The Best Comic Books Featuring Supernatural Forces
In the shadowed corners of comic book lore, where the laws of reality bend and shatter, supernatural forces have always held a magnetic pull. Ghosts whisper secrets from beyond the grave, demons claw their way into the mortal realm, and ancient magics unravel the fabric of existence. These elements transcend mere horror tropes; they serve as profound metaphors for human frailty, desire, and the unknown. Comics, with their blend of visual artistry and narrative depth, prove the perfect medium to conjure such forces, allowing creators to explore the eerie interplay between the everyday and the ethereal.
This curated list of the ten best comic books featuring supernatural forces celebrates masterpieces that masterfully wield these elements. Selection criteria prioritise innovative storytelling, where the supernatural drives character arcs and thematic resonance; groundbreaking artwork that visualises the uncanny; historical significance within the medium; and enduring cultural impact. From Vertigo’s philosophical dreamscapes to modern indie horrors, these titles redefine what it means to confront the otherworldly. They span decades, proving the supernatural’s timeless allure in comics.
What unites them is not just spectacle—exploding hellfire or spectral apparitions—but their ability to probe deeper questions: What lingers after death? Can mortals wield godlike power without corruption? Prepare to delve into realms where the veil thins, and ordinary heroes face extraordinary damnation.
10. 30 Days of Night (Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, 2002)
Amid the perpetual twilight of Alaska’s Barrow, where the sun vanishes for a month, vampires descend in a frenzy of bloodlust. Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s 30 Days of Night transforms the vampire mythos into a visceral survival horror, stripping away romanticism for raw savagery. The supernatural force here is primal vampiric hunger, amplified by isolation and unending night, turning a remote town into a slaughterhouse.
Templesmith’s jagged, watercolour-smeared art evokes frozen desolation and gore-soaked chaos, with shadows bleeding into the ice. Niles crafts tight, relentless pacing, centring on Sheriff Eben Olemaun’s desperate stand. This IDW series revitalised vampire comics pre-Twilight, influencing films and games. Its supernatural terror lies in inevitability—the darkness that devours all—mirroring real fears of encroaching oblivion. A taut masterpiece that proves minimalism amplifies dread.
9. Something is Killing the Children (James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera, 2019–present)
When children vanish into the woods, slain by unseen monsters, a scarred hunter named Erica Slaughter arrives with brutal efficiency. James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera’s ongoing Boom! Studios series pits folklore beasts against a lone warrior, revealing a hidden world of shape-shifting horrors devouring the innocent.
The supernatural manifests as ancient, adaptive monsters born from trauma and myth, forcing townsfolk to confront buried secrets. Dell’Edera’s stark lines and muted palettes heighten tension, making every panel a coiled threat. Tynion, drawing from his UFOlogy roots, weaves psychological depth into monster-of-the-week structure, exploring grief and denial. Nominated for multiple Eisners, it exploded in popularity via Netflix adaptations. This series excels by humanising the monstrous, questioning if the real horror lurks in humanity’s refusal to see.
8. American Vampire (Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque, 2010–2016)
Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque reimagine vampirism across American history, from Wild West outlaws to Prohibition gangsters. Each era introduces new bloodlines with unique powers, battling a manipulative ancient clan. The supernatural force evolves—sun-resistant ‘American’ vampires versus European traditionalists—tied to cultural shifts.
Albuquerque’s dynamic art shifts styles per volume, from gritty Westerns to noir shadows, immersing readers in time periods. Snyder’s script pulses with pulp energy and social commentary, using bloodsuckers as metaphors for manifest destiny and capitalism’s fangs. Vertigo’s epic run spawned spin-offs and acclaim, proving supernatural lore thrives on reinvention. Its strength: linking immortal hunger to America’s restless soul.
7. Fables (Bill Willingham, 2002–2015)
Exiled fairy tale characters hide in New York, governed by Bigby Wolf and Snow White. Bill Willingham’s Vertigo saga unleashes gods, witches, and beasts in a modern mundy world, as the Adversary threatens their homelands.
Supernatural forces abound—magic mirrors, enchanted apples, dragon hoards—retooled for intrigue and warfare. Mark Buckingham’s versatile art captures whimsical horror, from Pinocchio’s wooden plight to beastly transformations. Spanning 150 issues, it blends procedural mystery with epic fantasy, earning Hugo and Eisner awards. Willingham analyses exile and identity through myth, making the fantastical profoundly relatable. A sprawling testament to folklore’s dark underbelly.
6. Locke & Key (Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodríguez, 2008–2013)
After tragedy strikes the Locke family, they uncover keys granting impossible powers in Lovecraft, Massachusetts’ haunted mansion. Joe Hill (Stephen King’s son) and Gabriel Rodríguez craft a tale where these supernatural artefacts—unlocking heads, shadows, ghosts—unleash demons from another dimension.
The keys symbolise childhood wonder corrupted by adult vice, with Rodríguez’s intricate designs making magic tangible and terrifying. Hill’s plotting masterfully balances family drama, horror, and coming-of-age, culminating in a Netflix series. IDW’s bestseller redefined horror comics, its supernatural ingenuity lying in temptation’s allure—what doors would you open?
5. Hellblazer: Original Sins (Jamie Delano and John Ridgway, 1988)
John Constantine, cynical occult detective, navigates London’s occult underworld, chain-smoking through exorcisms and deals with devils. Jamie Delano’s debut Vertigo arc introduces the chain-smoking conman battling synchronicity waves and familial curses.
Supernatural forces—demons, spirits, rogue angels—manifest as gritty urban folklore, critiquing Thatcher’s Britain. Ridgway’s painterly art evokes foggy dread, with swirling miasmas of magic. This run birthed a 300-issue legend, inspiring Keanu Reeves’ film. Delano’s punk cynicism grounds the arcane, analysing power’s corrupting touch. Essential for its raw, trenchant fusion of horror and humanism.
4. Preacher (Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, 1995–2000)
Vicar Jesse Custer merges with Genesis, a supernatural progeny of angel and demon, granting him the Word to command obedience. Accompanied by vampire Cassidy and ex Tulip, he hunts an absentee God across America.
Ennis and Dillon’s Vertigo odyssey skewers religion, violence, and redemption with black humour. Supernatural elements—seraphim, Saint of Killers, soul-devouring entities—fuel road-trip blasphemy. Dillon’s expressive, sketchy style amplifies grotesque pathos. AMC’s adaptation cemented its cult status. Preacher thrives on audacious scope, wielding divinity as both weapon and farce.
3. Hellboy: Seed of Destruction (Mike Mignola, 1994)
B.P.R.D. agent Hellboy, a demon summoned during WWII, confronts his apocalyptic destiny amid Nazi occultism and eldritch gods. Mike Mignola’s Dark Horse debut miniseries launches a universe of folklore horrors.
Supernatural forces—Rasputin, Ogdru Jahad, frog monsters—draw from mythologies worldwide, rendered in Mignola’s iconic shadowy noir, influenced by Lovecraft and Kirby. Self-written and drawn, it blends pulp adventure with cosmic dread. Films and animated features followed, but the comics’ brooding depth endures. Hellboy embodies reluctant heroism against primordial chaos.
2. Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book One (Alan Moore, 1984)
Alec Holland, transformed into the Swamp Thing—a plant elemental—awakens to his true nature in Alan Moore’s revolutionary run. Monsters, conspiracies, and nature’s wrath unfold in DC’s horror revival.
Moore deconstructs the monster, using supernatural forces like monkey-men, eyeless globs, and voodoo queens to explore identity and ecology. Stephen Bissette and John Totleben’s metamorphic art revolutionised horror visuals. Relaunching Swamp Thing as mature masterpiece, it paved Vertigo’s path. Moore’s philosophical horror elevates it, questioning life’s boundaries.
1. The Sandman (Neil Gaiman, 1989–1996)
Morpheus, Dream of the Endless, escapes captivity to reclaim his realm, weaving fates with siblings Death, Desire, and Despair. Neil Gaiman’s Vertigo epic spans myths, history, and hells.
Supernatural forces—dreams shaping reality, gods clashing, serial killers in Dreaming—form a tapestry of 75 issues. Varied artists like Dave McKean and Jill Thompson visualise infinite wonders. Hugo-winning saga redefined comics, spawning novels and Netflix success. Gaiman’s lyrical prose analyses storytelling’s power, mortality, and change. The pinnacle where supernatural transcends genre into literature.
Conclusion
These comic books illuminate why supernatural forces captivate: they mirror our world’s mysteries, amplified through ink and imagination. From The Sandman‘s metaphysical grandeur to 30 Days of Night‘s primal chills, they showcase comics’ versatility in evoking awe and terror. Creators like Gaiman, Moore, and Ennis pushed boundaries, influencing film, TV, and beyond, ensuring the genre’s vitality.
As new titles emerge, blending folklore with contemporary anxieties, the supernatural remains comics’ lifeblood. These stories remind us that the extraordinary lurks within, waiting for a page turn to awaken. Dive in, and let the forces beyond claim you.
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