And we’re back with another list. This time out I gave comics a long hard thought or six. I wanted those stories that stuck with me, that fit what I think the medium can be, and that I really liked a lot. So here they are in no particular order:

All Star Superman
12 issues and it’s the only Superman story you need. It has everything, and doesn’t feel crunched for space. It tells you what you need, finds the heart of Superman, as a character, and also manages to make his supporting cast important. It combines the goofy times of the 50s with a modern deftness and comes out sheer magic.

New Frontier
Taking DC Comics whole timeline and shifting it slightly so it lines up with history, this story is just cool. Cooke’s art is wonderful and his writing really keeps up, bringing home the sense of style he wanted to get across. The story is fairly simple in essence but it is more about the characters than plot. A great fun ride.

The Hunter
Only Cooke could adapt Richard Stark novels. Using simple color washes combined with his normal clean pencil lines, Cooke manages to bring one of the harsher noir stories to life. It’s presented in a tight little hardcover, making the whole package come off as slick and menacing as it should do.

Invincible
Though later years the book is still fun, it’s the first year of Invincible that really earned the book this slot in my list. Kirkman combines that classic Spider-Man feel with anything else that feels like it might be fun, and then caps it off with a twists and turns that old Marvel comics couldn’t have gotten away with. Which is why it’s creator owned, and a joy ride. There’s a freedom to Invincible that a lot of books should reach for, but don’t.

We3
The shortest thing on the list, We3 is the story of three animals. Part escape story and part homeward bound type quest, this comic has made most people I know who read it tear up if not actually cry. Simply that touching, powerful and well done.

Box Office Poison
A lot of people do auto-biographical comics. A lot. They do comics that feel like auto-bio, too. Slice of life stuff. Very few reach as high as BOP does, juggling multiple characters and plots with ease, while staying grounded and personal. Even now, the book holds up and is something worth rereading.

Y: The Last Man
Across its five year storyline, Y started with a simple premise and ended the only way it could have. What begins as “What would happen if you were the last male alive” turns into a story about personal growth, survival, enlightenment and love. And a monkey. Something you will sort of miss if you read the collections is that every single monthly issue ended with a cliffhanger that felt natural for the story and yet left you punching walls waiting for the next part.

Scott Pilgrim
Soon to be a major motion picture! No, really. Scott Pilgrim is what happens when you take a slice of life story (boy meets girl, wants to date girl) and add the fun (but first he has to defeat her 7 ex-boyfriends in combat) and kinda crazy (normally in video game type sessions of combat, where they can combo, juggle and sometimes leave coins when defeated). Only 5 of the 6 planned books are out and the movie is in editing but Scott Pilgrim has to be read to be believed, and even then some people won’t. The fools.

Captain America
Specifically Ed Brubaker’s recent, ongoing run. He turned the book back into a spy book, he kept the super hero bits, and he made a swing for the fences. Yes, he killed Cap. Then he showed us why we loved Cap, through his absence, without going emo on everything. And though some people are knocking around his Return story, it fits everything that went before perfectly. This is the Captain America book I always wanted.

Iron Man
Specifically Matt Fraction’s current, ongoing run on the book. The movie reminded us why Iron Man could be cool. Fraction, without having seen the film but aiming at how he would make a cool Iron Man movie, aligns himself spot-on with the book, bringing all of the fun and cool of the movie together with the much higher budget of a comic. He gets who Stark is and smartly makes him, and not the suit, the focus of everything that goes on.

11th exception item.

Barry Ween
The first 3 issue mini came out in 1999 but Ween is the funniest comic around. The smartest human on the planet is only 10 years old. He curses like a sailor. He makes everything from light sabers to dimensional portals to… well… anything. He also hangs out with his best friend, Jeremy, who needs a bit less sugar. Barry Ween makes both Dexter (and his lab) and Stewie from Family guy seem flat and boring.