When it comes to incredible stories, the fantasy genre is full of them, especially when it comes to comic books. Stories that take everything from myth to magic to the supernatural and create incredible new worlds full of adventure, wonder, and sometimes even tragedy and darkness, fantasy comics are expansive and cinematic — which is why some of the stories contained in the pages of fantasy comic books are even better than anything Hollywood could put on screen.
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These seven comic books run the full range of what fantasy stories can do. Each one takes readers into unexpected and incredible worlds, including some that are rooted very much in our own, to lead them down a path of adventure and wonder — and not always in a way that is light and bright. While there may not be dragons in all of these, these comics are simply incredible reads and maybe Hollywood should take notes.
7) Once and Future
Firmly in the urban fantasy subgenre (along with a healthy dose of horror,) Once and Future is a modern adaptation of the King Arthur story. From creators Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora, the story centers around a resurrected King Arthur who is causing a lot of problems. After a group of British nationalists perform a supernatural ritual to resurrect the legendary king, they discover that he has his own agenda. With Arthur leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake, retired monster hunter Bridgette McGuire and her grandson Duncan have to try to stop the king before more creatures from other legends start to show up, too.
The book takes some interesting liberties with the King Arthur legend and its inventiveness is part of what makes it such an interesting and epic story. It’s present-day setting and the way the story works with the idea that there isn’t one single canon for Arthurian legend ends up letting the tale be more about the power stories have, both good and for ill.
6) Fables
Bill Willingham’s Fables is an expansive, complicated take on various characters from fairy tales and folklore. The story spans literally hundreds of issues — many of them with art by Mark Buckinhim though other artists have come on board of the years as well — and follows these story characters who refer to themselves as Fables. The Fables formed their own, clandestine community in New York City centuries ago, the so-called Fabletown, after their Homelands were conquered by The Adversary. Set in modern day, the story follows various representatives of Fabletown as they try to deal with conflicts as well as personal matters and, eventually, the return of the mysterious Adversary.
With so many issues and so many stories to tell, Fables is just a rich tapestry of fantasy tales. Admittedly some chapters are better than others, but it’s such an expansive world that, even taken in parts, it is incredibly cinematic. Interestingly, there have been attempts to adapt it for both television and film, though no project has yet to come to fruition.
5) The Many Deaths of Laila Starr
From Ram V and Filipe Andrade, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr is simply an incredible book. With humanity on the verge of discovering immortality, the avatar of Death is cast down to Earth to live a mortal life as twenty-something Laila Starr. However, Laila struggles with her newfound mortality and finds a way to be in the time and place where the man who will create immortality will be born. The story centers around Laila and the choice Laila faces: stop humanity from defeating death or allowing the cycle as we’ve always known it to disappear forever.
A beautiful exploration of humanity and mortality, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr asks a lot of big questions about the nature of choice, life, and death. It also offers up a really fascinating way at looking through the acts of both living and dying through magical realism and is just an incredible tale layered into an incredible landscape. Some movies wish they could be even half as interesting as this book is.
4) Saga
One of Image Comics’ most popular titles ever, Saga is a sprawling, epic tale that is so much more than merely fantasy. The story follows husband and wife, Alana and Marko, who flee the authorities from both sides of a galactic war while trying to care for their daughter Hazel. The book has a little bit of everything in its sprawling tale: science fiction, fantasy, political intrigue, adventure, and more. It’s a massive tale and one that isn’t afraid of taking sharp, unexpected turns; this is a story where no character is truly safe.
With such an expansive world and rich characters, Saga is easily one of the best fantasy books, ever. It’s a story that keeps readers guessing at every page and is unmatched with its worldbuilding (except, maybe, by one other book on this list.)
3) DIE
No, DIE is not the book that matches Saga in its worldbuilding, but worldbuilding is a big part of this incredible series. Another book from Gillen, DIE follows a group of friends who end up pulled into the table-top role-playing game they played together as teens. That’s right, the game becomes real. It’s a dark story not terribly unlike Jumanji, but it’s thrilling and fascinating — especially if you are a gamer yourself.
The best part about DIE is that, though the first series ended, the story isn’t over. a follow up, DIE Loaded, just arrived taking readers — and the characters — right back into the game.
2) Monstress
Now, this is the story whose worldbuilding is on the same level as Saga’s. Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s Monstress is a multiple award-winning epic that is set in a matriarchal world of magic and monsters, though don’t think of this as a beautiful or elegant fantasy. The world of Monstress is dark, with magical creatures and elements are often used for terrible purposes. It’s a dark fantasy with deeply rich storytelling and beautiful imagery layered over some extremely horrific and dark elements.
Despite all the darkness, however, Monstress is also a story that somehow keeps a thread of hope running through it. With the action, adventure, and deeply personal stories for almost all of the primary characters, it’s honestly a surprise this one hasn’t been made into a movie franchise yet. There’s a lot to take in, but it’s easily one of the most expansive and expertly done fantasy comics to date.
1) The Unwritten
It’s been ten years since The Unwritten ended, but it remains a genuinely unmatched fantasy. Published by Vertigo and written by Mike Carey with art by Peter Gross, The Unwritten follows Tom Taylor, a man who was the inspiration for a massively successful series of children’s novels not unlike Harry Potter. However, being the inspiration for a massively successful book series has major downsides and Tom’s real life is largely ruined by fans who constantly compare the real Tom to the fictional Tommy — and things only get worse when it’s revealed Tom might actually be real boy-wizard come to life.
The Unwritten is a perfect story for those who love Harry Potter but want something not of that world and with a little bit more conspiracy and mystery. The story is full of adventure as Tom finds himself trying to figure out the mystery that crosses the entire history of all fiction and figure out his place in it. It’s a twisty tale with a lot of layers and is a wild ride from start to finish.
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