Comics to read at least once in your life: the tier list

Some comics are not just “collectable”: they are lived. This selection does not seek the best written on a technical level, but the memorable reading experiences: those which make us understand what the medium is capable of, from superheroes to autobiographical stories. A single criterion: the imprint left after the last page.

Ranks are a bias; the facts are verified. This is a reading guide, not an investment.

Tier S: the four essential works

Watchmen remains the experience that makes a reader switch to the side of the medium. Maus overwhelming by its subject, the memory of the Shoah, and its form. The Sandman opens a mythological fresco of ten volumes that we will not forget. And Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi recounts a childhood in Tehran with universal accuracy. Four works of radically different genres, the same status: essential.

Tier A: great reading moments

Saga is the space opera that reconciles everyone with comics. Bone by Jeff Smith is a funny and profound adventure epic for all audiences. V for Vendetta marked by his political office, and Fun Home by Alison Bechdel brought the graphic memoir into the literary canon.

Tier B: entire universes to cross

Preacher et Y: The Last Man offer two great long-term sagas. The Walking Dead redefined the zombie narrative over nearly 200 issues. And Hellboy unfolds an inimitable fantastic folklore. Four immersive readings to experience at least once.

Tier C: not to be missed either

The Dark Knight Returns et Sin City show the dark and stylized side of the medium, while Blankets reveals its intimate tenderness. A notch below the top, but none of these works are missed.

Where to start

• Do you doubt that comics are an art? Maus or Persepolis will convince you.
• Do you want a big adventure? Saga or Bone.
• Do you like dark? Watchmen, then The Dark Knight Returns.
• All exist in collections: no need to hunt for isolated issues.

Which reading order should you choose, depending on your time?

A tier list ranks works, but it does not tell you where to begin. Here are concrete pointers, based on the real length of each title, to help you choose according to the time you have.

An evening or a weekend

Maus by Art Spiegelman first appeared in instalments in the magazine RAW from 1980, before being collected in two volumes, the second dating from 1991. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi originally came out in four volumes in French between 2000 and 2003: the complete edition can be read in one sitting. Watchmen runs twelve issues published between 1986 and 1987, and The Dark Knight Returns four issues in 1986. V for Vendetta began in 1982 in the British magazine Warrior, before being taken up and completed by DC in the late 1980s.

Several weeks of reading

The Sandman has 75 issues published between 1989 and 1996, collected in ten volumes. Preacher has 66 (1995-2000), Y: The Last Man 60 (2002-2008) and The Walking Dead 193 (2003-2019). Bone began in 1991 and ended in 2004 after 55 issues. Hellboy, launched in 1993 at Dark Horse, works in miniseries: you can stop at the end of each one without missing anything.

A few tips for chaining your reads

• Read in collected editions: these works were conceived as complete stories, and bound volumes save you from hunting for single issues.
• After Watchmen, follow up with V for Vendetta, by the same writer, Alan Moore: two very different takes on power.
• Maus, Persepolis, Fun Home and Blankets form a family of their own, the autobiographical story. Read back to back, they show how a single genre renews itself from one country and era to another.
• Saga, published since 2012, is read volume after volume, with no detour needed.
• Save the long titles (Sandman, Preacher, Walking Dead) for periods when you have time: their strength comes from accumulation.

A reminder: this list is a reading guide, not an investment guide. What counts is the mark left by the last page, whichever edition you hold in your hands.

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