• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

  • Reading Orders
    • Marvel
    • My Marvelous Year
    • DC Comics
    • All Comic Book Publishers
    • Most Recent
  • Beginner Guides
    • Beginner’s Guide To Comics In 2023
    • Marvel 2023: Where to Start?
    • DC 2023: Where to Start?
    • Best of Lists
    • Tablets for Comics
    • Guides for Digital Readers
  • Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
    • DC Comics
    • Comic Book Movies
    • Comic Book TV
    • Video Games
  • Podcasts & Video
    • My Marvelous Year
    • Best Comics Ever (CBH)
    • CBH on Youtube!
  • About Me
    • My Favorite Comics of All Time
    • Columns
    • CBH Email Newsletter
  • Support Comic Book Herald
    • Ways to support
You are here: Home / Comics Guides / Best of Lists / Best Marvel Comics of 2018

Best Marvel Comics of 2018

December 13, 2018 by Dave 4 Comments

Marvel’s been in a hot seat of their own making since the conclusion of Secret Wars (and really before then, considering they illogically launched “All-New All-Different” Marvel *prior* to the universe-shattering event’s conclusion. Despite their ability to reign as the leading market share publisher throughout a turbulent time, there’s no question Marvel *knows* they’re in need of a new perception. The question remains whether they can quite settle in on an answer for how to correct course.

As you may remember, all the way back in the previous age of October 2017, Marvel announced “Marvel Legacy,” their newest linewide banner. Legacy promised a DC-Rebirth esque oversized one-shot by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic (among various others), and uh, old numbering? Despite this tantalizing combination, Legacy barely made it three months into 2018 before Marvel announced May would bring a very on-the-nose “Fresh Start.”

As a result, 2018 promises to be pretty clearly divided into two halves, with the best of the first half rounding out the end of Marvel Legacy, and the remainder of the year building Marvel’s “Fresh Start.” 

These are the best comics Marvel has released in 2018!

Related Reading Orders:

All-New All-Different Marvel

Support For Comic Book Herald:

Comic Book Herald is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a qualifying affiliate commission.

Comic Book Herald’s reading orders and guides are also made possible by reader support on Patreon, and generous reader donations.

Any size contribution will help keep CBH alive and full of new comics guides and content. Support CBH on Patreon for exclusive rewards, or Donate here! Thank you for reading!

Marvel Now 2.0

Marvel Legacy

Mighty Thor

The MIghty Thor by Aaron and Dauterman

The chopped up title relaunches mask a reality that Jason Aaron’s total time writing Marvel’s primary Thor comic now totals over six years, and nearly 100 issues. The Jane Foster/Thor era, with incredibly talented artist Russell Dauterman, reigns as one of the most public and successful products of Marvel’s “All-New All-Different” linewide blowup.

Hardcore fans of the Odinson will be pleased to know the Jane era came to an effective, heartfelt conclusion this year, in what was year-in and year-out one of the best books in the Marvel lineup.

Joined by Secret Wars: Weirdworld creative partner Mike Del Mundo, Aaron is far from finished with the world of Thor and Asgard.

Black Panther

Black Panther in Wakanda

Black Panther has been and will continue to be one of Marvel’s most interesting comics so long as Ta-Nehesis Coates is writing the title. For my money, the Legacy era of Black Panther took a muted step back, but so far this series has paid dividends when consumed in bingeable chunks. I have no reason to believe otherwise with Black Panther in 2018!

Thanos Wins

2018 Thanos Wins story arc

The Donny Cates Rising Superstar tour reached fever pitch with the writer’s work on a single Thanos story arc titled “Thanos Wins.” The immensely entertaining future-flung narrative benefited from a broader increase in Thanos’ profile due to Avengers: Infinity War, as well as the fact that it’s extremely entertaining marvel playground insanity.

From cosmic ghost rider to all sorts of Marvel cosmic mash-ups I can’t even talk about without spoiling, “Thanos Wins” is already assured a spot in the best Thanos comics pantheon.

Doctor Strange

Loki as Marvel's new Sorcerer Supreme

Speaking of Cates, his time writing Doctor Strange didn’t generate quite the same amount of Infinity War laden hype as “Thanos,” but that’s a bit like saying Doctor Strange isn’t *quite* the same measure of sorcerer as Loki, the new sorcerer supreme. Wait, what?

For my money, Cates’ storytelling choices are even more interesting in Doctor Strange, reviving the long gone presence of a Marvel 2000’s mainstay, and developing the lasting legacy of Bates the ghost dog. Plus, the first story arc features the art of Vision artist Gabriel Hernandez-Walta!

Generation X

generation x comics

Writer Christina Strain delivers teenage X-angst at its best.

Black Bolt

Black Bolt comic books

Although technically 75% of the series was published in 2017, Saladin Ahmed and Christian Ward’s work on Black Bolt is too good to keep off the 2018 best of list. I’ve suggested as much before, but it’s amazing how *good* Inhumans comics have been during the already forgotton MCU bomb that was ABC’s Inhumans. Black Bolt is the cream of the crop, cementing Ahmed and Ward as two of the most talented figures in comic book storytelling, and cementing the Absorbing Man and Titania as one of the most compelling romances in Marvel comics!

Lockjaw

Lockjaw a 2018 comics limited series

I had tunnel-beneath-the-basement expectations for this miniseries, but it continues the Inhumans broader hot streak of excellent comics!

Marvel 2 in 1

marvel 2 in 1 comics

To be fair, Marvel fans are hard up for Fantastic Four comics after the series (admittedly *very* effective) conclusion at the end of Secret Wars. Nonetheless, the Thing and Human Torch team-up series is everything I wanted and more, sporting writing from Chip Zdarsky and art from Jim Cheung. Best of all, Marvel 2 in 1 annual #1 merges the Infamous Iron Man (aka Doctor Doom) with the results of Secret Wars and Jonathan Hickman’s time writing Fantastic Four. It’s a continuity dream come true!

X-Men Red

X-Men Red comics in 2018

The Tom Taylor tribute hour continues, as his new X-Men team book with Mahmud Asrar is the best X-Men title Marvel’s had in years.

You Are Deadpool

Al Ewing writing You Are Deadpool 5 issue comic book series from marvel

Every time I sort my comics collection I give some thought to future use. Will I read these again? Will my kids? You Are Deadpool might be the surest bet to get endless hours of use by future generations. If you happen to find these “role-playing game” comics at your local comic shop, I highly, highly recommend checking them out for a completely different Marvel Comics reading experience. I have a hard time imagining the experience playing as well on digital, too, so splurge for print if you can!

Issue #1 of Marvel's Immortal Hulk

The Immortal Hulk

Al Ewing and Joe Bennet’s post Civil War 2, post Secret Empire resurrection of Bruce Banner as the Hulk is both one of the best Marvel comics of the year, and flat out one of the best comics of 2018. What happens when Bruce Banner finally accepts that he can die, but the Hulk can’t.

Miles Morales vs Venom in the comic written by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman

Venom

The creative team of Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman have boasted their Venom is better than Watchmen, and while that’s patently absurd, I’ll be darned if I’m not going to admit Watchmen doesn’t have symbiote dragons.

Hawkeye: Kate Bishop

Hawkeye

The Kate Bishop era of Hawkeye concluded with issue #18, and Kelly Thompson and Leonardo Romero managed to deliver one of the best superhero comics of the past 2 years. Thompson’s writing of Bishop leverages the Fraction, Aja, Wu era as a launching pad, placing the Young Avenger in her element as a west coast private eye.

Runaways by Rowell and Anka

Runaways

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Runaways relaunch, but the creative team of Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka have quickly turned the franchise into one of Marvel’s finest. Everything about this series just looks and feels like the Runaways at their best, honestly not seen at this level since the Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona days in the early 2000’s.

Filed Under: Best of Lists, Featured Tagged With: 2018, Marvel

Heroically Support Comic Book Herald!

If you like Comic Book Herald, and are able to donate, any small contribution will help keep CBH alive and full of new comics guides and content. Donate here! Or, support CBH on Patreon for exclusive rewards! Thank you for reading!

Become a Patron!

About Dave

Dave is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Comic Book Herald, and also the Boss of assigning himself fancy titles. He's a long-time comic book fan, and can be seen most evenings in Batman pajama pants. Contact Dave @comicbookherald on Twitter or via email at dave@comicbookherald.com.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Xavier A Barrios D says

    March 18, 2019 at 4:25 am

    Thank you once again, Dave. I follow your “best of the year” lists every 365 days, and have been doing so for some time now. Thanks to you, I’ve been introduced to so many great storylines I wouldn’t have otherwise. Unfortunately, and as it seems to happen more and more often in recent years. I didn’t like most of these titles. The only ones I truly enjoyed were the first few numbers of 2 in 1, and of course, Immortal Hulk. I seem to be stuck in the storylines of old, by Bendis, Hickman, Jenkins, David, Kyle and Yost. Whatever the case, I wouldn’t know any of those if it weren’t for your webpage. Again, thank you so much, and may we keep reading you for decades to come!

    Reply
  2. Michael says

    January 28, 2019 at 12:28 pm

    I feel like leaving Comsic Ghost Rider off this list is a mistake.

    Reply
  3. Daniel Betancourt says

    June 20, 2018 at 6:05 am

    Hello Dave! Newer comic reader here, I’ve gotten very absorbed since Infinity War came out (I know Im one of those). I went by my local comic shop for the first time the other day and my local comic geeks recommended me the Black Panther and Marvel 2 in 1 in particular, so Im happy to see you vouch for them both! You have a great site brother, keep it up.

    Reply
    • Dave says

      June 25, 2018 at 3:39 pm

      Thank you, and enjoy the comics!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

The Comic Book Herald Podcast!

Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsRSS
My Ultimate Year podcast and reading club

Recent Posts

  • Pax Americana and The Infinite Loop Of Imperiums March 25, 2023
  • Fall of X Teasers & Al Ewing’s Sins of Sinister | Comic Book Herald Live! March 24, 2023
  • “Sins of Sinister” Part 6: Immoral X-Men #2—in Review! March 23, 2023
  • DESTINY OF X | The Krakoan Empire Divided March 22, 2023
  • “Secret Identity” with Alex Segura | CBH Interviews #107 March 21, 2023
  • 2002 Pt. 3: Daredevil & Elektra March 20, 2023
  • Immoral X-Men #2 and Wolverine vs. Dark Beast! | Comic Book Herald Live! March 17, 2023
  • X-Men: The Animated Series Season 2 Rewatch! March 16, 2023
  • “Sins of Sinister” Part 5: Nightcrawlers #2—in Review! March 15, 2023
  • My Marvelous Interview: Paul Jenkins on Wolverine Origin, Inhumans, Spectacular Spider-Man, & More! March 13, 2023
  • The Dark Knight Trilogy 15 Years Later: Film & Comic Influences! March 11, 2023
  • Sins of Sinister: Nightcrawlers, X-Men #20, New Mutants: Lethal Legion #1 | Comic Book Herald Live! March 10, 2023
  • 2002 Variant A: Ant-Man & Wasp Quantumania TAKEDOWN! March 6, 2023
  • Steve Orlando’s Marauders #1-5—Annotated! March 4, 2023
  • “Sins of Sinister” Part 4: Immoral X-Men #1 in Review! March 3, 2023

Popular Articles

DC Rebirth Guide

Batman Reading Order

DC New 52 Reading Order

Marvel Ultimate Universe Guide

Civil War Reading Order

Marvel Cosmic Reading Order

The Best Comics of All Time!

Deadpool Reading Order

Justice League Reading Order

Complete Thanos Reading Order

X-Men Reading Guide (Modern Era)

Age of Apocalypse Reading Order

Modern Marvel Universe in 25 Trades

Best Tablet For Digital Comics

Is Marvel Unlimited Worth It?

Footer

New to Comic Book Herald?

Hey there - my name's Dave and this is my comic book blog. It's my way of sharing my borderline obsessive addiction to the comic book medium, and I hope you like some of what's going on here.

Most people that come here are looking for my (WIP) Marvel reading order guide. You can probably also get a sense if CBH is for you by taking a look at some of my columns.

If you like what you see, let's connect on Facebook or Twitter. Or, leave a comment on the blog here, I'm always looking for new awesome people in the comic book community.

More on Comic Book Herald

  • Home
  • About
  • Support CBH
  • My Marvelous Year
  • Join!
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

Recent Posts

  • Pax Americana and The Infinite Loop Of Imperiums
  • Fall of X Teasers & Al Ewing’s Sins of Sinister | Comic Book Herald Live!
  • “Sins of Sinister” Part 6: Immoral X-Men #2—in Review!
  • DESTINY OF X | The Krakoan Empire Divided
  • “Secret Identity” with Alex Segura | CBH Interviews #107

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in