By Zack Quaintance — The Best Single Issue Comics of 2020 list is, perhaps, the most niche list I do each year, applicable as it is largely to the Wednesday Warrior crowd, the readers who have pull lists at their local shops and obsessively follow the insular direct market. It’s also, I think, the list in which personal tastes most clearly shine through, independent of online comics discussion that moves away from single issues too rapidly to track.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed compiling it throughout the year!

Best Single Issue Comics of 2020

Hedra One-Shot
Writer/Artist: Jesse Lonergan
Publisher: Image Comics
In a glorious exploration of the comics medium with echoes of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Flash Gordon, Chris Ware, and Moebius, a lone astronaut leaves a world ravaged by nuclear war in search of life. What she finds is beyond all explanation.
Why It’s Cool: Experimental in both narrative and format, Hedra felt like a truly surprising comic when it hit, rewarding the patient reader who craves being rewarded for having a smart appreciation of risks and details. It’s everything that I tend to look for in this sort of one-off story — immersive, inherently personal with its vision, and clearly the type of story being told for no other reason than the artist just had to put it out into the world. Kudos to all involved with this one — I’d love to see more publishing risks taken by notable publishers in the coming year.
Read It Digitally: Hedra One-Shot

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Ice Cream Man Presents: Quarantine Comix Special #1
Writers: W. Maxwell Prince, with Al Ewing, Deniz Camp, and Christopher Cantwell
Artists: Martin Morazzo, with Declan Shalvey, P.J. Holden, Artyom Toplin, and Eoin Marron
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Letterers: Good Old Neon and Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: Image Comics
In the early days of the pandemic, the team behind ICE CREAM MAN launched an online-only series of mini-comics set in the ICM universe. The project was called, predictably, QUARANTINE COMIX. These strange little ditties were meant to tide folks over while the industry was on pause—and also raise money for struggling comic shops, with 50 percent of all proceeds donated to Comicbook United Fund/BINC.
Collected are all six issues of QUARANTINE COMIX, featuring brand-new cover art and bonus stories by guest creators.
Why It’s Cool: When the pandemic first started and the comics industry essentially shut down due to a massive distribution snag, the creative team behind Ice Cream Man started putting out short stories that fit right with the aesthetic of the usual series — and they started doing it regularly. It felt like a real gift amid the early uncertainty, and then it expanded to some of the best creators in comics, including Al Ewing, Christopher Cantwell, Eoin Marron, and others. Then, they compiled the entire set of these comics in one over-sized issue, and it just feels like such a wonderful read, very much worthy of the best issues of the year, with 50 percent of the profits also going to Comicbook United to help get shops back on stable footing.
Read It Digitally: Ice Cream Man Presents - Quarantine Comix Special #1

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I Shall Become, from Dark Nights: Death Metal - Legends of the Dark Knights
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Joelle Jones
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Rob Steen
Publisher: DC Comics
The DC Universe has become engulfed by the Dark Multiverse, where demons dwell and reality is overrun by monstrous versions of the Dark Knight, all ruled by the Batman Who Laughs. In this collection of short tales, learn the terrifying secrets of these new Bats out of hell and other creatures of the night like Robin King, whose origin is just the worst! Plus, read about the secret buried beneath Castle Bat, the sentient Batmobile, and…how did Batman turn into a dinosaur?
Why It’s Cool: Look, this comic as a whole really put the dark in Dark Nights: Death Metal, with a number of really grim alternate universe Batman stories. And yet! Buried at the very end of this book is my single favorite thing that DC Comics has published all year — the short story, I Shall Become, which features Batman…as a baby. It’s a cheeky take, executed to hilarious perfection by writer Garth Ennis, artist Joelle Jones, colorist Jordie Bellaire, and letterer Rob Steen. It’s a winking story, a send-up of the entire Batman concept, and it reads like a refreshing pallette-cleanser at the end of a book that seems to want to ask over and over…what if Batman was evil? I love it, and while it’s obviously not a single issue, this is my website so I make all the rules as mercurially as I see fit.
Read It Digitally: I Shall Become appears in Dark Nights: Death Metals - Legends of the Dark Knights #1

MTSYRY: Octobriana 1976 #1
Writer/Artist: Jim Rugg
Publisher: Self-Published
In 1971, the west learned about Octobriana - the outlaw Russian superhero comic. To show solidarity, underground American cartoonists made their own Octobriana comic book. Robot Stalin's got a new doomsday bomb! Can the Devil-Woman stop him before he destroys us all? Siberian labor camps, PPP secret orgies, motorcycle gunship train chases - this one has it all! Samizdat gone wild - a cross between 70s psychedelia and Soviet constructivism!?! You've NEVER seen a comic book that looks like this! Revolution forever, bitch.
Why It’s Cool: MTSYRY: Octobriana 1976 is relentlessly-awesome, a fast-paced speeding narrative that feels like a tour of both modern and long-time underground comics aesthetics. It’s a fun book executed with the highest level of craft, a true comic creators comic, and — as cliched as this might sound — a love letter to the medium as well as its history of DIY creations.
Read It Digitally: MTSYRY: Octobriana 1976

Negan Lives #1
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Charlie Adlard
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Publisher: Skybound / Image Comics
The greatest f*@king comic book villain of ALL-TIME returns. 'Nuff said.
Why It’s Cool: Look, I read The Walking Dead until its end, and I know the series — especially in its later years — was far far from groundbreaking, but I never stopped appreciating the clarity of the storytelling, the way it stuck to basics and still remained interesting. That ain’t easy. Anyway, as shops recovered from the pandemic, Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard revived the series for a one-off story about anti-hero Negan, which felt planned all along. It was a fine story, one that Walking Dead readers like myself surely appreciated, but most-impressively the creators sent it to shops for free to help them get back on their feet during the ongoing national pandemic that (I don’t have to tell you) has devastated brick-and-mortar retail. This kind of heartwarming charity and fun narrative execution more than earn Negan Lives a spot on this years Best Single Issue Comics 2020 list.

Sex Criminals: Sexual Gary Special
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: Rachel Stott
Colorist: Enrica Eren Angiolini
Letterer: Chip Zdarsky
Publisher: Image Comics
Remember “Sexual Gary”? What was up with that guy? The brilliant RACHAEL STOTT (Supergirl, Doctor Who) drew a story so crazy it had to be told, but not by Chip, who was still a big part of the whole thing.
Why It’s Cool: Amid a satisfying and excellent emotional climax (emotional!) for this personal and long-running book, the creators took a month out to just have some got-damned fun with the Sex Criminals concept, and you know what? The comic that resulted from that was absolutely hilarious. Humor is not the easiest thing to do in comics — and it can be a real car wreck when handled by those who aren’t skilled at it — but this book is an example of how to do it right.
Read It Digitally: Sex Criminals - Sexual Gary Special

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Stray Bullets: Sunshine and Roses #42
Creators: David and Maria Lapham
Publisher: Image Comics
It's a beautiful day on the open road. Plenty of sunshine, plenty of roses... and a little murder.
Why It’s Cool: Stray Bullets is my favorite crime comic of all time. Full stop. And this deviation into the backstory that led to one of the earliest arcs has been a pleasure for years, going to far more bonkers places than I ever expected it to go, combining the dark humor, surprising twists, and deeply human (also very bad!) decisions that have long made this book what it is. This issue is the finale for the Sunshine and Roses series/storyline, and it was very much worth the wait, providing a surprising amount of closure as it (finally!) aligned with the second arc from the main series. Now, the question becomes: when does Stray Bullets proper return? It will likely be years, but I’ll be waiting. It just continues to baffle me how one comic can be as good as this one.
Read It Digitally: Stray Bullets - Sunshine and Roses #42

S.W.O.R.D. #1
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Valerio Schiti
Colorist: Marte Gracia
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Publisher: Marvel Comics
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MUTANTKIND!
The Mutant nation of Krakoa has quickly become a major force on the world stage... but why stop there? Krakoa has relaunched the Sentient World Observation & Response Directorate - a fully independent organization dealing with all things extra-terrestrial on behalf of all of Earth. Al Ewing and Valerio Schitti, the team behind EMPYRE, bring us the tale of Mutantkind looking to do for the galaxy what Krakoa did for the planet.
Why It’s Cool: Boy I’ll tell you, I don’t generally like to include new #1 issues on this list. The occasional iconic first issue drops and lands here, but for the most part, I don’t think a debut issue merits inclusion because it will ultimately depend on what comes next whether we end up remembering it or not. However! S.W.O.R.D. #1 was such a good superhero comic that I am breaking my own rule. This is possible the least accessible comic on this list — even more so than the 42-issue finale for Stray Bullets: Sunshine and Roses — because so much of what makes it great is predicated on extreme detailed knowledge of X-Men continuity. But if you have even a little bit of that, you’re going to love this. You’ll also love this comic if you enjoyed writer Al Ewing’s other high-concept superhero sci-fi, namely his work with The Ultimates. Basically, this book is without question a superhero comic (so steer clear if that’s not your thing because this won’t win you over), but within that, it’s about as good as a new superhero series launch can get.
Read It Digitally: S.W.O.R.D. #1

The Terrifics #25
Writer: Gene Luen Yang
Artist: Dan Mora
Colorist: Ivan Plascencia
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Publisher: DC Comics
Choose your fate, choose your action, choose your destiny! In this special extra-sized 25th issue, Michael Holt has dis-covered a deadly hidden enemy, and only a series of life-or-death simulations can bring the threat to the forefront! But when Mr. Terrific lies to his team, how can they trust him again? Don’t miss this epic multi-path journey that puts you, the reader, in charge of the story! Pick your ending, but choose wisely! The Terrifics team hangs in the balance!
Why It’s Cool: Hey, let’s keep the superhero stuff rolling! This comic is almost an inverse of the previous entry, because I do actually think anybody can pick it up and have a blast with it — it’s essentially a choose-your-own adventure comic that presents readers with multiple possibilities depending on choices they make for the characters as they read through…and it’s executed to perfection by the team of writer Gene Luen Yang and artist Dan Mora. It’s just a blast, and I highly recommend it if you missed it or even if you have know idea what The Terrifics even are.
Read It Digitally: The Terrifics #25

X-Men: Marvels Snapshot #1
Writer: Jay Edidin
Artist: Tom Reilly
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Publisher: Marvel Comics
The Marvels Snapshot tour through Marvel history continues, showcasing Marvel’s greatest characters through the eyes of ordinary people! Or does it? In this case, the “ordinary person” is teenaged Scott Summers, witnessing the dawn of the Marvel Age from a Nebraska orphanage and wondering what his place in it might be. What was it like to experience the debut of the FF, the Hulk, Iron Man and more? To wish you could be a part of it all? Writer Jay Edidin (Thor: Metal Gods, Jay & Miles X–Plain the X–Men) makes his Marvel comics debut, teamed with Tom Reilly (Immortal Hulk), to tell a story of upheaval and decision that would shape the X–Men (and the Marvel Universe) forever after.
Why It’s Cool: This entire series of one-shot stories told in the grounded world of Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross’ seminal Marvels has been excellent, and I’ve been wanting badly to find a way to include it on one of the site’s Best of 2020 lists…and now I have, by honoring the standout story from the very strong series. X-Men: Marvels Snapshot #1 is such a fantastic story about Cyclops and the wider X-Men world, to the point it will leave you wishing this exact creative team would have a chance to do more with this story or these characters or just anything adjacent to what took place in this book. It was that good.
Read It Digitally: X-Men Marvels Snapshots #1

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