The Best Comic Books Dave Read In 2006

    This page collects all of the books I gave a rating of "Strongly Recommended" or better to come out during 2006. 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. Sometimes I forgot to note the artist, and didn't really feel like digging it up. :)

  • January
    • She-Hulk v2 #4: Slott and Kolins, Marvel.
    • Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #4: Peter David and Wieringo, Marvel.
  • February
    • Marvel Legacy: the 1960s Handbook: Various, Marvel.
    • The Thing #4: Slott and DiVito, Marvel.
  • March
    • Aquaman Sword of Atlantis #40: Busiek and Guice, DC.
    • Retro Rocket #1 (of 4): Bedard and Orfalas, Image.
    • Flaming Carrot Comics Photo Comic Special #1: Burden, Image.
    • Blue Beetle #1: Giffen and Hamner, DC.
    • Big Max #1: Slott and Fry, Mr. Comics.
  • April
    • Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #7: Peter David (and Wieringo?), Marvel.
    • The Thing #6: Slott and Dwyer, Marvel.
  • May
    • The Preposterous Voyages of Ironhide Tom (FCBD): Priddy, AdHouse Books.
    • Amelia Rules (FCBD 2006): Gownley, Renaissance Press.
    • PS238 #16: Williams, Dork Storm.
    • Secret Six #1 (of 6): Simone and Walker, DC.
    • Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #18: Waid and Kitson, DC.
  • June
    • Marvel Adventures Avengers #2: Parker and Garcia, Marvel.
    • Giant-Size Hulk #1: various, Marvel.
    • Blue Beetle #4: Giffen, Rogers and Hamner, DC.
  • July
    • Beyond #1 (of 6): McDuffie and Kolins, Marvel.
    • Secret Six #2 (of 6): Simone and Walker, DC.
    • Superman #654: Busiek (and ??), DC.
    • Cable & Deadpool #30: Nicieza and Johnson, Marvel.
  • August
    • Green Arrow #65: Winick and McDaniels, DC.
    • Marvel Adventures Avengers #4: Parker and Garcia, Marvel.
  • September
    • Agents of Atlas #2 (of 6): Parker and Kirk, Marvel.
    • Beyond #3 (of 6): McDuffie and Kolins, Marvel.
  • October
    • Devil's Panties #4: Breeden, Silent Devil.
    • Dork #11: Dorkin and Dyer, Slave Labor Graphics.
    • PS238 #18: Williams, Dork Storm.
  • November (shifted to "Books of Note" this month)
    • Agents of Atlas #4 (of 6): Parker and Kirk, Marvel.
    • Blue Beetle #8: Giffen, Rogers and Rouleau, DC.
    • Blue Beetle #9: Giffen, Rogers and Rouleau, DC.
  • December
    • Welcome to Tranquility #1: Simone and Googe, DC/Wildstorm
    • X-Factor v2 #14: Peter David and ??, Marvel.
    • PS238 #19: Williams, Dork Storm.
    • Shadowpact #8: Willingham and McManus, DC.
    • Secret Six #6 (of 6): Simone and Walker, DC.
    • Blue Beetle #10: Rogers and Albuquerque, DC.
    Publisher count:     Writer count (with more than 1):     2006 was better than 2005, although by the end of the year I was tired of trying to pick Best Books each week, both because the good stuff tended to cluster, and because Diamond got really bad about shipping things on time. Blue Beetle, Secret Six and PS238 were all strong books in 2006, but the only one that REALLY knocked my socks off was a one-shot from a small publisher.
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