Best Marvel comics of 2013 (part four of five): 6-10

Here we are, the official TOP TEN for the Marvels blog. Okay, well the official bottom part of the top ten but STILL really impressive comics. Let's find out what they were, shall we?

10. Iron Man

I hinted yesterday (okay, probably more than hinted) that SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN got bumped into 12-spot by some rabble-rousing book that had leapt clean over AVENGERS and into the top ten and, you guys, this was that very book. I think Iron Man has a lot of interesting foibles (fun fact: foible is also the name of the weaker part of a fencing sword!) as a character but his books don't really tend to hold my interest. I wish I'd paid a bit more attention to Fraction's run because I think he probably did a remarkable job on the character and did a lot more than I gave him credit for at the time (though I think I'm in the camp that tends to find Larroca's art somewhat boring). Regardless, Kieron Gillen has taken a lot of those aspects of Tony and really focused in on them while also telling a story that is quite probably more engaging than any other single Iron Man story I've read in a long time. "The Secret Origin of Tony Stark" was a phenomenal story and one that really changed the way I viewed the character (I'm still a little sour on Tony after all the CIVIL WAR stuff). Also, Gillen created one of the most complex and interesting villains I've seen recently in 451. There were twists and turns and retcons and re-retcons and just everything and, here's the thing, it all worked for me. Really brilliant stuff and now it seems to be giving way to Tony the futurist and the guy obsessed with fixing things working on a way to fix the future. Excited to see what this year holds in store for Tony both in this book and in the AVENGERS titles.

9. Daredevil

I struggled on this number a WHOLE LOT you guys and I think it's only going to get harder from here on out. I feel as though I've talked a lot about DAREDEVIL in the past few weeks so regular readers will probably know my feelings on this series. I think that Mark Waid has done a tremendous job turning Daredevil around as a character. This was someone who spent the majority of the last thirty years (since Frank Miller's run on the character) brooding and being dark after a start as a fairly fun (if overly similar to Spider-Man) somewhat unique (again, a little overly similar to Spider-Man) character. Not to say I didn't like aspects of Daredevil over the last few decades (okay, I liked him plenty, but bear with me, alright?) but that just made Waid's run with Daredevil all the more likable. If this run had been anything less than perfect, it would have been thrown out immediately. A new and cheery, NAY, CHIPPER feel to Daredevil? This is coming directly on the heels of Andy Diggle showing Daredevil snapping and killing Bullseye and taking over a criminal empire in Hell's Kitchen. So it's a drastic change of pace for the character but one that seems, in retrospect, ultimately necessary. Between Mark Waid's crisp and fun writing and Chris Samnee's similarly crisp and fun art (with the occasional pleasant interlude from Javier Rodriguez), Matt Murdock has been brought nicely into the folds of the Marvel Universe again. Looking forward to the way this series ends and then, promptly thereafter, the new one begins.

8. Uncanny Avengers

Rick Remender has been doing a spectacular job and, frankly, a rather underrated job in the Marvel Universe. I've enjoyed every book he's touched over the last couple years. He jumped on my radar with UNCANNY X-FORCE and made a real impact before kicking off VENOM (which ended up on this top list, even after he'd left it) and taking over on SECRET AVENGERS following Ed Brubaker and doing a stellar job of it before landing himself this year on CAPTAIN AMERICA and UNCANNY AVENGERS, both of which deserve to make the top ten (and both of which, spoilers, will). UNCANNY AVENGERS seems on the outside like a can't-fail book; a team that is specifically comprised of Avengers and X-Men fighting foes that may threaten each? Neat! However, you dig a little deeper into that and you realize just how tenuous the arrangement is and just how bad this book COULD have been. Instead, it's been a really thought-provoking and very challenging book. At times, it's been remarkably hard to read. At other times, it's illustrated the Marvel Universe better than almost any other book. Overall, it's been an always engaging and worthwhile read with a sharp story and solid dialogue to match the consistently incredible art. The intricacies of the Marvel Universe are best shown here and Remender is clearly the best man for the job.

7. Avengers Arena

It's possible that AVENGERS ARENA skipped a few spots up on the chart by sheer defied expectations. Following the example set by Christos Gage's AVENGERS ACADEMY, Dennis Hopeless gave us a roster of untested teen superheroes and made sure we cared about them. Unlike with Gage in ACADEMY, though, he then proceeded to kill the majority of them. Also unlike Gage, Hopeless had an initial cast of 14 and only 18 issues to show them off and still tell a worthwhile story. He succeeded on all counts and gave us a book that was simultaneously well-written, enjoyable, and tense all the way through. Even though I (sort of reluctantly) liked AVENGERS ACADEMY, I came into this book thinking of it as a sort of stunt, something where the kids would have to band together in order to defeat Arcade, a supervillain hardly worth the time of real heroes in the universe. Not only was it immediately proven not to be a stunt (thanks to the explosion of fan-favorite Mettle in the first issue), the kids never really banded together to stop Arcade. Instead, they turned on each other when the cards were all down, just as Arcade had wanted, and those who eventually survived only did so because the most innocent of them killed the most cold-blooded of them. Guys, it was a really good book, is what I'm saying. Even as I'm recounting it, I'm a little jealous of people who have yet to read it but who plan to (also, I'm sorry if I just spoiled most of the story for you). Solid work by Dennis Hopeless and I'm excited to see where he moves next (including the upcoming AVENGERS UNDERCOVER, which will pick up the reins from this book next year).

6. Captain Marvel

Yeesh, this was another tough one to place. I knew from the get-go that Captain Marvel was in the top ten and, honestly, had it in the top five in my preliminary thoughts but then there were a LOT of good books out there this year. I always liked Carol Danvers, even when she did some pretty nasty things for what I considered to be the wrong side in CIVIL WAR, there was always a character there who, while maybe a little boring in her own books, was a real character, a woman who was both competent and extremely powerful. Kelly Sue DeConnick has taken that same character and turned the camera JUST A BIT to give us a character who is both the same one who was created all those decades ago but who was completely her own and unique at the same time. My girlfriend and I talk about this series a lot in terms of a book that has maybe changed the tone of the character (for the better) while still sticking to her roots. One of the things I like best about comics is that these are characters who have existed for as long as they've existed and still find ways to surprise while ultimately remaining those characters. Usually this is accomplished by a new creative team deciding to take a chance on the character. DeConnick has shown herself adept at exactly this while also managing to create new characters and stories that stand out. One of my favorite aspects of CAPTAIN MARVEL over the year and a half or so it's been coming out has been her cast of supporting characters, something I almost NEVER point to as a bonus of a series. DeConnick created a cast and showed us tiny glimpses every issue, never so much that we lost track of Carol or the main story but just enough to establish that character when his or her number was called for a bigger role. Great writing, some outstanding Filipe Andrade art this year, and a wonderful character; I couldn't have asked for better from Captain Marvel.