Top 5: Ongoing Comic Series

In a lot of my CBW posts I comment about how "this series is one of the best out there" or "This series is one of my favorites right now" so I decided to actually narrow it down and give you a real list of my favorite comics at the moment in one of my Top 5s. So doing this list is kind of tricky because there are things like Justice League: Generation Lost which I love, but it's a limited series and will only have 24 total issues, same with things like Kick Ass 2, Nemesis, Neonomicon, etc. so this list has these guidelines that it will follow
Guidelines: 1) The series must be current. 2) the series must not have an end in sight.

5. Deadpool:

Current Writer: Dan Way

Why I love it: It is consistently one of the funniest comics on the racks.

Best Arc: Deadpool #19-21 (Monkey Business) 

Alright, you know I love Deadpool, and this main series is why. The humor is constant and it's actually hilarious no forced attempts at quirkiness (every other DP title) no lame fart jokes, not stupid-to-be-funny plots (every other DP title), just good humor, awesome fighting, sweet plot lines, and one of my favorite writers all add up to make this a truly great series. There have been some lean issues, but over all everyone of Dan Way's issues have had some laughs and some like the introduction of Hit-Monkey have been so golden they've spawned off shoots (The Hit-Monkey mini). With all the funny of 60s Batman and all the insane action of a Robert Rodriguez movie, Deadpool is a series that you shouldn't miss.

4. Captain America:

Current Writer: Ed Brubaker
Why I love it: It adds so much to not only Cap, but to all his supporting players, working some truly amazing plots coupled with great action.
Best Arc: Captain America v5 #1-9,#11-14 (The Winter Soldier Saga)
As you learned from my Top 5 Superheroes my all time favorite character is Captain America, it used to be Batman, until I started reading what Ed Brubaker did with the character and then in all good faith I couldn't ignore the awesomeness that is Captain America. The Stories balance Captain America's love of his country, love of liberty, and how behind the mask he's just a man... a Super Soldier, yes, but more so just a man trying to be a better man. Cap is painted with a sympathetic brush and we see The Sentinel of Liberty receive amazing characterization, but we also see Bucky become more than just a kid sidekick, we see him become a tragic character as Winter soldier, and then an even more tragic character as Cap himself in #26 and onwards.


3. The Walking Dead:

Current Writer: Robert Kirkman

Why I love it: The writing is incredible matched with gorgeous art.

Best Arc: The whole series because it really is one big story arc (that's a cop out I know)
What can I say about this series? It's like a soap opera with zombies, but with some of the best writing out there. I don't think there are any other comics out there with characters nearly as human as TWD, except maybe Scalped. Rick and his motley crue crew are so human that you can almost see this being a docu-comic, written as true accounts of people, they are so flawed yet heroic at the same time you can't help but fall for this group. Also Michonne's ability to win Zombie Kill of the Week every week since Tyreese died is no laughing matter. But maybe more important to this story than Kirkman's words are Moore (at first) and now Adlard's amazing art capturing the horror and terror felt in each panel beautifully. And admit it, you cried when you found out who Rick was talking to on the phone.

2. The Boys:

Current Writer: Garth Ennis
Why I love it: The Gore, the satire, the awesome writing
Best arc: TIE We Gotta go Now #23-30 and Herogasm: Herogasm #1-6(Herogasm is technically a spin off)
Probably the goriest, funniest, and most touching series out there The boys may be Ennis's masterwork, which is saying a lot because he is the guy that gave the world Preacher and resurrected Frank Castle as one of the industries top Bad Asses. centering on Wee Hughie, The boys follows a CIA backed Super Team sent to kick the shit out of all the other Super teams. Sex, there's a lot; fighting, even more, but through all that we get many scenes that pull at us readers heart strings like the last issue which deals with Hughie and Annie's break up, as well as several Man to Man talks between Butcher and Hughie that show beneath the supe-blood caked skin of Butcher is a man who's not all evil, he's just been hardened by the oppressive supes.

1. Scalped:

Current Writer: Jason Aaron
Why I love it: The amazing characterization, great dialogue, take no prisoners action, and grat art that capitalizes on the grimy atmosphere.
Best arc: Unwanted #39-42
It's actually a funny story how I got hooked on this series. I was at a con and Jason Aaron was a featured guest. So I had my Punisher Max and Captain America: Who Won't Wield the shield (he said it's one of the only one's he's signed... I doubt that) and he had a stack of DC's reprint of Issue #1 and he asked if I wanted one I said sure and he signed it and gave it to me... and the rest is history. It's not often I get hooked on a comic series because the creator hands me an issue, so this series had a special place in my heart before I read it. Well, if you read my CBW posts (which I'm sure you do) I actually spoiled this one the other day when I said that Scalped is probably my favorite series right now, but now I'll fully explain why... well, actually I already did look up 5 lines and you'll see. Aaron writes with an intensity most comics can only dream of, his characters have been kicked around by life and they are truly hardened because of it, no pseudo tough guy dialogue like in most mainstream tales this story holds nothing back using every words from 'the' to 'c**t'. The characters are so complex any one of them could fill a series all by themselves, but putting them all together is like The Sopranos meets Broken Arrow (1950). There's romance (kind of) violence (a lot of violence) drugs, gambling, intrigue, and all sorts of plot twists.