By Zack Quaintance — One of the things we try to focus on as a website is the review and discussion of monthly comics. That is to say, why much graphic sequential storytelling takes place nowadays in full stories, graphic novels, and complete volumes — we do most of our writing here about the direct market, the pamphlets (as some call them) that come to stores each month to tell ongoing stories. Periodicals, for the older folks.

With that in mind, we also keep track of our favorite single issues of the year, and that’s what we’re here to take a closer look at today, the Best Single Issues of 2019. Enjoy!

Best Single Issues of 2019

Dark Knight Returns - Golden Child #1
Writer: Frank Miller
Artist: Rafael Grampa
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: John Workman, Deron Bennett
Publisher: DC Comics - Black Label
There’s recency bias at work, but this definitely feels like one of the bigger surprises of 2019. This is a hard comic to right about, but I think the most lasting point here is that Dark Knight Returns - Golden Child took a total turn to the bonkers, delivering a madcap superhero story with a heavy interest in politics, the most memorable bit of which is a depiction of far right political groups as being manipulated by politicians (the sitting president, specifically) who may as well be stand-ins for Darkseid or The Joker. And it just goes from there, rendered in intriguing chaotic beauty by the art team of Rafael Grampa and Jordie Bellaire. The end result is a fascinating and surprising comic that is among the single most beautiful works to hit the direct market (especially as it pertains to superheroes) all year.

Doomsday Clock #12
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Gary Frank
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Publisher: DC Comics
Doomsday Clock as a full work has an interesting (and rightly controversial) place in DC Comics publishing line. It’s an unauthorized sequel to Watchmen (the third one this year, somehow), and it was initially conceived as the headlining event of DC Rebirth, a continuity tinkering line-wide initiative that started in 2016 and basically ended when delays pushed this book from monthly to bi-monthly. There’s been frustration around it, around everything from the story to the delays, but this last issue of the book some overcomes all that to lie out a new concept: the DC Metaverse. It’s an entertaining (if slightly flawed) read as it gets to that point, but really makes this issue worth putting on our list is the potential inherent to the idea of the DC Metaverse, the way it could allow creators to incorporate flexible elements of the publisher’s 80-some year continuity. That’s a heck of an interesting idea, and arguably the biggest factor in Rebirth’s success almost four years ago.

House of X #2
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Pepe Larraz
Colorist: Marte Garcia
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Really, there’s a handful of House of X/Powers of X titles that could have made this list, but the one that stands out to me most from that excellent series is this one, which recontextualizes Moira MacTaggert as not only a mutant, but as a repeatedly-reincarnated being who knows more about the war between mankind and the mutants than arguably any being, having seen many different ways for it to play out. It is, perhaps, this issue that best exemplifies the ambitions, imagination, and drive to revitalize the X-Men that was so heavy throughout this entire series. It’s an over-sized read, but it was one of those comics that I opened and sort of blacked out into the story for the duration, eventually emerging to immediately start reading it again. 

Ice Cream Man #9
Writer: W. Maxwell Prince
Artist: Martin Morazzo
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Letterer: Good Old Neon
Publisher: Image Comics
I don’t want to spoil our other Best of 2019 lists (I know all of you are rapt with suspense), but Ice Cream Man has done well this year, appearing on every list it qualifies for. If I had to pick a favorite issue for 2019, I would pick this one, which pulled together several throughlines that had been happening almost in the background of this horror anthology series, doing so in a bonkers way that sent me rushing to re-read this entire series start to finish. I’ve always appreciated the lens that this book views the world through (afraid yet honest, unflinching when it comes to the horrors of life), but what this issue elevated in my mind was the extreme narrative power that’s at work here. These creators have just put so much into this book, that they’ve got it to a masterful place where they can write a conceptually huge issue like this and it fits just as well as an issue about the terror of caring for a child. Anyway, if you haven’t already, read Ice Cream Man from the start, read this issue, and then turn around and read it all again. You’ll love it.

Immortal Hulk #25
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Joe Bennett, German Garcia
Inker: Ruy Jose
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran, Paul Mounts
Letterer: Cory Petit
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Speaking of books that can do basically anything, Immortal Hulk has now also reached that rarified air, and we see it on full display here in Immortal Hulk #25, a haunting and ethereal tale with a narrative that speeds through the heat death of the freaking universe with abstract artwork basically unmatched by anything else in a superhero comic this year. It’s the cosmics, and it’s internal struggle, and it’s the darkness inherent to finite existences. It’s just so much interesting material, and it somehow is right at home in what started as a thoroughly body horrific take on a class Stan Lee/Jack Kirby character.

King Thor #4
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Esad Ribic
Colorist: Ive Svorcina
Guest Artists: Gabriel Hernandez Walta & Chris O’Halloran; Andrea Sorrentino & Dave Stewart; Chris Burnham & Nathan Fairbairn; Nick Pitarra & Michael Garland; Aaron Kuder & Laura Martin; Olivier Coipel & Laura Martin; Russell Dauterman & Matthew Wilson; and Mike Del Mundo
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Like all of the issues on this list, I had a hell of a good time reading this one, savoring each panel and the ideas within them as the story unfolded. A big part of why I enjoyed this individual issue so much was that I’ve read all of the Jason Aaron Thor comics that have come before it. This issue read with the weight of 7-some years and 100-some issues of searing norse storytelling excellence. It’s tough to end a run like this, but Aaron does it, tying up his plot threads and giving intellectual closure to the ideas that have run in these books for years.

Little Bird #1
Writer: Darcy Van Poelgeest
Artist: Ian Bertram
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: Image Comics
There were a lot of absolutely stellar debut issues in 2019, but, even so, this one somehow stands as a cut above all the others. It’s the only new #1 here, and there’s a very specific reason why — this comic doesn’t just drop a new story on readers. No. It drops them into a fully-formed visual world, and it’s unlike one I’ve ever seen before in any medium. The villains, the problems, the politics, the religion, the societal struggles — it’s all in here, it’s all so thoughtful, it’s all rendered with exquisite talent, and it’s all just incredibly well done. The rest of the story in this comic is very good, and it’s all built on the foundation established here. 

Monstress #21
Writer: Marjorie Liu
Artist: Sana Takeda
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Publisher: Image Comics
With Saga sidelined, Monstress is the book that has been one of my favorites for the longest, and boy howdy, did it have a great year this year. This year’s Monstress story arc involved so many interesting narrative elements: a long-lost parent, a giant force that has been hanging in the background, and a threat that could rattle and possibly destroy (or save!) the entire world. And you know? That arc started here with this issue in which we meet our Maika’s long-lost (and mostly awful) father. Anyway, Monstress surely has more issues behind it now than it does ahead, but that’s fine — this book has never found a cruising altitude and just keeps getting better. 

Superman #18
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Ivan Reis
Inker: Joe Prado
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Publisher: DC Comics
Superman #18 is a rare superhero comic that manages to hit a place of poignant, universal truth — and it does so by depicting a simple concept. That concept is that old familiar Clark Kent is finally sharing a secret about his identity with those who have been close to him for many, many years. The scenes — which range in tone from deeply sweet (the silent Perry hugs Clark revelation) to hilarious (Jimmy pretends he still doesn’t recognize who Clark is when takes off his glasses — all played to me as really emotionally powerful. Big status quo changes like this one can at times feel gimmicky in superhero comics where the chances are they will eventually be undone, but when this much love and thought goes into the storytelling, it’s hard not to forget that and go right along with it. 

The Walking Dead #193
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Charlie Adlard 
Grey Tones: Cliff Rathburn
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Publisher: Image Comics - Skybound
Holy hell! A surprise finale that came out of nowhere (although I suspected it was winding down based on the plot, I swear!), complete with fake cover art and solicited issues that were never going to come out. That’s a lot of fun, and it really made for an interesting reading experience when I picked the book up (even though I had the surprise spoiled for me, still fun to only find out it’s ending the morning of). But moreover, this was just a really really well done finale. You know how you can tell? Basically NO ONE on the Internet was complaining about it. Okay okay, I know someone somewhere was complaining about it, but c’mon, there was no long and sustained movement of complaining and demands for a re-written ending, which in the days of Game of Thrones Season 8, Rise of Skywalker, Avengers: Endgame, etc...is an absolute miracle. What makes this book so good? Well, it somehow contextualizes 192 prior issues of storytelling that was predicated mostly on suspense, giving it layers of meaning that I for one didn’t know this book had in it. And, moreover, it’s a compelling read from start to finish.

Check out our other Best of 2019 lists, including Best Superhero Makeovers and Best Comics of 2019: Contributor Picks.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.