A new decade has begun, and with it, High Five! Comics will soon be unveiling our special “20 (Or So) Best Comics of the Decade” event (take THAT, Siege). But before we reveal the big list, we’ll start with a series of supplementary entries from HF!C’s contributing writers about those comics we each individually loved, but that didn’t quite have the mojo to make the final ranks.

Today, Rob talks about some of his personal favorite books from the last decade.

The Invincible Iron Man – Matt Fraction (Rob’s #6)

Holy shit, it makes perfect sense. I mean, I never really was a big Iron Man guy and I just kinda bought this book on a whim and hoped that all the hype I’d been hearing from every comic shop owner ever wasn’t utter bullshit. The weird thing was, nobody could really tell me why this book was so great. I think I just figured it out. Tony Stark and Matt Fraction are pretty much the same guy. Seriously, look Fraction up on YouTube. Every time he opens his mouth, you kinda think, “Oh man, you are kind of a dick.” And then you read his work and you’re all, “Oh man, this is brilliant.” Now read any Iron Man book ever. Tony Stark: brilliant, but kind of a dick. Oh my god! It all makes sense!

Air – G. Willow Wilson (Rob’s #8)

Hey, if somebody could start buying this book before they end up canceling it, that’d be really great. I mean, the volume one and two trade paperbacks were ranked #104 and #404 respectively on Diamond’s chart for how-much-shit-sold-in-2009, and that’s just sad. Basically, this book is about a flight attendant who gets caught up in a terrorist plot involving Aztec technology in some weird country that got erased off the maps during that India-Pakistan thing. Also, she’s being helped out by Amelia Earhart and Quetzalcoatl. Also, she has the power to jump into other dimensions. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but the story itself is surprisingly captivating (by the way, ladies, Neil Gaiman looooves it) and the art by M.K. Perker is detailed, flawless, and innovative (best use of blank space I’ve ever seen in a comic). Look, just do me a solid and add Air to your pull list right now, because I totally want to see how this ends.

The Immortal Iron Fist – Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction (Rob’s #9)

Really? More Fraction? Hey, shut up. As you guys all know, I am totally into the characters that people seem to forget about. That’s why when I first laid eyes on the Immortal Iron Fist Omnibus (and saw Brubaker’s name gracing it’s spine), I immediately went, “Oooh, pretty. I think I need to own that.” And, let me tell you, it is one of the most beautiful and well-written books I’ve ever purchased. Brubaker and Fraction do a wonderful job of telling the story of not only Danny Rand’s tenure as the Iron Fist, but of the legacy of the Iron Fist mantle itself, intertwined in a story about HYDRA trying to blow up the mystical city of K’un L’un. Confession time: I’ve yet to read any of Duane Swierczynski’s run on the book, but from what I’ve heard, he does the rest of the series justice right up to its conclusion.

NextWave: Agents of H.A.T.E. – Warren Ellis (Rob’s #18)

This book is way, way more amazing than it should be. Led by ex-Captain Marvel Monica Rambeau, Tabitha “Boom-Boom” Smith, Machine Man, Elsa Bloodstone, and the Captain (essentially a team of heroes nobody cares about), NextWave takes on former employers Dirk Anger and H.A.T.E., Fin Fang Foom, the Mindless Ones, and Devil Dinosaur (essentially, the villains nobody cares about). The best part about this story, however, is the controversy as to whether or not it takes place on 616. Warren Ellis and Joe Quesada seem to think that it takes place on some alternate Earth (what with most Marvel heroes being depicted as total dicks), while several Marvel books (Civil War: Battle Damage Report, for one) explicitly state that the events in NextWave were canon and on Earth-616. Mix that with the copious amount of tongue-in-cheek humor of Ellis (as well as its own goddamn theme song), and you got one weird-ass book. What more could you want?

Sentences: the Life of MF Grimm – Percy Carey (Rob’s #20)

It’s no secret, I love me some hip hop. When I found MF Grimm’s name staring back at me from a local shop’s discount rack, I was more confused than anything else. I’d heard some of MF Grimm’s tracks a couple times but wasn’t really familiar with his work, so I had absolutely no idea that Vertigo had gone and published his autobiography. Growing up in Manhattan, Percy Carey was able to witness the birth of hip hop firsthand, and recants the tale with a sort of wonder that I’ve never seen in a comic before. Be forewarned, however, Sentences is in no way a fun read, rife with profanity, explicit violence, and heartbreak, made all the more depressing because this shit actually happened to Carey.

Read Jonny’s list here and Brendan’s here. Tomorrow, Maggie unveils her picks.