Looking back at 2016: Top Five Graphic Novels

While I buy plenty of monthly books, I also like to grab trades now and then because some stories just read better that way. So here is my list of favorite trade paperbacks or original graphic novels from 2016.

Image credit: Michel Fiffe and Bergen Street Press.

1. Vision: Little Worse Than A Man: Tom King may be a DC exclusive creator now, but before he made that change he produced his absolute finest work for Marvel with this series. The story of Vision building his own family and the problems that causes in suburban Washington, D.C. is probably the finest superhero deconstruction in years.
2. Copra Round Three: Copra is one of the few books I purchase in trade. The series continued early this year with this tome and it expertly expands the universe after the events of the first year's ongoing story arc. I cannot wait to crack open the fourth volume, which came into my library right at the end of 2016. 
3. Wonder Woman: Earth One: I actually expected a bit more from Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette's re-imagined Wonder Woman, but their take is still one of the best the character has ever received. Hopefully subsequent volumes will continue to explore this character in ways she's deserved for years. 
4. The Discipline: Peter Milligan's Image series seems to have been short lived but the first trade offered an intriguing tale of a woman turned into a monster tied to bondage. It's basically a strange mix of 50 Shades of Gray and a monster hunter book, and that combination under Milligan's pen is just superb. 
5. All New Wolverine: Four Sisters: I would have never guessed I would enjoy this volume so much, but Tom Taylor's work on Laura Kinney as Wolverine is nothing short of stupendous. With a completely different attitude than her "dad", the former X-23 and four imperfect clones of her take this book in a direction unlike any other Wolverine book that had me champing at the bit to read more in a way I haven't with Wolverine in nearly two decades. Here's hoping he gets time to do a lot more with Laura over the next couple years.