The Best Comic Books Dave Read In 1998

    This page collects all of the books I gave a rating of "Strongly Recommended" or better to during 1998. 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.

    So, here it is, broken down by month. Books which got ratings better than "Strongly Recommended" will be in boldface. 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
    • Xer0 #10
    • Transmetropolitan #7
    • Thunderbolts #12
    • Galaxion #5
    • Astro City v2 #12
    • Reality Check #8
    • Xer0 #11
  • February
    • Quantum & Woody #13 (plus, I have a writing credit)
    • Xer0 #12
    • Heroes for Hire #10
  • March
    • Bone #31
    • Desert Peach #27
    • Galaxion #6
    • Troublemakers #16
    • Avengers v3 #4
    • 2099 Manifest Destiny
  • April
    • Gotham Adventures #1
    • Buck Godot #8 (of 8)
    • Reality Check #9
    • Young Heroes in Love #13
    • Avengers v3 #5
    • Gon Color Spectacular
  • May
    • Superman Adventures #21 (Supergirl Adventures)
    • Galaxion Special #1
    • Siren #1 (of 3)
    • Transmetropolitan #11
  • June
    • Squee #4 (of 4)
    • Transmetropolitan #12
    • Hulk #467
    • Quantum & Woody #17
    • Reality Check #10
    • Young Heroes in Love #15
    • The Copybook Tales #6
  • July
    • Transmetropolitan #13
    • Young Justice #1
    • Wonder Woman #137
    • JLA: The Nail #2 (of 3)
  • August
    • Guns of the Dragon #1 (of 4)
    • Iron Man: The Iron Age #2 (of 2)
    • Transmetropolitan #14
    • Young Heroes in Love #17
    • JLA: The Nail #3 (of 3)
  • September
    • Xxxenophile #11
    • Galaxion #7
    • Thunderbolts #20
    • Black Panther v2 #1
    • Avengers v3 #10
  • October
    • Clan Apis #1 (0f 5)
    • Transmetropolitan #16
    • Black Panther v2 #2
    • Gen 13: Magical Drama Queen Roxy #1 (of 3)
  • November
    • Avengers v3 #11
    • Transmetropolitan #17
    • Black Panther v2 #3
    • Superman & Batman: Generation #1 (of 4)
    • Galaxion #8
    • Akiko #29
    • Gen 13: Magical Drama Queen Roxy #2 (of 3)
  • December
    • Reality Check #12
    • Fantastic Four Annual 1998
    • Transmetropolitan #18
    • Avengers v3 #12
    • Gen 13: Magical Drama Queen Roxy #3 (of 3)
    • Captain America v3 #14
    • Kingdom: Offspring #1
    Well, 1998 had a lot more books I Strongly Recommended, but only two I went totally ga-ga over, so I guess things balance out. There was a lot to like in mainstream books in 1998, with Priest getting 8 nods for Acclaim, DC and Marvel work, Busiek bringing in 9 between his various titles, and Ellis hitting Strongly Recommended on 8 issues of Transmetropolitan alone (although, sadly, his non-Transmet work didn't click with me in 1998). On the other hand, small press and self-published works came in strongly, with Sirius carrying many very good books, such as Akiko and Reality Check (which only missed Strongly Recommended on one issue in 98). Self-published Galaxion was a hit with me every time it came out in 1998, which wasn't as often as I'd have liked, but when the writer/artist gets married in the middle of the year, it's going to put a crimp in the schedule.
    Unfortunately, it was also something of a bad year for cancellation of good books. Six of the titles above got cancelled (two from under Priest, who also lost Steel, Concrete Jungle and Ka-Zar), and another might as well have been cancelled (Hulk). Plus, a lot of the best books were part of miniseries, which may or may not ever see sequels.

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