Shelfdust Presents: The Fifty Best #1 Issues

10 Episodes
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By: Shelfdust

In 2019 Shelfdust counted down the top fifty #1 comic book issues of all time, which you can find here! Now the list is over and we know which issues made the master list, in 2020 invited critic and podcaster Matt Lune to sit down with a different comic critic each week to look at every comic which charted into the top fifty, one issue at a time.

1st Place: Saga #1 with Oliver Sava
#50
08/20/2023

This week it's time to finish out our first season, as we look at the comic which ended up in 1st place: Saga #1 by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples and Fonographiks!

The title should be a clue, but there’s just so much of Saga. This first issue is triple-sized which, yes, is cheating a little. But it’s the only way the series could have started. Nobody is holding back anything. We don’t know... currently... when it’ll come back or how things will finish – but one thing which will never be taken away is how vibran...


2nd Place: Watchmen #1 with Kelly Kanayama
#49
08/13/2023

This week it's time to dream of a better loving world, as we look at the comic which ended up in 2nd place: Watchmen #1 by Alan Moore, David Gibbons and John Higgins!

Of course we all know everything about Watchmen at this point and then some, being a reimagining of the Charlton superhero characters told across twelve issues. You can see slivers of the original characters within these new shells, but for the most part this is something which not only builds on what came before, but reaches down to shatter the foundations and create something entirely...


3rd Place: Hawkeye #1 with Zachary Jenkins
#48
08/06/2023

This week... okay, it looks bad, as we look at the comic which ended up in 3rd place: Hawkeye #1 by Matt Fraction, David Aja, Matt Hollingsworth and Chris Eliopoulos!

Oh, bro, you knew this was going to happen. Hawkeye’s impact remains just as strong today as when it first came out – for a comic which felt like a “moment”, that moment has certainly proven that it can last. Every inch of Hawkeye’s first issue feels like it was meticulously planned for months, but flies by effortlessly. There are so many callbacks and sequential ideas here within the...


4th Place: The Wicked + The Divine #1 with Steve Foxe
#47
07/30/2023

This week it's time to ascend to godhood, as we look at the comic which ended up in 4th place: The Wicked + The Divine #1 by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matthew Wilson and Clayton Cowles!

WicDiv #1 jump straight onto centrestage to offer a showy performance that looks at myth, iconography, devotion, and idolatry whilst quickly building up a fascinating lead character and a world which understands its high concept whilst offering some modern cynicism and paranoia into the mix. It’s a heady mix of concepts, and you could see things easily falling straight down a trapdoor if it...


5th Place: Ms Marvel #1 with Adrienne Resha
#46
07/23/2023

This week it's time to ogle some deli food, as we look at the comic which ended up in 5th place: Ms Marvel #1 by G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona, Ian Herring and Joe Caramagna!

Devised by editor Sana Amanat with writer G. Willow Wilson and artist Adrian Alphona, Kamala Khan’s first appearance is immediately appealing and delightful. There’s an assured creative hand guiding her, as well as all the other characters in her world, who are quickly and effectively sketched in by Wilson. We see how Kamala has that superhero gene within her, but also how...


6th Place: All-Star Superman #1 with august (in the wake of) dawn
#45
07/16/2023

This week it's time to pop on the glasses and bumble into trouble, as we look at the comic which ended up in 6th place: All-Star Superman #1 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Jamie Grant and Phil Balsman.

The comic itself radiates with energy, as Quitely creates some wonderful and magnificent pieces, and every page has at least one line of dialogue which feels lasting and memorable. “Only nothing is impossible” says one of the characters, and that feels like the defining thesis of All-Star Superman as a whole. This week Matt is joined by special guest august (in the...


7th Place: X-Men #1 with Claire Napier
#44
07/09/2023

This week it's time to do it all again... again, as we look at the comic which ended up in 7th place: X-Men #1 by Chris Claremont, Jim Lee, Scott Williams Jim Rosas and Tom Orzechowski

Announced as “the dawn of a new era!”, the first issue of X-Men by Claremont and Lee changed everything for everyone. The X-Men – who were reassuring soap opera figures – suddenly turned into blunt-force action heroes through the mighty penmanship of Jim Lee. Even as Claremont allowed the characters time to ruminate on their pasts, Lee was dragging them off into the here-and-now, their pri...


8th Place: Sex Criminals #1 with Samantha Puc
#43
07/02/2023

This week it's time to bust out the Freddie Mercury as we look at the comic which ended up in 8th place: Sex Criminals #1 by Matt Fraction, Chip Zdarsky, Becka Kinzie and Drew Gill!

Nobody forgets their first time. Sex Criminals follows only one of the two central characters, Suzie, as it jumps around in her timeline and establishes that whenever she orgasms, she pauses time. Literally, time pauses around her. It's a series about two people who have sex and then commit crimes, sure, but the first issue is a beginner’s guide to sexual experience, to...


9th Place: Giant-Size X-Men #1 with Rosie Knight
#42
06/25/2023

This week it's time to meet the second generation as we look at the comic which ended up in 9th place: Giant-Size X-Men #1 by Len Wein, Dave Cockrum, Peter Iro, Glynis Wein and John Constanza.

With this issue Len Wein and Dave Cockrum essentially created the X-Men Franchise, one of the longest-running and most compelling stories in comic book history. Giant Size X-Men saw the original X-Men characters trapped on a mystical, treacherous island – forcing Professor Xavier to recruit a new team of heroes to try and rescue his students. That led to the arrival of iconic ch...


10th Place: Sandman #1 with Kayleigh Hearn
#41
06/18/2023

This week it's time to draw up a salt circle as we look at the comic which ended up in 10th place: Sandman #1 by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Robbie Busch and Todd Klein!

Told across decades, the first issue of Neil Gaiman’s revelatory series details the capture and imprisonment of Dream, one of the Endless People who control the minds and hopes of mankind. Joined by Sam Kieth, Gaiman tells a compulsive, contorted story which dwells on the details of craftmanship: the effort that goes into creating magic has never been so painstakingly put tog...