NOTE: Today I am re-posting “best of 2015” posts from my old site, without revision. Posted for posterity.
Second to last post…
20. THEY’RE NOT LIKE US by Eric Stephenson and Simon Gane (Image)
![They are NOt Like Us Comic](https://berkeleyplaceblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/They-are-NOt-Like-Us-Comic.png)
This is not an easy book to read. It’s ostensibly a story about how grown-ups fuck up gifted children by misunderstanding them and oppressing their out-of-the-box thinking. But it’s also a story of “what if Oliver Twist’s band of street criminals had powers?” It’s a challenging read because it breaks most all conventions: We have an entry point, a girl named Syd, but she’s kind of obnoxious—and full of anger. And the other kids she teams up with are … Assholes. Not really, we do come to understand them, but it’s tough to like these people. I actually found myself siding with the establishment a few times in this anti-establishment book. But that’s just a testament to how hard it tries to be balanced, and how well Stephenson understands his characters. A good writer doesn’t write villains—he writes every character with a clear point of view, and he loves them all. I get that feeling from this book. It’s a book for fans of good writing.
But Simon Gane’s art is terrific too, and it’s just offbeat and odd enough to fit a comic that is always trying to keep you off-kilter.
19. BITCH PLANET by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro (Image)
![Bitch Planet](https://berkeleyplaceblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Bitch-Planet.png)
One of the best comics of 2014 continues to be great. Like Nigga and Faggot, “bitch” is a reclamation of a defamation: A strongly pro-female book takes back the girlsploitation “Women’s Prison” genre. I’ve admired DeConnick’s writing for years—it’s very, very good—but it never rose to greatness; by which I mean a book that can be timeless, and belongs in the annals of comic book history alongside such game-changers as Preacher, Frank Miller’s Daredevil and Dark Knight, Watchmen, and the like. The book started late last year, and I was worried it would turn out to be a gimmick that ran out of steam—but it’s still going strong, showing no signs of weakening. Go, bitches, go!
18. SECRET WARS by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic (Marvel)
![](https://13thdimension.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/MarvelSecretWars.jpg)
The biggest Marvel event of all time, and the most “important” corporate book of the year was also (gasp) good!
![the life after](https://berkeleyplaceblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/the-life-after.png)
17. THE LIFE AFTER by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Gabo (Oni Press)
![old man logan 2015 sorrientino](https://berkeleyplaceblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/old-man-logan-2015-sorrientino-660x511.jpg)
Perhaps the most unusual comic of the year, and sadly one that went on hiatus after ending its first arc, but we’re promised it will return. The story was a deep and meaningful meditation on the meaning of a Christian God, Hell, and Ernest Hemmingway. Also, it had lots of crazy and violent weirdness.
16. OLD MAN LOGAN by Brian Michael Bendis and Andrea Sorrentino (Marvel)
The best-looking Marvel comic of the year.
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