2025 Best Graphic Novels for Adults Reading List

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ALA’s Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table (GNCRT) is sharing the nominations for the 2025 Best Graphic Novels for Adults (BGNA) Reading List. These reading list nominations highlight the best graphic novels for adults published in late 2024 through 2025, and it aims to increase awareness of the graphic novel medium, raise voices of diverse comics creators, and aid library staff in the development of graphic novel collections.

The Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table (GNCRT) and its committees honor the entire creative team (including the writer, penciler, inker, colorist, letterer, and translator) involved in the titles listed. All of these people play a critical role in the creation of the work, helping to lift the story and give it life.

Best Graphic Novels for Adults 2025 Selection Committee

  • Joe Pascullo - Committee Chair
  • Deborah Zeman - Committee Vice-Chair
  • Louise Lalonde - Committee Administrative Assistant
  • J. Jared Alvarez Ginés
  • Mark Conner
  • Michael Douglas
  • William Kist
  • Sarah Maciejewski
  • Laila Mai-Nguyen
  • Alecs Schmidt-Mickunas
  • Aidan Skipper-Martinez
  • Makilah Sullivan
  • Ashlynn Bell
  • Margaret Miller

2025 Best Graphic Novels for Adults - Nominations  

July

Fiction

Cherry Blossoms After Winter Volume 1. Written by Bamwoo. Art by Bamwoo. 2024. Inklore, $20 (9780593870938).
After the untimely death of his parents, Seo Haebom is taken into the home of his childhood friend Jo Taesung. The two become distant until everything changes their senior year as they fend off bullies and mend their relationship.

Clay Footed Giants. Written by Mark McGuire and Alain Chevarier. Art by Alain Chevarier. Edited by Marla Eizik. Book design by Jack Levesque. 2024. Mad Cave Studios, $19.99 (9781545808412).
Pat struggles with parenting and scares his own children while his partner Ester is away. A package from Pat's estranged father prompts him to delve into the roots of their intergenerational trauma.

The Cosmic Con. Written by Ron Kasman. Art by Ron Kasman. 2024. At Bay Press, $24.95 (9781998779451).
Teenage Herbie Weingarten tries to extricate his holocaust survivor uncle from a new religious movement called "Exalted Consciousness."

Godzilla's Monsterpiece Theater. Written by Tom Scioli. Art by Tom Scioli. Lettering by Tom Scioli. 2025. IDW Publishing, $21.99 (9798887242989).
To save the world from Godzilla's terror Jay Gatsby teams up with Jules Verne, Sherlock Holmes, the Universal Monsters, and others to form the most bizarre supergroup in history.

Heretic. Written by Robbie Morrison. Art by Charlie Adlard. Lettering by Rus Wooton. Script edited by Deborah Tate. Produced by Drew Gill. 2024. Image Comics, $24.99 (9781534340466).
Cornelius Agrippa and his apprentice Johan Weyer are tasked by the Inquisition with investigating several murders that have been happening in 16th century Antwerp.

The Holy Roller. Written by Andy Samberg, Joe Trohman and Rick Remeder. Art by Roland Boschi. Colors by Moreno Dinisio. Lettering by Rus Wooton. Edited by Harper Jaten and Gabe Dinger. Design by Erika Schnatz. 2025. Image Comics, $19.99 (9781534397323).
Levi Coen returns to his hometown to visit his ailing father. Once there, he is forced to defend himself against Neo-Nazis with his bowling ball.

Land of Mirrors. Written by Maria Medem. Art by Maria Medem. Translated by Aleshia Jensen and Daniela Ortiz. 2025. Drawn & Quarterly, $29.95 (9781770467545).
A village's only resident's love of a flower is threatened when a stranger arrives. The two humans set off on a journey in search of community and friendship.

Non-Fiction

Ginseng Roots: A Memoir. Written by Craig Thompson. Art by Craig Thompson. 2025. Pantheon, $35 (9780593700778).
This is a continuation of Craig Thompson's memoir Blankets, picking up the story in the late teens, as Thompson deals with his success which has not been without complications. Covering an immense span of time, geography, and family dynamics, Thompson's story carries him through the early days of the pandemic as he explores his ties to ginseng.

Insectopolis: A Natural History. Written by Peter Kuper. Art by Peter Kuper. 2025. Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc., $35 (9781324035718).
After humanity is wiped out by some unidentified event, insects of all sorts take in an insect exhibit at the New York Public Library where they learn about themselves, each other, and entomologists throughout history.

Talking to My Father's Ghost: An Almost True Story. Written by Alex Krokus. Art by Alex Krokus. 2024. Chronicle Books, $22.95 (9781797228181).
Alex's dad died from cancer. In the book he tries to come to terms with his father's death by asking family members how they deal with grief, hanging out with his mom and brother, and speaking with his dad's ghost.

June

Fiction

Animal Pound. Written by Tom King. Art by Peter Gross. Colors by Tamra Bonvillain. Lettering by Clayton Cowles. Edited by Elizabeth Brei and Eric Harburn. 2025. BOOM! Studios, $29.99 (9781637969779).
A retelling of Orwell's Animal Farm, where cats, dogs, and rabbits are trying to seek fairness in an animal shelter, while circumstances and thought processes between certain inhabitants make that wish challenging...

The Harrowing Game. Written by Antoine Revoy. Art by Antoine Revoy. 2025. 23rd St., $29.99 (9781250248312).
Three spirits compete by telling stories. The one who wins gets to leave. But there is something evil on its way...

Helen of Wyndhorn. Written by Tom King. Art by Bilquis Evely. Colors by Matheus Lopes. Lettering by Clayton Cowles. 2025. Dark Horse Comics, $29.99 (9781506740065).
Helen is the daughter of a pulp fantasy writer who, after her father's death, must go to live with her mysterious grandfather who is somehow connected to her father's stories.

Holy Lacrimony. Written by Michael DeForge. Art by Michael DeForge. 2025. Drawn & Quarterly, $24.95 (9781770467552).
Jackie has been determined to be the "saddest living person in the entire world" by a mysterious team of alien abductors. He is forced to perform his sadness over and over again on command so his captors can study and master this very puzzling, very human emotion. Until just like that, Jackie is returned to his old life. Trying to comprehend what has happened, he joins a support group.

Paranoid Gardens. Written by Gerard Way and Shaun Simon. Art by Chris Weston. Colors by Dave Stewart. Lettering by Nate Piekos. 2025. Dark Horse Books, $19.99 (9781506741192).
A nurse starts to unravel the surreal mysteries surrounding the senior care center where she works.

Non-Fiction

The Giant: Orson Welles, the Artist and the Shadow. Written by Youssef Daoudi. Art by Youssef Daoudi. 2025. 23rd St., $29.99 (9781250805942).
A biography of Orson Welles that follows him from childhood to his later years and details his troubled relationship with Hollywood.

Trans History: From Ancient Times to the Present Day. Written by Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett. Art by Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett. Lettering by Tif Bucknor. 2025. Candlewick Press, $24.99 (9781536219234).
This nonfiction graphic novel offers an introduction to trans and gender nonconforming people throughout history and around the globe. It has historical figures and also explores societal roles of trans people and how Eurocentric ideas about gender spread across the world.

War on Gaza. Written by Joe Sacco. Art by Joe Sacco. Edited by Gary Groth. Design by C Hwang. Production by Paul Baresh. 2024. Fantagraphics, $12.99 (9798875000904).
Recounts Joe Sacco's reaction to the attacks Hamas carried out October 7th, 2023 in Israel, and Israel's subsequent and continuing retaliation.

May

Fiction

Dogs and Punching Bags. Written by Kaori Ozaki. Art by Kaori Ozaki. 2025. Kodansha USA, $24.95 (9781647293994).
When Nichiko reluctantly returns to her island homeland to care for her ailing father, she also finds a potential love partner in a man named Chimaki. But when she hears some rumors about Chimaki's dark past, she decides to stick around and find out the truth...

Gilt Frame. Written by Margie Kraft Kindt and Matt Kindt. Lettering by Sophia Hilmes. Edited by Daniel Chabon. 2025. Dark Horse Books, $29.99 (9781506745947).
Together, Sam and Merry have solved some of the most notorious murders in the world. And, true to form, their Parisian vacation is cut short when they stumble upon a murder scene so bizarre that only a raging psychopath could have produced it. But to solve the crime, they have to wrestle with jewel thieves, art forgers, gun-runners, a lost puppy, and a master French detective who may just solve the crime before they do.

April

Non-Fiction

It Rhymes with Takei. Written by George Takei, Steven Scott, and Justin Eisinger. Art by Harmony Becker. 2025. Top Shelf Productions, $29.99 (9781603095747).
This memoir from Star Trek actor George Takei focuses on his life as a closeted gay man, not coming out until he was 68 in response to anti-gay legislation in California. Covering his experiences in Japanese internment camps during WWII, the graphic novel explores an amazing spectrum of social justice issues spanning the 20th century through the beginning of the 21st century.

John Muir: To the Heart of Solitude. Written by Lomig. Art by Lomig. Translated by Christopher Pope. 2025. NBM Publishing Company, $24.99 (9781681123523).
This nonfiction graphic novel uses time skips to trace the life of noted naturalist John Muir, considered by some as one of the first modern ecologists. The founder of the Sierra Club had to overcome multiple challenges, including an accident that nearly blinded him. In a series of episodes, readers see how Muir lived out his passion for nature throughout his life, starting in childhood when he was criticized by an overbearing father who couldn't understand his son's passions. Through a variety of episodes on the road, readers see the many payoffs of Muir's vision.

Fiction

Judge Dredd: A Better World. Written by Rob Williams and Arthur Wyatt. Art by Henry Flint, Boo Cook, and Jake Lynch. Lettering by Annie Parkhouse. Coloring by Jim Boswell. 2025. 2000 AD, $24.99 (9781837864218).
In Mega-City One, Judge Maitland discovers that reallocating Justice Department funds to education and housing could eradicate crime. As the experiment begins to show promise, powerful figures within the Judges and the city work to sabotage it, fearing the threat to their control and power.

Life Drawing: A Love and Rockets Collection. Written by Jaime Hernandez. Art by Jaime Hernandez. 2025. Fantagraphics, $24.99 (9798875000492).
An episodic compilation of the work of Jaime Hernandez, profiling the life and loves of Tonta, the breakout character of Love and Rockets. While the episodes don't always seem linked, they generally profile Tonta's interactions with Vivian, her sister, and Ray, Tonta's teacher.

Soma. Written by Fernando Llor. Art by Carles Dalmau. Colors by Carles Dalmau and Eiden Marsal. Color Assist by Helz and Eric Morales. Lettering by Andworld Design. Edited by Gabriel Granillo. Translated by Diego Jourdan Pereira. Design by Sarah Rockwell. 2025. Oni Press, $19.99 (9781637156124).
Maya is a comic book artist in the middle of a creative crisis. She's constantly stressed about deadlines and feels like she's not doing the type of work she loves. In between trying to fight her writer's block and doling out advice to her best friend on how to finally land a date, Maya receives an unexpected visitor: Soma, an extraterrestrial alien who crashlands in Maya's living room. Soma delivers a message to Maya, warning her that an alien invasion from his own kind is fast approaching, and he needs her help to stop it!

March

Non-Fiction

Muybridge. Written by Guy Delisle. Art by Guy Delisle. Translated by Helge Dascher and Rob Aspinall. 2025. Drawn & Quarterly, $24.95 (9781770467729).
An amazing biography of Eadweard Muybridge, famed early photographer (motion studies, nature photography), incorporating his tumultuous personal life as he continually "pushed the envelope" of the new medium of photography, including motion pictures, throughout the second half of the 1800s.


Fiction

Bowling With Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown. Written by Mike Mignola. Art by Mike Mignola. Colors by Dave Stewart. Lettering by Clem Robins. 2025. Dark Horse Comics, $24.99 (9781506745886).
New folklore-inspired tales abound in this anthology of eight fantasy stories written and drawn by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, featuring a bonus sketchbook section. From a search for the beating heart of a long-dead sorcerer, to a pirate girl who makes a deal with the devil, to the titular boy who wins a grim prize in a game with some undead interlopers, and more. Mignola builds a brand-new world filled with the weird, wicked and whimsical in this volume that will delight longtime Hellboy fans and new readers alike.

Confession. Written by Nobuyuki Fukumoto. Art by Kaiji Kawaguchi. 2024. Kodansha, $16.95 (9781647293963).
As two men get caught in a blizzard, one of them makes a confession that he's responsible for the murder of a mutual friend. Now that he's got it off his chest, the other man is worried that he'll be his next victim as they're trapped with nowhere to run.

Crave. Written by Maria Llovet. Art by Maria Llovet. Logo Design by Jesús Orellana. 2024. Image Comics, $16.99 (9781534397453).
At an elite university, an app called CRAVE is downloaded on everyone's phone, promising to fulfill everyone's desires. Requests on the app escalate and cause mass chaos on campus, and it is up to David and his friends to stop the havoc and find out the secret behind the app.

Love Languages. Written by James Albon. Art by James Albon. 2025. Top Shelf Productions, $19.99 (9781603095570).
Sarah Huxley moves from London to Paris, finding loneliness instead of romance. She befriends Ping Loh, an au pair of Hong Kong expats, and they bond over language struggles. Through museums, markets, and translation apps, they create a private dialect—until deepening feelings reveal that the hardest words to translate are the truest ones.

Moon Man Volume 1. Written by Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi, Kyle Higgins, and Joe Clark. Art by Marco Locati. Color by Igor Monti. Lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. 2024. Image Comics, $9.99 (9781534376243).
Capitalistic space travel goes sideways, and the returning crew have to manage public sentiment, new abilities, and family relationships, making choices that might change everything.

The Pit. Written by Erik Kriek. Art by Erik Kriek. 2025. Living the Line, $28.95 (9781961581050).
Hugh and Sara are still grieving the loss of their son, and they seek a fresh start in an inherited house in the Netherlands. As Hugh throws himself into moving on, Sara is drawn to a set of journals that may have some connection to the cryptic carvings they've noticed in woods.

Veil Volume 1 & 2. Written by Kotteri. Art by Kotteri. 2025. Udon Entertainment, $15.99 (9781772943610).
A young woman from a wealthy family sets out on her own and stumbles upon a policeman. The two of them grow closer and develop a delicate bond through beautifully illustrated vignettes of their daily lives.

February

Non-Fiction

Audrey Hepburn: An Illustrated Biography. Written by Eileen Hofer. Art by Christopher Longé. 2025. Abrams ComicArts, $25.99 (9781419779916).
A graphic novel biography of the life of Audrey Hepburn. The graphic novel covers her time living through the Holocaust to her rise in fame in movies to her passion for helping the less fortunate.

Between Two Sounds: Arvo Pärt's Journey to his Musical Language. Written by Joonas Sildre. Art by Joonas Sildre. Edited by Aile Tooming. Translated by Adam Cullen. 2024. Plough Publishing House, $26.00 (9781636081342).
A biography following the political and personal life of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt's as he develops the sound (tintinnabuli) he eventually becomes known for, and turns to religion and the wonder of silence to expand his avant-garde style.

Shrink: Story of a Fat Girl. Written by Rachel M. Thomas. Art by Rachel M. Thomas. 2024. Graphic Mundi, $24.95 (9781637790793).
A work of graphic medicine depicting emotional and physical realities of inhabiting a large body in a world that constantly warns about medical and social dangers of being "too fat." The graphic novel encourages readers to question the prevailing cultural and medical discourse about fat bodies.


Fiction

Blacking Out. Written by Chip Mosher. Art by Peter Krause. Colors by Giulia Brusco. Lettering by Ed Dukeshire. 2024. Dark Horse Books, $19.99 (9781506740911).
With a Southern California fire season as the backdrop, a disgraced ex-cop tries to investigate an unsolved murder using "questionable" methods.

The Library Mule of Cordoba. Written by Wilfrid Lupano. Art by Léonard Chemineau. Color by Christophe Bouchard. Lettering and Translation by Lynn Eskow and Rodolfo Muraguchi. 2024. Ablaze, $24.99 (9781684972791).
When a young boy takes over the throne, his power hungry uncle issues commands in his stead. The peace that had been maintained for nearly 60 years in threatened. Books are being burned and with it culture, science and knowledge are being lost. The story follows the head librarian, a runaway scribe, a young woman, and a seemingly unhelpful donkey try to save as much as they can from the library before everything is destroyed. What do they have to give up in order to survive?

Medusa. Written by Tony Parker. Art by Tony Parker. Colors by Tamra Bonvillain. Lettering by Taylor Esposito. Edited by Stephanie Cooke. 2024. Dark Horse Books, $19.99 (9781506743769).
Everything you know about Medusa is a lie. Forever cursed to be remembered as a monster, this ageless, yet very mortal hero, has spent millennia saving humanity from the horrors of legend. But now, in Scotland, she has met a foe that makes even the gods hide in fear.

Red Hood: The Hill. Written by Shawn Martinbrough. Art by Sanford Greene. Colors by Matt Herms and Troy Peteri. Edited by Ben Abernathy. 2025. DC Comics, $17.99 (9781799500391).
After the Joker War comic event, a group of vigilantes in Gotham's Hill suburb kept the area safe from the chaos. Yet, The Hill is not immune to the problems that arise during a crime wave. Now Red Hood and the Hill's Vigilantes must bring order from the chaos.

The Road: A Graphic Novel Adaptation. Written by Cormac McCarthy. Art by Manu Larcenet. Adapted by Manu Larcenet. 2024. Abrams ComicArts, $26.99 (9781419776779).
A boy and his father have only each other to rely on as they struggle to survive against a harsh environment and human cruelty in a post apocalyptic landscape.

Ultimate Black Panther, Volume 1. Written by Bryan Hill. Art by Stefano Caselli and Carlos Nieto. Color Art by David Curiel. Lettering by VC's Cory Petit. 2024. Marvel, $19.99 (9781302957308).
Following Ultimate Invasion, the combined god Khonshu and Ra (Moon Knight) aim to take over Africa, with only Wakanda left to resist. Wakanda faces a divine threat, and King T'Challa, with Shuri and the Dora Milaje's help, must confront it and a prophecy affecting Wakanda's destiny. Mysticism, politics, and action combine in a story about leadership, identity, and the consequences of isolation.

William of Newbury. Written by Michael Avon Oeming. Art by Michael Avon Oeming. 2025. Dark Horse Books, $19.99 (9781506740836).
A raccoon monk tries to save souls by fighting the dead. He befriends a mouse thief named Winnie, who at first doesn't believe in spirits.