(Some spoilers for Succession below.)
The King is dead. Long live the King. Waystar Royco finds a new leader, The Roy family collapses in a mess of backdoor dealings and public betrayals, a Shakespearean tragedy unfolds, and one of the best TV series in recent years comes to a close. The broken family saga that played out in HBO’s Succession across four seasons met its conclusion with a force that only the bloody and cruel history of English monarchies could ever truly compete with.
When a show like this ends, it doesn’t just leave a hole. It leaves a void. What can we turn to when our time with such a masterful work of fiction comes to an end? Comics. More specifically, comics about terrible people, of the kind that would fit right in with the likes of the Roys.
Below are five comics that fans of the show can seek out to extend their time with the types of characters showrunner Jesse Armstrong created for the hit series. Very few of the characters in them, though, can match the fury of a Logan Roy hurling insults at his adult children. That’s something you can only find in Succession.
1. Royal City, written and illustrated by Jeff Lemire (2017)
Fans of Jeff Lemire know he likes his character tortured and haunted. Royal City is no exception, a story about family, loss, and trauma that turns each member of the core cast into resentful people that aim to emotionally hurt anyone in their vicinity whenever the opportunity arises. Sound familiar?
The story follows Patrick Pike, a once-famous author that comes back to his hometown (a faded factory town), and is immediately sucked into the family drama that he seemingly broke away from years ago. His two siblings drag him back to the ugliness of familial animosity, with cruel exchanges and painful encounters with past mistakes. Throughout, we learn the ghost of their dead brother, Tommy, haunts each member in its own way, more figuratively than literally.
While it doesn’t concern the fate of a colossal news empire after the death of its monarch, Royal City holds enough family tension to please fans of Succession. The angst is more grungy than Shakespearean, but the sentiment is similar regarding how much pain a family can inflict on itself.
2. The Infinity Gauntlet, written by Jim Starlin and illustrated by George Pérez and Ron Lim (1991)
As much as Succession is a show about power, family, and betrayal, it’s also about destruction. Not mindless destruction, though. There’s intention behind the chaos, mostly with an eye to rebuild in a way that favors key people that want to get ahead. Look no further than The Infinity Gauntlet for more of this.
The classic Thanos story, which served as the basis for Avengers: Infinity War (2018), revolves around the concept of reshaping the universe according to The Mad Titan’s vision of the future. He’s surrounded by advisors, loyal warriors, and the mistress Death as he uses the Infinity Gems to erase half of the life in the universe to create a highly selective cosmic balance, all with the snap of a finger.
Logan Roy is Succession’s Mad Titan, a towering figure with enough power to make or break presidents, to start wars, or to force rifts within his own family to further his own interests. Logan doesn’t do this with a snap, though. He does it with snarly “fuck offs!” Infinity Gauntlet comes close to capturing the force of a character like Logan Roy, though Thanos might need more than a snap to get a leg up over the patriarch of the Roy family.
3. The Black Monday Murders, written by Jonathan Hickman and illustrated by Tomm Coker (2016)
If Gerri, Frank, and Carl were your favorite characters, then Black Monday Murders is the book for you. Sure, Succession didn’t deal in dark magic and blood offerings to old gods (though Mattson’s blood bricks might fit the bill here), but Hickman and Coker’s tale of elite finance figures acquiring ancient powers to control world markets gives readers enough terrible people to hate throughout.
The world of finance is divided into power groups of magic with deep family ties dictating order and allegiances. An NYPD detective called Theodore Dumas is thrust into this world after a series of killings start opening doors into the secret world hiding just beneath Wall Street.
Black Monday Murders is dense, maze-like in how complex the inner workings of magical finance turn out to be. Families vie for power by betrayal, risking the balance of big financial institutions and economic stability so certain individuals can sweep in and acquire more control over everything. It’s all done in shadows and whispers, much like the old guard of Waystar Royco did to survive in the uncertainty of leadership changes and corporate takeovers.
4. Lazarus, written by Greg Rucka and illustrated by Michael Lark (2013)
Family drama, Shakespearean grandiosity, and bad faith dealings might be great descriptors for Succession, but they also apply to Greg Rucka and Michael Lark’s Image series Lazarus. In this dystopic sci-fi comic, the world is divided into fiefdoms ran by sixteen rival families that are always in active pursuit of power and territorial superiority. Each one of them has an elite warrior that represents the family, that is trained and engineered to have superior abilities.
The story focuses on Forever Carlyle, the Carlyle family’s own Lazarus. She struggles with her own identity as she does her family’s bidding, suffering the fractured and manipulative treatment of her siblings. The animosity between the siblings is angry and cruel enough for fans of Succession’s own sibling rivalries, especially in how they go back and forth between unstable alliances to all out aggression.
If Waystar Royco had gone all in with their Living+ initiative, it surely would’ve led to the world reverting to feudalism with the Roys controlling half of it.
5. Batman & Robin Vol. 1: Batman Reborn, written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Frank Quitely and Phillip Tan (2009)
Succession finds some of its harshest, most emotionally harrowing scenes whenever one of the Roys attempts to get their father’s approval. Logan, though, is not one for visible gestures of appreciation, or apologies for that matter. Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, and Phillip Tan’s Batman & Robin: Batman Reborn arc is the perfect way to explore that dynamic further.
Coming in some time after Bruce Wayne had been introduced to his son Damian (who was kept a secret by his mom Talia al Ghul), and after Bruce himself died during the Final Crisis event, Morrison’s story concerns the passing of the torch to a new Batman. Dick Grayson has become the new Dark Knight while Damian acts as a reluctant Robin who resents not being given the bat mantle.
While Bruce is not the cruel patriarch Logan was, his rigid and cold demeanor did create a competitive family dynamic that sought The Batman’s approval at every turn. Grayson and Damian verbally spar almost every other page as each one tries to convince the other that they’re worthy of the cape and cowl.
Bruce’s absence hovers over Dick and Damian with the same gravity Logan’s does over Ken, Roman, and Shiv, showing just how much internal strife can come from sharing a father figure who held such awesome power, the kind only a few ever get to wield. Logan’s Waystar is Bruce’s Gotham, and everyone’s just living in it. Anyone stepping in will live in their shadow.
Are there other comics you’re reading that scratch that Succession itch? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
