Gregg’s Best Comics of 2023
It was the year of debuts on a number of levels in 2023. As a result of Disney being the largest shareholder of 20th Century Fox, the Predator and Alien franchises saw their mini-series come out under Marvel instead of Dark Horse. In another publisher switch, Transformers and G.I. Joe recently got their reboot under Image instead of the recently familiar IDW. Meanwhile, characters like DC’s Beast Girl and Marvel’s Hallow’s Eve made their entrances this year as well. But after all the firsts, which titles rose above the smoke?
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Best Mini-Series – Where Monsters Lie (Dark Horse)
This was a tough one as All Eight Eyes, also from Dark Horse, made a strong case to plant its flag here. At the end of the day, however, the story about the neighborhood full of serial killers edged out the tale of giant spiders living in New York City. Kyle Starks did a smashing job with this story of a bunch of psychopaths all coexisting in a gated community while vengeance is sought to bring them down.
Runner-up: All Eight Eyes
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Best New Series – Local Man (Image)
When I first wrote about this title’s release back in March, I had a hunch it would make a strong case to make this list. By the summer, I was completely invested, hook, line, and sinker. Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs seem to be an unstoppable tandem with this story that harkens back to Image’s rise in the 1990’s with the Wild C.A.T.S series. The fact that half of each issue of Local Man is a flashback to the main character’s super hero days, then you flip the book around to its reverse side and it tells a tale of the same character today is not only unique, but adds to the charm of this series.
Runner-up: Transformers
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Best One-Shot – BRZRKR: Fallen Empire (Boom! Studios)
BRZRKR has had a few mini-series in the past which are now in TPB form, but this year’s release of a one-shot subtitled ‘Fallen Empire’ was my first foray into the Keanu Reeves-created character. Telling the tale of a man that is immortal and tears through platoons of soldiers like they’re wet paper, BRZRKR takes place in a fictitious Persian Empire-like land. Betrayal, death, blood, and more death fill the pages of this exhilarating read.
Runner-up: Granite State Punk
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Best Graphic Novel – TMNT: The Last Ronin – Lost Years (IDW)
It’s not just irony that this same category was won by its predecessor in 2022, that being The Last Ronin. Yes, you can accuse me of bending the rules on this one because it’s not a true graphic novel and is a collection of a five-issue mini-series. Guilty as charged. Still, the hardcover presentation of this story screams ‘graphic novel’ and the emotion that writers Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz deliver here is nothing short of awe-inspiring. It was crushing to see our heroes fall in The Last Ronin, but Lost Years fills in some gaps up to and after then.
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Best Ongoing Series – Local Man (Image)
Throughout the first half of this year, Vanish absolutely dominated the right to take this category. Then it stopped. At eight issues in, its story arc concluded in late June. Is it coming back in 2024? No one knows and it would be a shame to call it a day there. With that being said, and this is only the second time this has happened on this site, Local Man takes both the Best Ongoing Series title as well as Best New Series. This comic is just so damn good and each issue is an engaging read that will vault you into the next. Local Man just released issue #7, and while that’s less than what Vanish ended at, there’s still plenty of story being told here.
