After a short five-year hiatus, we're back with a longtime CBR tradition. At the end of the year, we polled the many members of the CBR staff that make this site so great and asked them for their for their rankings of the top comics of the year. Every publisher putting out new comics material in English, regardless of genre or format, was fair game; each individual list is then factored in to determine the overall Top 100 that will be unveiled on CBR over the course of this week.
We started on Monday with #100-76 and then on Tuesday we had #75-51 and on Wednesday we had #50-26 with the countdown continuing each day this week. Here's the schedule (all times Eastern): Friday, 12/31, 3 p.m.: Top 10; Saturday, 1/1, 9 a.m.: Master list.
Peruse the list below, and if you feel so moved, take to Twitter and (politely) discuss your thoughts using the hashtag #CBRTop100.
25. Inferno
Written by: Jonathan Hickman
Art by: Valerio Schiti and David Curiel
Letters by: VC's Joe Sabino
Publisher: Marvel
Jonathan Hickman says goodbye (for now) to the X-Men universe that he dramatically reshaped a few years ago with a farewell that embraces all of the bombast and brilliant ideas that his run on this series (and his work in comics overall) has become well known for. The art team, of course, for such a major series, has been top rate, as well.
24. Graveneye
Written by: Sloane Leong
Art by: Anna Bowles
Letters by: Anna Bowles
Publisher: TKO Studios
Houses have always held a special place in horror stories, but in this clever horror tale, the house is actually the narrator and it is fascinating to see how the lives of people (and...other types of beings) from the "eyes" of a house that has seen a lot of dark stuff in its "lifetime."
23. Dreaming: The Waking Hours
Written by: G. Willow Wilson
Art by: Nick Robles, Javier Rodriguez, M.K. Perker, Mattheus Lopes and Chris Sotomayor
Letters by: Simon Bowland
Publisher: DC
This fascinating series brilliantly updated the already outstanding concepts from Neil Gaiman's Sandman without losing any of the original aspects that made the Dreaming so compelling to begin with.
22. Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons
Written by: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Art by: Phil Jimenez, Hi-Fi, Arif Prianto and Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letters by: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: DC
Few books have fully used the larger size of Black Label books as Historia, which is a gorgeous collection of visuals and designs that works with a complex and oftentimes disturbing look at the history of the Amazons.
21. Infinite Frontier
Written by: Joshua Williamson
Art by: Xermanico, Paul Pelletier, Jesus Merino, Tom Derenick, Norm Rapmund, Raul Fernandez, Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Hi-Fi.
Letters by: Tom Napolitano
Publisher: DC
For the first time since I was a kid I feel genuinely excited and optimistic about the future of my favorite comic book universe. - Billie Sparkle, Comic List Writer
20. Catwoman: Lonely City
Written by: Cliff Chiang
Art by: Cliff Chiang
Letters by: Cliff Chiang
Publisher: DC
While DC has spent plenty of time exploring the potential futures of Gotham City through the lens of Batman, Cliff Chiang’s Catwoman: Lonely City takes a closer look at Selina Kyle’s twilight years with astonishing results. As Catwoman tries to stay a step ahead of Mayor Harvey Dent, Chiang’s deft story sees Selina navigate a post-Batman Gotham in some of the most stunning artwork of his career. - Tim Webber, Major Issues
19. Stray Dogs
Written by: Tony Fleecs
Art by: Trish Forstner, Brad Simpson, Tone Rodriguez and Lauren Perry
Letters by: Lauren Herda
Publisher: Image Comics
This darkly twisted but incredibly compelling series combines Disney-style animals stuck within a dark story. The comparison I often hear is a Don Bluth-esque approach and I bet the creators would appreciate that comparison.
18. Rorschach
Written by: Tom King
Art by: Jorge Fornes and Dave Stewart
Letters by: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: DC
One of the most iconic sequences in the original Watchmen series was when the psychologist who interviews Rorschach finds himself inexorably change by his encounter with the vigilante. Its that concept (and the comparison to real life phenomenon like QAnon) that appears to be at the heart of this dark, challenging work done by top rate creators who make the whole chilling narrative fascinating, even as it is also quite disturbing.
17. Crossover
Written by: Donny Cates (with one Chip Zdarsky issue)
Art by: Geoff Shaw and Dee Cunniffe (with one issue with Phil Hester and Ande Parks)
Letters by: John J. Hill
Publisher: Image Comics
After an explosive opening arc establishing the setup of a world where fictional characters have crossed over to our world, the series explores the concept further by showing the effects of this new world on people who are known for CREATING fictional superheroes. In a world where superheroes come to life, what do you make of comic book creators?
16. Swamp Thing
Written by: Ram V
Art by: Mike Perkins and Mike Spicer (with John McCrea on one issue)
Letters by: Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: DC
We met a new Swamp Thing in this series, a young man whose embrace of the Green has led to fascinating insights into the role of memory in the world, whether it be personal memory or the shared memory of the Green or, of course, the power of colonial oppression. The whole thing is mixed with the best of the past Swamp Thing approaches and yet still placed firmly in the DC Universe. It's kind of shocking that it all works so well together.
15. The Many Deaths of Laila Star
Written by: Ram V.
Art by: Filipe Andrade and Ines Amaro
Letters by: AndWorld Design
Publisher: BOOM!
This stunning work of magic realism sees the personification of Death challenged with the possibility that a man on Earth could come up with the cure for death. How do you handle that? How does HE handle knowing he COULD cure death? Is that even something that you SHOULD do? These fascinating questions form the driving narrative of this exquisitely drawn (both in literal art sense and also in terms of "drawing" a character based on their personalities) work.
14. New Mutants
Written by: Vita Ayala
Art by: Rod Reis, Alex Lins, Matt Milla
Letters by: VC's Travis Lanham
Publisher: Marvel
Between the laughs and the heartache, New Mutants shows the wild ride of our favorite young mutants making a life for themselves on Krakoa. - Brooks Hoyle, List Writer
13. Far Sector
Written by: N.K. Jemisin
Art by: Jamal Campbell
Letters by: Deron Bennett
Publisher: DC
A GOAT contender for the Green Lantern franchise, and one of the most exciting sci-fi stories to come to mainstream comics in ages. I will die on the hill that Far Sector is the epitome of what DC and Marvel should be trying to produce going forward into the 21st century -- a comic that honors the past while carving out their own unique, well-constructed, and beautiful future. - Brandon Zachary, Associate Writer
12. Superman: Son of Kal-El
Written by: Tom Taylor
Art by: John Timms, Gabe Eltaeb and Hi-Fi
Letters by: Dave Sharpe
Publisher: DC
This year I came out as bisexual and trans to all my friends. Unfortunately, I lost about half of them. This year has been really rough and has made me feel very isolated. While this issue doesn't fix my life and change everything for the better, it does remind me that I'm not alone. Superman is my favorite fictional character of all time. 2nd place is a tie between Booster Gold and Godzilla. I'm not religious, so when people would normally ask "what would Jesus do" I unironically ask myself what Superman would do. I think a lot of who I am morally is thanks to the Superman media I was exposed to as a kid. So to see his son represent people like me really meant the world. Not only was I not alone, but I was reflected in the greatest hero of the world. - Billie Sparkle, Comic List Writer
11. Human Target
Written by: Tom King
Art by: Greg Smallwood
Letters by: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: DC
Over its first few issues, The Human Target, by Tom King, Greg Smallwood and Clayton Cowles, has crafted a riveting hard-boiled mystery under DC’s Black Label. With a stylish script that leans into the old-school charm of its lead, Smallwood’s inventive, revelatory art turns the ‘80s excess of the Justice League International into the perfect backdrop for this neon noir mystery. - Tim Webber, Major Issues