I read a lot of comics this year, no surprise there. Trying to narrow down everything I liked to a mere 5 or so is silly, so here's a good DOZEN of the comics I loved most in 2013.

Prophet – It should come as no surprise that one of my favorite comics from last year hasn’t faltered at all. Awesome, weird, epic sci-fi from Brandon Graham and a badass stable of artists. Issue 37, a solo issue by Giannis Milonogiannis, was simply my favorite single issue of anything that I read this year.

Nowhere Men – One of my favorite new series from last year. It’s a dense read, with beautiful art from Nate Bellegarde and impeccable design work from fonografiks. Sucks that it took forever before a new issue came out a couple months back, with no word on when the next one comes, but I know it'll be worth the wait.

Copra – Michel Fiffe’s self-published monthly action comic, this book puts to shame everything Marvel and DC have put out in the past decade. Watching this blow up over the year has been incredibly fun, capping out with an explosive 12th issue. It's insane just how crazy and inventive Fiffe gets, even with the massive deadlines he imposed upon himself.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin vol. 1 – Yoshikazu Yasuhiko’s adaptation of the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam anime is a great war comic. Scenes of violence are depicted in a loose, frantic way, with huge slabs of ink, bordering on being abstract. I haven’t kept up with any of the recent Gundam series in years, feeling like it was becoming more about selling lots of toys and model kits, and this comic swings things back around to powerful storytelling. I think Vertical just recently released the 4th volume? I have some catching up to do...

Battling Boy – It took years and years to be released, but it was well worth it. Paul Pope’s latest work looks like Jack Kirby and Go Nagai had a kid together. Super kinetic and fun, the only issue is the size. They printed this thing too small to do the art any real justice, sadly. Hoping a nice deluxe hardcover will come sometime soon.

Catalyst Comix – Another great superhero comic that’s running circles around Marvel and DC. Joe Casey and his gang of artists, Dan McDaid, Paul Maybury, and Ulises Farinas are killing it. The energy just crackles off the page, it's so much fun to read. I know nothing of these Dark Horse superheroes which Casey and the gang are reviving, but it doesn't really matter. 

Sex Criminals – I was not expecting to get so emotionally invested in a screwball sex comedy comic about a couple who can stop time with their orgasms and use that ability to rob banks. It’s also made me laugh until I choked more times than I can count, and there are only 3 issues out as of this writing! Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky are not fucking around here, except, well, yeah, they are. The letter column in the back of each issue is wonderful, too. And would you just look at that cover for the FOURTH printing of the first issue? Just...just...wow.

Hawkeye – The only Marvel book I’m subscribed to, with good reason. It started out strong last year, and just keeps improving. David Aja is making magic with his art (the frequent delays suck, but are worth it), and bringing Annie Wu in is even better. It's barely even a superhero book, which is probably another reason I love it so much.

Pretty Deadly – Best debut of the year, hands down, even if it is only three issues in. Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios are spinning one hell of a story here, a western with a hefty dose of Japanese new wave and Heavy Metal thrown in for good measure. The closest I've seen a comic get to a Seijun Suzuki film that I've come across in recent memory.

Zero – Another solid debut. Ales Kot is writing one hell of a spy comic here, with a different, killer artist working on each issue and pulling all sorts of cool visual tricks. Where it's leading, I'm not really sure, but it's most certainly one hell of a ride.

Very Casual – Michael Deforge is a comics monster and cannot be stopped. Which is good, because who would want to stop him? This book collects a bunch of random short comics he's done over the past few years and gives you a pretty damn good idea of just what a deranged comics genius he is. Wonderful, disturbing, hilarious stuff.

Hecate Snake Diaries vol. 2 – I bought this and the first volume off of Gumroad and read both in one afternoon. I’ve always been more familiar with Sarah Horrocks’ writing than with her comics, so this was my first time really digging in. It’s immense stuff, explosions of color, comics largely about transgender issues, Edward Snowden and PRISM, with some essays in there about comics criticism and other things. No one else is making comics like Sarah, to my knowledge. Narrative is set aside in favor of emotional expression and bizarre compositions. It leaves you dizzy, in a good way. After I sent her an email gushing about how blown away I was by her work, she told me that everything in this volume in particular was drawn in something like a two week span? Insane. Awe-inspiring.

OTHER COMICS I LIKED:
Supermag by Jim Rugg / Godzilla: The Half Century War by James Stokoe (final issue came out this year so I can count it!) / Batman '66 by Jeff Parker, Richard Case, and other artists / THRST by Alejandro Bruzzese / Demeter by Becky Cloonan /  Hellboy in Hell by Mike Mignola / Sex by Joe Casey and Piotr Kowalski / Gamma by Ulises Farinas and Erick C. Freitas / Clutch by Sloane Leong / The Man Who Dances in the Meadow by Sam Alden