I’m usually against decade lists, especially those conducted when that decade hasn’t even finished yet. However, after seeing this topic on a message board and considering it, I feel I can write more fully the topic of comic books from the decade more than I could with music or films. I’m not as in to comic books these days, but between 2003 and 2007 they were my life, pretty much. Some pretty awesome comic books were produced during that period and here I count them down.

ALL STAR SUPERMAN (written by Grant Morrison, illustrated by Frank Quitely, digitally inked and coloured by Jamie Grant, published by  DC Comics 2005-2008)

I can still remember reading the first issue of All Star Superman – I was 15 and a die-hard Marvelite. I barely touched DC Comics, except maybe a few Batman trade paperbacks. Superman was, and probably still is in my mind, really fucking boring. Its an old argument, but where is the peril with a man who can do anything? Where’s the angst with a good ole’ farm boy who respects his adoptive parents and lets his girlfriend walk all over him? I mean, guy doesn’t even kill like someone cool like Wolverine! Why on earth would I want to read a Superman comic? 

The reason I picked All Star Superman up that November day in a Borders (remember those?) was to do with the names on the cover – Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, one of the decade’s best creative relationships. Both Scots, they share fantastic imaginations, Morrison creating some of the most brain sizzling concepts and ideas in comic books and Quitely able to deliver them with nuance and a style unlike anybody else. Needless to say, I was going to pick up anything these guys did – even Superman.

The All Star line was created by DC to give top creative teams the ability to tell timeless stories about their characters without worrying about continuity or other events, something which appealed to a kid who couldn’t afford to spend £50 a month on every DC book in constant crossover. Timeless is the right word for All Star Superman (or, er, ASS) – the very first page tells Superman’s origin in the most concise form possible and sets out a clear message “You know who Superman is – we’re going to tell you why he’s awesome”.

To do that Morrison doesn’t try to make the character dark or grim, instead he positively revels in those traits I mentioned before – Clark Kent is a total buffoon, always falling over and getting picked on by his co-workers, and Superman is a global do-gooder – actually, strike that; he’s an intergalactic do-gooder – intent on spreading peace and goodwill.

And it works. It’s that very lack of pretentious, that dedication to getting to the core of a character allows the creators to focus on telling the best stories possible. And these stories are good. 12 (mostly) self contained issues, the stories are fast and fun, filled with amazing detail, big ideas and awesome action. Not only that, there’s actually moments of true emotion and pathos that never seem forced. There is drama in this book – just check out issue #6 when Superman heads back to Smallville – but it comes from the characters and the world, not the creators desire to “make waves”.

One of the most amazing things is how, without relying on the reader knowing the intricate details of the Superman mythos, Morrison and Quitely create an entire world. Quitely’s Metropolis is truly astonishing – half futurists paradise, half 1940’s idea of what a futurist paradise would be like. Morrison spends little time fleshing out the supporting cast, instead just introducing them and letting their actions tell the story. One issue shifts the focus to Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olson, but instead of a curve ball it comes across as both a cute character study and a well told action story. Again, the focus is on making everything in the book timeless – Morrison and Quitely saying “You know these characters, you now this place, enjoy.”

All Star Superman was only supposed to be 12 issues, and it was – even if scheduling issues meant those 12 issues took nearly four years to come out. There’s an over-arching story to the 12 issues, where elements from each standalone issue built up to one impressively grand finale. What’s most amazing is that even in the conclusion Morrison and Quitely don’t give in to the temptation that so many other writers do when tasked with scripting the man of steel – instead of some great point about peace, love and all that jazz, the finale is a big cosmic adventure where Superman does what Superman does, save the world.

Morrison and Quitely were quietly brave (hahaha) with All Star Superman, resisting urges to modernise to instead focus on just telling the best Superman story they could. In the process, they probably told the best Superman story ever.