Also, spies are apparently in vogue, and I would have never predicted an Archie title on my list.
1. VELVET (Brubaker/Epting)
Atmospheric Cold War-thriller set in the British circus of LeCarre and Deighton, but in this spy game the female is far deadlier than the male.
2. VISION (King/Walta), OMEGA MEN (King/Bagenda)
Using disparate frameworks of AI superheroes and compromised cosmic rebels, these stories weave together themes of family, violence, and loss.
2.1 The explanation of P Versus NP in VISION is a quiet little masterwork of storytelling all on its own.
3. MOCKINGBIRD (Cain/Niemczyk)
A hilariously self-conscious feminist update of a C-list superhero structured as a non-linear puzzle box. Funny and timely, it deserved better than it got.
4. GRAYSON (King/Seeley)
5. MIDNIGHTER, MIDNIGHTER & APOLLO (Orlando/ACO/Blanco)
GRAYSON perfects a Prisoner meets Bond take on Batman's bestie, while MIDNIGHTER mixes exploded panels and slipstream sci-fi into a Tinder hookup. The results shouldn't work (or crossover) as well as they do, but both are immensely fun.
6. CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA (Aguirre-Sacasa/Hack)
Straight-up the best horror comic I read this year, mixing a heady blend of ROSEMARY'S BABY and THE WITCH into a coming-of-age story with legitimately dark consequences.
7. I AM A HERO (Hanazawa)
Epic but surprisingly personal zombie manga about the titular antihero battling monsters real and imagined. Skillful action storytelling freighted with a downbeat, strange vibe.
8. MULTIVERSITY (Morrison/Quitely/Reis/Lee)
A graffiti of colorful and confusing hypertextual ideas gleefully slathered all over the walls of superhero continuity.
9. MS. MARVEL (Wilson/Alphona)
I was late to the party on this one, but it's got an enormous heart and witty storytelling to match.
A minor note in the saga of the Locke family, but skillfully executed and adding some more twists to the nature of Keyhouse Manor.
RELIABLE FAVORITES:
GIRL GENIUS (Foglios)
BLACK SCIENCE (Remender/Scalera)
SAGA (Vaughn/Staples)
Hilarious, horrible, and touching. Which pretty much covers life in 2017.