Shelfdust Presents: The Fifty Best #1 Issues Shelfdust

This week it's time to finish out our first season, as we look at the comic which ended up in 1st place: Saga #1 by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples and Fonographiks!
The title should be a clue, but there’s just so much of Saga. This first issue is triple-sized which, yes, is cheating a little. But it’s the only way the series could have started. Nobody is holding back anything. We don’t know... currently... when it’ll come back or how things will finish – but one thing which will never be taken away is how vibrant and wonderous that first issue is. This week Matt welcomes our final guest of the season, Oliver Sava, to talk all about it!
 
Oliver Sava is a writer, editor and critic who has been published by The AV Club, Vulture, and Polygon. For more, you can find his website here, or you can find him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!

This week it's time to dream of a better loving world, as we look at the comic which ended up in 2nd place: Watchmen #1 by Alan Moore, David Gibbons and John Higgins!
Of course we all know everything about Watchmen at this point and then some, being a reimagining of the Charlton superhero characters told across twelve issues. You can see slivers of the original characters within these new shells, but for the most part this is something which not only builds on what came before, but reaches down to shatter the foundations and create something entirely its own and unpredictable. This week special guest Kelly Kanayama joins Matt to talk all about it!
 
Kelly Kanayama is a writer and comics scholar who is literally writing the book on Garth Ennis. Don’t believe me? Have a look at her Patreon page here! You can also find Kelly on Twitter here, highly recommended. 
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!

This week... okay, it looks bad, as we look at the comic which ended up in 3rd place: Hawkeye #1 by Matt Fraction, David Aja, Matt Hollingsworth and Chris Eliopoulos!
Oh, bro, you knew this was going to happen. Hawkeye’s impact remains just as strong today as when it first came out – for a comic which felt like a “moment”, that moment has certainly proven that it can last. Every inch of Hawkeye’s first issue feels like it was meticulously planned for months, but flies by effortlessly. There are so many callbacks and sequential ideas here within the storytelling that it gives the feeling of being a quiver full of arrows – the creative team carefully set up a new arrow to the notch and then send it flying out towards the target. This week Matt is rejoined by special guest Zachary Jenkins to talk all about it!
 
Zachary Jenkins is the owner and head writer of ComicsXF, covering comics across the whole of the industry. He also hosts Battle of the Atom, a podcast which makes X-Men comics fight one another. You can find the site on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!

This week it's time to ascend to godhood, as we look at the comic which ended up in 4th place: The Wicked + The Divine #1 by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matthew Wilson and Clayton Cowles!
WicDiv #1 jump straight onto centrestage to offer a showy performance that looks at myth, iconography, devotion, and idolatry whilst quickly building up a fascinating lead character and a world which understands its high concept whilst offering some modern cynicism and paranoia into the mix. It’s a heady mix of concepts, and you could see things easily falling straight down a trapdoor if it weren’t for the heavy heart that beats behind the light and free dialogue. This week Matt is rejoined by special guest Steve Foxe to talk all about it!
 
Steve Foxe is writer of CHEAT(ER) CODE, the co-creator and editor of RAZORBLADES: the horror magazine, and the editor of The Department of Truth from Image Comics. He’s also the writer of “Night Train” from TKO and a great number of comics and other books for younger readers. He has contributed to PanelXPanel and used to run Paste Magazine’s comics section. Find him on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!

This week it's time to ogle some deli food, as we look at the comic which ended up in 5th place: Ms Marvel #1 by G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona, Ian Herring and Joe Caramagna!
Devised by editor Sana Amanat with writer G. Willow Wilson and artist Adrian Alphona, Kamala Khan’s first appearance is immediately appealing and delightful. There’s an assured creative hand guiding her, as well as all the other characters in her world, who are quickly and effectively sketched in by Wilson. We see how Kamala has that superhero gene within her, but also how she differs from any other hero. It’s a dynamic, iconic debut - and this week we're joined by special guest Adrienne Resha to talk all about it!
 
Adrienne Resha is an academic and comics critic whose work has been seen in Eisner-winning publications like WomenWriteAboutComics and INKS. You can find her on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!

This week it's time to pop on the glasses and bumble into trouble, as we look at the comic which ended up in 6th place: All-Star Superman #1 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Jamie Grant and Phil Balsman.
The comic itself radiates with energy, as Quitely creates some wonderful and magnificent pieces, and every page has at least one line of dialogue which feels lasting and memorable. “Only nothing is impossible” says one of the characters, and that feels like the defining thesis of All-Star Superman as a whole. This week Matt is joined by special guest august (in the wake of) dawn to talk all about it!
Please note this podcast was recorded in 2020, and Grant Morrison's pronouns are they/them.
 
august (in the wake of) dawn is a writer and critic often seen writing for websites like Multiversity, as well as for their Patreon subscribers – you can pledge here! You can also find them on Twitter here!
Matt Lune is a critic and podcaster who has written for publications including PanelXPanel, The MNT and Multiversity. You can find him on Twitter here!