Best series: Ms. Marvel (G. Willow Wilson)
Sure, it’s the comic we need right now. A Muslim-American girl superhero is, distressingly, only becoming more and more crucially relevant with each passing day. G. Willow Wilson’s Ms. Marvel is also insanely good, the most consistently engaging (emotionally and otherwise) title in Marvel’s roster, or pretty much anywhere. Like Runaways crossed with Spider-Man (not allusions I make lightly), it’s as formidable a power fantasy for young people you could ever hope to find – and it’s about that young person. Kamala isn’t just the star of the best title Marvel has; she’s in the running for the best character Marvel has, hands down.
(Honourable mentions: The Goddamned, Poe Dameron, Saga, Sex Crimz, The Mighty Thor, WicDiv, and boy is Paper Girls is getting suuuuuuper good)
Best single issue: Star Wars – “C-3PO: The Phantom Limb”
Look, I know this seems like the obvious Matt Brown pick and maybe in a lot of ways it is – but I swear to you, this issue (the “how did the Threepster get his red arm?” one-shot) is scary good. Or at least, scary if you’ve spent any portion of time (like I have) giving genuine thought to the personhood of the droids in the Star Wars universe, and how the humans oftentimes overlook that personhood, and how that would be super creepy and strange for the droids. Plus the art is gorgeous and strange, and C-3PO is the main character, as he so rarely is.
Best graphic novel: I Love This Part (Tillie Walden)
OK maybe this was released last year, I dunno, I got it at TCAF in the spring and it’s one of a handful of graphic novels I’ve ever read (I Kill Giants would be another one that springs to mind) that I can’t even think about without becoming emotional. Astonishing in both conception and execution, and has artwork where every single page deserves to be framed and mounted on a wall.
(Honourable mentions: The Nameless City, Ragnarok Vol 1: Last God Standing)
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