In early 2022, I waffled as I have in years past over making New Year’s resolutions. Something clicked when I realized that there was a lot I wanted to explore with comic books so comic book resolutions became the thing.
While the information on this page is about comics, I believe they can apply to other media. Use this list to inspire you to explore music, theater, film, books that aren’t comics, crafting, and more.
These resolution ideas below are mostly about reading comics but there are other resolutions about creating and community. This page is a work in progress. The list below is my brainstorm of what a person with no experience with comics, a seasoned reader, or someone with experience in between may find interesting.
After the list you’ll see:
- My experience making resolutions in 2022 and my issue with the Goodreads challenge.
- Related videos
Resolutions
Finish a book you started.
Finish a series you started.
Start reading a series that has finished its run.
Start reading a series that has not finished its run.
Read a series before consuming an adaptation of it.
Read a series after consuming an adaptation of it.
Read a non-superhero comic book.
Read a superhero comic book.
Read a renowned comic book series.
Read books you already own.
Read comic books from a publisher you haven’t read from before.
Read a new run and/or different take on a character you love.
Watch a series based on comics.
Watch a movie based on comics.
Read a Marvel series outside of the 616 universe.
Read a sequential art collection or series that is considered a classic.
Read about comics history.
Read about creating comics.
Read a graphic novel.
Read a graphic memoir.
Read a non-fiction comic book.
Read a comics collection (including comic strips collections).
Read a comics anthology.
Listen to a comic book adapted as an audiobook.
Read, watch, or listen to a review of a comic you’ve read and think about where you may and may not agree with the reviewer.
Listen to a podcast about comics.
Watch a YouTube channel about comics.
Watch a documentary about comics.
Visit a local comics shop.
Ask local comics staff about what you may be interested to read.
Browse comics at a bookstore.
Browse comics at a library.
Ask a librarian about comics.
Read zines.
Create zines.
Create your own comics.
Read comics in your favorite genre.
Read comics in a genre you don’t usually read.
Read a creator-owned comic.
Read a local comic creator’s comic.
Read comics from one of your favorite writers, artists, letterers, inkers, colorists, or other creators.
Read a comic about a holiday or that gets you in a holiday mood.
Read comics in a language you are learning.
Read comics from other countries.
Read a comic written by someone who usually illustrates comics.
Read a comic illustrated by someone who usually writes comics.
Read a comic written or illustrated by someone who is more well-known outside of comics.
Read an indie comic.
Read a comic related to your work.
Read a comic related to your hobby.
Read a YA comic.
Read a middle grades comic.
Read a translated comic.
Read an award-winning comic.
Read a one-shot.
Read a long-running series.
Read a series that was cancelled before it was complete.
Read multiple books by the same writer.
Read multiple books by the same artist/illustrator.
Read a comic adaptation of a book, movie, television series, or other media.
Read a book that combines text and illustration in ways that are different than usual comics structure.
Read a graphic novel from a webcomics creator.
Read a comics collection of comic strips that began their run in newspapers.
Read a comics collection of comic strips that began their run online.
Read comics online.
Read a novel or other non-comic book that has a description that reminds you of a comic you enjoyed.
Read the comic that introduced a Marvel or DC character.
Read a comic from an editor you enjoy.
Read a single issue of a series and think about what you like and understand without the context from reading the other issues.
Read an omnibus.
Read an original graphic novel (OGN).
Read a limited series.
Read an annual.
Read a cross-over.
Read a stand-alone series.
Read a comic book with a meta-narrative.
Read a zero issue.
Learn about continuity and retcons in Marvel and DC stories.
Read comics journalism.
Find a comics news, reviews, journalism site you like.
Read a comic book event.
Read research about comics.
Take time to look at variant covers, other art, letters, conversations, and more in the back of some comic books.
Think about your favorite comic book covers.
Attend an event where a comic creator will be to share their work, do signings, take photos, present, etc.
Attend a local comic con.
Attend an out-of-town comic con.
Learn (more) about cosplay.
Do something new with your cosplay.
Join a comics book club.
DNF or stop reading a book you don’t enjoy!
Push through a book you may not like in the beginning or middle.
Try physical and digital comics.
Figure out what is the best place for you to read.
Figure out when is the best time of day, week, or month to read.
Start or revive a pull list at a local comics shop.
Declutter your comics collection.
Learn about #ComicsBrokeMe, the WGA strike, and the SAG-AFTRA strike in 2023.
My 2022 resolutions and why the Goodreads challenges didn’t work
Originally written in 2022. Some edits made in 2024. CW: weight loss.
It doesn’t feel like it’s the first time I’ve scoffed at making New Year resolutions. Scoffing barely hid that I still thought about them. That was still ok, I’d think, because it meant I had good reasons to avoid the pastime. Really, though, I was just putting them off. Putting off the making of resolutions—working on them or achieving them was a whole other assignment, tangentially related!
What usually happened was a reframing: “Hey, I’m tired from the holiday season. My brain needs a break. I’ll break tradition and make resolutions later, in February/Q1/the first Monday of the year/the first Sunday of the year/the first Saturday of the year.” Or “Ok, look, I can’t just say ‘lose weight’. That’s not good. It also hasn’t worked. How about reframing it as something about, um, money on groceries or redoing your wardrobe or getting enough sleep or taking walks or… the weight loss should come around, right?” Or “I think it’s time to really make the house a home and decorate—I probably have great stuff in the boxes I haven’t looked at in 10 years. I should finally go through those.”
When it came to 2022 resolutions, I wondered if there was anything I was actually trying to resolve or if I was just being too literal. Would I have resolutions or goals? Did it even matter? Once I started thinking about it, a flood of loose ends and things I wanted to do came to mind and they were all about comic books.
It was fascinating to realize how much came to mind that I wanted to “resolve”, the goals I had, and leaving room for the unexpected.
I kept a running list of things related to making comic book or comic book-related resolutions/goals. That list has gotten very long now. It’s a brainstorm and now, already in February, I won’t push myself to sort it all out. That will be a part of my resolutions, sorting the resolutions list out!
I realized, though, that I actually met some of those resolutions in January! It was both exciting and anticlimactic! I was worried that having met one goal would also mean I met four others. Why was I worried, though? Didn’t I leave room for the unexpected? Did I even finish setting up my goals? I haven’t sorted why I felt some disappointment when realizing that I could knock out multiple goals at once. Maybe that’s just the nature of resolutions? Of comics?
Then, the Goodreads challenges. At the end of 2021, I came across a retrospective of my year on the site and a prompt to make some reading resolutions. I was turned off almost immediately at the types of metrics they shared like number pages read or books read. That seemed so boring.
How could the number of books or pages you read tell you anything? Or, at least, what alone could it tell you? Were you setting yourself up for disappointment? What about those books would be interesting to you? What types of books would “count” for you in the challenge? Who were you competing with (if anybody)? I do see that a quantitative goal could help guide someone to a more descriptive desire they have with the medium of books. Again, maybe that’s just the nature of resolutions?
What about the nature of comics?
Recently, I heard someone quickly refer to “real books”. I didn’t totally understand the context of what they were referring to but I made some guesses. If numbers matter then you’re talking business and if that matters than an ISBN is what it takes to count as a “book” on Goodreads. So if numbers matter to you, single issue the heck out of it. I mean, what are we doing here.
“Read more” or “Read this number of books!” or similar resolutions are so easy to make and so frustrating to not achieve. Whether the frustration lasts for five seconds followed by the relief of giving up or lasts for a long time and reminds you that the “simple” exercise of being able to just sit, and pay attention, and read, and care about what you’re reading still seems out of reach—there’s frustration.
Last year, I started “reading”. That is, reading more than I had in a long, long time, reading with a purpose, also reading without knowing what I’d come across, and reading because I wanted to. It was fun. I focused on sequential art, reading comic books and graphic novels. I had a related interest in reading about sequential art which, book-wise, meant finding, watching, and reading a lot about the medium and art form including books. I love knowing about a thing and learning about the thing and learning about why/how/when we learn about learning about the thing.
Anyways, I’ve definitely learned that I don’t like any and every graphic novel or comic book. Still, I so enjoy the medium.
I’m interested in learning more about Storygraph, which is often brought up as a Goodreads alternative, as well as other ways to record the books I read.
This page was created in July 2023. It is based off of my experiences reading comics, mostly from 2021 to now.
Let’s read comics!
An alignment chart for books made by Savy Leiser.
Aden Hailemariam 