Steve Dillon

Jason Aaron picked up where Garth Ennis left off on Punisher MAX and delivered a run that stands shoulder to shoulder with the master. With Steve Dillon on art, this is Frank Castle's final war: Kingpin's origin from scratch, a genuinely terrifying Bullseye, and a conclusion that closes the MAX saga in focused, devastating fashion.

Hellblazer by Garth Ennis Omnibus is the run that turns John Constantine into a bruised, funny and spiritually exhausted survivor. Ennis and Steve Dillon balance pub realism, religious horror, old guilt and vicious comedy, making Constantine feel less like a superhero occult lead and more like a man who keeps winning by losing pieces of himself. Its shelf value is character voice: cynical, wounded, profane and still strangely human.