In today’s 2010 in Review entry, we’ve got a look at the best new books comics had to offer this year. While the year was absolutely loaded to the gills with great new books, only five could make the cut. So that means our apologies to “American Vampire,” “Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors,” “Avengers Academy” and a whole lot more. We dig you, we really do, but you didn’t quite make the cut…but we’ll keep buying, we swear.
Find out what did make our list after the jump.
5. Justice League: Generation Lost
Why It Makes the List (Matt): When Blackest Night ended, most of us were unsure what to think. The general response here at the MC Offices was one of mild disappointment, but we all definitely looked forward to the upcoming series Brightest Day, which would hopefully echo the excellence of days gone by with 52. We were all quite shocked to find that the companion book, the book released every OTHER week of the month, was the one to excel beyond excelling, and it came from the underdog team! That book? Generation Lost.
It is no secret that the MC Crew likes to put writers like Peter Tomasi and Geoff Johns on pedestals, so to see the book started by Keith Giffen and Judd Winick (later solely helmed by Judd Winick while Giffen moved to Booster Gold) being the effectively more consistent title. Telling the tale of the return of Max Lord, the book focused on the JLI, bringing the ragtag and disassembled group back to the forefront of our minds and igniting a passion for the team amongst a whole new crowd. Winick then managed to exceed all of our expectations with a story that has been 100% solid and 100% entertaining since the first issue as he includes dystopian futures and grand scale villainous schemes into the book, as well as being the only DC title to acknowledge the change in Wonder Woman aside from Wonder Woman.
In every way that Brightest Day fails to focus in on a specific story and capture our hearts, Generation Lost has succeeded in bringing back a team from days gone by in it’s new setting and reintroducing some lesser used DC heroes back into the mainstream. Generation Lost is one of DC’s strongest books this years, and when a book by Judd Winick is doing leaps and bounds better in it’s story than a book from DC Architect Geoff Johns and master storyteller Peter Tomasi, that’s a surefire sign of something to pay attention to.
4. SHIELD
Why It Makes the List (Matt): Jonathan Hickman came upon an assuming scene when he first came out with his creator owned works such as Nightly News and most recently Red Mass For Mars. He was soon scooped up by Marvel and quickly became a big name among fans for his work with Secret Warriors and Fantastic Four. However, it was with SHIELD that Hickman managed to succesfully combine both his style of previous work with the mass amounts of history available both from our reality and that of the Marvel Universe.
This is what SHIELD is – a historical jaunt through time that, for the first time, shows us how Marvel’s premiere spy organization fits into the grand scheme of things. A maxi-series that is split down into smaller volumes, SHIELD works on a multiple levels both in that it slowly begins to tie larger themes of Hickman’s general Marvel work together while also appealing to fans of history who are interested in how a man with the creative mind of Da Vinci might fit into a world with Celestials. The book was easily one of the most accessible new books in Marvel’s line, allowing fans who had never really attempted to read a big Marvel book before the access they craved while also appealing to fans of the Marvel U and Hickman’s writing. Combine that with the artwork of Dustin Weaver, whose art offers fluid representations of Hickman’s scripts, and you have one of the best new books on the market today.
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3. Uncanny X-Force
Why It Makes the List: Three issues.
Three issues is all it took for Rick Remender and Jerome Opena’s “Uncanny X-Force” to become the best X-Book on the market.
Okay, that’s a lie.
It took two issues, but still, who’s counting really?
This series does all of the things I really want out of an X-Book. It takes a specific group of characters and puts them into a team situation in which they need to work together to achieve one central goal. Starting the team off Apocalypse in child-form with his new, “final” horsemen at his side? That was a genius move by Remender, and I’m so glad his oft collaborator Opena was at his side for this, because his work is nothing short of breathtaking. This book has quickly become one of the best books out there, and it’s only because it has only had 3 issues to date that I refused to put it in my Top 10 for Best Ongoing books. I can say this though…if it keeps it up, there’s no way it won’t make my list next year.
2. Scarlet
Why It Makes the List (Josh): It didn’t take much to sell me on Scarlet. In fact, all I knew was that it was the monster tag team of Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev at the helm and the lead character was a red head. Believe it or not, that was more than enough to get me through the first cover. Much to my own personal joy (though not surprise), what I found was an immensely powerful, brilliantly dirty, exceptionally violent, beautifully self aware drama about one girl and her revenge against police brutality and corruption. In short: this book is the young anarchist’s wet dream. Bendis is absolutely at the top of his game here, making Scarlet an almost universally relatable character, even during her violent streaks. Much like Jonathan Hickman’s masterpiece The Nightly News, this book absolutely takes a very objective look at the idea of violence, rather than just using it for shock value. Every bullet and blood splatter has resonance, and that makes the story that much more compelling.
Maleev continues his ascent of the “best artists to ever draw a comic book” mountain. Seemingly never content to just stick with what works, as an artist he has consistently adapted and updated his style with every new project he works on, giving this book some of his most detailed, humanistic and stunningly beautiful work to date. It’s rare when a book reaches a point of synergy that the art and the story are equally exciting to absorb, and even rarer that that book star a completely new character, but Scarlet manages it. No wonder working on it made Bendis realize that creator-owned work was worth prioritizing again. While it may not come out as often as we like (which seems to be the case with every creator owned book that doesn’t suck), Scarlet better have a long and healthy run.
1. Morning Glories
Why It Makes the List (Josh): I won’t lie, I knew nothing about Morning Glories when I opened the first issue. Didn’t know Nick Spencer (though at that point I’m not sure anyone did), didn’t know Joe Eisma, didn’t know heads or tales about what the story entailed. I knew a trusted source liked it and I knew I wanted to try out a new book. In short: I lucked out amazingly. While I am lead to believe that pre-release buzz on this book was strong, I’m not sure anyone really expected it to do as well as it did. A book that reportedly combined Runaways with Lost? It had a lot of potential to tank, but the fresh and relatable writing of Nick Spencer draws you in like no other, throwing hook after hook at you until you’re completely reeled in. The book in every way capitalizes on all young character titles that came before and yet still manages to bring something new to the world of comics about teenagers. The mystery being crafted here about why things happen to who is legitimately compelling, but so are all of the interpersonal conflicts being developed amongst characters.
Continued belowOn top of that, the pencil work Joe Eisma is cranking out is far and away ahead of the curve in the independent comic world, and is dead set on making him a household name in the years to come. In an industry where it is so incredibly hard to make a legitimately NEW idea work, this book absolutely kills all other comers. While I won’t go so far as to encourage first printings to be sold for as much as they are on ebay (since thats a huge dick move on the part of the seller), it certainly does say a lot about the book, doesn’t it? The reverence given to stories like Y: The Last Man or Transmetropolitan will one day, when all is said and done, become heaped upon this book, and the entire industry will be better for it.
Individual Lists
David
1. Uncanny X-Force
2. American Vampire
3. Morning Glories
4. Scarlet
5. Avengers Academy
Matt
1. Justice League: Generation Lost
2. SHIELD
3. Morning Glories
4. The Flash
5. Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors
Gil
1. Scarlet
2. Justice League: Generation Lost
3. The Flash
4. Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors
5. Kill Shakespeare
Brandon
1. Uncanny X-Force
2. Wolverine
3. Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors
4. Avengers Academy
5. Superboy
Josh
1. Morning Glories
2. The Sixth Gun
3. SHIELD
4. Scarlet
5. iZombie
Walt
1. Scarlet
2. Morning Glories
3. Joe the Barbarian
4. SHIELD
5. American Vampire
