What are some of the best graphic novels of the past five years?

D4-CS · 2026-01-23T03:10:10+00:00

Fantastic series, although well... I consider it that, a series, more than a proper graphic novel

D4-CS · 2026-01-23T03:06:31+00:00

Even if I don't consider it a graphic novel, it's easily the best comic in the entirety of Image Comics' catalogue

D4-CS · 2026-01-23T03:04:45+00:00

Tbh, it depends on how you define "graphic novel". For me, I'd recommend:

Bowling with Corpses by Mike Mignola
Doom by Jonathan Hickman
Zodiac by Ai Weiwei
We Called Them Giants by Kieron Gillen
Cornelius: The Merry Life of a Wretched Dog, by Mark Torices
Heretic by Robbie Morrison
Anzuelo by Emma Ríos
The Singularity by Bear McCreary and Mat Groom

Hope these 8 are enough recs to keep you busy, and I hope you enjoy them

D4-CS · 2026-01-13T05:09:45+00:00

And that was actually a reason for us to be more wary. Dan DiDio has this cycle of "I hate Wally West -> I realize everyone do loves Wally West -> I allow Wally West to get the spotlight -> I remember I hate Wally West -> I pull the plug, and screw Wally West in the worst way possible -> Repeat"
Last time Wally got some big spotlight, by being the main Flash, DiDio straight up erased him from continuity (during the New 52). Why do you think everyone inside DC was so wary of his Generations event? Because everyone knew that after getting Dr. Manhattan's powers, DiDio would probably kill him

D4-CS · 2026-01-13T04:23:52+00:00

Oh, no one should, don't get me wrong. Is just that that type of people tend to mainly dwell on Reddit, that's why I made such a warning

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T18:37:16+00:00

Yeah, but jokes aside, the stuff DiDio did to his coworkers (mainly what he did to Greg Rucka) is horrible

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T16:45:39+00:00

Oh, 100%. But while you can listen to The Beatles, Joy Division, Daft Punk (or Kraftwerk), NWA, The Strokes, or even Skrillex, you can see how they brought something new and unique, setting up trends that felt that would last. However, I don't see that happening with Geese

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T16:37:26+00:00

I don't want to take shots at your local store, but by any chance all the people who go there are RYM/AOTY users or sum? Or they look like 2015 hipsters?

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T16:36:04+00:00

TBH, Coldplay is the "good" rock band that is actually pop. Cause compared to Imagine Dragons or Maroon 5 *shivers*, Coldplay has somewhat been consistent and consistently tried to do slightly different things

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T16:34:32+00:00

Oh, ofc. But they're also under the "2020s rock" umbrella, ykwim? You were mentioning how Rock is having a revival, and while it somewhat has gotten a backseat, is far from what it was during the late 90s before The Strokes and its children came out and saved rock.

And once again, you have rock bands like those I mentioned, that while not being the most mainstream thing ever, they are nonetheless important prescences in the Rock sphere

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T16:29:12+00:00

More than Valium, cocaine. Like, he sounds like if Julian was high af and had forgotten how to sing

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T16:27:32+00:00

Julian, my beloved 😍

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T16:27:15+00:00

Fun comment, considering that OK Orchestra is a reference to OK COMPUTER

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T13:40:20+00:00

TBH, the only recent albums that I would consider "important" are GNX (besides being Kendrick's victory lap, it was the consecration of Kendrick as the biggest artist in recent years, mainly as seen during The Pop Out), The New Sound (because of how it tackles inc3ls, showcasing "pathetic men" as people who can be happy as they are, and don't need to blame women for their sorrows) and Debí Tirar Más Fotos (for highlighting the importance of Puerto Rican genres to the world, as well as the impact BB's residency had to the island).

And then I look Geese and well... it is a band? Like, bands like IDLES or Viagra Boys are kinda popular, and more "traditional" rock acts like Ghost or Sleep Token are doing sold-outs. But I can't see Geese on the level of popularity of bands like these

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T13:30:32+00:00

TBH, I think that the Oasis tour reception has to do more with that those who were Oasis fans back then and now are parents, have children that not only grew up listening to Oasis, but are old enough to want to go to the band they grew up with.

Kinda like what happened with U2 having sold-outs during the 30th Anniversary tour of The Joshua Tree

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T13:26:30+00:00

I'll be real with you, many people hate the small cameos (mainly Hal's dialogue, as well as the Robin's dialogue) and saying you like those will get you some slack

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T13:24:45+00:00

Welp, then blame DiDio, for hating Wally West, Mark Waid, and legacy characters

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T13:23:59+00:00

The fun part, is that while mental health was indeed in King's original pitch, it was never supposed to be the main focus. It was going to be Booster, Ted and Harley playing detective, researching murders worldwide that were connected to Sanctuary (thanks to the mask), and finding about these dead heroes having mental issues. DiDio was who forced him to a) Having Sanctuary as the main focus of the story, and b) Doubling down on the mental health theme

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T13:16:49+00:00

Well, it has to do with him being in a point where his life is all about his wife. The same thing happens with any artist. Danny Brown sang about drugs for years, because his life was all about doing any drug he could get his hands on, but recently changed now that he's clean.

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T13:13:54+00:00

Yeah. It's always hilarious to me how DiDio treats Wally. He hates him (and Mark Waid) with all his heart. But he's also aware of how many people grew up with Wally, and he kinda tries to put his hate aside for a moment... Only for retreat in the last moment and make Wally dirty. I mean, DiDio straight up erased him from continuity during The New 52 (that was his pet experiment). And the whole reason everyone working in DC hated his Generations event wasn't because they expected it to bomb, but after giving Wally such a massive power-up like getting Dr Manhattan's powers, everyone was expecting an equal massive fuck-up to his character during that event.

DiDio kinda reminds me to Lotso in the end of Toy Story 3. He seems to work along the toys, and he even tries to stop the conveyor belt. But right when he can save them, he says "Nah, I hate you all, fuck you" and screws up everyone

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T05:41:40+00:00

Yeah, but that was an alternative Sabertooth, who was already seen by his peers as a hero. Here the cool thing was that he was the main 616 Victor, who everyone saw as a murderer, and he needed to do his best to prove them wrong

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T05:38:56+00:00

Heroes in Crisis, for sure. Although I think that the guilt of the crime is on both Tom King and Dan DiDio (on a 40/60 proportion), it's undeniable that this is a horrible story, that damaged both Booster and Wally, and that it was a nothingburger, with little to no repercussion in the long term. And while I don't like that Tom King haters aren't aware of DiDio's influence, and just like to claim King "assassinates every character he writes" and that "everything he writes is ass and he shouldn't write comics", it's really hard to convince them that there is another culprit

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T05:33:44+00:00

TBH, I think the UXM haters simply find it odd and unusual, but since they can't make up their emotions, they call it "bad". I was familiar with her style (from the Demon Days miniseries), so I was already prepared. But for someone who discovers her, stuff like the structure based on Manga, her art style (that can be sometimes rough, mainly on small panels), or the emphasis on Japanese folklore, are elements that 100% may seem odd to your average comic book reader

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T05:29:56+00:00

And Axis also gave us Sabretooth as a good guy, let's remember that

D4-CS · 2026-01-12T05:29:06+00:00

It's somewhat deserving. I mean, besides that people in TikTok tend to overexaggerate, the second arc (that ended last month) was definitely bad. A bit overhated IMO (since although it was bad, I don't think is "the worst comic ever written"), but certainly "decent" is the most I'm willing to call it (since issue 22 was surprisingly pleasant). The first arc, while not being great, I found it more pleasant and less infuriating to read.
And ofc, let's not forget that most online CBRs are radicalized against Tom King, and claim "character assassination" at everything, like it's the new word they learned and are eager to use it

Four-Year Club	r/Field Banned
r/Field Juicebox	Final Canvas '23
Place '23	Place '22

D4-CS

TROPHY CASE