From the origins of Spiderman to those of feminist self-defense: this year's comics look back

By now, 2023 has barely shown its first cartoons.

There's a whole year's worth of pages left to fill.

Although many of the stories that will be drawn in the coming months are actually already known.

Because some of the most anticipated comics look back, to the past, memory and, sometimes, nostalgia.

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Alfonso Zapico already knows the way to what was.

The fourth volume of

will finally culminate his tetralogy on the mining revolution of 1934 in Asturias (Astiberri);

and Paco Roca has also demonstrated time and time again his mastery in rescuing other times.

In

he will focus on a post-war episode in Valencia, together with the journalist Rodrigo Terrasa (Astiberri, in the second half of the year).

Detail of a cartoon from 'Penss and the folds of the world', by Jérémie Moreau edited by Norma.

There are works that go back to the beginning of time, such as the delicate prehistoric tale

, by Jérémie Moreau (Norma, in January), or

, the new installment of the popularization mission in cartoons by the teacher and cartoonist Pedro Cifuentes (Graphite).

Others, on the other hand, only go back a few decades.

For example, until the seventies, following

(by Chico and Olivier Alfonso, Ponent Mon, in May) who fled their country to avoid participating in the dirty war against Angola.

Or they even intersect with the present, which is sometimes so difficult for those who were born between the mid-forties and the sixties to understand.

This is how

by Bartolomé Seguí (2009 National Comic Award) for February, and

, by Max, in April, both at Salamandra Graphic.

Several comics recover key figures such as the first female film director,

(Catel & Boquet, in Salamandra Graphic, for April);

the pioneer of feminist self-defense training Edith Garrud, in

(by Clément Xavier, Lisa Lugrin and Albertine Ralenti, Garbuix, in March), or the anarchist militiawoman

the new work by Cristina Durán and Miguel Á.

Giner (Astiberri).

And other publications embrace the past of the comic itself: classics such as

Calvin and Hobbes

will continue to return throughout the year

(Astiberri), Tex (Nuevo Nueve), the Mumin (Salamandra Graphic), the Warrior of the Mask (Dolmen) or

by Tito (Cascaborra).

And Víctor Santos turns another iconic story into a comic:

, by Ray Bradbury (Planeta Cómic, in February).

Detail of the cover of number 1 of 'The amazing Spiderman', by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, which is now recovered by the Marvel Library collection, edited by Panini.

Panini also looks behind him.

His greatest bet pays homage to the history of comics and, incidentally, to that of the main label that publishes: the Marvel Library collection has just begun to rescue the beginning of all the comic book series of the most famous superheroes, from Spiderman to Thor, from Hulk to Fantastic Four.

"Three 160-page softcover volumes with flaps, in color, in original size and with remastered materials will appear each month," reads a statement from Panini.

A perfect occasion to celebrate the 100 years that Stan Lee would now have, to enjoy his creations and to fuel the eternal debate about who contributed more to generating those characters, the writer or the cartoonists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.

The publisher's catalog for 2023 proposes another emotional memory: these days

one of the most applauded works that the artist Carlos Pacheco, who died last November, captured together with Kurt Busiek.

That same month, Aline Kominsky-Crub also disappeared.

Hence, the publication in February of

(Reservoir Books) becomes a posthumous recognition of all the work of one of the most outstanding authors of the

Detail of a page from 'Siberian Haiku', by the Lithuanian writer Jurga Vilé, who will be edited by Impedimenta.

The war to reign in the bookstores will also reflect another much bloodier one: the one that is fought in the trenches.

After

, present in almost all the lists of the best comics of 2022, Keum Suk Gendry-Kim draws in

the trauma of families separated by the Korean conflict and the division into two countries (Reservoir Books, in January);

Román López-Cabrera and Marina Armengol narrate in

the long and very strange dispute that pitted the town of Huéscar against the northern country (Cascaborra, in February).

And

by Jurga Vilé, recounts the arrival of the Soviet army in Lithuania during World War II, and the deportation of many citizens to Siberia (Impedimenta, in autumn).

Igort also focuses on Moscow's military actions and their current tragic consequences.

(Salamandra Graphic, in March) offers a graphic report on the drama of Ukraine, a country to which the Italian has already dedicated one of his most acclaimed works.

And his compatriot Zerocalcare also follows up the pinnacle graphic novel of his meteoric career: in

, he traveled to Kurdistan, to show the world a country crushed between ISIS, the Syrian regime, and the repression of Turkey.

does not change geographical area, but he does change focus: he draws the revolution of the Yazidis, a “massacred” ethnic minority in Eastern Kurdistan (Reservoir Books, March).

Detail of a cartoon from 'Diary of an invasion', by Igort, published by Salamandra Graphic.

More well-known returns:

, by the Chilean Catalina Bu, one of the most promising authors on the Latin American scene;

where Louka Butzback will have to confirm the talent shown in

;

and

, the work that Sammy Harkham has been working on for a decade (all at Fulgencio Pimentel, in January, August and April respectively);

Charles Burns launches the second installment of the

trilogy (Reservoir, March), Lorenzo Montatore releases

avería (ECC, in April), Isaac Sánchez is measured in

with the bar so high that he left his

(Dolmen), Santiago García and Luis Bustos deliver the fourth volume of

(Astiberri) and Víctor Coyote explore the lesser-known Madrid in

(Autsaider).

In addition, a premiere that is still a comeback is added: the Altamarea label launches its first comic in April,

by Davide Toffolo, already published in Spain a decade ago.

Junji Ito also returns, twice: while Netflix adapts several of his works into a series, ECC publishes

.

Of course, the Japanese master of horror is not the only manga proposal for 2023. On the contrary, the flood of titles is on its way to becoming a tsunami and dominating the market more and more.

Apart from the continuation of the most established series, Milky Way will fulfill two of the most repeated requests by its readers:

, by Shin'ichi Sakamoto, and

by Meguru Hinohara.

Detail of the cover of 'Easy Breezy', by Yi Yang, published in Spain by Nuevo Nueve.

The previous success also invites you to keep an eye on

, a peculiar and acclaimed

by Yi Yang (New Nine, in February),

, by Léa Murawiec, Grand Prix of the Public at the Angoulême Festival (Salamandra Graphic, same month), or

the fanciful journey of Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock (Sapristi, September).

And it is likely that

a documentary graphic novel by Anna Rakhmanko and Mikkel Sommer about a woman who chose to be a sex worker and dominatrix for a living, will attract readers for its controversial subject matter alone, pending the discovery, in June, of its artistic result. (Garbuix).

With these, and all the ones left out, 2023 will have comics to fill several years.

Or, at least, liven up a few hours of reading.

And that also matters.

As proof, the series

(ECC, since January).

It will review all the great enemies of the bat, based on the famous premise coined by Alan Moore in

: “One bad day is enough for the sanest man in the world to go mad”.

Anyone who is tempted to become the Joker or the Penguin should head to a bookstore: there will be plenty of comics to enhance any day of the year.

Detail of the cover of 'The Riddler', by Tom King and Mitch Gerads, the first installment of the 'Batman: A Bad Day' collection, edited by ECC.

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