Five Comics to Get Excited About in 2016

We’re only a couple of weeks into 2016, but the comics industry is already preparing a slate of new comic series and graphic novels for the rest of the year.From new superhero series to long awaited independent projects, it’s a great time to be a comics fan for 2016.To celebrate the start of the new year, here’s five of the comics we’re most excited to read in 2016:

Civil War II

In 2006, Mark Millar and Steve McNiven shocked the world with a superhero Civil War, which pitted Marvel heroes against each other in an increasingly deadly feud over government oversight.  Late last year, Marvel teased a new Civil War II event pitting Iron Man against the new Captain America, Sam Wilson, in a rematch of sorts of the earthshaking 2006 event.  While Marvel’s coy on the details, Brian Bendis and David Marquez (creators of Marvel’s Invincible Iron Man series) will write and draw the main event, which may stem from an upcoming Avengers crossover that pits the All New, All Different Avengers (which both Iron Man and Captain America are members of) against Steve Rogers’ Uncanny Avengers team. 

Patience

Daniel Clowes is one of the biggest name in alternative comics, with works like Ghost World and Eightball reaching mainstream audiences and acclaim.  The award winning creator’s newest work, Patience, is his first graphic novel in over five years and his longest work to date.  Fantagraphics, Patience‘s publisher, describes the comic as “an indescribable psychedelic science-fiction love story”, which seems to fit right into Clowes’s deliberately kitsch and often satiric style.  Patience will be released in March and it’s sure to be the talk among both alternative and mainstream comics fans. 

Boruto

Last year, Masashi Kishimoto finished his epic eighteen year run on Naruto, one of the most popular manga currently in print.  While Kishimoto provided Naruto and his ninja friends with a fitting ending, Kishimoto also introduced a new generation of characters, including Baruto, Naruto’s equally mischievous and rebellious son.  Last month, Shonen Jump announced that Baruto’s adventures would continue in the new manga Baruto, written by Ukyo Kodachi (the co-writer for one of the recent Naruto anime movies) and illustrated by Mikio Ikemoto, Kishimoto’s chief assistant on Naruto.  While Kishimoto won’t be actively writing or drawing the new manga, he will remain on as a supervisor while also working on a new science fiction manga.  

Black Panther

Marvel has a brand new slate of titles on the way as part of the company’s All New, All Different reboot.  While the Marvel’s new series have been well received thus far, no book has received the hype or mainstream attention like Black Panther.  The new Black Panther series will be written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, a popular correspondent and journalist best known for his work with The Atlantic and his novel Between the World and Me.  Coates, a recent MacArthur “Genius Grant” winner, is a longtime Marvel fan and Black Panther represents his first foray into comics writing.  He’ll be joined by Brian Stelfreeze, a prolific comics artist best known for his painted cover illustrations.  Black Panther could be Marvel’s next big hit, with the first issue due to hit sometime this spring. 

The Nameless City

Three years ago, First Second it would publish The Nameless City, a trilogy of graphic novels by Faith Erin Hicks.  Described as a mix of Bone and Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Nameless City is set in a fictional city recently occupied by a foreign country.  Two young people from either side of the conflict form an unlikely friendship as they discover a conspiracy that could bring the Nameless City to its knees.  Hicks is a rising star in comics, with an Eisner Award win in 2014 for her The Adventures of Superhero Girl comics strip, and her work appeals to comic readers of all ages.  Preview pages for The Nameless City have been excellent and if it lives up to Hicks’ past comics work, this could be the next big “gateway comic” that could lead to a whole new generation of fans discovering the medium of comics for the first time.