AIPT’s Best Comics of 2023: Part 2

Welcome to part two of AIPT’s best comics of 2023 coverage. I sure hope that part one made some waves – because that’s what this is all about. These lists are a chance for us to scream one more time into the cacophony of noise and opinions about those books and creators that really mattered the most to our staff.

If even one person reads this and gives something a chance, then we know we’ve already been massively successful. And even if not, these lists are still a great way to help us understand what comics means to those truly devoted fans.

So, enjoy part two, where we delve into everything from the best artists and colorists to best maxi-series and manga titles. And we’ll see you around in 2024, where we’ll keep shouting about great comics (and their creators) until we’re collectively blue in the face.

– Chris Coplan, Comics Editor

Gone Too Soon (Best Discontinued Series)

Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain

It feels as if the oddities of Otherworld – and of the mantle of Captain Britain in general – are never long for the comic racks. Betsy’s time as the Captain, from Tini Howard’s Excalibur and through this miniseries, was an exciting time for some very bizarre and magical concepts, and it put Betsy herself in a spotlight that long avoided her. Things got a little convoluted, but that comes with the territory, and was only compounded by its reliance on the larger Krakoa story. Howard never got the opportunity to let Betsy fully thrive in her role; had she been able, her long-standing and well-documented love of this corner of the Marvel Universe could have risen to the heights of the Alan Moore and Chris Claremont era.

— Colin Moon

Tim Drake: Robin

Tim Drake: Robin, the first series that Mr. Drake has spearheaded in about a decade (since Red Robin), was a delightful ten-issue series that ended too shortly. Meghan Fitzmartin, Riley Rossmo, Serg Acuña, Nikola Čižmešija, Lee Loughridge, Tom Napolitano, Josh Reed, Luis Guerrero, and Marie Javins all clearly poured their heart and soul into this series. In its ten issues, it focused on Tim Drake’s identity as Robin and as Tim Drake. Whether this related to his identity as a boyfriend, or as an independent character, there was a lot of internal conflict Tim experienced that was explored throughout the series. With the tenth issue finally providing a resolution to Tim’s struggles and a new future, (and maybe a new superhero name), the book abruptly ended with substantial future groundwork already laid. The series was, from start to finish, a successful analysis of Tim Drake, and attempted to modernize him and his supporting cast as a perfect example of how to keep legacy heroes relevant. Hopefully, the groundwork laid out in this series is picked up by someone soon!

— Michael Guerrero

Avengers, Inc.

Is it surprising that Al “I’ve never seen a series that wouldn’t work as a bunch of mini-series in a trenchcoat” Ewing ended up with a book — which itself was a sequel to two different mini-titles —getting canceled before issue #3 was out? Not at all. It still stings a bit, as “Veronica Mars Avengers” has been pretty fun overall. Fun enough that the discourse that lasted too long was basically worth it. I’m sure the new follow-up mini will still be cool though.

— Keigen Rea

Best Maxi-Series

Danger Street

Though it started at the end of last year, Danger Street wrapped up this month and is the best maxi-series, hands down. Tom King and Jorge Fornes reteam after the previous maxi-series Rorschach, and they do it with flying colors — and using largely unknown or underused characters. The Dingbats, a group of pre-teen hooligans, lose one of their gang members, and it’s due to a mistake by actual heroes. Meanwhile, the world is coming to an end, and it’s looking like the Dingbats and their arch-nemesis, Lady Cop, may be the only ones to stop it. (That, and they don’t even know it’s coming.) It’s a series that plays with the obscure and seemingly innocuous and reminds us everything matters, even at a doomsday level.

— David Brooke

Damn Them All

With #12 being announced as the final issue, I am staking my claim that Damn Them All gets to be called a maxi-series. Yet no matter what its designation, it was certainly one of my favorite comics this year. Charlie Adlard is, of course a genius, with his ability to shift between grounded heads-being-whacked-by-hammers to “oh, that might be what a demon actually looks like” is phenomenal. Still, writer Si Spurrier gets to wow too, with his not-Constantine that I think I actually like more than his Constantine. I don’t think there’s another book like this being published, with how mean and angry it is, and I wish it was going for much, much longer, but at least we’ll be getting more Constantine by Spurrier. I do still hope for more of Damn Them All, though.

— Keigen Rea

Best Colorist

Jordie Bellaire

Jordie Bellaire is likely coloring your favorite comics of 2023, and for good reason. Last year’s Eisner Award winner, I often hear artists who guest on the AIPT Comics podcast that mention her doing exceptional work with no notes. She’s just that good. From the mind-bending sci-fi horror W0RLDTR33 to the throwback visual stylings of Birds of Prey, Bellaire is capable of coloring in a variety of ways. Versatile and always telling a story outside of the writing and pencils, she’s a colorist who’ll go down as one of the best ever when all things are said and done.

— David Brooke

Matt Hollingsworth

Matt Hollingsworth first came to my attention circa 2015 with the great Tokyo Ghost. In that book, it was Hollingsworth’s colors that give that strange, wonderful book its oddball mix of otherworldly wildness, ample depth and texture, and oddly joyous undertones. And Hollingsworth has kept it up since then (not to mention beforehand in a career spanning some 31 years). Across 2023 like Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America, and Punisher (among several others), Hollingsworth demonstrated the same magic of Tokyo Ghost — readily enhancing the work of his artistic cohorts, extending their heart and versatility of their work, even as he imbues new pockets of context and understanding to these scenes/pages. Not only that, but Hollingsworth is hugely prolific — he colored a bonkers 591 Marvel pages just in 2022 — and it’s that sustained pace and volume that proves why he’s so in demand and how his efforts have come to defin so much of each year’s storytelling efforts. Hollingsworth is a proper workhorse, and he helps make comics everything we want (and then some).

— Chris Coplan

Best Artist

Lucas Werneck

Lucas Werneck really knocked it out of the park. I always liked his art when I saw him post online in fan circles, and when he was brought on to X-Men titles, I couldn’t have been happier. His interiors are gorgeous, and the way he can capture a characters personality through his art is an incredible skill. I can’t wait to see what other characters he applies his talents.

— Lia Williamson

Dan Mora

Dan Mora has been on a roll lately. His popularity seems to have exponentially grown ever since Future State: Dark Detective, as he is credited in contributing to nine titles this year alone, with 25 issues as the interior artist! Mora brings such a spectacular style to his work — one that is often nostalgic and crisp. Throughout the year, his most prominent work has been in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and Shazam!

— Michael Guerrero

Gleb Melnikov 

Gleb “Big Gleb” Melnikov hasn’t done a ton of work this year, but damn, what he did was wonderful. His Superman pages are somehow good enough to stand toe-to-toe with Jamal Campbell in the “best superhero artists category.” Throw in his Patreon, and it’s obvious he should walk away with a W.

— Keigen Rea

Best Horror Comic

Bone Orchard Mythos

With Ten Thousand Black Feathers wrapping up and Tenement still ongoing , the Bone Orchard Mythos had a busy year, even if it seems like the whole massive project is still working to get off the ground. Moody, visually dynamic, and filled with a sense of dread, every page has the implication of masterpiece, as if the reader is witnessing something impossible being done for the first time. Even at its lowest energy, a reader comes away from the book shaken, confused, and energized. Perhaps part of that is not knowing what the hell we’re looking at, and maybe a lot of it is allowing ourselves to commit to something so much larger than we can imagine.

– Colin Moon

W0rldtr33

There were a few horror comics that I wanted to pick – comics continue to have some of the best horror stories in all media – but W0rldtr33 floated to the top as my main pick. James Tynion IV is no stranger to fantastic horror, and this year he brought us W0rldtr33 alongside Fernando Blanco. The sci-fi horror blends slasher with post-apocalyptic nightmare, building toward a cliffhanger in its fifth issue that’ll leave you dying for more. Meanwhile, the completely naked killer with real Girl with the Dragon Tattoo vibes adds a certain edge to the story. Not often do you see such nudity in a comic from a larger publisher, which gives it a certain dangerous feel. Focused on a small group of friends who fear the Undernet is coming, the story has an elevated concept, and explores this robust fear in a world where we’re more connected than ever. Colored exceptionally well by Jordie Bellaire, there’s too much to talk about this book in a single blurb. Go get it.

– David Brooke

Best Anthology

Batman: Brave and the Bold

Batman: Brave and the Bold is without a doubt one of the most exciting ongoing anthologies out there. This is partly due to DC Comics’ success with Batman: Urban Legends and getting the anthology format so right for so long. This new series made me love Wildstorm even more thanks to Ed Brisson and Jeff Spokes’ story. Meanwhile, Tom King and Mitch Gerads returned to tell an iconic Joker story, further cementing Gerads as one of the best modern day comics artists around. Each issue also featured excellent one-shots while still drawing you into two or three-part narratives.

– David Brooke

Image 30th Anniversary Anthology

It’s crazy to think that Image Comics turned 30 years in 2022. But the little indie publisher that could has kept right on proving why they’re so damn essential, and so you’d more than excuse them as they extended their “celebration” into 2023 with the anniversary anthology. There were three such releases in 2023 (#10, #11, and #12), and each one served as a snapshot of what Image does best (and has for literal decades). Be that a great Bitter Root short from Chuck Brown and Sanford Greene; Geoff Johns and Andrea Mutti’s “The Blizzard”; the return of Pretty Deadly (!) from Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios; and/or “Science Dog” from Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker, these stories connected Image’s past, present, and future. They each had that robust mix of deep emotion and humanity, inventive genre exploration, and overt depth and vividness that informs every single Image title. Even more than that, it was about cementing Image’s identity even as these same offerings tried to push the Image “style” into increasingly weird and brave directions. Maybe these stories won’t be your eternal favorites, but they are an important drop in the bucket for what the publisher has done to reshape comics. Here’s to many more!

— Chris Coplan

Best Ongoing Series

Daredevil

 

This year marks the end of Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto’s Daredevil run, which began in 2019. (Editor’s Note: The book was relaunched with a new creative team earlier this fall.) While it is obvious that the creators were influenced by Frank Miller’s seminal run from the ’80s, what stood out in Zdarsky and Checchetto’s series is how it always changed the status quo for the hero and his world.

It all started as a sprawling crime epic before segueing into to a superhero crossover event with Devil’s Reign – and eventually a supernatural war featuring ninjas and a dragon (as seen in “The Red Fist Saga”). While some readers were put off by how the series leaned hard on the supernatural element, not least of which Daredevil literally being plunged into Hell, Checchetto’s art was always outstanding. Also, Zdarsky never loses track of what made Matt Murdock tick as someone who pushes through his own troubling thoughts to become a hero in his own way.

– Rory Wilding

 Immortal X-Men

Immortal X-Men was a fabulous read. Writer Kieron Gillen manages to do an issue dedicated to individual council members each time and really gets into the marrow of what makes these characters who they are. The character exploration in Immortal is some of the best I’ve seen in a series. Everything feels so authentic to who they are, and the plots he sets up (both individually within Immortal and for the larger landscape of the X-Men) are among the best of the entire Krakoa era.

– Lia Williamson

Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider by Benjamin Percy and company has been a wild ride! The new character of Talia Warroad makes Johnny Blaze seem like a normal guy. New villain Exhaust showed us how deadly Ghost Rider can be without a moral compass. Meanwhile, the team up with Wolverine was a scary look at demonic abilities, and the showdown with Danny Ketch resulted in moments that made for a hell of a good time. The art department (including Dave Wachter, Bryan Valenza, Cory Smith, Oren Junior, and Carlos Nieto) has had some amazing folks stop by, and they’ve kept a horror vibe that would make Hollywood shudder.

– Christopher Franey

Best Publisher

Uncivilized Books

Not only is Uncivilized Books putting out some of the compelling autobiography comics discussed elsewhere in this roundup, they also produce and/or distribute critical and comics theory books, including their Critical Cartoons series (with books about Carl Barks’ Donald Duck or the work of Julie Doucet). It’s also rare to see slice-of-life books, like Az Sperry’s exciting June, For Short. Diving into the nooks and crannies of Uncivilized catalog and shop has been a truly eye-opening literary journey.

– Colin Moon

Silver Sprocket

Whether collecting the beloved punk rock webcomics of Mitch Clem, or churning out bright celebrations of the slacker ethos (as in Michael Sweater’s Everything Sucks), Silver Sprocket is a comic/zine distro shop turned publisher with a lovingly unique sensibility. I’m afraid to visit their site for fear of my budget.

– Colin Moon

Best Manga

Goodbye, Eri

This is perhaps a cheat as this was originally published digitally last year, but Viz Media did a physical release this year, which is why Goodbye, Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto is my favorite manga of 2023. Although Fujimoto will forever be known for Chainsaw Man, which is a deservedly popular series, he actually does his best work from the one-shots, such as 2022’s Look Back.

If Look Back was Fujimoto’s way of exploring what it means to be an aspiring manga artist, Goodbye, Eri is his weird love letter to cinema, centering on two young outsiders who go out to make films on their own, no matter how in bad taste they are. From the stunningly detailed artwork that uses a distinct panel layout, to its discussion of filmmaking that cleverly tricks you into what is real and not, Goodbye, Eri is a masterful coming-of-age story about flawed people that you oddly feel great empathy towards.

– Rory Wilding

Asadora!

There is nothing like Asadora! being published right now, and it is an absolute gem of a comic. Naoki Urasawa’s art should be reason enough to read it, with his ability to tell ongoing mysteries being better than basically anyone. But then throw in a kaiju, and a growing cast of people ready to fight it — however they can! — and it’s fun in a new way. My case for “Urasawa is the Steven Spielberg of comics” grows with every page I read.

– Keigen Rea