John Allison Books in Order

John Allison has written 41 books, published between 2005 and 2025. The first book is Heavy Metal Hearts and Flowers (2005) and the newest is Kill or Be Quilt (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
41
Published
2005–2025
Pages on record
3,346 in 24 of 41 books
Reading time
56–84 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,346 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 24 of 41 titles with a page count on record.

Photo of John Allison, author
Ferran Cornellà / CC BY-SA 4.0

John Allison, born 1976, writes and draws comics, and has been producing them since 1998. Giant Days and Bad Machinery head a 41-title catalogue that runs from Heavy Metal Hearts and Flowers (2005) to Kill or Be Quilt (2025), with Scary Go Round, By Night, Steeple and Great British Bump-Off alongside. Teenage girls, women college students, female friendship and small-scale detective work recur as subjects. Allison's comics have taken multiple Eisner Awards.

Source: Wikidata

How many John Allison books are there?

John Allison has 41 books, released between 2005 and 2025. They include 8 separate series.

John Allison Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 41 John Allison books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of November 2026.

  1. 1
    Heavy Metal Hearts and FlowersScary Go Round #12005 · 100 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2005100
  2. 2
    Ahoy Hoy!Scary Go Round #22008 · confirmed 1/4
    2008–
  3. 3
    Giant Days: Early RegistrationGiant Days: Year One #12013 · 112 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2013112
  4. 4
    The Case of the Team SpiritBad Machinery #12013 · 132 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2013132
  5. 5
    The Case of the Good BoyBad Machinery #22014 · 144 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2014144
  6. 6
    The Case of the Simple SoulBad Machinery #32014 · 131 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2014131
  7. 7
    Giant Days, Vol. 1Giant Days #12015 · confirmed 1/4
    2015–
  8. 8
    The Case of the Lonely OneBad Machinery #42015 · 129 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2015129
  9. 9
    Giant Days, Vol. 2Giant Days #22016 · confirmed 1/4
    2016–
  10. 10
    Giant Days, Vol. 3Giant Days #32016 · confirmed 1/4
    2016–
  11. 11
    The Case of the Fire InsideBad Machinery #52016 · confirmed 1/4
    2016–
  12. 12
    The Case of the Unwelcome VisitorBad Machinery #62016 · 135 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2016135
  13. 13
    Giant Days: Not On the Test Edition Vol. 1Giant Days: Not On The Test Edition #12017 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2017256
  14. 14
    Giant Days, Vol. 4Giant Days #42017 · confirmed 1/4
    2017–
  15. 15
    Giant Days, Vol. 5Giant Days #52017 · confirmed 1/4
    2017–
  16. 16
    Giant Days, Vol. 6Giant Days #62017 · confirmed 1/4
    2017–
  17. 17
    The Case of the Forked RoadBad Machinery #72017 · 119 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2017119
  18. 18
    Giant Days: Not On The Test Edition Vol. 2Giant Days: Not On The Test Edition #22018 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2018256
  19. 19
    Giant Days: Extra CreditGiant Days: Not On The Test Edition #32018 · confirmed 1/4
    2018–
  20. 20
    Giant Days: Not on the Test Edition Vol. 3Giant Days: Not On The Test Edition #42018 · 240 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2018240
  21. 21
    Giant Days, Vol. 7Giant Days #72018 · confirmed 1/4
    2018–
  22. 22
    Giant Days, Vol. 8Giant Days #82018 · confirmed 1/4
    2018–
  23. 23
    By Night, Vol. 1By Night #12019 · 112 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2019112
  24. 24
    By Night, Vol. 2By Night #22019 · 112 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2019112
  25. 25
    The Case of the Modern MenBad Machinery #82019 · 136 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2019136
  26. 26
    Giant Days Vol. 9Giant Days #92019 · 112 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2019112
  27. 27
    Giant Days, Vol. 10Giant Days #102019 · confirmed 1/4
    2019–
  28. 28
    Giant Days, Vol. 11Giant Days #112019 · confirmed 1/4
    2019–
  29. 29
    SteepleSteeple #12020 · 136 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2020136
  30. 30
    By Night Vol. 3By Night #32020 · 112 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2020112

John Allison books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Do you have to read John Allison books in order?

You only need to read John Allison books in order within each series: the books listed here span 8 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with John Allison

Start with Heavy Metal Hearts and Flowers (2005), the earliest published title.

What is the newest John Allison book?

Kill or Be Quilt (2025) is the newest John Allison book released so far.

Is there a new John Allison book coming?

No next John Allison book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

John Allison at a glance

Still publishing
John Allison published a book as recently as 2025.
Release pace
John Allison books have appeared more than one a year on average.
Length
3,346 pages across the 24 of 41 books with a recorded length, a median of 128 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most John Allison books, 26 of 41, were published in the 2010s.

When John Allison books were published

Publication distribution by decade, showing when John Allison titles appeared. 2010s was the most productive decade with 26 titles.

2000s
2
2010s
26
2020s
13

41 books total across 3 decades. Decade reflects the year each title was first catalogued.

What the John Allison books are about

29 of the 41 John Allison books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: comics & graphic novels is tagged on 13 of 29. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.