By Zack Quaintance — Our latest list is a Best Comics on ComiXology Unlimited, built specifically for folks stuck at home in quarantine but viable to anyone who wants to read some great graphic sequential storytelling digitally.

With the coronavirus pandemic roiling the globe and forcing people to shelter at home in unprecedented numbers, there has been an increased need for entertainment that one can purchase and enjoy without going anywhere. Enter digital comics. If you’ve got a nice tablet and an interest in the medium, there is a nigh infinite number of comics options that can enable you to do just that. So many, that it can at times feel overwhelming...even if you narrow the pool and just limit yourself to books available with the $6 (I think) ComiXology Unlimited membership.

In the interest of helping out, however, I’ve skimmed the unlimited offerings on the platform, and I’ve paired my choices down for this list, which I’ve split into three sections: complete stories, stories that are one purchase short of complete, and my personal favorites.

Enjoy!

Best Comics on ComiXology Unlimited - Complete Stories

Alec: The Years Have Pants
Writer/Editor: Eddie Campbell
Publisher: Top Shelf
For the first-time ever, the groundbreaking autobiographical comics of master cartoonist Eddie Campbell are collected in a single volume! Brilliantly observed and profoundly expressed, the Alec stories present a version of Eddie's own life, filtered through the alter ego of "Alec MacGarry." Witness Alec's progression "from beer to wine" - wild nights at the pub, existential despair, the hunt for love, the quest for art, becoming a "responsible breadwinner," feeling lost at his own movie premiere, and much more! At every point, the author's uncanny eye for irony and wry self-awareness makes even the smallest occasion into an opportunity for wit and wisdom. This edition collects the previous Alec books, as well as a generous helping of rare and never-before-seen material, including an all-new 35-page book, The Years Have Pants. 614 pages!
Why It’s Cool: As the description above points out, this is 614-pages of comics...which are all included for free with your unlimited pass. They’re not just any comics either, but the brilliant and profound work memoir work of writer/artist Eddie Campbell, who is perhaps best-known in some circles for his Alan Moore collaboration, From Hell. In other words, this is an all-time great project, and a wonderful work of art to find yourself lost within.
Link: Click here!

Assassinistas
Writer: Tini Howard
Artist: Gilbert Hernandez
Publisher: IDW Publishing - Black Crown
First there were three: Octavia, Charlotte, and Rosalyn, a trio of badass hit-women who picked up the slack when the going got too real for other so-called top-level assassins. But things happened. Octavia hung up her semi-automatic for a semi-lucrative kidnapping insurance scam. Charlotte chose expensive Chardonnay, love, marriage and, until recently, a baby carriage. And Rosalyn? There's a lot of conspiracies, but according to the federal government, she's simply M.I.A. When a kidnapping hits too close to home, Octavia is forced out of retirement and back into the bounty-hunting business. Down two partners, she recruits her son Dominic and his boyfriend Taylor to aid and abet her in a semester of murder-based work study, where she'll teach them everything she knows (if she can get them to put down the video games, stop making out, and actually focus on the mission already).
Why It’s Cool: This book paired rising star writer Tini Howard (who has now risen and is a big deal at Marvel Comics) and all time great comics storyteller Gilbert Hernandez for a generational story about a family of assassins. The book was clever, compelling, and one of those great examples of a comic book-y scenario used to explore the mundane real life drama to which we all can relate.
Link: Click here!

Batman: Year One
Writer: Frank Miller
Artist: David Mazzucchelli
Publisher: DC Comics
One of the most important and critically acclaimed Batman adventures ever, written by Frank Miller, author of THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS! In 1986, Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli produced this groundbreaking reinterpretation of the origin of Batman--who he is and how he came to be. Written shortly after THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, Miller's dystopian fable of Batman's final days, YEAR ONE set the stage for a new vision of a legendary character. This edition includes the complete graphic novel, a new introduction by writer Frank Miller and a new illustrated afterword by artist David Mazzucchelli. Completing this collection are over 40 pages of never-before-seen developmental material such as character and layout sketches, sample script pages, sketches and more that provide a glimpse into the making of this contemporary classic. This volume collects BATMAN #404-407.
Why It’s Cool: If Batman has become the quintessential American comic book hero, than Batman: Year One is the quintessential defining Batman story of the modern era. It is, in other words, the Batman story of our times, the one that has had a strong influence on all the Batman stories have come after. It’s also a companion piece to perhaps the best-known Batman story of all time — both for mainstream and deep comics readers — that being The Dark Knight Returns. With that work, Frank Miller envisioned the dystopian end of the Batman story. With this one, he imagines the definitive beginning, teaming to do so with David Mazzucchelli. This one makes our list because it’s also one of the most re-readable comics for fans of superheroes.
Link: Click here!

Essex County
Writer/Artist: Jeff Lemire
Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
THE COMPLETE ESSEX COUNTY collects Jeff Lemire's critically-acclaimed and award-winning trilogy -- TALES FROM THE FARM, GHOST STORIES, and THE COUNTRY NURSE -- into one deluxe volume. Also included are over 50 pages of previously unpublished material (including two new stories). Set in an imaginary version of Jeff Lemire's hometown, ESSEX COUNTY is an intimate study of an eccentric farming community, and a tender meditation on family, memory, grief, secrets, and reconciliation. With the lush, expressive inking of a cartoonist at the height of his powers, Lemire draws us in and sets us free.
Why It’s Cool: An austere and haunting story of life in rural Canada, there is perhaps no better summation of the sensibilities of writer/artist Jeff Lemire than Essex County. It’s all in here: the rural setting, the father-child relationships, the loneliness, and the smart comics craft. Essex County is a compelling and achingly beautiful story of people who just can’t quite connect in the ways they need, and is there a better read for these times
Link: Click here!

The Fade Out
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Sean Phillips
Publisher: Image Comics
BRUBAKER & PHILLIPS' newest hit series, THE FADE OUT is an epic noir set in the world of noir itself, the backlots and bars of Hollywood at the end of its Golden Era. A movie stuck in endless reshoots, a writer damaged from the war and lost in the bottle, a dead movie star and the lookalike hired to replace her. Nothing is what it seems in the place where only lies are true. THE FADE OUT is BRUBAKER & PHILLIPS' most ambitious project yet.
Why It’s Cool: Writer Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips are easily one of the best creator duos in all of comics, known primarily for the crime comic, Criminal. They have, however, collaborated on a number of other projects as well, my favorite of which is the murder mystery set in Old Hollywood, The Fade Out. Most of the volumes of Criminal offer up complete stories, albeit entangled with others in a shared universe, but rarely have the duo done something as start-to-finish excellent and complete as their narrative on The Fade Out. Comics just don’t get better than this, which mixes usual crime comics conventions with character-driven challenges and a taste of real history.
Link: Fade Out, Vol. 1; Fade Out, Vol. 2; and Fade Out, Vol. 3.

Faith
Writer: Jody Houser
Main Artists: Marguerite Sauvage, Francis Portela, Colleen Doran, and more
Publisher: Valiant Entertainment
Orphaned at a young age, Faith Herbert – a psionically gifted "psiot" discovered by the Harbinger Foundation - has always aspired to greatness. But now this once ordinary teenager is taking control of her destiny and becoming the hard-hitting hero she's always known she can be - complete with a mild-mannered secret identity, unsuspecting colleagues, and a day job as a reporter that routinely throws into her harms way! Well, at least she thought it would... When she's not typing up listicles about cat videos, Faith makes a secret transformation to patrol the night as the City of Angels' own leading superhero – the skysoaring Zephyr!
Why It’s Cool: There is perhaps no better superhero comic for these times than Faith, with that timeliness owing to a few different qualities. First of all, Faith is built for the Internet crowd. Her secret identity is essentially working at a vague online media company...just like so many of us. She also keeps a blog or kept one, I think...also just like so many of us. Finally, the general tone of this comic is superhero story...but relentlessly optimistic. And couldn’t we all use some more of that right now in this moment? I know I sure could.
Link: Faith Vol. 1; Faith Vol. 2; Faith Vol. 3; and Faith Vol. 4.

Hellboy in Mexico
Writer: Mike Mignola
Main Artist: Richard Corben
Publisher: Dark Horse ComicsI
n 1956, Hellboy caravans across Mexico—vampire hunting with luchadores, finding the Aztec gods, fighting evil turkeys and Frankenstein’s monster, and drinking way too much tequila, in the strangest collection of his adventures yet. Collects “Hellboy versus the Aztec Mummy,” “Hellboy Gets Married,” and “The Coffin Man 2: The Rematch” from Dark Horse Presents, “The Coffin Man” from Hellboy 20th Anniversary Sampler, Hellboy in Mexico, and Hellboy: House of the Living Dead.
Why It’s Cool: As I wrote in our piece about the ideal Hellboy Reading Order, I have actually read every last Hellboy comic. Every. Last. Hellboy. Comic. And you know what my absolute favorite of the bunch is Hellboy in Mexico? There are plenty of excellent Hellboy stories that read as complete in and of themselves, but this one — in my humble opinion — is the richest. It’s sad, compelling, and deeply engaging. The Richard Corben artwork is among the best ever done with the character (which is really saying something), and anyone can pick it up knowing next to nothing about Hellboy (you may need to know he’s a ghosthunter of some sort, but even that is debatable) and still enjoy this tale. I simply can’t recommend it enough.
Link: Click here!

Infidel
Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote
Artist: Aaron Campbell
Publisher: Image ComicsA haunted house story for the 21st century, INFIDEL follows an American Muslim woman and her multi-racial neighbors who move into a building haunted by entities that feed off xenophobia. Best-selling editor PORNSAK PICHETSHOTE (Swamp Thing, Daytripper, The Unwritten) makes his comics writing debut alongside artist extraordinaire AARON CAMPBELL (The Shadow, James Bond: Felix Leiter), award-winning colorist and editor JOSE VILLARRUBIA (Batman: Year 100, Spider-Man: Reign) and letterer / designer JEFF POWELL (SCALES AND SCOUNDRELS).
Why It’s Cool: Infidel is one of those special comics that feels real...even though it’s ostensibly about ghouls and demons and overtly supernatural occurrences. It feels real, however, because of the way the characters look and talk and — most importantly — act and react toward each other. Infidel is a horror comic, sure, but it also has some of the most grounded and genuine character relationships in all of comics, which really enhances the ideas in the book about the way humans who have differences interact with one another. We may not be able to interact in person right now, but there are lessons in Infidel we’d all do well to remember when the isolation and distancing is over.
Link: Click here!

Love and Rockets
Writers/Artists: Jamie Hernandez and Gilbert Hernandez
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Reading Order: Click Here!
Love and Rockets is a comic book series by the Hernandez brothers: Gilbert, Jaime, and Mario. It was one of the first comic books in the alternative comics movement of the 1980s.The Hernandez brothers produced stories in the series independently of each other. Gilbert and Jaime produced the majority of the material, and tended to focus on particular casts of characters and settings. Those of Gilbert usually focused on a cast of characters in the fictional Central American village of Palomar; the stories often featured magic realist elements. The Locas stories of Jaime centered on a social group in Los Angeles, particularly the Latin-American friends and sometime-lovers Maggie and Hopey. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)
Why It’s Cool: I’ve been re-reading this series from its very beginning, jokingly referring to that efforts as Love and Rockets in the Time of COVID-19. Jokes aside, reading such a rich and thoughtful work — one that spans generations of characters and essentially ages them in real time — has been such an immersive and welcome escape from everything going on outside. On top of that, I’m struck by how many of the themes in these stories — even those created prior to 2000 — continue to resonate today. There’s just so much in these books to think about, be it music, friendship, romance, or escapism. It’s all in there, layered in the some of the best character work to ever take place within graphic sequential storytelling. Love and Rockets is a must-read for comics lovers, and you know what? The foundational books of the series are basically all available on ComiXology Unlimited. It’s almost ridiculous how man good comics you can read that way...you can literally read 11 of the big compilations of the comics, plus some extra. Technically it’s not the complete series, but it’s a satisfying and epic reading experience, enough to land it on this list.
Links: Click Here!

Spider-Man: Blue
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Tim Sale
Publisher: Marvel Comics
"It's about remembering someone so important to me I was going to spend the rest of my life with her." What Peter Parker didn't know was that meant Gwen Stacy would only get to spend the rest of her life with him. This is the story of how they fell in love. Or more appropriately, how they almost didn't fall in love. Welcome to Spider-Man's life. Bad before good. It's kind of amazing. So to get the girl of his dreams, he'll have to run the gauntlet of the Green Goblin, the Rhino, two Vultures and a mysterious man in the shadows controlling it all. Join the Eisner Award-winning team of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale in the story about Peter Parker's first love, Gwen Stacy. Highlighted by the introduction of Mary Jane Watson, it is a critical moment in Spider-Man's life when everything was just coming together - only to fall apart.
Why It’s Cool: Spider-Man: Blue is probably my favorite largely complete and self-contained Spider-Man comic. It’s essentially a romance, centering on Peter Parker’s early years when he had both Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson in his life. Those familiar with the Spider-Man mythos will know that the story ends in tragedy, but we don’t even quite see that here. We see the sad circumstances leading up to the incident as well as some of the tragic aftermath. What we see more than anything is the shades of melancholy (blue) that tinge the memories of young love lost, and it’s all rendered exquisitely by artist Tim Sale.
Link: Click Here!

One Short

The comics in this section are not complete stories, but they are all one purchase away.

Bitch Planet
Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Artist: Valentine De Landro
Publisher: Image Comics
Eisner Award-nominated writer KELLY SUE DeCONNICK (PRETTY DEADLY, Captain Marvel) and VALENTINE DE LANDRO (X-Factor) present the premiere volume of BITCH PLANET, their critically acclaimed and deliciously vicious sci-fi satire. Think Margaret Atwood meets Inglourious Basterds. Discussion guide included.
Link: Click Here!

Black Hammer
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Dean Ormston
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Once they were heroes, but the age of heroes has long since passed. Banished from existence by a multiversal crisis, the old champions of Spiral City--Abraham Slam, Golden Gail, Colonel Weird, Madame Dragonfly, and Barbalien--now lead simple lives in an idyllic, timeless farming village from which there is no escape! But as they employ all of their super abilities to free themselves from this strange purgatory, a mysterious stranger works to bring them back into action for one last adventure! Collects Black Hammer #1-#6. The first chapter in Jeff Lemire ( The Underwater Welder, The Complete Essex County, Animal Man ) and Dean Ormston's ( Lucifer ) acclaimed series!
Link: Black Hammer and Black Hammer Age of Doom!

Black Widow by Waid and Samnee
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Chris Samnee
Publisher: Marvel Comics
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Most Wanted! The Eisner Award-winning team of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee are taking Black Widow on the lam! Natasha has spent years gathering secrets, and when some of the darkest ones begin mysteriously going public, no one is safe. With her betrayed former confederates at S.H.I.E.L.D. on her heels and a lifetime of training and ingenuity at her disposal, Natasha's out for answers in a knock-down-drag-out tale of action and espionage! Hidden enemies, old friends and unusual allies collide, and all eyes are on Black Widow. The chase is on!
Link: Click Here!

Hawkeye by Fraction and Aja
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: David Aja
Publisher: Marvel Comics
The breakout star of this summer's blockbuster Avengers film, Clint Barton - aka the self-made hero Hawkeye - fights for justice! With ex-Young Avenger Kate Bishop by his side, he's out to prove himself as one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes! SHIELD recruits Clint to intercept a packet of incriminating evidence - before he becomes the most wanted man in the world.
Link: Click Here!

Locke and & Key
Writer: Joe Hill
Artist: Gabriel Rodriguez
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Acclaimed suspense novelist and New York Times best-selling author Joe Hill (Heart-Shaped Box) creates an all-new story of dark fantasy and wonder: Locke & Key. Written by Hill and featuring astounding artwork from Gabriel Rodriguez, Locke & Key tells of Keyhouse, an unlikely New England mansion, with fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them... and home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all...
Link: Click Here!

Pretty Deadly
Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Artist: Emma Rios
Publisher: Image Comics
KELLY SUE DECONNICK (Avengers Assemble, Captain Marvel) & EMMA RÍOS (Dr. Strange, Osborn) reunite to bring you an all-new ongoing series that marries the magical realism of Sandman with the western brutality of Preacher. Death's daughter rides the wind on a horse made of smoke and her face bears the skull marks of her father. Her tale of retribution is as beautifully lush as it is unflinchingly savage.
Link: Click Here!

Thanos
Writers: Jeff Lemire and Donny Cates
Artists: Mike Deodato, Jr., and Geoff Shaw
Publisher: Marvel Comics
EVIL HAS BEEN UNLEASHED ON THE UNIVERSE. Thanos, possibly the most evil individual in the Marvel Universe, is back…and he's out for vengeance on all who would oppose him. Unfortunately for the Mad Titan, he's also heading for an unexpected reckoning…with his family. Take an ongoing walk on the dark side of the galaxy, following the deadly trail of destruction left in the wake of…THANOS!
Link: Click Here!

The Vision
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Gabriel Hernandez-Walta
Publisher: Marvel Comics
The Vision wants to be human, and what's more human than family? He goes to the laboratory where he was created, where Ultron molded him into a weapon, where he first rebelled against his given destiny, where he first imagined that he could be more, that he could be good, that he could be a man, a normal, ordinary man. And he builds them. A wife, Virginia. Two teenage twins, Viv and Vin. They look like him. They have his powers. They share his grandest ambition or perhaps obsession: the unrelenting need to be ordinary. Behold The Visions! They're the family next door, and they have the power to kill us all. What could possibly go wrong
Link: Click Here!

Personal Favorites

Finally, this last section is filled with personal favorites of mine, all of which have several of their earliest volumes available via ComiXology Unlimited now.

Lazarus
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: Michael Lark
Publisher: Image Comics
In a dystopian near-future government is a quaint concept, resources are coveted, and posession is 100% of the law. A handful of Families rule, jealously guarding what they have and exploiting the Waste who struggle to survive in their domains. Forever Carlyle defends her family's holdings through deception and force as their protector, their Lazarus. Shot dead defending the family home, Forever's day goes downhill from there.
Link: Click Here!

Saga
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Fiona Staples
Publisher: Image Comics
Y: THE LAST MAN writer BRIAN K. VAUGHAN returns to comics with red-hot artist FIONA STAPLES for an all-new ONGOING SERIES! Star Wars-style action collides with Game of Thrones-esque drama in this original sci-fi/fantasy epic for mature readers, as new parents Marko and Alana risk everything to raise their child amidst a never-ending galactic war.
Link: Click Here!

The Walking Dead
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Charlie Adlard
Publisher: Image Comics
An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months, society has crumbled: There is no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. Rick Grimes finds himself one of the few survivors in this terrifying future. A couple months ago he was a small town cop who had never fired a shot and only ever saw one dead body. Separated from his family, he must now sort through all the death and confusion to try and find his wife and son. In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally begin living.
Link: Click Here!

The Wild Storm
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Jon Davis-Hunt
Publisher: DC Comics
A troubled woman, barred by her employer from continuing her research, walks miserably through New York City. It takes her a moment to notice that everybody else is looking up. A man has been thrown from the upper floor of the Halo skyscraper. And that woman-Angela Spica, sick from the transhuman implants she’s buried in her own body-is the only person who can save him. What she doesn’t know is that the act of saving that one man will tip over a vast and secret house of cards that encloses the entire world, if not the inner solar system. This is how the Wild Storm begins, and it may destroy covert power structures, secret space programs and even all of human history.
Link: Click Here!

Check out our Best Comics of 2020 Lists:

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.