What Your Favorite Comic Says About You

Your favorite book says a lot about your personality. Let's be honest: whenever we see someone's home for the the first time, we definitely judge them on the content of their bookshelf. We shouldn't judge people by the books they read, of course, but sometimes you need that extra little insight into a new friend's personality. If they exclusively own biographies of famous dictators, for instance, you might want to tread carefully. If they have all the Harry Potter books, the Saga series, and several books on intersectional feminism prominently displayed, marry them immediately.

And then there's the whole subsection of books told through pictures. Comic books and graphic novels are finally gaining acceptance as "real" literature, but there's still a lot of judgment when it comes to openly loving a book about dudes in tights fighting monsters. A lot of people don't realize the incredible variety of comics out there. You can still read about super men and women punching each other in space if you want to, but you can also read graphic memoirs, slice-of-life comics, and collections of Sunday paper classics.

Are you into capes and cowls, or gritty indie comic darlings? Whichever comics you love, they just might give people a hint of who you are. So check out what your favorite comic says about you:

1. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

There are so many different Batmen to choose from. You could be into the old school, TV show Batman, and just really like kitsch. Or you could be into the Frank Miller Batman, and really dig the dark-and-gritty take on the character (and feel wildly embarrassed about the TV show). If you like your Batman darker, then there's a good chance you also enjoy complex books that question the morality of war. You need your superhero to have a well-written past and a rigid moral code, and you have a lot of feelings about the new Batman VS Superman movie.

2. Tintin by Hergé

You've loved Hergé's Tintin since you were a kid. The clean art style, the careful plotting, the lovable characters—now that you're older, you appreciate it even more. As a child, you may have had a short lived "kid detective" or "reporter" stage. Now, you love to travel, or you dream of traveling, and you like a good adventure. Your dream life would definitely be backpacking around the globe with your trusty dog in tow. You have at least one map on display in your room.

3. Spider-Man by Stan Lee

You love the classics, and you like to end all arguments with a truly good zinger. You're not so interested in a muscle-bound superhero: you'd rather have an underdog story with lots of romantic complications. You also understand exactly how Gwen Stacey's death brought about the Silver Age of Comics. High school was the worst time of your life, but you're doing much better now. You feel faintly embarrassed every time they reboot the Spider-Man films, though.

4. The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman's The Sandman means a lot to you. It may have been the book that originally got you into comics, or the first truly dark comic you ever read. In any case, you like stories that other people describe as "trippy." You're into surrealist art, and no one can rock excessive eyeliner like you can. You're not afraid to come off as an intellectual, and you're definitely not afraid to wear ripped tights in public.

5. Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Your room was a mess as a kid, and you tracked mud into the house on more than one occasion. You were just as happy playing with your imaginary friends as with real life people, and your parents were a little worried about you. You cringe when you think about the philosophical ideas that felt so deep to you when you were in high school. Calvin and Hobbes still has the ability to make you cry when you're really tired.

6. Watchmen by Alan Moore

Your parents were really worried about you growing up. But you just like dark comics. And not Batman or Sandman dark. Like, apocalypse-dark. You're never surprised to find out that a politician or celebrity is secretly a terrible person. You never get tired of Cold War movies, and you will fight anyone who claims that comic books can't be literary.

7. Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson

You like your superheroes to be fun, and to actually look and act like people you might know in the real world. You don't need another story about a millionaire with a chip on his shoulder or some jacked up soldier guy. You know that you can wear pink and still fight the patriarchy, and you wish that you'd had a hero like Ms. Marvel to inspire you growing up.

8. Saga by Braink K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

You love the original Star Wars trilogy. You're a sucker for a story with forbidden romance, and you're not too bothered about scientific accuracy in your sci-fi (who says you can't have a space ship made out of a tree?). You get excited about off-the-wall ideas, and as a kid you enjoyed coming up with outlandish fantasy worlds. But all fantasy aside, you love your family a whole lot (even though you wish you could escape into outer space once in a while).

9. Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel

You know where the Bechdel test came from (and you're not afraid to apply it to every piece of media you encounter). You've fought with your mom over your haircut. You like the series Portlandia, you buy fair trade, and you've been to a reading in a feminist bookstore before. But mostly, you like witty comics that somehow manage to run the gamut of human emotion.

10. Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday

You need more than one super-powered individual in your comics. You're familiar with the history of the X-Men, and you were a little skeptical about Whedon's run at first, but you can totally get behind it. You like a fantasy story with a social allegory, and you've thought long and hard about which mutant power you would have. Your circle of friends is important to you, and you kind of wanted to go to boarding school as a kid.

11. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

You speak up about politics (and you're usually the most up-to-date person in the room). But you also love a good coming-of-age story, especially if it's based in personal experience. You prefer the term graphic novel to comic book, and you're definitely going to read Persepolis in the original French once you learn the language from that new app you downloaded.

12. Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley

You've been in a band, and your hair has been more than one color in your lifetime. You use outdated slang ironically. You're pretty good at video games, and you're still not entirely sure what you want to do with your life. But that's ok, because you're an upbeat person, and you know you'll find something awesome.

Image: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images