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The Best of the 00's
Solar
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OK so it's been a full decade since the birth of the new millenium and we've seen a lot of comic books in the last ten years. Some have been good, some have been bad, and some have been downright ugly to coin a phrase, but some have been truly excellent.
There is a hallowed selection of comic books which are considered to be the true greats, classic examples of the best of the medium. Manyof these are superhero comics, many are not, but all of them show just how great this style of storytelling can be. Books on the level of Watchmen, Fourth World and the original Kirby/Lee Fantastic Four issues are what every writer aspires to, but in the last ten years, how many have succeded?
This thread is here for us to talk about the best comic books of the last decade, ones which we think should be included amongst the great works of the last millenium. Maybe here we can discuss as well what we consider to be these great works too.
So post your suggestions!
My suggestions are...
All-Star Superman. I personally think this is one of the best comic I have ever read and a really great, intelligent story from perhaps arguably greatest comic book writer working right now. Simply a great story with wonderful art, and lots of fun to read.
The Sentry miniseries by Paul Jenkins. Yeah yeah I know a lot of people derided the Sentry later on but this mini-series is really great and Jae Lee is fantastic when it comes to the artwork.
Nextwave, because it's crazy but really, really good and a great deconstruction of superheroes which manages to avoid being overly serious and grim.
There is a hallowed selection of comic books which are considered to be the true greats, classic examples of the best of the medium. Manyof these are superhero comics, many are not, but all of them show just how great this style of storytelling can be. Books on the level of Watchmen, Fourth World and the original Kirby/Lee Fantastic Four issues are what every writer aspires to, but in the last ten years, how many have succeded?
This thread is here for us to talk about the best comic books of the last decade, ones which we think should be included amongst the great works of the last millenium. Maybe here we can discuss as well what we consider to be these great works too.
So post your suggestions!
My suggestions are...
All-Star Superman. I personally think this is one of the best comic I have ever read and a really great, intelligent story from perhaps arguably greatest comic book writer working right now. Simply a great story with wonderful art, and lots of fun to read.
The Sentry miniseries by Paul Jenkins. Yeah yeah I know a lot of people derided the Sentry later on but this mini-series is really great and Jae Lee is fantastic when it comes to the artwork.
Nextwave, because it's crazy but really, really good and a great deconstruction of superheroes which manages to avoid being overly serious and grim.
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Brubaker Captain America
Thor relaunch
Geoff Johns' run on the JSA relaunch
Invincible
The Walking Dead
The Unwritten
Those aren't really Watchmen level, but definitely among the best comics of the decade.
JMS's early Spider-Man run
Both these series took a character that had existed for decades and found original stories to tell with them. I specially had forgotten how enjoyable JMS's early run was.
Morrison's New X-Men because it brought the X-Men into a whole new interesting world, which Marvel then shoved back into the attic.
High Roads for just having fun.
Arrowsmith for being incredibly inventive
The 2k era Superman titles for really having fun with DC's flagship hero and making his supporting cast more than villain bait.
The first Annihilation mini
New Invaders for being Marvel's answer to JSA and legacy characters (which they then shat on because of Avengers Disassembled)
Fables for original stories that made it, not Hellblazer, the main Vertigo title.
Superman Secret Identity for being perfect
Tomasi's Nightwing run
Tomasi's Green Lantern Corps run, making Guy and Kyle stand on their own and being so much better than Hal.
Formerly Known as the Justice League, and it's follow up mini, for letting people remember that DC used to have fun before Meltzer raped everyone.
And JMS' Amazing Spider-Man run with JRjr (up to #508); good stories, MJ and Peter get back together, a new job for Peter, Aunt May not being useless, and a good amount of done in one stories and two-parters. So good, only to be thrown away.
But, here's some stuff that a lot of people probably overlooked, as it was coming out.
-Manhunter; district attorney Kate Spencer raids a police evidence locker to become a lethal vigilante. Gathered around her are a motley crew of supporting characters, including Obsidian, Cameron Chase, the Q to her James Bond, Dylan Battles, and former Manhunter, Mark Shaw.
-Deadshot; a mini-series that followed in the wake of Identity Crisis, it features Floyd Lawton returning to Star City, upon realizing he has a daughter he never knew of. Unable to convince his daughter's mother to take some of his wealth and leave the slum they live in, he's instead forced to start killing mobsters, until the neighborhood's safe for his offspring. In many ways, it reads like an old Western.
-Won Ton Soup; a space-trucker takes part in something resembling an Iron Chef competition, and reunites with the one that got away. You can read a massive 41-page preview here.
-MBQ; an oddball tale revolving around a group of largely unrelated characters, in a city that's just outside the bounds of reality. Whether it's telling the story of Jeff, the gentle giant that works at a local fast food joint, supercop Aidan O'Malley, or layabout/criminal/sometimes-comic artist Omario, it's a great comic. It's the kind of thing that would speak to anyone that's stuck in a rut, and trying to pull themselves out.
-Will Pfeiffer's H.E.R.O.; a comic focusing on the magical Hero Dial, which can give anyone superpowers, the series follows the journey of the artifact, chronicling the Monkey's Paw effect it has on people's lives for the first few arcs. Eventually, when the Dial falls into the hands of a serial killer, the former wielders of the object are forced to come together, and try to stop a sociopath, with almost God-like abilities.
-Stuart Moore's Firestorm, Will Pfeiffer's Aquaman and Captain Atom: Armageddon, Dan Jolley's Bloodhound, Ed Brubaker's Catwoman, John Arcudi's Doom Patrol, Geoff Johns's Flash, Chuck Dixon's Rush City, and more I'm sure I'm forgetting. These were just great superhero books, that did what they did, very well. Good supporting casts, humor, drama, action, characterization, etc. Great stuff, most of which we'll never see in trade.
-Lots of indie darlings like Parker: The Hunter, Scalped, Chew, Y the Last Man, Ex Machina, Mesmo Delivery Service, etc. came out, but most people are at least peripherally aware of them already.
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I Kill Giants is some heavy-duty stuff. It's a fantastic book about a young, "weird" girl dealing with a traumatic event in her family in her own way. You should read it.
Very few books elicit as much emotion in me as The Goon. And, the emotions are almost always sadness, melancholy, and the like. I'm not even sure if I can really say that I like this book - but I like that it affects me so much. Also, I care a hell of a lot about the characters. They feel real, their problems and feelings become your own. It took a while to grow on me, but I'm glad I stuck it out.
I'm going to include Cable & Deadpool in here, but this is really more of a personal high-point. It's the comic that got me to buy comics regularly. It's the comic that I always trudged out to pick up the day it came out, no matter the weather. It was the axis around which my comic book activities revolved while it was coming out. It was funny, it had heart, and it gave Deadpool the ending he deserved. I liked it.
And I like Cable and Deadpool (what I read of it) because it seemed to give DP some actual purpose.
From Marvel my favorite series of the decade was probably Iron Fist, which is the first series I have ever bought from beginning to end in singles. It made Danny Rand into my favorite character.
DC-wise, I loved ASS of course and Superman: Secret Identity is a masterpiece. My favorite, however is probably Blue Beetle. It did the best 25-issue story-arc in recent memory and hit just about every note a teen hero story should.
It began and is rooted in the nineties, but half its run took place in the 21st century.
Also, Batgirl. The one with Cassandra Cain.
These two books introduced me to my favorite comic book characters. They're just so much fun.
I wish Morrison would finish Seaguy, because I think once that's finished, it really will be the modern response to Watchmen (which he has touted it as), and very much a spiritual sibling to All Star Superman. While ASS is about the aspiration of being the greatest we can and living up to our full potential, what exists so far of seaguy has been about finding that potential inside and gaining the courage and perspective and maturity to really question and challenge the world around us. They are both these great, beautifully optimistic stories about what we can be, but Seaguy manages to incorporate great political allegories into that story.
Other than that, Morrison's Batman run is also incredible.
I'd like to recommend some of the work Geoff Johns has done, but as much as I like his GL, it meanders often. His Superman work was fantastic, but it never got the ending it deserved, and it suffers so much because of that.
Munch this sounds pretty great, was it ever collected in any format
I was going to mention Mister Blank but that was made in the late 90s so it doesn't count
Also the Sunstorm arc in the Dreamwave TF Generation 1 ongoing was pretty dang good, but the book went off the rails after that arc finished
It looks like you can buy the whole thing for around $1.10 per issue, at mycomicshop.com
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the #12-14 story arc sucked
throwing in my vote for All Star Superman and Ultimate Spider-Man
And on top of that, somehow, being a wholly different beast from Hellboy.
Seconding Ultimate Spidey ( has it really been a decade? I still remember getting issue 1)
And while the 00's did bring in the gore/rape era, I think it's over-use is what's led to a more fun style of story in the more recent years, like pet avengers and such, I hope that trend continues cause comic fluff done well, is always welcome.
Oh, 00's gave us Damian Wayne too!
and lots of indy classic were birthed as has been mentioned ( was preacher 90's or 00's I'm drawing a blank now,)
The 00's ( we really need a better nickname for the decade than the 00's) also ushered in superheros to the mainstream from spidey to xmen to dark knight to iron man etc, helping keep the comic us comic geeks love coming in the market.
And this sentence had a wicked final example, but I had it half typed and the phone rang and I forgot, so I guess the 00's had some good herb too!
if you ain't agree you a jive sucka
10. Immortal Iron Fist
09. The Losers
08. Spider-Man's Tangled Web
07. Chew
06. Doctor 13
05. Greg Pak's Incredible Hulk/Herc/Hulks (Planet Hulk through current) Yes, I know this is a cheat
04. Blue Beetle
03. The New Frontier
02. Secret Six
01. Cable and Deadpool
the thing I realize is while Marvel feels as though it is always of consistent quality, ranging from good to awesome (at least the things I like), when DC has something good, it is always about a billion times better than anything you will read that week.
Planet hulk was superb in that it brought a new perspective to the hulk and harkend back to the classic conan comics with a beutiful mythology running all through it.
Exiles: While the series had it's ups and downs, it was still an incredibly origional idea that felt like an ongoing what if series. It truly saddens me that the series sputtered out.
I would probably swap out The Losers for USM but I know you hate Bendis so
Also Superman Birthright would probably be in there somewhere
I doubt any spider-book will ever touch the majesty of tangled web
Because that was phenominal
this has been a great decade for comic books, hasn't it?
Daredevil by Bendis & Maleev
X-Force/X-Statix by Milligan & Allred
All-Star Superman
Batgirl (vol. 1 & 3)
Batman & Robin
Birds of Prey
Blue Beetle (vol. 6)
Catwoman (vol. 2)
Checkmate (vol. 2)
DC: The New Frontier
Ex Machina
Fables
Formerly Known as the Justice League
Gotham Central
Huntress: Year One
I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League
Invincible
Lex Luthor: Man of Steel
Locke & Key
Manhunter
Plastic Man (vol. 3)
Powers
Pride of Baghdad
Secret Six
(Darwyn Cooke's) The Spirit
Seven Soldiers of Victory
Superman: Birthright
Superman: Red Son
Superman: Secret Identity
Teen Titans: Year One
Ultimate Spider-Man
Y: The Last Man
plus a bunch of others are comics i loved from the 00s!
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The art in Top 10 is dense as fuck. Every time I re-read it, I notice another little comic book/sci-fi reference or in-joke.
Also, the 00's brought us news of a collected Flex Mentallo. That's definitely a "Best Of" thing.
I guess I technically can't say "Planetary", since it started in '99, but I'll cheat and say "The completion of Planetary". I don't know why, but it was a hugely important and influential comic for me. Maybe it's because I didn't hear about it first and only then read it (as was the case with Watchmen, Morrison's works, and so many more), but rather discovered it for myself. I stumbled onto issues #18 at the store and was hella intrigued (this was when I was reading pretty much only cape comics). I hunted down and read all the issues for myself, noticed the references to various pulp and comic book characters and tropes, realized that the book is as much a history of comics - where they came from, how they grew out of the pulps, how they evolved - as it is a story of these characters, and basked in the idea of keeping the world strange. I'm not really interested in most of the work that Warren Ellis has been putting out of late, but for Planetary and Transmetropolitan I will forgive him any and all transgressions. He doesn't need to write anything else for me to be grateful to him.
yeah that has been consistantly great ever since it started. Best work Bendis has ever produced.
yes it did
it was written by Raven the wrestler
I had him sign it and he went on a rant how marvel never gave him any money for the royalties on the trade
There are a lot of titles that are being brought up that slipped my mind simply because I'm thinking of the writers and their current output. Superman: Birthright, Bendis' DD run, Joe Kelly's JLA run, these are all great stories.
And I would say Runaways deserves a spot, even with the 5-6 Immonen issues. You had 30 great issues by BKV (ignoring the vampire and sewer kids issues), some good tie-ins with Young Avengers, Half of Whedon's run and Klara, and Moore's work was good too (I thought, at least).
Astonishing X-Men
Powers
The Coffin
Y: The Last Man
Kevin Smith's run on Green Arrow
Planet Hulk
Asterios Polyp
Fear Agent
The Clouds Above
Afrodisiac
That's all I've got for now.
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What a wonderful story. I mean, it had a few missteps but the fact that they actually wrote a good weekly comic with zero delays was astonishing. Steel's story was decidedly meh, and Adam's was immediately made invalid but goddamn if Booster, Renee and Ralph didn't have amazing character arcs.
These were the books that pulled me back into the world of comics.
The first 7 or 8 issues? Sure. Everything after that? No no no.
Anyway, my top ten:
1. All Star Superman. Obvious choice, it's amazing and I'm completely pissed that my friend lost my second trade. On the bright side, it gives me an excuse to buy Absolute All Star Superman.
2. Batgirl. The last writer had some terrible bits (pedophile pig biker guy) but for the most part I loved the entire run. Such a fun, cool book.
3. Blue Beetle. Just a fun book really, with a great cast of characters. Real pity it only lasted 36 issues, a handful of "co-features" and he's currently in the hands of Winick.
4. Morrison's Batman run. The entire run over a handful of different comics has been great (and isn't over yet) but I really love how he changes things up constantly with different stories and constantly creating new, interesting heroes and villains. He really gave the Batman comics the shot in the arm they needed after way too much grim dark bullshit.
5. Astonishing X-Men. I like the X-Men but over the last few years they've seemed to constantly go from one stupid sounding event to another so my only real opportunity to get in was with Astonishing (though I do intend on eventually going through Morrison's run). Whedon's run had a down point or two (second arc was ehhhh) but it was still entertaining throughout.
6. Final Crisis. My favourite event comic. I understand that the technique Morrison used (channel jumping?) annoyed some people but to me it just made the entire thing more epic. Instead of the melodramatic 'street-level' stuff we usually get from these sort of comics, Final Crisis was up in the clouds, trying to follow everything as best it could.
7. Planetary. Started in 1999 you say? Eh, I don't care. Most of it came out in the 00's so that's good enough for me. I still haven't read the last issue, I decided to trade wait and now that I've got it, it's buried under the huge pile of comics I've been neglecting for the past couple of months. Still loved the series though and will really enjoy going through all 5 trades once I get some time.
8. Madame Xanadu. Brought back memories of Sandman with its use of historical events, globe trotting and use of magic (the awesome Death cameo helps). I was utterly dismayed when it was cancelled. If it had lasted for another couple of years and the quality had held, it probably would've been up near the top of my list (for uh, 2005-2015...)
9. 52. Great cast, great writers. Constantly had me waiting for the next issue every week.
10. Sinestro Corps War. Still the best event (excluding 52) Johns has touched. They planned the entire story fantastically well, which resulted in a story that was entertaining, surprising and well paced. Basically the complete opposite of Blackest Night.
Missed out: Fables, Ys: The Last Man, Superman: Red Son and Seven Soldiers.
Ah fuck it, everything Darwyn Cooke has done this decade is phenomenal
New Frontier, for fuck's sake. New fucking Frontier
All-Star Superman is incredible, as people have said, and though it's hardly all that noteworthy I really liked Paul Dini's run on Detective Comics. Then there's Superman: Birthright, aka the best Superman origin story ever, and the Thor relaunch was downright amazing
This has been a very good decade for comic books!
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