Geekscape Does the Best Comics of the Decade!

It was a decade of epic superhero action and little comics that could, in which uber-successful film adaptation failed to bring new readers to an increasingly impressive artistic medium. With artists like Geoff Johns, Brian K. Vaughan, Grant Morrison, Dan Slott, Frank Quitely, Pia Guerra, Darwyn Cooke and insert your favorite comic book creator here constantly expanding what the medium was capable of, it may have been difficult for the average reader to separate the wheat from the chaff. Luckily, William Bibbiani, Conner S. Che, Eric A. Diaz and Martin Scherer were keeping track, and now present their lists of the Best Comic Books of the Decade.

——- WILLIAM BIBBIANI ——-

BEST ONGOING SERIES OF THE DECADE

1. The Exterminators

This overlooked Vertigo series about a group of exterminators going about their daily duties, and trying to stop an upcoming apocalypse of mystical Egyptian scarabs, was the most unexpected surprise of the decade. Sure, it was a Vertigo book – itself generally a sign of quality – but it also had a cast of fully realized, constantly surprising characters, disgusting but expertly crafted stories, and ultimately the most inventive narrative in comics in the last ten years. Cancelled too soon, but mercifully available in trade, Exterminators was the best comic book you didn’t read.

2. Gotham Central

In retrospect, the most obvious concept in the world – a comic about the police force in Gotham City, Batman’s most consistent yet unexplored supporting characters – became an exercise in comics realism that was led to one of the most exciting superhero books. Ever.

3. Y: The Last Man

The freakishly clever concept, exceptional execution, and a steady stream of the best dialogue and cliffhangers imaginable, stumbled a bit in the last few years, but overall was the breakout hit comics needed to keep non-costumed funnybooks in the mainstream. If you ever meet someone who doesn’t like comic books, this is the book to give them.

4. Promethea

Alan Moore’s most original comic this past decade – let’s face it, he’s devoted most of his time to reinvigorating existing characters in one way or another – was about a living poem using the power of narrative to expand consciousnesses and, occasionally, even beat a bad guy. Whether reinventing the superhero genre or spending entire issues examining the mystical and social relevance of, say, sexual intercourse or a tarot deck, Promethea was the thinking man’s comic to beat.

5. Grant Morrison’s New X-Men

Comics’ most valuable franchise had grown stale well before Grant Morrison took over the series, but he gave it the shot in the arm it needed to not only sell comics like mad, but also make “Best of the Decade” lists. By taking mutants out of the ghetto and making them not an oppressed minority but a pop culture phenomenon, Morrison found a new way to make the X-Men genuinely important again. With the exception of Joss Whedon’s brief but exceptional run on Astonishing X-Men, it’s been all downhill from here.

6. Dan Slott’s She-Hulk

Dan Slott made it okay for funnybooks to be funny again with this brilliant series that returned She-Hulk to her legal roots and focused on endlessly clever concepts like using Comics Code-rated back issues as legal precedent, or Spider-Man finally suing J. Jonah Jameson for libel, all while finally empowering one of the most powerful women in comics.

7. 52

At 52 issues it’s hard to call this one-year wonder a mini-series. Geoff Johns’, Grant Morrison’s, Greg Rucka’s, Mark Waid’s and Keith Giffen’s book was one of the most compelling narratives in mainstream comics, and led to any number of memorable moments involving otherwise unappreciated characters like Renee Montoya, the Elongated Man, Booster Gold and, of course, Skeets. Unforgettable and, if recent history is any indication, apparently unrepeatable in its success at a weekly narrative.

8. Brian Michael Bendis’ and Ed Brubaker’s Daredevil

Brian Michael Bendis, I give you a lot of crap, but your run on Daredevil is worth every ounce of acclaim it gets. And somehow, God knows how, Ed Brubaker managed to continue that legacy of excellence with his follow-up run.

9. Geoff Johns’ Flash

Geoff Johns’ proved his mettle as the best superhero comics writer in – geez, possibly ever – with his legendary run on the Flash. Somehow, he turned snapping one’s fingers into one of the decade’s most incredible plot points. Twice.

10. Casanova

Matt Fraction’s mind-bending series about a secret agent replaced by an alternate reality version of himself was the densest 16-page book ever written. At a fraction (Matt Fraction) of the cost of a typical comic, you got twice the content and your expectations exceeded with every successive issue.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Astonishing X-Men, Avengers: Initiative, Invincible, Manhunter, Jeff Parker’s Marvel Age Avengers, Nova, Marvel Knights Spider-Man, Darwyn Cooke’s The Spirit, Mark Millar’s Ultimate Fantastic Four, Brian K. Vaughan’s Ultimate X-Men, The Walking Dead

BEST MINI-SERIES OF THE DECADE

1. The Earth X Trilogy

Somehow all but forgotten, Alex Ross’ and Jim Krueger’s revolutionary re-imagining of Marvel continuity set in the near future, when everyone on Earth mysteriously has superpowers, retconned all of Marvel continuity from every single series ever written and not only made it all make sense, but made it seem like it was planned from the beginning. Ever wonder how The Watcher can have an oath of non-interference and interfere, like, all the God damned time? Read the book. Ever wonder how every religion somehow coexists in the same universe with equal validity? Read the book. Ever wonder how good a superhero comic book mini-series can possibly be? Read Earth X, the best of the decade.

2. Scott Pilgrim

A six-issue mini-series that, admittedly, isn’t quite done yet, Scott Pilgrim’s innovative combination of manga, slice-of-life and even videogame storytelling has struck a chord with an entire generation of young people who feel like someone finally paid attention to the way life really feels. Hilarious, insightful, exciting and touching.

3. We3

Grant Morrison’s crowning achievement was this three-issue mini-series about a cat, a dog and a rabbit turned into weapons of war despite their contrary natures. Like a children’s book written by a disgruntled Vietnam vet, this may be the most emotional writing of Grant Morrison’s career.

4. All-Star Superman

Nothing more to be said: The Best Superman Book Ever Written, once again all thanks to the skilled pen of Grant Morrison, and the incredible art of Frank Quitely.

5. Arkham Asylum: Living Hell

Dan Slott is generally known as “the funny guy,” but there’s nothing silly about this insidious and dark tale of a white-collar criminal who gets himself declared criminally insane to avoid jail time, only to be sent to Arkham Asylum instead – a fate, he quickly learns, that is much, much worse. Dramatic, scary and brilliant – this may be the best Batman story of the decade, and Batman’s barely in it.

6. The Atheist

Phil Hester may be best known for his penciling, but his writing on this incredible mini-series about a mildly autistic government agent fighting Ben Franklin from beyond the grave proved him one of comics finest renaissance men. Combined with his work on other brilliant books like Deep Sleeper, Firebreather, and the much-lamented Golly!, this book made Phil Hester my favorite writer of the decade.

7. Formerly Known as the Justice League/I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League

Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire revisited their well-received but often dismissed run on the Justice League with these two hilarious, and surprisingly dramatic, mini-series following their lovable losers before Infinite Crisis tore them apart piece by piece. And they were incredible accomplishments, featuring the writers’ funniest work and Kevin Maguire’s finest pencils (and for Kevin Maguire, that’s really saying something).

8. Green Lantern: Rebirth

We already take it for granted, but before Geoff Johns rewrote Green Lantern history with this unexpected mini-series, the whole thing was kind of stupid. The weakness to the color yellow had never been adequately explained, and Hal Jordan was still an unforgivable bastard after that whole “Parallax” thing. No more. This was the start of comics greatest resurgence of the decade.

9. Runaways

Brian K. Vaughan’s unusually original take on the superhero genre, in which a group of teenagers discover their parents are supervillains and respond not by donning masks and capes but by being rebellious teenagers, was the most interesting new Marvel book this decade.

10. Tag & Bink Are Dead

This hilarious and intelligent journey through both Star Wars trilogies followed Tag and Bink, two lovable losers who Forrest Gump their way through the entire trilogy. Those stormtroopers shooting the shit while Obi-Wan shut down the shield generators? That was them. Those stormtroopers who blew C-3PO to pieces in the Cloud City? Them too. The imperial guardsmen who inexplicably walk around the elevator rather than taking it at the climax of Return of the Jedi? Them too. They even fed Anakin those God awful pickup lines in Attack of the Clones back when they were Jedi younglings. The only Star Wars story of the decade that actually made the movies look better.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Adam Strange: Planet Heist, DC: New Frontier, Deadshot, Deep Sleeper, Hopeless Savages, The Hunter, Infinite Crisis, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather, Secret Six, Seven Soldiers, Spider-Man/Human Torch: I’m With Stupid, Tales Designed to Thrizzle, Union Jack, Wanted

BEST ONGOING SERIES OF THE DECADE

1. Y: The Last Man

It took me a very long time to pick up Y. Everybody was talking about it, telling me how great the book was but I resisted. I guess it premise sounded like a set up for a porno comic. It sounded like something that would be published in the pages of Heavy Metal. I am glad I finally did because it became one of my favorite books of all time. It sounds like a cliché but it made me laugh and it made me cry. It was a story that was crafted in such a way that it was completely immersive. You felt as if you went on the journey as a participant not an observer. If you get to the final pages and do not cry, you are a heartless bastard.

2. Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men
3. Transmetropolitan
4. Green Lantern
5. Ex Machina
6. Grant Morrison’s New X-men
7. The Ulitimates
8. Planetary
9. Action Comics
10. Fables

BEST MINI-SERIES OF THE DECADE

1. 52

Originally billed to us as a series that would fill the gap between Infinite Crisis and One Year Later, it thankfully became much, much more. It was a story that dealt with characters secondary to the Big Three, characters that not many people cared about. It goes to show that there are no bad characters only bad writers. Who would have thought that Booster Gold would be so fucking cool? It was a year of suspense, of mystery, of twisting story lines and suck as satisfying ending that it felt like a year long orgasm.

2. All Star Superman
3. Sinestro Corps War
4. Superman: Red Son
5. Wanted
6. Identity Crisis
7. Fray
8. 1602
9. Batman: What Ever Happened to the Caped Crusader
10. Infinite Crisis

BEST INDIVIDUAL ISSUE OF THE DECADE

Final Crisis: Requiem

Yes Final Crisis was pretty much a botched abortion but there were some captivating and interesting stories, namely Final Crisis: Requiem. This single issue tie-in to what was suppose to be a mega event was the strangely the best thing that happened, and it wasn’t even written by Grant Morrison. While Grant Morrison was off on some multidimensional drug trip, Greg Rucka decided to write a story people will actually feel something for. In the world of comics heroes die and ultimately, heroes are resurrected. We know this as a fact that in comics nobody dies forever but it didn’t matter. As a funeral issue for the Martian Manhunter  it is completely effective on making a reader mourn for a fallen hero. Even though that hero only existed in funny books.

——- ERIC A. DIAZ ——-

BEST ONGOING SERIES OF THE DECADE

1. Y The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra

I actually read this all in one giant chunk over the course of several weeks, so I guess I sort of cheated. This was a true achievement in comic book storytelling and what it can accomplish.

2. Green Lantern by Geoff Johns and various artists
3. New X-Men by Grant Morrison & Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday
4. The Ultimates by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch
5. Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Bendis and Mark Bagley

BEST MINI-SERIES OF THE DECADE

1. All Star Superman

Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely brought back Silver Age magic and goofiness to Superman without making it dumb, in fact, they made Superman comics smarter and more imaginative than ever. This might be the best Superman story ever told.

2. Identity Crisis by Brad Meltzer and Rags Morales
3. Civil War by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven
4. Green Lantern: Rebirth by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver
5. The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke

BEST SINGLE ISSUE OF THE DECADE

This was a tough one, since I read hundreds if not thousands of single issues this decade. But right now, I’m leaning towards Action Comics #775 “Whatever Happened to Truth, Justice and the American Way” by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke. This one issue sums up why a character like Superman (and what he represents) is eternal, and so many of the “bad ass” heroes that comics readers love at the moment are actually really disposable.

——- MARTIN SCHERER ——-

BEST ONGOING SERIES OF THE DECADE

Asking me to pick a favorite series from the past ten years is like asking me to pick my favorite bastard child. There are too many for me to really choose. To be fair to this past decade though, I will try and keep this list to 2000-2008. For 2009 picks see the best of 2009 article.

There were a lot of good books that ended lengthy runs in this decade and a lot of other books quickly appeared and disappeared. In the past ten years we saw the ending of Transmetropolitan, Preacher, and arguably Ennis best work, Hitman.

We saw the end, and return of a Catwoman series. The second half of volume 2 went some interesting directions. Some dark, such as the killing of Black Mask, and others such as the Helena Kyle arc was as touching as it was sad. The whole Will Pfiefer is worth checking. Remember that name, Pfiefer, its one that you should keep an eye on.

We saw the return of the crime comic, and while people will praise Criminal till they are red in the face, they should be giving love to Gotham Central. How awesome was this series? The first half was co-written by Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker. Think about that, the two of them working together on a series… it boggles the mind that this happened! In the first story arc we are shown a interesting picture of Gotham cops. They are in competition with Batman to solve cases before he does. They also have to deal with super-villains during the daylight hours. The whole idea of the police having an underlining animosity towards the Dark Knight, was a great angle.

In the past ten years, Marvel launched their MAX line with Alias, a great series that integrated itself smartly in to the history of the Marvel U. While the series was cancelled, Jessica Jones made the hop from foul mouth private detective to mother in New Avengers. Regardless how you feel about the current version of Jessica, you need to read this series. A lot of the seeds for things in the current New Avengers arcs started here.

My love of the Joe Casey era of WildCATS is already documented on this site, but I’ll mention it again – this is perhaps the best evolution of a generic superhero team ever. Casey asked the question, how do you change the world after it no longer needs saving? The answer, you go corporate and build a better battery.

DC doesn’t get enough credit for some of the experimentation they do. They continued to mature the Vertigo line, and tried their hand at a variety of monthly anthology books. The most impressive being SOLO, which for its 12 issues highlighted some of the best (and not necessarily big name) artists in comics by letting them do the work they want to do.

And the most underrated book of the decade, was H-E-R-O. This series written by Pfiefer and various artists ended after two years of a solid run. The central concept focused on the hero dial, a throw-away device from the silver age. As the series progressed we see how people use it, become addicted to it, and react to the consequences of their actions. Should have it gone longer? I don’t know – Pfiefer manage to craft such a strong ending to this series that I can’t imagine it having gone longer. If you wish you could see the TV series, HEROES done through the HBO/Showcase lens, then its worth hunting this series in the dollar bins.

BEST MINI-SERIES OF THE DECADE

The Question

They say that every serious comic collector has a period where they leave comics. Some leave in high school, others when they get caught by the unemployment lottery. Me? I made it through high school, but got caught by the ho before bro’s factor. Sadly I stopped buying comics in 2002, but like a recovering addict, I had trouble pulling myself completely out of the scene. I continued to read the reviews of The Fourth Rail and stay on top of the comic news via CBR. And when CBR started hyping a new Question mini-series I broke. I went to the first local shop I could find, and picked it up.

The art was pretty, the story was confusing and made such radical changes to the character that they were later just ignored (not even addressed, IGNORED) by anyone who wrote Vic Sage after. Despite this confusing mess of a mini, within a year, I would be buying comics regularly again. In a year and half, I was working part time at a comic shop, and blowing my pay check on making up for those lost years.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Hitman/JLA – Reminded us how great Hitman was.

Talent – Interesting concept (lone survivor of a plane crash has all the talents of those that died) with good art that never got its needed follow up mini.

Born/Fury – Two interesting minis by Ennis and Roberston. The first Born looks at the origin of Frank Castle, and the later, Fury, examines the last days of Nick Fury. Separate they are both fine books, together they create an interesting compliment to each other.

Civil War – The mini that changed everything in the Marvel Universe, and also the event they are slowly trying to ‘fix’ (Spider-man’s identity a secret again, Iron Man and Captain America resolving their issues…)

Punisher Welcome Back Frank – A fun romp that brought the Punisher franchise back from the edge of obscurity. Without this series, they would have been no Punisher movies this past decade – wait is that a good thing?

52 – DC did what many thought was impossible, and launched a 52 part weekly series, then followed it up with 2 more years of weekly books. While the later never reach the quality of 52, they showed the market would allow such books to exist. As a direct result, we now have an almost weekly Spider-Man book.

Escapists – A love letter to comics and its fandom. Even if you never read the Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, this story will remind you why you love comics.

Local – I had a lot of issues with this series – especially over the delays at the end. After sitting down and reading the collection, all my hate is gone. This book has a lot of strong elements through out the series that, like all good stories, can only be appreciated over time and readings.

BEST INDIVIDUAL ISSUE OF THE DECADE

A toss up between Batman 603 and Batman: Gotham Knights 32. Both of these issues are part of the Bruce Wayne Fugitive story. Don’t let that stop you from reading these though, they are only tied in by name. One of the ideas that went through this period of Batman comics was ‘what if Batman lost his way? These two issues show Batman getting his mojo back.

Batman 603

Originally written to be a Legends of the Dark Knight story is by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, who would later gone on to create Sleeper and Criminal. In this tale Batman visits a dying cop friend (if you consider him to have any). During this talk, the cop challenges Batman to solve the one case he has never been able to crack, and by accepting this dying man’s wish, Batman turns the point in the story and decides its time to clean his name.

Gotham Knights 32

The main story by Devin Grayson is entitled 24/7 and its just that. It shows what a typical 24 hour period is for Bruce Wayne/Batman. Everything about this issue reminds me about why I love Batman, and makes me long for the day when we could have good done in one issues that re-affirms status quo.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Infinite Crisis 3 – When this came out, I clearly remember reading this issue first. After the revelation about who was the villain in the Crisis, I put down and was unable to read anymore of my by books that night. I knew nothing was going to top it, so why bother reading more.

New Avengers 26 – The ballad of Clint and Wanda. What a beautiful book. Both the story and art work to create a sense of mystery and wonder, and leaves us with a haunting ending that has never been followed up on. What was behind that door? And was has Clint never told the rest of the Avengers that he knows were Wanda is? These are questions I hope they answer one day, but for now I am content with the mystery of it all. This is one of the few issues I read every couple of years.

Cerebus 300 – He did it and completed it all on time. Sure it lost its footing in the last years and became a bible study, but Cerebus was always more about Sim life at the time, and not about the Aardvark.

Catwoman 72 – The ending of Catwoman: mother storyline.

Thunderbolts 110 – The first issue of the Ellis run had a lot of promise; Thunderbolts publicly seen as heroes to the point that they are selling toys. Sadly the promise in this issue is never followed up on in the rest of the series. This could have easily been the Sucide Squad for the new century.

Green Arrow/Black Canary 4 – Beautiful book, where story and art work together in perfection. This one of the view books I can remember having to re-read immediately after finishing it the first time.

Iron Fist 16 – A solid end to the Faction/Brubaker run. Danny Rand, the Iron Fist, realizes on his 30th birthday that no Fist has lived past 30.