorites from their contributors.
Nerdist and IGN both had best comics lists, as did Popverse and Polygon. The Mary Sue has a list of 30 top comics and graphic novels. Over at Graphic Policy, writer Pharoahmiles has lists for best ongoing comics series, best graphic novels, and best collected story arcs.
Comics Beat had several lists for different categories, including the 20 best webtoons, the 33 best manga, the best horror comics of 2023, and the overall 34 best comics of the year.
Finally (for this section, at least),
listed his favorite comics in his newsletter here.Videos
In case anyone would rather see a presentation, here’s a short list of videos. First up,
at made a video for his Top 5. You can also read his list at his newsletter here, including a breakdown of the publishers he’s reviewed in the past year.Here’s the Top 10 Comics video from channel Comic Uno, part of the team at the Comic Frontline website.
Comic Tropes is a very popular channel with a lot of great interviews, reviews, and deep dives into comics history. You can watch his video on the best comics of 2023 here.
Lost’n Comics is another YouTube channel with lots of great interviews and recommendations. Here’s their video on the top 25 comics of 2023.
I discovered the YouTube channel Nerd Burger last year and found it very fun and charming. She had a top 4 with two honorable mentions.
Podcasts
In case your eyes need a rest, here are some podcasts you can listen to with Best/Favorite Comics of 2023 lists. I’ve included links to different platforms and individual websites, but you can find most of these wherever you listen to podcasts.
First up is friend of the newsletter Joe Loves Comics over at his show Joe Talks Comics. He’s joined by Mighty Lee’s Comics for this episode.
Over on the Capes and Tights show, retailer Paul Eaton is a special guest to discuss their comics of the year.
The Comic Book Couples Counseling podcast had two episodes devoted to the Best Comics of 2023 with several guest stars. Here’s part one and here’s part two.
Finally, here’s the Best Comics of 2023 episode of the show Comic Book Club Live.
Other
Last but not least, here’s an Instagram post from Pages and Panels (writer Seth A. Romo) breaking down their favorite comics of 2023.
That’s everything! I’m sure I missed plenty of other venues and critics and channels. My apologies if I accidentally left off you or your favorite! Let me know in the comments what some of your favorite reads were last year or what you may have discovered. What do you recommend for us to read in 2024? Thanks for reading. Please like, share, and subscribe if you’re so inclined.
Aww thank you for sharing, I appreciate that! Nice roundup!
Thanks for sharing! Great list of lists!