The fans have spoken and the results are in as we close out our Top 5 of 2016 Fan Poll! There were some tough choices in every category and even with five votes each it was hard to settle on who to pick. But in the end it looks as if Valiant was the choice for many voters. Having placed in several of the categories it seems like 2016 was a good year to be reading Valiant titles. Stranger Comics was also a surprise newcomer to the polls here though I was very happy to also see titles like Black, Monstress, and Cash & Carrie make some of the lists as well. But I’m still scratching my head about Batman vs Superman even placing but the people have spoken right? And when it came to comic events several of the tweets and emails received were very straightforward about the lack of excitement and just overall event fatigue. As one publisher can’t seem to go 2 months without an event taking place. But go ahead and see for yourself who ended up as the finalists in the Top 5 of 2016 Fan Poll!
Top 5 Publishers of 2016
Valiant
Image
Stranger Comics
Marvel
DC Comics
Top 5 Big 2 Writers of 2016
Ta-Nehisi Coates (Black Panther)
Greg Rucka (Wonder Woman)
David Walker (Power Man & Iron Fist/Nighthawk)
G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel)
Tom King (Batman)
Top 5 Big 2 Artists of 2016
Greg Capullo (Batman)
Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther)
Andrea Sorrentino (Old Man Logan)
Natacha Bustos (Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur)
Annie Wu (Black Canary)
Top 5 Colorists of 2016
Brian Reber (Bloodshot Reborn)
Andrew Dalhouse (Faith, Generation Zero)
David Baron (Divinity II)
Laura Martin (Black Panther)
Tamra Bonvillain (Wayward, Nighthawk)
Top 5 Indie Writers
Matt Kindt (Ninjak, X-O Manowar)
Stjepan Sejic (Sunstone)
Jeff Lemire (Bloodshot Reborn, Book of Death)
Fred Van Lente (Generation Zero)
Brandon Easton (Vampire Hunter D, M.A.S.K.)
Top 5 Indie Artists of 2016
Lewis Larosa (Bloodshot Reborn)
Trevor Hairsine (Divinity II)
Stjepan Sejic (Sunstone)
Sana Takeda (Monstress)
Diego Bernard (Ninjak)
Top 5 New Superhero Coimcs of 2016
Faith (Valiant)
Generation Zero (Valiant)
Power Man & Iron Fist (Marvel)
Black (Black Mask)
Raven (DC)
Top 5 Ongoing Superhero Comics of 2016
X-O Manowar (Valiant)
Wonder Woman (DC)
Ninjak (Valiant)
Black Panther (Marvel)
Power Man & Iron Fist (Marvel)
Top 5 New Indie Series of 2016
Faith (Valiant)
Generation Zero (Valiant)
Vampire Hunter D (Stranger Comics)
Monstress (Image)
Black (Black Mask)
Top 5 Ongoing Indie Series of 2016
X-O Manowar (Valiant)
Bloodshot Reborn (Valiant)
Ninjak (Valiant)
Saga (Image)
Sunstone (Top Cow)
Top 5 Original Graphic Novels of 2016
Sustone Vol 4 (Top Cow)
Dark Knight: A True Batman Story (DC)
Brotherman: Revelation (BookBaby)
Bloodstain Vol 1 (Top Cow)
March Book 3 (Top Shelf)
Top 5 Collected Editions of 2016
Divinity II TPB (Valiant)
Black Panther Vol 1: A Nation Under Our Feet (Marvel)
Sunstone Vol 4 (Top Cow)
Gwan (Forward Comix)
Monstress Vol 1 (Image)
Top 5 Licensed Series of 2016
Star Wars (Marvel)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW)
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Dark Horse)
Jem and the Holograms (IDW)
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (BOOM!)
Top All-Ages Comics of 2016
Moon Girl & Devil Dinosuar (Marvel)
Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy (BOOM!/DC)
Cash & Carrie Book 1: Sleuth 101 (Action Lab)
DC Superhero Girls (DC)
Steven Universe (BOOM!)
Top 5 Manga of 2016
One-Punch Man (Viz)
Ultraman (Viz)
Assassination Classroom (Viz)
I Am A Hero (Dark Horse)
Mobile Suite Gundam: Thunderbolt Vol 1 (Viz)
Top 5 Comic Book Moments of 2016
Ninjak discovers Roku’s true identity (Valiant)
Batman finding the smiley pin from Watchmen (DC)
Captain America revealed as Hydra agent (Marvel)
Hawkeye kills Bruce Banner/Hulk (Marvel)
Death of Tim Drake (DC)
Top 5 Suprise Good Reads of 2016
Savage (Valiant)
Vampire Hunter D (Stranger Comics)
Is’Nana: The Were Spider (Webway Comics)
Black Panther: World of Wakanda (Marvel)
Paper Girls (Image)
Top 5 Comic Events of 2016
4001 A. D. (Valiant)
DC Rebirth (DC Comics)
Revolution (IDW)
Aliens, Prometheus, Predator: Life & Death (Dark Horse)
Avengers: Standoff (Marvel)
Top 5 Webcomics of 2016
Sunstone (Stjepan Sejic)
Bounce! (Chuck Collins)
Eth’s Skin (Sfé R. Monster)
Agents of the Realm (Mildred Louis)
Battlepug (Mike Norton)
Top 5 Animated Series of 2016
Star Wars Rebels (S3)
Voltron: Legendary Defender (S1)
Steven Universe (S4)
Vixen (S2)
Adventure Time (S7)
Top 5 Anime of 2016
One-Punch Man
Yuri On Ice!
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
Dragon Ball Super
Beserk
Top 5 Alternate Media (TV) of 2016
Luke Cage (S1)
Daredevil (S2)
Flash (S3)
The Walking Dead (S7)
Supergirl (S2)
Top 5 Comic Based Movies of 2016
Deadpool
Captain America: Civil War
Doctor Strange
Suicide Squad
Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice
That wraps up the 2016 Fan Poll and as usual there were some interesting choices that rose to the top. Hopefully something different popped up on your radar and you’ll be picking up some new comics after it’s all is said and done. Actually I’d suggest doing so because there’s some real gems here from the creators to the titles they’re working on. So thanks for making this bigger than last year’s and here’s to 2017 and what it has to offer for the next round of comics for the Top 5 Fan Poll!
Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.nethe
Where’s the diversity at?
Wow. Really? Okay well I’m not going to go title by title here but Google is your friend so you might want to do a little research first then come back with that. However, it could be better across the industry when it comes to the diversity of people that work to create these great books but lets not overlook the ones that ARE out there puttin’ in the work to get their books out.
Really? I see African American, Asian, Latina, LGBTQ, women and an entire book made up of international artists. What are you looking at?
Sorry. I only saw a little bit of that but it was mainly a jab at that Valiant publisher who got the top spot. Who makes a title called “Savage” anyway? It looks a little suspect to me and probably no POC anywhere in sight.
Like I said earlier, Google is your friend. But I’ll just state that you should check the creative team before assuming the race of someone on it. Also, one of the good things about Valiant is that they don’t parade every POC they put in their books waiting for a pat on the back.
All of this means I’ll be adding a couple of new books on my list. Though that Sunstone comic might be too racy for me lol