1. Vertigo
For as long as I can remember, comics were considered kids stuff by the mainstream public. That all changed forever in 1993 with the launch of the first two books from DC's Vertigo line. Death: The High Cost of Living is still some of Neil Gaiman's best work and The Enigma by Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo is one book that deserves, nay, demands another print run. More of an art house label than a comic company, Executive Editor Karen Berger quickly established Vertigo as a truly sophisticated alternative to almost everything else available at the time and challenged the mainstream idea of comics as a whole. Launching the careers of Gaiman, Milligan, Grant Morrison and Garth Ennis, Vertigo changed the way fans and creators alike approached the medium. Preacher, Hellblazer, Lucifer, Fables, Sandman, 100 Bullets, Y: The Last Man... all properties that could easily be movies, TV shows or novels. People sometimes criticized the violence, language and sexuality of Vertigo books as part of what was wrong with comics in the 90s but over time I think most have come to see the truth: Vertigo made comics literature again, in a most brilliant and entertaining way. We all owe Karen Berger a standing ovation.