Aquaman: Andromeda Review (Ram V, Christian Ward)

An alien spacecraft crashes into the ocean and suddenly the race is on to recover it and unearth its secrets - but what awaits inside…?

My Autobiography Review (Joe Wilkinson, Henry Paker)

If you’re a fan of British comedy panel shows, you’ll probably be familiar with Joe Wilkinson, the substitute teacher-looking chap. He’s written a book which is as much a real autobiography as Dr Pepper is a real doctor. Unusually for “celebrity” autobios, he’s opted to present it in comics form and it’s drawn by Henry Paker in a Rick and Morty-esque fashion.

Boy's Abyss, Volume 3 by Ryo Minenami Review

Boy’s Abyss has been my manga north star of 2023 - not that it’s been the most amazing series, but it has been consistently decent, and that’s very rare in ongoing titles. Especially manga, where subsequent books to a strong/solid first volume usually sees a marked drop in quality.

Pretty Ugly Review (David Sedaris, Ian Falconer)

What can the brilliant essayist David Sedaris bring to the children’s picture book genre? Nowt much it turns out. A little girl ogre makes faces - until one day her face gets stuck like that.

Four Gathered on Christmas Eve Review (Eric Powell, Mike Mignola)

Four Gathered on Christmas Eve is a short anthology of Christmas ghost stories in the Victorian tradition by Eric Powell, James Harren, Becky Cloonan, and Mike Mignola. Despite the big names though it’s a pretty weak collection of stories.

Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke Review

Gerald is stuck in Slack - quite literally! But how did his soul get into it and how can he escape? Meanwhile, his colleagues at their NYC copywriting firm continue work on their latest crisis client, Bjark Dog Food, whose products are somehow only killing pomeranians and they need to urgently handle the public response. And what’s going on with Lydia who can hear howls outside her apartment all day every day but can’t see any dogs or wolves - and each day the howls are getting closer…

Monica by Daniel Clowes Review

Dan Clowes is back with his first book in seven years: Monica - unfortunately though it’s even worse than Patience, so that makes it twelve years now since he put out a good comic (the last one being 2011’s The Death-Ray).

The Amazing Spider-Man, Volume 6: Dead Language, Part 2 Review (Zeb Wells, John Romita Jr)

Spidey and co. face down the wannabe god of death the Emissary in a final battle. Also revealed at last is what happened with MJ - how did she suddenly get a family separate from her relationship with Peter? All this and more in the second and final part of Dead Language.

When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut Review

Benjamin Labatut tells the story of a group of 20th century scientists and mathematicians whose work changed the world and completely changed how we used to think the world worked, adding uncertainty and chaos where once was order.

Asterix and the White Iris Review (Fabcaro, Didier Conrad)

With Caesar’s legions demoralised from losing constantly to the Armorican village that perpetually resists them, his head physician, Viceversus, decides to spread his gospel of positive thinking to the region to both boost the troops’ mindset and sow dissent among the small Gaulish village. But not if Asterix and Obelix have anything to say about it!

Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis Review

Sam Bankman-Fried was one of the richest people in the world, running the crypto exchange FTX and crypto trading firm Alameda Research, until the whole thing came crashing down spectacularly in late 2022 when the companies went bankrupt - crypto’s a mug’s game, who knew?! Bankman-Fried was arrested on a whole raft of charges including fraud and money-laundering, of which he was recently found guilty and faces decades in prison at his sentencing in March next year.