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AICN COMICS: BottleImp & superhero's Top Ten Comics of the 2000's
Welcome to this, our last Top Ten Comics of the 2000’s column. First up, we’ve got BottleImp’s picks for the best of the decade. Let me…just get the cork off…and…POP!...there we go! Here’s BottleImp!
BottleImp’s Top Ten Comics of the 2000’s
BottleImp here. This isn’t a “Best Of” list—when likes and dislikes are so subjective to one’s personal tastes, one cannot hold up a comic book and crow, “Blankity-Blank is the BEST comic of the past decade!” without subjecting oneself to the inevitable shitstorm of differing opinions. No, this is a list of some of my favorite titles from the years 2000-2009. First, a little boring personal backstory: the year 2000 found me recently graduated from college, living in a basement-level apartment and working full time at a just-barely-over-minimum-wage job (thanks, higher education!). I was basically living paycheck-to-paycheck and had to cut all my expenses, and one of the first things to go was my comic habit. I didn’t manage to quit cold turkey, but I found that I could keep my addiction manageable by limiting myself to what I could glean from the cheap bins and the mildewy flea market long boxes. As time went on and my employment and standard of living improved, I decided to venture back to the comic shop and see what the current racks had to offer, and look at the collected trades of titles that I had missed. Needless to say, that ol’ comic monkey got back on my back, and here are the top ten titles I have to thank for reigniting my love of the medium and leaving me in my addicted state.
10. THE TWELVE
By J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston
Marvel Comics
Towards the later half of the decade, not too long after resuming my habit, I began getting burned out on comics. I started to read less and less, and had just about quit once more, when my love of obscure Golden Age characters made me pick up THE TWELVE. This lovingly rendered character study/murder mystery instantly rejuvenated my monkey, and eventually led to my joining the illustrious ranks of the @$$holes here at AICN. I probably would have put this higher on my list, but for one small reason: JMS still hasn’t finished the fucking thing and Marvel editorial apparently has no power to make him finish it. Come on, guys, it’s just four more issues. It’s only waffer-thin.
9. MANHUNTER
By Marc Andreyko and Jesus Saiz
DC Comics
An elegantly simple concept: a D.A. taking the law into her own hands to execute supervillains who have slipped through the loopholes of the legal system. A protagonist who, though essentially a good person, was fairly unlikable. Moody, muted artwork that lent the series an air of realism. MANHUNTER was a series that I loved from the get-go. Unfortunately, Andreyko’s writing as the series progressed couldn’t match the power of the first few issues, and the comic started to fizzle after the first year, and ultimately wound up being cancelled. Still, this was another title that got me excited about DC and the quality of those early issues still stands up.
8. SUPERMAN AND BATMAN: WORLD’S FUNNEST
By Evan Dorkin and friends
DC Comics
You can’t take comic books too seriously. Dorkin’s one-shot of Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite rampaging though the myriad worlds and realities of the DC Universe, aided by some of the biz’s best artists, is at the same time a loving tribute and an atomic wedgie to DC history.
7. THE SENTRY
By Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee
Marvel Comics
Remember the hoax that surrounded this miniseries—that the Sentry was a forgotten character that Stan Lee had created back before Spider-Man and had been recently rediscovered? The publicity generated by that hoax almost eclipsed the actual comic book, which is actually a damn good read. Jenkins’ tale of the forgotten hero also includes his take on several other Marvel icons, the best of which is his view of the Hulk. I know that now the Sentry has been integrated into the mainstream Marvel Universe, and has quickly become everybody’s least favorite character, but as a stand-alone series (as originally intended), THE SENTRY is a great book.
6. IDENTITY CRISIS
By Brad Meltzer and Rags Morales
DC Comics
Yes, the ending was a colossal letdown. And yes, this series started the double downward spiral of the return of “grim ‘n’ gritty” and DC’s “event” books, culminating in the great fuck-a-row that was FINAL CRISIS, but the first six issues of this miniseries remain a taut and gripping thriller that made me look forward to each month’s issue with an anticipation that few other comics have ever aroused. Morales’ art is fantastic, and I’m still astounded that an artist of his caliber has not yet been elevated to comic book super-stardom.
5. PLANETARY
By Warren Ellis and John Cassaday
DC Wildstorm
This love letter to pop culture, pulp magazines, and most of all, comics, was one of the first series that brought me back into the comics scene. And yes, I know that PLANETARY came out in the late 1990s, but since I didn’t read it until the first two trades had been published and the comic continued into the 2000s, I’m counting it.
4. GLA
By Dan Slott and Paul Pelletier
Marvel Comics
I remember when John Byrne introduced the Great Lakes Avengers in the pages of WEST COAST AVENGERS back in the ‘80s, and I also remember being disappointed that those wacky, weird characters seemed forgotten in the pages of Marvel history. Slott brought them back in this miniseries (and subsequent one-shot) that managed to be hilarious and heartfelt at the same time. GLA was the perfect medicine for those of us that became sick after digesting the overly dark and depressing drivel that became the vogue for both Marvel and DC during the middle of the decade.
3. LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN
By Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill
America’s Best Comics / Top Shelf Productions
Though THE BLACK DOSSIER and CENTURY: 1910 lack the accessibility and sheer fun of the first two volumes, it’s still a treat to read as Moore attempts to weave every single literary character in the world into the tapestry of the League. It doesn’t hurt that O’Neill’s scratchy and detailed art gives the series a wonderful character all its own.
2. LOCKE & KEY
By Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez
IDW Publishing
An intriguing, multilayered and multi-generational mystery, combined with hands-down some of the best comic book artwork that I’ve ever seen.And now for my number one pick…
1. INVINCIBLE
By Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley
Image Comics
If there is one comic book out there that has truly rejuvenated the medium, it has to be INVINCIBLE. Kirkman, Walker and Ottley have taken everything that we grew up loving about the superhero genre and adapted it for the new millennium. The stories shift with seeming effortlessness from straightforward action/adventure to humor to romance to drama and even to violent horror, and it all works. This series also set a new artistic standard with its stylized design and one of the best superhero costumes since Gil Kane’s Green Lantern. Well, done, Kirkman and company!And here are some runners-up:
GREEN LANTERN “Rebirth” arc by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver, DC
WILLIAM HOPE HODGSON’S HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND adapted by Simon Revelstroke and Richard Corben, DC/Vertigo
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SAVIOR 28 by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Cavallaro, IDW
NOVA and other “cosmic” titles by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, Marvel
MADROX and X-FACTOR by Peter David, Marvel
Now let the shitstorm of differing opinions commence!
WILLIAM HOPE HODGSON’S HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND adapted by Simon Revelstroke and Richard Corben, DC/Vertigo
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SAVIOR 28 by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Cavallaro, IDW
NOVA and other “cosmic” titles by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, Marvel
MADROX and X-FACTOR by Peter David, Marvel
When released from his Bottle, the Imp takes the form of Stephen Andrade, an artist/illustrator/pirate monkey painter from the Northeast. You can see some of his artwork here. He’s given up comics more times than he can remember. But every time he thinks he's out, they pull him back in.
Gracias, Imp! And now, last but certainly not least we’ve got my good pal, superhero with his picks for the best of the best in comics over the past decade.
superhero’s Top Ten Comics of the 2000’s
superhero here. The past decade in comics will always be remembered by me with a bit of sadness. This decade, you see, was the decade in which I officially stopped reading weekly/monthly books. I’ve been reading comics since I was a kid and I’ve been collecting them since probably around the age twelve or so. Despite my mother’s protestations and doing everything in her power to keep me from loving comic books I became an addict early on. I’ve always loved comics. There was a period in my early twenties when I gave them up for a year but I couldn’t hold out. I was back again collecting before I knew it…the lure of the sequential page was too strong for me to resist. So throughout the years I’ve justified my hobby no matter what the cost, no matter what the price increase, no matter what stupid, boneheaded move the big two were pushing to try and pull more readership in. Until now. This decade marks the end for me as a regular reader of serialized comics. Price increases, mounting crossover events, constant re-treads and ill-thought out characterizations of beloved characters have forced me to walk away from something I once loved with a passion. Don’t get me wrong, I still love comics. But I don’t get that rush anymore when I’m on my way to the comic shop.
I’m not jazzed as hell to see what’s new with Spider-Man or Superman. Something has died within me and the comic book industry as a whole is what killed it. I wanted to be loyal, I wanted to believe…but I can’t. Not anymore. I’m done being your crack whore…go find someone else to take advantage of.
Before I finally get to my list…I want to thank the all of the @$$holes. In particular Ambush Bug. These guys have let me hang around the HQ longer than I should have been allowed. My output has been minimal for the past couple of years but not once has any hole every made me feel less than because of it. I enjoy my time with them online and I’m glad they’ve let me hang around as long as I’ve been able to. I’m not going anywhere…as long as they let me write reviews I’ll write ‘em. I’m just glad I’ve been able to be part of this club for as long as I have…even if it’s in a small way.
OK…on to my top ten of the decade!
10. POWERS (Marvel Icon)
Yes, believe it or not there was a time when Brian Michael Bendis was compelling, even refreshing. There was a time when Bendis was independent, before he got swallowed up by Marvel and became a company man and a figurehead along the likes of Stan Lee. That Brian Michael Bendis is the one who gave us Powers and Powers to me, at the time of its initial release, was a terrific mix of superheroes meets NYPD Blue. Sure, a lot of the storylines ended as flatly as the end of a Stephen King novel…but the ride Bendis took us on…the ride was captivating. It was fun while it lasted. I stopped reading Powers ages ago…but when I read it I enjoyed the hell out of it. I wonder what this book could have been if Bendis hadn’t been consumed by the Marvel machine.
9. MARY JANE/MAY JANE: HOMECOMING/SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE (Season 1) (Marvel Comics)
Yep, that’s right…I’m picking a book called Mary Jane as one of my top ten of the decade. Why? Because of all the Spider books out there in the past ten years this is the one I got the most joy out of reading. Sean McKeever and Takeshi Miyazawa took a new and fresh look at the world of Spider-Man through the eyes of Mary Jane Watson and made it work. So you can take your Brand New Day and shove it because Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane was where it was at this decade!
8. JACK STAFF (Image Comics)
Jack Staff to me is inspirational and fun. It was the one comic that I can remember that didn’t have the greatest artwork in the world but was one of the best superhero reads I have had the pleasure to check out. Paul Grist showed that you didn’t have to be Jim Lee, Bryan Hitch or Art Adams to tell a great comic story. Well, it helped if you did know how to draw and that you were a master of sequential layout and storytelling, which Paul Grist is. I always looked forward to when this book came out. Sure, it lost some of its charm when it moved to Image and became a full color book but the Dancing elephant Press run was one of the most pleasurable runs of a comic I’d read in a long time. This book reminded me what could be fun about the superhero game.
7. B. P.R.D. (Dark Horse)
As much as I love HELLBOY this is the book that just stood out to me again and again in the “Hellboy-verse”. Mostly because of Guy Davis’s fantastically moody artwork. I can’t think of another artist who is more suited to horror comics than Guy Davis. His artistic talent is as perfect a match for this book as, well, Mignola’s was for Hellboy. Plus the writing in the BPRD mini-series was continually compelling as well. Now if only Kirkman could get Davis to draw WALKING DEAD I would be in heaven. One of the best action-horror books around by far.
6. THE WALKING DEAD (Image Comics) Well, this is the book that did it. This is the one book that made me believe that horror could be done correctly in a comic book. And, yes, I’ll say it…I am still not sick of zombies in any aspect of pop culture…movies, TV, books and comics. I love zombies and I love horror and Walking Dead is both. Sure it has its shortcomings and, yes, there was a point where I wanted to call this book The Talking Dead but I have to admit…this book opened up the horror genre for modern comics and is always a compelling read. So it deserves to be here in my top ten of the decade.
5. INVINCIBLE (Image Comics)
What Kirkman did for zombie books he did for me with superhero books as well when he unleashed Invincible onto the comic reading world. I have to admit when I first picked up this book in floppy editions I stopped reading after the second issue. But I kept hearing over and over again how fantastic it was and I did remember liking the art. So I invested in the first hardcover when it came out. Boy am I glad I did. By the end of the book I was hooked and was dying for more. And I still am.
4. ULTIMATES 1 & 2 (Marvel Comics)
Say what you will about Mark Millar but this was to me some of the best kick ass superhero reading I’ve had the pleasure to read. Both of these series had so many “oh, shit” moments for me that I cannot exclude it from my list. No, I do not want my mainstream Marvel U to look like this but if I was going to be presented an alternate Marvel U this would be the one I’d want to read about. Plus Bryan Hitch’s stunning artwork didn’t hurt things either.
3. ALL STAR SUPERMAN (DC Comics)
What can I say that hasn’t already been said about this book? One of the most perfect Superman tales told in my lifetime. Superman has been one of my favorite characters since I was a kid and saw George Reeves bend steel bars in his bare hands on the original Superman TV show. But so much of Superman’s publication history in the comics has been a mess that I find myself more disappointed than not with actual Superman comic books. So thank you for this Mr. Morrison and Mr. Quietly. This is the love sonnet to the character that fans like me have been waiting years for.
2. Y: THE LAST MAN (DC Vertigo)
Alas, poor Yorick, I knew you well. A fantastic all around series with some of the best characterization ever written in a comic book. This book will live in my comic reading consciousness along with Preacher as one of the best comic book series ever. Sure, it lost its way a bit toward the end there and I can’t tell you how many times I had to hear the phrase, “Monkey poop? MONKEY POOP???” But the final issue pulled it all together for me. A while ago I was going through some of my comic boxes to put some comics on E-Bay. I wanted to clear some space in my home. This was one of the series I could not part with. I got rid of some decent comics on E-Bay but I don’t think I’ll ever part with Y: The Last Man. It was that great.
1. MONSTER
The best comic book series I have ever read. Ever. Period. The end. OK…so far because my life isn’t over yet. But any book that makes me run to the local Borders on every release day and will not let me put it down once I’ve started reading it…well, I cannot remember the last time I felt like this about a comic. This is a true masterpiece. Technically this was released in Japan during the past decade but it only made it here to the U. S. during this decade. This was my number one top best awesome great comic experience of the decade by far. I have a love for this book that cannot be explained. It would be like explaining color to a blind man. Just go read it yourself. Once you get through the second volume you will be a MONSTER addict. Naoki Urasawa is a genius and I will read anything he ever puts out.Discovered as a babe in an abandoned comic book storage box and bitten by a radioactive comic fan when he was a teenager, superhero is actually not-so mild mannered sometime designer & cartoonist, Kristian Horn of Los Angeles, California. He's been an @$$hole for three years. Some of his work can be seen at www.kristianhorn.com.
Thanks, supes! Be sure to check out the Top Ten lists of the rest of the @$$holes from last week!
Vroom Socko’s List
Matt Adler’s List
Ambush Bug’s List
Humphrey Lee and Optimous Douche’s Lists
Professor Challenger and Jinxo’s Lists
Thanks to all of you in the TBs who have made this a great week for comic book debate.
Editing, compiling, imaging, coding, logos & cat-wrangling by Ambush Bug
Proofs, co-edits & common sense provided by Sleazy G
Matt Adler’s List
Ambush Bug’s List
Humphrey Lee and Optimous Douche’s Lists
Professor Challenger and Jinxo’s Lists
Proofs, co-edits & common sense provided by Sleazy G
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it's great.
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How can so called comic geeks not recognize the awesomeness of Fables?
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More people should be reading it.
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Finally a number 1 spot, AND featured in both top 10s. Well done folks. Totally agree. Best comic ever.
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without it in the list, i ignored the rest of the list.
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It's the one thing I hate about the guy. Like, with Rising Stars, the delay came about because he was standing up for his rights against the company. And I understand that that's necessary and good. I just hate the fact that we're the ones who ultimately suffer, not the company he's standing against.
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Glad somebody mentioned The Ultimates in their Top 10, that book needs some love.
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Still missing New X-Men though.
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I picked up on "The Twelve" with the first issue even though I generally won't touch Marvel with an eleven-foot-pole. I really liked it and decided to give the 'ol House Of Ideas another look. Found some interesting stuff in their monthly line-up and thought that, perhaps, I'd give them another try. Suddenly, no "Twelve". JMS got himself busy elsewhere and the Marvel editors showed their utter lack of balls and just let the thing go.
It will be a very, very cold day in Hell before I even LOOK at another Marvel book! -
I'm surprised that the original MAX run of Marvel's Supreme Power didn't make anybody's list. Granted, the toned down Squadron Supreme revamp that followed it was shit, but Supreme Power itself was damn amazing. It might have been just a dark, perverse retelling of Superman's origin combined with a gathering of a JLA-type cast, but damn was it ever fun. From the violence to the profanity to the nudity, Supreme Power did things that JLA would and likely never could. Such a shame that Marvel pussied out by the end of the 2nd year.
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I can't remember whose, but someone mentioned it.
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As a comics fan who gave up the monthlies two years ago and thus also gave up my LCS visits, I appreciate all these lists and will use them to fill out some of the gaps in my trade reading (namely Fables. With shit-ton of love it has received in the lists and the talkbacks, I am embarrassed to say it has completely missed my radar). I list my favorites below (in no particular order), only to give even more credit to the titles already listed and to note some I loved that haven’t been mentioned much yet.
Shaolin Cowboy
The Goon
Casanova
Fell
The Walking Dead
30 Days of Night
The Nightly News
DMZ
Midnight Nation
Hellboy/B.P.R.D.
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BottleImp has the best list, IMO, of anyone! "The Twelve" though...I can't rank an unfinished series, but it was so awesome! The unfinishedness, though, makes me want to wait for the trade, not an attitude the industry wants to encourage in its hardcore customers (of which I am totally one).
Manhunter! Turned on to that one late, have the first two trades, the rest in single issues. Hated her hair, but that book was super! In fact, I disagree that the quality declined. It was an A+ from start to finish. Also integrated a lot of B-listers in an A-list way.
Great Lakes Avengers! Another winner, though clearly a specific taste. Awaiting another special, though Slott is probably too busy. He's sucking on Mighty Avengers, though, so maybe he'll be back in the "minors" soon.
Finally, Identity Crisis? Really? One of the worst and most offensive endings ever. Not just a weak ending, or a non-ending, a truly wretched, sexist conclusion. I will never read another Meltzer comic, novel, or anything. -
how most people generally agree that Y the last man and Preacher were great books, but in the same breath say: "Even though it kind of sucked at the end..."
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Rising Stars delay was more due to the fact that all that series was, was an intersting idea and some cool moments, but ultimately, ZERO idea what the over-all story was... Then it was completely rushed and squandered. That book could have been great... instead, it was garabage.
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And I miss monthy Gary Frank drawn nudity.
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So good.
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I think Y the Last Man was actually BEST at the end, including but not limited to the final issue. The whole last several months were very, very good. Preacher was also outstanding at the end EXCEPT for the final issue, which I have said here before I threw away and pretend it never existed, so the 2nd to the last issue is the last issue.
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The Meat Man arc?
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Well, the meat man was stupid, but it wasn't the end of Preacher. Maybe later in the run, but it wasn't, like, the final arc or anything.
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But I didn't mean the last issue, just towards the end, like in the review "sure, maybe it lost its way at the end..." Not the VERY last issue... except in Preacher's case, then yeah, the very last issue, too.
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...but it's been done so many times.
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Hal Fosters Prince Valiant?
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Don't know that I'd necessarily put them on mine but I like seeing GLA gettings some recognition. Same thing for the Mary Jane series. I'd like to see Astro City make a list
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zing!
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but I actually agree: it was pretty badass up 'till the end twist. Especially that shot of Batman holding Tim Drake right after his father had been killed, with the caption "Batman and Robin...orphans" That made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
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Great choice. I definitely wasn't expecting that. Too bad most people won't even give it a chance just because it's manga.
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