10 Of The Hottest Comic Books That Aren’t Marvel Or DC

Published Sep 26, 2026, 6:00 PM EDT Emedo Ashibeze is a tenured journalist and critic specializing in the entertainment industry. Before joining ScreenRant in 2025. he wrote for several major publications, including GameRant. It's common knowledge that Marvel Comics and DC Comics rule the comic book space. Between them, the two publishers still control roughly 60% of the direct market as of 2026. However, the rise of scrappy independents and creator-owned imprints has made this duopoly less secure over the years in a nearly three-billion-dollar industry. Image Comics, in particular, has been chipping away at the Big Two's dominance. But it still has some distance to cover. Regardless, non-Marvel and DC comic books are just as rich in story, visual grandeur, and patronage. 10 NonPlayer Nonplayer may be the most legendary two-issue comic ever published, celebrated not for its longevity, but for the industry-altering vacuum left in its wake. In 2009, video game concept artist Nate Simpson, devoid of almost no comic book background, took a year off simply to teach himself the mechanics of sequential art. When he debuted the book through Image Comics in 2011, the industry response was instantaneous awe. The book’s staggering, painterly detail and meticulous worldbuilding earned praise from industry titans like Warren Ellis and Frank Quitely; legendary artist Jean "Moebius" Giraud famously snagged a preview copy just to read it early. The immediate heat was so intense that Warner Bros. snapped up the film rights in a massive Hollywood option deal just months after release. A four-year delay between issues turned Nonplayer into a cautionary tale of perfectionism, forcing Image Comics to require completed issues before solicitation. Simpson balanced hyper-detailed art with a demanding gaming career, yet the agonizing gap only deepened the comic's mystique. Today, it commands reverence, having cleared three separate printings to satisfy insatiable consumer demand. 9 Invincible Launched by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley via Image Comics in 2003, Invincible spent nearly a decade looking like a well-kept secret. The comic follows teenager Mark Grayson as he discovers his father Omni-Man’s superpowers. Published under Kirkman's Skybound imprint, the 144-issue masterpiece built a reputation as a brutal, emotionally honest deconstruction of the superhero genre. Then Amazon happened. The Prime Video animated adaptation, produced by Kirkman himself, introduced Mark’s world to millions of new viewers who had never touched the source material. Back-catalog sales and omnibuses surged onto bestseller lists, granting the book a rare second life. Invincible, now in its fourth season, has firmly established itself in pop culture. 8 BRZRKR In BRZRKR, an immortal warrior known as B takes center stage; he is an unstoppable fighter who has spent centuries searching for answers about his mysterious existence. His extraordinary healing abilities make him difficult to kill, but his immortality has left him exhausted and desperate to discover whether his condition can finally end. Created by Keanu Reeves (as John Wick’s replacement), Matt Kindt and Ron Garney, the series combines brutal action with a surprisingly emotional central character. Garney's artwork gives the violence an appropriately visceral quality, while B's centuries-long existence lets the story explore identity, mortality, and the psychological cost of endless life. Its cinematic storytelling makes every confrontation feel intensely personal. Since 2021, it’s only been up for BRZRKR. The first issue of the action-adventure comic sold over 615,000 copies and became the highest-selling original comic launch in nearly three decades, though it's still a long way from the best-selling comic books of all time. 7 Something Is Killing The Children Something Is Killing The Children opens with resounding grief: a town mourning children it can't explain losing. A stranger named Erica Slaughter rides in with a chainsaw sword and a claim that she can stop the phenomenon; not that anyone believes her. James Tynion IV and Werther Dell'Edera built that into something far bigger through BOOM! Studios. From that tragic start, Archer's Peak becomes ground zero for a mythology built on the Order of St. George, masked hunters who bind their minds to possessed plush toys just to see the monsters adults can't. The series borrows the dread of It and the reluctant-hero ache of Buffy, rendered in Dell'Edera's blood-slick linework and Miquel Muerto's sickly, unsettling colors. That narrative depth turned the indie title into an industry juggernaut. Eisner wins stacked up fast, trailing Harvey and Ringo nominations. Sales crossed a million copies worldwide with zero studio backing. Then the story outgrew its own town. House of Slaughter spun out of it and reportedly outsold nearly everything else on shelves in its launch year. 6 Radiant Black Radiant Black puts a fresh spin on the superhero formula. It follows Nathan Burnett, a struggling writer who's just turned 30 and then unexpectedly gains access to an extraordinary alien power. Instead of immediately becoming a traditional superhero, Nathan has to figure out what responsibility actually means when his own life is already falling apart. Kyle Higgins combines superhero action with relatable problems involving responsibility, money, careers, and adulthood, giving the series an unusually grounded foundation. Marcelo Costa's dynamic artwork makes the action sequences particularly impressive. At the same time, the expanding cast of characters and heroes gives the story room to grow beyond its initial premise and stay refreshing. 5 NewMen: Special NewMen: Special is a modern revival that draws from the classic Image Comics property created by Rob Liefeld, Eric Stephenson, and Jeff Matsuda. It functions as a distinct new entry rather than simply reprinting the original series and introduces a fresh take on alien-DNA outcasts whose abilities make them targets for people determined to eliminate or control them. NewMen: Special also serves as an accessible introduction to the “NewMen” universe for contemporary readers without requiring familiarity with the original comic. Its combination of superpowered characters, alien genetics, and action gives the revival its own identity while reconnecting readers with a property that has largely remained dormant. 4 Void Rivals Void Rivals follows Darak and Solila, two enemies from opposing sides in an extraterrestrial war who become stranded together when their ships crash on a barren planet. With survival at stake, their mutual distrust is tested as they are forced to work together. Their dangerous journey gradually reveals secrets about their worlds, making survival only part of the mystery. Written by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Lorenzo De Felici, the series combines space opera, action, and mystery while gradually expanding its mythology. It also became notable for its unexpected connection to the Transformers realm, helping to establish the wider Energon universe. Lately, Void Rivals has been hard to ignore for readers interested in ambitious sci-fi comics. 3 Monstress Monstress is set in a beautifully illustrated world inspired by Asian mythology and Art Deco aesthetics, creating a rich and distinctive fantasy setting. The story follows Maika Halfwolf, a young woman with a mysterious psychic connection to a monster. Her search for answers quickly becomes entangled in an enormous conflict involving humans, witches, and other supernatural beings. Marjorie Liu's complex storytelling and Sana Takeda's extraordinary artwork make Monstress stand apart from conventional fantasy comics. The series is dense with political intrigue, ancient history, and disturbing creatures, rewarding readers who are willing to invest in its expansive mythology. It is one of the most visually distinctive fantasy comics available outside the Big Two. 2 Saga Saga needs neither a shared universe nor a decades-old mythology to truly stand out. Courtesy of Image Comics, creators Brian K. Vaughan and artist Fiona Staples built something rarer in 2012: a 100% creator-owned space opera that opens mid-childbirth and never once apologizes for how strange, romantic, or unflinching it gets from there. Two soldiers from opposite sides of an endless galactic war, Alana and Marko, fall in love and go on the run to protect their newborn daughter, Hazel, who narrates the whole saga from a vantage point readers don't fully understand until much later. It's part fairy tale, part war story, part domestic drama, wrapped in Staples' lush, alien artwork. Readers and critics responded in kind. Saga swept three Eisner Awards in its debut year, including Best Writer, then won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story, a prize rarely handed to a monthly comic. Commercially, it also outpaces plenty of franchise books. Saga has sold roughly seven million copies across formats and been translated into twenty languages, regularly outselling Marvel and DC's own flagship trades. 1 The Department of Truth What if every conspiracy theory could become real simply because enough people believed it to be true? That’s the unsettling premise behind The Department of Truth, a brilliant psychological horror offering from James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds. The story follows a secret government organisation that protects reality from dangerous beliefs, conspiracies, and misinformation. The Department of Truth turns familiar conspiracy theories into genuinely frightening threats while also constantly questioning what is real and what isn't. Simmond's distinctive artwork makes the reading experience even more disorienting, giving the series a surreal quality that perfectly complements its paranoid story. It is an excellent choice for readers who enjoy horror with a cerebral twist.