In recent years, comics have gone from being a marginal form of entertainment to establishing themselves as one of the regular reading material for a growing segment of the population In Spain. According to the most recent data on cultural habits, the percentage of people who read graphic novel It has increased strongly since the early 2000s, leaving behind many prejudices and labels linked to children's comics.
This quantitative leap has been accompanied by institutional recognition: the Ministry of Culture has incorporated the term comic into the General Directorate of Books and has established the March 17th as Comic Book and Graphic Novel DayThe fourth edition of this event comes with exhibitions, talks and activities spread throughout the country and, as expected, with an avalanche of new releases and reissues in graphic novel format that invite you to celebrate the date by reading.
Comic Book Day: a reading map that keeps growing
When Spaniards were asked what they read in the 2002-2003 survey, barely a 1,5% mentioned comics or graphic novelsTwo decades later, that figure has multiplied to reach around 12% of the reading population, according to data from 2024-2025. The progress is not only noticeable in sales figures, but also in the presence of comics in libraries, reading clubs and cultural programs.
The official declaration of Comic Book Day has served to highlight this change in status: the ninth art has gone from newsstands and specialized stores to occupy a stable place in the generalist publishing sectorEvery year, March 17th becomes the perfect excuse for bookstores, libraries, and cultural centers to prepare special activities, reading marathons, meetings with authors, and exhibitions.
Meanwhile, the calendar of trade shows and festivals has become increasingly packed. Coinciding with these dates, the following event takes place: Graf in Barcelona, focused on auteur comics and independent publishing, while at the end of March the agenda shifts to the Madrid Comic Book Fair, where major publishers, self-publishing and specialized talks coexist.
In that context, various public institutions have begun to put together specific reading selections for these dates, with special attention to the contemporary European and Spanish graphic novel already calls like the comic and graphic novel competitionThe National Library and numerous regional library networks already work with thematic lists that combine history, memory, gender perspective, visual essay or horror.
History and memory in comic strips
One of the major trends running through contemporary graphic novels in Europe is the rereading recent history and traumatic episodes of the 20th and 21st centuries. Through personal accounts, documentary approaches, or fictions closely tied to reality, several recent works demonstrate how comics have become a tool for memory.
Among the most compelling proposals is The eternal disturbanceby Joe Sacco (Reservoir Books). The journalist and cartoonist returns to his immersive photojournalism style, traveling to Uttar Pradesh, India, to reconstruct an episode of political violence between Hindu and Muslim communities. Through interviews with peasant women, local leaders, activists, and journalists, Sacco crafts a chronicle that exposes the manipulation of information, accumulated hatred, and the power of rumor in conflict situations.
The work fits into the trajectory of the author of already classic titles on Palestine, the Balkans or IraqAnd it once again demonstrates the power of comics to explain complex conflicts without sacrificing journalistic rigor. The detailed artwork and wealth of personal accounts make the book essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how community tensions are constructed and exploited.
Along the same lines of memory and denunciation is The Devil's Diaryby Park Kun-Woong (Tengu). The Korean author returns to his recurring theme, the history of his country, to give voice to those who suffered some of its most atrocious episodes. The use of a child narrator, a seemingly innocent “demon child,” creates a stark contrast between the simplicity of the drawing and the harshness of the narration, reinforcing the idea that war and violence seep even into the most innocent eyes.
In contrast to these more explicit approaches to the conflict, other projects choose different paths. The French volume Two naked women, of Light, build a route through a century of European history Following the story of a painting by Otto Mueller, painted in 1919, the graphic novel accompanies the artwork through the rise of Nazism, the plundering of Jewish families, the persecution of modern art, and its arrival in a contemporary German museum. The canvas acts as a silent observer, connecting political violence, the art market, and cultural memory.
Also from Europe and with a memorial vocation, the comic book adaptation of The Name of the Rose, with the second volume signed by Milo Manara and published by Lumen. This installment concludes the graphic novel adaptation of Umberto Eco's classic, focusing on William of Baskerville's investigation in the medieval abbey and, above all, on the power of the library as a space where dangerous knowledge is kept. Manara combines three distinct graphic styles to differentiate atmospheres: a realistic style for historical intrigue, a more subtle style for scenes of sensuality, and a language inspired by medieval miniatures for books and monastic decoration.
And outside the strictly European framework, but with a strong presence in the Spanish market, the work of the Japanese Susumu Higa, Okinawa, the wind speaks, has established itself as one of the great anti-war graphic novels Available in our bookstores. Based on real episodes from the Battle of Okinawa, the author reconstructs the experience of the civilian population under the crossfire of two armies, taking the phrase transmitted by his mother —“war is dirty”— as the central theme of the entire book.
Female voices and new feminisms in the graphic novel
Another major trend in current comics in Spain and Europe is the growing prominence of female authors and stories focused on female experiences, dissident identities, and the questioning of traditional gender models. The variety of works ranges from intimate essays to fantasy fiction, including social commentary.
One of the most talked about titles is You know it, even though I haven't told you.by Candela Serra (Astiberri Ediciones), recent winner of the National Comic Award. Through meticulous visual artistry, Serra explores communication breakdowns in affective relationshipsfamily and work life. The author uses resources typical of the medium—continuity errors in the characters, disappearances behind speech bubbles focused on the self, very calculated color palettes—to talk about narcissism, fear of commitment and the effect of social networks on everyday life.
The book's structure focuses on how conflict is managed (or avoided), and on the fragility of relationships in an environment marked by self-image and overexposure. Critics have highlighted the way the comic combines humor, biting wit, and a acidic but recognizable toneturning very current situations into scenes that are familiar to any reader.
From Austria but published in Spain, Ulli Lust proposes in Woman as humanity. At the beginning of history (Garbuix Books) a non-fiction graphic novel that revisits the origins of humanity, placing women at the center of the narrative. The author blends childhood memories, her education at a convent boarding school, and research on the representation of femininity in prehistory to question to what extent have women been erased from power narratives.
Closer to costumbrismo, but equally marked by the gender perspective, is the graphic novel As long as it's summerby Marina Velasco Marta (Salamandra Graphic). In it, Berta, a young woman who arrives in a fictional town to work as a camp counselor, discovers other ways of life and a network of older women who pass on knowledge linked to popular culture. The work reads like a story of learning and reconciliation with oneself, in which intergenerational friendship is as important as the rural landscape.
In the field of autobiographical essays and the exploration of queer identities, Alison bechdel come back with Consumed (Reservoir Books). The author of Fun home She constructs a kind of autofictional comedy around a community of older women, polyamorous relationships, queer debates, and generational clashes. With her characteristic blend of irony and analysis, Bechdel turns her personal obsessions into a period portrait which engages with the rise of discourses on woke culture, political correctness, and new family structures.
On the other hand, the comic Lorca (Planeta Cómic), with a script by Salva Rubio and illustrations by María Badía, reinterprets the universe of Federico García Lorca from a distinctly feminine perspective. The work unites the protagonists of Bodas de sangre, yerma y La casa de Bernarda Albatransforming them into a the only character who goes through youth, maturity, and old ageThe almost total fidelity to the original texts demonstrates the enduring relevance of Lorca's language, while the graphic novel format allows for an emphasis on the cycles of oppression, rebellion, and desire for freedom of women in rural environments.
Intimacy, grief, and mental health in graphic form
The rise of the graphic novel has made it easier for topics traditionally considered private, such as grief, insomnia, or life crises, to find new visual languages to be toldThe result is works that move between autofiction and generational testimony, without losing formal ambition.
En Pinkby Alfonso Casas (Random), the author addresses his deceased mother directly to reconstruct the grieving process. Halfway between an illustrated letter and an intimate memoir, the book suggests that the death of a mother is something one knows will come, but for which one is never truly prepared. Casas employs a style that combines tenderness and starkness, without melodrama, underscoring the everyday nature of pain and the way in which absence settles into every gesture.
In a different register, but also very much focused on contemporary unease, Ana Penyas company On watch (Salamandra Graphic). The author, winner of the 2018 National Comic Award, transforms insomnia into a prism through which to observe the job insecurity, urban loneliness, and drug dependenceOver six nights and a day, Penyas follows several characters struggling with insomnia, navigating screens, impossible schedules, and anxiety. What could be a strictly personal problem is revealed as a social symptom that the comic examines with a collective perspective.
The Venezuelan woman living in Spain Natalia Velarde It premieres in the long format with Burnt gums (Reservoir Books), a poetic and visceral work about grief, creation, and existential doubt. Drawing on influences ranging from Lewis Carroll to Taniguchi, Velarde traces a physical and emotional journey starring a creature with the body of a dog and the head of a human, which acts as a stand-in for the author herself and as a vehicle for exploration loss, memory, and the search for meaning.
Introspection takes different forms in Brumaby Martín López Lam (Edges). The first pages of the book are made up only of blurred colors and shapes, marking from the outset that we are dealing with an experimental work. From there, the story of three children trying to survive in a devastated world is told with Very few words and a powerful visual displaywhere the atmosphere and formal resources are as important as the plot.
Within this same orbit of comics that play with perception and the everyday lies a debut work that sets the action in an anonymous city on March 22nd, where various characters begin the day preoccupied with work problems, family losses, or caregiving responsibilities, while, in the background, The threat of a series of bombs is growing.Each chapter corresponds to a specific hour, highlighting how the feeling of normality can coexist with the advance of a possible global catastrophe that almost no one manages to see coming.
Horror, dystopias and worlds on the edge
Comic Book Day is also a great opportunity to explore graphic novels that delve into Darker territories: terror, political dystopias, and scenarios on the brink of collapseThe genre, far from being limited to cheap scares, has become a laboratory for talking about collective fears.
Among the new features is one A horror graphic novel set in a luxury hotel in Northern EuropeA spa and convention center are slowly deteriorating due to the appearance of a black, viscous liquid that seeps through hallways and walls. The humidity, mold, and stifling temperature lead to illness, hallucinations, and the presence of supernatural entities, while guests and employees try to maintain their routines.
The story unfolds through mysterious disappearances, workers who lose all sense of direction within the resort, couples trying to escape their own lives, and executives facing the collapse of the business. The hotel transforms into a space dominated by... hybrid creatures, ghosts, and evil spiritswhere the building's material problems are mixed with the guilt, fear, and frustration of its inhabitants.
In a more political, but equally unsettling, vein, lies Plateauby Luis Bustos (Astiberri). Three strangers share a car on a prohibited route between Barcelona and Madrid, within a country under a permanent state of alert. As they travel along a network of secondary roads, they begin to encounter sinister-looking premises, strange rituals, and manifestations of authoritarian power that hides behind an apparent normality. Bustos, a specialist in political thrillers with a two-tone aesthetic, constructs a recognizable dystopia where fear seeps through every crossroads.
The trilogy The Mole's Childrenby Alejandro JodorowskyReissued in a single volume by Reservoir Books, this novel brings symbolic terror and mystical delirium to the Western genre. Conceived as a sequel to the classic film The topThe work follows the story of Cain and Abel, the sons of the legendary gunman who became an almost sacred figure. Amid duels, visions, and desert landscapes, Jodorowsky unfolds his usual themes: initiation rituals, mysticism, eroticism and psychedeliausing Western iconography to talk about violence, redemption, and spiritual seeking.
In a different vein, but with a similarly unsettling undertone, the debut film, set in an unnamed city where the possibility of war looms, explores how individualism and hyperconnectivity can blind an entire society. Screens, information overload, and emotional isolation appear as defense mechanisms to avoid facing fearuntil the threat ceases to be abstract.
Superheroes, satire, and pop culture
Beyond independent and auteur comics, Comic Book Day also brings with it reinterpretations of great popular mythologiesFrom superheroes to iconic film sagas, as well as biographies that use humor as a weapon against power.
In the realm of classic superheroes, the reissue of Starmanby James Robinson and Tony Harris (Panini) reprints one of the most celebrated eras of superhero comics from the 1990s. The writer decides to begin by killing off the original hero to focus on a legacy story, in which the fictional city is not only a setting but also character with their own memoryTime jumps, references to the history of the genre, and dialogues with other titles from the publisher coexist in a volume that examines what it means to put on a flashy costume to fight villains.
More closely aligned with current debates is Absolute Wonder WomanThe first installment of a new era for the heroine, written by Kelly Thompson and illustrated by Hayden Sherman (Panini). Capitalizing on the momentum of fourth wave feminismThe series redefines the figure of Diana from an openly feminist perspective, surrounding her with goddesses, sorceresses, and Amazons. Witchcraft, traditionally portrayed as villainous in its universe, is here reclaimed as a heroic and emancipatory force.
If we're talking about pop culture, the graphic novel The Wars of Luke 1 and 2by Laurent Hopman and Renaud Roche (Norma), offers a different perspective on the creation of the original trilogy of Star WarsHalfway between making-of And intimate drama, the book reconstructs the filming, the tensions with the studios, and the personal impact that success had on George Lucas. Within its pages there is room for both anecdotes from filming and clashing egos as for reflections on the price that can be paid for a work that has become a global phenomenon.
In a very different vein, the comic Peppino Impastato. Satire against the mafiaby Marco Rizzo and Lelio Bonaccorso (Liana) delves into the life of the Sicilian activist murdered by the Cosa Nostra in 1978. Impastato used a humorous radio program to ridicule local bosses and denounce their links to politics. The album combines the luminosity of the Mediterranean landscape with the darkness of the mafia networkhighlighting how laughter can become a dangerous weapon for those who benefit from silence.
And for those who enjoy meta-games and reflections on their own artistic creation, Brunilda in La Plataby Genís Rigol (Apa Apa), proposes a seemingly simple date between two characters as an excuse to unfold a a storm of visual resources, creative doubts, and absurd humorTheater and life, fame and failure, blank page and obsession are mixed in a long debut that confirms the ability of comics to question itself.
Everyday spaces, work and tenderness in graphic form
Not all graphic novels for this Comic Book Day focus on the epic or the traumatic. A significant portion of the recommendations involve... works that calmly explore the everydaywhether from a kind of fantasy or from a critical observation of the working world.
An example of this is The concierge at the department storeby Tsuchika Nishimura (Salamandra). The protagonist, Akino, begins working in a very peculiar department store: its clientele consists of anthropomorphic animals—serious elephants, elegant deer, alligators engrossed in their phones—who make extravagant requests. With a calm tone and delicate artwork, Nishimura creates a refuge where The desire to learn and improve is admired rather than ridiculed., and where attention to the other becomes the central focus of the story.
In a more urban and gritty style, Iñaki Domínguez and Marina Cochet sign Intersecting pimps (Astiberri), a journey through the underworld of Madrid since the 1960s. Domínguez, a journalist and anthropologist, draws on his experience investigating the city's wild side to narrate fights, petty dealings, and minor tragedies on the fringes of society. Cochet's artwork provides the necessary pulse for the result to be a A vibrant portrait of a Madrid untouched by postcard tourismwhere violence and dark humor go hand in hand.
Stories of work and care also emerge in other titles mentioned: the masseuse searching for her place in the luxurious hotel dominated by mold and strange presences; the people trying to hold onto their jobs, even without sleep, in On watch; or the protagonists of the collective narrative of March 22, busy with work-related matters while a threat that they can barely understand descends upon them.
In all these cases, the graphic novel moves away from the trope of the lone hero to focus on ordinary, precarious, tired or simply disoriented characters who try to maintain a certain dignity in a context that doesn't always make it easy for them.
Poetry, eroticism, and visual experimentation
Among the recommendations linked to Comic Book Day, there is also room for works that play on the margins of the medium, mixing poetry, eroticism, and formal experimentation. These are titles that take advantage of the flexibility of the graphic novel to crossing boundaries between artistic genres.
En The Venus of the Heelsby Luis Alberto de Cuenca and Laura Pérez Vernetti (Visor), written poetry is transformed into graphic poetry. The book brings together 23 poems that celebrate classical myths and scenes of everyday desire, translated into a sequence of black and white vignettes where heels, garters, corsets, and gloves become symbols of an eroticism that is both suggestive and theatrical. The adaptation is not limited to illustration, but rather reinterprets the verses using the language of comicsadjusting them to the rhythm of the captions and the movement of the body on the page.
Along with proposals like this one or the one already mentioned BrumaExploring the limits of visual storytelling with almost abstract pages, the current landscape of the graphic novel demonstrates that the ninth art can engage in dialogue with poetry, performance, or contemporary art without losing legibility.
Even in more popular genres, such as Jodorowsky's mystical westerns or biographies of artists and film directors, one can appreciate a desire to experiment with structure, color, and composition to go beyond simply illustrating a text.
This mosaic of titles confirms that, today, the graphic novel has become one of the most versatile formats for storytelling in Spain and Europe: from war chronicles to family comedies, from literary adaptations to generational portraits, encompassing both visceral horror and profound introspection. Celebrating Comic Book Day by reading any of these works means exploring a medium that It combines memory, experimentation, and the pleasure of reading.and has earned a stable place on the bookshelves of readers of all ages.