Best Publisher

Our “Best Comics of 2013” picks continue with a very important category: Best Publisher. The past year saw nearly every publisher step up their game in a big way, and in the end comic book readers were the real winners. Which publishers were our favorites? Keep reading to find out.

Best Publisher

Image Comics continues to astound me with the number of must-read titles they publish, so for a second year in a row they are my pick for “Best Publisher.” It feels like creators choose to publish their finest, most original work with Image. 2013 saw even more of the most popular creators publish work with Image, and given the company’s mission to treat creators fairly, it’s no wonder why. Image is a driving force in the creator-owned revolution, and as a result has some of the most exciting and innovative titles on the shelves. I feel like Image has really grown into the company they originally set out to be. With titles like: Saga, The Walking Dead, Ten Grand, Multiple Warheads, Prophet, Pretty Deadly, Jupiter’s Legacy, Lazarus, Satellite Sam, BlackAcre, Velvet, East of West, The Mice Templar, Savage Dragon, and SO many more than I can list here, Image is the place to go for creator-owned comic book goodness.

Honorable Mentions: Black Mask Studios and Dark Horse Comics.

My colleague, David Gillette, had a worthy favorite of his own:

I’m going to look at this in the traditional sense of publishing. For my money,Valiant Comics has done the best job of putting out a consistent set of titles across the board in terms of imaginative storytelling and strong craft. They are the embodiment of the quality over quantity argument with the way they have re-imagined their company and weaved their universe together seamlessly. With compelling characters and a stable of amazing artists and writers, they should continue to put out amazing stories for many years.