Comic book Thursday* has become firmly ingrained into my weekly schedule, often the promise of new funny books on a Thursday will get me through Tuesday and Wednesday and even the overflow might make Friday bearable.  I think this year though really cemented the weekly event for me and I’ve been branching out in the types of books I read.

Now I should clarify that these are personal discoveries, most of these books have been around for a while and I was introduced to them throughout the year and they’ve helped define what I’m reading.

1. Scott Pilgrim - I knew vaguely of the character and I knew that they were making a movie but one of the guys through Twitter demanded I read the books and I’m really glad he did!  They are hilarious, jam packed full of pop culture references and despite the simplicity in the artwork I think it is great because it is effective.
2. The Walking Dead - I can’t remember if I started reading these last year or not but I think I discovered the zombie apocalypse series early this year, either way it is worth mentioning as it is all shades of awesome, really well written and a very neat idea.  I like that it is in black and white as well, colour would change the tone completely.
3. Crossed – I place Crossed here not necessarily because I recommend it, to be honest I don’t know if I would.  It is pretty much the sickest comic I’ve read, but I didn’t say these discoveries were all good. You see I don’t really get “torture porn” films like Hostel or Saw, I’m just not interested and I’ve spoken about this before so I won’t bore you all again.  But Crossed is like a Walking Dead torture porn comic book, with some imagery that I am so surprised to see in a comic book, or any book really.  I’m not going to recount the madness but I must say that I am completely hooked by it and really want to see the end of the series (it’s a nine parter – issue eight was released today).  It’s not going to end well, nothing has gone well for these characters.
4. Powers - This book wasn’t even on my radar and now I love it, I love the art and the stories are enjoyable, they are a mix of superhero and crime writing.  I guess what appealed to me most was the complete creation of a new universe with new characters with their own rules.  I’ve got a bunch to catch up on before I read the new monthly series but I’m really enjoying it.
5. Daredevil - Never been a huge Daredevil fan, never really saw the point of the character, but I picked up a couple of trade hardbacks and whilst I’m not really interested in pursuing the character on a monthly basis I did get a much better idea of why people love him.  I read Guardian Angel, Born Again and The Man Without Fear.  All of which I quite enjoyed.

So for you comic book guys and gals out there what comic book discoveries did you make this year?

*For those in the US who think it’s weird I’m talking about Thursday rather than Wednesday, remember we’re a day in front of you and the comics are shipped over to be released at the same time.