What could possibly be better than kicking back with a fantasy novel on a rainy afternoon? Kicking back with a fantasy novel that has pictures. While some fantasy works have charming illustrations adorning their pages every chapter or so, these little gems have pretty pictures every. single. page. In fact, you could argue that the pictures are the pages, and the text is just useless French pastry decoration on top! If you’re looking for fantasy books where the pictures are the cake and the words are just frosting, these 10 best fantasy graphic novels are fit to be devoured. Just don’t do it all in one sitting, you’ll get sick.
Kill Six Billion Demons
Kill Six Billion Demons by Tom Parkinson Morgan isn’t just a graphic novel, it’s a full blown online cult – and I mean that as the highest praise. Part religious allegory, part progression anime, part queer awakening story, this is the tale of Allison Ruth, a barista turned god-killer spirited away to the center of the multiverse. Armed with newfound divine power beyond mortal comprehension, the former business major must now face down a demonic god that threatens to destroy the multiverse itself. With the help of an angelic martial arts teacher and a demonic lover, she might just pull it off. She might even find the path to enlightenment along the way, which, if you read the accompanying scriptures that go with the story, you’ll learn can only be reached through brutal, unending violence. Hallelujah.
A Wizard of Earthsea
The first of her Earthsea Cycle, Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea is the stuff of high fantasy legend. One of the most celebrated fantastical works ever penned, A Wizard of Earthsea is a genre classic – given a new lease on life with the inclusion of pretty pictures drawn by Fred Fordham! Set in a continent sized archipelago, the novel follows Ged, a young boy who leaves his promising career as a goatherd behind to study the magical arts. An originator of the “magical school” fantasy trope, the novel follows Ged on his academic quest to become the greatest wizard the world has ever known – a quest that nearly destroys him in the process. Turns out it’s not a good idea to attempt advanced dark magic when you’re still learning the thaumaturgical ropes, you might just end up summoning things that don’t belong in this world – and now it’s your job to clean up the mess they make.
Nimona
The graphic novel that elevated cartoonist ND Stevenson to queer internet royalty, Nimona is the story of a titular non-binary shapeshifter whose moral compass always points to Chaotic Neutral. The scourge of the sci-fi/fantasy kingdom they call home, Nimona has carved out a reputation for themselves as a force of disorder, a reputation they seek to augment by becoming the sidekick of disgraced hero Ballister Blackheart. While sticking it to the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics (and Ballister’s ex bf in the process) the pair uncover a government conspiracy that, if they can thwart it, will transform them into the heroes that neither believed they could ever be. Like gender, morality is fluid.
The Wicked and The Divine
A smorgasbord of world myths and religions, Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’ The Wicked and The Divine a story of gods, demons, and heroes… who are all ludicrously beautiful twenty-somethings. Every 90 years, a group of twelve divinities known as “The Pantheon” are reincarnated in the world, and are destined to become its movers and shakers. Their rise is just as meteoric as their fall, and in two short years, each divinity drops dead. They live more in those 730 days than most people do in their entire lives, becoming famous musicians, writers and stars. Like any self-respecting gaggle of gods, The Pantheon is not without family drama. Able to hold grudges like Greek divinities, the Pantheon’s members war with one another until they’re all ripped apart. Messy. Dramatic. Divine.
Monstress
Written by Marjorie M. Liu and illustrated by Sana Takeda, Monstress is a historical fantasy novel set in an art-deco version of 20th century East Asia. The plot revolves around Maika Halfwolf, a young woman struggling to survive in a world at war. Humanity is fighting against the Arcanics, which are magical beings capable of blending in with mankind. Maika is one of them, and spends her days attempting to pass as a human in order to avoid capture and consumption. Arcanics are used as fuel for human sorcerers, and Maika doesn’t intend to serve as a battery. With the help of a monstrous being that sprouts out of her severed left arm, Maika might just get away scot free. Sprawling as a cityscape and intricate as clockwork, Monstress is a one of a kind adventure.
Bone
Essentially Lord of The Rings reimagined as an American cartoon, Bone is the story of Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone – three osseous cousins cast out of Boneville and into a vast and hostile desert. After the gang are separated by a biblical swarm of locusts, they are reunited again in a faraway valley under the threat of a dark lord(s). A horrible army of Rat Creatures led by the evil Kingdok and the Lord of the Locusts are hell-bent on destroying this Shire-esque locale, unless the three Bones are able to stop them. It’s a story about three animate body parts taking up a hero’s quest to defeat evil. Whacky, endearing, genre-defying, it’s a fantasy classic.
Elfquest
If you’re a longtime reader of graphic novel fantasy, odds are you’ve heard about Elfquest. Wendy Pini’s genre stalwart has been in publication since the late 70’s, and has garnered a reputation for being one of the greats. The plot follows a rotating cast of humans and elves attempting to survive and thrive in an Earth-like world. The main focus of the story is Chief Cutter and the Wolfriders, a tribe of war-like elves that ride giant wolves into battle. Hell yeah. As the Wolf Riders explore their world, they find themselves at odds with the other groups of humans and elves that call the place home. It’s a massive series with enough lore to fill a wizard’s library, and one that will reward any reader willing to get lost in its oodles of pages.
Berserk
Arguably the greatest work of dark fantasy ever conceived, Kentaro Miura’s Berserk is the seminal manga series that inspired the Dark Souls games. First serialized in 1989, the series follows Guts – a linebacker sized mercenary who wields a sword the size of a Honda civic. Before he became the taciturn, black-clad, demon-slaying loner that we meet in the story’s first panels, Guts was once a loyal member of The Band of The Hawk – a powerful mercenary group led by the charismatic young commander Griffith. After Griffith sacrificed his men in exchange for demonic power, Guts and his former bestie had something of a falling out. Understandable. Possessed with the need to seek revenge, Guts wanders a crapsack land slaying his way towards a fated reunion with his former comrade, a reunion that will decide the destiny of the fate-cursed world once and for all.
Coda
A cross between Adventure Time and Mad Max, Coda takes place in the aftermath of a high fantasy apocalypse. After a cataclysm stripped his world of magic, a formerly verbose bard named Hum seeks to save the soul of his wife – one monosyllable at a time. Accompanied by a mutant unicorn companion, Hum wanders the wasteland uttering his namesake phrase “hmm” in response to any attempt at conversation thrown his way. He’s essentially an antisocial Finn the Human, accompanied by an equally ill-tempered Jake the Dog stuck in the form of a twisted magical horse. When you’re caught in a nasty power struggle between the warlords of the Weird Wasteland, it’s best not to get too friendly with anyone.
DIE
Written by Kieron Gillen and illustrated by Stephanie Hans, DIE is a horror/fantasy graphic novel that doubles as a roleplaying game! The story is essentially Stephen King’s It: a group of forty-somethings have to travel back to the place where they defeated an ancient and traumatizing evil. Instead of hitching a ride back to Maine, these hapless adults must return to a table-top roleplaying world they were transported to in their youth. They defeated the evil entity known as “The Gamemaster” long ago, but left one of their friends behind in the process. Twenty five years later, their former childhood chum has been twisted into a person they no longer recognize – and has now taken up the Gamemaster’s dark mantle. It’s essentially a horror isekai anime combined with Dungeons and Dragons, Stephen King would surely love it. While you don’t need to play the accompanying tabletop RPG of the same name, the best way to completely experience DIE is to read one, and roll the other.
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