Since we are quickly running out of the 2000s, I thought I would be a lemming and put my top 10 comics/OGNs of the decade together to share with everyone. After some serious thought, here’s what I came up with, in order of preference:
1. Usagi Yojimbo (Dark Horse): It’s been my top comic for years and years, and the 2000s is no exception. It’s on the top of my pile every time it comes out, and I re-read the entire saga from the beginning about once a year. It’s the best comic that most people have never read. I hope folks correct that error.
2. Y The Last Man (Vertigo):The best thing that Vertigo has ever put out, in my opinion. Consistently strong and emotional, and it was a complete story with a solid beginning, middle, and end.
3. Yotsuba&!(ADV/Yen Press): When you just want to feel good about life, read this. I rarely laugh out loud when reading comics, but I giggle with every story of this manga series. Ask my wife. It has a refreshing innocence that makes you forget about mean, greedy people, at least for a few minutes.
4. B.P.R.D. [/i](Dark Horse): There is nothing even remotely bad I can say about that book. It’s been consistently gripping since the beginning, and Guy Davis is bloody brilliant. In fact, I give it a slight nod over the Hellboy books.
5. Naoki Urasawa’s Monster (Viz): Yeah, it released in Japan in the 1990s, but it’s US release was this decade so I am counting it. An amazing 18-volume psychological thriller, with each volume a page-turner. Everyone should read this manga. Everyone.
6. Walking Dead (Image): I was a latecomer to this series, but it is gripping and suspenseful, and heads and shoulders better than any other zombie stuff out there. I worry a little bit about ultimately where it is going to end up, but the ride has been fun so far.
7. X-Statix (Marvel): I still mourn the cancellation of this book. Milligan and Allred had something that was so much different than any other thing that Marvel was doing at the time. It was dangerous, unpredictable, and a breath of fresh air as a result.
8. Super Spy (Top Shelf): My favorite OGN of the decade, hands down. Matt Kindt’s art is truly amazing, and he knows how to write melancholy arguably better than anyone in the business right now.
9. Pyongyang (Drawn & Quarterly): A close second on the OGN list. Guy Delisle is an amazing storyteller, and this is a lovely look at the inner workings of North Korea. Being a political scientist in real life, I am a sucker for politically-oriented books, and this one tops the list for the decade.
10. Conan (Dark Horse): Consistently good, consistently fun, and true to the original books. This is the way that Conan stories truly should be told.
I encourage you all to post your top 10 list as well. I’d love to see what everyone is reading and enjoying!
I don’t read may series per se, but there are a few, and one of them is definitely my favorite:
10. Tommysauraus Rex (Image) – At first I bought this book because I thought Doug’s work looked like a really-well Bill Watterson art style, but after reading it, I knew he had a voice of his own that deserved attention. This is one of many books he’s done that I really like, but I think this is still the best.
9. Blankets (Top Shelf) – a great slice-of-life look at a character’s battle with faith and love. Beautifully drawn stuff!
8. Same Difference and Other Stories (Top Shelf) – this is the first thing I’ve ever read by Derek Kirk Kim, and I was completely impressed. His drawings really compliment his off-beat storytelling (even though his stories are also very slice-of-life).
7. Whiteout (Oni) – I was sold on buying this book from the Free Comic Book Day offering a couple years back, and I wasn’t disappointed when I bought the book. This is a really suspenseful murder mystery that was really well written and effectively drawn. The sequel was also good, but the first one was better. I still have yet to see the movie, but it sounds like they changed it for the worse.
6. The Walking Dead – as a zombiphile, this is self-explanatory, but honestly, not everything with zombies in it is good. This is.
5. Tricked (Top Shelf) – Another fantastic Alex Robinson title. I figured he’d blown his wad with Box Office Poison, but he seems to get better and better with each title (see Too Cool To Be Forgotten above).
4. Hsu and Chan (Slave Labor Graphics) – this series collects the pulp adventures of two Asian game programmers with over-the-top humorous action that is interspersed with some of the most gut-busting dialogue I’ve ever read.
3. Halo and Sprocket (Slave Labor Graphics) – Each issue of this title strings together short stories featuring a young woman and the robot and angel that she lives with. Each story is typically a fantastically humorous existential look at the idiosyncratic human creature from the point of view of a logical robot and an enlightened angel. Fantastic stuff!
2. Too Cool to Be Forgotten (Top Shelf) – A really interesting concept of a character who is taken to regression therapy to stop smoking and seems to have traveled through time to change his past. This is probably Alex Robinson’s most touching story I’ve ever read and it ends in a way I never expected. It’s the only comic book that ever made me cry.
1. 2024 by Ted Rall (NBM) – I think this really is the best book I’ve read this decade. It’s an Orwellian look at a depressing future that isn’t so depressing once you put yourself in the shoes of an oblivious, dumbed-down populace — then all of the depressing things become funny. Of course, once you see all of the things predicted for the future in aspects of our current world, you get depressed again. Trust me, it’s an awesome read.
I just picked up Yotsuba #1, so I’ll be able to see if it makes me laugh as much as it did Kevin, and I’ve just picked up Ted Rall’s latest, The Year of Loving Dangerously — full color! I didn’t know that!
1. Punisher Max#1-60, The Ennis Run. Purr Purr Purr.
Uhm… Hmm I like the Walking Dead Too.
I think for Zombie Comics, Dead Winter at http://www.deadwinter.cc is really good. I enjoy it quite a bit.
Hack/Slash for good old fashioned slasher horror fun.
Punisher Noir just finished a 4 comic series and I enjoyed that.
Hmm. Either I haven’t read a lot of stuff, or, not a lot has caught my attention. Meep?