Welcome to our end of the year list! Unlike other sites, we give all of our writers the opportunity to make their own picks. What you'll read below and on the rest of the site is a list of each individual writer's picks. As much as we like making our choices, we love hearing yours so let us know what you'd pick for the "Best Comic of the Year" below in the comments.
STEVE: The Auteur: Sister Bambi #4 (Oni Press)
The second series of The Auteur is as good, if not better, than its first. It riles and ruffles feathers in places other comics dare not tread, and not just because it's trying to create a brand. At the same time, it shows the latent potential of comic books to showcase truly surreal and captivating storytelling. This issue in particular was a deeply personal and troubling loveletter to the creative process, and it was as raucous as it was touching. It also has a guy suplexing a zombie lion to death.
DUSTIN: Huck #1 (Image Comics)
Huck is like a love letter to Superman. We all love Superman whether we admit it or not, but we're all tired of him. There's no good stories for him and so Mark Millar took the idea and modernized it. Simply put, this comic is everything that you want from a first issue. After a rough 2015, Huck, by far was the best single issue I read.
ASA: East of West #22 (Image Comics)
It seems much of the end of the year attention goes to new books, but my favorite book this year is entering it's third year. No book was more consistent in 2015 than Jonathan Hickman's fantasy, sci-fi, western, apocalyptic, political thriller. Hickman's writing hit its stride in the book's second act and Nick Dragotta's artwork remained rich and imaginative. The single best case for the book is issue 22 which chose to go the completely silent route to great effect. Dragotta was able to show off his ability to perfectly pace action sequences and Hickman's creative plotting came through even without his signature dialogue. While any issue from 2015 was excellent, number 22 showed the effortless collaboration on one of comics best stories.
CHRIS: The Goddamned #1 (Image Comics)
A little late to the game, Jason Aaron’s biblical Western had an extremely promising first issue. Not as powerful as Southern Bastards, but maybe more fun. This comic blended together Jodorowsky, the book of Genesis, and gorgeous art, making this one of my favorite comics of the year.
AUSTIN: Negative Space #1 (Dark Horse Comics)
First issues are not always very good, even in series that turn out to be superb. Negative Space is a huge exception to this rule: a whopper of an elevator pitch backed up with stunning art right from the get-go. The thoughtfulness put into the sequential art of this issue still impresses me and serves as a representation of a writer and artist in perfect lock-step.
JAMES: Silver Surfer #11 (Marvel Comics)
This trippy continual time loop extended size issue had to be the most funky thing that I read from one of the "Bigs" all year. It was also the best. Love him or hate him, writer Don Slott isn't afraid to push the boundaries of anything. And artrist Mike Alred is completely apt for the challenge as we get a surreal, repeating mind warp of an issue. Big props also need to go to colorist Laura Alred who really adds the icing on the brain bending cake.
RUNNER UPS: Monstress #1, Tomboy #1