CBR's Top 100 Comics of 2014

Hey, look at that -- it's 2015! But before you get too ambitious in tackling all those resolutions -- or maybe you're still recovering from last night's fun -- let's take one more look back at the comic book year that was, with the master list of CBR's entire, epic-length Top 100 Comics of 2014 -- here's the complete ranking, plus links to our staff's commentary on each individual comic that made the list.

2014 was another eventful and newsworthy year for comics, and while it can be easy to get lost in all of the talk about the industry at large or other media adaptations of our favorite stories, CBR's annual Top 100 Comics list is a celebration of the most important part of that whole ecosystem: the comic books themselves. And there was plenty to get excited about -- beyond the Top 100 that has unfolded on the site over the past week, more than 200 comics in total received votes, and even that is hardly a comprehensive list of the quality work that was done in the medium this past year, though we do think the Top 100 is a worthy cross-section of the very best.

Looking at the list as a whole, Image Comics continued its hot streak with the most spots on the list of any publisher: 27, meaning that more than one-quarter of the entries on CBR's Top 100 were from the creator-owned powerhouse. (28 if you count "Kinski," which was originally published digitally by MonkeyBrain Comics, and later in print by Image). Marvel was a close second with 22, not counting two from the creator-owned Icon line. DC Comics proper followed with seven, along with five more from its Vertigo imprint. Indie comics stalwarts Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly and First Second each had four books make the list, and Archie Comics, Dark Horse Comics and Oni Press notched three each. BOOM! Studios, IDW Publishing and Pantheon rounded out the publishers with multiple books on the list, with two each.

If you're wondering how the list is made, every contributor from across CBR's network of sites who elects to participate submits a personal list of favorite comics in 2014 -- any genre, publisher or format is fair game, provided it's new material released in 2014 -- which are then ranked evenly, and through the power of mathematics (I love spreadsheets now), CBR's Top 100 Comics of 2014 is born. It's pretty cool to see comics like "Silver Surfer," "Stray Bullets: Killers," "This One Summer" and "Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?" rubbing elbows together on the Top 100, which is a reflection of the diverse interests of the CBR staff and the site as a whole. And yes, our contributors are definitely very excited about "Ms. Marvel" and "Saga."

After shadowing former Keeper of the Top 100 Kiel Phegley last year, this was the first time I took on year-end duties solo style -- and following his repeated warnings that this would be a lot of work over the holidays, I can confirm that this was indeed a lot of work over the holidays. It was also a joy and a privilege to get to experience this staff's passion and thoughtfulness in such a concentrated form. This year, we had the most contributors ever to a CBR Top 100, and each one of those fine folks get a shoutout below, right under the list.

Alright, let's not delay this any further -- here's the full list of CBR's Top 100 Comics of 2014, and here's to even more great comic books in 2015. Happy New Year!

Thanks to the following for contributing to CBR's Top 100 Comics of 2014: CBR News reporters and commentators (in alphabetical order) Erik Amaya, Chris Brennaman, Tamara Brooks, Ryan Burton, Marc Buxton, Josie Campbell, Cardner Clark, TJ Diestch, Alex Dueben, Casey Gilly, Scott Huver, Ben Kaye, Karl Keily, Michael C Lorah, Shaun Manning, Steve Morris, Blake Northcott, Phil Pirrello, Kiel Phegley, Amy Ratcliffe, Jeffrey Renaud, Dave Richards, Paul Semel, Joe Streckert and George Tramountanas; CBR reviewers Jennifer Cheng, Meagan Damore, Marykate Jasper, Jim Johnson, Matt Little, Greg McElhatton and Doug Zawisza; CBR columnists Joseph Phillip Illidge, Ron Marz and John Mayo; Robot 6 bloggers Brigid Alverson, Tom Bondurant, Carla Hoffman, Tim O'Shea and JK Parkin; the Comics Should Be Good team headed up by Brian Cronin and including Matt Derman, Sonia Harris, Chad Nevett and Kelly Thompson; plus the bulk of CBR's day-to-day editorial staff, including Editorial Assistant Pat O'Malley, Weekend Editor Ryan Ingram, Assistant Editor/In Your Face Jam columnist Brett White, Staff Writer/Reviews Editor Steve Sunu, Senior Editor Stephen Gerding and Executive Producer Jonah Weiland. (Oh, and myself.)