As another year comes to a close, you’ll inevitably start to see countless lists counting down the “best of” pretty much everything. Best video games, best albums, best apps, best books, best movies, and of course, best comics. This list is not a “best ongoing series of 2014” list, but is instead a list of my 10 favorite single issues this year. This list started as about 20-25 books, those books which contained moments, panels, and reveals that have stayed with me for months and months now. Then I started to whittle down the list, which was harder than I expected.
Some things I noticed which you probably will also:
- I am way behind on Daredevil—-like so behind I couldn’t put it on this list. It probably would have made it, but this is my list and I had to be honest.
- I don’t read a lot of DC usually. I, like most people, have loved Snyder’s and Capullo’s Batman run, but I don’t read a ton more in that universe. Forever Evil was fun, Justice League is okay, there just aren’t too many books from DC that I considered in the top 10 issues of the year. I also loved the conclusion to Azzarello and Chang’s Wonder Woman run, but again, it just didn’t have the same “ooph” for me as, say, Gotham underwater.
- These issues may not all be considered “perfect 10s” but they are the ones that I immediately wrote down as I looked back on my year as a lover of comics.
- There are a TON of new books that I could’ve added to this list, but I simply ran out of space for them. They could be added to a “best new series” list that I doubt I’ll have time for. Books like Birthright, Copperhead, Southern Bastards, The Autumnlands: Tooth & Claw, The Fade Out, and pretty much anything else Image produced this year.
- I like The Wicked + The Divine but I don’t think it’s amazing like a lot of others seem to think. I’m sure it’ll top a lot of other lists, but to each their own.
- Ditto for Sex Criminals—-and if issue 3 had been published this year (the amazing “Fat Bottomed Girls” issue) it would have topped my list.
SPOILERS for all issues are discussed at length. You have been warned! Without further ado, my personal list of the ten best single issues of the year:
10. Invincible #108
Written by: Robert Kirkman
Art by: Ryan Ottley
Publisher: Image
Why it made the list: This is the issue that not only had Mark utter “f*%#” for the first time within the pages of Invincible, but it was also the first time in a long while that you really felt like Mark was truly out of his depth. Robot was finally making his big move for dominance over the Earth, regardless of his reasoning behind it, and it seemed as if Mark was powerless to stop him. 115 issues later and this comic still surprises me and creeps up near the top of my pile, month in and month out.
*an edited version the final page of issue 108
9. Ms. Marvel #7
Written by: G. Willow Wilson
Art by: Jake Wyatt
Publisher: Marvel
Why it made the list: The new Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, is an amazing new character within the Marvel universe. This series was released to universal acclaim months ago, but for me, Khan became a character to watch the moment she carried Wolverine on her back. Sure, she fought thugs and giant alligators before that, but carrying the most popular mutant on the planet on your back? Literally? That’s heroism. And it was awesome.
“I’ve already Pictagrammed the whole sad episode.”
8. Moon Knight #5
Written by: Warren Ellis
Art by: Declan Shalvey
Publisher: Marvel
Why it made the list: Ellis does Big 2 books rarely these days, and usually as a means to promote his more independent work (in this case, Trees). This run was only 6 issues long, but each issue was a beautiful testament to sequential storytelling and general bad assery. Issue 5, in particular, showcased Marc Spector in all of his psycho, Egyptian-God serving, brutal glory as he took an apartment building floor by floor in order to save a girl. If this sounds too similar to The Raid, don’t worry. Pages like these will make you not care:
7. Zero #6
Written by: Ales Kot
Art by: Vanesa Del Rey
Publisher: Image
Why it made the list: Kot has long been referred to as a “rising star” in the comics world, but I think it’s time to drop “rising” from that title. Kot, along with an ever changing stable of artists, has been meticulously building the dark world of Edward Zero for 12 issues now. It was issue 6 though, for me, when the words and the art and the dark secrets spies trade in truly “clicked.” Zero was walking away from the agency not because he didn’t know “where the horses go,” but perhaps because the question had to be asked at all.
Best. Resignation. Ever.
6. Batman #29
Written by: Scott Snyder
Art by: Greg Capullo
Publisher: DC
Why it made the list: This issue, similar in a way to the Invincible issue I mentioned above, shows Batman in a way that hasn’t been explored much in recent years. Not only the young Batman, but the young and failing Batman. The Batman who is, just maybe, too smart and cocky for his own good. As Bruce ages and matures, these rougher edges have been smoothed and sanded down, but in Snyder’s and Capullo’s capable hands these imperfections are at the forefront of the story. Some of Batman’s mistakes and oversimplifications may have landed Gotham underwater, but it was only great news for readers of Batman.
5. Black Science #8
Written by: Rick Remender
Art by: Matteo Scalera
Publisher: Image
Why it made the list: I love sci-fi, alternate realities, flawed protagonists, and crazy aliens. Lucky for me, Black Science has all of these things in spades. Grant McKay was killed and lost his children to the ‘Onion’ or the connected realities he and his team discovered. This issue reminded us just how important all of these connected dimensions will be as the story rockets forward—there is no “normal” in this book, only the unexplained and the previously unmentioned. Since Fear Agent, Remender has proven countless times that he is a master of the craft, especially when in the wheelhouse of sci-fi. I’m hopeful, when all is said and done, this could be his best book yet. With this issue’s reveal of a new version of McKay, I can’t wait to find out how the rest of the team will react.
A better version than the McKay we met before.
4. Thor #21
Written by: Jason Aaron
Art by: Esad Ribic
Publisher: Marvel
Why it made the list: Thor battles Galactus for an Earth that is basically already dead. It’s also old Thor, who wears an eye patch and has a modified Destroyer limb as an arm, so there’s that. Thor also gets thrown through the moon, as if you needed more reasons to read this comic.
3. New Avengers #20
Written by: Jonathan Hickman
Art by: Valerio Schiti
Publisher: Marvel
Why it made the list: With the announcement of the Doctor Strange movie, millions of people around the world either wondered who this Stephen Strange is, or they wondered what to read in order to learn about the character before the movie releases. While Hickman has been busy writing Avengers, New Avengers, East of West, Secret, and The Manhattan Projects, he has also managed to incorporate the best arc of Strange’s life since Vaughan’s The Oath. Stephen Strange has never been a perfect hero character but the depth to which he is falling in order to save the 616 is astonishing. I can’t wait to find out what happens when a Sorcerer Supreme truly begins to flourish within the dark arts. Plus, this issue had the added bonus of having Strange going completely ballistic against a barely-disguised group of DC analogs. Great stuff.
There are some things you can’t come back from
2. Saga #20
Written by: Brian K. Vaughan
Art by: Fiona Staples
Publisher: Image
Why it made the list: No other comic being published today has such a fine balance of romance, mystery, sci-fi, violence, robots, talking cats, and…amazingly named mercenaries. Issue 20 made my list specifically because almost all of these things are present in this installment but it never feels like it is bursting at the seams. Vaughan effortlessly moves between genres, not between titles but between mere pages. That is art, in my humble opinion. Unfortunately for the Royal Robot family, this also meant that a lot of beautiful violence was drawn in this issue by Staples, as a lowly robot janitor decided to start some type of revolution. Alana also took some pretty powerful drugs in order to deal with her acting job, which resulted in one of the coolest an trippiest panels ever. Saga is just great comics—no surprise there, but I’m ecstatic that 24 issues later it is still one of the most imaginative and surprising books out there.
She’s a mother! A robot mom, but still…
1. The Superior Spider-Man #30
Written by: Dan Slott
Art by: Giuseppe Camuncoli
Publisher: Marvel
Why it made the list: I’m not sure how many people thought that Otto would control Peter’s body for as long as he did, but if I were to bet I’d think most people probably would’ve guessed a lot less than 30+. More amazing though was how wonderfully Slott portrayed a lovesick, violent, and though reluctant at times, truly heroic new Spider-Man. Part of what made Otto’s tenure as Spider-Man so great was the simple fact that Peter had to retake the helm at some point, so we knew that Otto was always working against the clock (even if he didn’t admit that to himself). This issue had that big moment of Peter back in control and Slott did not disappoint. That final page is why The Superior Spider-Man #30 is my single best issue of the year—even though Pete’s return was inevitable, I was still surprised at how excited I was to see him and how bittersweet it was to say goodbye to Otto.
Indeed
That’s it! My top 10 ten issues of 2014. Did I get any right? Which books did I leave off? I’m sure I’ll think of a few myself that I wish I had added, but I had to go with my gut and these all popped in my head almost immediately. Let me know how I did and what I need to read to make my 2015 list better. Thanks for reading!
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