The Best Comic Books Dave Read In 2004

    This page collects all of the books I gave a rating of "Strongly Recommended" or better to come out during 2004. Books which I Strongly Recommended to limited groups are generally not included, but those with mature readers caveats are. You may notice some "Best Book" winners aren't mentioned here, because they were simply the best of a weak week. Boldfaced books got a rating higher than Strongly Recommended.

    So, here it is, broken down by month. Be warned that this reflects my reading habits, there may well have been some excellent titles out there I didn't read for whatever reason.


  • January
    • Amazing Spider-Man #502 - JMS and JRjr, Marvel
    • GIJoe vs Transformers #6 (of 6) - Blaylock and Jolley, Image/Devil's Due
    • Rumble Girls: Silky Warrior Tansie TPB - Lernandez, NBM
    • Batman Adventures #10 - Templeton/Slott/Burchett, DC
    • PS238 #5 - Williams, Dork Storm
  • February
    • Justice League Adventures #28 - Jason Hall, DC
    • Arsenic Lullabies TPB - Paskiewicz, AAA Milwaukee (MR)
    • Batman Adventures #11 - Templeton/Slott/Burchett, DC
    • Conan #1 - Busiek and Nord, Dark Horse
  • March
    • Captain America and the Falcon #1 - Priest and Sears, Marvel
    • JSA #59 - Johns and Phillips, DC
    • More Than Meets The Eye: Transformers Armada #1 - Mick/Patyk and many artists, Dreamwave
    • Stinz/Bosom Enemies #3 Flipbook - Donna Barr, A Fine Line
    • Neotopia v3 #1 - Espinosa, Antarctic Press
  • April
    • Fallen Angel #10 - David and Lopez, DC
    • Fantastic Four #512 - Waid and Weiringo, Marvel
    • Astro City/Arrowsmith Flipbook - Busiek/Anderson/(I forget), DC/Wildstorm
    • Batman Adventures #13 - Templeton/Slott/Burchett, DC
    • Superman: Secret Identity #4 - Busiek and Immonen, DC
  • May
    • Gold Digger v3 #52 - Perry, Antarctic Press
    • PS238 #6 - Williams, Dork Storm Press
    • Halo and Sprocket: Welcome to Humanity TPB - Kerry Callen, Slave Labor Graphics/Amaze Ink
  • June
    • Girl Genius #11 - Foglio, Airship Entertainment
    • Transformers Energon #24 - Furman and Raiz, Dreamwave
    • The Beast That Ate Morioka - Crilley, Sirius Entertainment
    • She-Hulk #4 - Slott and Bobilla, Marvel
    • Neotopia v3 #3 - Espinosa, Antarctic Press
    • Spider-Man 2 Novelization - David, Del Rey
    • Neotopia v3 #4 - Espinosa, Antarctic Press
  • July
    • Captain America and the Falcon #5 - Priest and Bennett, Marvel
    • She-Hulk #5 - Slott and Pelletier, Marvel
    • Batman Adventures #16 - Templeton and Burchett, DC
    • Ultimate Fantastic Four #9 - Ellis and Immonen, Marvel
  • August
    • She-Hulk #6 - Slott and Pelletier, Marvel
    • Legion #38 - Simone (I forget the artist), DC
  • September
    • Outsiders #15 - Winick (I forget the artist), DC
    • Tom Strong #28 - Vaughn and Snejberg, DC/ABC
  • October
    • Neotopia v4 #3 - Espinosa, Antarctic Press
    • PS238 #8 - Williams, Dork Storm Press
  • November
    • Marvel Team-Up #1 - Kirkman and Kolins, Marvel
    • Fantastic Four #520 - Waid and Weiringo, Marvel
    • She-Hulk #9 - Slott and Pelletier, Marvel
    • Ultimate Fantastic Four #13 - Ellis and Kubert, Marvel
  • December
    • PS238 #9 - Williams, Dork Storm Press
    • Girl Genius #13 - Foglio, Airship Entertainment
    • Blue Monday Painted Moon #3 - Clugston-Major, Oni (actually came out in November, but I got it late thanks to Diamond)
    • Ninja High School #122 - Bevard and Bair, Antarctic Press
    • What If...Doctor Doom Had Become The Thing? - Kesel and Smith, Marvel
    • The Courageous Princess TPB - Espinosa, Antarctic Press

    Yes, I STILL rather like Neotopia. Get the trades. And as the publisher count below shows, while Marvel and DC dominate, Antarctic does pretty well for its size. Dork Storm is all PS238, which suggests you should be reading PS238.

    Publisher count:

    There was one "Very strongly recommended" book this year (a TPB, really), which I only picked up because of the Free Comic Book Day promo. In fact, FCBD got me to start several titles, although Diamond doesn't seem to always want to sell them to me.
Back to main Rants page.