COMICS PORTAL: The Best of 2013!

The year 2013 may go down as one of the best years in comics in recent years. Every company was “upping their game,” and the quality of storytelling went up as well, in my opinion.

To wrap up this year, I want to share what I consider the best of 2013 in several categories. I know some people list their top 5, 10 or even 100, but I’d rather just post  what I consider the best, then mention others that I feel really made it a memorable year. That doesn’t mean I didn’t love a lot more product than you can find here – I did! I struggled to pick out the ones below, but many more are worth your attention … and money ! Just check out my previous columns, reviews and podcasts in 2013!

Please note that I’ll be listing picks in alphabetical order as much as possible!

BEST COMIC:

• Batman by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo for DC Comics
  (As a long-time Batman fan, I think this may be the best Bat-book of the last couple of decades. I think it’s also important to point out that every month it’s in the top 10 in sales, often in the number one slot.)

Also Excellent in 2013:

• Archer and Armstrong by Fred Van Lente and Pere Perez for Valiant
• Captain Midnight by Joshua Williamson and Eduardo Francisco for Dark Horse
• Dept. of Monsterology by Gordon Rennie and P. J. Holdenfor Renegade
• Earth 2 now by Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott for DC
• Hawkeye by Matt Fraction and several artists for Marvel
• Ghosted by Joshua Williamson and Goran Sudzuka for Image
• Green Arrow by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino for DC Comics
• The Justice League family of comics for DC
• Mind MGMT by Matt Kindt for Dark Horse
• The Victories by Michael Oeming for Dark Horse
• Unity by Matt Kindt and Doug Braithwaite for Valiant
• X-O Manowar by Robert Venditti and Diego Bernard for Valiant
• Oh, and all the other Bat-books from DC! I enjoy them all greatly! That includes Batman And … , Detective Comics, The Dark Knight, Nightwing, Batwoman and Batgirl, among others!

BEST SURPRISE COMIC (one that farthest exceeded my expectations):

• The Fox by Dean Haspiel and Mark Waid for Red Circle/Archie Comics

BEST WRITER:

• Scott Snyder

Also Excellent in 2013:

• Sterling Gates
• Kyle Higgins
• Gregg Hurwitz
• Geoff Johns
• Matt Kindt
• JT Krul
• Jeff Lemire
• James Tynion IV
• Fred Van Lente
• Charles Soule
• Mark Waid
• Robert Venditti
• Joshua Williamson

BEST ARTIST:

• Greg Capullo

Also Excellent in 2013:

• David Finch
• George Perez
• Ivan Reis
• Nicola Scott

BEST DIGITAL-FIRST COMIC:

• Masks and Mobsters by Joshua Williamson and Seth Damoose at Monkeybraincomics.com

Also Excellent in 2013:

• Anti-Hero by Jay Faerber and Nate Stockman at Monkeybraincomics.com
• Batman Beyond 2.0 by Kyle Higgins and Thony Silas at DCComics.com
• Captain Ultimate by Benjamin Bailey & Joey Esposito and Boykoesh at Monkeybraincomics.com
• Edison Rex by Chris Roberson and Dennis Culver at Monkeybraincomics.com
• Insufferable by Mark Waid and Peter Krause at Thrillbent.com
• Justice League Beyond 2.0 by Christos Gage and Iban Coello at DCComics.com
• Legends of the Dark Knight by various at DCComics.com
• The Eighth Seal by James Tynion IV and Jeremy Rock at Thrillbent.com
• Theremin by Curt Pires and Dalton Rose at Monkeybraincomics.com

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL:

• Richard Stark’s Parker: Slayground by Darwyn Cooke for IDW

BEST EVENT:

• Forever Evil from DC Comics

BEST COMICS-RELATED ITEM:

• Batman Vol. 01: The Court of Owls Hardcover Graphic Novel and Mask Set

BEST COMICS-RELATED TV SHOW:

• Arrow on The CW

Also Excellent in 2013:

• The Walking Dead on AMC

BEST COMICS-RELATED MOVIE:

• Man of Steel

Also Worthy of Mention in 2013:

• Iron Man 3

I’m seriously looking forward to 2014, which will be, in part, the Year of the Bat with Batman: Eternal starting in April! Happy New Year to one and all!