Graphic Novel Bingo!

Batman – We figured we’d start with an easy one. There’s a lot of Batman content on Hoopla! From classic titles like Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns to more modern tales like The Court of Owls and Three Jokers, there’s enough Batman to keep you busy for a while. Just make sure you’re keeping track of the time. It’s always dangerous to be in Gotham City after dark!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Even if you weren’t alive in the 90’s, you’ve probably at least heard of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The cult classic movie led to the wildly popular TV series (and spin-off Angel) and was a huge pop culture phenomenon. While the TV show lasted 7 seasons, the story didn’t end there! It continued in comic form and even rebooted with several spin-offs. If you’re itching for some nostalgia, try Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 11, or the standalone story Buffy ‘97.

Black Panther – Whether on the silver screen or the pulpy pages of a graphic novel, the Black Panther is a character that is very important to a lot of people. His presence in graphic novels is historical, whether it’s a classic story from the 1970s or a modern one, like the run written by Ta-Nehisi Coates. He’s even thrown down with everyone’s favorite wisecracker, Deadpool. It’s never a bad time for a trip to Wakanda.

Big Bad Guys – A popular trope for comic books is the giant, seemingly insurmountable villain. Maybe you want to read more about Thanos and his history as a villain. Or maybe you’re interested in the reality destroying Anti-Monitor from DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. Perhaps you’d be interested in looking in on one of The Fantastic Four’s many battles with the entity big enough to eat an entire planet, Galactus. Or maybe you’re more interested in Do A Powerbomb, featuring an interstellar wrestling tournament where the final match is against God himself. Either way, if you like to watch your normal-sized heroes battling against adversaries that tower over them, there’s almost definitely a comic for you.

Brian Michael Bendis – One of the comic’s most prolific creators, Brian Michael Bendis is a name most modern comic fans are familiar with. He was responsible for the popular Ultimate Spider-Man series, which began as a modern re-telling of Peter Parker’s origin and eventually spawned the popular Miles Morales character. He also wrote the gritty “cops vs. superheroes” series, Powers, and non-superhero stories like the crime drama Jinx. If you want to check off your “B” on your card with a critically acclaimed author, Bendis is a good place to start.

Invincible – You probably know that the popular animated series began as a comic by Robert Kirkman (of The Walking Dead fame), so now’s the perfect time to check out the graphic novels! If you aren’t familiar with the series, it features a teen who discovers he has superpowers and must be trained to use them by his father, who also happens to be one of the world’s most powerful superheroes. Sounds like a sweet deal, right? Well…like most good superhero stories, everything isn’t what it seems. Full of big fights and lots of family (and high school) drama, Invincible has a little bit of something for everyone.

Impulse – Everyone knows The Flash is the “fastest man alive”…most of the time. He’s powered by a cosmic energy known as The Speed Force that allows him to reach incredible speeds and sometimes even travel through time. But The Flash also has family members, friends, and rivals who have tapped into The Speed Force, making it hard to keep track of how many speedsters there are. One of them is Flash’s descendant from the 30th century, Impulse! Check out his adventures in Mark Waid’s “Runs in the Family” story arc. Or, if you prefer the original, there are plenty of Flash’s adventures available, too!

Iron Man – What, you didn’t think we’d do the letter I and leave out Tony Stark, did you? Iron Man is one of the most legendary superheroes around, so of course, we’re including him. As a fun bonus (because Marvel loves alliteration), you get double the I’s because Iron Man has been Infamous and Invincible (He’s also been Superior and Ultimate, but that doesn’t flow as well).

Inside Job – It’s always upsetting to be let down by your heroes, but unfortunately, it seems to happen a lot in comics. Whether it’s Captain America becoming a bad guy in Secret Empire, the Teen Titans being betrayed by one of their own in The Judas Contract, or the heel turn in the mind-blowing conclusion to Alan Moore’s classic The Watchmen, it never feels good to find out that a character you’ve been rooting for has secretly been working against the heroes the whole time. Of course, if you prefer non-fiction, you can always read more about historical turncoat, Benedict Arnold!

Illness – Sometimes, the toughest villains to defeat are the ones we can’t see! Illness has often been used in comics to drive a story. It could be a zombie apocalypse like in Marvel Zombies or DCeased. Or maybe it’s a more personal story, like when Jane Foster took over as The Mighty Thor. Then there’s Cable, the mutant hero who gets a lot of his powers from a techno-organic virus. If you read enough comics, you’ll definitely find a disease or virus driving the story!

Nocterra – Speaking of illness driving the story, have you checked out Scott Snyder’s Nocterra? When the sun is swallowed by darkness, and much of the population is turned into grotesque monsters, Val Riggs becomes a ferryman, using her truck to carry people and goods where they’re needed. In volume 1, Val is in search of a lit sanctuary in hopes of finding safety and saving the life of a loved one. Of course, in later volumes, she’s trying to find a way to drive away the darkness and save the world. As heroes do, of course.

Nova – Known as The Human Rocket, Nova is a member of the intergalactic police force, Nova Corps. He’s kept the cosmos safe from space villains like Thanos and Annihilator and even battled Earth villains like Carnage. The title of Nova has been held by different characters, too, so his personality differs depending on which era you’re reading. If team books are more your speed, you can even try New Warriors, because Nova’s spent time battling evil with them!

Nothing Nice to Say – In the early days of the internet (all the way back in 2002), webcomics were a great way for independent creators to self-publish their work. Short comic strips of several panels allowed creators to put out “chapters” quickly, with a short turnaround, and tell their stories to fans who would come back and visit their site several times a week. Sometimes the comics told one story over many strips, and sometimes, they were more like the comic strips you’d find in the newspaper, featuring a plot or joke that resolves in 3 or 4 panels. One of these comics was Mitch Clem’s Nothing Nice to Say, a comic about punk rock culture. Nearly all of the comics in the series (and some previously unreleased ones) have been collected into one volume, so if you’re a music fan or like a comic, you can pick up and read a little here and there; this is a good choice.

News – News outlets feature prominently in a lot of comics! Spider-Man takes photographs for The Daily Bugle. Superman and his wife, Lois Lane, work for The Daily Planet. Then there’s the supernatural crime manga Yellow Stringer, about a journalist and an ex-cop traveling around and reporting “true monster crime”. If you’re interested in a real-life case of the news being the story, there’s even a non-fiction graphic novel about the 1899 Newsboys strike!

Ninjas – Ninjas are always a popular comic book trope. If you want a cool fight scene (or ten), it’s never a bad idea to add ninjas. They have cool weapons, they’re excellent fighters and if you see one, there’s usually roughly a thousand (give or take) of his friends close by. If you’re looking for some solid ninja action in your comics, you could try Fire Power by Robert Kirkman, which features mystical fire ninjas. You could also read some Daredevil, where our hero Matt Murdock fights the evil ninja clan known as The Hand. Or you could roll with the heroes in a half-shell, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Godzilla – We’ve covered giants already, but we couldn’t ignore one of the most famous giant creatures of all, Godzilla. Sometimes a good guy, sometimes a bad guy, but always a big guy, Godzilla has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years. If you’ve ever seen one of his movies, you know that sometimes he’s a friend to humans and other times he’s trying to destroy us. Either way, Godzilla is a force to be reckoned with on the big screen and the printed page! You can find completely original stories featuring the giant radioactive lizard and even some stories that tie into his motion picture adventures. Make sure when you’re reading you don’t forget to look up. You wouldn’t want to end up under Godzilla’s massive foot by mistake!

Go Go Power Rangers – During the 90s, the Power Rangers were a phenomenon like no other. They mixed crazy martial arts action with good old-fashioned kaiju monsters and created a property that was incredibly popular for years. Toys, lunchboxes, backpacks, t-shirts…If it could be sold, there was probably a Power Ranger version of it. There are even several comics, too! One of those comics is Go Go Power Rangers, which follows the characters from the original series during their early days as Power Rangers. If you like martial arts fights and giant monsters, give this one a read.

Ghosted – Who doesn’t like a good heist? It’s an entire movie genre, after all. It’s also a useful comic trope, and one of the most unique uses is Joshua Williamson’s Ghosted. Usually, a heist involves stealing a lot of money or information, but this time, our heist is for…a ghost. Yes, they’re stealing a ghost. A collector isn’t happy enough SEEING the ghost; he must possess it (which is ironic because usually it’s the ghosts who do the possessing). He breaks criminal mastermind Jackson T. Winters out of prison, and away they go. Featuring four volumes, Ghosted is a perfect read if you’re looking for something exciting and spooky.

Grant Morrison – Grant Morrison is an award-winning author who has had the chance to write stories featuring some of the most popular characters in comics. He’s written stories featuring Superman, Batman, and The X-Men, and even lesser-known characters like Animal Man and Doom Patrol. He even did a reimagining of the tale of Santa Claus called Klaus. Grant Morrison has range, and he isn’t afraid to get weird, and sometimes that makes for the best comics!

Giant Days – We’ve recommended a lot of superhero books, or at the very least, action-driven books, but graphic novels aren’t always about fighting bad guys…or ninjas…or giant radioactive monsters. Sometimes it’s about growing up and the human experience. Giant Days is one such book. It follows three college roommates as they try to navigate the most treacherous challenge possible: reinventing yourself and finding out who you truly are, all while making sure you get to class on time. If you need a break from all the fantasy danger and want to spend some time with believable, relatable characters, this might be a good pick for you.

Origin Story – An origin story is what introduces you to characters and the world they live in. You learn about their powers, their personality, and how the world around them functions. Sometimes, it’s a flashback where you learn about how a character you’ve already met got to be who they are. Sometimes, it’s an alternate telling of an established character. Graphic novels love to tell origin stories, so this is a great time to find one you’ve never read before! Maybe you’d like to learn about who Wolverine was before he joined the X-Men. Perhaps you’d like to find out about Kamala Khan, the regular teenage girl who was obsessed with superheroes and then actually became one. Or maybe you’d like to read an alternate telling of the Green Lantern’s origins from a different universe. Of course, villains have origin stories, too, so if you’re more into bad guys, you might want to check out Maximum Carnage, featuring the birth of one of Spider-Man’s deadliest foes.

October Faction – To a lot of people, family is everything. That can be true even when your family consists of a monster hunter, a witch, a warlock, and other shocking creatures. The Allan family, our heroes in The October Faction, probably isn’t much like your family, but they’re a family nonetheless. If weird family dynamics and monster-hunting hijinx pique your interest, then this title will definitely be right up your alley. Just make sure there’s no monsters lurking in the shadows before you put this one down for the night.

The Odyssey – Graphic novels have long been a great way to retell classic stories. Using a different format allows for new audiences to enjoy a work, or for audiences who already appreciate it to see it from a different perspective. If you still need an O for your bingo card, Homer’s The Odyssey is a great example of this! This classic story tells the tale of Odysseus, a general returning home to his wife and son following the end of The Trojan War. Of course, this journey isn’t easy, and Odysseus must battle dangers like a cyclops, evil sirens, and Poseidon himself. It’s all in a day’s work for a hero.

Outer Space – One of the most popular comic book tropes is setting the story in space. Sometimes it’s the primary setting for an entire series, like Brian K. Vaughn’s popular Saga, or you could find popular characters blasting into orbit to stop an oppressive evil, like in Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men. Then there’s everyone’s favorite space cops, The Green Lantern Corps. While you might be familiar with Hal Jordan or John Stewart from movies and TV, they are only two of many Green Lanterns sworn to protect their respective sectors of the galaxy. Of course, if you’re a music fan, you might want to check out The Amory Wars, the graphic novel series based on the songs by the band Coheed and Cambria. When it comes to comics, oftentimes you’ll find that space is, in fact, the place.

Old Man Logan – Much like this list, every good comic series must come to an end. That is unless you’re Wolverine, of course. Because of his mutant healing factor, Logan’s body repairs itself at a rapid pace, meaning he doesn’t age at the same rate as his heroic pals. Old Man Logan finds a Wolverine that has finally started to look and feel every bit his age (which is believed to be somewhere around 180 years old) transported from his future to our present day. Of course, his future was pretty grim, and he’s on a mission to make sure the horrible disasters that ruined his world never come to pass…and he doesn’t care who he has to fight to do it. You’ll even get to meet aged versions of The Hulk, Captain America, and Hawkeye! Fun fact: The character Old Man Logan was the inspiration for the hit film Logan!