Our Stampies Award Show could not contain all the rad comics this year.
Last year was too damn good a year for comics. Cramming all our favorites into two Stampies episodes (listen to Part One and Part Two) proved impossible. For the first time, we have created an additional celebration with this 50 Best Comics of 2023 article. You know, to soothe our souls. And calling it an article is a little too high-faluting. It's a laundry list of the best comics, as determined by the two very particular weirdos who run Comic Book Couples Counseling.
As we reiterate every year in the Stampies, calling anything "The Best" is sleight of hand. It's a trick to get your eyes on our thoughts and feelings, an invitation to share your favorites with us as we've done with you. As long as we've been doing the podcast, our excitement for the comics medium has increased with each push into a new year. The beautiful humans who make comics outdid themselves in 2023, and we were not satisfied simply naming a few in the show. We needed a proper record of the books that really turned us on last year.
You'll recognize several titles below if you've listened to the Stampies. A few of the others won't come as a surprise as they've been represented and championed in many other Best Of lists by our colleagues. We're hoping, however, that you'll discover some titles in our selection.
Every year, comics slip under the radar. Some genres and formats are frequently ignored. Children's comics were stellar in 2023, as were numerous digital exclusives and strips. Our dream is that you will seek out the titles you don't recognize below and give them your attention. And if you don't see one of your favorite comics represented, let us know. We're only two people and certainly didn't read every book published in 2023. We're here for the same reason you are: to build atop that forever expanding to-read pile of comics.
All Against All (Image Comics)
Alex Paknadel, Caspar Wijngaard, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Arca (IDW)
Van Jensen, Jesse Lonergan, Patricio Delpeche, Nathan Widick
Ax-Wielder John (Karoshi Comics)
Nick Pitarra, Mike Garland, Ferran Delgado
Barnstormers: A Ballad of Love and Murder (Dark Horse Comics/Best Jackett Press)
Scott Snyder, Tula Lotay, Dee Cunniffe, Richard Starkings
Batman: City of Madness (DC Comics)
Christian Ward, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Batman/Superman: World's Finest (DC Comics)
Mark Waid, Dan Mora, Various
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees (IDW Publishing)
Patrick Horvath, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Birds of Prey (DC Comics)
Kelly Thompson, Leonardo Romero, Jordie Bellaire, Clayton Cowles
Blood of the Virgin (Pantheon)
Sammy Harkham
Canary (Dark Horse Comics/ Best Jackett Press)
Scott Snyder, Dan Panosian, Richard Starkings
Clementine: Book Two (Image Comics/Skybound Comet)
Tillie Walden
Danger and Other Unknown Risks (Penguin Workshop)
Ryan North, Erica Henderson
Danger Street (DC Comics)
Tom King, Jorge Fornés, Dave Stewart, Clayton Cowles
The Enfield Gang Massacre (Image Comics)
Chris Condon, Jacob Phillips, Pip Martin
Faceless and the Family (Oni Press)
Matt Lesniewski
Fire and Ice: Welcome to Smallville (DC Comics)
Joanne Starer, Natacha Bustos, Tamra Bonvillain, Ariana Maher
Fire Power (Image Comics/Skybound)
Robert Kirkman, Chris Samnee, Matt Wilson, Rus Wooton
Flash Gordon (King Features)
Dan Schkade
Four Gathered on Christmas Eve (Dark Horse Comics)
Eric Powell, Mike Mignola, Becky Cloonan, James Harren, Dave Stewart, Comicraft
Friday (Panel Syndicate/Image Comics)
Ed Brubaker, Marcos Matin, Munsta Vicente
Funny Things: A Comic Strip Biography of Charles M. Schulz (Top Shelf Productions)
Luca Debus, Francesco Matteuzzi
Girl Juice (Silver Sprocket)
Benji Nate
Godzilla: War for Humanity (IDW)
Andrew MacLean, Jake Smith, Valentina Pinto, Rus Wooton
Hawkgirl: Once Upon a Galaxy (DC Comics)
Jadzia Axelrod, Amancay Nahuelpan, Adriano Lucas, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Various
Housecat Trouble: Lost and Found (Random House Graphic)
Mason Dickerson
I Am Stan (Ten Speed Graphic)
Tom Scioli
I Hate This Place (Image Comics/Skybound)
Kyle Starks, Artyom Topilin, Lee Loughridge, Pat Brosseau
The Immortal Thor (Marvel Comics)
Al Ewing, Martín Cóccolo, Matt Wilson, Joe Sabino, Various
It's Jeff (Marvel Comics)
Kelly Thompson, Gurihiru, Nao Fuji
Juliette (Drawn and Quarterly)
Camille Jourdy, Aleshia Jensen
Justice Warriors (Ahoy Comics)
Matt Bors, Ben Clarkson, Felipe Sobriero
Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar: Attack of the Snack (Top Shelf Productions)
Kevin Alvir
The Lonesome Hunters: The Wolf Child (Dark Horse Comics)
Tyler Crook
Love Everlasting (Image Comics)
Tom King, Elsa Charretier, Matt Hollingsworth, Clayton Cowles
Mexikid (Dial)
Pedro Martín
Miles Davis and the Search for the Sound (Z2 Comics)
Dave Chisholm
Mobilis: My Life With Captain Nemo (TKO)
Juni Ba
Monica (Fantagraphics)
Daniel Clowes
Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story (First Second)
Sarah Myer
My Super Hero Journey (Abrams ComicArts)
Patrick McDonnell
Occulted (Iron Circus Comics)
Amy Rose, Ryan Estrada, Jeongmin Lee
Petrol Head (Image Comics)
Rob Williams, Pye Parr
Saga (Image Comics)
Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples, Fonografiks
Spa (Fantagraphics)
Erik Svetoft, Melissa Bowers
Superman (DC Comics)
Joshua Williamson, Jamal Campbell, Nick Dragotta, Various
Transformers (Image Comics/Skybound)
Daniel Warren Johnson, Mike Spicer, Rus Wooton
Usagi Yojimbo (Dark Horse Comics)
Stan Sakai, Emi Fujii, Hi-Fi Colour Design
Void Rivals (Image Comics/Skybound)
Robert Kirkman, Lorenzo De Felici, Matheus Lopes, Rus Wooton
Where Monsters Lie (Dark Horse Comics)
Kyle Starks, Piotr Kowalski, Vladimir Popov, Joshua Reed
Where the Body Was (Image Comics)
Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Jacob Phillips
Wonder Woman (DC Comics)
Tom King, Daniel Sampere, Tomeu Morey, Clayton Cowles, Various
And there you have it. Also, did you notice? We snuck an extra comic into our Best Comics of 2023. Shhh, don't tell anyone. Thanks for reading, but now it's your turn. Tell us your favorite books of the year - cbccpodcast@gmail.com