On Friday, we asked you to look back on the past decade of comics, and pick out which year(s) showed the most promise. Well, our vote was split pretty evenly between the various years, with only 2017 and 2018 getting just one solitary vote.
But the top spot was shared by two years; both 2013 and 2016 got the love from our readers, with both garnering 17.4% of the vote.
In terms of the Big 2, 2013 is when ‘Marvel NOW!’ was really kicked into high gear, and between “Superior Spider-Man” and Jonathan Hickman’s “Avengers” run, it was an exciting time to be reading Marvel Comics. “East of West,” “Deadly Class,” and “Lazarus” all launched at Image in 2013, too, and Dark Horse re-launched “Star Wars,” spun Abe Sapien off of “B.P.R.D.” into his own title, and saw “Hellboy in Hell” release four issues, the most of any year. “Boxers and Saints” and “Battling Boy” were two of the standout OGNs from the year.
2016 on the other hand was ‘Rebirth,’ DC’s second attempt of the decade to spruce up their line and get their books on the right path. Unliked the ‘New 52,’ this attempt worked much, much better, and books like “Deathstroke,” “New Super-Man,” and “Detective Comics” were doing interesting, innovative things at DC. At Image, “Phonogram” wrapped its third series, “The Black Monday Murders” launched, and the controversial “Airboy” was released. 2016 was a huge year for Valaint, with Faith getting her own miniseries, and the overall line expanding its tone with both “Savage” and “Britannia.”
2015 got 13% of the vote and second place, which is right around the time that DC was figuring out some ‘New 52’ stuff was not worth saving, and Marvel was getting set to bring about ‘All New, All Different Marvel.’ It was a weird, transitional year for the Big 2, but Dark Horse saw “Mind MGMT” wrap up, as well as the shuttering of the ‘Project Black Sky’ imprint. Image saw “Descender,” “Monstress,” and “Black Magik” launch, and Valiant’s “Book of Death” was, perhaps, its most successful miniseries event thus far. “Nimona,” “Apocalyptigirl,” and “Two Brothers” are among the best graphic novels of the decade, and all three debuted in 2015.
Thanks for voting, and check back on Friday for the next Reader Poll!
