Steve Lieber

Check out the best crime comics in 2016, including our critics' picks and the comics you voted the runner up and winner in this category!

The end of the year is a time of reflection in many ways, and that often means thinking about and assessing what the very best releases in any particular medium were. As we prepare to cross the threshold into 2017, we've been collecting some of the best covers of the year by publisher for your perusal, and today we're looking at fifty of the best comic book covers released from Image Comics in 2016.

While DC Comics has had a great 2016 largely thanks to its DC Rebirth initiative, the success of its updated Hanna-Barbera titles such as Future Quest and The Flintstones has been one of the most surprising hits of the year. Next year, DC is doubling down on its classic cartoon characters by teaming them up with some of the most iconic heroes in the DC Universe in a number of special annuals set for release in March.

The weekend is here! Take a look back at what’s happened in the past seven days. New comics, new stories, new podcasts, new art being made — it’s all part of the ComicsAlliance Weekender!

Quantum and Woody got problems, y'all. I mean, that's basically their entire deal. They're two brothers who hate each other but are forced to team up as superheroes under the threat of a quick and explosive death if they don't bash their magic science bracelets together every day. And the thing is, that's not their main problem. That's just where it starts. Next week, things are going to get pretty rough for them once again as writer James Asmus and artist Steve Lieber send them into a new adventure with the ominous title Quantum and Woody Must Die! And if you thought things were bad already, wait until you see this poor sap who gets splashed with a truckload of radioactive chemicals.

Honestly, it's pretty surprising Superior Foes of Spider-Man made it as far as 17 issues. The title lacked star power in terms of characters (Spider-Man's name is in the title, but that was very nearly the full extent of the character's participation in the comic) and it fell into a genre that, for whatever reason, doesn't connect with readers all that often: the superhero universe comedy. Yet, until it ended late last month, it was one of the best comics on the stands. Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber's tale of a group of C-list villains (and that's being generous) grouping together to be the new Sinister Six (despite there only being five of them) had more character, personality, playfulness, inventiveness and wit in its pages than most other comics coming out.

This week marks the premiere of Gotham, the new Fox television show focusing on Jim Gordon's first year as a cop in Batman's hometown, and the origins of young Bruce Wayne and the people who will one day become the greatest enemies of his war on crime. That the show exists at all is a testament to how strong Jim Gordon and the rest of the Gotham city Police Department are as heroes in their own rights. So if Gotham has you in the mood to read about Gordon, Harvey Bullock and the rest of the GCPD -- or if you just want to dive into some solid Batman comics where the spotlight isn't entirely on the Dark Knight -- then I've got some suggestions for great comics about Gotham's top cops!

The solicitations for November's books reveal that Superior Foes Of Spider-Man, by Nick Spencer, and Steve Lieber, and the New Warriors revival, by Christopher Yost and Marcus To, will offer up their swan songs that month. Neither series sold particularly well -- both were near the bottom of the charts -- but each drew critical acclaim, particularly Superior Foes.

The comic book, animation, illustration, pinup, mashup, fan art and design communities are generating amazing artwork of myriad styles and tastes, all of which ends up on the Internet and filtered into ComicsAlliance’s Best Art Ever (This Week). These images convey senses of mood and character — not to mention artistic skill — but comic books are specifically a medium of sequential narratives, an

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