10 great recent comics you should read

Nemesis (2010)

This was released with the tag line, “What if Batman was the Joker?” which had us interested from the outset. Mark Millar created a character in the supervillain Nemesis who has all the powers of a superhero but uses them, to devastating effect, against the general population. Gritty and yet humorous Millar has once again created a great run that’s already been bought up by 20th Century Fox for a film adaptation.

Chew (2009)

This Eisner award winner tells the tale of a Food and Drug Administration agent, in a world where chicken is illegal, who solves crimes by getting psychic impressions from eating things. Those things can include people. It sounds strange but is pulled off brilliantly with twisting storylines and characters you don’t want to leave. Especially the saboscrivner (a person who can write about food so accurately the reader tastes it) who can make people sick with words alone.

The Unwritten (2009)

This comic follows Tom Taylor, the son of a writer who created a book series that is essentially Harry Potter – based on him. But Tom has few achievements in life, turning up to book singings to make money, until an apparently obsessed fan appears to be more than just an impersonator of the book’s bad guy. Then reality and fantasy collide to tackle issues of fame, celebrity, and how fiction fits into the human consciousness.

Bayou (2009)

When a black man in 1930s Mississippi is wrongly accused of kidnapping a white girl it’s up to his young daughter Lee to find the truth. That means delving into an Alice in Wonderland like world of gods and monsters where her only protection is a benevolent swamp monster called Bayou. A brilliant Glyph award-winning look at racism and black culture in a magically drawn comic.

Punisher MAX (2010)

Garth Ennis – the genius behind Preacher – takes vigilante former cop Frank Castle on a mind-melting – and very adult – run of Punisher. Ennis pits the Punisher against more grounded villains than the usual parade of costumed characters – including the mafia and super tough Russians. But the most entertaining character has to be the huge murderer called Barracuda, who nearly kills the Punisher – despite losing an eye and several fingers in the process.

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