My comic career officially began in 2002, when I won a Marvel Comics talent search contest and had my first published credit, an eight page WOLVERINE story about a dark road through the woods, a flat-tire and a fateful conversation about God. That story got my foot in the door of the industry and gave me the confidence I sorely needed to take a real shot at chasing my dream job, but it wasn't exactly a Fastpass to comic book superstardom. It'd be another four years before my next published comic work, THE OTHER SIDE at DC/Vertigo, which I believe is still the lowest-selling book I've ever done. But that would lead to SCALPED and SCALPED would lead me back to Marvel, back to WOLVERINE, and my output would begin to grow steadily from there, with each new job helping open the door for the next.
2010-2019 would be my first full decade in comics, and it's one that has proved incredibly gratifying and rewarding. So I'm happy to take a moment to look back and appreciate the reception my work was thankfully able to garner for this past year and the decade overall. And then get back to being even more excited about the stories I'm getting to tell going forward.
Best Writer in AiPT's Favorite Comics of 2019.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN in The Beat’s Best Comics of 2019.
THOR in IGN'S Best Comic Book Series of 2019.
THE WAR OF THE REALMS in Comic Book Revolution's Top 10 Comic Books of 2019.
KING THOR as an “Honorable Mention” in SyFy Wire's 10 Best New Comic Books of 2019.
SEA OF STARS #1 in WhatCulture's 25 Best Comic Book Covers of 2019.
THE MIGHTY THOR at #3 in WhatCulture’s 10 Best Comic Books of the Decade.
THOR in The Oklahoman’s Best Comic Book Series of the Decade.
SCALPED at #24 and THOR: GOD OF THUNDER at #10 on Den of Geek’s 100 Best Comics of the Decade.
SOUTHERN BASTARDS and THOR in The Beat’s 100 Best Comics of the Decade.
SOUTHERN BASTARDS and THOR in IGN’S Best Comics of the Decade.
WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN, SOUTHERN BASTARDS, SCALPED and THOR in CBR’S Top 100 Comics of the 2010s.
THOR: GOD OF THUNDER on Previews World’s Memorable Comics of the Decade.
And holy shit, I also had the top-selling comic book of the decade, in the million-selling STAR WARS #1.
But for highlights of the year, for me, it’s hard to beat this one:
This variant cover for KING THOR #4 by the amazing Mike del Mundo made me just a wee bit weepy. And now you can purchase your own signed copy, which may or may not include my actual tears, over at my online store.
Thank you as always for reading. Cheers to you all.
And Happy New Year.
Jason Aaron
KC, January 2020