When most people think of comics, they think of superheroes—and specifically, Marvel and DC superheroes. That's understandable; the big two dominate market share, movie adaptations, and cultural conversation. But if you think comics equals superheroes, you're missing the most interesting work being done in the medium.
Independent comics—published by Image, Dark Horse, Fantagraphics, and smaller presses—are where creators own their work and take real creative risks. These comics aren't beholden to decades of continuity or corporate brand management. They can be weird, personal, experimental, and complete.
Why Independent Comics Matter
Creator Ownership
At Marvel and DC, characters belong to the company. Writers and artists come and go, but Spider-Man remains forever. At independent publishers, creators typically own their work. This means stories can have real endings, characters can actually die, and creators are motivated to do their best work because they reap the benefits.
Genre Diversity
Big two comics are mostly superheroes (with some horror and crime). Independent comics cover every genre: science fiction, fantasy, memoir, horror, romance, literary fiction, journalism, history. Whatever you want to read, there's probably an indie comic doing it.
Complete Stories
Superhero comics are essentially endless—characters have to keep going so the company can keep selling merchandise. Independent comics can tell complete stories with beginnings, middles, and endings. When a creator has said what they wanted to say, the story is done.
Essential Independent Comics
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Two soldiers from opposite sides of a galactic war fall in love and have a child, becoming the most wanted family in the universe. Saga combines epic space opera with intimate family drama, gorgeous art with shocking violence, humor with heartbreak. It's the best argument for comics as a medium I can think of.
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Spiegelman tells his father's story of surviving the Holocaust, depicting Jews as mice and Nazis as cats. It won the Pulitzer Prize and remains the most acclaimed graphic novel ever published. It's devastating and essential.
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Bechdel explores her relationship with her closeted gay father, who died shortly after she came out as lesbian. The literary references (her father was an English teacher) are integral to the storytelling, and the emotional honesty is unflinching. It became a Broadway musical.
Blankets by Craig Thompson
A memoir of Thompson's evangelical Christian upbringing and first love, told in 600 pages of gorgeous brushwork. It's about faith, doubt, family, and growing up, and it's one of the most beautiful physical books you'll ever hold.
Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang
Four newspaper delivery girls in 1988 get caught up in time-travel warfare. It's Stranger Things meets Terminator with a distinctly 80s aesthetic and strong female characters. Complete in 30 issues, it tells a full story with a real ending.
Black Hammer by Jeff Lemire
Superheroes are stranded in a small town after a cosmic crisis, living ordinary lives and wondering if they'll ever escape. It deconstructs superhero mythology while also being a love letter to it. If you do like superheroes but want something fresher than the big two, start here.
How to Find Independent Comics
Your local comic shop can guide you beyond the superhero racks. Most shops have an indie section or can make recommendations based on your interests. If you don't have a local shop, publishers like Image and Fantagraphics have websites with extensive catalogs.
Start with one of the books above. If you like it, there's a whole world waiting.
— mrod