All throughout July we’re crowdsourcing an Extra Eisners Reading List from comics journalists and critics. Each weekday throughout the month, we’ll post a new pick we would have liked to have seen nominated for an Eisner. There are so many great comics, it’s impossible for the Eisners to recognize them all. This list is to honor and diversify the pool of work praised by the industry.

Today’s pick comes from Samantha Puc of CBR…enjoy!

Gryffen: Galaxy’s Most Wanted is weird. It’s intense. It will bring all kinds of emotions to the surface and it will make you crave more, because the world is so fully-realized and the characters are so compelling.

Plus, there’s something wildly cathartic about following a ragtag group of characters hellbent on dismantling a fascist regime.

This genderqueer space opera is clearly influenced by the likes of Star Trek, but it’s also in a league all its own, with quick-witted, perfectly-paced writing and dynamic, often (literally) explosive art. There are very few storytellers (in comics or otherwise) as adept at pushing the envelope as writer B. Khan, which is reflected in each issue of this 12-issue digital series.

From the jump, Gryffen is a non-stop sprint toward the finish line, led by an avatar of chaos whose motivations are deeply relatable. The breakneck pacing will pull readers in, chew them up, and spit them out — especially because putting this series down feels damn-near impossible once it kicks off. -Samantha Puc

Samantha Puc is a culture critic and essayist whose work focuses on LGBTQ and fat representation in pop culture. She is a comics and gaming editor at CBR, as well as the co-creator and editor-in-chief at Fatventure Mag. Find her on Twitter @theverbalthing

Gryffen: Galaxy’s Most Wanted

Writer: Ben Kahn
Artist: Bruno Hidalgo
Color Assistance: James Penafiel
Lettering: Sal Cipriano
Publisher: Starburns Industries Press
Captain Lyla Gryffen dedicated their life to the Sovereign Reach. A veteran of missions on a dozen worlds, they were the pride of humanity. Six months ago, they disappeared at the edge of the galaxy. One week ago, they returned...
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