This wasn’t my idea originally, but I had fun looking through last year’s books, picking out my favorites, and putting together this list. It’s arranged in descending order: (click the links for art samples)

Republic of the Skull T1 & T2 (Brugeas & Toulhoat) (Europe Comics)

The dashing Captain Sylla plies the Caribbean with his close-knit crew: The Marquis, a former slave who sports a powdered periwig; the clever, craggy-faced Dutch; the burly, bearded Lenoir; and first mate Olivier, given to gloom and considered a bringer of bad luck. This is likely because he spends his time composing log entries addressed to a fictive British “Commodore” who will someday capture them. But perhaps he is the only clear-eyed one among them: luckless outcasts of imperial navies, these pirates’ days of freedom and fraternity are numbered, as the forces of law, order, and capital bear down on them. --Amazon

This was easily one of the finest Pirate-themed series I’ve read, with lots of historical culture and context that one doesn’t always get. It featured nicely-efficient storytelling and lots of dramatic ups & downs, which built towards quite the plausible yet tragic ending. --Johnny

Fierce (Monde & Burniat) (Dargaud)

The legendary King Arthur is now an old drunkard who spends his days slouched on his throne. He owes his former glory to the magic sword the wizard Merlin forged for him in order to slay the hordes of demons who came to invade the kingdom of Pendragon. The enchanted weapon now suffers from a bad case of boredom, while Arthur’s daughter, the Princess Ysabelle, is wondering how to flee the marriage her father has arranged with the vile Baron of Cumber. Both Ysabelle and the sword are determined to change their fate, and to do so they must become allies on a long journey. But the wide world can prove much harsher than life at the palace, and the sword’s intentions may not be as noble as they seem… --NetGalley

This was a delicious, intelligent, deeply humorous tale in the style of Kerascoet, Hubert & Vehlmann, such as Beauty, A Man’s Skin and The Court Charade --Johnny

Eigyr (Hamon & Colboc) (Europe Comics)

Fifth-century Great Britain. After centuries, the Romans have withdrawn from the island. Saxons have arrived from the European mainland, some of the native Britons have been Christianized, and others have maintained their pagan ways. The great wizard Merlin has fallen on the field of battle, and soon thereafter a prophecy—or a rumor—begins to circulate: Merlin will be reincarnated in a newborn. The hunt is on for the baby whose promised greatness would disrupt the power-grabbing plans of the different peoples. The pregnant Eigyr becomes the prey, and with the help of an archer and a priest, she must try to stay alive long enough to deliver destiny. --League of Comic Geeks

Altho this was a fairly grim, tragic tale, I found it thoroughly gripping, and a nicely realistic look at the early Arthurian period. --Johnny

Extraordinary, The T3 - Melek’s Head (Ruppert & Mulot) (Europe Comics)

Orsay is determined to cure his mother’s cancer using the strange powers that allow him to meld with the creatures known as whols. But the whols are in danger—banished from cities and slaughtered by uncaring humans, they risk disappearing from the Earth completely. To save them from extinction, and humankind from itself, Orsay will have to survive and learn from a terrible loss. He’ll also have to stop Melek, a woman with whol powers in her head, from exacting revenge on those she sees as responsible for the whols’ plight… --GoodReads

Tome three wraps up this wonderful, highly imaginative series, and unforunately ends the productive collaboration between Ruppert & Mulot. --Johnny

Fortune of the Winczlavs, The - Danitza, 1965 (Van Hamme & Berthet) (Dupuis)

This third book wraps up the miniseries, which traces the ancestors of Largo Winch back to 1848. It’s drawn in a simple but lovely LC style, and as with seemingly everything Van Hamme puts pen to, one is rapidly engaged in the plot and swiftly on the edge of one’s seat. It really is impressive to see how well the context is fleshed out across historical eras, and I reckon this is virtually a ‘must-read’ for any fans of the main series, Largo Winch. --Johnny

NeoForest T1 - Cocto Citadel (Duval & Scaffoni) (Europe Comics)

In a distant future lives a young woman named Blanche. She’s the heiress of Cocto Citadel, a neofeudal city like those that arose after the end of the world… When Blanche and her father find themselves at the center of dramatic power struggles, it’s in the heart of NeoForest, the Great Central Forest, that everything must be decided. --Amazon

I found this quite the promising beginning to a post-apoc series that takes place in a feudalistic, forested setting. Altho much of modern technology is evidently lost, there’s still a level of science and even magical science present. Also of course, schemers out to assassinate Blanche and steal the throne away from her father. --Johnny

Coyote and the Snake, The (Xavier & Matz) (Europe Comics)

USA, 1970. Joe is driving his camper in the wide open spaces of the Wild West. He makes several acquaintances along the way: a small coyote, to start with, but also local thugs, F.B.I. agents, a U.S. Marshal, old friends who seem to be more or less trustworthy… But who is this good ol’ Joe? Those who cross his path tend to see their life expectancy dangerously decrease… --EC site

This was a ‘road trip movie’ about a weary, aging Clint Eastwood-type who simply wants to settle down and put his past behind him. That, and make sure his daughter doesn’t get mixed up in his old business. There’s a certain spirit of discovery about road journeys that gets captured nicely here, overlaid with moments of danger and mortal disaster. Mainstream comics have been toying with this formula for years, but for me, this was just about the best example of its kind. --Johnny

Misfits Club for Girls, The - T4 Apolline(Beka & Mehu) (Europe Comics)

Apolline, Céleste, Chélonia and Sierra go to school together. These young girls have one thing in common: they are isolated, pushed aside by others, and sometimes harassed. One day, Chélonia decides to bring them together to make a proposal-- she would like to found the “misfits club” with them. Its purpose: to allow them to break their loneliness, become stronger, and ‘exist more fully.’ Their first objective is to convince Paloma to join them. A rebellious and lonely teenager, she’s already exhausted several foster families. She now lives with Liselotte, a woman used to sheltering young people in difficulty. Will the four new friends be able to help her overcome her past? --GoodReads

I found this an unusually insightful and moving look in to troubled young women sparking against each other, mostly for the best. There were certainly stretches of pain and dysfunction, but they tended to get worked out eventually, almost in a therapeutic manner… but without the sappy heavy-handedness that such works can sometimes fall in to. --Johnny

Exile, The (Erik Kriek) (Living the Line)

After seven years of exile, battle-hardened Hallstein Thordsson returns home to Iceland, only to find that old wounds haven’t healed. His stepmother Solveig and his half-brother Ottar are besieged by wood thieves, directed by her unwelcome suitor, Einar. The Exile’s presence disrupts the delicate balance and threatens to tip all of Iceland into violence. A remarkable decades-spanning epic, Erik Kriek’s The Exile is equal parts action “Western” and family drama, with a surprising story of violence and consequences at its core. Told in a naturalistic modern style but with tremendous fidelity to the historical period in which it is set, The Exile depicts the Viking age in all of its conflict, turmoil, and social structure, with every detail depicted vividly on the page.

Kriek’s fascinating ‘woodblock-style’ is not to be missed, and I thought the story did a nice job examining the psychology of betrayal & revenge. --Johnny

Anno Domini 1000 by Thomas Gilbert (Europe Comics)

Brunehilde is a wolf-charmer. When her travels take her to a remote valley in southern France, she is horrified to discover famine, pestilence, and mass deforestation. Worse still, children are being found dead in the woods. For the villagers, the murders must be the work of a demon: a wild beast, a wolf. But for Brunehilde—a nomadic healer widely seen as a witch—nothing is less certain. She knows better than anyone that the real monster is Man. --Amazon

I really enjoy these historical fiction novels covering times that tend to get neglected by history and storytelling. Altho fairly light-hearted in tone for the most part, this was in fact a pretty grim look at the realities of the day, with a serial-killer murder mystery that reminded me of the Brother Cadfael Chronicles as well as Maria McCann’s As Meat Loves Salt, some excellent but disturbing (non-comic) novels. --Johnny

Jardin Secret, Le T2 (Burnett & Begon) (Dargaud)

In a house full of sadness and secrets, can young, orphaned Mary find happiness?Mary Lennox, a spoiled, ill-tempered, and unhealthy child, comes to live with her reclusive uncle in Misselthwaite Manor on England’s Yorkshire moors after the death of her parents. There she meets a hearty housekeeper and her spirited brother, a dour gardener, a cheerful robin, and her wilful, hysterical, and sickly cousin, Master Colin, whose wails she hears echoing through the house at night.With the help of the robin, Mary finds the door to a secret garden, neglected and hidden for years. When she decides to restore the garden in secret, the story becomes a charming journey into the places of the heart, where faith restores health, flowers refresh the spirit, and the magic of the garden, coming to life anew, brings health to Colin and happiness to Mary. --Amazon

I love how a children’s classic, one that I otherwise would probably miss, got brought in to BD form and wound up being something I wolfed right up. It’s certainly an uplifting book on the whole, but with a certain Dickensian edge that greatly helped in keeping it real and relatable. --Johnny