The nights are long and the winters are cold in our neck of the woods. This means more time to read some of the astonishing independent comics on our reading list.
Our list is not the definitive list, but does include some of our favorite independent comics available. We included comic book series that have concluded, some that feature a new series either just released or coming in the near future, and some ongoing series.
Independent comics have grown drastically over the past few years and are some of the best comics on the market.
// THE RECOUNT
One of Capes and Tights favorite independent comics of all-time is The Recount from Jonathan Hedrick, published by Scout Comics. Political thriller with amazing story, script and artwork. This miniseries is worth every cent.
After the assassination of a U.S. President, the conspirators turn their sights on all who helped him get into power. By this, they mean to kill everyone who helped him ascend to the presidency-including the ordinary citizens who elected him, essentially plunging the entire country into civil war. Meanwhile, the vice president, one of the few survivors of the executive branch, struggles to prevent the nation from descending into chaos.
Hedrick has been on the Capes and Tights Podcast to discuss The Recount back on Episode 51, but rejoined the podcast for Episode 66 to discuss his latest boom Dream Master on Blackbox Comics.
The Recount returns for a second volume coming in 2023 and has also been optioned for a feature film.
// NAILBITER
Joshua Williamson (Ghosted, Dark Ride) and Mike Henderson (Dead Man Logan, Daredevil) deliver a mystery that mixes Twin Peaks with the horror of Se7en!
Buckaroo, Oregon has given birth to sixteen of the vilest serial killers in the world. An obsessed FBI profiler investigating the town has suddenly gone missing, and now an NSA Agent must work with the notorious serial killer Edward “Nailbiter” Warren to find his friend and solve the mystery of “Where do serial killers come from?”
“If Josh died I wish he’d leave Nailbiter to me in his will so I could say it was my idea.” – Scott Snyder (Severed, Batman, Wytches)
// THE WALKING DEAD
Another of our all-time favorite independent comics is Robert Kirkman‘s The Walking Dead.
An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living.
In a matter of months, society has crumbled: There is no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. Rick Grimes finds himself one of the few survivors in this terrifying future. A couple months ago he was a small town cop who had never fired a shot and only ever saw one dead body. Separated from his family, he must now sort through all the death and confusion to try and find his wife and son. In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally begin living.
// STRAY DOGS
It’s scary being the new dog.
Sophie can’t remember what happened. She doesn’t know how she ended up in this house. She doesn’t recognize any of these other dogs. She knows something terrible happened, but she just…can’t…recall…WAIT! Where’s her lady?
A five-issue Don Bluth-style suspense thriller by comic artists Tony Fleecs (Star Wars Adventures, My Little Pony) and Trish Forstner (My Little Pony), Stray Dogs is Lady and the Tramp meets Silence of the Lambs.
“My favorite thing about comics is when someone shows you something you didn’t know you needed. The Secret Life of Pets meets Seven? Yes, please!! Welcome to Stray Dogs. I was blown away!” — Brian Michael Bendis (House of M, Powers)
Fleecs joined the Capes and Tights Podcast in 2022 to discuss Stray Dogs.
// REVIVAL
For one day in rural central Wisconsin, the dead came back to life. Now it’s up to Officer Dana Cypress to deal with the media scrutiny, religious zealots, and government quarantine that has come with them. In a town where the living have to learn to deal with those who are supposed to be dead, Officer Cypress must solve a brutal murder, and everyone, alive or undead, is a suspect.
The sell-out hit series created by New York Times bestselling author Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash) and Eisner winning artist Mike Norton (The Goon) is collected with bonus material!
// SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN
Some of James Tynion IV‘s best work to date. Something Is Killing The Children, now on its 26th issue, has taken the comic book horror genre by storm. Tynion is joined by artist Werther Dell’Edera on one of Boom! Studios‘ best selling independent comics.
When the children of Archer’s Peak begin to go missing, everything seems hopeless. Most children never return, but the ones that do have terrible stories-impossible stories of terrifying creatures that live in the shadows.
Their only hope of finding and eliminating the threat is the arrival of a mysterious stranger, one who believes the children and claims to see what they can see.
Her name is Erica Slaughter. She kills monsters. That is all she does, and she bears the cost because it must be done.
Something Is Killing The Children #27 drops on December 21, 2022.
// THE BEAUTY
Modern society is obsessed with outward beauty. What if there was a way to guarantee you could become more and more beautiful every day? What if it was a sexually transmitted disease? In the world of The Beauty, physical perfection is attainable. The vast majority of the population has taken advantage of it, but Detectives Foster and Vaughn will soon discover it comes at a terrible price.
Co-creator Jeremy Haun will join the Capes and Tights Podcast in December to discuss his latest comic book The Approach and likely some of The Beauty.
// THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH
Cole Turner has studied conspiracy theories all his life, but he isn’t prepared for what happens when he discovers that all of them are true, from the JFK assassination to flat Earth theory and reptilian shapeshifters. One organization has been covering them up for generations. What is the deep, dark secret behind the Department of Truth?
Bestselling writer James Tynion IV (Batman, Something is Killing the Children) debuts his first Image Comics ongoing series alongside breakout artist Martin Simmonds (Dying is Easy)!
// I HATE FAIRYLAND
The Adventure Time / Alice in Wonderland-style epic that smashes its cute little face against Tank Girl / Deadpool-esque violent madness has arrived. In an adventure that ain’t for the little kiddies, (unless you have super cool parents, then whatever), you’ll meet Gert—a six year old girl who has been stuck in the magical world of Fairyland for thirty years and will hack and slash her way through anything to find her way back home. Join Gert and her giant battle-axe on a delightfully blood soaked journey to see who will survive the girl who hates fairyland.
Skottie Young (Middlewest, Twig), along with artist Brett Bean, released the first issue of the followup ongoing series in November.
// SAGA
Saga is an epic space opera / fantasy comic book series created by writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man) and artist Fiona Staples (Archie), published monthly by Image Comics. The series is heavily influenced by Star Wars, and based on ideas Vaughan conceived both as a child and as a parent. It depicts two lovers from long-warring extraterrestrial races, Alana and Marko, fleeing authorities from both sides of a galactic war as they struggle to care for their newborn daughter, Hazel, who occasionally narrates the series.
Saga #61 hits your local comic shop in January 2023.
Y: THE LAST MAN
In 2002, the world changes forever. Every man, every boy, every mammal with a Y chromosome everywhere on Earth suddenly collapses and dies. With the loss of nearly half the planet’s population, the gears of society grind to a halt, and a world of women are left to pick up the pieces and try to keep civilization from collapsing entirely.
The “gendercide,” however, is not absolutely complete. For some unknown reason, one young man named Yorick Brown and his pet male monkey, Ampersand, are spared. Overnight, this anonymous twentysomething becomes the most important person on the planet–the key, it is hoped, to unlocking the secret of the mysterious sex-specific plague.
For Yorick himself, the most important person on the planet is 10,000 miles away–and he will stop at nothing to find her. In setting off across the post-male landscape, however, man and monkey are about to learn just how valuable they are–both as a prize and as a target.
Eliza Clark, Showrunner from FX on Hulu’s adaptation, joined the Capes and Tights Podcast back on Episode 14.
CANTO
Enslaved for generations, Canto’s people once had hearts. Now they have clocks.
They are forbidden to love, yet Canto loves a little tin girl. When slavers damage her clock beyond repair, Canto embarks on an incredible journey through his strange and fantastic world to bring back her heart. As he faces fearsome creatures and finds unlikely allies, can he conquer the mysterious figure who has taken their hearts to save the one he loves?
Hailed as a “truly entertaining and striking modern fairy tale” (Newsarama) and a “beautiful and heartfelt story about love and heroism” (The Brazen Bull), Canto is an all-ages adventure for past and present generations alike. Inspired by Wizard of Oz and Dante’s Inferno. Part fantasy. Part adventure. All heart.
THE BOYS
This is going to hurt! In a world where costumed heroes soar through the sky and masked vigilantes prowl the night, someone’s got to make sure the “supes” don’t get out of line. And someone will! Billy Butcher, Wee Hughie, Mother’s Milk, The Frenchman, and The Female are The Boys: A CIA-backed team of very dangerous people, each one dedicated to the struggle against the most dangerous force on Earth – superpower! Some superheroes have to be watched. Some have to be controlled. And some of them – sometimes – need to be taken out of the picture. That’s when you call in The Boys!
The hit series The Boys by Garth Ennis (Preacher, A Walk Through Hell) and drawn by Darick Robertson (Transmetropolitan, Wolverine)!
A WALK THROUGH HELL
So these two FBI agents walk into a warehouse…
Special Agents Shaw and McGregor handle the routine cases nowadays, which is just the way Shaw likes it. She’s pushing 40, a borderline burnout, the ghastly memories of her last investigation still clinging like shadows. McGregor is younger, more dedicated, hanging onto some measure of idealism whatever the world might throw at him.
When two fellow agents go missing inside a Long Beach warehouse, Shaw and McGregor are sent to investigate. But what they find waiting is far from routine, as the local police have already discovered to their cost. Before the night is out, our heroes will encounter terror beyond their most appalling nightmares—in a place where the night may never end at all.
A new kind of horror story for modern America, written by Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys, Crossed) and drawn by Goran Sudžuka (Y: The Last Man, Hellblazer)
GIDEON FALLS
A brand-new ongoing series from the acclaimed bestselling creative team of Old Man Logan and Green Arrow!
The lives of a reclusive young man obsessed with a conspiracy in the city’s trash, and a washed-up Catholic priest arriving in a small town full of dark secrets, become intertwined around the mysterious legend of The Black Barn, an otherworldly building that is alleged to have appeared in both the city and the small town, throughout history, bringing death and madness in its wake. Rural mystery and urban horror collide in this character-driven meditation on obsession, mental illness, and faith.
