Best of the Decade - Comics

Comics:

So with a little bit of combing my archives, I have produced my "Favorite Comics of the Decade."

A few caveats going in. First is that I'm crediting creative teams based on who made the most impact on me, and since a fair amount of this is work-for-hire, I'm definitely giving short shrift to people who came in and kept things running. For one example, I know Takeshi Miyazawa was *hugely* important in keeping my interest in Ms. Marvel.

Second is that it will be clear that when it comes to comics, I am someone who likes stories more than pure craft. I'm not an artsy comics guy, and while I appreciate something like Acme Novelty Library for its aesthetic value, it's not something I return to. So my choices here are heavily Marvel Comics, which has owned my heart since I first picked up an X-Men comic at age 12, and Image Comics, which grabbed hold of crime and science-fiction in really interesting ways during this decade. There's no DC Comics because honestly, I feel like DC has been floundering for at least a decade, and it makes me sad, because I love those characters too.

Third, I make no claim at this being at all definitive. I read a lot of comics, about 400-500 a year, plus graphic novels, but there are thousands produced every month, and in putting together this list I looked only at comics that existed as single issues, not any that were originally digital or put out in graphic novel format.

Fourth, I am *terrible* at talking about art. I'm aware this is a weakness of mine, but know that every pick on this list is a collaboration of amazing writers and artists, and without the storytelling and design elements of the artists, none of these books would be on this list.

1. Saga by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples
For several years, this was my favorite ongoing comic. While Vaughan has been cagey about how long this is going to run, I feel like the last big twist and the long hiatus means we're probably at the halfway point at least, and I can't wait to see how he and Staples wrap this thing up.

2. Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona (and others)
This one jumped Saga on my favorites list for a long time. It fell off a bit as it went on, which is too bad, but Wilson and Alphona created one of the best new Marvel characters, one I can't wait to see realized in the MCU. And the supporting cast was terrific. It was like seeing the early days of Spider-Man, only instead of a nerdy boy from Queens, it was a nerdy muslim girl from Jersey City, and that was both similar and different enough to really work.

3. Daredevil by Mark Waid & Chris Samnee (and others)
Daredevil as a character has had a lot of good runs. Hell, he's on this list twice with different creative teams. But what Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and the rest did was particularly impressive, picking up from a dark, noir tone that Bendis and Brubaker had established and taking off from the ill-advised "Daredevil as ninja warlord" that followed and turning in a fun superhero take that nevertheless managed to handle weighty topics like Daredevil's now-public identity, a series of scary-as-hell villains, one of the best of Matt's love interests in Kirsten McDuffie, and so much more. It was a pretty long run, and was consistently great.

4. Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker is on this list a lot. His particular brand of crime noir speaks to me, and while he didn't work as well when he stepped outside that comfort zone to do Marvel superheroes, it sometimes went very wrong, but when he's doing his own original crime stuff? He's great. Especially alongside longtime collaborator Sean Phillips. Kill or Be Killed, a ruminaton on '70s vigilantism complete with some '70s satanic elements, and Brubaker's usual tricks of using an unreliable narrator, is probably the strongest work the two of them have done together. But just behind that on my list is the pure Hollywood noir The Fade Out, his modern-day crime series Criminal, and his '70s spy collaboration with Steve Epting, Velvet. Pulling up the rear but still strong is his horror/crime riff Fatale.

5. Lazarus
Greg Rucka & Michael Lark have crafted a borderline depressing dystopian future that makes the 1% of today look positively benevolent. Rucka's investment in futurism, politics, sociology, is clear here, and he's better at it than Warren Ellis. It feels less goofy or over-the-top, more grounded and real, and you can tell that Rucka's a gamer, because he has this whole future world built up in his head, every corner of it realized.

6. Darwyn Cooke
We lost Darwyn Cooke this decade, one of the many injustices we suffered during the '10s. But before we lost him, Cooke turned in three more installments in his brilliant adaptations of Richard Stark's Parker (The Outfit, The Score, and Slayground), a couple Before Watchmen miniseries (which I liked, and I understand that some view it as an abomination), Twilight Children with Gilberto Hernandez, and an array of amazing covers, including his own month at DC.

7. Private Eye
It started as a digital only project and then got a print edition, and it was a fascinating story of social media and the Internet gone wrong with a pulp/noir/science fiction twist. Great stuff from Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin.

8. Frankenstein, Shiver, & Smashed by Junji Ito
Every time we get a collection of new horror manga from Junji Ito, I'm excited. I believe in this decade there were three, although it's possible there were more published during that time. His adpatation of Frankenstein is particularly notable for his lanky, creepy version of the monster, but there are a lot of great shorts in these collections. Probably the best horror artist working in comics this decade.

9. Astro City by Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson (and others)
I thought this would be the decade without Astro City. The second volume of Dark Age was published in the tail end of 2010, and it seemed like we might never see it again. Four years later, though, the book returned, and it was just as good as ever. Throughout the decade, Kurt Busiek, alongside regular artist Brent Anderson and several notable guest artists, created more tales of the meta-narrative of the superhero genre that could also be read as just solid superhero tales. If you know all the references, pick up on the meta themes, the book is even more rewarding, but it's honestly just super readable as a fully fleshed-out superhero universe that pays homage to Marvel, DC, and the rest but stands as its own shared universe from the mind of a single writer who knows and loves the tropes. There were nine new volumes produced in the '10s, and Busiek has promised new original graphic novels to continue in 2020 and beyond.

10. Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky & Julian Totino Tedesco (and others)
It is possible that recency bias is affecting me here, as the Daredevil run by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Chechetto, Julian Totino Tedesco, and others is a little over a year old, and far from finished. To stack it up against finished runs may prove foolish. But having started with the exceptional Man Without Fear miniseries by Jed McKay and a series of artists, Zdarsky has proven that beyond his comedy chops, he's a damn solid storyteller capable of darker, more real stories. The story of Matt Murdock struggling with the violence of being Daredevil is not new, nor is the dichotomy of his role as a vigilante and an agent of the court. For that matter, neither is Daredevil being hunted by the police, or the Kingpin deciding to go legit. But somehow the elements here really work, whether it's Kingpin struggling with discovering that being the Mayor of New York comes with more restrictions, less respect, and less power than being a crimelord, and Matt's turn as a parole officer being a neat twist on his usual legal profession. Throw in Cole North as a fascinating example of the driven Lawful Good cop who runs up against corruption in the ranks of the police and you've got what could be another legendary run for a character who's had several of them over the past few decades.

11. Spider-Woman by Dennis Hopeless & Javier Rodriguez (and others)
This one flew under the radar for a lot of people. But the redesign of Jessica Drew's costume, her unusual supporting cast, and the decision to make her a single mother halfway through the run made for a fun adventure book with a lot of heart. And the artwork, first by Javier Rodriguez and later by Veronica Fish, was some of my favorite art of the decade.

12. All-New Wolverine by Tom Taylor & David Lopez (and others)

13. She-Hulk by Charles Soule & Javier Pulido (and others)

14. Hawkeye by Matt Fraction & David Aja (and others)

15. Amazing Spider-Man by Dan Slott & Giuseppi Camuncoli (and others)

16. Spider-Man Life Story by Chip Zdarsky & Mark Bagley

17. X-Men Gold & X-Men Red by Marc Guggenheim, Tom Taylor, R.B. Silva, Mahmud A. Asrar (and others)

18. Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing & Joe Bennett (and others)

19. Wonder Woman Earth One Vols 1-2 by Grant Morrison & Yanick Paquette

20. Black Hammer & spinoffs by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston (and others)

21. Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan & Cliff Chiang

22. Descender by Jeff Lemire & Dustin Nguyen

23. Chew by John Layman & Rob Guillory

24. Klaus by Grant Morrison & Dan Mora

25. Wrinkle in Time by Hope Larson

26. Star Trek TNG Mirror Universe Series

27. DCeased by Tom Taylor & Trevor Hairsine

28. Orc Stain & Godzilla Half Century War by James Stokoe

29. Harrow County by Cullen Bunn & Tyler Crook

30. Sixth Gun by Cullen Bunn & Brian Hurtt (and others)

31. Black Magick by Greg Rucka & Nicola Scott

32. Rolled & Told

33. Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarsky

34. Captain America Sam Wilson by Nick Spencer & Daniel Acuna (and others)

35. Black Cat by Jed McKay & Travel Foreman

36. Domino by Gail Simone & David Baldeon

37. Storm by Greg Pak & others

38. Mind Mgmt by Matt Kindt

39. Marvel's Star Wars Relaunch

40. D&D Comics of Jim Zub

41. Bandette by Paul Tobin & Colleen Coover

42. Moon Knight by Jeff Lemire & Greg Smallwood (and others)

43. Alex + Ada by Jonathan Luna & Sara Vaughn

44. Injustice Gods Aong Us Years 1-3 by Tom Taylor (and others)