Vulture’s list (see original article for commentary) had a surprise winner when compared to other lists, but perhaps not so surprising when considering the ubiquity of its character (see “Fantagraphics, Creator Condemn Use of Pepe the Frog”):
- Boy’s Club, by Matt Furie (Fantagraphics)
- Panther, by Brecht Evans, Michele Hutchison, Laura Watkinson (Drawn & Quarterly)
- Secret Wars, by Jonathan Hickman, Esad Ribic, Ive Svorcina, and Paul Renaud (Marvel)
- Vision Vol. 1: Little Worse than a Man, and Vol. 2: Little Better than a Beast, by Tom King, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Jordie Bellaire, and Michael Walsh (Marvel)
- Megg and Mogg in Amsterdam and Other Stories, by Simon Hanselmann (Fantagraphics)
- The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 4: I Kissed a Squirrel and I Liked It (by Ryan North, Erica Henderson, Jacob Chabot, Andy Hirsch, Rico Renzi, Joey Ellis, Tom Fowler, David Malki, Braden Lamb, Chris Schweizer, and Kyle Starks (Marvel)
- Patience, by Daniel Clowes (Fantagraphics)
- March: Book Three, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (Top Shelf)
- Ghosts, by Raina Telgemeier and Braden Lamb (Scholastic)
- Rolling Blackouts: Dispatches from Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, by Sarah Glidden (Drawn & Quarterly)
Ross Johnson’s list for Barnes & Noble was un-numbered, but in this order (for full commentary, see his post):
- Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Book 1, by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze (Marvel)
- Paper Girls, Vol. 1, by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang (Image)
- Faith, Vol. 1: Hollywood and Vine, by Jody Houser, Francis Portela, and Marguerite Sauvage (Valiant)
- Doctor Strange, Vol. 1: The Way of the Weird, by Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo (Marvel)
- Omega Men: The Complete Series, by Tom King and Barnaby Bagenda (DC)
- Vision, Vol. 1: Little Worse than a Man, by Tom King and Gabriel Walta (Marvel)
- Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening, by Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda (Image)
- Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Vol. 1: BFF, by Amy Reeder, Brandon Montclare, and Natacha Bustos (Marvel)
- Tokyo Ghost, Vol. 1: Atomic Garden, by Rick Remender and Sean Murphy (Image)
- Doom Patrol, by Grant Morrison and Richard Case (DC)
- Invader Zim, Vol. 1, by Jhonen Vasquez, and Eric Trueheart (Oni)
- Star Wars, Vol. 1, by Jason Aaron, John Cassaday, Simone Bianchi, Stuart Immonen (Marvel)
- Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 1, by Kieren Gillen and Salvador Larroca (Marvel)
- Spider-Gwen, Vol. 1: Greater Power, by Jason Latour and Robbie Rodreguez (Marvel)
- All-New Wolverine, Vol. 1: The Four Sisters, by Tom Taylor, and David Lopez (Marvel)
- The White Donkey: Terminal Lance, by Maximilian Uriarte (Little, Brown)
- Mockingbird, Vol. 1: I Can Explain, by Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk (Marvel)
- Black Widow, Vol. 1: S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Most Wanted, by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee (Marvel)
- Rick and Morty, Vol. 2, by Zac Gorman (Oni)
- Saga, Vol. 6, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)
- ODY-C: Cycle One, by Matt Fraction and Christian Ward (Image)
- March, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (Top Shelf)
- Giant Days, Vol. 2, by John Allison, Lissa Treiman, and Whitney Cogar (BOOM! Box)
- Wonder Woman: Earth One, Vol. 1, by Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette (DC)
- Wonder Woman ’77, Vol. 1, by Marc Andreyko, Drew Johnson, and Matt Haley (DC)
- Aquaman, Vol. 7: Exiled, by Cullen Bunn (DC)
- Joyride, Vol. 1, by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Marcus To, and Irma Kniivila (BOOM!)
- We(l)come Back Vol. 1, by Christopher Sebela and Jonathan Brandon Sawyer (BOOM!)
- Blue Monday, Vol. 1: The Kids Are Alright, by Chynna Clugston-Flores (Image)
- The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 3: Squirrel, You Really Got Me Now, by Ryan North, and Erica Henderson (Marvel)
Other best of 2016 lists include:
- Forbes, NPR, and Mental Floss (see “’Forbes,’ ‘NPR,’ and ‘Mental Floss’ Weigh in on 2016 Comics”)
- Amazon (see “Amazon's Best Graphic Novels - 2016”)
- Publishers Weekly (see “PW's Top Graphic Novels of 2016”)
- Washington Post (see “'Washington Post' Names Best Graphic Novels Of 2016”)
- Paste and The Guardian (see “'Paste,' 'The Guardian' Name Best Comics of 2016”)
- New York Times and Slate (see “Unusual, Independent Selections Top New Best of 2016 Comics Lists”)