When I am not making mazes for this website, I am reading, and that usually means comic books. When these two subjects intersect, I find it particularly enjoyable. Today I bring you 4 different comic books that I recommend, each of which deal with mazes as part of the plot. On this site, I have multiple sections of comic book style mazes (comics year 1, comics year 2), if you are interested in maze puzzles also.
The Maze Agency (2023) AMZN
by Mike W. Barr (Author), Silvano Beltramo (Cover Art, Artist, Colorist)
29 pages, Scout Comics
I was excited to hear about the return of The Maze Agency. This is the comic's fourth revival: 1988, 1989, 1997, 2005, and 2023. It was nominated for a Eisner Award way back in 1989 as the best new comic. What makes this comic special is that it revolves around 2 detectives who try to solve a crime that plays out in front of you. All clues they see, you see. By the end of the book the question becomes - Do you know who did it ? In this first issue I played along and got the answer right ! So much fun. and of course, you encounter a few mazes along the way, on the cover and within the logo
I recommend it. 8.4/10. Read more about the history of the comic on Wikipedia.
Mazebook (2022) by Jeff Lemire AMZN
256 pages, Dark Horse Books
I had to include all 5 covers (plus there are even more variations out there that are very cool). I am a big fan of the writing of Jeff Lemire. He is probably my favorite comic book writer and when I saw he had a maze themed comic I had to read it. It did not disappoint. The maze theme was a constant part of the story and layouts of the pages. This is a really well done book and concept. The story follows a grieving father who receives a late night call from his daughter who says she is stuck in a labyrinth. Can he solve the maze and find her ?
The book is full of mazes. Highly recommend it. 9.8/10
Maze (2022) AMZN
from Dark Horse Comics, 220 Pages
by Thiago Souto, illustrated by Thiago Souto
If there is a comic called Maze you know I needed to review it. This is the story of a boy named Nico and what happens in his dreams when he goes to sleep. And what happens is Nico goes on adventures with his friend Góreck. The book takes place almost entirely in the dream world and that makes for some wonderful illustrations as you can see on the cover. I really enjoyed the number of full page illustrations in the comic and the story is good too. A key part of the story is Góreck going on his own adventure to find Nico and this involves traversing a maze in the dream world. If you get a chance this is a good read. And you do not need to take my word for it becasue it won the best new release category in 2018 of the Angelo Agostini Award, a Brazilian comic award.
I recommend it. 8.4/10 !
Oh My Gods! 2: The Forgotten Maze (2022) AMZN
from Clarion Books, 208 Pages
by Stephanie Cooke (Author), Insha Fitzpatrick (Author), Juliana Moon (Illustrator)
When I first checked out this book from the library (online) I thought it was a regular book for Young adults. And in a way it is being targeted at kids 8-12 years old. What I did not expect was that it was actually a comic book.
This particular comic reminds me a bit of The Wicked + The Divine if it was written for 4 graders. The comic takes place at Mt Olympus Junior High and includes characters like Artemis, Hermes, Medusa, Apollo, Athena and Aphrodite, so you understand the theme ! A portion takes place in a forgotten maze underneath the school where the group looks for an antagonist called M1N0T4UR. Here is just before they enter the maze challenge from the M1N0T4UR.
Overall this is a fun story, and worth a read for any age. I give it an 8.1/10.
So if you like comics I recommend each of these 4 comics. While each comic has a different artistic style and uses mazes in the plot differently, each of them feature stories that are engaging and fun to read.
Other maze comic reviews you may like reading:
Maze Comic Book Reviews - Theseus And The Minotaur
Maze Comic Book Reviews - Jim Henson's Labyrinth Comics
Maze Comic Book Review - Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman)