Comics

Calvin and Hobbes

how could you not you big baby. lest ye forget yer inner chil & lessons. my favorite kids book. have the paperback version cause that's how i read them. en mi ofrenda. i flip the covers depending on mood.

"Processing: 100 comics that got me through it" by Tara Booth

visceral, so colorful, inspiring, moving, just a joy to look at

Blank Comic Book: Variety of Templates, 2-9 panel layouts

This is a great gift for graphic-novel loving kids. Great for quiet time or traveling!

Moomin Comics

these anti-fascist creatures that value nature and community are the perfect bedtime reading to gently delight and stimulate the mind, unlike phone in bed time

Cats Living Together by Sarah Andersen 🐈 🐈‍⬛

Dedicated to our angel orange boy, Stanley, and our lil black shadow, Taco.

Complete Calvin & Hobbes

Master philosopher, rule breaker, smile inducer. As Hobbes would say, “Life’s too short to follow all the rules”

Calvin and Hobbes The Days Are Just Packed by Bill Watterson

I LOVE CALVIN AND HOBBES SO MUCH, ANY OF THE BOOKS ARE PERFECT

The Party, After You Left

A genius cartoonist asks the question: what is the funniest way to think through everyday malaise and insecurity? Roz Chast is perfect in every way and this collection will make you feel seen and ridiculous in equal measure.

Comic That is Now a Major Motion Picture

Tom King mostly writes about trauma and recovery. Bilquis Evely draws tangled, art-nouveau inspired complex panels, lots of blowing hair and alien flames. Their Supergirl is not quite Rooster Cogburn, someone who is just barely keeping her self-destructive despair in check by having whimsical adventures. The whole thing is kid friendly somehow. If you liked the Coen brothers’ “True Grit” you might like this comic.

Floris lives a perfect dome life but is bored, even with love

A Time to Love Forever appeared in the 1976 Jackie Annual between articles on skin care, the Fonz, and decoding your taste in boys. The comic short describes a futuristic world where life loses its meaning because there is no death, suffering or disease. "I'm so bored, even with love," sighs Floris. "Now we live and stay young for a hundred years. There's nothing to strive for." Floris's existential malaise prompts her to sign up for a space mission leading to adventure and new relationships. Links to PDF of the comic.

Nancy by Ernie Bushmiller

Nancy by Caroline Cash

Caroline Cash took over the Nancy helm at the beginning of this year and it’s been nothing but delightful. I met her at MOCCA this year (read: I went to MOCCA just to buy one of her zines) and she asked me what my favorite Nancy panel is. I said one that Ernie Bushmiller did of Nancy spinning but I think the end of this strip might be my new favorite. Nancy & Sluggo forever!

Reading Comics in a Language You Want to Learn

Comics are often designed to be legible to children and early readers, there are pictures to accompany the words, and often a lot of redundant explanation for what is going on. The stories are often short and the language is often simple, but not so short or simple that it is unchallenging to learn or unsatisfying to have read. Also, when you’re done, you will have read a comic from a far off land, which is a cool thing to have done.

Nancy comic strips

Ernie Bushmiller’s originals are iconic, and Caroline Cash is doing a phenomenal job keeping Nancy current while staying true to her cranky personality with a punk edge. My mom introduced me to Nancy as a kid with a little pin of her face, and I’ve related to that 8-year-old crab ever since. After my mom died, Nancy became a small way to stay connected to her. Plus, there’s always a Nancy comic that feels relevant to daily life.

theories of everything by roz chast

Don’t know when I read TOE for the first time. In 7th grade I saw Roz outside of a movie theater and I freaked out thinking she had Taylor Swift levels of fame so I ran up to her and said “oh my god i LOVE your work” and she was clearly so uncomfortable/confused, but that was perfect to me because it was in character.

Explain xkcd

Also speaking of Randall Munroe, if you’re a fan of xkcd, then unless you're as steeped in physics and math as he is, you're almost certainly stumped occasionally when the joke depends on some sort of obscure scientific or mathematical reference. This wiki site has you covered.

Dinosaur Comics

Ryan North, recent author of “The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl” and lots of other stuff, has been producing a daily series of comics using exactly the same almost-clip-art images of dinosaurs since 2003. It’s consistently funny. There is a lot more to Ryan North, early webcomics entrepreneur and guy who fell down a hole, and I also recommend The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl in the strongest possible terms, but Dinosaur Comics are a great place to start with him.

The Mad Thinker's Predictive Computational Super Intellect (1963)

During the 20th century, scholars debated whether social science could achieve the status of physical science and its ability to predict and control phenomena. In Fantastic Four #15 (1963), The Mad Thinker has solved the debate by building a bank of computers that lets him predict human behavior and world events down to the second! The Mad Thinker's first battle with the Fantastic Four is foiled when he fails to take into account an interruption by Willie, the Baxter Building mailman--"the one thing I didn't count on!"

Calvin & Hobbes

The best bang-for-your-buck funny-and-poignant storytelling in 4 black-and-white panels that you'll find thus far in human history.

Lynda Barry

Lynda Barry’s books Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor and Making Comics have been such inspiring creativity boosters for me. I recently attended a day long Comix Lab she co-lead, and it was an absolute joy!

Swan Boy: the Injured List arc

Swan Boy is very, very influenced by Achewood, which is a good thing. More comics should be influenced by Achewood. The “injured list” arc is a good place to get a sample of the sort of absurd world-building as joke-telling style of the thing.

Arakawa Under the Bridge

Arakawa Under The Bridge is a really excellent and strange manga - turned anime series. Hard to explain but it’s basically about a group of societal rejects who live under a bridge together and form their own community. Sweet, funny, and completely outer-space brained.

Co-operative Comix

Ever play exquisite corpse? Basically the same game but the first person starts the comic on the upper left hand corner of the page. Then, pass to the next person to add to the story! Keep going until there is an end — or — the page runs out. Super fun to play with family of any age, friends, or when you're bored at brunch! Enjoy this comic made with my 7 year old niece.

Superman Fights a Giant Clam

Superman goes to the bottom of the Marianas Trench to collect an algae specimen for Dr. Farr's environmental research project. While there, he is trapped by a giant clam! Superman uses his heat vision to escape, quipping, "It'll be a while before I get back my appetite for steamed clams." From Superman #246, 1971.