Dave's Rants - The Best Comic Books of 2005

The Best Comic Books Dave Read In 2005

This page collects all of the books I gave a rating of "Strongly Recommended" or better to come out during 2005. 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
- Spider-Man/Human Torch #1 (of 5): Slott and Templeton, Marvel.
- Ultimate Fantastic Four #16: Ellis and Kubert, Marvel.
February
- She-Hulk v1 #12 (final issue): Slott and Pelletier, Marvel.
- Dork Tower #30: Kovalic, Dork Storm.
- PS238 #10: Williams, Dork Storm.
March
- New Thunderbolts #6: Nicieza and Grummett, Marvel.
- Conan #14: Busiek and Nord, Dark Horse.
- Spider-Man/Human Torch #3 (of 5): Slott and Templeton, Marvel.
April
- PS238 #11: Williams, Dork Storm.
- Ultimate Secret #2 (of 4): Ellis and McNiven, Marvel.
May
- Ultimate Fantastic Four #18: Ellis and Kubert, Marvel.

June
- Legion of Super-Heroes v5 #7: Waid and Kitson, DC.
- Flaming Carrot Comics #3: Burden, Image.
- Spider-Man/Human Torch #5 (of 5): Slott and Templeton, Marvel.
July
- None. Wow.
August
- Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures vol2 TPB: Dorkin, Slave Labor.
- The Thousand Deaths of Baron von Donut #1: Paskiewicz, AAA Milwaukee.
September
- PS238 #12: Williams, Dork Storm.
October
- New Thunderbolts #13: Nicieza and Grummett, Marvel.
- Amelia Rules #15: Cownley, Renaissance Press.
- She-Hulk v2 #1: Slott and Bobillo, Marvel.
November
- Flaming Carrot Comics #4: Burden, Image.
December
- GLX-mas #1: Slott and many others, Marvel.
- Amelia Rules #16: Cownley, Renaissance Press.
- Green Lantern: Sleepers Book Three: Priest, iBooks (novel)

Publisher count:

Marvel - 11
Dork Storm - 4
DC (and all sub-imprints) - 2 (counting the GL novel)
Image - 2
Renaissance Press - 2
AAA Milwaukee - 1
Dark Horse - 1
Slave Labor - 1

Writer count:

Dan Slott - 6 (2 with Templeton)
Warren Ellis - 3
Aaron Williams - 3
Fabian Nicieza - 2
Bob Burden - 2
Jimmy Cownley - 2

Wow. 2005 sucked. So many fewer Strongly Recommended books, and many weeks with no Best Book at all. Although there were two "more than Strongly Recommended" books, at least, and those writers were generally "on" more often than "off" all year, so thanks to Slott and Williams for brightening many of my days.

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