Front Lines - Best of 2015 in Comics

Special thanks to our friend Matt Graham.  Grey and I were talking to him a few weeks ago about comics, and I asked him to participate in this conversation about the best in comics for last year. Let's talk comics!

Best Comic Company

Mike Maillaro's picks:

• Dynamite: To me, this was really the year of the indys.  Dynamite put out a wide variety of books covering a lot of genres.  Some of their best books were Shaft: A Complicated Man, Vampirella, and Swords of Sorrow. I also really liked Masks 2 and Legenderry.  2016 is already shaping up to be another great year for Dynamite with Shaft 2, The Precinct, and huge relaunches for Vampirella, Dejah Thoris, and Red Sonja.  Dynamite seems determined to give a wide variety of characters and creators a chance to shine, and I have a lot of respect for the business model they have been building here.

• Image:  Another indy company who has a strong showing in 2015.  It seemed like every month, Image launched another handful of strong titles helmed by great creative teams.  Some of my favorites in 2015 were Paper Girls, Plutona, Black Magick, Tithe, Autumnlands, and Huck.  In addition, Image also has some great long running series like Spawn, Savage Dragon, and Invincible (also Walking Dead, which I don’t read, but it has a lot of fans, so it would be unfair if I didn’t mention it).  This is a great balance, and helps keeps Image in its strong position in the ever crowded comic shop.

• Marvel - Why does Marvel get the edge over DC?  Honestly, a big part of it is that Marvel does a much better job building excitement around their books.  I do think DC puts out a lot of good books, but I don’t really find myself that excited about any one thing DC does.  I always find myself rushing to read the next issue of a wide variety of Marvel books that I buy.  I really enjoyed most of the Secret Wars tie-ins.  The main series was a bit of a mess, but I am not really a Jonathan Hickman fan so that didn’t surprise me.   I also like that Marvel is making a solid attempt to create a more diverse line of characters, with females and minority characters headlining several big titles.  I do think Marvel needs to make a stronger effort in diversity among their creators, but it’s definitely a good start.

• Honorable Mention - Archie - Archie continues to try and expand their market share by lots of experiments. The Archie relaunch has been a huge success (though I don’t quite love the new Jughead series).  Their horror line of Afterlife with Archie and Subrina have been bad ass.  I also like quite a few of their Black Line books. But the biggest problem with Archie continues to be lateness.  Their horror books and many of their Black Line books come out ridiculously infrequently.  Sabrina is the worst offender.  The first issue came out in October 2014, and there have only been 4 issues total.  Adding to my frustration with Archie, they abruptly ended one of their best books with Mega Man going on hiatus.  They also had a misguided Kickstarter attempt this year, where people revolted at the idea of asking fans to front the $350,000 to help expand their line.  I know it sounds like I am being harsh.  It’s just that Archie does so many books I love, but they still seem to have a lot of problems as a company in terms of shipping and public relations.

Grey Scherl's picks:

• DC Comics - Now, just because I’m listing them first, doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve been my favorite, but I needed to open up with some gushing. For years one of DC’s biggest problems has been that seemingly nobody can figure out how to keep Superman interesting across his full line of books for an extended period of time, and in 2015 DC did it. By stripping away his powers and outing him as Clark Kent, DC has spent the better part of a year telling one of the best Superman stories in years. Couple that with the year they’ve given Batman, with Bruce amnesiac and Jim Gordon in a robotic Bat Suit, and you have an actual status quo shakeup that came about organically. That’s the sort of year that it’s been at DC this year, a lot of trying new things, and most of it leading to incredibly compelling storytelling without using giant crossovers as a crutch. Hell, the year ended with Robin War, which is ridiculously light as far as crossovers go (six main issues, three loose tie-ins), and that’s been all around great. Getting away from the big two, other series to shine this year have been Martian Manhunter (which completely reinvents the wheel on J’onn in an incredibly interesting way), Secret Six (which made a triumphant Gail Simone helmed return to awesomeness), Green Lantern: The Lost Army (otherwise known as the only good GL book this year), and a late addition, Superman: Lois and Clark (because you honestly can not go wrong by BRINGING BACK THE POST CRISIS SUPERMAN AND LETTING DAN JURGENS WRITE HIM!). DC might take a lot of flack from fans who refuse to get over their relaunch, but 2015 was a banner year.

• IDW - If you told me six years ago that I’d be happily pouring money into a company where every title is licensed, I’d have laughed at you. But here I am; reading Ghostbusters, and Godzilla, and Ninja Turtles, and everything is just awesome. I can’t gush about them like I do with DC, but I keep a closer eye on what IDW is doing then pretty much everyone else.

• Marvel - I’ve been struggling to remember what all I read from Marvel in 2015, thanks to Secret Wars and the relaunch, combined with Marvel’s ridiculously inconsistent shipping schedule (sometimes you’ll see a book three times in a month, and sometimes you won’t see it at all). Despite that, I bought a crapton of their books, and did generally enjoy the Secret Wars tieins, even if I felt the core event itself was horribly lacking. However, their insistence on pushing the Inhumans at the expense of the X-Men is something that might drive me away in 2016, as the X-Men are what have kept me going back to Marvel for years, and I’m really not in the mood for yet another tired “kill all the mutants” status quo. Also, they buried the Fantastic Four, and that’s not bueno with me. They seriously barely made the list.

• Honorable mention: Dark Horse - Dark Horse finally went up on Comixology, and I finally started reading more of their books! Seriously though, DH finally ditching their own service in favor of something people actually use (and that has a good app) was a step in the right direction. So was Fight Club 2.

Matt Graham's picks:

• Image:  I go by the books I spent the most on, and that’s Image. Unlike the first time I would have said Image is the best, there’s no Gen13, Witchblade,  or Maximage to be found. Wait, Witchblade is to be found as this year saw the series finale of one of the longest running, original numbered series in comics. Image gets my nod as the best company not only for titles like Witchblade, but for the best books of the year:  Deadly Class, Paper Girls, Black Science, Bitch Planet,  Black Magick, The Fade Out, the bulk of Wytches, and the return of Pretty Deadly are just a handful  of books they impressed me with. Then the proven winners that draw my friends into the shops, Saga and The Walking Dead. And then the books I haven’t gotten to but keep being told to read: Autumnlands, Huck, Nailbiter, Tithe…

Did I mention Island, the compelling and refreshing oversized no-ads anthology magazine? This experimental showcase of comics talent exemplifies modern Image. Image brings together lesser known creators, some of the biggest marquee creators from the Big Two, and so much variety I can’t even afford to keep up unless I drop other publisher’s books. I’m starting to feel that’s a fair trade after 2015’s offerings.

• Runner Up – Marvel:  Marvel has a lot of flaws. They overemphasize events at the expense of making the titles accessible and fun in the first place – see Secret Wars and a sloppy, staggered line wide relaunch that offers more questions than ease of hopping on.  They ride the zeitgeist without ever feeling sincere about it – see Gwenpool’s reinvention and rise to a solo book or the constantly shuffled lineups and spotlights depending on who the fandom likes at the moment. They feel downright bitter to support sometimes – comics fans suffer because of movie studio feuds as characters are moved or buried, interesting new titles often feel like they aren’t worth investing in as the axe looms overhead around issue #5.

Yet the House of Ideas keeps me coming back. They hold the franchises and characters I’m close to and they draw some top tier talent try and reinvent them. Marvel is great at appearing to take risks while at the same time playing it safe.  I’m not sure if either is a façade, but for all my frustrations I appreciate what Marvel has done the past year with their comics and I’d rather see experimental efforts like Patsy Walker aka Hellcat, All-New Inhumans, and Dr. Strange rather than the same old Mighty Marvel Manner.

Best Comic Adaptation

• Daredevil - This was a good year for comics on television!  Even though we got Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, and Kingsmen (not to mention the less heralded Fantastic Four) all of my picks this year are for television shows.  Of all the comic shows these days, Daredevil was my favorite for 2015.  It was great to see a show that didn’t pull any punches when it came to violence.  Daredevil lives in a dark and brutal world, and this show made every effort to keep that front and center at all times.  I also thought Vincent D'Onofrio as Kingpin was one of the best casting choices I’ve ever seen.

• Supergirl - Supergirl is the Superman story I’ve been wanting to see for a long time.  To me, Superman is always best when he’s a little more light-hearted and a real beacon of hope.  I haven’t gotten a lot of that in comics lately (other than when Pre-Flashpoint Superman rallied the troops in Convergence) and the Superman of the movies is way too dark and broody for me.  Melissa Benoist has been great as Supergirl.  Supergirl is also responsible for my favorite moment in TV in 2015 when they revealed that Supergirl has been working for Martian Manhunter all along.  

• Arrow - So why does Arrow get the nod over Flash?  Honestly, it might have just been lowered expectations.  Arrow season 3 was the weakest season so far, and Flash season 1 was so good.  Arrow season 4 has been a strong return to form.  Neal McDonough as Damien Darhk has been a real strong adversary for Team Arrow.  I also think it helps that they seem to have dialed back some of Felicity’s tear-filled outbursts.  Those were often painful to watch in season 3, and not in a good way.

• Honorable Mention: Jessica Jones - This is not a knock on Jessica Jones, I just unfortunately have only gotten around to watching the first four episodes when I sat down to write my picks, so it was hard to give it a fair rank.  From what I’ve seen so far, Jessica Jones is as good, if not better than Daredevil, which I loved.  The casting on Jessica Jones has been brilliant, and I love that the world feels so full of quirky characters. 

Best DC Comics

Matt's picks:

• Black Canary: I came for Annie Wu art and a band centric Black Canary concept and I have not been disappointed. The book reads like someone tore up an old Bikini Kill zine and pasted it onto the old Dazzler comics and that’s all I’ve ever asked for in a comic. With Azzarello’s Wonder Woman gone, this book has taken its place as the best thing DC puts out.
• Justice League 3001: One of the most fun superhero comics I’ve read in years. Everything is sacred and then nothing is in this book.
• Runner up: Batman. I don’t consider Snyder’s corner of the DCU as part of DC for some reason. They’re good comics, but they stand on their own and feel so different than anything else DC has going that it feels like a separate line most of the time. There are interesting things happening at all times, but it felt like a safe pick.

Mike's picks:

• Black Canary: Black Canary grabs a solid place on this list just because it is the most different comic that DC puts out.  As soon as I heard the concept “Black Canary steps back from a life as a soldier and vigilante to join up with a misfit band and go on tour,” I had to check it out.   Black Canary is one strange comic, but I like that it takes chances and gives readers something very different to read.

• Justice League 3001: I am a huge fan of JM Dematteis and Keith Giffen.  They always make comics full of humor, but their work is also real character and plot focused.  Justice League 3001 was full of twists and turns this year cementing its place as one of my favorite books of the year. Towards the end of the year, this book got real crazy with almost the entire Justice League getting wiped out.  Looking forward to seeing what this book has to offer in the new year!

• Cyborg: David F. Walker writes a hell of a good comic.  Shaft was a huge surprise to me.  I had never really had any interest in the character, but a few people had recommended it to me.  I was real glad I checked it out.  On top of that, his Cyborg series has been terrific.  Some real cool new twists to the characters, especially at the end of the last issue where Vic now has the the ability to look like a normal human again...but seems to prefer to let people see him as the Cyborg they expect.  I can’t wait to see where this series goes from here.  After reading his work Cyborg, I would love to see David F. Walker take on some of the old Milestone characters.  I think he would write a brilliant Hardware or Icon.

• Honorable Mention: Secret Six - It was a little tricky to pick a book here.  There were quite a few DC books that could have easily grabbed the last spot, like Grayson, Gotham by Midnight and Batman and Robin Eternal, but the more I looked at my list, the more I realized it had to go to Secret Six.  I had complained that there wasn’t a lot of DC books I got excited for every month, but Secret Six definitely is one of them.  Every issue has a ton of plot twists, and I never have any idea what they are throwing at us next.  That is why Secret Six deserves a place on this list.

Grey's Picks:

• Batman - Scott Snyder really has carved out one of the all time great Batman runs. 2015 was a year spent without Bruce in the Batsuit, instead having the role filled by Jim Gordon as a reborn Bruce was finally able to just be a normal man. The effect that replacing the Bat has had on Gotham, even with Gordon in the picture, has been front and center. Mr. Bloom is one of the creepiest damn villains I’ve seen in ages, too. If anything, my biggest problem with the core title this year is a lack of Dick and Damian (I know, I know, they have their own books, but it would be nice to see a few extra appearances here).

• Martian Manhunter - Who is J’onn J’onnz? Well, apparently a lot of people. The revelation that he is a living weapon, and that his origins have been lies implanted into his mind to position him correctly, J’onn goes ahead and atomizes himself. The result is several aspects of his personality manifest themselves as other beings, who then have to come together to save the world from the true Martian threat. It’s been absolutely brilliant.

• Superman - “Alright, for the umpteenth time in the last fifteen years, how do we make Superman interesting?” “I dunno, it’s hard, he just has so much power, and his status quo is so unshakable that you can’t really do much.” “Well, what if we take away his powers and blow up his status quo? You know, finally let the cat out of the bag on Clark Kent in front of the entire world.” “That...that is different. What if the fans don’t take to it?” “Then we can do a reboot and get rid of it.” All joking aside, the depowered Superman with no secret identity led to some awesome storytelling across all four of his books (Superman, Action Comics, Superman/Batman, and Superman/Wonder Woman). Breaking him down so severely put a renewed emphasis on the man behind the powers and created that level of inspiration that Superman is supposed to be known for. The refusal to back down or just give up, despite that he’s killable now, it was awesome.

• Justice League 3001 - So this is what it was like to be reading JLI back in the 90’s. This book is so much damn fun, there is no actual firm locked in place status quo, so Giffen and Dematteis can unleash whatever sort of fuckery they choose. Like randomly killing off and replacing half the cast. In some books that would just be the end of it, but here it’s just a gateway to more craziness.

   

Best Marvel Comics

Mike's Picks: Secret Wars ended up really making a mess of Marvel’s publication schedule last year.  Honestly, there were quite a few mini-series from Secret Wars that I enjoyed enough to include them here, but I decide to only talk about ongoing series.  

• Ms Marvel - JERSEY CITY REPRESENTING!  Ms Marvel was pretty much everything I want in a superhero comic book.  Fun characters, great supporting cast, a nice balance between superheroics and seeing how that impacts the character’s civilian life.  Plus, I am a big supporter of diversity in comics, something Marvel has done pretty well in the last year or so (though I still want to see more diversity in COMICS CREATORS). Kamala Khan is a terrific character, and I hope that she continues to get attention.  Definitely my favorite superhero comic of 2015.

• Spider-Woman - To be honest, I only picked up this book because it was part of Spider-Verse.  I have no real issue with Jessica Drew, but I just wasn’t sure I wanted to read a comic starring her.  But from the first issue Dennis Hopeless made this a must read comic.  And the best part is that once Spider-Verse ended, this book got even better.  Jessica’s little slice of the Marvel universe was one of the biggest surprises of 2015.  I am also glad that this brought Dennis Hopeless more attention and got him onto some bigger titles like All-New X-Men.

• Ant-Man - Nick Spencer has been one of my favorite writers since he did T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents for DC and Morning Glories for Image.  What I didn’t know at the time was the Nick Spencer can also write very funny comics.  His work on Superior Foes of Spider-Man was great, and he’s brought that same humor over to Ant-Man.  I genuinely laugh out loud several times during each issue of Ant-Man. Scott Lang is looking to start his own security business, and ends up enlisting other former villains to help him.  Too often comics confuse maturity with darkness, and I’m glad that Marvel has books like Spider-Woman and Ant-Man that lean more towards humor without being slapstick and childish.

• Honorable Mention: Silk - Like Spider-Woman, I didn’t have a lot of expectations when it came to Silk.  I had enjoyed the character when she debuted before Spider-Verse, but I did think that she had a real limited shelf-life.  But as soon as they gave her her own series, it was clear that Silk was a great character and she could headline her own book.  Personally, I think Silk is a far better book that Spider-Gwen which seems to get a lot more attention.  And once again, DIVERSITY!  An Asian, female superhero!  And this one isn’t just stealing someone else’s name like many of Marvel’s more diverse characters like Thor, Ms Marvel, Hulk, Captain America, etc.  

Grey's Pick:

• Thor - For as much joking around as I did about Thor becoming a woman, I never lost faith in it being well told. See, Jason Aaron has been doing something for the past few years that not a lot of writers have accomplished in my eyes. He’s written awesome Thor comics on a consistent basis, which is the first time since Dan Jurgens where I haven’t gotten bored with the character inside of ten issues. Thus far it hasn’t mattered if he’s writing the Unworty Odinson or the secretive Jane Foster, or even what the book is called; Thor by Jason Aaron is amazing.

• Silk - Of all the new Spider characters to debut in the last year or so, Cindy Moon is leaps and bounds the best of the bunch. I mean, like Mike, I didn’t go in with high expectations, but then I saw a homerun. Spider-Gwen sent me packing after about four issues of mind numbing crap, but Silk kept me going all the way until she found her brother at the end of the world. I haven’t scoped out the relaunch yet, but I REALLY need to change that.

• Superior Iron Man - For a very short period of time, Iron Man was fun. Like, really really fun. Tom Taylor took an inverted Tony Stark and went crazy with the status quo in a book that I would have loved to have kept reading. Unfortunately, Secret Wars happened, and now we’ve got classic Tony written by Bendis, with no mention of his horribly evil Superior ways.

• Star Wars - So I never read Star Wars comics before Marvel launched their books last year. I mean, I love the movies, but EU really did nothing for me. Something about the books actually being in the canon, however, drew me in to check out what Marvel was going to do, and I’ve been enjoying it. It’s not perfect, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t actually feel like Star Wars.

• Spider Woman - I can’t explain it, but somehow Spider-Woman went from “this won’t survive three months past Spider-Verse” to “second best Spider book”. Dennis Hopeless is awesome, and he’s done more to make Jess interesting in just over a year than Bendis did in almost a decade.

Matt's Pick:

• Silk – Silk is the best thing to come out of Original Sin. I’m Spider-Fatigued at this point, yet Silk reinvigorates the formula and brings the fun back to Spider-Man for my tastes. Artist Stacey Lee’s energetic style springs out of each panel and yet grounds the quiet moments with thoughtful use of depth and staging. Robbie Thompson gives us a rebellious heroine whose mouth can run circles around classic Spidey and modern Deadpool while making sure she stands on her own away from the Spider-Multitudes.  In the year that Spider-Gwen ruled the convention floor and  headlines, Silk was the one who showed up with an original story and unique style as an original. When friends ask me why I love Marvel, this is a book I lend out that relives the magic for me:  Interesting ideas that don’t take themselves too seriously, strong three dimensional characters, and gorgeous art and pacing that can only happen with the comic medium.
• Honorable Mention:  Spider-Woman – Dennis Hopeless has been one of my favourite Marvel talents in the past few years. Avengers Arena and Cable & X-Force are titles that seemed to exist just for me, so when Hopeless took on Jessica Drew I knew I’d buy it blind. I found the Spider-Verse launch rocky and consider it a separate volume from the meat of the run. Javier Rodriguez and Alvaro Lopez bring soul to the title and match Hopeless’s off-kilter approach to the modern Marvel machine. Those voices combine to make the book stand out as one of the few true all-new, all-different takes on Marvel.

Best Indy Comics

Grey's picks:

• Rick and Morty - WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB! How great is Rick and Morty? Well, that depends, how much do you love the show? If you love the show, the book is fantastic. If you don’t, then WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!

• Fight Club 2 - I bought this book for the David Mack cover, initially. See, a friend of mine is a huge David Mack fan, and my plan was to read a few issues and then gift them to her so she could put them with her collection, maybe take them to get signed the next time he’s in town. But then the book wound up being pretty damn good. I mean, it’s brutal, but it’s Fight Club, and I wouldn’t expect anything less.

• Ghostbusters: Get Real - IDW’s Ghostbusters meet the Real Ghostbusters, and everything is awesome. I really long for the days of Ghostbusters being an ongoing and not just miniseries.

• Nailbiter - A town that breeds serial killers? A creepy killer in the lead role who does very little denying of who and what he is? A cop filled with secrets? A federal agent slowly going insane? This book is one of my highlights every month, and I can’t properly describe why. Just trust me, read it, love it, give praise to Josh Williamson for being awesome.

• Invincible - A fun thing about Invincible is that, while I love it, I’m incapable of staying current throughout the year. I’ll build up seven or eight issues and then burn through them in a night, and that’s exactly what I did with 2015. Kirkman’s insistence on changing the status quo every eight to twelve issues is still maddening, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t make for one of the most must read comics year after year.

Matt's Picks:

• Deadly Class – I came upon this book late to the party after a friend recommended it. It became my standard. This comic speaks to me on every level.  Billed as focusing on a school for young assassins, the hook serves to get your attention before dropping the real hammer. Deadly Class is much more a coming of age tale for every person who ever felt like an outside and that the world was against them. Everybody, really. The morality plays are exaggerated with murderous backdrops and sensational action sequences, but the searching for identity is a universal journey.  Every member of the cast is a fractured reflection of the John Hughes types from The Breakfast Club and 16 Candles. Maria is introduced as the “crazy girlfriend”, Saya is the alluring bad girl, Lex is the foul-mouthed party animal with a chip on his shoulder. Then the layers are slowly peeled away revealing broken, desperate people with stomach churning agendas. It’s relatable because the story at its human level is about trust and belonging and the hazards that can waylay that exploring.  The 80’s teen movie references are intentional on two levels: the book’s 80s setting grounds the story and makes it more fun to deal with the drama(no phones or Internet!) and the book is constructed from panel to word balloon to look the classic Frank Miller and Alan Moore series of the day.

Rick Remender and Wes Craig have made a book about growing up loving comics for people who have loved comics at any point in their life. The story would lose something on the screen and in a year of big events and spoiled in advance relaunches and twists, this book is an example of what the medium is capable of.

• Honorable Mention: Paper Girls Paper Girls is another 80s period piece, but that’s not why I picked it. I chose it because like Deadly Class, this is a title that celebrates everything great about comics. The story of four paper girls left to fend for themselves against the supernatural and beyond has unfolded with reverent nods to 80s films like The Monster Squad, Stand By Me, and The Goonies without falling over itself in adoration. It stands strong on its own as a coming of age fable with a great cast, unique premise, and approachable execution. Brian K. Vaughan does in one issue of story pacing and character building what most comics can’t accomplish in six. Cliff Chiang’s art has always had a wonderful rough hand drawn finesse to it, and with Paper Girls it not only brings the world and cast to life, it reminds you that the book was drawn by a person. It’s clean but not sterile, loose but not sloppy. It’s the kind of art that inspired me to draw when I was young and discovering comics. I hope this book finds the right readers who in turn would be inspired to draw from their own childhoods and experiences to write and draw comics in the coming years. Those are the best sort of books and creators.

Mike's Picks:

• Dream Police - When JMS did Dream Police as a one shot for Marvel, around 10 years ago, I loved the idea.  I had been hoping they would expand on that great book, and last year, Image finally announced that JMS would be bringing it back as an ongoing series.  Dream Police is the story about a police detective who operates in the dream world to keep law and order in an ever shifting dreamscape.  It’s a cool concept and JMS pulls it off brilliants.

• Vampirella - Nancy Collins has made me a huge Vampirella fan.  From the first issue of her run, she’s created an expansive world for Vampirella and helped to make her a modern heroine.  I really am going to miss Collins on Vampirella, but I am excited that Dynamite seems to be putting some major muscle behind Vampirella as one of their core characters

• The Tithe - The Tithe had a real engaging concept to me. A group of criminals have targeted corrupt mega churches, and there is an FBI team tasked to investigate. THe Tithe has a lot of real complex characters and always manages to hold up to its real cool premise.  Image has put a lot of great books out in recent years, but the Tithe is always at the top of my list.

• Honorable Mention: Unity - I am pretty bummed out that Valiant decided to end Unity.  I am usually a huge fan of team books, but there really wasn’t a lot of great ones this year.  Pretty much the only ones on my list of top books this year was Secret Six, Justice League 3001, and Unity.  Unity is Valiant’s main team, with characters from all across their line.  Unity has some great stories this year including the War Monger and dealing with the ramifications of the Armor Hunters crossover. The stories here are always great and remind me why I love Valiant so much.

Best Story Arcs/Crossover/Events

Matt's Pick: Secret Wars was tedious, drawn out, and unnecessary. Why wasn’t this a Fantastic Four mini to send it off?

• Swords of Sorrow – Gail Simone orchestrating the meeting of Red Sonja and Vampirella is cause enough for me to invest, but then they threw Jungle Girl, Kato, and a bunch of other characters into the mix in true pulp fashion. Not only that, but the tie-ins let writers like G. Willow Wilson and Marguerite Bennett in on the fun. Mostly, though, it came out on time and didn’t spoil itself in the pages of USA Today well in advance of any first issue dropping all while feeling like a proper event we hadn’t seen two or sixteen times before. As a longtime Red Sonja and Vampirella fan, this has to be my choice.

Mike's Pick:

• Sword of Sorrows - With all the hype around Secret Wars and Convergence, my favorite crossover/event for 2015 was Dynamite’s Swords of Sorrow.  It was a crossover featuring many of Dynamite’s female characters like Vampirella, Dejah Thoris, Red Sonja, Kato, Irene Adler, Jennifer Blood, and on and on.  They have been brought together to stop an Evil Prince (who ends up being Prince Charming).  The action was great and most of the tie-ins were self-contained.  I also liked that you had a lot of big name women as the writers and artists for these books.  I say all the time “MORE DIVERSITY IN COMIC CREATORS.”

• Secret Wars - I just want to start off by saying that I really don’t like Jonathan Hickman’s writing.  All his characters feel so generic and interchangeable.  And his stories drag on for months on end.   The core Secret Wars series did pretty much nothing for me.  BUT, I did enjoy most of the tie-in titles.  In fact, Secret Wars produced some of the best X-Men stories I’ve read in a long time.   I also thought the versions of House of M and Civil War were far better than the actual crossovers they were based on.  Battleworld really gave Marvel creative teams a chance to show off, and the end result was a lot of terrific series.  Though most of them had literally NOTHING to do with the main Secret Wars book.   

• Convergence - Convergence wasn’t quite as extensive as Secret Wars (which was around 200 issues total), but it was still 90 comics over the course of 2 months.  In terms of quality, there were plenty of terrific mini-series that came out of Convergence.  It was terrific to revist some of the earlier versions of the DCU that we haven’t seen in a while.  I will admit, Convergence just reminded me how much I miss the Pre-Flashpoint DCU.  And it seems like DC does too with books like Lois and Clark and Titans Hunt bringing back some of the Pre-Flashpoint characters and stories.

• Honorable Mention: Worlds Unite - While I did prefer the first Sonic/Mega Man crossover (2013’s Worlds Collide), Worlds Unite did something really cool, expanding the scope of the story to include characters from other Sega and Capcom properties, including Street Fighter, NIGHTS into Dreams, Viewtiful Joe, Skies of Arcadia, and on and on.  The only problem is that these characters only just joined the action at the very end of the crossover, which took some of the appeal away for me.  Still, Worlds Unite is a real fun story.  It’s a shame Mega Man has been put on hiatus.  Hopefully, Archie won’t keep it on the shelf all that much longer.

Grey's Picks:

• Convergence - DC needed a two month break while they relocated their offices, and we the readers were rewarded with a fun and original crossover that got us back in touch with characters we know and love in ways that we hadn’t seen them in in ages. Some of the minis were hit and miss, but Dan Jurgens writing his Superman and Lois again made it just one of the best things ever.

• Ghostbusters: Get Real - IDW’s modern take on the movie Ghostbusters wind up teaming up with The Real Ghostbusters, and hilarity ensues.

• Nailbiter/Hack/Slash - I miss Hack/Slash. Like, I really really REALLY miss it.

• Secret Wars - An obligatory mention, Secret Wars had its moments. Some of the minis were great, though nothing was able to fully make up for the overly padded out main story, at least we got to see Fabian writing the Age of Apocalypse and PAD writing LAYLA MILLER again.

Best Writers

Mike's Picks: Of all the lists I’ve done for 2015, best writer had the most competition.  I could have easily included Dennis Hopeless, Nick Spencer, Charles Soule, G. Willow Wilson, or Nancy Collins, but I’m determined to stick with my three picks with one honorable mention.

• David F. Walker - I already said a lot of what I’d like to say about David F. Walker when I talked about Cyborg earlier.  Shaft was a terrific surprise, and Cyborg ended up being one of my favorite DC Comics.  David F. Walker has a tremendous knack for finding something new and interesting to say about characters that never really did much for me before.  Next year, Walker’s profile will continue to expand with Shaft 2 and Power Man and Iron Fist, so it is very likely he could end up on this list again next year.

• Cullen Bunn - Bunn is one of the busiest guys in comics.  This year (among other books) he did Masks 2, Voltron, Green Lantern: The Lost Army, several Convergence tie-ins, Sinestro, Magneto, and Secret Wars: House of M.  And he’s starting the new year with writing one of Marvel’s flagship titles, Uncanny X-Men.  He will also be heading up Apocalypse Wars, just in time for the X-Men: Apocalypse movie.  For someone who writes so many books, I don’t think I’ve ever read something by Bunn that I didn’t love.  He’s come a long way from Fearless Defenders.  
• Jason Aaron - If the only book Jason Aaron had written last year was Thor, that might have still been enough to get him on this list.  I haven’t collected Thor regularly until Jason Aaron took over.  He’s made me care about Thor and Asgard like no write in history has been able to do.  But he also writes Dr. Strange and Star Wars, which are my two most anticipated Marvel books every time them come out.  Like the other writers on this list, when I see Jason Aaron, I will be buying the title, no questions asked (though I will admit, I haven’t gotten around to buying Southern Bastards yet).
• Honorable Mention - Gail Simone - Simone landed this spot because of Swords of Sorrow and Secret Six.  Swords of Sorrow was the best crossover of the year.  Completely underrated, Dynamite blew Marvel and DC out of the water.  On top of that, Secret Six has just been awesome.  It did get off to a slightly shaky start with some delays, but from the beginning, Secret Six has grabbed my attention.  No other comic I read is so full of twists and turns.  It’s almost as good as her work on Secret Six before Flashpoint, which is one of my all time favorite comics.

Grey's Picks

• Scott Snyder - Batman is just...it’s fantastic, and I’m not sure how much else to say about it. He doesn’t have to do anything else so long as he keeps delivering the Bat every month.

• Jason Aaron - Thor and Star Wars. This man was locked in before Secret Wars or the Marvel relaunch just on the backs of those two books.

• Dennis Hopeless - When I was reading Avengers Arena a few years back I got the feeling that he was going to be something big and special and important, and sure enough, a few years later he’s quickly rising up my favorite writers list (like Chris Gage before him). Everything he touches turns to gold.

• Josh Williamson - READ NAILBITER!

Matt's Picks: 

• Rick Remender – Deadly Class, Low, Tokyo Ghost, and Black Science alone seal this. Throw in his Marvel output with Uncanny Avengers and All-New Captain America and Rick Remender has had a good year. Focusing on his creator owned books, however, just shows how much range he has with his ideas and execution. Not to mention fantastic taste in finding artists who can take the book beyond just storyboarding a script and into fully textured escapist works.

• Runner up – Jason Aaron– Jason Aaron gets respect just for his sheer output. Thor is fantastic, but his consistent work entertaining me with Dr. Strange and Southern Bastards have earned him name trust with me this year.

Best Artists

Grey's Picks:

• Chris Bachalo - One of my all time favorite artists kept up the great work in 2015. Dr. Strange is amazing looking, and while I can’t remember how many issues of Uncanny he had to start the year, those were awesome too.

• Greg Capullo - If all Capullo ever did for the rest of his career was Batman with Snyder, I would be happy. He’s the perfect artist for that book.

Matt's Picks:

• Fiona Staples – Fiona Staples made a splash this year for her Archie relaunch, but for years she’s had a nonstop talent showcase in Saga. For me she’s the artist of the year on consistency and expression: her delicate lines and bold figures, her facial expressions, the use of contrast in form and color, the staging of scenes. It all worked in Saga and transferred wonderfully to Archie all while never missing a beat. Her pen-and-ink figures look gorgeous on her painted Photoshop backdrops and colors giving her a unique art style from thumbnail to printed page.  Fiona Staples is an artist I’m always learning from, and as an artist, that’s invaluable in another artist.

• Runner up – Annie Wu – We barely made six issues of Black Canary in 2015 and Wu didn’t do two of them, but the book would be nothing without Annie Wu’s bold inks and frenetic, punk style that suit the independent zine tone of the book. She also fit in some Archie time and excelled at that. Wu has been one of my favourite artists in a while due to her bold inks, poses, and backgrounds, and I look forward to more of her work this year.

Mike's Picks: 

• Fiona Staples - Fiona Staples gets the award for the biggest age gap between her two best known works.  You have the VERY mature SAGA and the all-ages friendly ARCHIE relaunch.  I would have liked her to stay on Archie a little bit longer (the art took a sharp nose dive after she left), but she really helped to vitalize that title beautifully.  SAGA wasn’t quite as filthy as it had been in earlier volumes, but her art remains consistently brilliant there too.  I know her ARCHIE run was always intended to help get the book started, but I do hope she comes back at some point.  

• Scottie Young - Scottie Young has a real unique style.  On the surface, he seems to be drawing cute characters, but those cute characters are usually doing rather disturbing things.  His covers are just always cool to look at.  We actually used many of them to decorate my sister’s baby shower a few years ago.  I loved his work on Groot, Rocket Raccoon, and Giant Size Little AvX.  I will admit that I am not a huge fan of I Hate Fairyland, where the story goes a bit over the top (Young writes and draws that one), but I still think the art on that book is great.  It’s like someone took the Wizard of Oz and threw it in a blender.

• Mike Allred - I am so in love with Mike Allred’s art.  It honestly doesn’t matter what he’s drawing, I am there as a customer.  To me, he is really the master of comic book art.  It’s colorful and so full of energy.  We didn’t get any Madman this year (BOO!) but his work on Silver Surfer was so damn beautiful.  He was able to draw all kinds of worlds and aliens, and it really showed off just how amazing an artist he is.  

• Honorable Mention: Chris Bachalo - I tend to like Chris Bachalo’s art most of the time.  He’s got a real unique style to his work.  But when’s he on the right book, it becomes absolutely magical.  Uhm.  No pun intended.  And DOCTOR STRANGE was the perfect fit for him.  Even though we only got a few issues of DOCTOR STRANGE towards the very end of 2015, Bachalo’s art was so good there I had to include him on this list.  If he is on the book for all of 2016, he will top this list next year, no doubt in my mind.

Best Characters

Matt's Picks:

• Mac from Paper Girls. The mandatory rebellious bad ass of the 80s ensemble, Mackenzie steals every scene she’s in with her too cool to care presence. While the underaged smoker with a juvie record is a staple for any young adult group, Paper Girls develops a faceted character who glues the ensemble together and helps lock in your attention as the book unfolds at a fast pace. Her loyalty to her friends, the mission, and her moments of vulnerability have yielded one of the best new characters I’ve read in a while.

• Runner up – Patricia Walker – Trish Walker in Jessica Jones couldn’t be more different from the feisty and fierce Patsy in Kate Leth and Brittney Williams’ Patsy Walker aka Hellcat but both versions are fantastic takes on an old favourite. The two directions speak volumes as to how versatile Patsy’s comic origins are and both do the character justice while taking her in fresh and interesting directions. Hopefully 2016 is the year of the Hellcat.

Mike's Picks:

• Vampirella - I actually was a little surprised to find Vampirella this high on my list of best characters.  There are a lot of comics I like, but Vampirella really stood out for me this year.  Between her solo book, Legenderry, Swords of Sorrow, and Aliens/Vampirella, this was a big year for Vampirella.  A lot of it was because Nancy Collins seemed to have a great love and respect for the character.  For 2016, Vampirella is going to continue to be a big part of Dynamite’s publishing strategy.  I don’t know Kate Leth’s work all that well, but I look forward to seeing what she can do with Vampi.

• Ms Marvel - Ms Marvel continues to be a huge breath of fresh air for the comic industry.  A young, fun, female Muslim character!  And she ended her year by ended up on the Avengers!  I also thought it was kind of cool that we’ve seen a Ms Marvel poster featured pretty prominently in recent episodes of Modern Family (Alex’s dorm room).  I actually think Ms Marvel would make a great cartoon or movie, and I hope that she gets the exposure she deserves.

• Ant-Man - I’ve always thought Scott Lang was a really cool character.  Over the last few years, Lang has kind of become Marvel’s main Ant-Man, including getting featured in Fantastic Four, his own movie, and a great series by Nick Spencer.   The year ended with Scott Lang ended up in jail, and we’ve been seeing Spencer fill in the gaps to show us how he got there.  This was a great hook for the character, and I can’t wait to see where the new year takes Lang.

• Honorable Mention - Pre-Flashpoint Superman - No character this year inspired me as much as Pre-Flashpoint Superman.  I have complained a lot about the “new” Superman from New 52 and the movies where Superman seems so dark and alone.  The Superman I grew up with was a far more hopeful and balanced character.  In Convergence, when Superman started to rally everyone together, I actually cheered out loud...which was a little weird since I was on the bus at the time...oh well.  This was one of the best moments in comics in a long time.  I’ve also liked what Jurgens has done with the character in Lois and Clark.  I am not quite calling for DC to scrap the New-52...but I really do miss a lot of the characters from before Flashpoint.  And chief among those is THE REAL SUPERMAN!

Grey's Picks:

• Edward Warren - The Nailbiter himself; is he a villain? Is he the hero? We know he’s a killer, but is he also trying to save others from that same fate? It would have been so easy to paint him in black and white, either the valiant killer for good (like Dexter), or have him be a complete psychopath...but instead he straddles the middle, and the end result is one of the best written characters in comics.

• Dick Grayson - Whether he’s doing Super Spy stuff for Spyral, or kicking ass in Gotham, Dick Grayson is still the man. Yes, I miss Nightwing, and I miss him as Batman, but Robin War was fun, Batman and Robin Eternal has been must read, and his own book has been great. I was hoping he might put on the cowl at least once while Bruce was gone, but he stayed his own man and it led to great story telling.

• Cindy Moon - The best thing to come out of Original Sin, Cindy was a great edition to the Marvel universe, seemlessly filling the iconic ‘young Spidey works for JJJ while trying to maintain a secret identity’ void that typically has been filled by an Ultimte book for the last decade. Add in the hook of her looking for her missing family, and the heartwrenching final issue of her book before Secret Wars, and Cindy was a shoo in for one of my favorite characters of the year.

• Superman - Take your pick. There’s the almost powerless New 52 version that has been fighting against all odds to save the world and try to regain his powers, despite being more vulnerable than ever...and then there’s the pre-Flashpoint classic Superman that made his long anticipated return during Convergence and has since relocated to the New 52 to raise his son with Lois. Banner year for Superman.

• Invincible - Every year Kirkman changes the status quo, and every year Mark Grayson becomes that much more interesting. 2015 had him taking on fatherhood on an alien planet, and then it sent him back to the past to live through his own reboot. Mark’s reliving of his early years, the changes he was willing to make to history, the fact that he was actually going to leave the universe a better place...but then he changed it all back rather than lose his daughter. That’s why he makes the list.