The Final ’90s Countdown: Prologue.

§ March 12th, 2025 § Filed under final '90s countdown § 103 Comments

pictured: a 1990s comic book

So I think I’ve recovered sufficiently from the Final ’80s Countdown series of posts, in which I tallied your votes for your favorite indie comic titles of the 1980s and discussed them all.

Thus, it’s time for the Final ’90s Countdown, in which I ask, nay, demand of you to tell me your favorite independent title of the much-maligned 1990s era of comic books right here in this post’s comments section. ’90s comics may get a lot of grief, but honest, there were good books too!

There are rules, because aren’t there always?

  • This poll is for indie titles only…no Marvel, no DC, no Vertigo, none of their other subdivisions, etc. I know Wildstorm leaves Image and joins DC Comics in 1999, but…let’s try to stick to pre-DC Wildstorm if you’re picking one of their titles.

  • No one-shots or graphic novels…just actual comic book series that ran at least three issues.

  • Series had to start in the 1990s. If it’s a feature that ran through multiple mini-series, you can nominate all those as “one” series if you want, but those series had to have started in the ’90s (like, for example, Lady Death, but not the 1980s-originating Concrete).

    EDIT: if you’re not sure when the series started, you can look it up on the Grand Comics Database!

  • Just ONE vote per person, please! That means leaving just one title in your comment…maybe with a little additional commentary if you want, or it could just be the name of the book.

  • I am going to have to request my more…verbose commenters to please not get into an extended conversation in this comments section. Just leave it for votes only, please. (I’ll set up a separate post where you can chat about this here.)

And I think that’s about it. Please tell me your favorite indie comics of the 1990s, and eventually I’ll cut off voting and start discussin’. I’ll try to get some folks on Bluesky to participate, too, to boost up the numbers hopefully.

Thanks, pals, and we’ll see how it goes! I look forward to talking about your choices! Even if it’s Purgatori!

103 Responses to “The Final ’90s Countdown: Prologue.”

  • Sean Mageean says:

    Gen 13

  • Adam Ford says:

    It’s gotta be Pirate Corp$/Hectic Planet for me. I was 19 when I discovered this. The perfect age. Think I picked up HP5 to start with and then worked my way back. Love how it evolved from a space opera to a crazy rock n roll slice of life punk rock dramedy without ever retconning itself one bit. Was my intro to Evan Dorkin too, who I will always have time for, tracking all of his stuff down as it came out: bill and Ted, instant piano, Fight Man, Beasts of Burden…

    Yeah. I vote Pirate Corp$. Changed my life, for real.

  • Mikester says:

    Adam – I love Pirate Corp$ but the Slave Labor run started in the late ’80s! I discussed it here in my ’80s Countdown. Did you want to pick something else (likw his series Dork)?

    EDIT: my initial suggestion for a replacement was a Marvel series, which means I can’t even follow my own rules. Sigh.

  • Max Romero says:

    The Nocturnals: Black Planet (1995, Malibu/Bravura) by Dan Brereton. Instantly fell in love with the characters and the vibe, a comic that still has gas today.

  • Darren says:

    Adding to the love for Evan Dorkin…His comic Dork. I think it started early 90s. Looking back, probably my favourite 1990s indie. There are so many stand out comic strips in there.

    I love it so much I’ve got all the originals – which are not so easy to find in merry old england – and the hardback reprint.

  • Chris B says:

    Skeleton Key by Andi Watson.

  • philfromgermany says:

    Peter Bagge’s HATE – Since I nominated Cerebus for the 80’s countdown I double-checked: #1 came out April 1990 Whew, that was close !

  • Bill Doughty says:

    Bone! Just a perfect mix of adventure, comedy, and heart.

  • Randal says:

    Strangehaven. Which I can’t believe has been around for 30 years now. I think I’m missing a couple of the latest chapters.

  • Patrick Gaffney says:

    I’m kind of sorry I cannot go for the James Robinson Starman, he seems like a very 90’s kind of guy and would be very different if still around today.

    So staying out of the DC lane, I’m going to go with Bone. (although I very tempted to go with Astro City)

  • Just Joe says:

    My pick is Strangers in Paradise. I did not find it until late 1996, but it had a strong run starting in 1993 and still is a viable, recognized property to this day.

  • Michael Grabowski says:

    Stray Bullets

  • adrian says:

    its a bit of a toss up-but between Bone and Hellboy, it’s Hellboy.

  • Rob S. says:

    So many great choices! I love so many of the books already mentioned, but if I’ve gotta choose just one it’s Stray Bullets.

  • Cassandra Miller says:

    Gotta be Jeff Smith’s Bone.

  • Tashtego says:

    Johnny The Homicidal Maniac

  • Matthew Murray says:

    Finder by Carla Speed McNeil.

  • John says:

    Hellboy gets my vote

  • Jeff Lester says:

    First issue of Eightball came out in August of ‘89?! Damn it!

  • jeff lester says:

    Ok, so I’ll go with Acme Novelty Library, then. Jeez, the 90s were a good decade for Indy comics!

  • Isamu Hideaki-Yukinori says:

    I also vote for Jeff Smith’s “Bone”.

  • Robert Coleman says:

    My vote’s for Hellboy even though I didn’t start reading it until after the nineties.

  • David says:

    Strangers in Paradise

  • Chris Gumprich says:

    Peepshow.

    (We still miss you, Joe!)

  • Chris V says:

    There were a lot of great choices listed that I didn’t even consider…but I have to go with my first choice, one of my favourite comics ever, Hellboy.

  • Jodie Troutman says:

    Madman (The Oddity Odyssey > Madman Adventures > Madman Comics)

  • Mike Loughlin says:

    Stray Bullets, and I’m glad to see other people listing it, too. Issue 4 is one of the creepiest comics I’ve ever read. Great art, and every issue was compelling.

  • So that it doesn’t get forgotten, I’ll throw in a vote for The Mask by John Arcudi and Doug Mahnke.

  • Carol Pond says:

    Amy Unbounded by Rachel Hartman

  • Liz Matheson says:

    The Maxx — I’m betting the “spirit animal” aspect hasn’t aged gracefully but it was still absolutely gorgeous

    Honorable mentions: REN, INTERGALACTIC CHIHUAHUA

  • Mela says:

    Gotta go with Bone. It’s the definitive indie book of the era, really, as well as being a perennial classic.

  • Stephen O says:

    Any Hellboy.

  • Matthew Johnson says:

    “Most” 90s or “best” 90s?

    Most 90s has to be Hate! by Peter Bagge. Not that it encapsulates the 90s comics industry so much as it encapsulates being young(-ish) in the 90s.

    Best 90s? I’ll vote for Akiko as I find it’s the comic from the period I return to most often.

  • Jeff R says:

    Hm. I guess the first chapters being in the Taboo anthology first rules out From Hell. There’s a lot of quintessential 90s books that technically started in 1989 in general.

    So I’ll go with Kurt Busiek’s (and Brent Anderson’s) Astro City.

  • Tom W says:

    Surprised at the votes so far, I thought it would all be Optic Nerve and Palookaville and Yummy Fur. Warren Ellis also had an outsized impact on the 90s, though his reputation means he’s unlikely to pick up many votes.

    I’m torn between four: the Alan Moore run on Supreme is excellent and extremely of-its-decade, and never finishing is very 1990s Image. Stray Bullets I love and it certainly outweighs the others in terms of ambition, though it’s petered out. Sin City was fantastic, the sheer materialising of an artist’s vision on the page, the stripping-down of noir.

    But I’m going for Joe Matt’s Peepshow, the ultimate of those 90s confessional comics in that it went in harder on its subject than any. And also Joe’s sadly gone so it’s a tribute.

  • Mark Bender says:

    I hate having to choose only one. So many great indy books started in the 90s. Hellboy, Bone, Artbabe, Stray Bullets, Madman, Optic Nerve, Whiteout, Harbinger, True Swamp, Stormwatch, Black Hole, Action Girl Comics, Blue Monday. So many more that are disqualified because the started in the 80s.
    I think my vote is for Paul Pope’s THB

  • Ethan Crane says:

    Supreme.

    Even the pre-Moore madness is pure 90s delight. Babewatch, anyone?

    (Okay, maybe not Babewatch…)

  • Dave Carter says:

    So many to choose from! But I’m gonna opt for “Strangers in Paradise”

  • Paul Di Filippo says:

    Second vote for HATE!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_(comics)

  • Mike Baehr says:

    I confess that I wasn’t reading a ton of comics in the ’90s, but picking from that meager selection, I’ll go with Madman.

  • Mike Baehr says:

    Oh shoot, no, Optic Nerve! I’d delete my previous comment if I could.

  • Anthony S says:

    Black Hole by Charles Burns

  • Steven Gauthier says:

    Strangers in Paradise. Although it had runs where it made less sense than usual, SiP is the series that most affected me.
    I’m a big fan of Astro City and Bone but feel those could have somehow come from DC or Marvel on their best days.

  • Smicha1 says:

    Well, since Gregory came out in ’89, I’m going to say Tug & Buster

  • Hal Shipman says:

    Oh, definitely Hellboy.

    I came late to that party, but man oh man. And I love the BPRD stuff as well. Such great characters, fighting on when there is little to no hope.

  • Scott Ashworth says:

    Meat Cake

  • Andrew Davison says:

    Jeff Smith’s Bone.

  • Thom H. says:

    Louis Riel by Chester Brown

    Three issues were published in 1999 — I checked!

  • Brian Hughes says:

    Peter Bagge’s HATE, please!

  • Brian Hughes says:

    A third vote for Peter Bagge’s HATE,please!

  • Daniel T says:

    I really think Eightball deserves to be grandfathered in as it is very much a 90s comic even if a quirk of time had the first issue out in (late!) ’89.

    But even if it were, my vote would still be for Acme Novelty Library. (Next would be Stray Bullets.)

  • MixMat says:

    Strange Attractors(i’ll comment further in the comments thread). Suffice to say here I couldn’t choose from the excellent choices above so I’ll point out Strange Attractors has a POD/digital Omnibus available plus a color special(covers and guest artists, since only 15 issues were published-warning I don’t remember if the story was completed in the follow-up mini series Moon Fever[only 2 published out of 4 planned, out of print] I had more to say I guess.

  • Greta says:

    Astro City (special shout out to #1/2, easily the best of those Wizard 1/2 issues)

  • Joe Gualtieri says:

    The first chapter of From Hell was published in 1989? Ugh!

    It feels weird to vote for anything Valiant, it’s not really an “indie” except in the sense that anything not Marvel/DC gets called “indie.”

    Gen 13– yeah, Stray Bullets is better, but it was hugely influence, both stylistically and in other ways (the 13 variant covers for #1 of the ongoing).

  • ScienceGiant says:

    Gonna stir the pot here and add some manga: Sailor Moon.

    Per Wikipedia entry: Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha’s shōjo manga magazine Nakayoshi from 1991 to 1997; the 60 individual chapters (later reorganized into 52), along with several side stories, were compiled in 18 volumes.

  • Damien says:

    I’m going to go for Archer & Armstrong from Valiant. If I’m allowed an honourable mention I’d go for the First Comics version of Classics Illustrated which premiered in January 1990. Each one is a classic in it’s own way.

  • DavidG says:

    Gotta be Bone, it must have outsold everything on this list by now

  • Bryan Levy says:

    It’s a licensed title, so I don’t know if it counts, but I’m voting for X-Files. No show had the cultural cache that it did for a while there, and being published by the very 90’s Topps Comics doesn’t hurt either.

  • Jon Love says:

    Johnny the Homicidal Maniac!

  • Matthew Murray says:

    ScienceGiant: Sailor Moon was published (in part) in single issues in America by Mixx/Tokyopop.

  • Aaron says:

    Greta is correct! Astro City.

  • Nicholas Doyle says:

    While my brain says “Bone” my heart is gonna offer up (probably) the only vote for Savage Dragon. I’ve been reading it for most of my life, and while I’m a little icked over the more recent pornier aspects, Erik Larsen is a fantastic cartoonist, and I love that it’s still going.

  • Carlos says:

    I love a lot of the books that have already been mentioned but I’ll throw my vote at Alex Robinson’s Box Office Poison just to make sure it gets a moment in the spotlight.

  • Sean Mageean says:

    @ Nicholas Doyle

    I think that technically Savage Dragon first appeared in print in the late ’80s in Megaton comics–unless that is just considered a prototype of the character. Either way, I recall an iteration of Savage Dragon fighting a character called Vanguard in an Erik Larson story in an issue of Megaton circa 1986 or so.

  • Adam says:

    Whoops, sorry Mike! I think I’ll plump for Action Girl as my vote instead. I checked and it’s def a 90s series. Such an amazing anthology. Got my daughter hooked on comics – she’s a huge Chynna Clugston fan to this day.

  • Snark Shark says:

    “Bone! Just a perfect mix of adventure, comedy, and heart.”

    I’m gonna have to agree. the entire run is classic.

    Hellboy is a close second- the Mignola ones are best, obviously.

    Honorable mentions to Savage Dragon (if it’s eligible), X-O Manowar, and Archer & Armstrong, but ONLY if Barry Smith was writing & drawing. also, Dork and Milk & Cheese. And the black and white comic by Ed Brubaker WELL before he wrote Captain America. Lowlife??

    “It feels weird to vote for anything Valiant, it’s not really an “indie” except in the sense that anything not Marvel/DC gets called “indie.”

    Well, it’s indie in the sense that it’s no longer around, like the rest of these publishers, except Image!

  • Snark Shark says:

    Bone really was BRILLIANT. Best-era Cerebrus w/out the problematic bits, and kids can read it. Pogo, but modern & without the soon-out-dated political references.

  • Snark Shark says:

    Oh, honorable mention to Astro City, too.

  • Alistair says:

    Hello.

    My vote is for STAR WARS: TALES OF THE JEDI (1993-1999) which was mainly written (and sometimes co-written) by Tom Veitch and Kevin J. Anderson with various artists, most notably Christian Gossett, if that is permissible.

    It’s a Dark Horse comic so I hope it should be okay as an “indie” book, but I am unsure whether the fact it is a licensed comic (and a Star Wars comic to boot) might disqualify it from consideration.

    In the event that you can’t include this one, I would like to submit ELTINGVILLE CLUB by Evan Dorkin as my backup, if that is alright.

  • Nicholas Doyle says:

    @Sean Mageean

    Larsen created Dragon when he was a kid, and threw him in those Megaton comics when he was just starting out. *Technically* Savage Dragon (the comic) was a brand new fresh start, although he did later bring the OG Dragon into the book as a different character. COMICS! Regardless, if Mike doesn’t think it should count, I can rescind my vote.

  • googum says:

    SCUD THE DISPOSABLE ASSASSIN. Cowboys don’t quit!

  • Aaron G. says:

    One more for BONE, please. It’s like the film of The Wizard of Oz: good no matter how old you are.

  • MWayne says:

    Strangehaven! I remember salivating at the prospect of a new issue, it came out so rarely.

  • Sean Mageean says:

    @ Nicholas Doyle

    My apologies. I didn’t mean to come across as trying to invalidate your vote, I just recalled that a version of Savage Dragon appeared in Megaton in the late ’80s. But if the ’90s comic was a fresh start on the character, that makes sense.

    After all the decades it is hard to keep everything straight. People have been voting for Peter Bagge’s “Hate” and I could have sworn that was from the ’80s, then I did some research and realized what I had read in the ’80s was actually Peter Bagge’s “Neat Stuff;” so, I got the two Bagge series confused.

    I also had to look up Eightball, because I remember buying the first four or five issues of that. It turns out no. 1 came out in 1989. But it made me realize I stopped buying Marvel and DC and all superhero comics in 1989, but I was still buying Love & Rockets, Eightball, and a few other independent comics through 1990.

  • Nicholas Doyle says:

    @Sean Mageean

    Oh no I wasn’t offended/bothered at all! If I’m being honest, I’d completely forgotten about the Megaton comics, since they were so different from the actual SD series.

  • William Burns says:

    I’ll go with Hellboy. There are other individual arcs or stories I like better, but Hellboy has the consistent quality.

  • Michael Hoskin says:

    If it counts, Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre by Batton Lash (previously a strip in a law journal in the 80s)

  • Bret Sector says:

    Peepshow by Joe Matt

  • Snark Shark says:

    “If it counts, Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre by Batton Lash (previously a strip in a law journal in the 80s)”

    I think I saw some of those in the Comics BuyersGuide, as well.

  • Allen M says:

    If the first issue wasn’t published in ‘89 I would have voted for Eightball, but to follow the rules, I will instead go with the Maxx. The cartoon, which was pretty much a motion comic, was a huge influence on me growing up. I began picking up issues as they came out right around the time jump/Alan Moore scripted issues.

    Yummy Fur would be my second (or is it third?) pick.

  • Tim B says:

    Stormwatch, specifically the Warren Ellis run, and if you’ll allow it the Ellis/Hitch run on The Authority.

  • Pete says:

    Instead of casting the billionth vote for Bone I’ve decided to do something crazy. I’m going to cast a vote for a comic I’ve never read, simply because I want to see it discussed.

    My vote is for Soulsearchers And Company, Peter David’s indie comic.

    Ever since I saw the Amanda Conner covers I’ve been curious about this, but it must’ve had a print run of 100 per issue or something, because I’ve never run across a single issue anywhere. No collections, not even any scans online, nothing. If Mike can dig up anything about this book I’ll be shocked, so I want to see him try.

    Is the comic good? How should I know? I can’t read it! But it appears to have a valley girl witch and a talking groundhog in its cast, for starters. I think it would do a lot better today were there a reprint; now that people are more open to comedic comics and know who both David AND Conner are.

  • Chris B says:

    Soulsearchers and Company has been collected over 6 volumes of omnibus (0mnibuses?) I imagine that’s the whole shebang collected.

    It’s all rather good by the way.

  • jim kosmicki says:

    ooh – Hilly Rose – that was a good ‘un. Those were the days when the pages of Previews just overflowed with interesting stuff worth taking a chance on.

  • Sean Mageean says:

    @jim kosmicki

    I bought half the Hilly Rose run a few months back that I found in a dollar box just based on the great covers. I felt like the artist was channeling Wally Wood and Frank Frazetta fairly nicely. I think B.C. Boyer is the artist/writer–I recalled the name from some stories published in Eclipse Comics. I believe his other character was called the Masked Man, and was kind of an early ’80s homage to The Spirit.

  • Patrick Carrington says:

    Spawn.

  • John says:

    Bone for sure.

    But a shoutout to Carol, for reminding me of Amy Unbounded. I wish there were more issues, and will have to revisit those tonight. Searching for those covers online to reminisce brings to mind another joy in Castle Waiting.

  • I’ve really, really over thought this.

    Hate, by P. Bagge.

  • Snark Shark says:

    “0mnibuses?”

    Omnibi?

  • Casie says:

    One for Dork, please! Me love me some Milk & Cheese! :)

  • UatuBot says:

    What if I always had a soft spot for Ninja High School from Antarctic Press?

  • Brian F says:

    Ok, I gotta go with Hellboy – I still find myself enjoying the new mignolaverse stories

  • John Pontoon says:

    From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell

    If that doesn’t qualify, Stray Bullets by the great David Lapham

  • Mikester says:

    From Hell first appeared in 1989, so it is not eligible.

  • Chad Anderson says:

    Pickle! I was so sad when this comic petered out, but then so amazed and overjoyed when Dylan Horrocks returned to finish it in the Hicksville graphic novel. (Doesn’t look like he’ll ever complete the vampire tale that shared space with the Hicksville stories in Pickle for a bit.)

    Kind of interesting how much closer our own world now is to the fictional town of Hicksville, with the comics medium much more accepted and present in the larger culture.

  • Ray Cornwall says:

    Far too many good choices. I’ll throw in with HATE!, but I also loved Slacker from Slave Labor.

  • Chasdom says:

    ACME Novelty Library has the distinction of keeping me from quitting comics altogether in the mid-90s. Credit or blame? U-Decide!

  • Jason1749 says:

    Madman by Mike Allred

  • If we can only name one, I’m going with THB.

  • Adam says:

    Ooh I second PICKLE. What an amazing book.

  • James G. says:

    Since by the rules, I can not go with Transmetropolitan, let’s get crazy. I’m going with Harlequin from Dark Horse Presents issues 48-51. It was beautifully drawn, beautifully written, absolutely lovely. When I find those issues of DHP in the bins, I buy them.

  • Ken C. says:

    As it was called at the time, Kurt Busiek’s Astro City. (Honorable mention to Leave it to Chance, Sin City, 1963, and From Hell.)

  • Leave a Reply