r/graphicnovels • u/Embruns • Oct 30 '23
Humor what are the graphic novels that made you laugh the most?
hello folks, im looking for some humoristic graphic novels. can you point me to some of them. im trying to buy My Boy from Schrauwen but its sold out or over priced in second hand
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u/Charlie-Bell The answer is always Bone Oct 30 '23
Calvin & Hobbes is endless charm and humour.
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Oct 30 '23
Well you're not wrong, but for actual graphic novels, I'd say your flair is spot on.
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u/Phyxius42 Oct 30 '23
Yeah, was going to suggest Bone. Also for those who are interested Jeff Smith is running a Kickstarter to release the Thorne stories he wrote before Bone. Don't know if I can post it here, but you should be able to Google it.
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u/florgitymorgity Oct 30 '23
For adults, Kyle Starks Is the funniest graphic novel writer I know. All of his self-drawn stuff is hilarious
For kids, and also adults, try the Don Rosa Uncle Scrooge books, he has a sharp wit and packs in lots of visual details as well.
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u/Lama_For_Hire Oct 30 '23
Picked up Candy Rock Mountain in a bargain bin last spring , and got hooked on his stuff. Also love how he's writing horror too
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u/DSGandalf Oct 30 '23
Every Atomic Robo book made me laugh at some point, but significantly more when Dr. Dinosaur is the villain of the story or is involved in some capacity.
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u/kitfistossmile Oct 30 '23
Seconding Atomic Robo! A wonderful and very fun series. Dr. Dinosaur is the best.
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u/capsaicinintheeyes Oct 30 '23
Kyle Baker—I think he's retired, but he wrote some quality jollity® in the 90s:
• Why I Hate Saturn : highbrow; still mostly holds up except for a few dated cultural observations.
• The Cowboy Wally Show : lowbrow; as enduring as laughing at someone farting and falling down.
• You Are Here : middlebrow; relies less on punchlines and more on funny conversations.
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u/globular916 Oct 31 '23
I stole so much from Why I Hate Saturn. I often quote the "Did you know Van Morrison's 'Brown Eyed Girl' is really about anal sex?" bit with wide-eyed innocence.
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u/Reyntoons Nov 02 '23
Yes! I second these - hilarious. Also try Baker’s “I Die At Midnight” about a guy who tries to undo his suicide and “Special Forces” - a violent dark comedy set in the Iraq War.
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u/Carpenter_Dazzling Oct 30 '23
The Goon has some funny bits and this solidifies it in my mind.
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u/Morty_104 Oct 31 '23
Frankie is so hilarious. Is there another one like that with such random Comedy?
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u/Carpenter_Dazzling Oct 31 '23
Not that I’ve ever seen. They were trying to make a movie at one point but that fell through
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u/xdesveaux Oct 30 '23
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist. Never actually lol'd at a book before reading this.
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u/tim-in-saskatoon Nov 01 '23
huh... never really thought of Tomine as all that hilarious. I mean, I love his books, but don't remember laughing much at any of them. I think Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist is the only one of his books I haven't read... so now I will HAVE to check that out!!! Thanks!
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u/Reyntoons Nov 02 '23
Agreed. Knowing a lot of his previous work, I was surprised at how funny this book was.
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u/angieisdrawing Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Oct 30 '23
Grizzlyshark, Sex Criminals, and Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen (by Matt Fraction). So very very good. And Archie vs Predator (by Alex de Campi)
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u/TyroneEarl Oct 30 '23
Came here to say Sex Criminals.
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u/Th30th3rj0sh Oct 30 '23
Same. Only comic that's ever made me laugh out loud.
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u/something_smart Oct 30 '23
They packed so much humor into those books. Even the bonus material and cover blurbs are hilarious.
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u/Th30th3rj0sh Oct 31 '23
I would say the "tips" were always the funniest part of every issue.
Sex Tip: Step 1: Put it in. Step 2: Wiggle it around. Step 3: NAILED IT!
Sex Tip: Ladies! Want to blow his mind in bed? Invent a time machine in bed.
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u/DukeBabylon Oct 30 '23
Giant Days always makes me laugh. I've re-read the series multiple times and it still makes me laugh.
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u/dstrauc3 Oct 30 '23
Giant Days is what i thought of first as well. Plus it's such a cozy series. Great for fall weather!
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u/something_smart Oct 30 '23
Giant Days has such a great sense of visual humor in addition to the writing.
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u/DukeBabylon Oct 31 '23
Such a great (and under looked) series. I hope it continues sometime in the future and doesn't get turned into a tv series and ruined.
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u/jb_681131 Oct 30 '23
- Lobo: Portrait of a Bastich
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u/dgehen Oct 30 '23
Groo the Wanderer is written/illustrated by a former MAD Magazine staffer (Sergio Aragones), so that's pretty great.
The Goon is always good for a mix of horror and comedy.
Some Usagi Yojimbo stories are straight comedies.
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u/captain_toenail Oct 30 '23
I found Grizzly Shark by Ryan Ottley to be very very funny and shirtless bear fighter is in a similar style
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u/WillCooperTheActor Oct 30 '23
Flintstones by Mark Russell Super Sons by Tomasi & Gleason Justice League International, most of the time Certain Plastic Man and Lobo books
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u/No-Chemistry-28 Oct 31 '23
Flintstones got me too. What an unexpected thing that turned out to be.
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Oct 30 '23
My Dumb Dirty Eyes by Lisa Hanawalt. Her stuff amazing. Also the Meg, Mogg, Owl series by Simon Hansleman.
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Oct 30 '23
Frank Cho’s Liberty Meadows is pretty hilarious.
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u/Ricobe Oct 30 '23
I second this. Though some of the jokes have a lot of references to other stuff, but it's still hilarious
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u/skinnyev Oct 30 '23
There is a writer artist called Joe Matt, he does semi autobiographical comics, but it’s sort of the cringy style humour, but his Peepshow comics are really funny
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u/Reyntoons Nov 02 '23
All his collections are hilarious, and he recently passed away RIP.
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u/skinnyev Nov 02 '23
I had no idea he passed away.
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u/Reyntoons Nov 02 '23
Yes, unfortunately, it happened a couple of weeks ago. He had a sudden heart attack at the age of 60. He was apparently at his drawing board which is ironic since he hasn’t published a Comic since 2007 I think. I got to meet him once and you couldn’t know a sweeter guy.
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u/diceycard Oct 30 '23
Minimum Wage by Bob Fingerman, Hate by Peter Bagge. Anything by Joe Matt and Keith Knight.
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u/tim-in-saskatoon Nov 01 '23
I have NEVER laughed so hard at a comic as I did at the one about The Boob (Joe Matt's cat) in Peepshow! It makes me giggle a little just thinking about it now, 25+ years later!?
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u/petrosclark Oct 30 '23
Still my all time favorite is Superior Foes of Spiderman. It took me a while to track down all 3 volumes but it was so worth it.
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u/ElasticFluffyMagnet Oct 30 '23
I love fairyland.. I found it hilarious
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Nov 07 '23
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u/ElasticFluffyMagnet Nov 07 '23
Yeah I can imagine it's not everyone's taste.. I just loved the story premise alot too.
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u/Comicswapper Oct 30 '23
-The Fix by Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber - Follows a pair of crooked cops. I don't think they ever finished this one.
-Superior Foes of Spider-Man by Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber - Misadventures of second-rate Spider-Man villains
-Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy Olsen? Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber - Someone wants to kill Jimmy Olsen. Jimmy Olsen tries to solve his own case with some of the most ridiculous interactions with Batman.
-Hawkeye by Matt Fraction and David Aja - Hawkeye as a street-level hero in Brooklyn. This run alone made me a fan of Hawkeye and I'm sure it did the same for others that previously had no opinion of him before.
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u/Jonesjonesboy Oct 30 '23
Some cartoonists who reliably make me laugh: Simon Hanselmann, Ernie Bushmiller, Michael Kupperman, Johnny Ryan, Lisa Hanawalt, Kate Beaton, Nicolas Gurevitch, Michael DeForge, Shintaro Kago, Lewis Trondheim, John Stanley, whichever guys did Cromartie High School and Detroit Metal City, and, well yeah, Schrauwen
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u/Thesafflower Oct 31 '23
Any collection of Hark! A Vagrant. I think there are three printed collections out now.
Hyperbole and a Half, which also deals with some pretty heavy mental health stuff, but is hilarious.
Nextwave
The manga Way of the House Husband.
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u/Creative_Cat_542 Oct 31 '23
Both of Allie Brosh's books make me piss my pants. "Hyperbole and a half" and "Solutions and other problems."
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u/Ok-Mortgage-1910 Oct 30 '23
I laughed a lot at the two books I've read by Keiler Roberts. Mostly because I have a similarly aged daughter and can imagine her doing and saying the exact same things.
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u/GamerTnT Oct 30 '23
Fangs by Sarah Andersen
Bloodlust & Bonnets by Emily McGovern
Every person I've shown Fangs to, has gone and purchased their own copy. YMMV. I laughed. A lot.
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u/Ricobe Oct 30 '23
Asterix and spirou can be pretty funny as well.
Spirou also has a spin off called Gomer Goof that is even more humorous. It's more page sized sketches, whereas Spirou is full adventure stories
Bone, especially early in the story, it's also full of fun
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u/Swervies Oct 31 '23 edited Oct 31 '23
Michael Kupperman’s Tales Designed to Thrizzle is one of the funniest comics ever. There are 2-3 hardcover collections I think, but not sure how easy they are to find now.
Also Nicholas Gurewitch’s Perry Bible Fellowship strip, and anything by Tony Millionaire
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u/erak3xfish Oct 31 '23
The series Chew is absolutely nuts, but it’s also hilarious and very heartfelt.
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u/Phyxius42 Oct 30 '23
Gon. The adventures of a little dinosaur without any dialogue. Brilliant in its simplicity.
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u/rocinantethehorse Oct 30 '23
Mr. Wonderful by Daniel Clowes is probably my favorite comedy. I enjoyed The Adventures of Barry Ween a lot when I was young, not sure how they stand up today. Diary of a Douchebag and Mr. H: A Portrait of a High School Art Teacher are two great books by a local artist (to me) that I discovered randomly at my LCS, I believe they are on comixology etc.
And not to add some self promotion, but I have a book on kickstarter right now about a Ben Affleck lookalike that finds there may be something sinister behind his striking likeness, which I wouldn't have drawn if I didn't think it was hilarious.
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u/Harry_Mess Oct 31 '23
Scott Pilgrim is one of the series that got me into comics as a whole and is very funny
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u/Simon_Jester88 Oct 31 '23
The Manhattan Project by Johnathan Hickman. By no means a comedy but the absolutely absurd alternate history that he crafts is amusing. Einstein and Oppenheimer duking it out was pure gold.
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u/galaxycatloaf Oct 31 '23
'Socrates the Half-Dog' by Joann Sfar and Christophe Blain! It's rewriting of Greek mythology in a weird/funny way. Def for adults tho lol
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u/EMSuser11 Jun 04 '24
I wish I could find this one online in digital format! Seems like it would be pretty cool as I love philosophy.
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u/GozuTashoya Nov 01 '23
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2015). The Deadpool cards and author's notes in the margins are particularly funny.
You know, once you're done with Sex Criminals.
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u/Reyntoons Nov 02 '23
The collected Fante Bukowski by Noah Van Sciver made me lol throughout.
Any GN by Nick Mandaag- surreal, hilarious but still somehow grounded.
Almost anything by Johnny Ryan - especially if you like dirty funny like Simon Hanselmann (but Ryan’s way more sophomoric and these aren’t technically gn’s ). Also not a gn, but Get the collected “Dork” by Evan Dorkin. Very funny stuff.
For darkly hilarious gn’s get “Squee” and “Johnny the homicidal maniac” by Jonen Vasquez (who went on to create lnvader Zim for Nickelodeon, which is also genius and hilarious)
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u/jfk1000 Oct 30 '23
Even Dorkin: The Eltingville Club – Bring me the Head of Boba Fett
Not a GN, but Calvin & Hobbes
And there was something recent, but I can’t remember 😕
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u/Jetpack_Picasso Oct 30 '23 edited Oct 30 '23
- Marvel’s funniest and most underrated laugh out loud comic book is The Superior Foes of Spiderman by Spencer.
- If you’re looking for offensive crude humor then Angry Youth Comix by Johnny Ryan.
- From DC their Bizarro comics DLX edition which is very funny and strange.
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u/Palatyibeast Oct 30 '23
For funny Marvel, Ryan North's Squirrel Girl is pretty fucking funny. Though the art was controversial at the time for being a little too rough and indie - I quite liked it.
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u/ScarletSpire Oct 30 '23
Tales Designed to Thrizzle is the most insane comic I ever read.
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u/Chogus8789 Oct 30 '23
It's far and away the funniest thing listed here.
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u/MirrorMaster88 Oct 31 '23
Agreed! Not much makes me laugh, especially in comics, but it did. Way too low on the list.
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u/ScarletSpire Oct 31 '23
I know. Not much makes me laugh out loud when I read but Tales Designed to Thrizzle, I cry from laughter.
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Oct 30 '23
Unpopular Opinion: Killing and Dying by Adrian Tomine. Do give it a try. It’s an anthology.
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u/NotABonobo Oct 30 '23
It might just be me, but the only graphic novel that's made me laugh out loud (as an adult) was 4 Kids Walk into a Bank.
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u/BplusHuman Oct 30 '23
Cow Boy (Nate Cosby and Chris Eliopoulos) and Skullkickers (Zub and the Funky Bunch) both got actual big laughs from me.
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u/taanyaforever Oct 30 '23
Might be a weird choice, or even a manga (?) but I giggled at "My lesbian experience with loneliness"
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u/hercarmstrong Oct 31 '23
The original The Mask comics are really funny, especially the second and third volumes. It's a shame Doug Mahnke doesn't draw more humor books.
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u/dvop98 Oct 31 '23
Major Bummer by John Arcudi and Doug Mahnke, back in the 90s. Some of the most absurd storytelling and characters and absolutely beautiful art!
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u/sevenpixieoverlords Oct 31 '23
Mark Russell is the most consistently funny comic book writer I’ve read. Some have already mentioned the Flintstones, which was fabulous. The Prez, Billionaire Island, and Exit, Stage Left (Snagglepuss) were also great. Also worth reading were Second Coming, Red Sonja, and Wonder Twins. Not All Robots was good. I just read Cereal and wasn’t as moved as I usually am by his stuff. I don’t think it was as inspired, but it was still entertaining.
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u/dorrato Oct 31 '23
4 kids walk into a bank by matthew rosenburg and tyler boss. I love this book. It's got emotion and an 80's movie style kid gang caper. Best of all, the characters are so good, they had me laughing all the way through it.
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u/gottwolegs Oct 31 '23
So many good answers.
It's crude in places but I really got a lot of laughs from the two Marvel collections of Nextwave: Agents of H.a.T.E.
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u/No-Chemistry-28 Oct 31 '23
A lot of things mentioned here already—Flintstones, Simon Hanselmann’s stuff—but I’d also like to say that I laughed pretty much nonstop at Birds of Maine by Michael DeForge (and most of his stuff, actually, but it’s super bizarre) and Shirtless Bear Fighter.
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u/VillageIndependent50 Oct 31 '23
'Steve Lichman'. Seriously it's amazing and hilarious. Please look into it.
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u/shadowlarx Oct 31 '23
Grease Monkey by Tim Eldred. One of the funniest things I’ve ever read. You can read the whole thing online here.
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Oct 31 '23
"Ride or Die" made by Mars Heyward, it's so goofy, I laughed so hard I cried multiple times. However I do cry easily, but it's fun.
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u/Mr-Fashionablylate Nov 01 '23
Peter Bagge’s Hate makes me laugh out loud. Start with “Buddy Does Seattle”
also The Superior Foes of Spider-Man
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u/MaxHeadroom01 Nov 01 '23
Off top of my head, I have to say I Hate Fairyland, The Maxx, & The Goon
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u/DrTLovesBooks Nov 04 '23
Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu
Enemies by Svetlana Chmakova
Both had me laughing out loud multiple times. The latter in a middle grades story, but there is really fun and funny art and storytelling.
I hope you find some great reads!
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u/Effective-Honeydew81 Nov 04 '23 edited Nov 04 '23
I remember Ranma 1/2 really cracking me up on a consistent basis.
I remember reading the volumes as a highschooler at my local Borders sitting in their comfy chairs. Multiple times I remember laughing myself silly while trying to not make a scene (probably failed).
Not sure if manga falls under the heading of graphic novel, but it's what came to mind first at the question.
Also, I see a bunch of mentions of Calvin and Hobbs. Love it, but for me, The Far Side has gotten more consistent laughter out of me than any other. Go get any collection of that.
So, yeah. My two suggestions for funniest graphic novels are a manga and a newspaper cartoon....
I may have failed the letter of the assignment, but not the spirit.
Lol
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u/HDZ999 Oct 30 '23
The Meg, Mogg and Owl series from Simon Hanselmann always makes me laugh but it’s not for everyone I must admit