By Zack Quaintance — As I wrote in my column about the Best New #1 Comics of August 2019, to me the story of this month was the glut of excellent new creator-owned books. And it was right in time too! This has been a harsh summer for major creator-owned works ending, with industry tentpoles like The Walking Dead and, to a lesser extent, The Wicked + The Divine finding their conclusions.

This column, however, is dedicated to the well-worn series, the ones that land the best single issues, often within the context of long-form narratives. And we certainly have quite a bit of that in our Top 5. Ascender, for example, has #5 on its cover, but it’s actually an issue deep into a longer run that started with the creative team’s previous book, Descender. We always like to give extra points for that. 

Anyway, with that all in mind, let’s stop wasting time here and get to our list proper!

Quick Hits

We’re loving the new Kelly Sue DeConnick-Robson Rocha Aquaman run, and Aquaman #51 was no exception. As Ander Lilly wrote in his review, this book building up the character relationships within has been wonderful.

Daredevil #10 was drawn by Jorge Fornes with Jordie Bellaire colors...one of the best noir art teams in superhero comics. It was unsurprisingly excellent.

No One Left to Fight #1 was good; No One Left to Fight #2 was better. We love this comic and are having a blast following it.

There were a number of very satisfying conclusions this month for comics that have just been fantastic throughout their runs, specifically Life and Death of Toyo Harada #6, She Could Fly: Lost Pilot #5, and Stronghold #5. Those are all very different and very good comics that each and every one of you should check out soon in trade.

Of all the books that didn’t make our Top 5, Lois Lane #2 was the closest. One benefit of being so late with this month’s list, is I’ve already some of the comics from next month, and I can tell you that Lois Lane #3 is almost guaranteed to crack the Top 5.

Speaking of books liable to make the Top 5 next month, Doom Patrol: Weight of the Worlds (which had #2 come out in August) has just been fantastic. It’s somehow gotten weirder and more abstract from the last series, and it works for me on all levels...

… as does Resonant from Vault Comics, which also had its sophomore issue come out in August. The concept here — the world is beset by occasional waves that make folks act on their worst impulses — was strong from the start, but the creative team is also nailing the tension and characters. 

Finally, my favorite uber-stylish social media culture commentary had a new issue this month with Snotgirl #14. This book has gotten better and better, and it’s definitely one that I pass to folks who don’t read many comics as an accessible representation of the potential of our medium.

Best Comics August 2019

5. Ascender #5
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Dustin Nguyen
Letterer: Steve Wands
Publisher: Image Comics
Since writer Jeff Lemire and artist Dustin Nguyen first launched Descender (the predecessor to this series) however many years ago, it’s been one of my favorite things in comics, so rich is it with gorgeous water-color artwork, big sci-fi ideas, and deep (yet forlorn) characterization. After 30-issues or so, the comic had a flashpoint that sent its story in a different direction. We got a time jump, and the same creative team return to a world that was now rooted in less sci-fi and more high fantasy.

That move has proven to be a reinvigoration of sorts for the creators and this comic. Nguyen’s artwork has gone to new and wonderful places, while Lemire has been able to explore his characters (both old and new) by giving them different challenges and stakes to grapple with. It’s a young-old series at this point. Five issues in, however, Ascender landed its first major shot to the heart with this wonderful and necessary issue. All is not as it seems, but it certainly felt that way when that big plot development happened. Anyway, read this comic if you’re not already!

4.  Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #2
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: Steve Lieber
Colorist: Nathan Fairbairn
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: DC Comics
Holy hell, has DC Comics found a way to make a book that feels like it’s just for me. This is probably a sentiment shared by anyone who loves Superman and his supporting cast so much that they’ve looked into, read a bit of, or just browsed the bonkers things going on with the characters in the Silver Age of Comics. This new Jimmy Olsen is certainly a love letter to that (how could it not be), and, even better, it’s one being told by two of the cleverest creators in all of comics.

I’ve written this frequently now for several comics media outlets, but I can’t stress enough that writer Matt Fraction and artist Steve Lieber (colored here by Nathan Fairbairn) are a dream team of funny-yet-smart comic book storytelling. With them united here for the first time, the result is a book that just brims with visual gags, quick turns of phrase for an even quicker chuckle, and all the heart in the world. Not only that, but as trite as it might sound, Fraction and Lieber just get these characters. 

3. Dial H For Hero #6
Writer: Sam Humphries
Artist: Joe Quinones
Inker (Additional): Scott Hanna
Colorist: Jordan Gibson
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Publisher: DC - Wonder Comics
Like the rest of this series, this crowning chapter of the first Dial H For Hero arc is a clever rapid-fire story that also somewhat doubles as a love letter to the earnestness of superheroes like Superman. A meta quality runs throughout the plot and characterization, as the main character most face some truths about himself that push him beyond simply striving to be like Superman, to actually emulating some of the behaviors that make the paragon of virtue in blue tights so special. It’s great feel-good stuff.

The best part of this comic, however, is the absolute visual tour de force put on by Joe Quinones with the help of Scott Hanna (who does some of the inks here) and colorist Jordan Gibson. This is a mighty ambitious comics in terms of all the different art style Quinones must work within (I didn’t count but it’s easily dozens), and he pulls it off in a way that makes one wonder if he did it all by himself (he did). It’s amazing stuff, and I highly recommend checking out the entirety of this first arc in trade for any who may have missed it (this book remains a bit under the radar).

2. Ice Cream Man #14
Writer: W. Maxwell Prince
Artist: Martín Morazzo
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Letterer: Good Old Neon
Publisher: Image Comics
Ice Cream Man has been one of my absolute favorite series in comics for a good while now, and issues like this are the reason why. This issue plays with form in a way that speaks to its plot and characters without feeling gratuitous or gimmicky even a little bit. When I interviewed writer W. Maxwell Prince this summer at San Diego, he told me he found plot concepts like this one — a man is obsessed with crossword puzzles to the point they bleed into the reality of his life — an invigorating challenge to write around. Well, it shows.

What Prince and his collaborators pull off here is a poignant examination of escapism and repression and refusing to face the tragic nature of life. We see the how and why one man has become so obsessed with crossword puzzles that it has alienated his wife, and then we see what that means in a larger sense for the couple. It’s heartbreaking and at times cynical. This issue of Ice Cream Man, however, also buries a glimmer of hope deep beneath the terrifying exterior, just enough to keep from sliding into nihilism, and the result is yet another stand-alone story that feels honest and revelatory and cathartic. This comic is, quite simply, great work.  

1. House of X #2
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Pepe Larraz
Colorist: Marte Garcia
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Not only was this my favorite single issue published in August 2019, but it was also one of my favorite X-Men comics of all time...much like House of X #1 before it. As I write this, there have so far been four issues of House of X published (it’s a twice-monthly comic...like you don’t already know that), and I’d go so far as to say three of the four issues have been in the absolute top tier of X-Men comic books of all time. 

This issue stands out though, for possessing the type of comic book concept that makes this superhero sub-genre so bonkers to follow obsessively (as I assume most folks who read this site do). I won’t quite spoil it (though it’s been a while now), but it re-imagines Moira MacTaggert in a very interesting way, one that has ramifications for the past, present, and future of this franchise. I’d call it the bedrock of this X-Men reinvigoration, but, to be real about this, these creators have introduced several elements that are vying for that title. Still, I think this issue was the one that cemented a very promising story as potentially the watershed X-Men plotline for these times.

Read more great comics best of lists here!

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