As cruel as 2016 was to celebrities, it was a hell of a year for the world of comic books. I’ve been reading sequential art for 31 years, and I can’t think of a richer time for creators to unleash their imaginations, and for publishers to provide those stories directly to eager readers.

It seems like a lot of creators (writers, artists, etc) have truly achieved a level of work that has elevated the art form to a transcendent level. In fact, with comics branching out with new publishers and new avenues for spectacular work, assorted writers and artists are now more well-known; I for one am on the look out for books colored by Tamra Bonvillain, or with inks from Mick Gray, or edited by Andy Schmidt.

Anywho, what follows is a list of books I went bonkers for. Are they the most critically acclaimed? The best-selling? Nah, not necessarily. These are the books that I loved so much I recommend them to everyone who expresses an interest in comics. Truthfully, it was a bitch to narrow this list down to only 16, but here’s the list, starting with numero dieciseis: