45. Happy! by Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson (Image)
Nick Sax is a burned out ex-cop turned hitman on Christmas. Aimlessly living out a soul-deadening life, he encounters the shocking case of a paedophile Santa - made all the more shocking by the appearance of a cartoonish blue unicorn called Happy! that only he can see. Grant Morrison tells the bleakly comic story of Nick and Happy! with the imagination and wit longtime readers have come to expect from him, while Darick Robertson draws a delightfully kid-friendly Happy! in stark contrast to the sleazy world Nick lives in. This four-issue mini-series is an absolutely brilliant comic and a must-read for everyone who doesn't care for the suffocatingly commercial holiday season and wants it all to go away.
44. Deadpool by Brian Posehn , Gerry Duggan et al. (Marvel)
When writing about a comedic superhero like Deadpool you need a special kind of writing style to suit that's why the writing team of comedian Brian Posehn and comics writer Gerry Duggan are the perfect guys for this comic. Sending waves of zombie American Presidents after Deadpool then directing him towards lame superheroes, Deadpool's had an eventful run in his Marvel NOW! series. The best issues are the one-shots where Deadpool goes back to classic Marvel comics like Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle and bring 21st century liveliness to these rather quaint tales very funny stuff and good on Marvel for poking fun at themselves too. Posehn and Duggan's Deadpool run is definitely the best the character has had so far look no further if you want to read awesome Deadpool comics!
43. Indestructible Hulk by Mark Waid et al. (Marvel)
After reminding everyone why they loved Hulk with The Avengers movie, Marvel made Hulk one of their big titles in the Marvel NOW! relaunch by bringing on board veteran comics writer Mark Waid to do justice to the big green giant - and he did! In his version, Banner is hoping to get credibility as one of the big brains in the Marvel U, looking for funding from SHIELD to work on inventions that will help the world and make it a better place, to make up for all the destruction he causes as... the other guy. In return, SHIELD get to use Hulk as a WMD, pointing him toward any problems they have and pulling the trigger. The series has been a blast throughout the year with Hulk teaming up with Waid's other series character Daredevil, Walt Simonson's Thor (also drawn by Simonson), and travelling through time. Great fun, if you're looking for a good Hulk series to read, pick up Waid's Indestructible Hulk.
42. Velvet by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting (Image)
What if Miss Moneypenny was as good a spy as James Bond and what if she was framed for murdering him? That's the premise of the latest series from frequent collaborators Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting, the team behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Marvels Project. Despite only being 2 issues in, Velvet is already shaping up to be an extraordinary Cold War spy thriller in the vein of a Len Deighton or John le Carre novel, and Epting's art - while always terrific - has never looked better than it does in this book. For that alone you should take a look at this awesome series, though Brubaker's tight and intriguing script will keep you enthralled too.
41. Deadpool Killustrated by Cullen Bunn and Matteo Lolli (Marvel)
This is the sequel to Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe where Deadpool tries to end it all by killing every single character in the various Marvel Universes but still can't die - so he decides to go after the archetypes the Marvel characters were based upon! Going through literature, Deadpool hacks his way through classics like Don Quixote, Moby Dick, Huck Finn and Little Women in a bloody hilarious romp through every literature student's fantasy (take that, Herman Melville!). Great fun Deadpool story from Bunn and great art from Lolli and in a genius move, Marvel also parodied the Penguin Classics covers in the second printings of the comics. If you love Deadpool or just want to see him dismember famous literary characters, this book is for you!