15 Comics for National Sports Day to Spark Your Competitive Side

Posted on October 16, 2024

by Eric S

Sports! You’ve seen them on TV, and you may have even played them yourself. After all, they’re an unavoidable component of our social and cultural fabric. Sports also make for great storytelling: there’s rivalries, tension between teammates, season-ending injuries, last minute wins (and losses), plucky underdogs, and the buildup to tournaments and championships. Which is to say, sports are tailormade for drama. Sports have historically had an odd, fringe place in the world of comics, but have seemingly always been present in one way or another. From All Sports Comics of the 1940s to the long-running Gil Thorp newspaper strip to more bizarre examples like NFL SuperPro and Godzilla Vs. Barkley (which I swear is real), sports have a lengthy and varied history of representation in comic book form, and that doesn’t appear to be changing any time soon. We’ve selected some of the most exciting offerings from the genre of sports, and they’re all available to read for free with your library card. Each one is a slam dunk, home run, or the sports metaphor of your choosing!