10. Afterlife With Archie (Archie Comics) - This totally came out of left field. The Archie gang, in Riverdale, battling zombies in a serious horror comic. How weird! The setup is that Reggie accidentally runs over Jughead's dog Hot Dog, and kills him. Jughead is heartbroken and takes Hot Dog to Sabrina the Teenage Witch's house and begs her to perform some magic to bring back his beloved friend. Sabrina is so moved by Jughead and his grief, she goes against her better judgment and tries to resurrect the dog. Her magic works...kind of, Sabrina's aunts find out and banish Sabrina to another realm as punishment. Hot Dog is back, but is now an undead beast. Eventually Hot Dog bites someone, spreading the zombie virus, and let the craziness begin. This title is a serious horror comic, has wonderful artwork, and yet it still captures the personalities of all the Riverdale gang. Archie, Jughead, Moose, Betty and Veronica, Mr. Lodge, Pops, Miss Grundy, etc. They are all here. Great book that is only a few issues in, and I can't wait to see what happens in 2014.
9. Green Arrow (DC) - Early in the year Green Arrow absolutely sucked. It was deserving of being cancelled and was so bad it was almost unreadable. DC then made one of their few great moves of the year and put Jeff Lemire on writing duties and Andrea Sorrentino on art. Over just a few issues, these two guys turned this book around and made it one of the best things being published. Lemire is one of the best writers in comics and Sorrentino's art is incredible. Some people are comparing this run on Green Arrow to when Frank Miller reinvented Daredevil in his classic run. Great book.
8. All New X-Men (Marvel) - Marvel has completely killed it in the last year. They are publishing so many good books these days that even the most loyal DC readers are flocking to Marvel. Brian Michael Bendis took over writing All New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men and has returned the X-Men universe to glory after it had been struggling along for several years. The X-Men are actually fun again. If Bendis stays on X-Men for as long as he was in charge of the Avenger books, he will be going for years to come, so jump on now.
7. Lazarus (Image) - Greg Rucka is one of my favorite writers, having done great work on Gotham Central for DC, a great run on Wolverine and on the Punisher, and lots of other top notch books. Michael Lark is a tremendous artist who is truly at the top of his game on Lazarus. This may be my favorite art in any book right now. It is unbelievable. This book is set in a post cataclysmic world that is run by corporate families. Each family controls a region of the world. Each family has a "Lazarus", kind of the warlord that does what needs to be done to see that their family is in a position a power. Forever Carlyle is the Lazarus of her family. Her memories have been altered and nothing is quite like it seems in the Carlyle family. This series follows Forever as she slowly begins to uncover the truth. Again, this is a book in its first year of publication and I can't wait to see where Rucka takes the story.
6. Uncanny Avengers (Marvel) - Written by Rick Remender, probably my favorite writer at this moment. He tends to write everything with a wonky sci fi style that is very recognizable and unique in the current comic scene. Uncanny Avengers is a book about a team made up of a mix of Avengers and X-Men and led by Havok, Alex Summers. Remender seems to write traditional comic stories until you are way deep in and realize that he is going down a totally different road than the one you thought. He is a brilliant dude and weaves some serious magic on this title.
5. Cable and X-Force (Marvel) - This title is what you call a guilty pleasure. It is a small title tucked in the corner of the X-Men universe that gets very little publicity or talk. It also kicks major ass. Dennis Hopeless is the writer on this title and is, in my opinion, one of the top young up and coming talents in the industry. Much of the art is by Salvador Larroca, and he does the art in a very clean and different style. I love it. Cable is the main character and he is one of my all time faves. I have loved Cable for 20 years. His team also includes Colossus, Forge, and Dr. Nemesis. Just a fun, ridiculous, and over the top action book. This title has been cancelled, and the last issues are coming out now. It is being replaced by a new X-Force title that will also star Cable. Of course I will read that when it comes out.
4. Batman (DC) - Artist Greg Capullo is one of the top names in comics and people are loving his artwork on Batman. He is so good on this title. Writer Scott Snyder is a shining star at DC and if he were to leave their company they would be hard pressed to replace him. Snyder's run on Batman has been remarkable. It will go down as one of the best runs ever on this character. Snyder has introduced some new things to the Batman mythos like The Court of Owls. They are a behind the scenes secret society that has been operating covertly in Gotham City for a hundred years. An Illuminati type of organization that is awesome and added more coolness to an already amazing gallery of rogues for the Bat to defeat. Snyder also had a tremendous Joker story called Death of The Family that took Joker's insanity to another level.
3. The X Files (IDW) - Formally titled The X Files Season 10, this series started in 2013, and began right where the last X Files movie had left off. I wasn't sure how this was gonna go, but Chris Carter is involved in this title and is helping to steer the ship. Joe Harris is the writer and boy did they choose well when they picked him to write this book. All of the old favorite characters are back, and a new status quo is set. Mulder and Scully are investigating the strange and weird once again with the help of old friends. Old enemies abound as well. Cigarette Smoking Man plays a huge role in this series and Harris writes the characters so damn good! It really has the feel of watching an episode back in the day. So happy they brought this series out, it could rank even higher on my list next year.
2. The Walking Dead (Image) - I have read the walking dead comic since it made its debut years ago. I loved it. Then, after the tv show started, and the show went in a different direction than the book, I lost a little steam with the comic. I dug the tv show so much it was detrimental to my enjoyment of the comic. Well, not anymore. I caught up completely with the comic series, and it is safe to say that this book is still so freakin' awesome that it amazes me. Robert Kirkman writes these characters so that each one has their own voice, and you get pulled into their lives so dramatically. He has a bad guy in the series right now called Negan, and this dude makes the Governor look like a complete pussy. Carl is such a badass that it is ridiculous, and there are so many other characters that are amazing, and die at an alarming rate. Great book!
1. Daredevil (Marvel) - Here it is, my favorite comic of 2013. Daredevil, written by Mark Waid, with pencils by Chris Samnee. This is classic comic storytelling. Nothing fancy, no bells and whistles. Just a great character written by an amazing writer, and drawn by a tremendous artist. Telling classic superhero style comic book stories with such aplomb and care. Waid fleshes out a wonderful supporting cast and delves deep into what it means to be a hero. He writes classic villains like no other. Mark Waid has taken a book that has had some of the best writers in comics, names like Frank Miller, Kevin Smith, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, and Andy Diggle, and put together a run on this book that rivals anything anyone has ever done with Daredevil. The art is also remarkable, from the pencils to the colors, this book has a definite look of its own. This is old school and incredible, and my favorite book of 2013.
A few honorable mentions from Captain Creepy include Hawkeye, Deadpool, and Avengers Arena from Marvel, Suicide Squad and Nightwing from DC, and half of the stuff that Image is putting out. They have tons of great books. Books I'm looking forward to getting into in 2014 include the new Moon Knight, Iron Fist, Black Science, Velvet, and Rat Queens. Don't be surprised to see a few of those titles on next years list. It is a good time to be a comic fan, take advantage and enjoy it.
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