Ok I narrowed myself down to a personal list of 5, and for the most part I found myself cutting a lot of the more recent, buzzy books for the simple reason that they are so new. It was hard for me to justify calling a book with 3 or 5 or 8 issues of an ongoing series one of the best books of the last decade when in comparison to much longer running series. (or in one case, a short but completed story)
However, I did make one exception to this rule, and that exception is Deadly Class by Rick Remender, Wesley Craig, and Lee Loughridge. Published by Image Comics.
The elevator pitch, essentially is "Think Harry Potter but instead of a school for wizards it's a school for world class killers and assassins."
It's a common trope when writing fantastical stories to accentuate the heightened emotions of youth where every little thing feels like life or death by making them literally about those stakes, and this book certainly does that. But it's an entirely different beast in a lot of ways as well, there's no chosen one narrative here, no good vs evil. Just a group of fucked up kids struggling with life and love and drugs and sex and family and secrets. It's a period piece as well, set in the late 80s.
But this is a comic book right? It's not just about words, lets take a look at some of the art from the first issue, where our lead Marcus meets his future classmate Saya for the first time.
But it's not all doom and gloom Remender misery and kickass action setpieces (although there are plenty of both of those!), this book is also fucking funny.
That's my pitch for Deadly Class, which of the non Big Two books currently still running, is the one I look forward to a new issue of the most when I see it on the release list.
Hellboy is a bit of a weird case, the series (which is actually more of a long running sequence of discrete minis) has actually been running since the early 90s. If this was the best comics of the last twenty years then Hellboy should probably win hands down on volume and longevity alone. But even so, Mike Mignola's creation remains an iconic and vital figure in comic books. I'd even argue that the most recent 10 years have done a lot to improve his legacy as far more than the pulpy action hero he started as.
Sure everyone loves when Big Red uses his giant stone fist to punch an otherwordly monster in the face as he literally yells aloud the word BOOM.
But Hellboy became so much more than just that, much like it's hero the series became melancholy, introspective, tragic and beautiful. And it gave us one of the most literally heart rending moments of comics in the last 10 years.
spoilers for Hellboy: The Fury
That wasn't the end of course, anything but as Mike Mignola made his triumphant return to drawing as well as writing Hellboy in 2012.
A comic that sells itself as pure cheesecake that turns out to have a pretty deep story and compelling characters.
I also nominated DMZ It started in November 2005 and is basically about the Second America civil war from the perspective of the Matty Soams, a intern that gets assigned to a big shot Reporter going into the Main battle line of the conflict New York City. Said big shot reporter gets shot down over Manhattan and Matty is the only survivor of his crew. He steps up and becomes the only accredited reporter in the place know as the DMZ Manhattan island.
The sky was full of stars, every star an exploding ship. One of ours.
I am a huge proponent of digital distribution. I don't like floppies, hate how difficult they are to store and how much space they take up. As soon as digital comics became a viable alternative I jumped fully into it and read everything on my iPad.
Trillium is a book that everyone should read in single, physical issues if they can.
Jeff Lemire's trippy, beautiful sci-fi love story plays with the format of the medium in ways that enhance the experience tremendously. The first issue can be read from either the front or the back, each side depicting the start of the story for each of our leads from completely different worlds until they literally meet in the middle.
Lemire dosen't stop there as subsequent issues continue to play with page layouts and issue structure in ways that thematically tie into whats happening in the story. But if this was just about the gimmicks it wouldn't rate in my top 5. It's a comic you should read regardless of the format. Lemire's always at his best drawing his own work and his unique style is perfect for a tale of star crossed lovers set across the backdrop of both the aftermath of World War 1 and the literal end of human civilization.
Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra was my gateway back into comics in the mid 2000s. It was at the time, one of the single most important pieces of art in my life. (I was pretty close to Yorrick Brown's age myself at the time and identified with him intensely). It dosen't speak to me quite the same way now that I'm in my 30s, but I'll never forget the way it made me feel at the time, and I still consider it a near perfect story.
As I'm writing this post now I realize I almost don't know how to talk about it, my love of it is so personal. It's a story I felt intensely, and I remember that last year of the series in particular, as it went bi-monthly for the final arc (as in every other month) was excruciating. I also remember each of the final 3 issues making me cry. It's a story I felt, much like BKV's current series Saga, and full of an eclectic cast of characters that remain among my favorite in comics.
It's funny, 10 years ago me would have been falling all over himself to tell you about the high concept (every male mammal on the planet except for Yorick and his monkey all die at once) but looking back on it now, it's really incidental to what I love about the book.
But yeah, as great as Saga is, when it comes to BKV, my heart will always belong to Y. If you like his current work, check it out. I bet you'll feel the same way.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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AtomicTofuShe's a straight-up supervillain, yoRegistered Userregular
Fables
East of west
Sex criminals
Saga
Y the last man
Atomic robo
Kinda surprised I haven't seen Walking Dead and Invincible nominated
Both have been really entertaining series. WD being probably the most popular comic out there not of the big 2 even before the TV series became such a big deal, and Invincible being a really good take on the superhero genre (a bit heavy on the gore sometimes but still)
Fear Agent by Rick Remender, Tony Moore, and Jerome Opena.
Now, what's Fear Agent? Well it's a sci-fi story sure, and it draws on a classic Flash Gordon aesthetic what with bubble helmets and rocket packs and ray guns. But inside that bubble helmet is a drunk texan mercenary who becomes the central figure in maybe the most shocking and satisfying cosmic epic I've ever read.
You like robots and aliens invasions? We got that. You like westerns? We got that too! You like horror? This book can be scary as shit. It can also be bleak. I once referred to this book as the FULL REMENDER and what he puts Heath Huston through I think is unlike anything I've ever seen him to do to another of his characters. (Although Low might get there with enough time). But it's never too bleak, and there are moments of staggering beauty in this series. The ending in particular is probably what caps this as one of my favorite series of all time - but goddamn, what a ride to get there.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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Zonugal(He/Him) The Holiday ArmadilloI'm Santa's representative for all the southern states. And Mexico!Registered Userregular
I'll also nominate Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina.
Sci-Fi pulp at it's finest. The story is about 'elephantmen', the pejorative term for animals that had been bred to be humanoid, in order to be auctioned off to the highest bidder to be used for war. But catgirls and dogboys this ain't; most are hippos, zebras, giraffes, and other animals from the African savannah, and none are female. The story takes place after they've been used (and in some cases, used up) by war, and have officially been freed and retired from their bondage, though as always, war changes a person, and sometimes you just can't let go.
The primary character is one Hip Flask, an anthropomorphic hippopotamus tasked with working for the Information Agency, who aid law enforcement agencies where possible. Of course, in a world where talking animals are commonplace, war wounds fester, and the future isn't as utopian as any one would like, there's a lot that happens, and it's not always good.
Broken record here, but Saga, Fables, Scott Pilgrim, Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina... I'm trying to remember any others I have actually read enough of to get an impression.
I'll nominate Scott Pilgrim. Bryan Lee O'Malley grows so much as a writer and artist as the series progresses, and it's really cool to see how the cast grows and changes as well. The digest/volume format really allowed that narrative a chance to breathe, and allowed for that series to become something it might not have otherwise. Either way, it's funny, but in a way that doesn't undercut any of the big emotional beats it goes for, and it doesn't hesitate to let the supporting cast get victories of their own.
I'll also nominate Y: The Last Man for being one of the first comics to really get me to realize that comics didn't have to have superheroes in them to be worth reading. I can't really remember when I started checking them out, but I have a feeling it was around the same time I was buying Fables trades and reading them at my desk at a temp job. I probably still have a lot in common with who Yorick was at the start of that series, which...well, it isn't really comforting, but I'll make do.
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GustavFriend of GoatsSomewhere in the OzarksRegistered Userregular
Ok, I am feeling some shame that I wasn't the first to nominate or even second Locke and Key because now that remembered that suckers gonna be up there in my vote. How could I have forgotten Locke and Key!
HeatwaveCome, now, and walk the path of explosions with me!Registered Userregular
edited April 2015
Rather than explain why I love these books over and over again, I decided to post some pages. I hope these images aren't too large. They're below 500kb and I put the rest in a spoilers and links to save page space.
Transformers: More than Meets the Eye. Sorry about the potato quality but I couldn't find better on the internet.
I've noted the Sex Criminals and Rat Queens nominations, but the Transformers comics and all other licensed comics are out of this one because, well, they just had their own category.
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HeatwaveCome, now, and walk the path of explosions with me!Registered Userregular
This list really got away from me, there were way too many options:
Y The Last Man
Fatale
Alex + Ada
Saga
Scott Pilgrim
Locke & Key
Lazarus
Sex Criminals
The Wicked + The Divine
Revival
Deadly Class
Roche Limit
Nowhere Men
Did anyone put up Scalpedyet? Jason Aaron's crime drama is both beautiful and brutal dealing with a Native American reservation in South Dakota, and undercover FBI agent Dashal Bad Horse returning home to take down corrupt tribal president Lincoln Red Crow. (I'd write more about it, but my break's ending, and I hate writing on my mobile. Hopefully another Aaron fan can sell it better)
Did anyone put up Scalpedyet? Jason Aaron's crime drama is both beautiful and brutal dealing with a Native American reservation in South Dakota, and undercover FBI agent Dashal Bad Horse returning home to take down corrupt tribal president Lincoln Red Crow. (I'd write more about it, but my break's ending, and I hate writing on my mobile. Hopefully another Aaron fan can sell it better)
I second Scalped.
Did we get a ruling on Wildstorm? If its Big Two, then I nominated Sleeper. Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips tell the story of Holden Carver, a secret agent who went undercover to infiltrate an organization run by supervillains. Then his handler, the only person who knows he's not a villain, goes into a coma. Dark and intelligent superhero noir with gorgeous art and sharp writing.
Here's a list of comics sitting at two nominations in the Best Non-Big Two comic poll:
Prince of Cats
Manifest Destiny
Manhattan Projects
Chew
Daytripper
Lumberjanes
2000AD
G-Man
Nowhere Men
Hellboy
Scalped
Trillium
Fear Agent
Andre the Giant: Life and Legend
Here's a list of comics with only one nomination:
ODY-C
Bitch Planet
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Three
Stray Bullets
Goon
Sixth Gun
BPRD
Abe Sapien
Mouse Guard
DMZ
the Walking Dead
Invincible
Elephantmen
House of Mystery
King City
Orc Stain
Wrenchies
Fatale
Alex & Ada
Lazarus
Revival
Roche Limit
Sleeper
Still time to nominate or second whatever else you want
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AtomicTofuShe's a straight-up supervillain, yoRegistered Userregular
Posts
Steam: MightyPotatoKing
Steam: MightyPotatoKing
However, I did make one exception to this rule, and that exception is Deadly Class by Rick Remender, Wesley Craig, and Lee Loughridge. Published by Image Comics.
The elevator pitch, essentially is "Think Harry Potter but instead of a school for wizards it's a school for world class killers and assassins."
It's a common trope when writing fantastical stories to accentuate the heightened emotions of youth where every little thing feels like life or death by making them literally about those stakes, and this book certainly does that. But it's an entirely different beast in a lot of ways as well, there's no chosen one narrative here, no good vs evil. Just a group of fucked up kids struggling with life and love and drugs and sex and family and secrets. It's a period piece as well, set in the late 80s.
But this is a comic book right? It's not just about words, lets take a look at some of the art from the first issue, where our lead Marcus meets his future classmate Saya for the first time.
But it's not all doom and gloom Remender misery and kickass action setpieces (although there are plenty of both of those!), this book is also fucking funny.
That's my pitch for Deadly Class, which of the non Big Two books currently still running, is the one I look forward to a new issue of the most when I see it on the release list.
Sure everyone loves when Big Red uses his giant stone fist to punch an otherwordly monster in the face as he literally yells aloud the word BOOM.
But Hellboy became so much more than just that, much like it's hero the series became melancholy, introspective, tragic and beautiful. And it gave us one of the most literally heart rending moments of comics in the last 10 years.
spoilers for Hellboy: The Fury
That wasn't the end of course, anything but as Mike Mignola made his triumphant return to drawing as well as writing Hellboy in 2012.
A comic that sells itself as pure cheesecake that turns out to have a pretty deep story and compelling characters.
I also nominated DMZ It started in November 2005 and is basically about the Second America civil war from the perspective of the Matty Soams, a intern that gets assigned to a big shot Reporter going into the Main battle line of the conflict New York City. Said big shot reporter gets shot down over Manhattan and Matty is the only survivor of his crew. He steps up and becomes the only accredited reporter in the place know as the DMZ Manhattan island.
Trillium is a book that everyone should read in single, physical issues if they can.
Jeff Lemire's trippy, beautiful sci-fi love story plays with the format of the medium in ways that enhance the experience tremendously. The first issue can be read from either the front or the back, each side depicting the start of the story for each of our leads from completely different worlds until they literally meet in the middle.
Lemire dosen't stop there as subsequent issues continue to play with page layouts and issue structure in ways that thematically tie into whats happening in the story. But if this was just about the gimmicks it wouldn't rate in my top 5. It's a comic you should read regardless of the format. Lemire's always at his best drawing his own work and his unique style is perfect for a tale of star crossed lovers set across the backdrop of both the aftermath of World War 1 and the literal end of human civilization.
PSN- AHermano
Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra was my gateway back into comics in the mid 2000s. It was at the time, one of the single most important pieces of art in my life. (I was pretty close to Yorrick Brown's age myself at the time and identified with him intensely). It dosen't speak to me quite the same way now that I'm in my 30s, but I'll never forget the way it made me feel at the time, and I still consider it a near perfect story.
As I'm writing this post now I realize I almost don't know how to talk about it, my love of it is so personal. It's a story I felt intensely, and I remember that last year of the series in particular, as it went bi-monthly for the final arc (as in every other month) was excruciating. I also remember each of the final 3 issues making me cry. It's a story I felt, much like BKV's current series Saga, and full of an eclectic cast of characters that remain among my favorite in comics.
It's funny, 10 years ago me would have been falling all over himself to tell you about the high concept (every male mammal on the planet except for Yorick and his monkey all die at once) but looking back on it now, it's really incidental to what I love about the book.
But yeah, as great as Saga is, when it comes to BKV, my heart will always belong to Y. If you like his current work, check it out. I bet you'll feel the same way.
Steam
Fables
East of west
Sex criminals
Saga
Y the last man
Atomic robo
Kinda surprised I haven't seen Walking Dead and Invincible nominated
Both have been really entertaining series. WD being probably the most popular comic out there not of the big 2 even before the TV series became such a big deal, and Invincible being a really good take on the superhero genre (a bit heavy on the gore sometimes but still)
Fear Agent by Rick Remender, Tony Moore, and Jerome Opena.
Now, what's Fear Agent? Well it's a sci-fi story sure, and it draws on a classic Flash Gordon aesthetic what with bubble helmets and rocket packs and ray guns. But inside that bubble helmet is a drunk texan mercenary who becomes the central figure in maybe the most shocking and satisfying cosmic epic I've ever read.
You like robots and aliens invasions? We got that. You like westerns? We got that too! You like horror? This book can be scary as shit. It can also be bleak. I once referred to this book as the FULL REMENDER and what he puts Heath Huston through I think is unlike anything I've ever seen him to do to another of his characters. (Although Low might get there with enough time). But it's never too bleak, and there are moments of staggering beauty in this series. The ending in particular is probably what caps this as one of my favorite series of all time - but goddamn, what a ride to get there.
Sci-Fi pulp at it's finest. The story is about 'elephantmen', the pejorative term for animals that had been bred to be humanoid, in order to be auctioned off to the highest bidder to be used for war. But catgirls and dogboys this ain't; most are hippos, zebras, giraffes, and other animals from the African savannah, and none are female. The story takes place after they've been used (and in some cases, used up) by war, and have officially been freed and retired from their bondage, though as always, war changes a person, and sometimes you just can't let go.
The primary character is one Hip Flask, an anthropomorphic hippopotamus tasked with working for the Information Agency, who aid law enforcement agencies where possible. Of course, in a world where talking animals are commonplace, war wounds fester, and the future isn't as utopian as any one would like, there's a lot that happens, and it's not always good.
i'll nominate vertigo's House of Mystery, which was just fantastic horror anthology comics at a time when they did not exist.
Locke and Key has to be up in this mug.
ditto on King City
and then, finally, a favorite of mine, Andre the Giant: Life and Legend
I'll also nominate Y: The Last Man for being one of the first comics to really get me to realize that comics didn't have to have superheroes in them to be worth reading. I can't really remember when I started checking them out, but I have a feeling it was around the same time I was buying Fables trades and reading them at my desk at a temp job. I probably still have a lot in common with who Yorick was at the start of that series, which...well, it isn't really comforting, but I'll make do.
I'd like to nominate Orc Stain and The Wrenchies
Transformers: More than Meets the Eye. Sorry about the potato quality but I couldn't find better on the internet.
Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers.
Transformers: Robots in Disguise. Link.
Rat Queens. Link.
Sex Criminals. Link.
Steam / Origin & Wii U: Heatwave111 / FC: 4227-1965-3206 / Battle.net: Heatwave#11356
Steam / Origin & Wii U: Heatwave111 / FC: 4227-1965-3206 / Battle.net: Heatwave#11356
I know it won't win, but I want to second Andre the Giant: Life and Legend just so I can throw a vote at it.
Y The Last Man
Fatale
Alex + Ada
Saga
Scott Pilgrim
Locke & Key
Lazarus
Sex Criminals
The Wicked + The Divine
Revival
Deadly Class
Roche Limit
Nowhere Men
Steam: abunchofdaftpunk | PSN: noautomobilesgo | Lastfm: sjchszeppelin | Backloggery: colincummings | 3DS FC: 1392-6019-0219 |
Did anyone put up Scalpedyet? Jason Aaron's crime drama is both beautiful and brutal dealing with a Native American reservation in South Dakota, and undercover FBI agent Dashal Bad Horse returning home to take down corrupt tribal president Lincoln Red Crow. (I'd write more about it, but my break's ending, and I hate writing on my mobile. Hopefully another Aaron fan can sell it better)
Steam: MightyPotatoKing
I second Scalped.
Did we get a ruling on Wildstorm? If its Big Two, then I nominated Sleeper. Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips tell the story of Holden Carver, a secret agent who went undercover to infiltrate an organization run by supervillains. Then his handler, the only person who knows he's not a villain, goes into a coma. Dark and intelligent superhero noir with gorgeous art and sharp writing.
Here's a list of comics with only one nomination:
Still time to nominate or second whatever else you want
Thirding Hellboy and seconding BPRD
Steam
I can't believe it slipped my mind.
I'll second BPRD.
Also, seconding Mouse Guard
I haven't read it, but @Fearghaill seems nuts about it so I probably should