This year the team at TheGWW.com got together and wrote down our picks for the best comics of 2015! We would love to share our picks and why we picked them. These aren’t necessarily new comics that started in 2015 but just our favorites that were continued or published throughout the year of 2015. These are in no particular order. And of course, we welcome you to share with us your favorite comics of 2015!
Secret Wars
Casey Walsh – “I can’t believe I am saying this and I had a really tough time coming to this decision. I know I am going to get a ton of crap for this, but it came down to my personal choice and although Secret Wars has made every mistake when it comes scheduling and releases, it was always the one comic I bought and read immediately each and every time it was released. I needed to know what happened next. I needed to know where the story was going, and I still need to know! Yes, there are better comics that certainly deserve to be here as well (Southern Bastards, Saga, Black Science, etc.) but these comics are constantly great and will be for as long as they exist. Secret Wars is something special and if it wasn’t for its constant delays and the fact that the reboot started before it ended, I think it would be a lot higher on others lists as well. Secret Wars is the crossover event at its most epic. A story years in the making, Hickman and Ribic are ending it in a massive way. Although Secret Wars still has one issue left until it ends (came out yesterday), it becomes my Comic of the Year based of sheer enjoyment.”
Burning Fields
Enrique Rea – “This is a tough one as there were a lot of great books. Some titles are so consistent that we take them for granted like Saga, The Walking Dead, Batman, etc. However, Burning Fields had a style, a look, a tone, that mashed-up genres effortlessly and the written words were as compelling as the striking visuals. Michael Moreci, Tim Daniel, Colin Lorimer, and Joana Lafuente created the most intriguing military procedural supernatural thriller that was great from start to finish.”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Cory Anderson – “With issues 44-50 captivating TMNT fans from the “death” of Donetello to his return from Metal Head’s body, and the eventual duel between Splinter and Shredder that we have dreamed about forever… The Turtle Universe will never be the same again. Heroes in a half-shell squared off against Bebop, Rocksteady and the other mutants of The Foot. With the covers connecting to make one impressive mosaic, you needed to buy multiple copies to get the full picture as well as the many stunning variants.”
Planet Hulk
Natalie Atkins – “Planet Hulk! I read this cover to cover, then read it again! I love how it gave Hulk not only a powerful district ice side but gave him a soft human lovable side even when he was still Hulk!”
Tokyo Ghost
Anthony Franklin – “2015 has been a generally amazing year for comics (I’m looking at you, “Convergence”), and I have to say that one of my favorite publications to come out of it has been Remender’s “Tokyo Ghost.” This year has been a great year for not only Remender but others as well: Kirkman, Vaughan, Lemire, and Hickman. However, Remender’s technocratic dystopia is consistent in its vividly imaginative and violent nature, and I’m sure that it has no chance of losing pace just yet.”
Deadpool vs Thanos (1-4)
Peter Morrow – “Good God… so funny… I can’t say it any other way. Deadpool and Thanos partner up to save their love, the corporeal manifestation of Death herself.”
Batman (Endgame)
Adam Waugaman – “Snyder and Capullo have been crafting some of the finest Batman stories I’ve seen in years. I honestly didn’t think they’d be able to top each new story, but somehow they’ve found a way. Endgame was an absolute blast to read. Being a huge Joker fan, I was curious to see what it was about. I was also hesitant because Death of the Family was so good. I didn’t know how they were going to top it. Endgame is an absolute staple now in Batman versus Joker.”
Danny Benavides – “As the year progressed, I didn’t have as much time as I hoped to keep up with the cluster of comics that I normally do. However, there was always one that I absolutely had to stay on top of on every single released date, Scott Snyder’s Batman. I know Endgame technically started in 2014, but the arc met with an epic finale mid-2015. Even afterwards, when the new successor (Google it if you don’t know yet) of Batman was announced. I was hesitant at first. I would have much rather have seen one of the Robin’s take on the new role but Snyder clearly knows what he is doing.”
All-New Captain America
Agasicles Stamas – “The beginning arc of Sam Wilson as Captain America brought a fresh breath of diversity to an iconic character-role within the Marvel Universe that had not been previously done. At least not well. Whether the diversity was contrived by marketing and corporate to me is irrelevant. Sam’s background in the flashback scenes and the way in which it was ethnically accurate in tone and starkly different than Steve Rogers (and I love him, too) was well done and sorely needed.”
Saga
Lance John – “Best Comic Series of 2015.”
Erin Murphy – “Finally got introduced to this and have loved every page.”
Sarah Payne-Mills – “Brian K. Vaughan can do no wrong. Saga has been amazing from the start, and I can’t wait to see where it goes.”
Vader Down
Will Elizondo – “Of all the Star Wars related comics, Vader Down was a perfect depiction of Darth Vader. We die hard Vader fanatics have always known what a bad ass, powerful, dark, and calculating master of the Dark Side Vader is. Unfortunately the films only scratched the surface. Thankful, the rest of the world finally saw him doing things like single handedly taking out whole squads of rebel star fighters with just one ship, his power in the Dark Side, and his iron will. Impeccable writing and absolutely beautiful artwork truly make this the best in my mind.”
Airboy
Mac Thompson – “Not only is this my favorite series of the year but also the craziest set of comics I’ve ever read. James Robinson delivered a touching self-examination wrapped in the strangest plot. This paired with Greg Hinkle’s wonderful art made Airboy my favorite series of 2015.”
Descender
Jon Reyes – “I didn’t read nearly as many books, comics in the case of this category in ’15, as I had in ’14, but whenever I took the time to do so, Descender by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen was easily by far-and-away the best. Following the story of… “One young robot’s struggle to stay alive in a universe where all androids have been outlawed and bounty hunters lurk on every planet. A rip-roaring and heart-felt cosmic odyssey that pits humanity against machine, and world against world, to create a sprawling space opera…” (via Image Comics) Sounds like a boring concept, because honestly, how interesting can an AI main character be? And that’s what makes Descender so remarkable. I found myself deeply invested to want to know and see where he’d be headed next and with whom – Nguyen’s hard-to-not-look-at artistic style also helps in this regard. My being able to empathize with a robot says a lot in itself. “
Harrow County
Chris Pirri – “Another Geek on the website (Agasicles) recommended this to me. I absolutely love it. It is one great horror comic. It is very creepy and gothic. Love how the writer (Cullen Bunn) blends the past and the present into one hell of a story.”
Battlepug Vol 4: The Devil’s Biscuit
Everett Harn – “Even though Marvel put out some great stuff this year, there is no competition when you put anything up against Battlepug for me. Mike Norton’s silly and exciting comic is not only free to read on his website, but extremely well written and drawn. You don’t have to be a massive pug lover like me to enjoy this gem of an indie comic. It’s absolutely scribbly scrabbly hilarious!”