It has been one hell of a year already for Image Comics. Along with flagship titles like Walking Dead and Saga, the publisher has been providing top-notch entertainment in every genre imaginable. With five months left to go, let’s take a look at five of Image’s best in 2017 so far.
Extremity
Series creator/writer/artist, Daniel Warren Johnson, is making quite a name for himself in the comic book industry. He and colorist Mike Spicer have created one of the most gruesome and iconic worlds in comic books today.
Extremity begins as a story of revenge and quickly evolves into so much more. In just six issues, readers have been through a fleet of emotional meat grinders with these characters.
The series is one of the most unique visual experiences in the medium. Every issue is loaded with carnage and violence on such a grand scale, while maintaining its heart and still proudly wearing it on its sleeve. Every character, creature, weapon, ensignia, and vehicle is iconic and memorable.
Black Science
The sci-fi masterpiece by Rick Remender and Matteo Scalera is coming to a close. Having just reached its thirtieth issue, there are only ten remaining.
While that is awful for fans of the series, it has also significantly amped up the book. The four issues that came out this year have lived up to Remender’s promise of a strong finish. Stakes are higher than ever for Grant McKay and his fellow dimensionauts.
Black Science is one of the best modern sci-fi comics and it keeps getting better. Remender and Scalera prove with every issue how important creative teams are. The chemistry on display each month is something you don’t see at Marvel or DC anymore, especially not for forty issues.
Grant McKay and his Anarchist League of Scientists unleashed the dangers of interdimensional travel upon the world. It will be a sad day for all of us when it’s over.
The Old Guard
This is a quieter title for Image, by Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernandez. A group of soldiers cursed with immortality are finding it hard to keep their secret in the 21st century.
An interesting take on a familiar theme, The Old Guard has kept readers on their toes. Starring a strong female lead unlike any other, the cast of this book is so fleshed out and real that every bit of betrayal makes your heart skip a beat.
Rucka is delivering an unforgettable and fresh story that never goes where you expect it to. Fernandez, and colorist Daniela Miwa, accent Rucka’s vision perfectly and in a magnificently vibrant style.
Redneck
Writer Donny Cates is on fire at Image this year. God Country was a massively triumphant mini-series, but he didn’t stop there. Cates and artist Lisandro Estherren get spooky down south.
Redneck is a spectacular vampire comic about a family of hillbilly blood suckers that run a barbecue joint and live off of cow blood. Through four issues, this has been a very different take on the classic horror creatures. It’s also as far away from Trueblood as it can possibly be.
A down and dirty book that looks at vampires from a totally different angle, it’s a breath of fresh air for the genre and mythos. This is a world we’re going to want to explore for a long while.
Kill Or Be Killed
This Eisner-nominated series from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips is a non-stop thrill ride. A young man down on his luck is forced by a demon to kill people to keep himself alive.
Every page is pulse pounding, no other comic carries tension from issue to issue like Kill Or Be Killed. Brubaker has a way of convincing the reader to drop his guard along with the character, only to be taken by surprise again and again.
Stories about demons and deals and all that are a dime a dozen these days. If you’re only going to pay attention to one, make sure it’s Kill Or Be Killed, you won’t regret it.
Which Image comics are your top five? Let us know in the comments below!
