In 2009 I started reading comics thanks to KICK-ASS and Scott Pilgrim, and 2010 saw my obsessive compulsiveness blow throw a bunch of money as I dove head first in to the world of modern comics. I've toned it down now but I have read a lot of comics this year and here are my favorite series:
10. Justice League International: Generation Lost
JLI is a 26 issue series which has made it a bit over half way through it's run in 2010. Its one of my favorite superhero series that I read, and I was first turned on to it by another blog
Everyday Is Like Wednesday. None of the main cast are really major players in the DC universe, and that allows for a little more liberty to be taken with the relationships between them. It gets a little soap opera like at times but its nice to see superheroes with a more human side.
9. DV8
A short series published by Wildstorm, DV8 drew itself out with slow release schedule and numerous cliff-hangers. In the future, a group of teenagers are given super-powers that mirror their strongest personality trait. Then they are dropped on an under developed human-esque world, where the locals treat them as gods. A few team up, others take charge of individual clans of natives, and eventually the clashing ideal of the different groups lead to a world war with the teens as figureheads. Its a short read but quite interesting thanks to all the questions it raises, though it doesn't answer many. The last issue makes it sound like there will be another short series that will continue this story, so I look forward to that in 2011.
8. Power Girl
It's hard to tell people you like Power Girl and not have them look at you like you're a pervert. I mean look at that cover. Whats the first thing you notice? You're probably wondering where two women found a seamstress who could fashion a garment strong enough to contain their...um...bountiful assets. But seriously, PG is my favorite DC character (that's not Batman) mainly because she's an alternate version of another character who has a sense of humor. She is some other earth's version of Supergirl, but something happened and now she's stuck in our world or something. But she makes the most of it and has developed a sense of humor as a coping mechanism to deal with the fact that shes not supposed to exist.The first 12 issues of the series were especially good, and while the series is still okay its mainly my love of the character that keeps me reading. But ignore that and read the first 12 issues.
7. Sweet Tooth
I really like Sweet Tooth, but I'm forcing my self to read it in trade as those are released. I have to admit the wait but trades is horrible, the story is so good I just want to pick up every single issue of the comic and get caught up. The story is set in a post apocalyptic world where a mysterious disease is killing everyone, no one knows much about the plague other than the fact that its onset was marked by numerous children being born with a deformity. The children of the plague each have a different deformity, but all are part animal part human. The many story follows a half deer boy who we call "Sweet Tooth" as he leaves the safety of his home in the woods after his fathers death. He's accompanied by a man named Jeppard, whose intentions are never entirely clear. Sure post-apocalyptic setting isn't the most original, but the characters make this book great.
6. Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
Like I said, this series is the reason I got in to comics. It'd be higher up, but this wasn't even my favorite of the series. That being said, it does finally tie up all the series plots. It was a great year for Scott Pilgrim; the last book was released, the movie adaptation was released, and a really sweet 8-bit beat 'em up videogame was released to coincide with the game. And the soundtrack...oh the soundtrack. I'd feel stupid putting a soundtrack in my top albums of 2010, but the original music by Beck as Scott's band Sex Bob-Omb is amazing.
5. American Vampire
American Vampire is a new series that garnered some attention because it was partially co-written by Stephen King, though his storyline isn't the best part of the book. King rights the origin story of one of the main characters Skinner Sweet who is criminal that is transformed by some European vampires into the first American Vampire. Apparently, your place of birth effects your blood stream, or at least how the vampire blood reacts with your human blood. So, European vampires are what you would think of as classic vampires, they hate sunlight and can be killed with a wooden stake. American Vampires on the other hand can walk in the day light and have no known weaknesses. The primary storyline follows Pearl, a struggling actress who finally gets her big break in a film when she's paired in a scene with the lead actor, who eventually invites her to a party with some very important foreign film makers. Needless to say, Pearl gets a little more than she bargained for and we get an awesome comic.
Not everyone is a fan of Grant Morrison's run on Batman and the assorted Batbooks but I am not one of those people. Now that I've read some more of Morrison's current work I can say that I'm not excited by his overarching goals for the Batman canon but I love the way he writes his characters and I'm excited by the prospect of Batman Inc. So that was super nerdy and if you're reading this I'm sorry, but I think its illegal to read comics and not have strong opinions on Batman and whoever is currently writing the series. Anyway, lets talk about this specific Bat-series. Dick Grayson is Batman and Damien Wayne is Robin, and the two work great together. Dick is enthusiastic and makes Batman fun, he enjoys it whereas Bruce always seemed burdened by the cowl. Damien on the other hand is an asshole, and it's hilarious. I mean just look at that cover, you can get a sense of their attitude just from that picture. The art is great through out the entire series, and they have consistently some of the best covers of any series.
I haven't mentioned the art of many other comics on this list but its hard to ignore in Orc Stain. James Stokoe writes and draws Orc Stain and it is amazing! The story isn't the most complicated but its fun and the protagonist One-Eye is pretty great. In a race of non-thinker, he is a thinker; One-eye understands that all things have a failing point and uses that knowledge to crack safes and wreak havoc on enemies. Issue 4 also introduces Bowie the Swamp Bamba who you see to the left, she's like a witch doctor...who kicks ass. It's hard to explain how awesome these characters are...but describing the interior are is even more challenging. The level of detail is miraculous and every issue takes hours to fully appreciate. I highly recommend this series, a trade collection was just released of the first 5 issues and everyone should buy it.
2. Chew
Every week I look forward to reading Chew, unfortunately it doesn't come out every week so I'm disappointed....a lot. Chew is incredibly well written, and the art takes some getting used to but once you reach a certain point you can't imagine it any other way. The story follows Tony Chu and FDA detective who's also a cibopath...or whatever it's called, when he eats things he can instantly sense their history. There was a plague, a variant of Bird Flu, that led to the ban of chicken. The FDA was turned in to a variant of Secret Service that enforces the poultry ban, and Tony is a lead detective. You can buy the first issue for a dollar at any comic shop, and that should be enough to reel you in.
1. KING CITY
KING CITY is about Joe the Cat Master, and his cat Earthling. Thats all I'm going to tell you. It doesn't matter, but this comic is AWESOME! Anyway, its in low distribution so there's hardly a chance you could even buy it if you wanted to. If you see a copy BUY IT! They might be releasing it in trade and you should buy that. I feel like a more in depth write is necessary but I struggle to find more to say than, HOLY SHIT JOE IS SO AWESOME! AND HE'S GOT THIS CAT, EARTHLING WHO HE INJECTS WITH STUFF. AND IT DOES ALL THIS CRAZY SHIT. AND ITS AWESOME. AND OH MY GOD, DID I MENTION IT WAS AWESOME!!!!
