3 Comics That Inspire Me Right Now

Here are some comics on my mind right now. A non-exhaustive list and (some of!) what each inspires me to do.

Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol

(Doom Patrol (1987) #19-63)

DP is always on my mind. It makes me want to go weirder and stay more honest.

Written by Grant Morrison and pencilled by (mostly) Richard Case, this Doom Patrol run is mature, silly, metatextual, deadly serious, and really damn weird. The book explores gender identity, sexual violence, meaning, and fiction (does that even make sense as a theme?) in truly inventive ways that are still worth reading now. And also the Doom Patrol fight inside a living painting, and a guy who thinks he is both Jack the Ripper and God. There's a character who is a fusion between a man and a woman and a cosmic energy entity, a character whose various identities each have their own superpower, and a character who has a monkey face. One of two times I've cried reading a comic. It's awesome, and kind of impossible to describe why this is so good. Let yourself go along for the ride. 

(Also, DP consistently has some of the best comic book covers ever. This one's by Simon Bisely.)

Ultimate X-Men (2024-)

Ultimate X-Men makes me want to take my time with my comics and have rich characters. 

Written and drawn by Peack Momoko, Ultimate X-Men honestly lost me about half a year ago. I finally picked it back up a week or so ago and caught up, and holy shit.

I messed up.

It's hard to describe how I feel about Ultimate X-Men, because simultaneously it's a really sweet coming of age story about these Japanese teenagers taking control of their lives back rendered in Momoko's stylish and soft watercolors, and also I am so fucking scared for them because there is some bonkers stuff going on they (and the readers) aren't yet privy to. This is a slow read, but with 18 issues out now (and five months until the big ultimate universe event) I do feel like this is the moment to hop on the train. 

For what it's worth, part of the draw for me is definitely that I'm very into everything happening in the ultimate universe right now, Marvel's largely self-contained alternate universe. But this book really does stand on its own so far, and it's worth it for Momoko's art alone (but her writing is damn good too)

Armor

Ultimate X-Men (2024) #1

Maystorm

Ultimate X-Men (2024) #3

Absolute Martian Manhunter (2025-) #4 Specifically

I mean, all of it, but holy shit, issue #4

Absolute Martian Manhunter makes me want to make comics, period.

Here's the pitch. John Jones is a typical FBI agent who comes in contact with some sort of psychic entity composed of radical empathy, which he can only conceptualize as the Martian Mindfucker.

Writer Deniz Camp and artist Javier Rodriguez do things in Manhunter it's almost stupid to call revolutionary because they are so base to comics, so clear one could forget they exist, but also so new it feels revolutionary. Manhunter is so clearly so excited to be a comic and tell its story through the medium.

In any event, issue #4 is the culmination of a lot of what makes it great for me (until #5, and then #6 I'm sure, though I'm yet to read it). Its both tender and raw and full of impact and, to be honest, a complete mindfuck.

Shit, I've already talked for a really long time on Absolute Martian Manhunter. That's fine. Its goated, so I'm allowed. The first arc just concluded, so get in while it's hot.

It's backwards in the comic. Trust me, its cool.

Absolute Martian Manhunter #1

The first page of issue 4

Absolute Martian Manhunter (2025) #4 

If you read any of these, please let me know! If you don't think you have the means, you do. Hit me up.