10 Must-Read Graphic Novels That Are Worth Reading in 2026: Part 2

Obviously, no one signs up to read comic books, aka ‘graphic novels’, expecting to find out the answers to life’s mysteries, like why ancient pyramids in some locations are sloppier looking than others, yet still line up with their solstice, or what happened to King Arthur’s everything in terms of evidence. I know he probably didn’t exist, but it’s that caliber of storytelling that turned me onto graphic novels growing up. The mysteries of the ancient world, such as cave art, were the first inspiration for graphic novels.

Humans have been sharing art with stories, and it’s a great escape when you put some of the world’s best writers with amazing artists into these graphic novels. Some of us have to settle for books and documentaries while we roll with life’s punches. I have some reasons, here’s one of the good ones.

There is the lovely little thing in the U.S. Navy called “Swim Watch,” where they gave us overheated sailors the option to swim in the middle of the deathtrap ocean for a bit. The item of intel that kept me out was knowing there were proper U.S. Navy snipers perched in the ship’s towers to specifically take us newly refreshed selves out, due to a random shark attack.

Which slides us directly into the final half of this list… A deep-sea-based story.

5. “Aquaman: Andromeda”

Popverse says that “Aquaman: Andromeda” is “The sleeper hit of the summer…might just be a new high-water mark for the underwater hero.” This was such a smart play. Putting Ram V’s storytelling and Christian Ward’s completely fresh and trippy “DC Comics R-rated in Wonderland” art style (that’s showing up again later in the list somewhere) together for a 3-issue Aquaman Black Label storyline. Absolutely brilliant storytelling.

The hardcover graphic novel is put together like a dream with a slip jacket that shines, literally and a quote like “We cannot bury our truths, no matter how deep or far we let them sink,” on the inner flap; you need to hurry up and buckle your pretty little self right in. Because somewhere undisclosed in the dark and deepest waters of the Pacific lies Point Nemo, a spaceship cemetery.

This is the universal spot where the collective nations of planet Earth have sent their spaceships to splash down. There’s something else down there not crafted by humankind, though in the freakishly deep melting pot of the spacerace. There’s been a crew assembled on board this crazy submarine that’s powered by something called a black-hole drive, and they’re on their way to ‘Sherlock Holmes,’ this mystic contraption.

Problems arise, as they love to do in life, as they approach the giant anthropomorphic mystery object. DC villain Black Manta is into utilizing it, though, whatever this mystery is, and that means Arthur Curry (Aquaman) needs to investigate all of these strange happenings before this sci-fi/horror story gets out of hand.

4. “Wonder Woman: Dead Earth”

In the only Wonder Woman critically acclaimed Black Label graphic novel title, lies a WW tale that rivals the rest of these top-shelf, boundary-pushing stories. Diana (WW) is coming after being in the comatose realm for an entire century. As she’s piecing together events that dip an appendage or five in the realm of shocking events and locations, things are leaning more and more towards her somehow being responsible.

Everything’s in shambles, and the enemy is everywhere. She’s drenched in blood with a broadsword in her hands and fears she might somehow be responsible for this full collapse.

The art style in this graphic novel is unique and carries the reader through a cinematically nuanced and brutal story. In the interest of not spoiling anything beyond what you can see for yourself by flipping through a copy real quick, I felt like one double-page image sums things up.

3. “Suicide Squad: Blaze”

Monkeys Fighting Robots says, “This creative team is doing something that there aren’t sufficient words for. They’re here to make you laugh, cry, and maybe piss your pants.” When I’m committing to some shopping research, I read everything: customer reviews, actual reviews, synopses, the whole shebang. Then, from that collective pool of intel, I feel the rest of my way into going for it, or not. I wish I were in a place financially where I could throw fistfuls of money at everything that looked cool and ‘good enough,’ but life’s brutal, so I have to think ahead these days.

My only reason for sharing that was that this graphic novel landed more towards the ‘gamble’ side of my decision-making. There was a ton of hate from customers. Whatever else I came across relating to the ‘poor’ quality of storytelling, the art bothered people because they couldn’t tell what was going on in certain cells of various pages, which, I’m sorry, disgruntled reader, it’s a f*&*’ing comic book, with pages that turn at your flipping pages speed. It’s not an action film that zips by as fast as Donnie Yen’s strikes are thrown. Maybe don’t tear through the thing like a meth addict?

The art is fantastic. It’s absolutely not confusing. There’s a metahuman more powerful than Superman on the rampage, and it’s up to your favorite ultimate underdog villainous team with little Ms. Harley Quinn at the helm to dispatch this world destroyer. The number of original, edgy, and downright savage scenes drawn and told by this Black Label creative team is massively enjoyable.

2. “Swamp Thing: Green Hell”

The melting pot of the planets’ leading elemental Parliaments (the Red, the Green and the Rot) is all in accord, and Earth has been this runaway train for too long. It’s time for a ‘hard reset,’ and what they awaken to, in order to achieve this mass extinction, is pure nightmare kerosene.

Jeff Lemire has drafted an original Swamp Thing three-issue Black Label storyline that is psychedelic, kaleidoscopic, and mind-expanding all rolled into one massively enjoyable masterpiece of a graphic novel. Doug Mahnke’s drawings here are one of the most impressive contributions to humanity’s ability to gracefully, at a genius level, construct and deliver art to provide the visceral visual impressions of a writer’s top-shelf storytelling.

1. “Batman: City  of Madness”

Christian Ward wrote and drew this number one selection. He said, “A city built for a Batman. A Batman built for a city. A never-ending trauma machine.” This cements its spot at the top of the pile. So impressive that all this incredibleness and creativity, at its finest, ALL came from the same person.

I have read and re-read this one to the point of needing a fresh copy. The ‘Gotham in some kind of dark and psychedelic Wonderland’ action-packed pages are art-heavy individual pieces you could surgically remove and frame, maybe hang a couple up in a whatever-level-of-lit hallway, and your significant other wouldn’t look at you like you’ve lost your dang mind.

It’s a cosmic-horror piece from Scott Snyder’s equally brilliant Court of Owls storyline. For people not familiar, in the deepest, darkest recesses beneath Gotham exists its mirror-nightmare equal, Gotham Below. It runs on the hatred and fear that endlessly flows down from up top, and the gateway between the two is ruled viciously by the Court of Owls.

The door can no longer hold back the mirrored depths, an evilness-incarnate version of Batman, and it requires the Dark Knight to commit an act of the unthinkable. No, not killing a villain in the other unthinkable, joining forces with the Court before Gotham gets pulled into this entity’s madness. A breed of dark akin to some ancient demon that’s been crawling around the surfaces of existence since time began.

Graphic Novels: The films of the book industry

Out of the leisure activities life offers us, reading deeply has always been up there for me. I devour these historical novels, bios and autobiographies one after the other. Still, when I have some time to read something for nostalgia’s sake, or I want the trip a quality writer/artist collaboration can only provide, I go for these kinds of stories.

Happy reading.