It’s time for my annual look at some of my favorite graphic novels for 2023.
A slight change-up this year: my reading of graphic novels has slacked off a bit, mostly in favor of reading webcomics. As such, some of the entries below are webcomics’ available book collections. Note as well not everything below was published in 2023; it’s just when I happened to read it.
If you’re more interested in my favorite webcomics for 2023, see that specific post.
AJ & Magnus: Mystery’s Afoot
Written by: Bryan Steel; art by: Simon Steel
Self-published
“Mystery’s Afoot” is the newest book collection (released in January) of the webcomic “AJ & Magnus,” about a male couple, their rambunctious son AJ, and their dog Magnus. (Plus various relatives, friends, etc.)
The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries, vol. 3
Written by: Sholly Fisch, Ivan Cohen, Matthew Cody, Amanda Deibert; art by: Dario Brizuela, Erich Owen, Scott Jeralds
DC Comics
The DC Comics series of Batman/Scooby-Doo crossovers continues in this new series, featuring more of the Mystery, Inc. gang having adventures with the Batman Family. I note the ties between both franchises are at the point that a Batman villain (the Scarecrow) appeared in a direct-to-video Scooby-Doo movie without Batman appearing.
As usual, a lot of Batman (and greater DC) lore appears in this series. Highlights: the appearance of Batwoman; the Poison Ivy story (though she doesn’t appear with Harley, if wondering).
Boyfriends., Volume One
Written/art by: Refrainbow
Webtoon
This is the first collection released (in late November) of this popular Webtoon strip. The strip centers around a polyamorous relationship between four male college students, who’re only called by their archetypes: Goth, Prep, Jock, and Nerd.
Deliciously FoxTrot
Written/art by: Bill Amend
Andrews McMeel
The long-running newspaper comic strip about a suburban family (and the strip’s main star, the geeky Jason), “FoxTrot” saw its most recent book collection released in 2021. The book is all in color/Sunday strips, since “FoxTrot” has been Sundays-only since 2007.
Kyle’s Bed & Breakfast: Inn Mates
Written/art by Greg Fox
Sugar Maple Press
While there hasn’t been a book collection for awhile (the last one was in 2018), the biweekly comic strip is still running online. As usual, the strip is about the soap opera-style lives of the pretty-much-permanent gay residents of a bed and breakfast in Long Island, New York.
Sonic the Hedgehog
Written by: various; art by: various
IDW
The “Sonic the Hedgehog” IDW series continues, including some spin-off miniseries. These include “Scrapnik Island” and “Imposter Syndrome,” the latter featuring rogue doppelgangers of Sonic and Tails.
Superman vs. Meshi
Written by: Satoshi Miyagawa; art by: Kia Kitago
DC Comics
DC commissioned several manga series starring their major heroes/villains. One of these is “Superman vs. Meshi,” about the Man of Steel developing an interest in Japanese cuisine. This leads Clark to trying different chain restaurants in Japan.
“Graphic Novels” by morebyless is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Flickr / cropped from original)
