10 Best Comic Books Of The Decade

10. Batwoman - Greg Rucka, W. Haden Blackman & J. H. Williams III

Kate Kane is an exceptional character, and even though her debut was marshalled excellently in the pages of 52, it took Greg Rucka to cement her as a Gotham staple.

Rucka's first Batwoman arc was told in the pages of Detective Comics from issue 854-863, with art courtesy of J. H. Williams III and Dave Stewart. It went into greater detail surrounding her military background, and provided a compelling new adversary in the form of Alice, a new Gotham-based villain who modelled herself on the works of Lewis Carroll. Not only that, but Rucka also portrayed Kate's sexuality in full view, providing readers with a visible lesbian protagonist and in doing so illustrating the value true representation has in the comics medium.

Rucka's arc lasted until February 2010, and it wouldn't be until a year later when Kate's journey would resume in the pages of the New 52. Williams and Stewart stuck around, but this time they were joined by former LucasArts writer William Haden Blackman.

The results were phenomenal. Starting with Hydrology, Blackman and Williams fashioned a definitive image of Kate Kane and with it her most enduring partnership - a romance with GCPD officer, Maggie Sawyer.

It succeeded on every level, and Williams himself deserves particular praise for masterfully rendering Gotham in a new light. Kate's never looked better, and while Blackman and Williams' run was phenomenal, they were never given the chance to finish it properly, with DC editorial decreeing that Kate and Sawyer couldn't get married, despite the wishes of the creative team and pretty much everyone who was reading the book. A frustrating end to what was and still is one of the decade's finest arcs.