CBR Forums Top 50 Comics of 2011-The List

[Brandon Hanvey]

21. Scalped (DC/Vertigo)
Written by Jason Aaron
Drawn by R.M. Guera, Dean Haspiel, Denys Cowan, Igor Kordey, Jill Thompson, Tim Truman, Jason Latour

Jason Aaron continues his epic tale of Dashiel Bad-Horse and the Prairie Rose Reservation with a unique attempt this past year to turn things on their ear by having a number of characters make dramatic changes in their lives, asking the question, “CAN a bad man change course midstream?” And Aaron shows the somewhat devastating results of these attempts. The tragic but heartfelt character examinations are well worth the price of admission – that you get all the wonderful artwork (especially RM Guera) is a major major bonus. -Brian Cronin

[Brandon Hanvey]

20. Wonder Woman Volume 3 (DC)
Written by Brian Azzarello
Drawn by Cliff Chiang

[Brandon Hanvey]

19. Batman Volume 2 (DC)
Written by Scott Snyder
Drawn by Greg Capullo

[Brandon Hanvey]

18. Amazing Spider-Man (Marvel)
Written by Dan Slott, Fred Van Lente, Rob Williams, Christos Gage, Paul Benjamin, Frank Tieri & Todd Dezago
Drawn by Humberto Ramos, Reilly Brown, Paulo Siqueira, Ronan Cliquet de Oliveira, Stefano Caselli, Marcos Martin, Nuno Plati, Ty Templeton, Javier Pulido, Lee Garbett, Barry Kitson, Mike McKone, Emma Rios, Javier Rodriguez, Giueseppe Camuncoli, Todd Nauck, Max Fiumara & Ryan Stegman

I used to hate Spider-Man - The World's Greatest Superhero, but Dan Slott has made me enjoy it. -Hulk_Is

[Brandon Hanvey]

17. The Unwritten (DC/Vertigo)
Written by Mike Carey
Drawn by Peter Gross

The insanely complicated and full book that is The Unwritten is wonderful in so many aspects. The writing of Carey mixed with the art of Peter Gross makes this an unmissable and important contribution to the comics library. -countryfan2004

[Brandon Hanvey]

16. Uncanny X-Men Volume 2 (Marvel)
Written by Kieron Gillen
Drawn by Carlos Pacheco

I didn't want to like this, but the art and writing both are stellar and incredibly smart. The team should not work, but Gillen manages to make it so with a reasonable rationale. -countryfan2004

[Brandon Hanvey]

15. Avengers Academy (Marvel)
Written by Christos N. Gage
Drawn by Mike McKone, Tom Raney, Sean Chen

This book is non-stop fun with great character development and relationships among the characters. I'm sad to see Justice leave, though. -countryfan2004

[Brandon Hanvey]

14. Swamp Thing Volume 5 (DC)
Written by Scott Snyder
Drawn by Yanick Paquette, Victor Ibañez, Marco Rudy

the Sophisticated Suspense of Scott Snyder makes this into a deep read giving a complete new layer to the already brilliant history of the swampthing -ArnoldoAAD

[Brandon Hanvey]

13. Batman, Inc. (DC)
Written by Grant Morrison
Drawn by Chris Burnham, Yanick Paquette and Cameron Stewart

"The DC New 52 relaunch makes it difficult to recall just how many issues of Batman, Inc. came out in 2011, but when you take a look, a lot more excellent Batman Inc. comics came out than you would think, enough to earn it a place on this list, despite the series' last issue before the New 52 being the title's worst issue. Chris Burnham was a breakout star with his artwork and Grant Morrison had a number of stellar issues, including an amazing reinvention of the original Batwoman and a striking look at the everyday life of Man-of-Bats, the Sioux Batman." -Brian Cronin

[Brandon Hanvey]

12. Aquaman Volume 7 (DC)
Written by Geoff Johns
Drawn by Ivan Reis

Aquaman is portrayed as a bad-ass, but also a patient and capable man struggling with his sense of identity, while having to deal with being the "joke" of the hero community, despite the reputation being undeserved. -Sharkerbob

Geoff Johns made my Worst list with Green Lantern for sure. But here he seems to be returning to what made him a good writer in the 1st place. Concentrating on not huge event driven crap. Tell good stories and build new rogues for Aquaman and develop long term storylines.

He seems to be clicking on all barrels issues in and makes me wanna read a book like this. Aquaman has had his good and bad periods for sure. Right now its currently on its good period. -SUPERECWFAN1

[Brandon Hanvey]

11. X-Factor Volume 1 (Marvel)
Written by Peter David
Drawn by Emanuela Lupacchino, Leonard Kirk

I didn't think I'd have X-Factor in my number one slot, but here it is. It's the most consistent ongoing book, and continues to engaging, unpredictable, surprising storylines. -countryfan2004

[Brandon Hanvey]

10. Batwoman (DC)
Written by J.H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
Drawn by J.H. Williams III, Amy Reeder Hadley

Rarely does a book stand out from the art alone, but the art in Batwoman is always inventive, creative, and sensible. -countryfan2004

[Brandon Hanvey]

9. Action Comics Volume 2 (DC)
Written by Grant Morrison, Sholly Fisch
Drawn by Rags Morales, Brent Anderson, Gene Ha, Brad Walker

[Brandon Hanvey]

8. Detective Comics Volume 1 (DC)
Written by Scott Snyder
Drawn by Francesco Francavilla, Jock, Mark Simpson

Gripping, haunting, and energetic. A tour de force of writing and artwork that manages to do something new within seemingly familiar territory. -maniacmatt

its just a deep read, it messes with your head and crawls under your skin, you feel and fear what the characters are feeling and thats what makes it so great -ArnoldoAAD

[Brandon Hanvey]

7. Black Panther: Man Without Fear/World’s Most Dangerous Man (Marvel)
Written by David Liss
Drawn by Shawn Martinbrough, Jefte Palo, Francesco Francavilla

i got back into reading comics last year through comixology... with no exposure to the character i started reading the MWOF series because I was a daredevil fan and the panther was in his book... a couple issues in i was hooked on David Liss' story and the character -FriendRoss

Really well written with some great art. -Jabare