2015 Comics - The High Points: a Top 10 List!

So… Marvel's Secret Wars was garbage. But I read a lot of other comics in 2015 and there were a lot of duds. But since lists are a thing, I'm going to go over my top 10 list of things I read in the past year that I think really stood out. I’m not limiting this list strictly to things that came out in 2015— just stuff that I read in 2015— but the two things generally correspond.

Onward!

1. Giant Days

   WHY?
   Giant Days is a comic by the guy who used to write the Scary Go Round webcomic. It’s basically about Ester De Groot’s first year at university. British college students doing college student things. It is both powerfully nostalgic and hilarious to me. It is a flawless comic.

2. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin

   WHY?
   I picked up the Gundam origin stuff largely because I knew nothing about Gundam. As an anime and manga fan, I felt like Gundam is one of those essential texts and I should make an effort to know what all the fuss is about. I picked up Vol 1 and read it. Then I read it again. I am now 7 volumes in. No giant robot comic has any right to be this effective and enjoyable.

3. Monstress

   WHY?
   If you follow comics, I imagine you’ve heard the noise being made about Monstress. It really is as good as they say. The world is complex and detailed. The main character is a brooding badass. And the art is gorgeous. It’s one of those books where it feels like a whole living-breathing world exists behind what you see on the pages.

4. Paper Girls

   WHY?
   This one is weird. It’s set in the 80s and the protagonists are a gang of early-teen girls who control the paper routes for a group of contingent neighborhoods in their town. One morning while they’re out doing their thing, aliens attack their town. There’s more than a little Goonies to this thing and it’s fun and absurd.

5. Silk

   WHY?
   While the Spider-verse was fun last year, I was a little skeptical about all the Spider-Person books that were released in it’s wake. I picked up a few of them because I’m a big fan of the Spider-Man. Silk is the only one I’m still reading. Which is ironic because she’s the least interesting of the spider-family. But the book is just good. The writing is enjoyable and solid and the art is perfect for a female-led superhero book.

6. A Silent Voice

   WHY?
   A Silent Voice is a manga that just started coming out in the US this year and it’s kind-of hard to say that I enjoy it, per se. It’s the most brutally honest narrative about childhood bullying that I’ve encountered in a work of fiction. Uncomfortably so. It’s also a little wish-fulfilly in that the bully becomes the bullied and learns the error of his ways. The manga is good and it’s a page-turner. But as a grown person who was bullied as a kid, the narrative’s authenticity makes me a little twitchy. So… trigger warnings and all.

7. Dragon Age: Mage Killer

   WHY?
   There’s only one issue to this comic so far. But the first issue is VERY strong. Also it’s a story from the world of Dragon Age that takes place in the notorious Tevinter Imperium. I’ve also learned to trust Rucka’s writing when he hits the ground running like this over the years. It’s also quite pretty.

8. Miracleman

   WHY?
   Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman’s runs on Miracleman are something of a comics industry urban legend at this point. People who have read them say they’re the best work the writers have produced, but they’ve been in copyright dispute so long that most of us haven’t had the chance. All that’s cleared up and now they’ve been collecting Moore’s issues and reprinting them now (Gaiman’s issues are on the way later this year). I honestly don’t think they’re Moore’s best work. But they are typical of him. There is a bumpy patch in the middle with some really dodgy art, but the stories themselves are brilliant.

9. Heathen

   WHY?
   Heathen is about a young viking woman who stands up to Odin’s arrogant bullying and is sent on a quest for her troubles. I don’t think it’s only available in digital unless you go to see the creator at one of the cons she goes to. But it’s a fun comic and I really dig the art.

10. Doctor Fate

    WHY?
    So I don’t read many DC Comics anymore. Mostly because they’re largely junk these days. But I really the artist they tapped for the Doctor Fate reboot (Sonny Liew — his work in Shadow Hero was really great) and I was all intrigued by the fact that they decided to hand Fate’s helmet to a medical student named ‘Khalid’. So I gave it a shot and I’ve been happy with how it all has been shaping up. It’s a little slow paced, but I’m one to talk there… ;)