Shelfdust Presents: The Fifty Best #1 Issues: Recent Episodes
Shelfdust
In 2019 Shelfdust counted down the top fifty #1 comic book issues of all time, which you can find here! Now the list is over and we know which issues made the master list, in 2020 invited critic and podcaster Matt Lune to sit down with a different comic critic each week to look at every comic which charted into the top fifty, one issue at a time.
This week it's time to finish out our first season, as we look at the comic which ended up in 1st place: Saga #1 by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples and Fonographiks!
The title should be a clue, but there’s just so much of Saga. This first issue is triple-sized which, yes, is cheating a little. But it’s the only way the series could have started. Nobody is holding back anything. We don’t know... currently... when it’ll come back or how things will finish – but one thing which will never be taken away is how vibrant and wonderous that first issue is. This week Matt welcomes our final guest of the season, Oliver Sava, to talk all about it!
Oliver Sava is a writer, editor and critic who has been published by The AV Club, Vulture, and Polygon. For more, you can find his website here, or you can find him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to dream of a better loving world, as we look at the comic which ended up in 2nd place: Watchmen #1 by Alan Moore, David Gibbons and John Higgins!
Of course we all know everything about Watchmen at this point and then some, being a reimagining of the Charlton superhero characters told across twelve issues. You can see slivers of the original characters within these new shells, but for the most part this is something which not only builds on what came before, but reaches down to shatter the foundations and create something entirely its own and unpredictable. This week special guest Kelly Kanayama joins Matt to talk all about it!
Kelly Kanayama is a writer and comics scholar who is literally writing the book on Garth Ennis. Don’t believe me? Have a look at her Patreon page here! You can also find Kelly on Twitter here, highly recommended.
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week... okay, it looks bad, as we look at the comic which ended up in 3rd place: Hawkeye #1 by Matt Fraction, David Aja, Matt Hollingsworth and Chris Eliopoulos!
Oh, bro, you knew this was going to happen. Hawkeye’s impact remains just as strong today as when it first came out – for a comic which felt like a “moment”, that moment has certainly proven that it can last. Every inch of Hawkeye’s first issue feels like it was meticulously planned for months, but flies by effortlessly. There are so many callbacks and sequential ideas here within the storytelling that it gives the feeling of being a quiver full of arrows – the creative team carefully set up a new arrow to the notch and then send it flying out towards the target. This week Matt is rejoined by special guest Zachary Jenkins to talk all about it!
Zachary Jenkins is the owner and head writer of ComicsXF, covering comics across the whole of the industry. He also hosts Battle of the Atom, a podcast which makes X-Men comics fight one another. You can find the site on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to ascend to godhood, as we look at the comic which ended up in 4th place: The Wicked + The Divine #1 by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matthew Wilson and Clayton Cowles!
WicDiv #1 jump straight onto centrestage to offer a showy performance that looks at myth, iconography, devotion, and idolatry whilst quickly building up a fascinating lead character and a world which understands its high concept whilst offering some modern cynicism and paranoia into the mix. It’s a heady mix of concepts, and you could see things easily falling straight down a trapdoor if it weren’t for the heavy heart that beats behind the light and free dialogue. This week Matt is rejoined by special guest Steve Foxe to talk all about it!
Steve Foxe is writer of CHEAT(ER) CODE, the co-creator and editor of RAZORBLADES: the horror magazine, and the editor of The Department of Truth from Image Comics. He’s also the writer of “Night Train” from TKO and a great number of comics and other books for younger readers. He has contributed to PanelXPanel and used to run Paste Magazine’s comics section. Find him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to ogle some deli food, as we look at the comic which ended up in 5th place: Ms Marvel #1 by G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona, Ian Herring and Joe Caramagna!
Devised by editor Sana Amanat with writer G. Willow Wilson and artist Adrian Alphona, Kamala Khan’s first appearance is immediately appealing and delightful. There’s an assured creative hand guiding her, as well as all the other characters in her world, who are quickly and effectively sketched in by Wilson. We see how Kamala has that superhero gene within her, but also how she differs from any other hero. It’s a dynamic, iconic debut - and this week we're joined by special guest Adrienne Resha to talk all about it!
Adrienne Resha is an academic and comics critic whose work has been seen in Eisner-winning publications like WomenWriteAboutComics and INKS. You can find her on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to pop on the glasses and bumble into trouble, as we look at the comic which ended up in 6th place: All-Star Superman #1 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Jamie Grant and Phil Balsman.
The comic itself radiates with energy, as Quitely creates some wonderful and magnificent pieces, and every page has at least one line of dialogue which feels lasting and memorable. “Only nothing is impossible” says one of the characters, and that feels like the defining thesis of All-Star Superman as a whole. This week Matt is joined by special guest august (in the wake of) dawn to talk all about it!
Please note this podcast was recorded in 2020, and Grant Morrison's pronouns are they/them.
august (in the wake of) dawn is a writer and critic often seen writing for websites like Multiversity, as well as for their Patreon subscribers – you can pledge here! You can also find them on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to do it all again... again, as we look at the comic which ended up in 7th place: X-Men #1 by Chris Claremont, Jim Lee, Scott Williams Jim Rosas and Tom Orzechowski
Announced as “the dawn of a new era!”, the first issue of X-Men by Claremont and Lee changed everything for everyone. The X-Men – who were reassuring soap opera figures – suddenly turned into blunt-force action heroes through the mighty penmanship of Jim Lee. Even as Claremont allowed the characters time to ruminate on their pasts, Lee was dragging them off into the here-and-now, their prickly creative partnership setting off all kinds of problems down the line whilst filling the issue with a taut, wiry energy. This week Claire Napier is back to talk all about it!
Claire Napier is a writer and editor, and has been published by The Guardian, ComicsAlliance, and of course at WomenWriteAboutComics, for which she served as Editor in Chief for several years. You can find her on Twitter here, you can find her website here, and you can buy her comic Dash Dearborne here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to bust out the Freddie Mercury as we look at the comic which ended up in 8th place: Sex Criminals #1 by Matt Fraction, Chip Zdarsky, Becka Kinzie and Drew Gill!
Nobody forgets their first time. Sex Criminals follows only one of the two central characters, Suzie, as it jumps around in her timeline and establishes that whenever she orgasms, she pauses time. Literally, time pauses around her. It's a series about two people who have sex and then commit crimes, sure, but the first issue is a beginner’s guide to sexual experience, told by an engaging lead character and which is more openly compelling and heartfelt then you’d ever expect. This week Matt is rejoined by special guest Samantha Puc to talk all about it!
Samantha Puc has bylines at The Beat, Rogues Portal and Bustle, amongst many others. She can be found on Twitter here, and you can visit her website here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to meet the second generation as we look at the comic which ended up in 9th place: Giant-Size X-Men #1 by Len Wein, Dave Cockrum, Peter Iro, Glynis Wein and John Constanza.
With this issue Len Wein and Dave Cockrum essentially created the X-Men Franchise, one of the longest-running and most compelling stories in comic book history. Giant Size X-Men saw the original X-Men characters trapped on a mystical, treacherous island – forcing Professor Xavier to recruit a new team of heroes to try and rescue his students. That led to the arrival of iconic characters like Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus to the series, alongside a return for Wein’s creation Wolverine. And it also leads to the arrival of Rosie Knight, this week's special guest on the show!
Rosie Knight’s writing on comics has been seen absolutely everywhere! Nerdist, WomenWriteAboutComics, The MNT, Hollywood Reporter, IGN. You can find her website here.
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to draw up a salt circle as we look at the comic which ended up in 10th place: Sandman #1 by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Robbie Busch and Todd Klein!
Told across decades, the first issue of Neil Gaiman’s revelatory series details the capture and imprisonment of Dream, one of the Endless People who control the minds and hopes of mankind. Joined by Sam Kieth, Gaiman tells a compulsive, contorted story which dwells on the details of craftmanship: the effort that goes into creating magic has never been so painstakingly put together before, and it results in a mesmeric issue which immediately draws readers into its world. This week Matt is joined by special guest Kayleigh Hearn to talk all about it!
Kayleigh Hearn is the comics reviews editor for WomenWriteAbout Comics, and has written for publications including The MNT and Deadshirt. You can drop some money in her Ko-Fi account right here, and follow her on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to prepare for the world that's coming, as we look at the comic which ended up in 11th place: OMAC #1 by Jack Kirby, Jerry Serpe and Michael Royer!
Jack Kirby’s series was designed to be a vision of the future – but not even the King could’ve realised how darkly accurate he was when he set about creating the first issue of OMAC. Kirby’s paranoia was meant to be overt and shocking, but now it simply feels prescient and unsettling – how did he know this would all start to come to life? Because he's the King, that's why! And this week Matt is joined by special guest Graeme McMillan to talk all about it!
Graeme McMillan is a writer for the Hollywood Reporter, Wired and Playboy, as well as being one half of the Wait, What? podcast. He can be found on twitter here.
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to pack up our bags and head off for Freshers Week as we look at the comic which ended up in 12th place: Giant Days #1 by John Allison, Lissa Treiman, Whitney Cogar and Jim Campbell!
John Allison’s self-published Giant Days books may have seemed an unlikely candidate for a shiny series from BOOM! Studios, but the first issue of the ongoing series proved to be a perfect fit for the publisher. Bringing in cartoonist Lissa Treiman to handle the artwork brought fabulous life to each of the three girls at the heart of the series, living together at Sheffield University. And this week Matt is rejoined by our Giant Days Annotator - Claire Napier is on the show this week to talk all about it!
Claire Napier is a writer and editor, and has been published by The Guardian, ComicsAlliance, and of course at WomenWriteAboutComics, for which she served as Editor in Chief for several years. You can find her on Twitter here, you can find her website here, and you can buy her comic Dash Dearborne here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's CLOBBERIN' TIME!!!! as we look at the comic which ended up in 13th place: Fantastic Four #1 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, George Klein, Christopher Rule, Stan Goldberg and Artie Simek!
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby defined superhero comics forever with this issue, introducing four heroes whose simple powers belied the complex world which was to come. Kirby is having fun with the issue – especially his design for The Thing, which is a classic part of American comics – and Lee does his standard thing, corny dialogue and basic personalities. Is it actually good, though? This week, Matt is joined by special guest J.A. Micheline to talk all about it... be prepared!
J. A. Micheline has written for most of your favourite comics outlets, including The MNT, ComicsAlliance, The Guardian, WomenWriteAboutComics, and many more. She’s also a doctor! You can find her on Twitter here.
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to throw off the strait jacket, as we look at the comic which ended up in 14th place: Y: The Last Man #1 by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, José Marzan, Jr, Pamela Rambo and Clem Robins!
Many people would hail Y: The Last Man as the definitive “#1” comic book issue. It’s easy to see why: it’s structure jumps from character to character with absolute grace, giving the reader everything they need to know about every single person who appears. The rest of the series continues in a love-it-or-hate-it fashion, but the first issue is a snappy, assured debut which offered something different to anything else in comics at the time. How does that issue hold up today, though? Matt spoke to special guest C.P. Hoffman all about it!
C.P. Hoffman has written extensively about comics online, including for WomenWriteAboutComics, CBR, Nerdist, and The MNT. A Staff Attorney & Pro Bono Coordinator at FreeState Justice, you can also find them on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to wake up in a strangely empty hospital, as we look at the comic which ended up in 15th place: The Walking Dead #1 by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore!
Rick Grimes, the standard protagonist, is a police officer who gets shot in the line of duty. When he wakes up from a coma, the world is full of zombies. That’s it, that’s the comic! But that early jump in time means everything for the narrative: Rick enters the world and has to adapt to it at the same time as the reader, giving a different sense of depth to his desperate struggle for survival. It’s a strongly told yet simple story, and all the more effective for it. To take a closer look, this week Matt is rejoined by special guest Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou!
Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou is an Eisner-winning writer, critic, vlogger (and comic book letterer) equally known as the host of his Youtube series Strip Panel Naked, as well as the creator, editor, and designer of PanelXPanel, a monthly digital comics magazine. You can find him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to FIGHT FOR EARTH!!, as we look at the comic which ended up in 16th place: New Gods #1 by Jack Kirby, Vince Coletta, and John Constanza.
New Gods explodes straight towards the reader right from the start, a burst of cosmic energy which arrives fully-formed and ready for war. The comic introduces a dazzling number of concepts and characters, each of whom seem to have a long and intensive past which only gets briefly revealed before the story moves on to the next. This week Matt is joined by guest Paul Lai to talk all about it!
Paul Lai is a comics scholar, critic and podcaster who hosts the Comics Syllabus podcast for Multiversity Comics. You can also find him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to get super-distracted from our schoolwork, as we look at the comic which ended up in 17th place: Ultimate Spider-Man #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, Art Thibert, Steve Buccellato and Richard Starkings.
Although it now looks gleefully dated to the time it was made, Ultimate Spider-Man #1 remains a breath of fresh air, especially against the deliberately edgy or provocative books which made up the rest of the Ultimate line. Here we get a perfectly charming take on the classic story, with new patter from Bendis and fast-paced art from Bagley which gives you everything you already know, but in a way you didn’t realise you wanted. This week Matt is rejoined by special guest Christian Hoffer to talk all about it!
Christian Hoffer is the co-host of A Wild Podcast Has Appeared, and writes extensively for Comic Book dot com, where he focuses on Pokemon, tabletop games, and more. You can find his writing here, and follow him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to find out about the secret lives of our evil parents, as we look at the comic which ended up in 18th place: Runaways #1 by Brian K. Vaughan, Adrian Alphona, David Newbold, Brian Reber and Paul Tutrone!
Runaways follows a group of kids whose parents throw a party each year: after spending time introducing each family separately, Vaughan’s script then hurls the very different children together into an awkward, tentative group as they wait for their parents’ private meal to finish. When they get bored and go eavesdrop, however, it leads to a massive surprise at the end – something you wouldn’t have expected to happen in a Marvel comic. Luckily, this week Matt is joined by special guest Adrienne Resha to talk all about it!
Adrienne Resha is an academic and comics critic whose work has been seen in Eisner-winning publications like WomenWriteAboutComics and INKS. You can find her on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to feel sad across the course of nine panels as we look at the comic which ended up in 19th place: Mister Miracle #1 by Tom King, Mitch Gerads and Clayton Cowles!
Mister Miracle is a deeply curious comic, the product of Tom King and Mitch Gerads presumably having several very late nights with little sleep. There’s something hypnotic and mesmerising about the opening of the maxiseries in particular, a dark and worrying piece which follows the New Gods as they head into their next inevitable chapter. Scott Free is the focus of course, but the book lines up memorable appearances from Kirby’s other creations – Barda, Orion, Highfather – who all make up part of the grand woozy tapestry here. This week Matt is joined by THE GODFATHER Christian Hoffer to talk all about it!
Christian Hoffer is the co-host of A Wild Podcast Has Appeared, and writes extensively for Comic Book dot com, where he focuses on Pokemon, tabletop games, and more. You can find his writing here, and follow him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to teach Guy Gardner a lesson, as we look at the comic which ended up in 20th place: Justice League #1 by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, Terry Austin, Gene D’Angelo and Bob Lappan!
You can tell there’s going to be trouble from the moment Justice League begins. This was a different approach to superheroes, letting them be fun and funny characters first and turning their lives into a daily routine of heroism. They go to a job, assess a situation, and act on it: or rather, Batman does all of that, and the rest of the team begrudgingly go along. Or do they? This week Matt is joined by special guest (and Guy Gardner's mom) Chloe Maveal to talk all about it!
Chloe Maveal has written all over the comics internet – including pieces published by Polygon, WomenWriteAboutComics and The MNT. Chloe’s also the Culture Editor-at-Large for The Gutter Review. You can find them on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to jump onboard the floating Batmobile, as we look at the comic which ended up in 21st place: Batman & Robin #1 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Alex Sinclair and Pat Brosseau!
A burst of vibrant energy following some fairly dark and sinister storylines, Batman & Robin harkened back to the brightest times of Batman as it followed Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne's new adventures. The elements of melodrama and suspense present from Morrison’s previous run are still in place to an extent, but the story has swivelled round to give them a more comical, over-the-top spirit. It’s a really entertaining comic, and just the thing that the Batman franchise needed at that time. This week Matt is joined by special guest Nola Pfau to talk all about it!
Please note this podcast was recorded in 2020, and Grant Morrison's pronouns are they/them.
Nola Pfau is the Editor-in-Chief for WomenWriteAboutComics, as well as a frequent contributor to the site as a writer – for more of their writing, check out the work under their byline. You can also find Nola on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to clock in for the day shift, as we look at the comic which ended up in 22nd place: Gotham Central #1 by Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, Noelle Giddings and Willie Schubert!
It’s almost a running joke by now that the Gotham Central Police are hapless to the point of being completely irrelevant – particularly when supervillains get involved in matters. But what Gotham Central did was take that concept and apply it to real people, who were tired, underfunded, and working day-to-day in situations which could result in their deaths at any moment. It's a hugely tense series as a result - but luckily Osvaldo Oyola is back this week to talk it all through with us!
Osvaldo posts his thoughts (and those of guest writers) on popular culture, race, and gender on The Middle Spaces, focusing on popular music and comic books. You can find him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it's time to pedal through time, as we look at the comic which ended up in 23rd place: Paper Girls #1 by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matthew Wilson and Jared K. Fletcher!
Paper Girls is exactly what it says it is, but also so much more, following four young women as they cycle their morning paper route, hurling newspapers onto every porch. As they go about their path, however, Chiang inserts unexpected and surreal twists into proceedings in such a way that you can’t quite tell everything that’s going on, or why it’s happening the way it is. Vaughan doesn’t neglect character for quirk, however, and the four girls at the heart of the series have a warm and witty rapport - and this week we're joined by special guest Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou to talk all about it!
Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou is an Eisner-winning writer, critic, vlogger (and comic book letterer) equally known as the host of his Youtube series Strip Panel Naked, as well as the creator, editor, and designer of PanelXPanel, a monthly digital comics magazine. You can find him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week we're keeping a close eye on the new neighbours, as we look at the comic which ended up in 24th place: The Vision #1 by Tom King, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Jordie Bellaire and Clayton Cowles!
Who would’ve thought that Vision could prove to be the lead for a dark and unnerving Marvel series? Well, Tom King made his name on writing maxiseries, and The Vision has the benefit of having Gabriel Hernandez-Walta on art – a hugely talented penciller whose work, coupled with Jordie Bellaire’s colours, created a sombre tone which would help inform the characters and their world. This week Matt is rejoined by Tiffany Babb to talk all about the first issue!
Tiffany Babb is a writer, poet and comics critic based in New York whose work has been featured in Panel x Panel as well as Women Write About Comics. You can find more from her on her website here, and follow her on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is also a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week we're pretending our tragic past didn't actually happen, as we look at the comic which ended up in 25th place: Daredevil #1 by Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera, Marcos Martin, Joe Rivera, Javier Rodriguez, Muntsa Vicente and Joe Caramagna.
For several years there was a contest to see who could write the most miserable life for Matt Murdock – a contest which was only broken with the arrival of Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin to a rebooted series in 2011. They changed things round with a bouncy, life-loving Daredevil, who fought brighter villains and had a brand new outlook on life. This week Matt is joined by special guest Steve Lacey to talk all about it!
Steve Lacey is a critic and podcaster, best known as co-host of The Fantasticast. You can find him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is also a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week we're reluctantly leaving our cave to revisit the comic which reached 26th place: Transmetropolian #1 by Warren Ellis, Darick Robertson, Nathan Eyring and Clem Robins.
Angry, bitter, and politically charged, Transmetropolitan follows reformed journalist Spider Jerusalem as he's forced to return to the Big City so he can trade his words for money - and then trade that money for various psychotropics and whatever else he wants. It's a comic which has a lot to say about a lot of things, and barely finds room for the endless tirades it needs to unload on readers. To talk all about it, Matt is rejoined this week by special guest Kelly Kanayama!
Please note: this episode was recorded prior to So Many Of Us, which we would urge you to visit.
Kelly Kanayama is a writer and comics scholar who is literally writing the book on Garth Ennis. Don’t believe me? Have a look at her Patreon page here! You can also find Kelly on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week we're heading across to an island paradise, to look at the comic which ended up in 27th place: House of X #1 by Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia and Clayton Cowles.
When it debuted House of X immediately stood out as an issue which people will be talking about (and re-reading) for years. It set out not only to define the X-Men: but to rebuild what they’ve always been. The result is an actually uncanny narrative telling us where the X-Men have now gone, and who they have become, and what their goal is. To talk all about it, this week Matt is joined by special guest Steve Foxe!
Steve Foxe is a writer, editor and critic, having worked as the comics editor for Paste and written for publications including PanelxPanel. Check his Paste byline here for his most recent pieces, and find him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week we rise up from our miserable grave to look at the comic which ended up in 28th place: Immortal Hulk #1 by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy José, Paul Mounts and Cory Petit!
In The Immortal Hulk, when Bruce Banner dies, Hulk rises at night to take vengeance. The opening issue provides a straightforward example of that, as a botched robbery sees Bruce take a bullet to the head – and an innocent bystander killed in the process. Hulk rises up to seek out the people responsible and gain a measure of justice. This week Matt is joined by special guest Colin Bell – no stranger to the experience of clawing out of a grave and seeking vengeance – to talk all about it!
Colin Bell is a reformed comics critic turned writer and letterer, best known for his work on the creator-owned Dungeon Fun/Pirate Fun comics series with Neil Slorance. For more from Colin, you can find him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week brings politics into our superhero comics, as we look at the comic which ended up in 29th place: Ex Machina #1 by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, Tom Feister, J. D. Mettler and Jared K. Fletcher.
The first issue of Ex Machina doesn’t let up for a second as it follows the career path of Mitchell Hundred as he goes from civil engineer to aspiring superhero and then into the role of Mayor of New York. There’s time for every character to get a bit of time with Vaughan and Harris’ lead, which allows them to deepen just as Hundred himself does across each new scene. We’re rejoined by special guest Heidi MacDonald this week to talk all about it!
Heidi “The Boss” MacDonald has been in comics criticism for over 20 years, and is the founder and Editor in Chief of The Beat. She’s also one of the hosts of the PW Comics World: More To Come comics podcast. You can find here on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week brings us a whole new superhero universe, as we look at the comic which ended up in 30th place: Astro City #1 by Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, Steve Buccellato and Richard Starkings.
The first issue of the series explores a single day in the life of a hero, but through the adventures and rescues sits a beautiful character study which would go on to become the definitive voice of the series: every single person in this world is rounded and thoughtful, and over time the creative team would move on to explore each of them in turn. Matt is joined this week by critic (and actual Doctor) J. A. Micheline to talk all about the first hero, Samaritan, and his role in this first issue!
J. A. Micheline has written for most of your favourite comics outlets, including The MNT, ComicsAlliance, The Guardian, WomenWriteAboutComics, and many more. She’s also a doctor! You can find her on Twitter here. =
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week brings us the perfect comic for 2020, and one which ended up in 31st place: Crowded #1 by Christopher Sebela, Ted Brandt & Ro Stein, Triona Farrell and Cardinal Rae.
The first issue of Crowded – about a crowdfunding app which allows people to hire assassins to take out people they don’t like – runs on cheap coffee and cigarettes, with a wiry, spiky energy which propels its mismatched characters into a gonzo world filled with high adrenaline and constant paranoia. It’s the comic of the time, in many respects, with the nervous tics thrust into the story by Sebela matched and ramped up into cartoonish – yet empathetic form – by the artistic team. Alex Lu returns to the podcast to talk all about it!
Alexander Lu is the new soul of modern-day New York City. He can be found on twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week brings us the best comic of all time which ended up in 32nd place: Love & Rockets #1 by Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez.
Los Bros Hernandez are regarded as two of the greatest cartoonists of all time, and although a little rougher, you can see their style showing through in this very early work from the pair. There are several different shorts in the issue, but of perhaps most note is the start of the long-running characters Maggie and Hopey, who would go on to become two of the most enduring and beloved creations in comics history. Forward thinking and subversive, there was no doubt that Love & Rockets was going to appear in this list. This week we’re joined by Osvaldo Oyola to discuss it!
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Osvaldo posts his thoughts (and those of guest writers) on popular culture, race, and gender on The Middle Spaces, focusing on popular music and comic books. You can find him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week brings us four young ninjas who are also turtles, as we look at the comic in 33rd place: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and Steve Lavigne.
One of the most unexpected success stories in comics started off with four turtles, some mysterious chemicals, and a surly rat. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is exactly what it says it is, only far darker than anyone might have predicted for a comic with that title. Originally intended as a pastiche on several other comics published at the time, the first issue instead caught the mood of a nation – and the television and toy industries – and turned a silly one-off issue into a mega-franchise which made the careers of both Eastman and Laird. This week Matt is rejoined by Sara Century to talk about the issue!
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Sara Century is an artist, writer, and filmmaker, among other things. She’s the co-founder of the Queer Spec publishing company and its anthology Decoded Pride as well as being a cohost of the podcast Bitches On Comics. Check her website for more or follow her on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it’s time to bring in the A-Listers, as we look at the issue which reached 34th place: JLA #1 by Grant Morrison, Howard Porter, John Dell, Pat Garrahy and Ken Lopez.
That creative team played into every dream about each character and let them all feel powerful or inspiring in their own way, rather than trying to beat them down or offer some kind of subversive take. Batman was the smartest man in the world; Superman the most considerate; Wonder Woman was powerful and sharp ; Green Lantern was the everyman. And in the first issue? A new team suddenly appeared as well… apparently a step forward, if a little shady. It gave the creators a chance to show just why people should care about the JLA again. This week Matt is joined by special guest Graeme McMillan to talk all about it!
Please note this podcast was recorded in 2020, and Grant Morrison's pronouns are they/them.
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Graeme McMillan is a writer for the Hollywood Reporter, Wired and Playboy, as well as being one half of the Wait, What? podcast. He can be found on twitter here.
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it’s time to pop on a trenchcoat and demand some coffee, as we look at the issue which reached 35th place: Planetary #1 by Warren Ellis, John Cassaday, Laura Martin and Bill O’Neil.
Planetary sees a team of exceptional pricks working together to save the world from unbearable pricks. It’s a specifically Ellis sort of story, with magnificent bastards lording it across one another through judicious use of one-liners, pinned together by Cassaday’s sturdy character and frequent use of decompression. It’s a comic where every beat lands with exact precision, and each character is thinking ten steps ahead. To talk more about the issue, this week Matt is joined by special guest Heidi MacDonald!
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Heidi “The Boss” MacDonald has been in comics criticism for over 20 years, and is the founder and Editor in Chief of The Beat. She’s also one of the hosts of the PW Comics World: More To Come comics podcast. You can find here on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week brings us a hard-hitting exploitation series which reached 36th place: Bitch Planet #1 by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Valentine de Landro, Cris Peter and Clayton Cowles.
There isn’t a moment for readers to breathe in Bitch Planet. The opening issue understands that readers will get what’s going on, and so it spends its pages making sure that every incident has purpose rather than trying to catch them up with exposition and introduction. When a new batch of women are sent to a “facility” on another planet for being “non-compliant”, we see them try to resist immediately, only to be shut down frequently. This week Matt is joined by special guest Tiffany Babb to take a closer look into the issue!
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Tiffany Babb is a writer, poet and comics critic based in New York whose work has been featured in Panel x Panel as well as Women Write About Comics. You can find more from her on her website here, and follow her on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week brings us THE REIGNING DEFENDING UNDISPUTED UNIVERSAL CHAMPION, who reached 37th place: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1by Ryan North, Erica Henderson, Rico Renzi and Clayton Cowles.
Okay, so you might be cynical about Unbeatable Squirrel Girl making it into this list: but that’s what Squirrel Girl is all about, isn’t it? The first issue gives us a Squirrel Girl who is suddenly the most realistic superhero in all of comics: a nice, charming girl whose capacity for understanding and empathy gives her the ability to stop any villain in their tracks. The fundamental warmth of the series radiates out straight from the first issue, and this week we’re joined by special guest Sara Century to talk all about it!
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Sara Century is an artist, writer, and filmmaker, among other things. She’s the co-founder of the Queer Spec publishing company and its anthology Decoded Pride as well as being a cohost of the podcast Bitches On Comics. Check her website for more or follow her on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week brings a bunch of armed weirdos in a van as we look at the comic which came in 38th place: Copra #1 by Michel Fiffe.
“Inspired” by Suicide Squad, Copra is an action comic with the unmistakable hand of Michel Fiffe on the accelerator. The first issue sets up all the hallmarks of the series as it continues onwards: the gleeful chaos of the fight sequences, the death tally, the attachment to the characters. It also keeps the reader guessing throughout, unsure who is going to make it out alive or how the more eccentric aspects of the story are going to resolve themselves. Chase Magnett joined us to talk about Suicide Squad a few weeks ago: he joins us again to talk about Copra!
Chase Magnett is a writer and academic, as well as the Reviews Editor for Comic Book dot com. You can find him on Twitter here and on his blog here! His dog Tetra is the world’s greatest dog.
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week brings a dark look at power and corruption, as we look at the comic which came in 39th place: Monstress #1 by Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda and Rus Wooton.
The first issue of Monstress offers a clever trick for readers: it shows them everything, and then reveals that there’s far more to “everything” than they could have ever predicted. The story revolves around a young girl called Maika, who is sold as a slave to wealthy masters – only to then turn the tables entirely on them. To find out more about the issue, Matt Lune was joined by special guest Samantha Puc!
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Samantha Puc is the comics editor for CBR, and has bylines at The Beat, Rogues Portal and Bustle, amongst many others. She can be found on Twitter here, and you can visit her website here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week brings a psychedelic revolution, as we look at the comic which came in 40th place: The Invisibles #1 by Grant Morrison, Steve Yeowell, Daniel Vozzo and Clem Robins.
Following their time together on Zenith, readers could be forgiven for thinking that they knew what to expect from the team of Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell when they paired again for a new series at Vertigo. Yet whilst that sense of political subversion continues onwards from their earlier work, The Invisibles is far more forceful than anybody could have predicted. It’s at once a celebration of anarchy and an attack on the dulling down of society, and Matt is joined by special guest august (in the wake of) dawn to talk all about it!
Please note this podcast was recorded in 2020, and Grant Morrison's pronouns are they/them.
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august (in the wake of) dawn is a writer and critic often seen writing for websites like Multiversity, as well as for their Patreon subscribers – you can pledge here! You can also find them on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it’s a high-octane apocalypse, as we look at the comic which came in 41st place: Akira #1 by Katsuhiro Otomo.
Akira is set in a post-apocalyptic future, a world where a bomb was dropped in the 90s which resulted in the outbreak of World War III. Years on from that point, and the story kicks off in high gear before somehow ramping things up to move faster and faster in an exhilarating and combustible rush of an opening. Akira is many things, but the start is just pure adrenaline – and so is this week’s guest, as Matt is joined by Rosie Knight!
Rosie Knight’s writing on comics has been seen absolutely everywhere! Nerdist, WomenWriteAboutComics, The MNT, Hollywood Reporter, IGN. You can find Rosie's website here.
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week it’s time to clear up some of the mess left behind by superheroes, as we look at the comic which came in 42nd place: Damage Control #1 by Dwayne McDuffie, Ernie Colon, Bob Wiacek, John Wellington and Ed King.
Damage Control are a group who tidy up messes and repair the rubble after superheroes and villains have left the scene, and the first issue of the first Damage Control miniseries gives them a unique challenge: a giant robot collapsed in the streets of New York. And, uh… Spider-Man may be trapped inside? The rest of the Avengers may have run off after the next villain, but it’s up to Damage Control to rescue webhead and sort out the mess that’s been left behind. Following the destruction is Al Kennedy, who returns to the show for this week’s episode!
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Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their favourite Terry Pratchett novels. He’s also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here.
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week is an emotional one as we look at the issue which came in 43rd place: We3 #1 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Jamie Grant and Todd Klein.
The three-part miniseries follows three domestic pets escape from a military base where they’ve been experimented on by a sinister agency, who’ve grafted high-tech weaponry onto them. With everything they thought they knew about the kindness of their owners gone, the trio – a dog, a cat an a rabbit – try to find the best way to go home. But what is home? If you’ve read the series (or Chase Magnett’s essay for Shelfdust about the issue) then you’ll know… and you’ll already have your hankies at the ready. That’ll certainly be the case for Matt, who this week is joined by special guest Chloe Maveal to talk about the issue!
Please note this podcast was recorded in 2020, and Grant Morrison's pronouns are they/them.
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Chloe Maveal has written for Publishers Weekly, Women Write About Comics and CBR. They're passionate about kindness, queerness, and ranting about good boys with superpowers. Find Chloe on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week things get gritty as we look at the issue which came in 44th place: The Question #1 by Dennis O’Neil, Denys Cowan, Rick Magyar, Tatjana Wood and Gaspar Saladino.
If you like noir you’ll be in your element here, with a distinctly of-its-time first issue which sets up the story of vigilante Vic Sage (aka The Question) as a precarious stack of dominos, which then inevitably start to collapse into one another. Things go wrong very very quickly, and despite the machismo and bravado which runs violently through the entire issue, Vic’s life goes downhill in swift and brutal fashion. But there’s so much more to the comic than just the final few pages and a great cliffhanger, and Matt is joined by special guest David Brothers (4thLetter, ComicsAlliance) to take a much deeper dive into the world of The Question!
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David Brothers is fate’s cold breath upon your shoulder. You can find a listing of all his work past and present over on his site here, and follow him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week we celebrate the death of the Marvel Universe as we look at the issue which came in 45th place: Secret Wars #1 by Jonathan Hickman, Esad Ribic, Ive Svorcina and Chris Eliopoulos.
Jonathan Hickman had been writing the Avengers for years by the time he reached the first issue of this massive crossover event for Marvel, and he promptly uses the spotlight to… destroy the Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Universe at the same time. Who gets out? Who falls in the final fight? And who sits back with a nice tall glass of champagne and watches it all happen? This week our special guest is Zachary Jenkins from CXF and Battle of the Atom, who joins Matt to talk about the end of the world!
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Zachary Jenkins is the owner and head writer of ComicsXF, covering comics across the whole of the industry. He also hosts Battle of the Atom, a podcast which makes X-Men comics fight one another. You can find the site on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week we turn to the comic which came in at 47th in our list: Daytripper #1 by Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá, Dave Stewart and Sean Konot.
Daytripper is a complicated series as a whole, with each issue following a different path which lead character Bras de Oliva Domingos could take through life – and how each path will eventually lead to a different ending for him. It’s a heady series, and the first issue tells a taut and high-pressure story of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s a fantastic first issue, but there’s a hell of a lot to say about it. Thank goodness for writer and editor Alex Lu, then, who joins us this week to say it all!
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Alexander Lu is the new soul of modern-day New York City. He can be found on twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week we turn to the comic which came in at 47th in our list: Suicide Squad #1 by John Ostrander, Luke McDonnell, Karl Kesel, Carl Gafford and Todd Klein.
It’s an incredible concept: the US Government tell a group of super-villains that if they assist on black-ops missions, they will help commute their sentences in the long-run. If they follow orders and get the job done, they’ll be out of prison sooner: but if they break any of their rules, they’ll be assassinated immediately. And if they die on the mission? They’ll be written off as terrorists, without the Government’s awareness. It’s a politically-charged opening for a brilliant series, and this week Matt is joined by Comic Book dot com’s Reviews Editor Chase Magnett to go over it!
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Chase Magnett is a writer and academic, as well as the Reviews Editor for Comic Book dot com. You can find him on Twitter here and on his blog here! His dog Tetra is the world’s greatest dog.
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week we turn to the comic which came in at 48th in our list: The Dark Knight Returns #1 by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, Lynn Varley, and John Constanza.
Hold on just a moment. That’s THE The Dark Knight Returns, one of the most important and influential comics ever made, by one of the most incredible creative teams assembled anywhere in comics history. And it’s only at position #48 in our list? Clearly we need somebody to investigate what’s going on – and who better than ScreenRex’s Kyle Pinion?
Kyle Pinion is the Entertainment Editor for The Beat, and along with Hannah Lodge runs ScreenRex, a terrific website about movies. You can find him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
This week we turn to the comic which came in at 49th in our list: Sailor Moon #1, by Naoko Takeuchi.
Matt spoke with writer and critic Kayleigh Hearn about the first chapter of the series. There are only two Manga entries in the list as a whole – why is that? And of all the comics out there, why was it Sailor Moon which found support from our voters when they were compiling their lists? Kayleigh talks about all that and more.
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Kayleigh Hearn is the comics reviews editor for WomenWriteAbout Comics, and has written for publications including The MNT and Deadshirt. You can drop some money in her Ko-Fi account right here, and follow her on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!
In 2019 Shelfdust counted down the top fifty #1 comic book issues of all time, which you can find here! Now the list is over and we know which issues made the master list, we’ve invited critic and podcaster Matt Lune to sit down with a different comic critic each week to look at every comic which charted into the top fifty, one issue at a time.
Our first comic in the list is Thunderbolts #1 by Kurt Busiek, Mark Bagley, Vince Russell, Joe Rosas and Comicraft, which charted in 50th place. Wait, but isn’t that really low down for such an important and well-regarded first issue? Matt spoke with critic, podcaster, and Thunderbolts-appreciator Al Kennedy (House to Astonish; Desert Island Discworld) to take a closer look at the issue; if it should’ve ranked higher up in the list; and how that twist hits readers today.
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Al Kennedy is the host of podcasts House to Astonish and Desert Island Discworld, in which he sits down with special guests to talk about their work, their career, and the Terry Pratchett novel they would take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. He’s also been a featured writer for Shelfdust, and you can find his byline here! For more from Al, you can follow him on Twitter here and follow Desert Island Discworld on Twitter here.
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!