As comic books have come of age, many authors have shared how much the genre influenced them when they were coming of age. Many authors have even written titles in this ever-expanding genre. Here are some of our favorites!

Chelsea Cain

Featuring a female serial killer and the investigator she toys with, the Gretchen Lowell thrillers are intense, disturbing, and oddly empowering. Cain brings this same sensibility to her comic writing. Man-Eaters is a dystopian reality in which girls turn into flesh-eating felines when they go through puberty.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Author of the National Book Award winning non-fiction book, Between the World and Me, Coates is a literary powerhouse with numerous titles and credits to his name. Among his many honors is a Hugo Award for best Graphic Story for his work on Black Panther.

Neil Gaiman

The Sandman series defies classification, part horror, part fantasy with influences of mythology, literature and social commentary. The same is true of Gaiman’s fictional works like the epic American Gods.

Roxane Gay

Gay has written essays, fiction, memoir, as well as graphic novels. She also writes some of the most insightful book reviews on GoodReads. She was the one of the first Women of Color to helm a Marvel series.

Joe Hill

Joe Hill writes creepy books whether they be illustrated or not. His fiction titles like, Heart-Shaped Box, NOS4A2, and The Fireman have all made appearances on the bestseller list, while his graphic novel series, Locke and Key won an Eisner award.

Brad Meltzer

Brad Meltzer is well known for his thrillers often set in Washington D.C., like the bestselling Escape Artist. He is also the author of the Ordinary People Change the World series of children’s books. But comic book geeks know him as the author of Identity Crisis, the series that rocked the DC Universe.

Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell writes some of the best romantic comedies out there whether they are for adults like Attachments or for teens like Eleanor and Park. Now she brings her wit and character driven style to the Runaways series and fans are delighted!

Written by Ellen, 10/22/20