Some years, I go into my Comics list knowing exactly what I will do. Others, I know it is going to be a struggle. This year was an odd one as I went in, sure that it wasn’t a good year for comics, but then, when I actually started to dig, I found I liked a lot more than I initially recalled. The best kind of surprise when doing a Best of… year end list.

One that would’ve definitely made the list if it was new to this year, not just a reprint, was Down, Set, Fight! which got a handsome full-sized hardcover release this year.

Comics’ hottest couple of 2024! (Image Comics)

15. Transformers by Daniel Warren Johnson, Jorge Corona, Mike Spicer, and Rus Wooton- This is no reason DWJ et al. need to go this hard with Transformer book, but isn’t it just great that they do?

14. Sereno by Luciano Vecchio- I’m a huge fan of Vecchio’s art and I’m a sucker for this kind of fully formed new superhero tale.

13. Batman by Chip Zdarsky, Andrea Sorrentino, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Dustin Nguyen, Jorge Jimenez, Stefano Nesi, Alejandro Sanchez, Dave Stewart, and more- People online seem to dislike this run. People online are wrong.

12. Haunted Hill by Richard Fairgray

11. Doom by Sanford Greene and Jonathan Hickman

10. Daredevil: Woman Without Fear by Erica Schultz and Michael Dowling

9. Nightwing by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Caio Filipe, and Adriano Lucas- What a satisfying end to one of my favorite runs on Nightwing ever. And I’ve been on board since the limited series days.

8. Immortal Thor by Al Ewing, Jan Bazaldua, Valentina Pinti, Carlos Magno, Ibraim Roberson, and more- Rising Star Al Ewing continues that upward trajectory.

7. World’s Finest by Mark Waid, Dan Mora, Steve Pugh, Travis Mercer, Tamra Bonvillain, Adriano Lucas, and more- Dan Mora is so damn good.

6. Vengeance of the Moon Knight by Jed Mackay, Alessandro Cappuccio, and Devmalya Pramanik- Mixing one of my favorite C-list heroes into one of my favorite B-list hero’s books is why Jed Mackay has earned my appreciation.

5. The Power Fantasy by Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard

4. Pine and Merrimac by Kyle Starks and Fran Galan- I’m just fully a Kyle Starks booster now.

3. Fantastic Four by Ryan North, Carlos Gomez, Ivan Fiorelli, Francesco Mortarino, and Steven Cummings- FF tends to be a set of characters I like the idea of more than the execution, but this run has continuously subverted that track record.

2. Youth Group by Jordan Morris and Bowen McCurdy- Looks great, has a smart sense of the humane and an even sharper sense of humor to it. Plus, it was the best comic my daughter and I shared this year, which always scores it extra points.

1. Ultimate Spider-Man by Jonathan Hickman, David Messina, and Marco Checchetto- Never expected to love another Ultimate Spider-Man book. Glad to be wrong.

Worst of 2024

Spider-Man Reign 2- I really have only myself to blame for giving this one a shot.

Most Anticipated of 2025

Impostor Syndicate- Matt D. Wilson’s concept here—that supervillain identities essentially get filled over and over again by new down on their luck thugs—is right up my alley.