Top 10 Comics First Read in 2015

[megladon8]

So far...

1.) Fall of Cthulhu (Nelson; various artists)
2.) Uzumaki (Ito)
3.) Strange Embrace (Hine)
4.) Caliban (Ennis / Percio)
5.) Rover Red Charlie (Ennis / Dipascale)
6.) Neonomicon (Moore / Burrows)
7.) Wytches (Snyder / Jock)
8.) Star Wars Tales: Resurrection (Marz / Leonardi)
9.) Hellraiser 2011 Boom! run (Barker et al)
10.) Transformers Spotlight: Blur (McCarthy / Coller)

HM's...
11.) The Wake (Snyder / Murphy / Hollingsworth)
12.) Aliens vs Predator: Deadliest of the Species (Claremont / Barreto)

Read a few other Tranformers stories but the one I included was the only one I really liked.

AvP started out brilliantly and by the last few issues I was completely lost.

[Sven]

Cool, another comic thread! You may wanna credit Murphy on The Wake...

1 Powers
2 God is Dead
3 Multiversity
4 Transformers v GI Joe
5 Trees
6 Divinity
7 Terminal Hero
8 Secret Wars +
9 A Sickness in the Family
10 Imperium

Guess I haven't been dipping into the back catalogue lately...

[Melville]

1. Lose (DeForge)
2. Very Casual (DeForge)
3. Zero
4. Hawkeye (Fraction & Aja et al)
5. Sundays with Walt & Skeezix
6. When the Wind Blows
7. Gotham Central
8. BPRD: The Long Death
9. This One Summer
10. Prophet

HMs in no order:
Wicked Chicken Queen
Deadly Class
Grendel: Devil Child
Grendel: Devil Tales
BPRD: Killing Ground
The Underwater Welder
Supreme: Blue Rose
The Manhattan Projects (only read Vol. 1)
Moon Knight (Ellis & Shalvey)
Fatale Vol. 1 (disliked the series as a whole)
X-Men Legacy (mostly for the final volume)
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Secret Avengers (only read Vol. 1)
Hellboy: The Wild Hunt
Hellboy: The Storm and The Fury
FF/Fantastic Four (Hickman et al)

[megladon8]

Cool, another comic thread! You may wanna credit Murphy on The Wake...

Good call, thank you!

[Melville]

The Ticking is so good. Recommended to anybody who likes soft pencil work, elliptical storytelling, and themes of isolation, parent-child divides, freaks, monkeys, and entomology.

1. Lose (DeForge)
2. Very Casual (DeForge)
3. Zero
4. The Ticking (Renee French)
5. Hawkeye (Fraction & Aja et al)
6. Sundays with Walt & Skeezix
7. When the Wind Blows
8. Gotham Central
9. Clumsy (Jeffrey Brown)
10. BPRD: The Long Death

HMs in no order:
This One Summer
Prophet
Jar of Fools
Batman: Year 100
Wicked Chicken Queen
Deadly Class
Grendel: Devil Child
Grendel: Devil Tales
BPRD: Killing Ground
The Underwater Welder
Supreme: Blue Rose
The Manhattan Projects (only read Vol. 1)
Moon Knight (Ellis & Shalvey)
Fatale Vol. 1 (disliked the series as a whole)
X-Men Legacy (mostly for the final volume)
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Secret Avengers (only read Vol. 1)
Hellboy: The Wild Hunt
Hellboy: The Storm and The Fury
FF/Fantastic Four (Hickman et al)

[sevenarts]

1. Here (Richard McGuire)
2. Hip Hop Family Tree (Ed Piskor)
3. Love & Rockets: New Stories #7 (Hernandez Bros.)
4. Secret Wars (Hickman & Ribic)
5. Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses (David Lapham)
6. The Wicked & The Divine #13 (Gillen & Lotay)
7. Captain America (Jack Kirby)
8. Supreme Blue Rose (Ellis & Lotay)
9. Green Lantern (Englehart & Staton)
10. Martian Manhunter (Ostrander & Mandrake)

[sevenarts]

Nice to see some DeForge love, btw. And The Ticking is really great, equal parts poignant and disturbing. I love French's uninked pencil style.

[Melville]

1. Lose (DeForge)
2. Very Casual (DeForge)
3. Zero
4. The Ticking (Renee French)
5. Hawkeye (Fraction & Aja et al)
6. Sundays with Walt & Skeezix
7. Nijigahara Holograph
8. When the Wind Blows
9. Gotham Central
10. Clumsy (Jeffrey Brown)

HMs in rough order:

Through the Woods (Emily Carroll)
BPRD: The Long Death
This One Summer
Prophet
Fatale Vol. 1 (but I disliked the series as a whole)
Criminal: The Last of the Innocent
Hellboy: The Wild Hunt
Secret Avengers Vols. 1&2
Wicked Chicken Queen
Hellboy: The Storm and The Fury
Batman: Year 100
Deadly Class
Grendel: Devil Child
Grendel: Devil Tales
FF/Fantastic Four (Hickman et al)
BPRD: Killing Ground
The Underwater Welder
Supreme: Blue Rose
The Manhattan Projects Vol. 1
Moon Knight (Ellis & Shalvey)
Jar of Fools
X-Men Legacy (mostly for the final volume)
Captain America: Winter Soldier

[Melville]

1. Lose (DeForge)
2. Very Casual (DeForge)
3. Fires (Mattotti)
4. Zero (Kot et al)
5. The Ticking (Renee French)
6. Hawkeye (Fraction & Aja et al)
8. First Year Healthy (DeForge)
9. Sundays with Walt & Skeezix (Frank King)
10. Nijigahara Holograph (Inio Asano)

HMs in rough order:

The Arrival (Shaun Tan)
When the Wind Blows (Raymond Briggs)
Gotham Central (Brubaker, Rucka, Lark et al)
Clumsy (Jeffrey Brown)
Essex County (Jeff Lemire)
This One Summer
Stitches (David Small)
Hellboy: The Wild Hunt
BPRD: The Long Death
Prophet
Through the Woods (Emily Carroll)
Fatale Vol. 1 (but I disliked the series as a whole)
Criminal: The Last of the Innocent
Stigmata (Mattotti)
Secret Avengers Vols. 1&2
Ant Colony
Wicked Chicken Queen
Hellboy: The Storm and The Fury
Batman: Year 100
Deadly Class
The Poor Bastard (Joe Matt)
Grendel: Devil Child
Magic Lantern (Crepax)
Grendel: Devil Tales
FF/Fantastic Four (Hickman et al)
BPRD: Killing Ground
The Underwater Welder
Supreme: Blue Rose
The Manhattan Projects Vol. 1
Moon Knight (Ellis & Shalvey)
Jar of Fools
X-Men Legacy (mostly for the final volume)
Captain America: Winter Soldier

[Melville]

1. Lose (DeForge)
2. Very Casual (DeForge)
3. Fires (Mattotti)
4. Zero (Kot et al)
5. The Ticking (Renee French)
6. Hawkeye (Fraction & Aja et al)
8. First Year Healthy (DeForge)
9. Beautiful Darkness (Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoët)
10. Sundays with Walt & Skeezix (Frank King)

HMs in rough order:

Nijigahara Holograph (Inio Asano)
Lucille (Debeurme)
The Arrival (Shaun Tan)
When the Wind Blows (Raymond Briggs)
Gotham Central (Brubaker, Rucka, Lark et al)
Clumsy (Jeffrey Brown)
Jenifer (Bernie Wrightson and Bruce Jones)
Essex County (Jeff Lemire)
The Filth (Morrison and Weston)
This One Summer
Stitches (David Small)
Hellboy: The Wild Hunt
Safe Area Gorazde
BPRD: The Long Death
The Girl Who Tempted Me (Kirby & Simon)
Prophet
Through the Woods (Emily Carroll)
The Last Saturday (Chris Ware)
Fatale Vol. 1 (but I disliked the series as a whole)
Criminal: The Last of the Innocent
Scalped (mostly the middle few books)
Stigmata (Mattotti)
Afterlife with Archie: Escape from Riverdale
The Black Cat (Bernie Wrightson)
Secret Avengers (Kot and Walsh)
Ant Colony
Wicked Chicken Queen
Hellboy: The Storm and The Fury
Batman: Year 100
Deadly Class
The Poor Bastard (Joe Matt)
Grendel: Devil Child
Magic Lantern (Crepax)
Grendel: Devil Tales
FF/Fantastic Four (Hickman et al)
BPRD: Killing Ground
Southern Bastards: Gridiron
The Underwater Welder
Supreme: Blue Rose
The Manhattan Projects Vol. 1
Morrison's Batman (mostly Black Glove, RIP, and Batman and Robin Must Die!)
Moon Knight (Ellis & Shalvey)
Jar of Fools
X-Men Legacy (mostly for the final volume)
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Lazarus (Rucka and Lark)


Worst things I've read:
30 Days of Night
DMZ
The Boys
The Walking Dead
Mouse Guard: Fall 1152
Wolverine: Return of the Native (Rucka and Robertson)
Fables
Brian Wood's Conan (except the first volume)
Morrison's JLA
The ending of Fatale
Morrison's X-Men

[Melville]

I'm nearing the end of my year of comics binging. I got through about 250 collections/graphic novels, plus about 30 series that I dropped after an issue or two. I probably should have focused on comics that were more likely to leave a lasting impact; too many of my reads have been dictated by what's on sale on comixology. But I still read a ton of great stuff. My favorites of the year:

1. Lose (DeForge)
2. Very Casual (DeForge)
3. Fires (Mattotti)
4. Zero (Kot et al)
5. The Ticking (Renee French)
6. Hawkeye (Fraction & Aja et al)
7. First Year Healthy (DeForge)
8. Beautiful Darkness (Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoët)
9. Sundays with Walt & Skeezix (Frank King)
10. Nijigahara Holograph (Inio Asano)

HMs in rough order:

Lucille (Debeurme)
The Arrival (Shaun Tan)
Clumsy (Jeffrey Brown)
When the Wind Blows (Raymond Briggs)
Gotham Central (Brubaker, Rucka, Lark et al)
Jenifer (Bernie Wrightson and Bruce Jones)
Essex County (Jeff Lemire)
The Filth (Morrison and Weston)
MIND MGMT
Virgil (Orlando & Faith)
This One Summer
Stitches (David Small)
Hellboy: The Wild Hunt
Safe Area Gorazde
BPRD: The Long Death
The Girl Who Tempted Me! (Kirby & Simon)
Dressing (DeForge)
Prophet
Through the Woods (Emily Carroll)
The Last Saturday (Chris Ware)
Fatale Vol. 1 (but I disliked the series as a whole)
Criminal: The Last of the Innocent
Scalped (mostly for the middle few books)
Stigmata (Mattotti)
Afterlife with Archie: Escape from Riverdale
The Black Cat (Bernie Wrightson)
Secret Avengers (Kot and Walsh)
Ant Colony
Wicked Chicken Queen
Hellboy: The Storm and The Fury
Batman: Year 100
Deadly Class
The Poor Bastard (Joe Matt)
Grendel: Devil Child
Swallow Me Whole
Magic Lantern (Crepax)
Grendel: Devil Tales
Creepy Presents Alex Toth (highlights: the post-apocalyptic story and the alien-on-the-farm story. Toth is definitely one of the best artists to ever work in comics.)
FF/Fantastic Four (Hickman et al)
BPRD: Killing Ground
Southern Bastards: Gridiron (I liked it a lot more than the first arc)
The Underwater Welder
Supreme: Blue Rose
Airboy
The Manhattan Projects Vol. 1
Morrison's Batman (mostly for Black Glove, RIP, and Batman and Robin Must Die!)
Lazarus (Rucka and Lark)
Bitch Planet
Moon Knight (Ellis & Shalvey)
Alias
Jar of Fools
X-Men Legacy (mostly for the final volume)
Captain America: Winter Soldier


Worst things I've read:

30 Days of Night
DMZ
The Boys
The Walking Dead
Mouse Guard: Fall 1152
Wolverine: Return of the Native (Rucka and Robertson)
Fables
Brian Wood's Conan (except the first volume)
Morrison's JLA
The ending of Fatale
Morrison's X-Men


I might go back to reading books with no pictures now.

[ledfloyd]

You didn't like Morrison's X-Men?

I am so far behind on comics. I have every issue of the Fade Out, and I've only read the first two.

Haven't read either of the new Brian K. Vaughan series. I never finished Secret Wars or the new Sandman. I've yet to crack open a copy of Wicked + Divine, or Bitch Planet.

[Melville]

You didn't like Morrison's X-Men?
Hated it, especially everything with Magneto. A lot of the writing felt like it was trying way too hard to be clever and edgy, and there was no narrative integrity (again, especially with the Magneto stuff). As with a lot of modern superhero runs, it's also really hurt by the inconsistent quality of the art. I probably would have liked it a lot more if it was Quitely all the way through.

Morrison is probably more hit-or-miss with me than any other writer. Some of the time his ideas come off as completely half-baked to me, but I loved The Filth and really liked We3 and parts of Batman, All-Star Superman, and Final Crisis.


I am so far behind on comics. I have every issue of the Fade Out, and I've only read the first two.

Haven't read either of the new Brian K. Vaughan series. I never finished Secret Wars or the new Sandman. I've yet to crack open a copy of Wicked + Divine, or Bitch Planet.
Bitch Planet is fun. Trash provocation and great artwork.

The milieu and dialogue of Wicked + Divine irritates me, but it has some solid intrigue and very pretty, clever, effective art. Worth it just for issues 13 and 14, if nothing else.

[ledfloyd]

Interesting. I think of Morrison's X-Men as one of my favorite X-Men stories, but it's probably been 10 years since I last read it.

I do agree his books can come off as half baked at times. And inconsistent art on big-two comics is eternally aggravating.

[Melville]

Interesting. I think of Morrison's X-Men as one of my favorite X-Men stories, but it's probably been 10 years since I last read it.
I grew up an X-Men fan, but looking back, I'm not that big on any of the storylines. My favorite X-Men-related comic is definitely Weapon X, but it's barely an X-Men comic. And I have a (maybe nostalgic) appreciation for the Hama-Silvestri run on Wolverine. Out of the entire sprawling Claremont run, I think the highlight is that one Barry Windsor-Smith issue where Wolverine fights the Reavers in the snow. That issue is awesome.