Top 10 Best Comics

I love comics, all kind of comics. Give me a manga, an american comic, or a franco-belgian comic, I'll love it if it is good. Here is my list of my top 10 favorite comics, SPOILER WARNING:

10) Deathnote
Written by: Oba Tsugumi
Illustrated by: Obata Takeshi
Meet Light Yagami, a bored genius. His life was totally changed when he found a "Deathnote": a book which kills anyone whose name written on it, if that name was written when the writer pictured the correct face of the owner's. He swore that he would get rid of evil from this world, so he write the name of all evil people on that book. He became "Kira," the "God" who kill all "evil" anywhere on earth without any difficulty.

Meet "L" the best detective on the world. He was so good that he could pinpoint "Kira" to Tokyo only with one publicity stunt, without any knowledge about Deathnote, its power and its limitation. He swore that he would capture Kira and send him to the gallows.

"Kira" and "L" were caught in a battle of wits, the first one who discover the other's identity live, the other one died.

With 2 main characters and story like that, WHAT CAN GO WRONG?

And hell yeah, the story is captivating and you definitely will believe that both "Kira" and "L" are genius. Forget all other detective story like Detective Conan, Sherlock Holmes, etc., this is simply THE BEST detective story ever written.

So ... why Deathnote only got #10 position? Because the comic lost its magic after the first half. And another reason is ... because the other 9 comics here are even far more awesome than this one.

9) Ranma 1/2

Written & Illustrated by: Takahashi Rumiko
This comic is the story about Ranma Saotome, a man who will turn into woman if he were splashed with cold water. He turn back into a man if he were splashed with hot water. This happened because he tripped into a magic pond during his kungfu training.

Oh yeah, his father, friends, brides wannabe and rivals also tripped into other ponds and turned into other creatures if they were splashed with cold water. The jokes came not only from the fact that they changed form when they got splashed. For example, there is a story when Ranma mistakenly open the cover of a magic mirror ... bringing a clone of his female version to the world.

This comic is the funniest manga I have ever read! Heck, maybe "the funniest comic" is more appropriate! And unlike Deathnote, it never lose steam! From the beginning until the end, my belly hurts all the time, nonstop!

So, if it is so consistently funny from the 1st issue until the last, why it is only slightly higher than Deathnote? Simple, because it offers nothing more. It tries hard to be suspenseful, it tries hard to be dramatic, it tries hard to be touching ... naaah, I don't care whether Ranma could defeat his opponent or not. I only care about the jokes.

Oh yeah, I was also surprised when I heard from my Japanese friend that this comic is actually popular among GIRLS not boys. Who cares, it is still funny as hell.

8) Agent 327: Dossier Stemkwadrater

Written & Illustrated by : Martin Lodewijk

Meet the James Bond parody made by a Dutch comic maker: Ijzerbroot alias Agent 327. It is a pity I only read 4 issues, because this comic KICK ASS!!

The jokes work, the suspense works, the story is excellent, and there are some surprising twist too. Too bad they only translate 4 issues to Indonesian as far as I know, and I haven't got any English version of these comics.

So let' see ... the first book contains 2 stories: the first is about the fight against modern English druids who tries to sacrifice 327's friend for their black magic, and the second story is about 327 went missing in action after he inspected a foreign aircraft carrier on a Netherland's port. The second book is about the fight against real-life dictator "Papa Doc" from Haiti. In this universe, Papa Doc was helped by a Bond-styled villain who was trapped in a baby's body because of genetic defect, but supported by his brothers. By the way, their family photos looks like a photo op of Batman's rogue gallery. The 3rd book is about the adventure in Bermuda Triangle, that involved the story about the beginning of life on earth.

Wow ... if those stories are not awesome, I don't know what awesome is.

Nevertheless, none of that match my favorite, the 4th issue: dossier Stemkwadrater. Seriously, I don't know what's the English translation. Google translate and other translation doesn't help either. If I translate the Indonesian title of this issue to English, I got "Deadly martial art moves" which doesn't do justice to this comic, but that's not really important.

This is the story when Agent 327 going to have his vacation on a sunny tropical beach. His arch-nemesis, whom we saw during one of the flashback in the 3rd book, Dr. Maybe, coincidentally planned to start his newest world-domination plan not too far from that place. What follows is a big adventure, ranging from 327 DESTROYING an ancient church, an opera singer whose voice is strong enough to break every single milk bottle in vicinity, and finally an epic final battle inside a volcano.

Here is the main different between him and so many other James Bond parodies, Agent 327 is a competent agent! The humor in this comic was NOT based on idiotic acts of him like Johnny English or even the movie version of Get Smart. The humor came from ... the insanity of his competence.

First example: one of Dr. Maybe goons bring a gargantuan sumo-karate-judo-taekwondo-gungho champion portrayed in the cover. His plan: ambush and kill 327 while all 3 of on a same plane. Agent 327 skillfully disarm that goon, but the goon quickly ordered that giant to kill the small 327. Ijzerbroot reaction is ... start reading his "Secret agent guide book"  while that giant destroyed tried to punch, kick, and grab him, rocking the entire plane with every single move. Yes, the cover of this issue really portrayed one of the FUNNIEST fight scene EVER. It is so funny not only because it is original, but also because that fight really influencing the next scene! And you have to read the SOLUTION offered by the book for "fighting against opponent heavier than 100 kilos with superior martial arts skills" by yourself to get the joke.

Second example that shows how resourceful 327 is, the way he escaped from Maybe's grip  using essentially only towels, toothpaste, and the bathroom itself to escape. I won't spoil it to you since I laugh so hard when I saw it for the first time, and once again IT WORKS! Is it believable? As believable as MacGuyver ...

Agent 327, kicking ass, DUTCH STYLE, lands on #8.


7) Full Metal Alchemist
Written & Illustrated by: Arakawa Hiromu
This is the story about alchemy, about "Equivalent exchange." What you give is what you got. What you got is what you give. Of course we got more than that. A genocide, a civil war, human sacrifice, and MANY other nightmare fuels were added into the mix.

The story begun in medias res when we met our protagonists: the Elric Brothers. They   introduced us to alchemy and the steam-punk universe of this comic during their conflict with a faith healer-alchemist in a not so small religious town. Edward Elric, the older one, is a national alchemist, famous for the versatility of his alchemy ... and his short body (OUCH! HEY, THAT'S HURT! Tsk ... he is very sensitive about that!). The younger Elric, Alphonse, is very big and tall ... and it seems he always wears a heavy armor.  Their goal? Finding "the philosopher stone," the ultimate alchemy tool that enable its user to violate "Equivalent exchange" law. Their reason? Well ... it is connected with both brothers body.

That is until they found out the truth about the philosopher stone ... and the truth behind it that involve the homunculus, the army, and even the whole government.

This manga is an all-round manga. It is touching, funny, and thrilling at the right time and the right place. I already said, one of the villain in this manga was included in my top 10 best villain: Zolf J. Kimbley. He is not alone. This manga also full with awesome characters. Every single Homunculus is a badass. All supporting characters are all badass. Damn, this manga is so badass that it doesn't afraid to multiple parallel storylines! Why not, it WORKS without losing focus, coherence or clarity.

Full Metal Alchemist trans-mutate itself the chair for #7.

6) Monster

Written & Illustrated by: Urasawa Naoki

This is the manga that kept me up in the night. I really refused to sleep BEFORE I finished it. Thank Quetzacoatl that I read this manga series AFTER it was finished ...

This is the story about a Japanese brain surgeon named Tenma who worked in Düsseldorf. Tenma sacrificed his career, and his relationship with his fiancée, when he save a boy named Johan Liebert who was shot in a brutal attack which killed his parents and traumatized his sister. Why he need to sacrifice? Because several minutes after the boy arrived at the hospital, the mayor arrived too and in urgent need for brain surgery. The head of the hospital ordered him, the best brain surgeon in the hospital, to save the mayor instead of the boy, but he defied that order. The kid survive, the mayor died after a less skillful brain surgeon operated him. There is one problem though ... that kid is actually a psychopath. A genius psychopath. He later escaped from the hospital ... after killing some doctors. More infos about Johan is in my top 10 Best Villains article.

This manga is the story about how Tenma hunts that young psycho. Oh yeah, at the same time, the best detective in Germany police, detective Lunge, who thinks that Tenma actually killed all "Johan's victim," also hunts Tenma. This character is so fascinating because everytime he is in a crime scene, her hand start typing. When other questioned that, he says "I input all the information here to my brain."

Just like Full Metal Alchemist, the series didn't shy from multiple-parallel storyline, amplifying the tension without sacrificing coherence or focus.

I simply put "Monster" in #6 because of the greatness of the the top 5 comics.

5) Tintin: Red Sea Sharks & Castafiore Emerald

Written & Illustrated by: Herge
Ah, Tintin ... who doesn't know him? Along with Spirou, and the overrated Asterix, he is the most popular Franco-Belgian comic. Unlike Agent 327, I read every single Tintin's book, and BOY this comic really DESERVED to be called a masterpiece. The quality of the comic is steadily increasing since the awful "Tintin in the Land of Soviet" and suddenly increased exponentially between "Cigar of Pharaoh" and "The Blue Lotus."  

Many considered the most emotional & touching "Tintin in Tibet" as the best. Not me. For me, "Red Sea Sharks" and "Castafiore Emerald" are the best, followed by the distant third "Tintin in Tibet." I think "Red Sea Sharks" is slightly better than the "Castafiore Emerald" but I'll speak about BOTH of them here since the reasons why both demonstrated how Herge really deserved his legendary status in totally different ways.

Red Sea Sharks is awesome because it is the most diverse, intense, and spectacular adventure EVER for Tintin & his pals. The story begun after Tintin & Haddock were surprised when when they met an old acquaintance, jendral Alcazar, on the street. Then, they also met Prince Abdullah, who moved to Haddock's mansion after his father was toppled by a rebellion. The supplier of guns to the rebels is another Tintin's old acquaintance too, Dawson, the police chief in Shanghai during the Blue Lotus. He tried to sell the arms to Alcazar too. Haddock can't stand Abdullah's pranks, so he and Tintin Decided to investigate the flow of the guns in Abdullah's home country. As the result of that investigation, we get adventure on the desert, sky, and sea. In the final battle, Tintin and his friends fought a submarine attack in a freighter. Not only suspenseful, this final battle is also FUNNY AS HELL!! Like usual, Haddock rambling and body language is HYSTERICAL, but this time it is even funnier than usual since all of that happened during the tense of the naval battle! So yeah, other than being the most thrilling and spectacular, this issue is arguably also the funniest one. And, I think this is the Tintin book with the BIGGEST reunion of Tintin characters ever.

Castafiore Emerald on the other hand demonstrated how Herge could build an interesting story without anything happens. Yup, the whole Castafiore Emerald is full with red-herrings, false flags, and without anything really at stake. After Haddock accepted a gypsy band to stay on his land, over the objection of the police chief, he was shocked by the news of the coming of the Bianca Castafiore, the opera-singer that can't pronounce his name correctly. When he abruptly decided to run away from her, Haddock sprained his ankle. The whole comic then is about all the mischiefs brought by Castafiore to Haddock's mansion. Paparazzi, nasty reporters, jewel thief, you got it all. But as I told you before, NOTHING is really at stake here. Unlike Tintin's other adventure, we are not talking about murder, or smuggling, or kidnapping, or war, or anything big, we only witness trivias. Amazingly, IT WORKS! I appreciated this comic more after I read so many other comics. It is hard dammit to write an interesting story when nothing happens, when the problems are so trivial compare to the problems in other Tintin comics. But, that's what Herge accomplished by this one. 

Tintin: an easy choice for #5.

4) Watchmen

Written by: Alan Moore

Illustrated by: Dave Gibbons

Ladies and Gentleman, this is the only graphic novel who enter "Top 100 best novels of 20th century" by the Time Magazine.

Honestly, the first time I finished this comic, I got a headache. I barely can digest WHAT HAPPENED. Only after I read it for the 2nd time, and the 3rd time, AND the 4th time I can appreciate it.

Basically, this is a deconstruction of Super-Hero genre. This is the story about (from left to right in the cover on the right) Ozymandias, Silk Spectre, Dr. Manhattan, Nite Owl, Rorschach, and the Comedian (crouching on the front).

Unlike the superheroes from other universe, they faced far more severe and realistic problems. "The Batman", of this universe, the Nite Owl, has erectile dysfunction, "The Superman" of this universe, Dr. Manhattan, become more and more detached from the rest of the world due to his near-omniscience, and so on.

So many details put in this book. So many beauties, so many thoughtful critics of superheroes concept were proposed in this book without being preachy or trying to sound smart. For an example of the greatness of this comic, when I read the story of "the Comedian," I instantly thought "Wow, this guy really represent the dark side of America perfectly." Nevertheless, he prove a good point when he scolded Dr. Manhattan after he shot a pregnant Vietnamese woman. Rorschach antique in the prison's canteen is the most badass scene in comic book.

So, why I put it in #4 position instead of #1? Simple, because I thought the movie version is better. Let me explain it why ...

-1- The costume
It's about taste, but the "heroes" look better in the movie.

-2- The Menace
I rolled my eyes whenever I saw "the giant squid." It looks like an ass-pull for the people in the Watchmen universe. Not so in the movie, when they replace the giant squid with ... Dr. Manhattan. His detachment from the world can perfectly provide an eerie "warning" about massive nuclear attack from him. I am sure his almost unlimited power scared millions of people even before his detachment become so clear. That is far better then "Out of nowhere- Giant-telepathic-squid."

-3- Ozymandias
I am PISSED by Ozymandias in both versions. Yes he tried to create a peace through sacrifice, but HE SACRIFICED OTHERS!! Millions of innocent people while HE himself reaped the benefit while he act high and mighty, looks like he think other people are subhuman, not really deserving his leadership! In the movie, AT LEAST he received some punches to the face from Nite Owl. I also totally with Nite Owl when he screamed from the top of his lung "YOU DON'T SAVE HUMANITIES, YOU DEGRADE IT!" since his solution basically said "Without bullshit concocted by me, mankind is too stupid or too evil to survive." And speaking about the ending ...

-4- Rorschach, Nite Owl, Dr. Manhattan, & Silk Spectre in the ending
Nite Owl KNOWS Rorschach enough to realize that Rorschach won't compromise his honesty. He also know that compromise is needed to save peace. He also know that Dr. Manhattan can't let Rorschach jeopardize the peace. And finally, he is aware that he can't stop the blue-man God. So it is totally understandable when he chase Rorschach, but only watched in horror when Dr. Manhattan blow him up, enraged by that scene and channels his fury to Ozymandias after that. Finally, he and Silk Spectre left Ozymandias alone in his fortress. In the comic, he become horny and copulate with the Silk Spectre all night long in the fortress ... WHAAAAT?? 

Watchmen, a deep, thoughtful, and excellent comic book. Too bad the movie show us how it could be better, dropping It to #4.


3) Batman: The Killing Joke
Written by: Alan Moore
Illustrated by: Brian Bolland
I already said that The Joker is THE BEST villain ever! Which comic book actually has the best story about the Joker? My pick is "The Killing Joke." Why? Because it perfectly showed how twisted, sick, and tragic the Joker is while showing his complicated relationship with his arch-nemesis: the Batman.

In this comic, we got an origin story of the Joker. He was an engineer, but gave up his job to chase his dream to be a stand-up comedian. But he was frustrated by his lack of success. He felt guilty to his pregnant wife, who he felt deserved a better life. That's why in desperation he accepted an offer from some crooks to masquerading as an infamous criminal: The Red Hood. Unfortunately, his wife died in a freak accident before he took the Red Hood Mask. Distracted, but he still took the mask after those crooks "convinced" him to do so ... only to see the crooks gunned down by cops, and he himself accidentally met the Batman and ... fell down to a pool full with chemicals. When he opened his red hood mask ... he realized everything he had already gone, and he became the psychotic Joker we all know.

Another interesting fact: this comic is one of the biggest influence of Christopher Nolan's masterpiece "The Dark knight." Remember the Joker's argument "All you need to be insane is a little push"? This comic is the inspiration. That origin story of the Joker was interspersed with the story how the Joker shot Barbara's Gordon spine, and very probably raped her, before he kidnapped Commissioner Gordon to watch the photos of his brutalized daughter. The Joker wanted Gordon to snap, but Gordon managed to stay sane and asked Batman to capture Joker "By the Book" to prove that their method works!

But don't take that origin story for granted. In this comic, the Joker also stated that he prefer "multiple choice" as his past, just like Heath Ledger's Joker implied in "The Dark Knight." Hey, what do you expect, we are talking about the Joker here.

The Killing Joke: a deep, and disturbing journey to the Joker's mind and his relationship with the Batman. It is an excellent comic to fill #3 position in this list. 

2) Sammy: Rhum Row
Written by: Raoul Cauvin
Illustrated by: Berck
If you want to talk about creativity in comic creating industries, it is impossible NOT to talk about Raoul Cauvin. Just check the list of his works in his wikipedia page. I only read some of his works. Hmm ... let me see ... this man wrote Cedric, the Franco-Belgian version of Dennis the Menace; Pierre Tombal, the story about a grave digger full with black humor, grave humor, and ghost humor; Agent 212, the favorite of my father, the story about an obese police officer and all funny things that happened around him; Lampil, which parodied the life of an illustrator and a comic writer, WITH HIMSELF and the illustrator of that comic, Willy Lambil, as the main character; and many more!

Wow! I am sure "Top 10 funniest Franco-Belgian comic" features at least 5 of his works!

Among his works, my personal favorite is Sammy. This is the story about a small street-smart boy named Sammy (The short boy with red-yellow shirt on the cover) who worked as a bodyguard under his "boss," Jack Hathaway (The blonde who white-blue shirt on the cover). Like agent 327, it is a pity that I only managed to read 2 of this book.

I pick the 2nd one to be put in this list because the story is even more awesome than the story about "How to run an elderly house of psychopaths" and "The tale of 2 mad scientists and their robots." YES, the story of the 2nd issue is better than that! Maybe I am biased because I have a soft spot for big ships.

The story began when Sammy & Jack stopped a bank robbery from a pair of very notorious bank robber. Their brawl with the robbers delay them long enough until the police arrived and captured the robber, and the police chief recognized their talent. He asked them to become undercover agent for the police and find out about the alcohol smuggling operation. The title itself came from the name of the ships that anchor barely on the international water while becoming the base of those smugglers.

Like Agent 327, and Red Sea Sharks, this comic is funny, and thrilling at the same time. The different: it also has TONS of black humor.

Consider the first scene after Jack & Sammy became informants. Jack was really desperate to get money overhear some rich bankers talking about "high-risk but highly paid game" with a short restaurant owner. Without any thought, he offered himself to participate. Only after he entered a locked room with those rich bastards, the short restaurant owner, the referee, informed him about the nature of this game. Each of the rich bastards had a revolver. The referee would take out the light, count until 10, and ... all each rich bastards would shot in the dark. Jack had to survive by hiding or dodging the bullets in the dark. Anyone who hit Jack is the winner and receive 1000 bucks from the other. If none hits Jack, all the money went to Jack. Jack screamed about the insanity of that game, but he was too late. The referee turned of the light and start counting.

Holy shit ... what a macabre ...

I was 8 years old when I read that scene for the first time, and I laughed VERY hard even during the first page of that game. Once it was finished, I literally had to put down the comic since I was paralyzed by laughter. Something must be wrong inside my head ...

But seriously, HOW AWESOME IS THAT? And that "game of death" is only the beginning. Next they bought an old-rusty ship and started the business of Alcohol smuggling. During their stint, they fought an enraged smuggler, pirates with high speed-armored-motorboat, and even 2 Coast Guard destroyers. Remember the funny climax of the Red Sea Shark? Half of this comic has the same level of suspense and humor.

Despite the awesomeness of this comic, I don't put it in #1 position because I have to admit, although its last 4 pages is contemplative, VERY FUNNY, and very fitting to this awesome comic, the final battle before that ending is just a big deus ex machina. What a downer.

Nevertheless, the rest of the comic is FANTASTICALLY awesome. Sammy: Rhum Row, it is the pinnacle of PG-13 comic books, it easily secure the #2.

Speaking about R-rated comic books ... here comes #1, the best comic book that I have ever read ...

1) Punisher MAX: The Slavers

Written by: Garth Ennis

Illustrated by: Leandro Fernandez (Pencils) Scott Koblish (Inks) Dan Brown (Colors)
The Punisher is not a super-hero. At best, he is an anti-hero with top-notch military skill and severe psychological problem. At worst, he is a monstrous psychopath who is obsessed with killing, who live to kill.

Despite all of his "non-niceness," The Punisher is so enjoyable because he slaughters "those whose humanities is in doubt" according to one of the police. If I have to picked my favorite Punisher comic, it is Punisher MAX: The Slaver. How so? Because this comic is so ... SATISFYING!!

In this story, all begun when an Albanian mobster boss was attacked by a woman, before the Punisher could take him down. The woman is an amateur, so she failed miserably, and almost killed by the mobsters. Her life was saved when The Punisher slaughter every gangsters in vicinity. She begged the Punisher to help her avenge her death baby. She told the Punisher that she come from Eastern Europe, brought by a human-trafficking syndicate that has all 3 elements of a good troika: the muscle, the brain, and the heart.

The muscle is an old man named Tiberiu Bulat, a veteran of Yugoslav civil war, a blood-thirsty war-wacky Rumanian who is obsessed with violence. This old man is so violent, that he is in the opinion that one dead body is not enough to send a message to a rival gang. A dozen is far better. That is consistent with his genocidal activities during the Yugoslav civil war.

The brain is Cristu Bulat, Tiberiu's son. He fought with his father in Yugoslavia, but he recognized that it is far more profitable if they just kill the male, and save the females to be sold and used as prostitutes. He later operated a prostitution ring in New York using women from Eastern European countries.

Finally, the heart is Vera Konstantin, Cristu's lover. She is the one who has the idea to rape every single female fell into their hand "to break their will, to show who is the boss."

Hearing all of this, the Punisher was enraged, far beyond his normal reaction to other criminals. Then he begun his investigation. When he finally got enough information ... he started his bloodbath. Parallel with that, Cristu and Vera used corrupt cops to start a manhunt on the Punisher.

In the end, in a typical Punisher style, all member of the trafficking organization dies in horrible way. "Horrible" even for the Punisher standard. In the next comics, and among the Punisher fans, their ends were still considered "the best."

Of course this comic is not perfect. I put it in the top #1 position because it is THE MOST satisfying comic EVER. It is guilty pleasure in extrimis, with terrific storytelling and badass gun battles along the way.