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. No…

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…

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…

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 fasc…

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 ass…

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…

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 figu…

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 s…

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 histo…

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…

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.…

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 …

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…

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 char…

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 comi…

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 an…

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, …

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…

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 hypn…

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 t…

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 follow…

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 supervi…

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 p…

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 maxiserie…

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 con…

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 fo…

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:…

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…

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 asp…

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…

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 w…

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 short…

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 wh…

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 so…

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 magnifice…

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 eve…

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 g…

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 …

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 st…

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 paire…

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 u…

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 fir…

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 t…

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 voter…

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…