So I made two lists: a big one with lots of titles on it, and a smaller one that might be a top ten of the decade. I should say that I haven't read many of these comics; for both lists I'm going by what I think are considered by critics and fans to be the best comics.
1) The Best Comics of the Decade:
| 100 Bullets, Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Rizzo |
| 20th Century Boys, Naoki Urasawa |
| A Drifting Life, Yoshihiro Tatsumi |
| Achewood, Chris Onstad |
| Acme Novelty Library, Chris Ware |
| Age of Bronze, Eric Shanower |
| Alias, Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos |
| Alice in Sunderland, Bryan Talbot |
| All Star Superman, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely |
| American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang |
| Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli |
| Astro City, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson |
| B.P.R.D., Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, and Guy Davis |
| Batman: Year 100, Paul Pope |
| Black Hole, Charles Burns |
| Blankets, Craig Thompson |
| Bottomless Belly Button, Dash Shaw |
| Captain America, Ed Brubaker and various |
| Chance in Hell, Gilbert Hernandez |
| Civil War, Mark Millar and Steve McNiven |
| Criminal, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips |
| Daredevil, Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev |
| Dark Knight Strikes Again, Frank Miller |
| DC: The New Frontier, Darwyn Cooke |
| DMZ, Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli |
| Epileptic, David B. |
| Ex Machina, Bryan K. Vaughan and Tony Harris |
| Exit Wounds, Rutu Modan |
| Fables, Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, and various |
| Final Crisis, Grant Morrison and various |
| Fun Home, Alison Bechdel |
| Ganges, Kevin Huizenga |
| George Sprott, Seth |
| Gotham Central, Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, and Michael Lark |
| Green Lantern, Geoff Johns and various |
| Hellboy, Mike Mignola |
| I Kill Giants, Joe Kelly and JM Ken Niimura |
| I Killed Adolf Hitler, Jason |
| La Perdida, Jessica Abel |
| Love and Rockets, Jaime Hernandez and Gilbert Hernandez |
| Monster, Naoki Urasawa |
| Nana, Ai Yazawa |
| New X-Men, Grant Morrison and various |
| Omega: The Unknown, Jonathan Lethem, Karl Rusnak, Farel Dalrymple |
| Parker: The Hunter, Darwyn Cooke |
| Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi |
| Planetary, Warren Ellis and John Cassaday |
| Pluto, Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka |
| Pride of Baghdad, Bryan K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon |
| Promethea, Alan Moore and J.H. Williams III |
| Punisher, Garth Ennis and various |
| Scalped, Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera |
| Scott Pilgrim, Bryan Lee O'Malley |
| Seaguy, Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart |
| Seven Soldiers, Grant Morrison and various |
| Shortcomings, Adrian Tomine |
| Stitches, David Small |
| Swallow Me Whole, Nate Powell |
| Tekkon Kinkreet, Taiyo Matsumoto |
| The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard, Eddie Campbell |
| The Photographer, Emmanuel Guibert |
| The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman and various |
| Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms, Fumiyo Kuono |
| Travel, Yuichi Yokoyama |
| Ultimate Spider-Man, Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, and Stuart Immonen |
| Ultimates, Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch |
| We3, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely |
| What It Is, Lynda Barry |
| Y the Last Man, Bryan K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra |
| You Can't Get There From Here, Jason |
There are 70 titles on this list. 8 titles are manga. Only 1 webcomic.
This is a working list, which means that I'm going to continue to add and remove books over the next couple of months.
I was trying to be inclusive in this first go-round to encourage discussion. I'm also certain that there are some comics that I've forgotten about and belong on the list. Feel free to write a comment with your suggestions for comics to add and remove.
Also, are there any books that are coming out over the remainder of the year that have a shot at the list? I'd say Robert Crumb's Book of Genesis looks like a sure thing. Any others?
And now for the second list.
2) The Top Ten Comics of the Decade (in alphabetical order):
| Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli |
| Black Hole, Charles Burns |
| Blankets, Craig Thompson |
| Bottomless Belly Button, Dash Shaw |
| Epileptic, David B. |
| Exit Wounds, Rutu Modan |
| Fun Home, Alison Bechdel |
| Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi |
| What It Is, Lynda Barry |
Yep - that's only nine. I'd say those nine are the most well-respected and critically-acclaimed comic books of this decade. What other book belongs in the top ten? A Drifting Life? Pluto? Parker: The Hunter? [Edit: Acme Novelty Library probably takes the spot.] Any books that don't belong there? And I'm sure a lot of superhero fans would be up in arms over this list. Any superhero books deserve a spot? All Star Superman?
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I imagine The Fate of the Artist could go on the list, since that's arguably Eddie Campbell's best work of the decade. And The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Nick Bertozzi's The Salon? Ice Haven, by Daniel Clowes? The Other Side? War Stories/Battlefields, by Garth Ennis and various artists? Did Paul Pope's 100% come out after 2000? Bone started earlier, but it finished in the Oughts, right? And if you want to count manga that came out earlier but didn't get translated until later, I would suggest Ode to Kirihito, Buddha, MW, and Drifting Classroom.
ReplyDeleteEh, I'll probably think of others at some point, and I could always go raid Tom Spurgeon's list, but I think that's good. I'm late getting to this anyway...
I'd have to say I think Y: The Last Man was the greatest comic to come out over that time. Easily. But it may be a little more my opinion than fact, but surely it at least earns a spot in the top ten.
ReplyDeleteI'd say that your list needs to have Yostuba&! on it.
ReplyDeleteEither ALL-STAR SUPERMAN or Darwyn Cooke's NEW FRONTIER should get the superhero love.
ReplyDelete