Although comics get more props than they used to, but not as much as they deserve, I’m mentioning comics that I loved this year, even though most of them are a little older.

Princeless: Vol. 1: Save Yourself (2012) Jeremy Whitley and Mia Goodwin (10/10)

Princeless, Vol 2: Get Over Yourself (2014) Jeremy Whitley and Emily Martin (8/10)

Princeless Vol 3: The Pirate Princess  (2014) Jeremy Whitley, Rosy Higgins, Ted Brandt (8/10)

These are utterly delightful. The oldest group of small people in my life are just reaching the sweet spot for these comics (9-11), so I’m looking forward to this coming year’s birthday gifts.

Princess Adrienne Ashe is a tomboy and a twin and does NOT want to be locked in a tower to await rescue by a prince. So she decides the best thing to do is rescue herself and her sisters.

Princess Ugg Vol. 1 (2014) Ted Naifeh and Warren Wucinich (8/10)

Princess Ugg Volume 2 (2015) Ted Naifeh, Warren Wucinich (8/10)

This is a similar theme to Princeless, except for it’s for teens and older (there is partial nudity, but it’s not sexy–it’s just a body; and there is acknowledgement of boinking).

Ulga wants to save her people, and believes that the only way to do so is to learn how to deal with the “civilized” world, so she goes down to into the low lands to the Princess Academy, which does NOT teach what she was hoping or expecting to learn.

It’s pretty marvelous.

Mockingbird Vol. 1: I Can Explain (2016) Chelsea Cain, Kate Niemczyk, Ibrahim Moustafa, Joelle Jones (9/10)

Mockingbird Vol. 2: My Feminist Agenda (2017) Chelsea Cain, Kate Niemczyk, Sean Parsons, Rachelle Rosenberg (8/10)

This is confusing as all get out, and takes a couple of reads, but is still fabulous.

Bobbi Morse has changed from secret agent to superhero after being given experimental drugs to save her life. Vol 1 is how she deals with the changes. Vol 2 is how she deals with her ex-husband being accused of murder.

It’s extremely confusing, yet extremely wonderful.

Rivers of London Volume 3: Black Mould (2017) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan

Rivers of London: Vol. 4 Detective Stories (2017) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Luis Guerrero, Lee Sullivan (8/10)

The best thing about the Rivers of London comics is they let you see more about secondary characters. Body Work showed us how Peter came to start working with Guleed, and Black Mould has them working together more and lets us spend more time with her.

Detective Stories not only lets us see Peter taking his detective tests, but we get see more of Leslie May’s past and the differences between Leslie and Peter. (I keep hoping all this means Leslie is working undercover.)

Plus, I just found them fun stories.

Rat Queens Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery (2013) Kurtis Wiebe and Roc Upchurch (9/10)

THIS IS NOT FOR KIDS.

This has sex and drugs and drinking and fighting and is utterly delightful.

Vol 3 went completely off the rails, but I have hopes that the recent reboot will make it better,so we’ll have to wait and see.

But this first volume? Completely irreverent and utterly delightful.

The Books of 2017