As part of our interview series, I ask each creator to step into the role of fan and talk about which comics they admire, that spark their own creativity, that they recommend to others. Below are the picks from our 2023 guest lineup, a wide sampling of works from different genres and time periods as varied as the people naming them. – Kevin Sharp
Rachel Distler (artist, The Nightcrawlers)
Asterios Polyp. There are times where it plays with form and style in such a way that I don’t even think an animated interpretation would suffice. When you take into context that the main character, Asterios, is a “paper architect”—that is, an architect who’s never actually had any of his drafted buildings created—it makes these relationships between art and artistic influence and his real past and present relationships that’s just indescribable to me, but makes perfect sense as you read it. Many comics do the form excellently, like J.H. Williams’ Batwoman and its iconic layouts, or again, with Bone, the way Jeff Smith is able to bounce between comedy and drama and heart with the turn of a page, but there’s really something to me about how Mazzucchelli did it in Asterios Polyp—and I would have never heard about it if a random old guy browsing the shelves beside me didn’t tell me about it! It feels practically criminal. He might never know that his book suggestion—which he proffered because he also thought it was practically criminal so few people in his life had read it—would resonate so hard with someone he spoke to randomly that she’d end up on an interview later encouraging others to read it, but dangit, give that old man his justice!
Read the full interview here.
Veronica Fish (artist, The Sabrina Holiday Special)
Daredevil: Love and War. I remember reading it and being like, “That was so insane.” I love Daredevil #181 — I was tearing up, I was so upset — but the reason why I give Love and War a little bit of an edge is combining the experimental painting, comics, and how everybody got a specific word balloon style so that you can almost hear how they’re talking. One of the major things I love about great comic writers is that you cannot switch the word balloons. If a writer is really on their game and the dialogue is perfect, if you switch the word balloons, it sounds like Elektra is saying Daredevil’s line. Comics that are not firing on all cylinders, everybody sounds the same, but here everyone sounds exactly as their voice is supposed to be.
Read the full interview here.
Tom King (writer, Wonder Woman)
Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb did brilliant comics together, but I think their first collaboration— only me and Brian Bendis think this— on Challengers of the Unknown is their best and is a comic that is up there to me with Watchmen and Dark Knight. They didn’t know the rules, they did all sorts of stuff you’re not supposed to do in comics, and they made up new rules. If you look at that, you’d be like, “This is what Tom’s trying to do with comics, taking a silly concept seriously and finding a deep meaning behind it all.”
Read the full interview here.
Chloe Brailsford (creator, My Life To Live)
Alack Sinner by Jose Munoz and Carlos Sampayo. Munos was the biggest inspiration on My Life to Live, artistically, despite the fact that I did not have the confidence like Munos to put all that black all over the page. If we’re talking more mainstream, though, Elektra Lives Again. It’s such a devastating rumination on loss, and Lynn Varley’s colors on that are just… God, I wish she was still doing comics coloring. She’s so good.
Read the full interview here.
Shelly Bond (writer, Fast Times in Comic Book Editing)
People to this day ask me “What is the comic that made you a lifer?” They assume it’s Fables, or they assume it’s The Sandman or Shade. It’s Stray Bullets by David Lapham. When I read issue number one, I knew I would not leave the comic book industry. What Lapham has been able to achieve from issue one to every time he puts down a pen… he is the epitome of a creator who has a vision, who can change the world through crime noir comics. He has redefined what can be done through crime comics. So, that’s one, Stray Bullets in its entirety.
The second one is Charles Burns’ trilogy, which is collected as Last Look: The Hive, X’ed Out, and Sugar Skull. It brought me to my knees. I was writing in the library a few summers ago, and I wasn’t really happy with my work. It was garbage and I gave myself a challenge that I was allowed to go into the graphic novel section, and pick one book to read before I was getting back to work. I took that first part of that book, read it, and then just got back up [for] the next part. I’m still in that library three hours later and my husband’s calling me and I’m whispering, “Come to the library.” And he’s like, “What’s wrong?” He thought maybe I was kidnapped. I said, “You have to come here. You have to read this book.” Now, being a wonderful husband, he trusts me. He sat down and he read Last Look. He knows I’m big on hyperbole, and so, sometimes, he thinks I’m blowing smoke, but I will tell you, he looked at me after he finished it, and he just nodded and said, “You’re right.” That’s Hall of Fame.
Read the full interview here.
Geoff Johns (writer, Geiger)
All-Star Superman. That’s a perfect story. JSA: The Golden Age by James Robinson and Paul Smith is a perfect story. There’s a few others out there, but when I’m thinking about DC superheroes, those two are examples of what I think are perfect books.
Read the full interview here.
Nick Pitarra (creator, Ax-Wielder Jon)
The best singular moment I’ve seen in a comic is in a book called I Killed Adolf Hitler by Jason. It’s about an assassin who is about to retire and he’s gonna do one more job. His employer built a time machine and they want him to kill Hitler. His girlfriend’s been on him about like, “It’s time to quit this,” and he’s like, “This is it. Last job. We’re gonna retire.” He comes back but the time machine’s messed up. He’s an old man, she’s a young woman. She’s ready to have her life. She looks at him and she’s miserable. She lies down in bed and he lies down next to her, over the covers, and she opens her eyes and closes her eyes. I thought that was one of the most powerful moments. Jason does this thing where he draws these very simple figures and the more simple, the more you hear the message, the more you project yourself into an icon. He doesn’t use many words. He just lets the art be the art.
Read the full interview here.
Jacoby Salcedo (artist, Frontera)
I’m just gonna go the deep-cut route and say The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon. The book is about Nao who has OCD and thoughts about harming others, and her journey to ease her OCD while navigating just her day-to-day life. I think the book is such a breath of fresh air. [It’s] watercolored and I really hope I get the opportunity to do a book like that. Whenever anyone asks for a recommendation, I always suggest this one. I also throw in Love Bunglers from Jaime Hernandez. That was my first Love and Rockets book, and I only had basic L&R knowledge, [but] it was such a beautifully told story that had me emotional at the end.
Read the full interview here.
Sloane Leong (creator, Prism Stalker)
Battle Angel Alita by Yukito Kishiro! It’s a formative comic for me and just hits on all levels — incredible depiction of bodies in motion, engaging narrative and characters, flawless inking, beautifully designed environments, staging and solid layouts. GOAT level.
Read the full interview here.
Scott Koblish (artist, The Giant Kokjü)
I always love the Blueberry stuff that Moebius did. I thought that that was the best Western I’d ever seen anybody do — a Frenchman did the best Western. I guess the best slice-of-life stuff was Love and Rockets. Jaime Hernandez’s work was off the charts. I also have a real affection for the John Byrne/Chris Claremont/Terry Austin X-Men. I still can’t get those out of my head. That entire three-year run is just astounding. You can tell X-Men has struggled to get out from under that shadow ever since, and it’s been 40 years. So, I put that up there too.
Read the full interview here.
Olivia Stephens (creator, Artie and the Wolf Moon)
Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa. It’s the closest thing to a perfectly crafted narrative that I can think of. Reading it as an adolescent, Arakawa’s handling of “equivalent exchange” as a concept had a deep impact on my views toward nature and the world.
Read the full interview here.
Michiums (artist, Sensory: Life on the Spectrum)
One graphic novel that still sticks in my head would be The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ & Amal by E.K. Weaver. I started reading it when it was still an ongoing webcomic being posted on the internet, and it’s a comic that has stayed with me for years and years. From the quiet moments to the messy ones, it was going on a emotional journey with the characters and seeing the way their choices affected each other and the story really resonated with me even years later, and the panel compositions really inspired me to want to make webcomics and published work!
Read the full interview here.
Michele Abounader (editor, Sapphic Pulp)
Heathen by Natasha Alterici is one of my favorites. Heathen was one of the first books that I really got into and was, like, obsessed with. It made me sort of feel like maybe I could tell stories again. That first Ms. Marvel run by G Willow Wilson. I love her writing a lot, and I love that book a lot. If I could sneak a third one, DC Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman. I cried so hard reading that book. There was just something about the way that book was written, and the art, that I was really moved by it. I would make jokes on Twitter about how I had a “cry copy.” I had to buy two copies of it because the one I was reading, I was openly weeping on and my tears were ruining the pages.
Read the full interview here.
Nicky Rodriguez (creator, The Unlucky Ones and The Edge of Nowhere)
[T]he Kodansha deluxe edition collection of Ghost in the Shell. Shirow Masamune’s artwork is so exquisite and is a testament to the depths of his worldbuilding, as evidenced by his fun, little footnotes beneath panels. Even with the high levels of detail and fast-paced action, there’s never a sense of confusion or lack of clarity. Some panels are chock full of linework, but it never feels busy. Since the manga is also more comedic in tone than the anime and film counterparts, there’s also some great cartooning in there to elicit a chuckle. I like to look back at the pages to study how I can better effectively lead an eye across a page, high action or not, while keeping things fresh and full of visual interest.
Read the full interview here.
Yasmin Flores Montanez (artist, Sí, Se Puede)
One is Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, and the second one is Solanin by Inio Asano. I feel both of these books capture me instantly with not only their storylines but also the visuals. They made me feel either intrigued or completely heartbroken, and that’s what a comic book is to me — a perfect marriage between the story and the art. I feel art, in whatever medium it is, needs to create a reaction in the spectator, and that’s what those two books did.
Read the full interview here.
Vivian Zhou (creator, Atana and the Firebird)
Maus. There’s nothing else like it. Certainly because of the subject first, but it’s such an important piece of work in that it recounts this bit of history in a very personal, very sharp way, if that makes sense. Because it’s a graphic novel, it’s accessible in a way that maybe a [regular] book on the same subject wouldn’t be. Also, I think it’s like on, also on the accessibility front, it’s, I don’t know what audience it’s intended for, but certainly a younger audience can also read it and get a very strong reaction. I think the same is true for Persepolis. The graphic novel is a really, really powerful way of telling these kinds of stories.
Read the full interview here.
