The 10 Best Graphic Novels Published in the Last Two Years
2024-11-05 · 5 min read
Adrian Tomine's The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist was a masterclass in autobiographical comics, blending self-deprecating humor with genuine emotional depth. Tomine's minimalist line work and deadpan narration made his professional anxieties and personal embarrassments feel universal. It was funny and devastating in equal measure, often within the same panel.
Tillie Walden's Clementine, set in the Walking Dead universe, proved that franchise comics could be literary. Her gorgeous watercolor-style artwork and focus on queer identity within a post-apocalyptic setting elevated what could have been a cash-grab spinoff into something genuinely moving. The pacing was patient in ways that most zombie fiction never attempts.
Nick Drnaso followed up his National Book Award-nominated Sabrina with Acting Class, a paranoid examination of group dynamics and performance. His flat, affectless art style created an uncanny atmosphere that made mundane social situations feel threatening. It was the kind of book that sits with you for weeks after finishing it.
Jillian Tamaki's Roaming captured the experience of a friend group trip to New York City with an observational precision that felt almost uncomfortably real. The shifting art styles mirrored the emotional dynamics between the three central characters. Tamaki's New York felt lived-in and specific, not the romanticized version most fiction offers.
Emil Ferris's My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Vol. 2 finally arrived after years of delays, and it was worth the wait. The ballpoint pen artwork remained astonishing, each page dense with detail and visual storytelling that rewarded multiple readings. The narrative, blending 1960s Chicago with horror imagery, was as ambitious and emotionally rich as the first volume.
Other standouts include Dash Shaw's Discipline, Chris Ware's continued work on Rusty Brown, and Alison Bechdel's The Secret to Superhuman Strength. The graphic novel form continues to attract some of the most interesting storytelling in any medium, consistently producing work that prose fiction and film cannot replicate.
