1. Dark Knights of Steel #3-8, Tales From Three Kingdoms) (Last year best new #5)
Tom Taylor's DC Elseworlds taking the characters and turning it into a fantasy epic with more than a little Game of Thrones really kicked into high gear this year. I'm not yet ready to say it's as good as DCeased overall, or better than his high points like Nightwing and Son of Kal-El, but it's damn good.
2. Devil's Reign (#3-6, Omega)
Chip Zdarsky and Marco Chechetto did something impressive by giving me a line-wide crossover that had a really satisfying ending and never dropped the ball. The backdrop of a Mayoral race between Kingpin and Cage, the use of the Purple Children, the mix of legal maneuvering and superhero action? It was Civil War on a smaller scale, and ten times better than that comic ever was, and it also gave us a new Daredevil status quo that I love. I just wish I enjoyed the Thunderbolts follow-up a little more, because the re-invention of that team was really good.
3. Iron Cat (#1-5)
Black Cat was #3 ongoing last year, and it's nice to see Jed MacKay getting what I call the "Agents of Atlas" treatment where a creatively amazing but commercially disappointing property keeps getting more chances than it probably should. Because this miniseries, introducing an old partner now rival of Felicia, and teaming her up with Iron Man? It was a ton of fun, and I'm glad that all of it is being collected into an omnibus in 2023.
4. Star Trek Discovery Adventures in the 32nd Century (#1-4)
Licensed comics are notoriously spotty, but this series of one-shots focusing on a singular member of the crew of The Discovery was universally good. The reason it's so high on the list, though, is issue #1, entirely from the point of view of Grudge, Booker's cat. Just a delight all the way through.
5. Catwoman Lonely City (#1-4)
I am on record as thinking that artists-turned-writers often disappoint. I understand the transition, customer response is often writer-focused, you can turn in a lot more scripts than you can finished art, and creative control is absolutely a thing. But I'm always sad when a great artist becomes a good or mediocre writer, often reducing their artistic output to covers only or less. So it is especially good when one of the best artists in the industry (Cliff Chiang) also turns out to be a damn good writer, turning in a Dark Knight Returns for Catwoman, with a bit more of an Elmore Leonard touch than Frank Miller. I'm a sucker for the "one last heist" story, and this is a brilliant example of it with stunning art.
6. Daredevil Woman Without Fear (#1-3)
Elektra taking over for Daredevil gave us a really cool looking new costume and an interesting take on a character that I've enjoyed only sporadically. Her frustration with Matt's methods, combined with her weird sense of honor that forces her to stick to them, is a lot of fun. This establishing mini lead nicely into the new Daredevil run.
7. Dark Ages (#4-6) (Last year best new #4)
Tom Taylor can do no wrong for me at DC, but his Marvel track record is not too bad. All-New Wolverine remains a favorite, X-Men Red was cut tragically short. And Dark Ages is another alternate universe Tom Taylor story, the kind of thing he does best. Turning an apocalyptic event into something kind of hopeful, but also serving up plenty of danger, this is likely to get lost in the hype around DCeased, Dark Knights of Steel, and Nightwing, but it's a really good read.
8. The Variants (#1-5)
Gail Simone takes the multiverse approach to Jessica Jones, along with artist Phil Noto, and the result is a twisty noir mystery with superhero overtones, basically the kind of thing Jessica is perfect for. I admit I wanted more, but it's a solid done-in-one story. If Gail and Noto were to wind up doing more Jessica Jones in the future, though, I certainly wouldn't be sad about it.
9. Spider-Punk (#1-5)
One of the best characters to come out of Spider-Verse, the anti-fascist Hobie Brown Spider-Punk gets a posse here with Kamala Khan, Riri Williams, and Karl Morgenthau, and faces off against President Norman Osborn. Overtly political and clever, Cody Ziglar really nails the character here, and Justin Mason's character designs and punk rock art work really well. I wouldn't be sad to see more of these characters from this creative team either.
10. Batman vs. Robin (#1-4)
We're just over half way through Mark Waid's story, and it is weirdly supernatural, but I can't deny it's working. Pitting Damian against his father works, and bringing back Alfred (even though it was a tease, boo) gave some nice emotional heft to a lot of it. Also it's got art by Mahmud Asrar, so it looks great.
11. Rogues (#1-4)
See above for my thoughts on "one last heist" stories, add in Flash's Rogues Gallery (arguably the best one in comics, up there with Batman and Spider-Man), and mix in stunning artwork from Leomacs, and you get this gem of a story from Joshua Williamson. There are some weird choices here (Bronze Tiger was never a Rogue), but the characters are spot on, the heist plot suitably DC superhero-y, and the whole thing unfolds beautifully.
12. Secret Invasion (#1-2)
The first Secret Invasion was a mess, and I only half-read it. But the concept is sound, and Ryan North seems to be re-inventing the story, taking a cue from the international espionage of the upcoming Disney+ series. His take on Maria Hill as a smart, savvy CIA operative trying to stop a shapeshifting invasion is really good, and though I wish artist Frncesco Mobili was better at coherent and exciting action sequences, the first two issues have me interested to see where it goes.
13. Joe Hill's Rain (#1-5)
If I have a grudge against artists-turned-writers, I have an even bigger grudge against licensed books that use the author's name but are written by someone else. So it's surprising that Chris Ryall's adaptation of Joe Hill's horror short story was so effective for me. I'll admit that it sort of petered out by the end, but I don't know how else you would have ended it. It's a melancholy and engaging read.
14. Radiant Red (#1-5)
Another miniseries in the Massive-Verse, this one focusing on the more criminal Radiant Red. All of these read better collected, but the miniseries format serves it well, and this was a fun read.
15. Parker Girls (#1-3)
I forget how much I love Terry Moore's artwork, and most of what I remember about Strangers in Paradise was that it ran too long. But it turns out that a return to the call girl assassin ring Parker Girls was exactly what I wanted, and I'm enjoying this a lot. So much so it got me to read some of Moore's back catalog that I'd miss.
16. Nice House on the Lake #7-12) (Last year #6 best new)
I confess that James Tynion is starting to fall into the "great opener, poor ending" category as this one sort of whimpered out for me by the end, and reveals itself not to be a complete story, which is kind of disappointing. That said, the art by Alvaro Martinez Bueno is stunning, and I suspect when read all in one (or as the two volumes it will be by the end of the year) I'll enjoy it more.
17. The Closet (#1-3)
See above re: Tynion's endings. This has some amazing moment-to-moment writing, a really creepy premise, and needed at least one more issue to really land. But it's still a solid horror outing.
18. Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths (including Justice League Road to Dark Crisis) (#1-7)
To be honest, like most crossovers, I thought this dissolved into nonsense by the end. But the first half really worked for me, and even if the ending was cosmic editorial gobbledygook, those moments carried it through for me.
19. Rogues Gallery (#1-4)
A story about a home invasion by disgruntled fanboys, this one was a pretty dark little crime tale. Yes, I picked it up in part because it's the name of my store.
