Comics to Combat Your Ongoing Food Coma
Your Thanksgiving guests have all gone home, but your fridge is still packed with food. It’s a never-ending food coma waiting to happen. Classic Thanksgiving conundrum, right? Well this year we’ve decided to do something about it. Here at Quirk Books, we’ve rounded up our favorite comics to keep your mind active and your eyes entertained as you scarf down your seventeenth turkey sandwich. Go ahead. Laugh in the face of that mid-afternoon nap.
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples
Saga is guaranteed to keep you engaged until the very last page – tryptophan be damned. Alana and Marko are renegades in all the right ways. Their story is rich and wonderful and so anti-Happily Ever After. And just wait until you meet their daughter. If you’re the kind of comics reader who waits for trades, there are six volumes of Saga ready for you to devour. Skip the pumpkin pie. This is your dessert.
Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona
If your Thanksgiving plans included a pilgrimage to the suburbs, the depictions of Jersey City in Ms. Marvel will look all too familiar. What isn’t familiar? Teenage superhero Ms. Marvel aka Kamala Khan. High school student by day, masked crusader by night, Kamala is really just your average Pakistani American girl. Except she has shapeshifting powers. And a thirst for justice. And a pretty great shalwar kameez-inspired costume. There are five volumes of Ms. Marvel just waiting to be read, so pass the mashed potatoes and get to it.
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
Want a dose of fantasy with that leftover cranberry sauce? Check out Noelle Stevenson’s web comic turned book-length adventure comic Nimona. Don’t let Nimona’s cute exterior fool you. This professional sidekick is just as violent and bloodthirsty as her boss, supervillain Ballister Blackheart. Filled with riveting origin stories, dangerous quests, and, yes, an Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics, Nimona is sure to keep you shocked out of any Thanksgiving related malaise you may encounter.
March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, & Nate Powell
By now you’ve seen the news that the third installment of Representative John Lewis’ graphic memoir March has won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, making it the first graphic novel to win the National Book Award. The three book comic series, written by Representative Lewis and Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, puts a personal lens on the Civil Rights Movement and pairs the narrative with stunning black and white illustrations. It’s an incredible reading experience for the whole family and just might inspire you to pick up a copy for your niece or nephew for Christmas.
