There’s nothing like getting in on the ground floor of a new comic book series, and 2013 was flush with exciting new characters to get to know, and stories which defied our expectations while inspiring us. Here are a couple of our favorites.
Best New Series
When I first learned about a new Image series written by J. Michael Straczynski, with art by Ben Templesmith, I was instantly intrigued. To say I had high hopes for Ten Grand would be an understatement. After having the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Templesmith for Bleeding Cool at ECCC, I was even more excited about the series.
The premise is as follows: A mob hitman, Joe Fitzgerald, and his wife, Laura, are killed as a result of Joe’s final job. An “angel” appears and offers Joe a deal: Burn in Hell, or work for them and be brought back to life. Every time he dies righteously, he can spend five minutes with the departed love of his life whom he would never see otherwise. Of course Joe takes the deal, but things might not be as they seem.
Ten Grand was everything I hoped for and more! J. Michael Straczynski weaves a dark tale that filled the hole in my heart left by the cancellation of Hellblazer, with Ben Templesmith’s ethereal, wickedly expressive art elevating the entire endeavor to my pick for “Best New Series.” Eventually the series faced a delay as Ben moved on to a personal creator-owned project (The Squidder!) and a new artist was brought in, but that doesn’t diminish the excellence that was achieved in the six issues before that. Ten Grand is a stunning comic on every level, and hopefully will continue to be with a new artist taking over the reins. If you missed it, be sure to look for the TPB in January.
Honorable Mentions: COPRA, Pretty Deadly, The Wake, Ballistic.
My partner in crime, David Gillette, has another excellent selection (which happens to be one of my favorites too).
I’ve said this many times, and I’ll say it again. Adam Egypt Mortimer and Darick Robertson‘s Ballistic is easily the best new series of the year. Mortimer has been working a groove with his hyper narrative style. In lesser hands, his story might turn out to be a mess, but Robertson’s amazing sense of visual weaving takes the many threads Mortimer works with and turns them into an amazing canvas examining humanity’s path in an irreverent and sardonic way. Ballistic is one of those stories that’s a bit ahead of its time, but I believe it will find a larger audience as it heads to a collected trade next year. Kudos to Black Mask Studio for publishing this.
Honorable mention: The Private Eye by Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin
Comics, and Stuff, and Things 