September 25 is celebrated “National Comic Book Day,” honoring the American medium of comic books, born out of the Great Depression in the 1930s and continuing to this day as a special meld of art and writing that has spread all around the world.  

The day is celebrated in many teacher calendars and other publications as “National Comic Book Day,” different from its more famous cousin usually celebrated in May, Free Comic Book Day. But the original American medium is a great way to experience storytelling that engages the mind in multiple ways. While superheroes are often seen as the dominant genre, comics, like TV, movies, and novels, have stories of all different types.

For this year’s National Comic Book Day, I will recommend some comics I enjoy, which I’ve recently highlighted in some format on my Substack column. Feel free to check out the site and subscribe there if you like! 

Three comics recommendations for National Comic Book Day 2023: 

Action Comics Annual #2 (1989)

Part of the “Exile” storyline sees Superman battling warriors on Mongul’s Warworld. He advances in the tournament to face Draaga, Mongul’s top champion. A cleric with ties to Krypton’s past, wondering if this warrior could be a true Kryptonian, mind-melds with Superman during the battle, revealing to the reader details of Superman’s history. 

This issue features the first appearance of the Eradicator, who will go on to be a key player in the Superman mythos. There’s also a laundry list of talent featured in this issue, with George Perez, Jerry Ordway, and Roger Stern all credited as writers. Artists include Mike Mignola, Perez, Ordway, and Curt Swan.

No/One #1 (2023) 

A recent addition to Kyle Higgins’ Massive-verse, featuring a clandestine vigilante known as No/One, who releases evidence of crimes of high-powered people, and his conflict with the killer Richard Roe, who takes it upon himself to murder those same individuals. It’s a dark, layered mystery set in Pittsburgh. The superhero crime drama, which has an accompanying podcast, is written by Kyle Higgins and Brian Buccellato with art by Geraldo Borges, colors by Mark Englert, letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, and design by Michael Busuttil.

Uncanny X-Men #141-142 – “Days of Future Past” (1981)

Chris Claremont and John Byrne with inker Terry Austin are the creative team for this much-remembered storyline from 1981. “Days of Future Past” has been referenced and homaged a number of times as the X-Men try to stop a dystopic future from coming to pass. In the future, following the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly, mutants live in concentration camps, and the United States is under the heel of robotic, mutant-hunting Sentinels. Kate Pryde travels back in time, taking over the mind of her younger self to warn the X-Men of the danger.

Matthew Price, matthew@matthewLprice.com, has written about the comics industry for more than two decades. He is the co-owner of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman. Find more of his writing on Substack.