>The world of comics had an eventful year filled with nostalgia, new characters, reboot series and twisted storylines.
>2023 was an unforgettable time for comic books. From the disastrous Hellfire Gala to forgotten heroes and sidekicks, the past year was incredible, to say the least. To honor the incredible creators in the comic book industry, CBR's Comics News editors narrowed down this year's releases and put together a list of their favorite stories from 2023.
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10. Blood of the Virgin
>More than a decade in the making, Sammy Harkham's Blood of the Virgin tells the story of a tumultuous relationship in 1970s Hollywood. Seymour and his wife, Ida, are new parents struggling to balance their ambitions and personal needs with their responsibilities as parents and partners. Seymour becomes increasingly distracted from his home life when he finally gets the chance to direct a horror movie he wrote. Harkham's characters are all carefully crafted, three-dimensional figures whose emotional arcs are all substantial enough to deserve books of their own. The cartoonist's art is as impressive as his writing. He plays with form and page design every chance he gets. He even switches between black-and-white and full color, but none of his experiments feel arbitrary. Every decision serves the tone and theme of the story to create an immersive, thought-provoking reading experience. Blood of the Virgin is a nuanced love story, a powerful homage to '70s B-movies, and an inspiring love letter to the creative process.
9. Weird Work
>Written by Jordan Thomas and Shaky Kane, Weird Work is an action-packed sci-fi crime story with a surreal sense of humor. This four-issue miniseries from Image Comics is an exhaustive and exhilarating exercise in world-building that follows two detectives into the seedy underbelly of Stellar City, where corrupt police, organized crime, and designer drugs run rampant. Thomas' efficient writing style establishes a sprawling sci-fi landscape and a complex mystery while leaving Kane plenty of room to go wild on every page. Kane's art is as idiosyncratic, colorful, and exciting as ever. This series is a must-read for fans of LA Confidential and Blade Runner.
8. Clobberin’ Time
>Matrix veteran Steve Skroce writes and draws one of Ben Grimm's greatest adventures in Marvel's 5-issue Clobberin' Time. Each issue features the Thing teaming up with a different hero from the Marvel Universe to chase a time-traveling criminal mastermind. The series takes the Fantastic Four hero and his pals across time and space in one of Marvel's most visually exciting books of the year. Skroce's art earns comparisons to rigorous, detail-oriented creators like Geoff Darrow and Barry Windsor-Smith, but his style is very much his own. He brings unparalleled energy to his fight scenes and alien landscapes. It's easy to get lost in these pages, but the fast-paced narrative is sure to keep readers on track. In many ways, this series feels like an extension of the classic Marvel Two-In-One series, but instead of wallowing in nostalgia, Skroce pushes the envelope at every opportunity, finding increasingly outlandish situations to throw The Thing into.
7. Superior Spider-Man
>After a ten-year hiatus, Otto Octavius' Superior Spider-Man returns. However, while fans remember his adventures as Peter Parker's replacement, Doctor Octopus unfortunately does not. He can only remember bits and pieces of his time as the superhero, which brings a ton of new problems for the titular character as he navigates his way through his wavering mind. Artist Mark Bagley and the writer of the original series, Dan Slott, join Doc Ock's comeback as the infamous Webslinger.
>both have two issues (Superior has three if you count the one-shot that preceded the new ongoing)
>Superior is the 7th best comic of 2023
>Spider-Boy is the 2nd best
They must love the taste of Slott's knob.
It's obvious they would have a Slott bias, someone found out that Slott was likely using an alt account and the CBR mods clamped down on everything and banned anyone who dared to bring it up
6. Monica
>Daniel Clowes' Monica has already appeared on countless best-of-the-year lists, and the stunning graphic novel, published by Fantagraphics, certainly earns the accolades. The book consists of nine inter-connected short stories -- some of which appear to be fiction written by Monica -- and follows the titular character from her childhood to her old age as she endeavors to find her mother and learn the truth about her father. Clowes explores classic horror comic tropes, '60s counterculture, cults, and Monica's complicated inner life beautifully in this relatively short but remarkably dense graphic novel. Clowes' art is as gorgeous as ever. His character designs feel grounded, but they still have some of the humor that made Eightball so special. Monica definitely rewards multiple readings and allows for several interpretations, but even at its most ambiguous, it's always entertaining, with a lot to offer to longtime comic readers and casual fans alike.
Monica is decent. Best of the year as far as I've read.
>Clowes' art is as gorgeous as ever
This part is bullshit.
5. Spine-Tingling Spider-Man
>This year was a huge year for Spider-Man. The iconic character received many new series, spin-offs and storylines along with a brand-new sidekick. Among the massive releases is Spine-Tingling Spider-Man (by Saladin Ahmed and Juan Ferreyra), where Peter Parker wakes up one day and finds himself in a world where he doesn't exist. Readers get to follow Spider-Man on a horrific journey fueled by his worst nightmares and witness the effects of his debilitating insomnia.
4. Batman: City of Madness
>2023 saw countless new Batman comics hit the stands, but the first two issues of Christian Ward's Batman: City of Madness stand out. The series revolves around the discovery that members of the Court of Owls have opened a door to a Lovecraftian mirror image of Gotham City, with its own sinister version of the Dark Knight. Members of the Bat-Family and iconic villains all notice the atmosphere in their city changing as worlds threaten to collide, and Batman, as usual, might be the city's only hope. Ward's carefully paced writing builds a palpable sense of dread, and his art is just as haunting. His Basquiat-inspired Two-Face character design sets a haunting tone for what's to come in the series, and the Cthulu Batman is even more nightmarish than fans might expect. This series has all the makings of an all-time classic Batman story.
3. Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham
>Rafael Grampá brings fans Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham, a story of a world without Bruce Wayne. In the DC Black Label series, the Dark Knight decides to kill off his alter-ego for good, dedicating all his time to fighting the heinous crimes in Gotham City. Grampá's incredible storytelling skills and artwork give readers a look into his iteration of Batman, his mission and what drove him to eliminate Bruce once and for all.
I'll wait until this is done before I tackle it.
2. Spider-Boy
>Bailey Briggs, aka Spider-Boy, was an overnight success. Shortly after his explosive first appearance, Marvel decided to give the seemingly new character his own solo series. Written by Dan Slott with art by Paco Medina and Ty Templeton, the charismatic new hero has already brought fans and Marvel a brand-new rogues' gallery and made alliances with classic Marvel icons such as Captain America. Each issue of the series is filled with surprises and fans can't wait to see what's in store for the young superhero in 2024.
1. Wonder Woman
>Tom King and Daniel Sampere unite for a new Wonder Woman series. The story sees Congress ban all the citizens of the island nation of Themyscira from the United States due to a murder spree that was seemingly committed by an Amazonian. To make matters worse for the hero, the government created a task force, A.X.E. (Amazon Extradition Entity) in an effort to remove all the Amazonians who are currently in the country. Wonder Woman now has the near-impossible task of finding the true villain while being a target of the very world she is trying to protect.
https://archive.is/pCBzV
In what world? The book not only ignores everything that works about the character, it is sloppilly written, wears its message like a neon sign hitting you in the face with no subtlety at all, and doesn't even have a single finished arc.
Because muh superstar writer!
If these are the top 10 picks of 2023, then this must have been a real bad year for comic books
That and cbr editors are moronic morons
>Doesn't know Shaky Kane and Daniel Clowes.
You aren't that into comics.
Kane I know from Beef, Judge Dredd and Elephantmen. Clowes from Ghost World, National Lampoon, and Cracked. Sorry I don't follow every single work being put out.
Oh I just thought you didn't know the creators given Cinemaphile won't know lot of long time comic artists.
>Cinemaphile doesnt read comics
I’m honestly so sick of you homosexuals who actually believe this. It’s more reflective of the fact that you yourself only come here for culture wars and cartoonshit
This thread I made here has more IPs than the Mignola storytime I've been posting for the past ten days. I'm hoping it picks up tomorrow when we start Outerverse but anytime I do a storytime barely anyone is there.
This makes me feel bad. I will check those threads out anon.
Anon, I'm posting RIGHT NOW.
Who reads storytimes anymore? There are dozens of free comic sites with better UI and UX than trying to read comics on Cinemaphile.
What's wrong with using Clover on a tablet?
half the fun is the discussion
>t. brainlet from immortal x-men storytime
You could just jump into storytimes to discuss shit you already read.
Cinemaphile doesn't read comics.
Every time I come here I have to post scans to disprove cartoon-and-movie-watching wiki-reading fanboys who've never had a pull list or combed through a longbox.
CBR still covers comics?
bunch of posers
>CBR News Editors
Chat GPT then?
This list is awful. 90% of it is capeshit that barely has any issues. At least pick something that has ten issues damn.
>CBR
No.
Top 10 on page 10.
I've the actual top 10 here: https://www.cbr.com/cbr-top-100-comics-of-2023-10-1/
TLDR in order: Immortal X-Men, Batman/Superman: World's Finest,Immortal Thor, Spy X Family, Wonder Woman, Nightwing, Akane-banashi, Monica, Transformers, Roaming