What are your top 5 comics EVER?
Steve Steiner lives in Groveport, Ohio and self-publishes his own comics and zines under the mantle of Mullet Turtle Comics. Check out his work at mulletturtle.com
5). SAFARI HONEYMOON
Jesse Jacobs / Koyama Press, 2014
Cartoonist Jesse Jacobs drops two newlywed city folk into a bizarre wilderness populated by a variety of surreal creatures and forces them to flee for their lives from their parasite-infested guide. Inventive, engaging, and wonderfully strange.
4). DAREDEVIL
Ann Nocenti & John Romita Jr. / Marvel Comics, 1988-1991
Writer Ann Nocenti, penciler John Romita Jr., and inker Al Williamson had a lengthy run on The Man Without Fear that often seems to be overlooked today. They threw Daredevil into conflicts involving the deranged robot Ultron, an animal rights activist seeking revenge, a demonically possessed vacuum and culminated their run into an all out fight against the devil himself, Mephisto. The highlight for me by far though, is the mesmerizing love/ hate relationship between Daredevil and Kingpin’s prime hench-woman, Typhoid Mary.
3). MY HOT DATE
Noah Van Sciver / Kilgore Books, 2015
Set in the year 1998, this autobiographic tale details Noah’s first humiliating date with a girl he met on AOL messenger. Even though I too grew up in the same era, I like to imagine this story touches upon coming of age themes we can all relate to. Or, maybe I just dig the copious amount of 1990s music and movie references.
2). RAW MAGAZINE
Edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly / Raw Books & Graphics, Penguin Books, 1980 – 1991
Raw Magazine is a comic anthology series that lasted a total of 11 issues through the 1980s and boosted an amazing stable of American and international talent. I had long missed the heyday of Raw by the time I first tracked down a collection in 2000 at the downtown Columbus library. The array of varying styles and genres of comics I discovered came at a pivotal time as I started to make more of my own work and realized it was time to leave super heroes behind.
1). X-MEN #5
By John Byrne & Jim Lee / Marvel Comics, 1992
Made in the twilight of artist Jim Lee’s time at Marvel (before he bolted to co-found Image Comics), X-Men #5 was the first issue of his work that I read. My 12-year old mind raced as I poured over every detail of the cover while riding home in the backseat of my parent’s car. Whole sections of Wolverine’s flesh had been flayed off by Russian baddie Omega Red, exposing his adamantium skeleton. I was hooked. X-Men #5, is one of the reasons I’m still excited by comics to this day.