Over the past year, Pop Mythology’s team of comic reviewers has grown a bit smaller, for such is the inevitable way of the blogging world, but our passion for comics has only grown. And over the past year, there have been far, far more quality titles than the two of us who still regularly review comics here can possibly cover on a part-time basis.
Here, then, are our 20 favorite comics of 2015. Notice we say “favorite.” As noted, there are just too many great comics out there nowadays to keep up with them all, so many that we don’t presume to call these the “best.” These are our personal favorites of the ones we managed to read, though in fairness we did read a lot.
Just a quick note that our 20 favorites aren’t listed as a single list but two separate lists of 10 by Captain John K. Kirk and the Pop Mythologist. We’ll start with Cap’s list, followed by Pop’s list.
Captain John K. Kirk’s 10 Favorites
Veteran writer Kurt Busiek and penciller Brent Anderson both welcome us to this city of heroes every month. An everyday look at superheroes as they deal with life, we see that they deal with it in the same way we would, which brings us closer to them and the superheroes in our own lives.
An excellent rebirth of the classic series that saw Marc Spector and his other personalities fight for justice under the sponsorship of the ancient Egyptian God Khonshu. It’s rare when a revisit of a comic is successful, but Cullen Bunn, Warren Ellis, Brian Smallwood and Declan Shalvey, in their respective arcs, successfully recreated a fantastic new incarnation of this hero. Makes me ask, why did they drop it? Secret Wars? Jeff Lemire is going to pick it up on the new year but this one makes my list for 2015.
Another one of the few DC titles I’ve been reading. Of late, I haven’t been enjoying it as much prior to the present arc, but Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have done the impossible: gotten me back into Batman. It’s a great new interpretation of this character and the dynamic duo of Snyder and Capullo have definitely deserved this place in the list.
Jason Aaron and Jason LaTour have captured an amazing slice of Southern culture in this compelling drama of smalltown football. Gritty, dirty and violent, decisions of right and wrong are constantly put to the test under the lens piece of shifting contextual values. Definitely a favourite.
A latecomer to the year, Garth Ennis has reached back to the days of his childhood comics and grabbed this tale of a young English pilot flying a Hawker Hurricane in service of the Soviet Air Force in World War Two. This was a favourite story of mine when I was a kid too, so it really is a blast for me to see Ennis adapt this story for the 21st century.
Walt Simonson is a Norse God. I swear he has returned from the gleaming spires of Agsgard itself to tell this saga of a post-apocalyptic Nine Realms of Norse Myth. It’s a fantastic tale written and drawn by Simonson and very much deserves its position among the Top Ten comics of 2015.
4. Star Wars: Darth Vader (Marvel)
I have loved this focus on arguably the most celebrated and recognizable villain of modern cinema and literature. Marvel has pulled out all the stops on its new comic property and has deftly delivered a story of Vader fighting for his position after his defeat and the loss of the Death Star at the Battle of Yavin. Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca are among the A-List talent sources Marvel has drafted for its Star Wars titles to great success.
The lead book in Marvel’s release of Star Wars books. Jason Aaron shows up on this list again as the writer of this book. Partnered with iconic and superstar artist, John Cassaday, this title is a wonderful treatment of the characters and continuing adventures of the Star Warriors that amps up the anticipation for the newest movie installment of the saga.
This is the definitive comic on world building. Jonathan Hickman applies his cosmic sense of storytelling to this incredible perspective of the Earth in a far future. Drawn and co-created by Nick Dragotta, this book is definitely one of the best offerings from Image Comics. Though started in 2013, this book has tightened its grip on its position as one of the best books regardless of the year and has earned its position on this list.
This has remained another long-running series that has made itself a fast favourite with comic fans. Greg Rucka’s storytelling is powerful and who can resist the emotionally expressive art of Michael Lark? It’s no wonder that this detailed and fully believable story of a dystopian future is headed for a television series. Yet another book from Image Comics indicative of the talent this company has. It very much deserves its position as the number one comic of 2015.
The Pop Mythologist’s Top 10 Favorites

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