Each year, the wealth of Graphic Medicine comics grows, and even the bevy of world events (e.g. Ukraine, Dobbs, the World Cup) still did not prevent 2022 from its own august collection of titles published. What follows is a short list of the most notable works to grace store shelves.

DANCING AT THE PITY PARTY by Tyler Feder – Equal (and surprising) parts fun and sorrowful, Feder’s reflections on her mother’s struggle with and loss to cancer sharply remind readers that these stories do not simply close with the conclusion of a funeral. Grieving, mourning, and, yes, laughing still ensue long after a loved one’s departure.

THE STRETCHER BEARERS by Reid Beaman and Ryan Beaman – Set on the French battlefields of the Great War, this work tells of the quiet heroism — and sometimes futile daring — of the medical teams evacuating the wounded from the front lines.

BUTTON PUSHER by Tyler Page – A wonderful and welcome companion to his lengthier Raised on Ritalin, Page’s book smoothly narrativizes his childhood negotiating ADHD while also educating readers in his history and pharmacology.

WELCOME TO ST. HELL: MY TRANS TEEN MISADVENTURE by Lewis Hancox – There is something reassuring and beautiful about Lewis as an adult trans man serving as the narrator of his own fraught teenage years. It is a loving note to his younger self and how they both endured.

CALL ME NATHAN by Catherine Castro and Quentin Zuttion (w/translation by Evan McGorray) – Publisher Self-Made Hero brilliantly continues to mine the very best in overseas comics, and Castro’s reporting on the real-life story of Nathan serves as a sobering counterpoint to Hancox’s domestic trans journey.

JUST ROLL WITH IT by Lee Durfey-Lavoie and Veronica Agarwal – What begins as a gleeful survey of teenage role-playing games and Dungeons & Dragon fare quickly shifts into a young woman’s struggle with OCD. It’s an inventive, worthwhile inclusion alongside such titles as The Nao of Brown, The Bad Doctor, and Fun Home.