The Best Comics (That I Personally Read) In 2023

Happy New Year, folks!

This was originally going to be more of a traditional year end "best of" list, but- as you might have been able to tell by the dearth of entries in 2023- the last 12 months were relatively light for me in terms of reading new comics. I thought about foregoing the year end list entirely, but then I thought- why not embrace the spirit of this newsletter as the place for the backlog readers, the folks who are always just a little behind on what everyone else is reading, the trade waiters, the thrift store connoisseurs, the "oh yeah, for sure, I'll add it to my to-read list" folks in every friend group? And so, rather than talk about the best comics released in 2023, I'm going to go over some of my favorite comics I happened to read in 2023. This list might include some 2023 releases, but I'm not treating it as a requirement. And so, without further ado, my top 10 comics I read in 2023.

10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ultimate Collection volume 1 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird

I was always aware of TMNT, but it was never something I got into as a kid. But the delightful new animated movie, TMNT Mutant Mayhem, ended up being one of my favorite films of the year, which had me curious to check out the original comics that inspired it. And while these comics might be a little rough around the edges, it's clear why the characters caught on the way they did, and the enthusiasm and creative energy of Eastman and Laird's early work is infectious. It feels like a throwback to the Lee/Kirby era of Marvel (indeed, Jack Kirby was one of Eastman and Laird's biggest influences), every page of every issue just bursting with new ideas, new locations, new characters. It's a book that wears its influences on its sleeve in the best way, synthesizing elements of so many classic works of superhero comics, sci-fi, fantasy, etc. into something that feels wholly its own. I was a skeptic, but these are tremendously fun comics.

9. The Department of Truth volume 1 by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds

Before reading this, my only real exposure to James Tynion IV had been his work at DC, which I was never the biggest fan of, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that I really enjoyed Department of Truth. Equal parts horror comic and political thriller, Department of Truth is a terrifying look into a world where conspiracy theories quite literally take on a life of their own, using its fantastical high concept to explore the very real tensions of the 21st century American political landscape, where mass misinformation have rendered reality itself subjective. Simmonds' artwork, a blend of rough sketches, harsh watercolors and photocollage, lend the whole thing an uncanny, nightmarish quality that perfectly matches the eerie tone of the story. Read it and then be very, very depressed about the fact that this is an election year.

8. Batman/Superman: World's Finest volume 1 by Mark Waid, Dan Mora and Tamra Bonvillain

In the wrong hands, this kind of superhero throwback story can feel gimmicky, pandering, or even downright regressive, but thankfully Mark Waid is the best there is at what he does, and what he does is write kick ass comics about big damn superheroes. There's not much to intellectualize about this one, but simply put, Waid knows how to write Batman and Superman as the Coolest Guys Who Ever Lived and really make you believe that shit, and Mora and Bonvillain are two of the best artists/colorists (respectively) in the entire industry. This is default factory settings superhero comics, but executed at the highest possible level.

7. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End volume 1 by Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe

This one snuck up on me a bit. I checked out the first volume of this in the very last week of the year after hearing good things about the anime, and came away pleasantly surprised by how affecting I found it. The premise is so simple, and so genius, that I'm surprised I hadn't seen it done before- essentially a sequel to every generic fantasy adventure ever told, following an unaging millenia-old elven mage as she reminisces on the epic quest she shared with her human (and dwarf) companions, all either elderly or passed on by this point, and comes to better understand who they were and what they actually meant to her. It's an immensely clever conceit, playing with the usual trappings of the fantasy genre by having Frieren retrace the steps of her journey long after the all-powerful evil has been vanquished, seeing how a society rebuilds in the wake of great tragedy and upheaval, and how the legacy left behind by the heroes grows and changes over time. It's a shonen series, and structurally, it doesn't deviate too far from that formula, but I appreciate its more wistful, melancholy tone. Well worth a look for any fantasy enthusiast.

6. Transformers by Daniel Warren Johnson

Here's another 80s franchise that I didn't have a ton of attachment to growing up. I'm what you could generously call a casual fan of Transformers. As an appreciator of cool robot designs and plastic things I can fidget with when I don't know what to do with my hands, I've always enjoyed the toys. But I've never been big on the cartoons, I've only read a tiny handful of the comics (mostly Free Comic Book Day stuff), and I've seen, and mostly hated, the movies (aside from Dark of the Moon, Michael Bay's vulgar auteurist masterpiece). So all of that being said, I came into Skybound's relaunch of Transformers not necessarily as a fan of the franchise, but as someone eager to see what Daniel Warren Johnson could do with giant transforming robots. And ooooooh buddy, did he not disappoint. I don't even know what to say about this other than that it is everything you want from a DWJ comic- explosive action, sincere emotion, giant robots performing suplexes. we're only three issues in at the time of writing, so I don't know where the full scope of the story is going yet, but I have to reiterate that Optimus Prime suplexes a motherfucker in the first issue of this, so you want to get in on the ground floor.

5. Amazing Spider-Man by Zeb Wells

Alright, being the internet's resident Zeb Wells defender, you knew I had to get this on here. Setting aside issue 26- I don't like it, you don't like it, nobody likes it- 2023 was otherwise one of the strongest years Amazing Spider-Man has had in a long while. Wells has gotten into a real groove with his trio of series regular artists- John Romita Jr., Ed McGuinness, and Patrick Gleason, all consummate pros at the top of their game- crafting distinct stories that play to each of their strengths as storytellers, with Marcio Menyz' gorgeous colors giving the book a sense of cohesion within the shifting tones. Aside from the Dead Language arc, which ultimately ended up being a swing and a miss (though I contend there's still good character work amidst the editorially mandated mess!) 2023 also gave us the finale of Dark Web, an insane romp that allowed McGuinness to really stretch his cartooning muscles and deliver some very fun physical comedy and character designs. We got the Armed and Dangerous arc, another McGuinness effort featuring the return of Doc-Ock in a classic-feeling Spidey story that nicely builds on the new version of Norman Osborn that so much of this run centers around. We got the oversized wedding issue that brings the excellent Tombstone storyline from the beginning of the run back into the forefront, and giving Romita Jr. room to show, once again, why he's one of the best in the biz. For my money, though, the best arc in the book this year (maybe the best arc in the book since... gosh, Superior?) was Spider-Man's First Hunt, a tour de force from Gleason and Menyz that cleverly flips the dynamic of J.M. DeMatteis' seminal Kraven's Last Hunt, casting a goblin-corrupted Peter as a horror movie monster and forcing the now-heroic Osborn to risk his newfound happiness to save Peter from destroying his own life in the same way Norman did so long ago. As pure comics craft, it's incredibly effective- Gleason is going all out here, playing with page layouts and negative space to reflect the increasingly dark and chaotic headspace of Peter Parker as the story progresses, and Menyz is in creative lockstep with him, taking the stark black on white contrast of Gleason's pages and infusing them with dimension, making brilliant use of light and shadow to create tension and to add real weight to the big moments. It's also the story that, I think, fully crystallizes what the run as a whole is doing thematically, in a way that made rereading the previous arcs all the more fulfilling. Wells has done a great job of making each arc in this run feel like its own story, with its own style, tone, etc., but they've also been subtly building on each other to tell a larger story about redemption, about what it means to be "too far gone," what it takes to atone for unforgiveable actions and questioning whether anyone is truly beyond saving. I think it's fertile ground for this cast of characters, and I think that, assuming editorial allows him to stick the landing, this run is going to eventually- after all the hyperbole and fandom nonsense dies down- be looked back on as something special.

4. Public Domain volume 1 by Chip Zdarsky

There were two books by Chip Zdarsky that I considered for this list, the other being his years-long run on Daredevil that finally wrapped in 2023. That book is also excellent, and you should absolutely read it if you haven't, but ultimately I decided to give it to Public Domain, a wonderful story that feels intensely personal for Zdarsky as a writer who has made a name for himself in both the superhero and independent space. It's an indictment of the comics industry and the broader media landscape, taking aim at the rampant exploitation of artists at the hands of the corporate owners of their work, while also being a deeply-felt love letter to the joy of creating comics. It's a book that interrogates that age-old tension between the love of the art and the cost of making it. Frankly, I think it's a book that every fan of superhero comics should read.

3. Monkey Meat by Juni Ba

I'm cheating a little with this one, since I technically read this right at the end of 2022, but it never made it into any of my review catch-ups so I might as well take the opportunity to recommend it here. Monkey Meat is a hard book to describe, but the best way I can think to summarize it is that it is an anthology of searing anti-capitalist satire by way of early-2000s Cartoon Network aesthetics and humor. If your tastes are on the same wavelength as mine and you haven't already read this, you're probably on your way to order it now after reading that sentence. It's a wild, zany, immensely entertaining romp that also manages to deliver genuinely cogent critiques of our hyper-consumerist culture and the power structures that enforce it.

2. One Piece by Eiichiro Oda

I already wrote a whole piece on why you should read One Piece, so I won't go into too much detail here, but suffice to say, it's one of my favorite comics of all time, and whatever you think of the potential time commitment, I promise you it is worth it. 2023 was a particularly good year for the series, too, so there's no better time to get caught up.

1. 20th Century Men by Deniz Camp and S. Morian

You ever read a book that is so good you find it genuinely intimidating to talk about? That's how I feel about 20th Century Men, a comic that feels like a clear before/after delineation for superhero comics in the same way that Watchmen was. Maybe that's premature, but I don't really care- this was the best comic I read this year, one of the best comics I've read in any year, and one that I think folks will be talking about for a long, long time to come. 20th Century Men is, in the broadest of strokes, a sweeping alt-history superhero epic set against the backdrop of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, just before the fall of the Soviet Union. That's about the most reductive, barebones summary I can give, because this thing is sprawling. Camp weaves a complex tale of war and colonialism, using this world's version of "superheroes" as physical embodiments of the violent id of the global colonial powers, ultimately becoming a story about the plight of the colonized that is absolutely heartbreaking. And Morian's art is like nothing I've seen before- he is constantly experimenting with wild shifts in style and page layouts in a way that feels bold and audacious and entirely deliberate. It can feel chaotic at first glance, but every choice made is incredibly purposeful, always serving the thematic aims of the story, giving all the interwoven threads their own visual identity. I don't know if I'm actually doing this book justice, but just trust me on this one- if you read any book on this list, make it 20th Century Men.

And that's the list! Hopefully, if you're like me and take forever to get around to new comics, you'll check some of these books out, and if you're upset about something I left off the list, well... there's always a chance I'll read it next year.

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