Summary

• Image Comics offers a diverse range of genres and styles, making it a publisher of comics worth exploring.
• Whether you're looking for a unique twist on the horror genre or gripping protagonists who have endured as comic book icons for decades, there's a series from within Image's library of work that's right for you.
• Our top pick for the best Image Comics series is an important and emotionally impactful comic that tells a relevant story for our times, making it an essential piece of literature.

Marvel and DC are the juggernauts of the comic book world, but they're certainly not alone. Image Comics in particular stands out as a publisher worth keeping your eye on, especially with so many successful media adaptations of their works over the years.

You'll certainly recognize some of these names even if you haven't read the comics, and for those you don't recognize they're worth visiting your local comic book store for. Covering the range of genres and styles Image Comics have something for everyone. If you're looking for the next great series of comics to line your bookshelves, read below.

These rank🐻ings have been❀ determined both by the enduring nature of the series and its impact on the genre as a whole.

10 🍒 🅠 Hack/Slash

Beloved By Horror Fans

One of the most enduring tropes of the horror genre is the notion of The Final Girl, the young woman who is the last survivor standing after defeating a crazed killer. Hack/Slash takes this idea and runs with it, introducing Cassie Hack, someone who has already been The Final Gi🍬rl of their story when the comics begin.

The story doesn't follow her horror story, but the horror stories she plunges herself into. Determined to stop undead killers of all sorts she seeks them out and becomes The Final Girl in their stories, whether they like it or not. It's a fun premise and a love letter to the slasher flicks of the 80's.

9 ♌ Depa🔥rtment Of Truth

If You Believe It, It's True

Perfect for fans of The X-Files, Depart꧅ment Of Truth is a mind-bendingly ingenious concept. Cole Turner works for a secret government department dedicated to preventing conspiracy theories from taking hold. Why? Because if enough people believe in it, it becomes true.

That means if enough people believe Bigfoot exists, he does. If enough people believe the world is flat, well, then we're all standing on a disc. We won't say anything more than that, you'll have to read yourself to believe what happens. But remember, don't believe too much.

8 Jupiter's Legacy

The Test Of Time

Jupiter's Legacy explores a lot of big ideas. The transition of power from one superhero generation to the next, the role of superheroics in politics, socioeconomic inequality and more. It takes big swings and lands most of them, providing a long run worth your time.

You're probably thinking of the Netflix adaptation, which didn't really do the series justice and was cancelled after just one season. Set that out of your mind and pick up the source material, particularly if you have a fondness for the Golden Age of comics.

7 Wiꦜtchblade 💃

A Comic Time Capsule

Witchblade first saw publication in 1995, and it shows. It works hard to take advantage of the 'bad girl' character trope that was popular at the time, taking stabs at feminism which are problematic by modern standards. In Witchblade, being a strong woman means being more masculine than the men - liking guns, drinking hard liquor, kicking ass and watching a whole lot of Dirty Harry.

That said, the art is striking and there are plenty of things the comic does that were well ahead of its time. It was one of the standout early hits for Image Comics and was also extremely long running, spanning well over 20 years with multiple adaptations along the way. It's still worth checking out, even if only to remind yourself how far depictions of women in comics have come.

6 T✨he Walking Dead

The Greatest Zombie Story Ever Told

Whether you think the TV series was a masterpiece or a slog to watch, The Walking Dead has become an immutable part of pop culture thanks to it. The comic it was based off of remains one of the best long form stories in co𓄧mics, and by far the best zombie story ever penned and paneled.

Following the story of Rick Grimes, a sheriff who awakes to find that the zombie apocalypse started while he was in a coma, The Walking Dead does something few other zombie stories do. It doesn't follow the characters for just a few days, or weeks, it follows them for years. It explores how people would change and adapt in a world like this, if they survive, and it's a treat to read.

5 ⛦ Savag💜e Dragon

The Flagship Series

Of all the series published by Image Comics, none is closer to the heart of the company than Savage Dragon, a comic about an amnesiac superhuman who joins the Chicago police department. It was one of the first series to be published, written and penned entirely by one of the Image founders, Erik Larsen. That was in 1992, and it's still being published to this day.

Many comic characters enjoy long runs, but what makes Savage Dragon unique i𒆙s that it is still being written and drawn by Erik Larsen. For a comic to last that long with the original creator still at the helm is something really special, providing the series with a consistency of vision rarely seen.

4 Kick-Ass

The Best At What It Does

The notion of exploring the gritty realism of being a superhero, how it would actually be complicated and fairly awful, isn't one going away anytime soon. It's hard to think of a comic which does it better than Kick-Ass, made famous by a frankly excellent movie adaptation.

It was originally published under Marvel, namely their Icon brand, before making the jump to Image. It's hard not to think Marvel really missed out by letting Kick-Ass go, but it turned out to be a big win for Image Comics.

3 Invincible ♋ 🎶

A Modern Epic

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Invincible has soared in p𓂃opularity thanks to the Amazon Prime animated adaptation, which might actually be better than the comic thanks to smart changes. The comic is still absolutely outstanding though, essential reading for any superhero fanatic.

Mark Grayson is the son of the world's greatest hero, Omni-Man, who comes into powers of his own as a teenager. The series is both a love letter to, and subversion of, all the best superhero comics and tropes. With a stellar cast of characters and consistent world building you'll be quickly hooked.

2 Spawn

Dark And Enduring

One of the biggest success stories of 90s comics, Spawn is iconic for being one of the darkest superheroes around. A 🍨soldier who bargains his way out of hell, gaining superpowers in the process, Spawn has been one of Image Comics highest profile characters for decades.

What makes Spawn unique is the utterly nihilistic outlook it has as a series. It offers no hope, no sense of a brighter tomorrow. Although that can be depressing at times it's a tone most comics don't adopt, allowing Spawn to carve out a unique place in the industry.

1 Saga

The Story We Need

Saga is, in all honesty, the best comic currently in publication. It follows the journey of Alana and Mark💖o, husband and wife from alien species who have been engaged in a long war. Fleeing the conflict and their respective species while they try to care for their newborn daughter Hazel, Saga is an emotional tale that draws from th🙈e best of sci-fi and fantasy epics.

The characters are perfectly written, the art is beautiful, there are all the usual reasons you would want to read a comic. But the reason you should read this comic, specifically, is that it is something few others are. It is important. It tells a story relevant to our times, to the events in our own world. It's escapism that will change you, a story that molds your empathy to be a more robust and encompassing thing. That elevates it from a great comic to an essential piece of literature.