Top Comics of 2018, #16 - #25

By Zack Quaintance —  The most difficult thing about a strong year for comics (like this one) is doing a year-end Best Of list. Now, to be sure, no one mandates websites do rankings. That would be a clear violation of civil liberties. There is, however, a part of the pop culture blogger brain that goes wild for it, whispering all year long...where does this one rank...and if you don’t satisfy that beast—well, bad things happen.

So, here we our with ours, freshly formulated for 2018 by our committee of one. Before we dive into part 1, which features in descending order selections #25 to #16 (the other two parts are coming tomorrow, worry not), let’s lay down ground rules:

• No trades or OGNs: Building out our OGN coverage is a priority for 2019. We’re just not there yet. So, while I absolutely loved work like Tillie Walden’s On a Sunbeam, Box Brown’s Is This Guy For Real? The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman, and Ryan Lindsay and Eric Zawadzki’s Eternal, you won’t find them here. Ideally, next year’s we’ll have an entire post dedicated to OGNs.

• No webcomics, manga, or newspaper strips: Again, our site is a bit deficient covering these (if you are into these things, we’d love to chat about you writing for us!). I should, of course, mention that in 2018 someone under the pen name Olivia James took over the long-running Nancy strip and did amazing things with it (Sluggo is lit), but, again, you won’t find it on our list.

• Longevity matters: New this year, you will find what I consider a key stat—how many issues were published this year. Late debut series like Die, Electric Warriors, and Bitter Root have tons of promise. They just haven’t been around enough to be a definitive comic of 2018. Ditto for comics that ended in April or earlier.

There you have it: guiding principles of our Top Comics of 2018. Now, without further adieu, let’s get this bad hombre started!

Top Comics of 2018, #16 - #25

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25. Snotgirl
Writer: Bryan Lee O’Malley
Artist: Leslie Hung
Colorist: Mickey Quinn
Letterer: Mare Odomo
Publisher: Image Comics
Issues in 2018: 4

In 2018, Snotgirl returned from hiatus with an every-other-month schedule, which ended up spreading four issues over the year. Its steady publication schedule gave it a decidedly 2018 feel. We also saw the plot in this story evolve, using its Instagram-driven L.A. ego hellscape motif to dip a toe into ideas of the supernatural.

Moreover, this book has a singular look and feel. O’Malley’s scripting is satirical and biting, using our increasingly-intense desire to appear perfect online as fertile ground for true existential horror. More credit, however, is owed to the art of Leslie Hung and colors of Mickey Quinn. From Hung’s disheveled-yet-shapely men and women—all of whom are equally gorgeous and barely hanging on—to the vibrant greens Quinn lands somewhere between snotty and stylish, the visuals work in perfect harmony with the story. It’s really something special.    

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24. Abbott
Writer: Saladin Ahmed
Artist: Sami Kivela
Colorist: Jason Wordie
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Issues in 2018: 5

Our committee of one won’t be able to sum up this book better than contributing writer Maya Kesh in our Best Comics of 2018: Contributor Picks. So, go check that out. When you’re done, I’ll be here trying to add to Maya’s excellent thoughts on this series. Like our #25 pick before it, Abbott is a singular comic in everything from its protagonist to its setting to the concerns of its characters.

It’s set in the ‘70s in Detroit—a place and time dismissed as of late by most stories in pop culture. Add a black female protagonist who works as a reporter, and you’ve got a collection of story elements that stand on their own as different and intriguing. Writer Ahmed and artist Kivela don’t, however, rest on that. The story they tell is tense and mysterious, rich with themes of oppression and the paranormal. Basically, I’m with Maya when she says she hopes we haven’t seen the last of this character.

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23. Long Lost Part 2
Writer: Matthew Erman
Artist: Lisa Sterle
Publisher: Scout Comics
Issues in 2018: 5

This is, perhaps, cheating, seeing as the finale to this series is due in 2019 but I’ve already read (and loved) it. I won’t, however, let the ending slip. Long Lost is a poetic and understated story about change, the past, and family. From husband-wife team writer Matthew Erman and artist Lisa Sterle, Long Lost is a literary and confident comic with much to say about our transient generation, so bent on putting withering hometowns behind us.

And it says these things with a mix of ideas and imagery. The penultimate issue came out on 12/19, and as I wrote in my Long Lost Part 2 #5 review, it saw the creators expressing what this story is about: “Long Lost is about leaving your hometown...yet feeling a pull to return, a call home from our past. When we arrive, the place is nigh-unrecognizable. Relatives we thought we knew are so different as to be irreconcilable with who they once were in the past. They’re acting in strange ways, motivated by the hopes of enticing a magic cure for suffering, unemployment, sickness...with methods making them all uglier.” It was a great read in 2018 will be collected in trade this spring.

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22. Skyward
Writer: Joe Henderson
Artist: Lee Garbett
Colorist: Antonio Fabela
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Publisher: Image Comics
Issues in 2018: 9

My reaction to Skyward #1 was: where did this comic come from and how is it so polished and fully-formed? The answer on both fronts is that this book was written by Joe Henderson—a TV veteran who most recently oversaw Lucifer—who I came to find out (via the Word Balloon podcast) has a long history of involvement with comics dating back to Bendis’ message board. He’s teamed with powerhouse artist Lee Garbett on this one.

There’s a lot to like about Skyward. It’s narrative structure is ironclad, leaving no holes or lapses to distract reader attention. The science within extrapolates a world-altering event similar to how Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra did in Y: The Last Man, and it’s characters’ tones are so earnest and hopeful that one could probably even read this comic with family. It’s also kept to a regular release schedule, which is so key for creator-owned books like this one, jockeying for attention on a crowded rack.

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21. Euthanauts
Writer: Tini Howard
Artist: Nick Robles
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: IDW Black Crown
Issues in 2018: 4

This is another book that a contributor summed up so perfectly earlier this week (this time it was Allison and you can and should read it here). Yet, once again as the official committee of one, I will do my best to inject something new into this conversation. Euthanauts is, quite simply, one of the most gorgeous books on the stands. It’s the type of story you let wash over you like a poem, finding intense ideas and moments of beauty as you page through it.

Writer Tini Howard and artist Nick Robles are both powerful talents, destined for greatest things in the industry. Before they get there, however, I for one feel lucky to be around to see their beautiful book of life and death unspooling in real time. There are many great books right now on Shelly Bond’s Black Crown imprint (House Amok and Lodger both could have made our list had they published more issues), but Euthanauts is the crown jewel of that collection.

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20. Royal City
Writer/Artist: Jeff Lemire
Publisher: Image Comics
Issues in 2018: 7
Royal City wrapped up in August, which I found surprising, possibly because the ever-prolific Jeff Lemire (who pulls double duty here both writing and doing art) has put out so much work since this one concluded. And while a hefty volume of that work is to be celebrated (more on that as we get closer to the top), none of his stories had the intense emotional core that Royal City did.

A spiritual and semi-direct successor to Lemire’s seminal work on Essex County, this is one of the rare comics in 2018 that moved me to tears, doing so with its story of love, loss, adolescence to adulthood, and perseverance in the face of life’s small-yet-crushing defeats. I would love to get a hardcover version of these 14 issues to keep forever on my shelf, which given the space limitations that plague my collection these days, is a high compliment indeed.

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19. Submerged
Writer: Vita Ayala
Artist: Lisa Sterle
Colorist: Stelladia
Letterer: Rachel Deering
Publisher: Vault Comics
Issues in 2018: 4

The first—but certainly not the last—of the Vault Comics on our list, Submerged launched in July and concluded in December. It’s a haunting story of family discord that ultimately manifests in a tangle with mythology during one of the most dangerous storms New York City has weathered in modern history. Vita Ayala is one of the brightest rising stars in the industry, and they do incredible work with this one, expertly balancing the revelations about family backstory with the paranormal threats faced in the present by our characters.

Lisa Sterle (who you may remember early from our writeup of Long Lost) once again creates grounded-yet-disturbing imagery to go along with Ayala’s scripting. This is one of those four-part stories you’ll want to go out and get in trade, so you’ll have it to page through often at your leisure. The impression it leaves is indelible, and Ayala and Sterle are both clearly creators to watch in the coming year.

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18. Cover
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: David Mack
Digital Coloring: Zu Orzu
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
Issues in 2018: 4

I saw Brian Bendis and David Mack talk about this book during Rose City Comic Con this September in Portland. Bendis noted that most other mediums—movies, music, books, etc.—have had myriad stories told about what it’s like in their industry. Not so with comics. Cover, however, sets out to change that, detailing what it feels like to table at cons as a semi-notable pro...while also working for the CIA.

The espionage subplot is, to be sure, the engine propelling this comic further, but the emotional core has to do with artistic accomplishments and satisfaction, with finding the places where ones art ends and real life begins, with examining how much artistic achievement can wash away loneliness, solitude, and rifts between family. On top of that thematic goodness, this one is expertly rendered by Mack, who uses visual flourishes often to convey intensity of emotion.    

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17. Crowded
Writer: Christopher Sebela
Artist: Ro Stein
Inker: Ted Brandt
Colorist: Triona Farrell
Letterer: Cardinal Rae
Publisher: Image Comics
Issues in 2018: 5

After what I personally perceived as somewhat of a down year for new comics in 2017, Image (our committee of one’s favorite publisher) bounced back with a vengeance in 2018, launching a dozen new series and mini-series with major staying power (more on that next week...so stay tuned!). Chief among those great new books was Crowded from writer Christopher Sebela and artists Ro Stein, Ted Brandt, and Triona Farrell.

There was no shortage of comics this year that look at terrifying near futures. What Crowded did, however, was extrapolate a startlingly-realistic idea (crowdfunded assassination bounty apps) with as taught of a buddy-drama/chase thriller narrative as we’ve seen as of late in any medium. This is a story built to elicit white knuckles, both in terms of what’s happening on the page and what it has to say about the current direction of society.

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16. Gideon Falls
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Andrea Sorrentino
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Steve Wands
Publisher: Image Comics
Issues in 2018: 9

This book has a special place in our committee of one’s heart: It was the first comic we ever reviewed on this site, all the way back in January. We gave it a glowing review, predicting it would become the next big Image comic. Thankfully, time was on our side. This comic—from the well-worn creative team of Jeff Lemire and artist Andrea Sorrentino—hit the ground running and is yet to let up.

It started as what felt like an homage to Twin Peaks. The end of the first arc and the first half of the second, however, has built this story into a creepy mystery all of its own, establishing it as something different with expert use of a dual narrative. Sorrentino’s artwork is also absolutely it’s own thing, as visionary as anything on the monthly comic stands right now. It’s 100 percent a testament to the strength of comics this year that a book as good as Gideon Falls finishes #16 overall on our list, but here we are. Oh, and worry not Lemire fans...his other work will be landing higher (much higher!) on this list.

Check back tomorrow for our Best Comics of 2018, #1 - #15! And check back later in the week for more year-end lists, including our Best Single Issues and our Top Creators of 2018!

For the history-minded readers, you can find our Top Comics of 2017, Part 1, 2 and 3 online now!

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

REVIEW: Gideon Falls #7 Feels Like a Fantastic Season Premiere

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Gideon Falls #7 is out 10/17.

By Bo Stewart — Gideon Falls ended its first story arc earlier this year with a bang. Our trip into the sinister and supernatural Black Barn was a high point not only for the series, but for horror comics at large. Coming into Gideon Falls #7, I suspected we would likely face a dip in excitement, but thankfully that isn’t the case. Creators Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino very wisely treat issue seven like a season premiere of television. It’s maybe not as fast-paced as previous issues, but this comic effectively resets the board while also laying the groundwork for what’s to come in the arc ahead.

Gideon Falls is a strange-people-in-a-strange-town story done right. Ever since Twin Peaks became a cult classic, storytellers have tried and (more often than not) failed to replicate this sort of formula. It’s a delicate balance of finding the absurd in mundane moments, and precious few stories have the patience to let narratives like this build to crescendos. Once the town secret is revealed, the story quickly becomes stale. Gideon Falls #7’s greatest triumph is proving that the story of the Black Barn has legs.

The Barn’s origins, nature, and intent are the central mystery of this story. We got a small peek behind the curtain in #6 (in one of the best sequences of the year), but the full mysteries of the Barn won’t be revealed until the main character, Norton, achieves his goal of rebuilding the Barn…using the original materials that he’s collecting and keeping in jars. The undertaking of finding chips of wood, nails, screws, etc. spread all over town, and subsequently using them to rebuild the original Barn is overwhelming, especially as others continue to question Norton’s mental health. It gives the reader a keen insight into Norton’s mind and the suffocating presence the Barn has had and continues to have on his life.

Indeed, the second arc of this story is appropriately titled Sum of its Parts. Andrea Sorrentino’s art plays off this and engages the reader in ways no other book is currently doing. The panel variety is astounding, with each issue featuring at least one type of layout that I’ve personally never seen before. These innovative layouts give us a far better sense of who Norton is than any dialogue or narration ever could. For example, for the final page of Gideon Falls #7, the art is literally flipped vertically on its side. In most books, this would be a distraction, but here, the disorienting effect actively aids the storytelling. Like the title of this arc, each page adds up to more than the sum of its parts.

Gideon Falls is comics storytelling at its finest. It prioritizes mood and sense of place over fascination with a mysterious barn. Each page is littered with tension and oozes atmosphere. I think it’s this focus that makes Gideon Falls such a success where similar stories have been failures.  It’s a comic that knows exactly what it is and after#7, I can confidently say I’m in for the long run.

Overall: Creators Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino treat Gideon Falls #7 like a season debut of television. This issue isn’t as fast-paced as some chapters from the first arc, but it thrives in character-driven moments. I’m eagerly awaiting the twists to come. Oh, and that cliffhanger… wow! 9.0/10

For more comic book reviews, check out our review archives.

Bo grinds for the man by day so he can create comics by night. He is the lesser half of the Stewart Brothers writing team and can be found on Twitter and Instagram @stewart_bros

Top Comics of August 2018

By Zack Quaintance — August 2018 was the month of Jeff Lemire, who wrapped up the 14th and final issue of Royal City, the first arc of creator-owned hit Gideon Falls, a multi-year run on Valiant’s Bloodshot, and a big reveal in mysterious superhero nostalgia trip Black Hammer (which, by the way, he’s using to build a generational superhero universe from scratch). Oh, and Lemire did all this while also writing Sentry, The Terrifics, and probably more books I’m forgetting.

That’s not all. Just when Lemire was cresting on the strength multiple impressive and prolific comics runs, he used the platform his profile affords him to castigate a rage movement that bullies and harrasses creators from marginalized groups, an action for which he’s surely gotten blowback. Still, that kind of speaking out sparked the most wide-spanning conversation yet about why it’s important to denounce such tactics and such groups.

So yeah, item of business no. 1: hats off to Lemire. Item no. 2? A look at this month’s top comics, which, unsurprisingly, will also merit further discussion of Lemire. Now that I’ve set a new record for mentions of one creator during my intro...let’s do this!

Shout Outs

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Shanghai Red #3 continues Christopher Sebela and Josh Hixson’s searing pioneer revenge epic. The colors in Hixson’s artwork are especially revelatory.

The penultimate issue of Steve Orlando and Garry Brown’s six-part father-son Russian revenge epic Crude took the book to new heights in both physical and emotional stakes.

Michael Moreci and Hayden Sherman’s Wasted Space is now ongoing, which is very cool because every issue has been stellar, including this month’s Wasted Space #4.

Action Comics #1002 was the most complete Bendis Superman issue since Man of Steel #1. Bendis is slowly building his Superman status quo, pulling in vital elements and reconstructing Clark’s life with updates for 2018. Plus, art by Pat Gleason!

Meanwhile in Supergirl #21, Bendis passes a cosmic story thread left dangling in Man of Steel to the creative team of Marc Andreyko and Kevin Maguire. Excited to see where in the galaxy it goes.

I liked The Euthanuats #1, with its poeticism and blurry line between life and death, but I loved The Euthanauts #2, which declared that this comic is primed and ready for a lengthy run.

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Batgirl has a new creative team: writer Mairghread Scott and artists Elena Casagrande and Paul Pelletier. So far I’ve liked all of their work, which this month alone included half of Batgirl #25, all of Batgirl #26, and Batgirl Annual #2.

Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman are doing fantastic things in Venom, expanding their vision for a character that previously seemed outdated. Hell of a run taking shape here.

Another issue of Mister Miracle by Tom King and Mitch Gerads, another spot on our monthly best of list. This book is just so good.

Finally, we got a two-issue Wonder Woman arc from Steve Orlando and Aco, high adventure that teamed Diana with Artemis and the new Aztek for mythology-meets-multiverse fun.

Top 5 Comics of August 2018

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5. The Wild Storm #16 by Warren Ellis, Jon Davis-Hunt, & Brian Buccellato

The Wild Storm continues to be a wonderfully-complex slow burn of a comic, one with much to say about power structures, corporations, government, and the role of individuals within it all. Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt (with excellent Brian Buccellato colors) are really taking their time here, giving this comic a more weighty and realistic feel than past iterations of this universe.

It won’t be entirely clear until we get the final eight issues of this story, but I’m starting to suspect this book will land among Warren Ellis’ best work. In many ways, it’s the final form of so many ideas that he’s played with throughout his career, ideas that he’s able to explain through familiar character in a totally new universe that’s unburdened by past or present continuity. DC essentially told Ellis, You know those characters you’ve written on and off throughout your career...would you like to start from scratch and do whatever you want with them? He (obviously) said yes, and the end result is awesome comics.

4. Amazing Spider-Man #4 by Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, Laura Martin & Joe Caramagna

Cards on the table: Along with Uncanny X-Men, Amazing Spider-Man is the first comic I subscribed to as a kid. I’ll always and forever have it on a pull list. That is to say, I was always giving Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley’s run on this book a shot, and, through the first three issues, I thought it was amusing, a light romp through all the qualities that make Spider-Man a beloved character, albeit a bit light on his central conflict: his guilt over passively enabling the death of his uncle.

Amazing Spider-Man #4, however, was the first issue to break through the shiny veneer of Ottley art and Spencer quips, showing that this creative team is interested in the core of the character and determined to get it right. This book broached Peter Parker’s central conflict and guiding philosophy in intriguing ways, while also continuing to double down on the strengths of earlier issues. As a result, I am one supremely satisfied long-time reader.

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3. Batman #52 and #53 by Tom King, Lee Weeks, & Elizabeth Breitwesier

Batman #52 and #53 were part of the recently-concluded Cold Days arc, which is my favorite multi-part story that Tom King has told with Batman (I still like Batman Annual #2, Batman/Elmer Fudd, and Batman #37’s double date better as single issues, but I digress). The arc was drawn by Lee Weeks, who has emerged as maybe Tom King’s best collaborator on this run as well.

What makes the story work so well is how it speaks to comics collective obsession with Batman. In Cold Days, Bruce Wayne manipulates his way onto a jury of a Mr. Freeze murder trial because he worries he made a mistake as Batman, so shook was he after being left at the altar by Catwoman. He gives a 12 Angry Bat-Men kind of speech, wherein he questions the fallibility of his alter ego. Intentional or not, that speech had a meta context, raising questions about the way fandom venerates the character. Fantastic stuff.

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2. Ice Cream Man #6 by W. Maxwell Prince, Martin Morazzo, Chris O’Halloran, & Good Old Neon

This comic somehow tells three self-contained stories in a single issue, doing so with little to no dialogue in a way that not only makes sense but will almost certainly haunt the vast majority of readers for weeks (at least, that’s been my experience). Really, if it wasn’t for the monster month of the creator who took the no. 1 spot, Ice Cream Man #6 would have been an easy choice for August’s best.

This comic is one of my favorite single issues of 2018 so far. The craft here is so impressive that I don’t want to think about it too hard, lest I lose motivation to ever attempt anything creative of my own again. Moreover, I have a pretty strong predisposition against stories steeped in cynicism or bleakness—and this issue is most certainly that—yet this book is so well-done I was able to overlook all that. Ice Cream Man holistically is one of the best horror books today, as well as one of the best explorations of what’s possible with the medium, in terms of form and structure. I can’t recommend it enough.  

1. Jeff Lemire

Jeff Lemire landed in the top spot for a few different reasons, many of which we touched on earlier: the conclusion of his Bloodshot epic, the quiet way Royal City’s ending issue made my eyes well, the outstanding reveal on the last panel of Black Hammer: Age of Doom #4, and, of course, the way he stood up to Comicsgate, contributing in no small part to a roiling wave of similarly-prominent creators who did the same.

We should also note that Gideon Falls first arc ended in August (in excellent fashion), and that that book’s entire first storyline has been extremely well-done. So yeah, most months are solid for Lemire output, but August felt like a statement on his part about who he is and what he wants his impact on the industry to be: a disciplined and prolific creator with no tolerance for harassment, rage, bullying, bigotry, or dumbassitude of all kinds. Not bad...not bad in the slightest.

Check out our Best New #1 Comics of August 2018 here plus more of our monthly lists here .

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, CA.

New Comics Previews for August 15, 2018

By Zack Quaintance —  Soooo, we’re changing up the previews formula this week, moving to featuring some of our top picks for this upcoming Wednesday, rather than the top PR preview stuff that got sent to us last week, a move that should be more useful and more fun, two things that rarely go together.

This week features some of our favorite new creator-owned books for 2018 continuing on, as well as the launch of a pair of promising new ones. There are also some pretty high profile books wrapping up big arcs, ongoing mega superhero stories, and more. With all that in mind, let’s get into the solicit text plus a quick line or two about why we think some of these books are cool.

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Top Comics for August 15, 2018

Batman #53
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Lee Weeks
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
"Cold Days" continues! The jury in the Mr. Freeze trial is hopelessly deadlocked because one man won't vote guilty-and that man is Bruce Wayne. Freeze's defense is that Batman used excessive force, making his arrest illegal, and Bruce is the one man who actually knows for sure what went down between Batman and his ice-cold nemesis. And if Bruce is right, that means everything he's devoted himself to as the Caped Crusader is a lie; he is hurting more than helping. With Dick Grayson putting the Batsuit back on to keep Gotham City safe while Bruce is sequestered, could this be the out Bruce needs to discard the cape and cowl forever?
Why It’s Cool: There has been no wedding hangover for Tom King, who (in our opinion) is telling one of the best stories of his run, exploring Bruce Wayne’s emotional recovery from what happened at the wedding, which actually speaks to his emotional recovery from all trauma in general, an idea that’s pretty relevant given his life decisions.

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Crude #5
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Garry Brown
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
Blackstone is ready to explode! Piotr has beaten every thug, mercenary, and soldier Petropinnacle has sent to kill him. Now, the city’s true ruler steps up to show this tired KGB dog what true power is.
Why It’s Cool: Deeply violent, deeply emotional. This is a cold and savage father-son story that has us hooked with its nuanced emotional center. This is one of our our favorite new creator-owned titles of 2018, hands down.

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Gideon Falls #6
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Andrea Sorrentino
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
"THE BLACK BARN": Conclusion-Father Fred enters The Black Barn on a daring rescue attempt but nothing can prepare him for the horrors within. Meanwhile Norton and Angie delve deeper into Norton's past and zero in on the secrets of the Barn. A 2018 Eisner Award nominee for Best Writer, JEFF LEMIRE!
Why It’s Cool: We’d say this conclusion to the first arc stands to give us more answers to the many mysteries spread throughout Gideon Falls, but this is Gideon Falls. Nothing is a given, except that this book will be expertly-written and loaded with incredible imagery. This is another of our favorite new creator-owned titles of 2018

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Skyward #5
Writer: Joe Henderson
Artist: Lee Garbett
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
END OF STORY ARC “MY LOW-G LIFE,” Conclusion The pulse-pounding conclusion of our first arc! Everything comes to a head as Willa takes the fight to Barrow. And not everyone’s getting out of this one alive…
Why It’s Cool: This yet ANOTHER of our favorite creator-owned titles, the one that probably caught us the most by surprise given we’re not familiar with the creative team. The last line about a character dying here, though? Oof, that’s going to be interesting in this book that until has been somewhat light.

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The Weatherman #3
Writer: Jody Leheup
Artist: Nathan Fox
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
Cut off, on the run, and hunted by The Marshal, Nathan and Cross try to stay alive long enough to find Nathan’s lost memory and the key to stopping another world-ending attack. But they’ll have to survive each other first…
Why It’s Cool: HOLY WOW WHAT ARE THE ODDS...this is yet ANOTHER of our favorite new creator-owned comics of 2018. This is just one of those comics that feels like its creators have something vital and important to say. We have no idea what that is, but the telling has been super compelling thus far.

 

New #1s for August 15, 2018

• Crowded #1

• Extermination #1

• Pearl #1

Others Receiving Votes

• Babyteeth #12

• Catalyst Prime Summit #8

• Catalyst Prime Superb #12

• Ether Copper Golems #4

• Infinity Wars #2

• Justice League #6

• Lost City Explorers #3

• Thor #4

• Tony Stark: Iron Man #3

• Vagrant Queen #3

• Wic + Div #38

• Wild Storm #16

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at@zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

Top Comics of July 2018

By Zack Quaintance — Maybe I’m suffering from recency bias, but I’m hard-pressed to think of a summer in my life (I’m 22 give or take...SEVERAL years) as good for comics as this. Seriously. There are top-notch stories being told at both major superhero publishers—with characters ranging from Mister Miracle to Captain America—while the creator-owned market hits unprecedented peaks for variety and quality.

Being in the midst of this wave is a blessing and challenge for writing lists like this. Obviously, I don’t lack titles, but it’s tough to narrow things down. I recently faced the same dilemma sorting the Best New #1 Comics of July. My answer is do it and spend the next month regretting choices. Act recklessly and then deal...that’s a strategy I’ve long employed.

Joking aside, I put a lot of thought into this month’s list, agonizing until I landed on the titles below. Sooooo—let’s do this!

Shout Outs

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Batman #50 was a good comic with a messy release (the above variant cover is by Jae Lee).

Let’s start with a mess: Batman #50 and the spoiler fiasco. I didn’t get spoiled (thankfully), but I’m sympathetic to all who did. Regardless, this was a fine issue with a welcome twist, especially if as Tom King says, this is the run’s halfway point.

Have you all read IDW’s Black Crown imprint? You should. July saw the end of two early titles: Assassanistas and Punks Not Dead. Put simply, what a glorious wave of odd books, heavy on craft, humor, subversion. Can’t wait to see what Black Crown does next.

The darling of this year’s Eisners, Monstress, wrapped its third arc with a thundering crescendo and the most action in any single issue since the book’s debut. Perhaps most importantly, Monstress #18 also laid great track for future stories. Very well done.

Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen concluded their sci-book Descender, a beautiful watercolor epic about childhood friendship. This issue was great (like the entire series), but it was less a finale than a continuation, setting up a sequel called Ascender that launches this fall.

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Al Ewing and Joe Bennett continue to make The Hulk terrifying.

In Immortal Hulk #2 and #3, Al Ewing and Joe Bennett continued to strike a horrifying tone, telling a story closer to prestige horror than standard superheroics, leading to half of comics Twitter saying I don’t usually like the Hulk but I like THIS.   

There’s a reason Incognegro by Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece is taught in schools: it’s a well-done historical mystery steeped in questions about race. Its sequel wrapped this month with Incognegro Renaissance #5, a worthy successor.

Sideways #6 gives its teen hero a defining tragedy, and ho man did it sting. Speaking of The New Age of DC Heroes, The Unexpected #2 and Terrifics #5 were both great too.

Apparently Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt’s phenomenal new take on old characters, The Wild Storm, is selling well (at least online), but not enough fans are talking about it. I wish that would change. It’s so good.

Finally, Flash #50 was an emotionally-satisfying conclusion to a long-simmering plot thread, one that also featured that page with the return of that character at the end.

Top 5 Comics of July 2018

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Cates & Stegman seem bent on a character-defining run.

5. Venom #4 by Donny Cates & Ryan Stegman

I don’t want to go into the plot, except to note there’s an expert connection to Jason Aaron’s all-time great run on Thor, and that superhero comic fans love that type of thing. There’s also just a feeling of excitement around everything Cates is writing; he’s like an athlete having his first MVP season, entrenching himself as a lead voice at Marvel, even extending his exclusive with the publisher.

Which is all great, as is Venom #4. It’s still relatively early in this run, but Cates and Stegman have talked about doing a prolonged and character-defining stretch on this book. Also, like Immortal Hulk, this is another book that seems to have many fans reading a character they otherwise wouldn’t. No easy feat.

4. Wasted Space #3 by Michael Moreci & Hayden Sherman

Wasted Space, the frenetic space opera about addiction and cultism and 100 other things, just keeps getting better. People who write about comics often use that line, but in this case it’s true. Wasted Space is a complex comic with so many big ideas that the experience of reading it improves as more of its scope becomes visible. That’s been my experience, anyway.

I loved Wasted Space #3 (read my review of Wasted Space #3). The ideas and plotting that made the series so engrossing is still here, but this issue also (organically) ups the humor, especially when the big all-powerful gigantic enemy guy tells some rando he’d feel better about himself if he approached work with pride—hilarious. I don’t know if I can be clearer: you should all be reading this book.

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Bold design choices elevate Gideon Falls to lofty creative levels.

3. Gideon Falls #5 by Jeff Lemire & Andrea Sorrentino

Holy wow, the art in this comic is insane. I know that’s vague and non-descriptive, but if you’ve read it, you’re absolutely nodding along. The truth is it’s hard to to describe these visuals without using dude, did you see that language. The art is imaginative to the point one wonders exactly when Andrea Sorrentino disregarded conventions and straight up started doing whatever he wanted.

There are bold choices, to be sure, every one of which pays off, including red circles around details for emphasis, and arrows telling readers where to look. It could come off as proscriptive, but given how engrossing this story is, it instead feels helpful. I’ve liked this comic from the start (see my long-ago review of Gideon Falls #1), but Gideon Falls #5 somehow reaches new levels of creativity, storytelling, and absolutely bananas visual stimulation on every page. Absolutely bananas.

2. Wonder Woman #51 by Steve Orlando & Laura Braga

With Wonder Woman #51, Steve Orlando and Laura Braga tell a stand-alone story with a deep and nuanced understanding of this character, one that shows exactly why she’s been relevant all these years. It’s the type of small-scale story that plays to a hero’s essence, the type done ad nauseum with Batman and Superman but not nearly as much with Wonder Woman. This comic, however, helps to fix that.

It’s just so perfect. Aside from the adept characterization, it features an engaging and emotional narrative that speaks to Diana’s core values. It sounds cliche, but I teared up here at the drama and and smiled at the jokes. This is, to me, an issue we’ll be hearing new creators talk about on podcasts 10 years from now, citing it as an influence for the way they write/think about the character.

Read our review of Wonder Woman #51.

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Just, ouch.

1. Saga #54 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

Nothing will ever be the same. If you’ve read the issue, check out Why Saga #54 Hurts So Bad. If you haven’t, please read the issue and then click that link. There’s just no good way to discuss this without spoilers. Simply put, though, we’ll just note that this is the most consequential issue yet in the best series in comics.

That does it for our July list. Please check back to the site tomorrow for our new feature, Five Questions With Creators, which is being kicked off with writer Zack Kaplan, of Eclipse, Port of Earth, and Lost City Explorers!

Check out our Best New #1 Comics of July 2018 here plus more of our monthly lists here .

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, CA.

Top New Image Comics of 2018

Image Comics has established itself as the most prolific publisher of creator-owned comics.

By Zack Quaintance — The last two years or so have felt relatively quiet at Image Comics... relatively. The company has released many wonderful oddities and gems, as always, but there hadn’t (arguably) been as many books that do things like sell movie rights before issue one (Descender), land creators TV deals (Bitch Planet, Deadly Class, Sex Criminals, etc.), or land their trades in hip indie bookstores (Monstress, Saga, Southern Bastards, Wic + Div).

That, however, changed in 2018, with Image Comics launching more hits last year than they have in possibly any other 12 month period. It’s been truly impressive, so much so that we felt obligated to update our top new Image Comics of 2018, including a bit about why we like each book as well as its odds for longevity. While it remains to be seen which (if any) will crest two dozen issues and land on end caps at Powell’s Books or The Strand, these comics are still all well worth a look today via our top new Image Comics of 2018.

Let’s do this!

Special Note: This page has been updated from an earlier piece—Top New Image Comics of 2018 (So Far)—to include comics released in the latter half of the year.

Top New Image Comics of 2018

Three issues in, Steve Orlando and Garry Brown are doing career best work on the haunting father-son story, Crude.

Crude by Steve Orlando & Garry Brown
Crude was one of my favorite books from Image in 2018, but it unfortunately has now ended. Steve Orlando is one of my favorite writers and like his superhero work, Crude’s plotting was complex and layered, rewarding readers who kept up while shrugging at those who didn’t. What set it apart from Orlando’s other writing is that behind the violence and severe badassery was a heart-rending father-son tale. Artist Garry Brown (Babyteeth, Black Road) did fantastic work, using truly haunting imagery to depict egret and anger plaguing our protagonist.
Odds to Run for Years: Zero. This one has, sadly, ended, but is now available in trade.

Bitter Root
Writers: David F. Walker and Chuck Brown
Artist: Sanford Greene
Colorist: Rico Renzi and Sanford Greene
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Although this list is alphabetical, I’m happy to be starting with Bitter Root, which I’ve been waiting for since writer David F. Walker and Sanford Greene prematurely-ended their excellent run on Marvel Comics’ Power Man and Iron Fist. This book seems to have grown from the ashes. It’s a monster-hunting book set during the Harlem Renaissance that involves questions of race. It’s smart, well-done, and brought to life with phenomenal art. I love it and hope it runs for a very long time.
Odds to Run for Years: 95 percent.

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Crowded also succeeds via the all-important badass attitude factor.

Crowded
Writer: Christopher Sebela
Artist: Ro Stein
Inker: Ted Brandt
Colorist: Triona Farrell
Letterer: Cardinal Rae
As I wrote in our Top Comics of 2018 full list, Crowded has emerged from a number of challengers to rank as one of the best near-future horror stories in comics. The book accomplished this by extrapolating a startlingly-realistic idea (crowdfunded assassination bounty hunting apps) with as taught of a buddy-drama/chase thriller narrative as we’ve seen in any medium. This is a white knuckles story, both in terms of what’s happening on the page and what it has to say about the direction of society.
Odds to Run for Years: 90 percent.

Die
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Stephanie Hans
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Die joins a number of recent stories in different mediums aimed at capitalizing on nostalgia for role-playing games like D&D. Where it stands apart, however, is with the tone of its sensibilities, which are dark, dark, dark. I suspect that ultimately the real villain of this modern fantasy story is time, and what a scary idea that is. Also, Stephanie Hans art is worth the price of this one alone. Although it’s only two issues old, Die is an easy choice for our Top New Image Comics of 2018.
Odds to Run for Years: 100 percent.

Gideon Falls seems like a lock to become a long-running book.

Gideon Falls
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Andrea Sorrentino
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Steve Wands
As I wrote in my review of Gideon Falls #1, it feels like Jeff Lemire has spent his career dancing around the horror genre, dipping a toe in or dangling a foot, without jumping all the way in. Well, that stopped with Gideon Falls, and the result is one of the top new Image comics of 2018. While doing promo for the book, Lemire—who teams with long-time collaborator Andrea Sorrentino, one of comics’ grittiest artists—said he re-worked these characters from early sketches he did before he was published. It also, however, feels like while re-working these characters, Lemire was watching Twin Peaks, as the book’s first ar is clearly an homage to that show. Now in its second arc, however, Gideon Falls has grown into its own unsettling thing.
Odds to Run for Years: 100 percent.

Ice Cream Man
Writer: W. Maxwell Prince
Artist: Martin Morazzo
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Letterer: Good Old Neon
Ice Cream Man is a unique book within our list. While the others involve continuous serialized narratives, this comic is a horror anthology series, tied together by cameo appearances from the titular awful ice cream man. It’s a smart commentary on our everyday lives, and the concepts of each issue vary wildly. One may deploy three separate narratives with little dialogue, while the next might be a straightforward horror story with a clear protagonist. The variety just one small part of why this book lands on our Top New Image Comics of 2018.
Odds to Run for Years: 75 percent.

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Infinite Dark by Ryan Cady and Andre Mutti is a smart, psychological mystery story.

Infinite Dark
Writer: Ryan Cady
Artist: Andrea Mutti
Colorist: K. Michael Russell
Letterer: A Larger World Studios’ Troy Peteri
Infinite Dark is an incredibly smart and immersive comic set in the bleakest possible time I can think of: after the heat death of the universe. It features a sparsely-populated cosmic arc in which a forlorn head of security must investigate a rare murder mystery on the vessel. Steeped in deep and thoughtful psychology, this is special sort of comic doing impressive (if unpleasant) things with its tone. Check out our interview with Infinite Dark writer, Ryan Cady.
Odds to Run for Years: 80 percent.

Middlewest
Writer: Skottie Young
Artist: Jorge Corona
Colorist: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot
Like Infinite Dark, the next entry on our Top New Image Comics of 2018 list is also a forlorn one. Middlewest from Skottie Young and Jorge Corona is set among the windswept plains of inner-America, re-imagined here in a way that emphasizes the inherent magic of a lonely region. Corona’s imaginative work and Young’s emotional writing have brought to life a striking and heartfelt, character-driven tale.
Odds to Run for Years: 75 percent.

Oblivion Song might be Robert Kirkman's best work yet.

Oblivion Song by Robert Kirkman & Lorenzo De Felici
Robert Kirkman’s most famous work, The Walking Dead, was adapted into a television mega hit, giving him the fan base and cachet to basically guarantee prolonged runs for new titles. Oblivion Song is no exception, and as I understand it, Kirkman and artist Lorenzo De Felici completed 12 issues before even announcing this book’s existence. And Oblivion Song lives up to that level of swagger. Launched the same day as Gideon Falls, this book is arguably Kirkman’s best (although I have a soft spot for Invincible). Everything about it is deeper and more nuanced than The Walking Dead or Outcast, yet still accessible. Simply put, this book is build for a long haul.
Odds to Reach #20: 100 percent, in fact, I think they’re probably already done with it.

Self / Made
Writer: Mat Groom
Artist: Eduardo Ferigato
Colorist: Marcelo Costa
Letterer: A Larger World Studios’ Troy Peteri
One of the biggest surprises on our Top New Image Comics of 2018 list is Self / Made, which debuted with a creative team I was entirely unfamiliar with. It also debuted, however, with a rock solid first issue that ends in an intriguing twist. This may be cheating a bit since the second issue came out in 2019, but the follow up to the debut builds on this book’s concept even further, raising questions about the very nature of our existence and the role of creators and gods. This book is smart, stylish, and intriguing as all get out. I highly recommend it.
Odds to Run for Years: 80 percent.

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Skyward is one of the Top New Image Comics of 2018.

Skyward
Writer: Joe Henderson
Artist: Lee Garbett
Colorist: Antonio Fabela
Letterer: Simon Bowland
As I’ve been telling any comic fan that will listen, Skyward has done basically everything well throughout its earliest issues. This is a polished book, one that confidently knows exactly where it’s going, taking slow but effective steps to get there. As I’ve written in Skyward reviews, this book’s greatest strength has been the careful pace at which its creators disperse information. Too many #1 issues fall into a trap of dumping tons of exposition too soon. Skyward—which has a fantastic concept involving the world losing a dangerous amount of gravity—gives just enough info to stay oriented without feeling clunky. It’s all very impressive.
Odds to Run for Years: 80 percent.

Read more about Image Comics on our comic book Reviews Page.

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.