Since I’ve been reading every single year of Marvel Comics in order of publication as part of My Marvelous Year, I haven’t had nearly as much time this year to update “Dave’s Faves.”I enjoyed the everloving daylights out of some new, non-Marvel books this weekend though (thank you, Hoopla Digital!), and the best comics of all time list is updated to include them.
Prior to the new recruits, I made some edits to the list based on the infallible “what would I rather read test?” Every time I look at Jim Starlin’s Star Wars impersonation, I think to myself, “Dreadstar
Locke & Key likely suffered the most this round of updates, as I realized I had severely outpaced the coverage. It’s still a great comic, but Locke & Key dropped from #40 on the list all the way to #48.
This shifting helped make room for an ascendant Saga of the Swamp Thing
On one hand, a book like Saga of the Swamp Thing is more of an achievement than many books I have ranked higher. I don’t know that you’ll find many comic book readers who even have the audacity to compare Alan Moore, Stephen Bisette, and John Totelben’s work on Swamp Thing to a black-and-white kung fu book. In the end, that’s exactly what I did as:
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1) I’d rather read Infinite Kung Fu
again than the complete Saga of the Swamp Thing and
2) Placing Saga of the Swamp Thing one spot higher than Saga feels too in sync to pass.
New Comics on “Dave’s Faves”
Grendel was the highest new entry on the list, and the only new entrant inside the top 50. I was let down by Matt Wagner’s “Mage: The Hero Discovered
It’s a challenge to appropriately represent the non-linear composition of modern crime-lord Grendel, blended with the supernatural debt to the legend of Beowulf. Wagner’s creativity and ability to articulate an unpredictable vision make Grendel one of my favorite new reads of 2016.
Revival Vol. 1
Tim Seely and Mike Norton’s Revival from Image Comics also entered the top 75, with a captivating Leftovers meets Twin Peaks set inside a place I’ve spent time: Wasau, Wisconsin!
The small-town, mystery and horror of Revival are strong enough through three volumes that I can easily see this book increasing its rank as I read more.
I need to read a whole lot more of Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy, but this first volume was delightful all ages fun.
The first volume of Black Magick was excellent, and my favorite of three Image collections I read this round that were released in 2016. Black Magick snags a spot inside the top 100, although I couldn’t quite bring myself to rank it above another Greg Rucka comic, Stumptown from Oni Press.
There’s an approximately zero percent chance that Paper Girls remains outside my top 100 as the series progresses. The first volume from Brian K. Vaughn and Cliff Chiang is wonderful storytelling full of hilarious moments. The venn diagram between “people who liked Stranger Things” and “people who will like Paper Girls” is just a monochromatic circle.
I finally caught up on Negan and the Saviors in the Walking Dead, and after years of meandering an disullision with Kirkman’s Walking Dead, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s no Compendium 1, but it’s nice to be back on the hellish, neverending torment-go-round.
Great concept, mildly grating execution. Skottie Young is one of the most entertaining creators in comics, and I Hate Fairlyand is worth a read.
The New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman and George Perez
Obviously I’m more of a Marvel nutjob, but this best of list should help prove I love more than my fair share of DC Comics too. The first sixteen issues of The New Teen Titans, though? Meh. It’s fine, I suppose, but for the DC book most often compared to Claremont, Cockrum, and Byrne Uncanny X-Men: How dare you strawmen make such a comparison!
To be fair, I’ve only read the first sixteen issues, and I’m sure New Teen Titans improves as Wolfman and Perez progress towards Crisis on Infinite Earths.
The fact that Kirkman and Adlard were able to sustain the comedown from Compendium 1 as effectively as they did is something of a small miracle. It’s my least favorite stretch of the Dead compendiums, but it’s not like I didn’t read each and every issue with an insatiable hunger.
The Last Days of American Crime
I love many Rick Remender comics (Fear Agent is the highest on my list in the high 30’s). The Last Days of American Crime did not work for me. It isn’t my least favorite comic on the list (congrats again, Wanted!), but, I’ll be honest, I’d actually rather read Final Crisis again.
What do you think? Rankings way off? Any books you’d recommend I add? Do what feels right to you in the comments.
The Teen Titans really gets into its best period between issue 20 and Annual 3 (Just after issue 44). That covers Brother Blood and the Judas Contract. Really, the first dozen issues are weak. (Much like when Byrne did FF, a dozen issues to flesh out the characters, then BOOM, amazing stuff after)
I was always a Marvel fan, but these are what convinced me to try out DC on a regular basis. I kept on seeing references to The Titans in terms of Eagle Awards (probably in CBG) and I wondered what these comics were that were beating out the X-Men.
In 84 or 85 I found pretty much the whole series for 50 cents apiece at the local comics shop. I bought a half dozen or so to try out then bought all that I could find within a few months. (I literally spent years trying to get Annual 3, the finale of the Judas Contract, that was impossible to find around Montreal…drove me nuts not knowing how that ended.)
Nice, ok, I need to track down the rest of the series and give it a fair shake. The library app I’m using only goes through issue #16 or so, but I need to at least make it through the oft-referenced Judas Contract. Thanks!
I doubt you would have any difficulty making through to the Judas Contract. If you like early eighties comics, and I think you do, then this will be right up your alley. The whole series reads much like Marvel books of the time.
For me the main draw was Dick Grayson. I was interested in the character back before the Bat universe expanded…when it was just Dick, Jason and the Gordons in the little group. So I was heavily invested in the story right up through the “Lonely Place of Dying” cross over. After that it started to loose steam, and I dropped out about issue 106.
If you ever watch the Teen Titans Go TV show you can see a lot of references to these old chestnuts.