So this is the point where I compare and rank the different series and titles against each other. As always, the "best" stuff is restricted to things I actually bought. So if you don't see something you love, well, you knew what was up for consideration after the first four posts.
Favorite Ongoing Series (minimum 5 issues bought):
1. Black Cat
2. Sera and the Royal Stars
Honestly, I'm not even sure what qualifies. Like, is there going to be more Wicked Things, or were those six issues it? Allison is doing more Steeple online, but I haven't read it, and I don't know how to count it. They didn't ship enough issues, but what are Kaiju Score and Sympathy for No Devils?
The only other series I'm certain would count is Deadpool, but. . . yeah. That's not in the running. So it's Black Cat, which had five issues I loved dearly.
Favorite Mini-Series (at least half the issues shipped in 2020):
1. Canopus
2. Wicked Things
2. Amethyst
So I'm counting Wicked Things as a mini-series, because that's what I know it is until I see different. I gave Canopus the nod, despite loving Allison and Sarin's work because I found the story much interesting. Allison's a smoother writer for dialogue and humor, but the plot for Canopus was a lot more gripping, and Chisholm's art worked for his story. Amethyst would be a distant third, narrowly ahead of Atlantis Wasn't Built for Tourists on the strength of Amy Reeder's artwork.
Other than those, there were again very few options. Spy Island and Broken Gargoyles were both disappointments. Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage kind of laid a dud at the end, which killed it for me. Taskmaster and The Union didn't ship enough issues. Not that either would break in based on what I've seen so far. Ditto for Sea of Sorrows, and I'm not sure about Kaiju Score and Sympathy for No Devils.
Favorite One-Shot:
1. Hedra
2. Fantastic Four: Grimm Noir
These are the two options, other than Giant-Size X-Men: Nightcrawler, which is not in the running, seeing as it was yet another regrettable mistake on my part. I wouldn't say either of those two books were great, but Hedra was more interesting to look at, so that gets it the nod.
Favorite Trade Paperback/Graphic Novel (anything purchased in 2020 is fair game):
1. Raule and Gabor's Isabellae volume 1
2. Koren Shadmi's Highwayman
3. Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido's Blacksad: Collected Stories
I decided to split manga out from everything else, just to narrow down the choices. Isabellae had a nifty story about family and duty, wrapped up in some cool supernatural stuff and beautiful swordfights. Highwayman was about a guy wandering around, trying to determine what his purpose was, which is usually going to get my attention. And Blacksad is just really good noir stories.
Other than that, it'd probably have been either Star Power volume 2, or maybe one of the All-New Wolverine volumes I bought. Probably the Civil War 2 one, on the strength of that Squirrel Girl team-up issue.
Favorite Manga (anything purchased in 2020 is fair game):
1. Kino's Journey volume 3 (Iruka Shiomiya, Keiichi Sigsawa, Kouhaku Kuroboshi)
2. SandLand (Akira Toriyama)
3. Dirty Pair Omnibus (Haruka Takachiho and Hisao Tamaki)
When you boil it down, sometimes I just want comics where people beat the crap out of each other in either creative ways, or where it's at least drawn in a creative way. Volume 3 of Kino is the title character getting sucked into a tournament for a country where it grants you the right to make a law if you win. SandLand is more adventure than fighting, but you know Toriyama can draw a fight scene when he wants to, and he can do comedy too. All Dirty Pair comics are just stuff getting blown up and people dying, and this omnibus is no different.
Favorite Writer:
1. John Allison
2. Dave Chisholm
3. Jed MacKay
I know I put Canopus ahead of Wicked Things, but I figure Allison wrote two different things I really liked, and Chisholm only wrote one. I liked Black Cat a lot, but Taskmaster has not been entirely working for me, so he lands behind the both of them.
Favorite Artist (minimum 110 pages):
1. Max Sarin
2. Dave Chisholm
3. Audrey Mok
I love Sarin's artwork. It's lively and funny and expressive, and she can exaggerate if you need it for comedy, but it's not an all the time thing. She can do somber if you need that. I'd be curious to see Chisholm's work on another book, but he had a knack for memorable visuals, which was critical for his story, since it's supposed to be about a character being confronted by all their repressed trauma. With Mok, I just really like the sense of design for characters and outfits.
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