What started as a casual experiment in using ChatGPT as a digital psychoanalyst yielded surprising results: a curated list of unique hobbies perfectly suited to my lifestyle.
Emboldened by that success, I decided to test the AI on a new challenge. I’ve long wanted to break into comic books, but the barrier to entry is high. With dozens of publishers, thousands of titles, and dizzying storylines, the comic world can feel incredibly insular to an outsider.
Looking for a balance of current, ongoing series and critically acclaimed graphic novels, I asked ChatGPT to analyze my personality and match me with the right books. I was open to any publisher, from giants like Marvel and DC to indie powerhouses like Image, Dark Horse, and IDW. The experiment was a resounding success, resulting in a personalized pull-list that felt tailor-made for me.
Letting ChatGPT take a deep dive into my psyche
For such a huge ask, I came to ChatGPT with this massive request:
Analyze me as if you're building a psychological reading profile. Use my answers to identify:
- My “Big Five” personality traits
- My Core motivations
- The character archetypes I'm drawn to
- The narrative themes that resonate with me the most
- The emotional tones I enjoy
- The kinds of protagonists I would root for
- Then build a personalized comic book reading roadmap with:
- 5 "Start Here" comics
- 5 comics that challenge my worldview
- 5 comics that align perfectly with my interests
- 5 underrated gems
- 5 comics that could become lifelong favorites
The chatbot gave me a 20-questionnaire split into the following categories: Your Personality, Stories & Characters, Your Tastes and The Deep-Dive Questions. Some of the questions asked me the main quality I admire in someone, three protagonists I love the most, which themes consistently appeal to me the most and what frustrates me the most about other people.
The answers I provided to those specific questions were as follows:
- Intelligence.
- Dante from Devil May Cry , Neo from The Matrix and Goku from Dragon Ball Z .
- Justice, Legacy, Revenge, Power, Hope, Technology and Creativity.
- The ease with which they believe everything they see or read on the internet, no matter if it’s true or not.
After I gave all my answers, ChatGPT gave me my Big Five personality estimate:
- Strong attraction to science fiction and technology
- Fascination with mysterious people
- Desire to understand deeper truths
- Interest in creativity and innovation
- Admiration for intelligence
Here are the comics it suggested I read
After ChatGPT dove into my biggest personality traits, it also pointed out that I value consistency, enjoy larger-than-life characters, am a truth-seeking individual, love character archetypes like “The Enlightened Warrior” and more. With a full read of who I am and what I’m into, the chatbot finally listed out an array of perfect comic book reading material split out across the roadmap I presented it with:
- 5 'start here' comics: Kingdom Come, Batman: Year One, Invincible, Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns.
- 5 Comics that challenge my worldview: Transmetropolitan, V for Vendetta, The Invisibles, Maus and DMC.
- 5 Comics that perfectly match your interests: Planetary, Batman: The Court of Owls, East of West, Saga and Black Science.
- 5 underrated gems: The Manhattan Projects, Tokyo Ghost, The Human Target, The Strange Talent of Luther Strode and Global Frequency.
- 5 comics that could become lifelong favorites: Planetary, Kingdom Come, Watchmen, Invincible and Batman: The Long Halloween.
The takeaway
My reading list for the summer just got a lot more interesting (but my bank account is going to suffer as I make repeated visits to my local comic book store). ChatGPT observed and acknowledged all the key points of my personality, then presented me with the perfect collection of graphic novels that’ll keep me occupied when I’m in the mood to unplug from everything around me.
