The son of a librarian, Chris M. Arnone's love of books was as inevitable as gravity. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Missouri - Kansas City. His cyberpunk series, The Jayu City Chronicles, is available everywhere books are sold. His work can also be found in Adelaide Literary Magazine and FEED Lit Mag. You can find him writing more books, poetry, and acting in Kansas City. You can also follow him on social media (Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok, website).
Sometimes, one genre just isn’t enough. Science fiction is really great, but what if there’s also some horror involved? Fantasy is cool, sure. Magic and stuff. If there’s a real historical setting involved? Now I’m really in. Comics and graphic novels are already blending prose and illustration, telling great stories through the collaboration of incredible artists, so why not cross those genre streams while we’re at it?
Here, you’ll find fantasy and science fiction colliding. Supernatural horror in the outer reaches of space? You got it. Romance and horror. Science fiction and cowboy western. Even a hilarious blend of fantasy and horror can be found here. And by and large, these titles have flown under the radar. After all, you’re already reading Saga, right?
Some of these are ongoing manga or comic book series. You can easily find them collected into trade paperbacks, of course. Some of these were intended as graphic novels or were limited series that now live on as graphic novels. Either way, you can surely find these at your local comic book shops and even in bookstores. Your genre-bending graphic novels and comics are always easy to find.
Without further preamble, let’s dive into those books!
By Chance or Providence by Becky Cloonan
I’m kicking off with Becky Cloonan, who manages to blend fantasy, horror, and humor all into one book with By Chance or Providence. Set in medieval times, this single volume collects three stories: Wolves, The Mire, and Demeter. Each story is haunting and beautiful, though surprisingly funny. They’re like variations on a genre-bending theme.
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Dai Dark by Q Hayashida
Science fiction and fantasy should really cross over more, like with this great manga. Zaha Sanko is a teen who just wants to live his own life. But he’s a space necromancer, so trouble has a way of finding him. Along with his skeleton friend, Avakian, Sanko is determined to survive and find a way to lift the curse put on his bones.
East of West by Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta
Dystopian…western? Yep. That’s this genre-bending graphic novel series. In a distant, dystopian future that resembles the Old West, the four horsemen are riding again. Their target? The President of the United States of America.
Edens Zero by Hiro Mashima
I love science fiction and fantasy. When they blend together well? *chef’s kiss* In this manga, Shiki has lived his entire life among robots in an abandoned amusement park. But one day, Rebecca shows up with her cat companion, and Shiki realizes there’s a whole universe to explore. But not everyone is happy about it.
Fangs by Sarah Andersen
Horror can blend with any genre, and romance makes for a particularly fun combo. In Fangs, Elsie is a 300-year-old vampire. She’s powerful but lonely. That is, until she meets Jimmy, a werewolf. They click instantly and quickly bond over so many shared interests, bloodlust chief among them.
Outer Darkness by Afu Chan, John Layman
Space is terrifying. Even without something supernatural, it’s an environment that wants to kill you, so sci-fi and horror just fit. Captain Joshua Rigg and the crew of his Charon are soon discovering that in the outer darkness of space, there’s more than the vacuum trying to kill us. This is a genre-bending graphic novel that you just have to experience.
Southern Cross by Becky Cloonan, Andy Belanger
More Becky Cloonan? Of course. Ever since the movie Event Horizon, I’ve been mildly obsessed with sci-fi space horror, and Southern Cross brings that in spades. Alex Braith is trying to find the remains of her sister, which means traveling to a distant refinery moon. But in trying to understand how her sister died, Alex keeps finding creepier and creepier questions.
Need more genre-bending graphic novels? We’ve got you covered. And not just comics, either. There are plenty of great books crossing those genre streams left and right.
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