We’re getting close to the end of year, meaning that it’s time to look back on the things that have delighted and surprised us over the past twelve months. The comic books of 2023 provided a lot of both of those emotions, with an ever-growing number of publishers and titles delivering noteworthy stories each week. More often than not, a comic’s breathtaking art or outstanding colors and lettering are predated by the work of a writer — and this year, there were quite a few who made their mark. Still, only one could win this year’s ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award, which is voted on by the members of our staff.
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And the winner for the 2023 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best Writer is…
Kelly Thompson, for Birds of Prey!
Year after year, one of the joys of holding Golden Issues is getting to celebrate the things that we didn’t even know existed 12 months prior. DC’s newest Birds of Prey run, which was only announced in June of this year before debuting its first issue in September, definitely fits that description in spades. Thompson is no stranger to compelling and wacky ensemble comics — after all, her work modernizing West Coast Avengers helped her win the Golden Issue for Best Writer in 2018 — so it was safe to assume that her approach to the Birds of Prey team would be something special.
Based on the four Birds of Prey issues that have been published at the time of this writing, “something special” is something of an understatement. As those who have been following the Birds since their creation in the 1990s can attest, launching a new era for the team can often be a mixed bag, depending on who makes up the roster and how they get to shine. Thompson’s run took that to heart, albeit not in the way fans might have been expecting, initially having Black Canary sidestep her partnership with Batgirl and Huntress (for story reasons, as the book’s first issue proves) and bring a disparate team of warrior women into her orbit. Cassandra Cain, Big Barda, Zealot, and Harley Quinn would all make up the roster of the first arc, alongside an older version of Gotham Academy fan-favorite Maps Mizoguchi, who operates in a distant dark future as the superhero Meridian. Purely on principle, this roster combined a few team veterans, a few new wildcards, and just a smidge of movie synergy — all while proving the original concept of the Birds providing a home to heroines of the DC Universe.
The first Birds of Prey arc, titled “Megadeath,” has immediately thrown that ensemble into a situation that’s simultaneously larger-than-life and incredibly personal. In an effort to rescue Cynthia “Sin” Lance — Dinah’s ward who has barely appeared in comics since she was a child in the convoluted events of 2007’s Black Canary miniseries — the team has to travel to the Amazons’ secluded island of Themyscira. What unfolds from there is a no-holds-barred, glorious bonanza, chock-full of cameos, quips, and genuine surprises. There’s a sense that Thompson’s scripts are in an unspoken conversation with every Birds issue that came before them, while simultaneously paving a brand-new path. Leonardo Romero’s art, Jordie Bellaire’s colors, and Clayton Cowles’ lettering all work in perfect harmony with Thompson’s scripts, which deliver a frenetic but thoughtful energy at every available opportunity. Yes, the stakes of the mission are high — and only grow with each passing panel — but Thompson still balances that with plenty of moments of levity and camaraderie.
It helps that, under Thompson, each Birds’ personality gets to shine in ways both conventional and unexpected, either on their own or in paired-off dynamics. Whether building on Dinah and Harley’s dynamic from Injustice and the Birds of Prey movie, or creating the instantly endearing bond between Barda and her “small bat” Cassandra, the rapport showcased in the first few issues is magnetic. With Birds set to be an ongoing series, and Barbara Gordon confirmed to be entering the fray in a 2024 issue, those possible combinations are only going to grow.
Birds of Prey wasn’t even the only title written by Thompson in 2023, as her landmark run on Marvel’s Captain Marvel came to an end, and she continued to be involved with the beloved Marvel Infinity Comic It’s Jeff!, The year also saw Thompson and artist Mattia De Iulis launch the Image Comics miniseries The Cull, which quickly became a fan favorite. When these titles are combined together with Birds of Prey, Thompson’s body of work in 2023 is nothing short of remarkable.
The nominees for the 2023 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best Writer are:
- Eve Ewing (Black Panther)
- Jed MacKay (Avengers)
- Si Spurrier (Legion of X)
- Kelly Thompson (Birds of Prey) — WINNER
- Mark Waid (Batman / Superman: World’s Finest)
