Skip to content

Top Navigation

EW.com EW.com
    • All TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • Recaps
    • What to Watch
    • Winter TV
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Horror
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
    • All Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
    • All Music
    • Music Reviews
    • All What to Watch
    • What to Watch Podcast Episodes
    • TV Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • All BINGE
    • EW's Binge Podcast Episodes
    • Recaps
    • Survivor
    • This is Us
    • RuPaul's Drag Race
    • Stranger Things
    • The Boys
    • The Blacklist
    • The Walking Dead
    • Better Call Saul
    • All The Awardist
    • The Awardist Podcast Episodes
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
    • All Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
    • All Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
    • All Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe

Explore EW.com

EW.com EW.com
  • Explore

    Explore

    • A guide to The Last of Us Easter eggs

      A guide to The Last of Us Easter eggs

      From the Uncharted lighter to the giraffe plushie. Read More
    • 2023 Oscars predictions: See who will win at the 95th Academy Awards

      2023 Oscars predictions: See who will win at the 95th Academy Awards

      From Brendan Fraser and Angela Bassett to a potential upset in Best Actress, see who EW thinks will win at the 2023 Oscars. Read More
    • Meet the cast of Survivor 44

      Meet the cast of Survivor 44

      Here are the 18 contestants who will be vying for $1 million. Read More
  • TV

    TV

    See All TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • Recaps
    • What to Watch
    • Winter TV
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Horror
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
  • Movies

    Movies

    See All Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
  • Music

    Music

    See All Music
    • Music Reviews
  • What to Watch

    What to Watch

    See All What to Watch
    • What to Watch Podcast Episodes
    • TV Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
  • BINGE

    BINGE

    See All BINGE
    • EW's Binge Podcast Episodes
    • Recaps
    • Survivor
    • This is Us
    • RuPaul's Drag Race
    • Stranger Things
    • The Boys
    • The Blacklist
    • The Walking Dead
    • Better Call Saul
  • The Awardist

    The Awardist

    See All The Awardist
    • The Awardist Podcast Episodes
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
  • Books

    Books

    See All Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
  • Theater

    Theater

    See All Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
  • Events

    Events

    See All Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. The best graphic novels of 2018

The best graphic novels of 2018

By David Canfield December 28, 2018 at 02:34 PM EST
Skip gallery slides
FB

1 of 9

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Picture-perfect

Best-Graphic-Novels
Credit: Liveright; Macmillan; First Second; Gallery 13; Drawn and Quarterly; Penguin Random House

2018 was another extremely strong year for the graphic form, from bracing novels to heartbreaking memoirs. Here we recognize our eight favorites.

1 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 9

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

All the Answers, by Michael Kupperman 

208307_1193437_34
Credit: Gallery 13

Kupperman’s searing graphic memoir takes readers back to the mid-20th century as he investigates the life of his father, Quiz Kid Joel Kupperman, and how it intersected with a major turning point in American media. We love this one for its imaginative historical sketchings, and its melancholy undertones.

2 of 9

3 of 9

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Alone, by Chaboute

Alone by Christophe ChaboutéCR: Simon & Schuster
Credit: Simon & Schuster

This title technically isn't new, though 2018 did mark the first year it was available in English. Chaboute's internationally best-selling French novel uses engrossing black-and-white illustrations for a masterful, darkly funny meditation on loneliness. It's unforgettable.

3 of 9

Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

4 of 9

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Bad Friends, by Ancco

badfriendscover
Credit: Drawn and Quarterly

Stark, devastating, and intimate in equal measure. The Korean-born Ancco crafts an unsparing, gritty book looking at the legacy of abuse, leveling it with a memorable depiction of tight-knit friendships.

4 of 9

Advertisement

5 of 9

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Berlin, by Jason Lutes

Berlin by Jason LutesCR: Drawn and Quarterly
Credit: Drawn and Quarterly

This one would be included for the sheer achievement: Decades in the making, Berlin marks Lutes' exhaustive, fascinating, utterly immersive tome on life in the Weimar Republic, a collection of sorts that's both an ingenious coffee-table book and a significant cultural contribution.

5 of 9

6 of 9

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Home After Dark, by David Small 

Home After Dark by David SmallCR: Liveright
Credit: Liveright

Small's intricate exploration of male adolescence and toxic masculinity is all in the details, offering a nuanced portrait of one young boy as he navigates a troubled home life, warped cultural expectations, and nasty bullies. Small executes his arc through raw, detailed facial expressions.

6 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

7 of 9

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

On a Sunbeam, by Tillie Walden

On a Sunbeam by Tillie WaldenCR: First Second
Credit: First Second

One of the form's most exciting talents, Walden again delivered with this epic, blue- and purple-washed saga of a young woman traveling through sci-fi wonders and terrors to reunite with her long-lost love. It's a sweeping queer romance told in Walden's signature style.

7 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement

8 of 9

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Passing for Human, by Liana Finck

Passing for Human A Graphic Memoir by Liana Finck
Credit: Penguin Random House

Instagram favorite Finck transferred her talents to a remarkable visual memoir, which with meta wryness moves in surprising directions, most poignantly tracing the life story of her weary mother and the aftermath of traumatic experiences.

8 of 9

Advertisement

9 of 9

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Sabrina, by Nick Drnaso

Sabrina by Nick Drnaso
Credit: Macmillan

Drnaso's Great American Novel in graphic form turned red-hot in July, when it was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize — a first for the genre. It couldn't be more deserved: Through probing images, the book unfurls a grand, prescient military conspiracy while, along the way, offering a bleak (and scathingly funny) depiction of the digital age.

9 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

  • By David Canfield @davidcanfield97

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 9 Picture-perfect
    2 of 9 All the Answers, by Michael Kupperman 
    3 of 9 Alone, by Chaboute
    4 of 9 Bad Friends, by Ancco
    5 of 9 Berlin, by Jason Lutes
    6 of 9 Home After Dark, by David Small 
    7 of 9 On a Sunbeam, by Tillie Walden
    8 of 9 Passing for Human, by Liana Finck
    9 of 9 Sabrina, by Nick Drnaso

    Share & More

    Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message
    EW.com

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise this link opens in a new tab
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Meredith© Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright EW.com. All rights reserved. Printed from https://ew.com

    View image

    The best graphic novels of 2018
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.