I honestly can't believe that this is the third time I'm going to do this list to celebrate and congratulate the best titles of the year as well as their respective creators but here we are and I'm actually still glad to be able to do this.
As you may recall, I mentioned in my Top Ten Worst DC Comics of 2015 list that there were much more bad titles this year compared to the previous one. However, to compensate there were much, much better books in 2015 too and most of them are recently released titles to boot!
At this point you know how I roll. Only titles that lasted most of the year can make it into the list and before we continue, let's talk about the usual honorable mentions:
- Greg Pak/Aaron Kuder's Action Comics: This was pretty damn close to appear into the list but the Truth crossover ultimate hurt it too much just as you would expect from most Superman events.
- Greg Rucka/Cully Hamner's Convergence: The Question: The best Convergence tie-in without a doubt but only consisted of 2 issues so that's a no.
- Frank Tieri's Convergence: Suicide Squad: Same case as the last one.
- Geoff Johns' Superman: Consisting of only a few issues this year but they were still pretty good and shows what a good writer is able to do when he's not forced into crossovers.
- Jeff Parker's Justice League United: This is everything the title should have been since the beginning but sadly the conclusion was pretty rushed and hurt its possibilities.
- Genevieve Valentine's Catwoman: This run started quite strong and smart but it ultimately became too slow and tedious.
- Tom King's Omega Men: Interesting ideas and solid worldbuilding that sadly dwell into a constant and annoying repetition along with a misguiden characterization for Kyle Rayner.
- Paul Levitz' Doctor Fate: I'm more shocked than you believe me. Levitz has delivered his best work ever and the only reason is not in the actual list is because I enjoyed other books more.
- Scott Snyder/Greg Capullo's Batman: It's a solid read but not as good as previous years and especially not as good as the Zero Year year.
- Mark Russell's Prez: Quite creative satire but since it's a miniseries, it couldn't make it into the list.
And with those out of the way, we're counting down!
10. Robert Venditti's Green Lantern.
Surprised to see an author in the same spot of both the best and worst lists once again right?
In comparison to his work on The Flash though, Robert Venditti has managed to make Green Lantern an incredibly solid read that delivers month by month a quite enjoyable experience that succeeds in characterization, story and action.
From the event Godhead to the little one-and-done stories to the current direction depicting Hal as a renegade, Venditti doesn't really revolutionize the franchise but he manages to deliver a book full of all the things that you would like in a protagonist and universe.
The character work especially shines due that you can actually see how Hal Jordan has progressed up to this point from a borderline incompetent leader to a badass hero who is willing to risk everything, even his own reputation, to save the people he cares about. The current direction exploits this premise nicely and shows great team dynamics between Hal and the new cast as well as interesting new challenges for him.
For simply being one of the most consistent titles around, this deserved its place in the number 10 spot.
9. Becky Cloonan/Brenden Fletcher/Karl Kerschl's Gotham Academy.
There are few titles like Gotham Academy and that's a damn shame.
Since the launch of the book, both Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher have managed to develope a whole world that despite of being connected to the Batman line, it still exists on his own but at the same time manages to use some of the most interesting aspects from the mythos.
The creators are able to use different classic ideas and characters like the Robins, Damian Wayne, Clayface and Man-Bat while giving their own spin to them in a way that they can be perfectly integrated into such universe while the creations from the own series are something quite unique and work fantastically to bring a supernatural tone that you rarely see in DC Comics.
Speaking about the characters, the protagonists are pretty enjoyable. Olive is a pretty interesting main character with an intriguing background while Maps works in several levels from comic relief to compelling character to simply adorable kid. The rest of the cast are not as entertaining as them but most of them serve their purpose adequately.
And of course, we need to talk about the artists who contribute just as much as the writers. In this case though, Karl Kerschl is not only as important as them but I would dare to say that he's THE most important member of the creative team. His art is incredibly beautiful and complex with a style similar to the ones you find in paintings to give the book a pretty memorable book and is a shame that while I'm writing this article it has been announced that he's leaving the title, I only wish they're able to replace him with someone just as talented.
Intriguing stories, likable characters and gorgeous pencils easily make Gotham Academy one of the best reads that I've seen in 2015.
8. Jimmy Palmiotti/Amanda Conner's Harley Quinn.
This series might be a bit lower compared to last year but that doesn't mean that the title has become any worse, it continues to be consistently good at what it does.
Both Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner deliver month by month an over-the-top focusing on comedy, violence and surprisingly, characterization. Sure, there are many aspects of the series that work in ridiculous levels, and they work nicely, but the character work is something pretty enjoyable to see as well.
Speaking about such character development, Harley has not only demonstrated to be a quite likable protagonist but she has also progressed as such due that she manages to expand her relationships so much that she has become friends with tons of people and she's willing to help all of them no matter what. Not only that but she has also shown a lot of deep moments where she demonstrates that she's much more than a simple comic relief. Despite that the style of the book goes for a humouristic tone, the portrayals has always been one of the strongest aspects of it.
If you enjoy hysterical situations, cartoony violence and overall entertainment you can't go wrong with Harley Quinn.
7. Jimmy Palmiotti/Amanda Conner/Emanuela Luppachino's Starfire.
I have to give this to the creative team of Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner: They certainly know how to switch their writing styles to fit certain characters and series and that's especially true for the recently released Starfire.
Using the continuity-fluid style that made them famous for Harley Quinn while letting all the comedic gore and insanity aside, the writers managed to create one of the most lighhearted and charming superhero comics currently.
The title focuses on Starfire and how she's accomodating to her life on Earth and how people from this planet live. The characterization takes a huge inspiration from the naive personality she had in the Teen Titans show and shows it by making Kory constantly misinterpreting Earth's language. However, while she might seem naive, she's still a quite competent and kind person who cares a lot about her friends.
One of the most entertaining factors of the book are the relationships. This title shines whenever Kory interacts with others being with her new friend Stella, her brother Sol, Atlee/Terra, etc. The bonds she creates with the rest of the cast is quite strong and gives the book a great amount of personality and distinctiveness. In fact, I would say that it does much better when it concentrates on these aspects than when it focuses on classic superheroics.
Of course I wouldn't have mentioned Emanuela Luppachino if she wasn't important. Just like Karl Kerschl in Gotham Academy, Luppachino brings the best from this series with her outstanding artwork that makes every character stunning and gets some really solid expressions and storytelling. Unfortunately, just like Kerschl, she has announced that she's leaving the book but thankfully, her work in the early issues will always be present.
This is the perfect title to relax after reading some of the most complex books or whenever you just want to have a good time.
6. Brenden Fletcher's Black Canary.
Yep, yet another mention of Brenden Fletcher in this list and don't be surprised if this isn't the last one.
I have to give this to the DC You initiative: They have been able to hire creators with interesting backgrounds. For those who don't know, Fletcher has his own band and that cemented Black Canary's future in a pretty positive way.
As you may recall, Dinah Drake/Lance didn't have the best of lucks with the 2011 reboot. Not only because they erased most of her own history but also because they made the character a pale shadow of her former self by giving her one of the blandest portrayals I've seen recently while at the same time making her completely useless as a superheroine.
That completely changed when Fletcher came on board and reinvented her first on Batgirl as a more sarcastic and aggressive character who suddenly found herself into a new life by forming her own rock band and traveling along with them.
The series itself consists of Dinah trying to start again while running away from her complicated past and the title showcases this perfectly in a pretty natural and subtle way. The characterization works quite nicely due that you see Dinah develope from someone who only sees her new band as a way to forget her history to a her more classic heroic and kind nature since she starts showing concern for the rest of the members from the cast.
As I already mentioned, the author's background certainly reflects the style of the story. The direction that the title would receive perfectly portrays a group of people who find themselves in the world of rock bands and how the fame and glory can motivate them. The rest of the cast also receive some interesting portrayals that contrast nicely with the one from the protagonist.
However, this wouldn't be a superhero comic if there wasn't some kind of bizarre aspects and they're abundant considering that one of the members from the band is being chased by a group of strange beings and is up to Dinah to protect her. The story and style manage to mix in a quite satisfactory way.
Black Canary is ideal for people who love books with a modern tone and deserves all the praise it receives.
5. Keith Giffen/J.M. DeMatteis/Howard Porter's Justice League 3001.
You know what I just said about how people who loves books with a modern tone will love Black Canary?
Well, people who love old-school books will certainly feel the same for Justice League 3001 but I believe that it goes even beyond that.
Starting with the series Justice League 3000, Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis have dedicated themselves to recreate the future in ways that the New 52 Legion of Super-Heroes failed.
For one, the characters turned out to be clones of the original members of the Justice League that barely represented them in terms of personality but they quickly started to grow-up by showing different aspects on their own. You have an egocentric Superman who still as heroic as the original, a Batman who doesn't have the death of his parents to motivate him but still wants to do good, a overly-violent Wonder Woman who still shows her compassionate side, etc. The cast manages to be different yet familiar.
Not only that but the writers have been able to create worlds in quite compelling manners and all of them prove to be an interesting concept to explore. There are enough hints about where the story is going to understand that this is most likely not the future of the main continuity but it wouldn't bother me at all if it actually was considering that is quite intriguing one.
On the other hand, that also means that the authors are not hindered by the main continuity so they can do whatever they want and they truly exploit such advantage. The status quo is constantly changing. Characters will die and get resurrected, members will leave and be replaced by new ones and old faces will return in exciting ways. The current team in fact consists of pure female heroines and that is enough to make me invested even more in the book.
You would remember that I mentioned that old-school fans will enjoy this book and that's mostly because of the content. Both Giffen and DeMatteis don't believe in decompressed titles and try to add as much story as possible. Things that happen in each chapter would take several ones in other books and all of it is perfectly balanced in terms of plot, characterization and relationships.
The book wouldn't be the same without Howard Porter's artwork. When Porter creates worlds he CREATES WORLDS. His ability to bring complex environments to life is something really appealing and the level of detail he puts in every scene makes the read even richer.
A book full of great concepts, personalities and brings you more than your usual comic series. What's not to love?
4. Geoff Johns' Justice League.
And once again we have this constant presence in the list. For yet another consecutive year, Johns' take on the World's Greatest Superheroes makes an appearance here and surprisingly, this might be their strongest time yet.
You know what I'm talking about, two words: Darkseid War.
Following the ideas he created at the beginning of his work on the series, the writer managed to create a HUGE epic story focusing on the battle between the Anti-Monitor and Darkseid while the Justice League tries to stop them from causing any more destruction.
One of the most remarkable aspects from this book is how everything has been escalating adequately up to this point. From the early chapters with the idea of Darkseid's daughter to the event Forever Evil which introduced the threat of the Anti-Monitor to final confrontation between the two most powerful beings in the multiverse. Everything is perfectly planned and you could basically say that all has been building up to this climax.
And speaking about the event itself, is fantastic. Johns has apparently come back in full force with some of his best execution in a while by exploiting his skills to create powerful moments to impact the readers.
That's not to say that is just a shallow shock value story. On the contrary, the author creates great characterization for everyone and while he has shown to be less than competent at portraying the New Gods in the past, he has redeemed himself here by giving them a lot of presence, power and personality and depicting them with the kind of deity-level status they deserve.
I honestly don't know where else Johns could go from here. This is pretty much his best written arc yet and if this is the end of his work in this series, then he would go out with a bang.
3. Cameron Stewart/Brenden Fletcher/Babs Tarr's Batgirl.
I'm going to get this out of the way: I wasn't a fan of Gail Simone's run on Batgirl.
Yes, I know that will make me automatically biased in the eyes of fans of that run but hear me out. I didn't like the overwhelming dark tone of the series since it became quite repetitive quite quickly and I know that Simone mentioned in the past that the dark direction was editorially mandated but considering the usual style she uses in her stories, I doubt it would have gone any different if she was completely free. Besides, her obsession of making Barbara's character all about The Killing Joke was pretty tiring. Batgirl seemed to be unable to progress beyond that.
Then a miracle appeared, a lighthearted and fun miracle in the form of Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher.
The writers knew what they wanted from the title and DC fortunately listened. The book consists now on making Barbara letting her past go and focusing on a more positive outlook in life by making new friends, going to college and parties while still being relatable and likable, you know, like a real teenager. The character was finally developing further than her usual depressed state, now she was allowed to have fun. Hell, the first arc was basically a representation of getting rid of all the terrible things that happened to her during Simone's run.
It's necessary to mention that there's also a overall modern feel to the book. The constant use of social media that is connected to both the characters, themes and story are perfectly incorporated and manage to do so in a way that doesn't feel forced nor obtrusive. Plus, the rogues gallery continues to expand and thankfully they're not connected to Babs' tragedy as in the past, they're more unique than that.
And of course, one has to mention the artist if necessary and it would be a crime to not address Babs Tarr's contributions to the book. She has an incredibly distinctive and charming style that creates beautiful characters and locations. Plus, she has a great sense of storytelling and represents the stories in a pretty precise way while also including a lot of content in each scene, you can get a lot of story from her pencils.
For giving Batgirl the evolution she deserved, this title has quickly become one of my favorites.
2. Steve Orlando's Midnighter.
Talk about coming out of nowhere.
You see, I was initially tweeting about the announcement of this new series about Midnighter and how I was giving it a chance because it was a series with a Gay male protagonist (a rarity) but I was just hoping that it would be actually good.
Then I was answered by this guy I didn't know at the time called Steve Orlando that he would try to do his best to make it good.
Which made me think: "Eh, the guy seems nice at the very least. Let's see if the things go the way he wants".
And things apparently went that way since it only took the first issue, the First. Frikking. Issue. to make me realize that I was in front of something special.
To say that the book exceeded my expectations would be the understatement of the year. The series showcased the protagonist in way that channel his original incarnation by his creator Warren Ellis. A baddass vigilante who is able to predict his opponents' moves and beat the shit out of them with a whole sense of style.
The writing is what makes this book as great as it is. Orlando brings a lot of personality to the story, characters and dialogue. Great creativity is abundant in both the themes and plot but fortunately the writer doesn't forget important aspects like the characterization and this is especially evident once that you behold how Midnighter interacts with everyone being either his new boyfriends, his frienenemy Dick Grayson and his ex Apollo whose presence is always felt during the course of the run. You can immediately notice how complicated he is as a person and how different his abilities and origin influence his actions.
The dialogue helps a lot to this and it one of the most entertaining dialogues that you can find. Almost every conversation offers a witty moment and the writer even offers little details about where the story is going in each one.
Speaking about the story, not going to spoil anything for people who haven't read it yet but let me say that Orlando has carefully planned everything and will definitely surprise you.
I could keep going on about the positives like the perfect depiction of the character's skills as well as his distinctive voice and personality but this is one of things that you need to behold for yourself. Just check it out, I guarantee you that you won't be disappointed. This could have easily become my favorite title of the year.
If it wasn't for the following one.
What is the best DC comic of 2015 for me?
Well, as you would expect is one that combines everything that I love in a title meaning: Story, characterization, worldbuilding, plannification and creativity among other things.
Is also a book that surpasess a lot of the titles already mentioned in this list in those aspects. It even manages to combine the strongest points of each one in a beautiful package.
And funnily enough, in contrast to my worst DC comic of 2015, is also a title that exceeded my expectation but in reverse. I knew it was going to be good but I never could have imagined how good things could become.
Please people, let's give an applause to:
1. Tim Seeley/Tom King/Mikel Janin's Grayson.
Boy, how good things have become indeed.
As you may recall, last year I also included this book into the list but below the top 5 mentioning something like "Grayson is an interesting experiment with a few flaws here and there".
Well, things obviously changed this year. I can without a doubt say that the experiment has been a rotund success and we're lucky to be in presence of it.
The book that tells the life and times of Dick Grayson as a secret agent of the organization Spyral has improved in every little aspects it was lacking before and it even surpassed its own strongest points.
You want a book that focus on intriguing and inventive ideas? Here you have it in spades. Each installment presents and interesting concept that is worth reading about.
You crave for themes that are appropriately adapted into the story? Well, every issue has its own voice that adequately fits into the plot while also playing an important role for the ongoing story.
You also need characterization to complement all of this?
What do you think I'm going to say? This is probably the most interesting and, most importantly, more ON-POINT Dick Grayson I've read in years. He's still the same happy-go-lucky hero who prefers to see the positives before everything else and is smart enough to accomplish his own objectives.
This is exactly what I mean when I want a book that doesn't force themes over character and story. Many pretentious writers tend to include a theme and idea in their stories without considering how it would affect the character and narrative. Here it all works wonderfully, all is balanced, all is perfectly executed.
And even better, all is immensily entertaining.
God, if I could mention all the things I love about this series. The plannification is also nicely implemented, there are even characters that you didn't think you would see again playing their own part in the main story and despite that all comes as a surprise, you can't help but suspect that everything was prepared this way. That's how good everything unfolds.
And there's also Mikel Janin who is without a doubt one of the best pencillers working on the industry currently.
His work brings so much life to the stories that you almost feel like he was also writing them. In fact, he's basically writing them considering how creative and accurate the storytelling is. Each installment, each segment, each scene is depicted in a gorgeous and interesting manner while also showing each shocking scene in the most powerful way possible.
So I salute you Tim Seeley, Tom King and Mikel Janin. You beautiful, beautiful, beautiful creative team for equally stunning work.
And that's how I say goodbye to this year people and based on how good things have gone during 2015 and how incredibly promising the DC You initiative turned out to be, I can't wait to see the kind of surprises that 2016 can deliver.
I will be here and will enjoy the good moments along with as long as I can!
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