With Comic-Con in San Diego kicking off today the announcements of new and exciting projects are going to start coming fast and furious. Sadly, there won’t be anything about Vin Diesel — at least in this case. See what we did there?

Instead, this particular announcement concerns a different star (well two, actually): Director Guillermo del Toro and Dark Horse Comic. That’s right, del Toro is teaming up with Dark Horse Comics to bring his horror novel The Strain to the pages of a comic series.

Written in conjunction with novelist Chuck Hogan, the novel concerns a mysterious airplane that lands at JFK Airport and then goes dark on the runway. The Center for Disease Control, fearing a terrorist attack, calls in Dr. Ephraim Goodweather and his team of expert biological-threat first responders.

However, he isn’t the one able to really solve the mystery. Instead, an elderly pawnbroker from Spanish Harlem, who suspects a darker purpose behind the event, realizes an ancient threat intent on covering mankind in darkness is responsible.

Adapted by writer David Lapham (Stray Bullets, Kull), with art by Mike Huddleston (MK Ultra), the first issue arrives in stores on December 14.

With 2009 coming to a close, the challenge was to pick and rank the 10 best comics from the entire year. I’ve estimated reading approximately 1,500+ issues over that time frame, so obviously it wasn’t the easiest task to complete. Still, after much deliberation, these are my picks for the 10 best comics of 2009.

1. Jonah Hex #50
DC Comics
Writers: Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Originally reviewed on December 3, 2009

Perfection. Defined as the highest degree of proficiency, skill or excellence, perfection is near impossible to achieve, especially when every comic ever printed is subjective in nature. You know, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and all that jazz. Still, when I thought about all the comics I’ve read this past year, this issue of Jonah Hex kept coming back to me. While not perfect (frankly, what is?), it’s pretty close.

A wonderful done-in-one tale following our “hero” as he diligently goes about his day job, in this specific case while hunting down 50 various bad guys who had it coming to them. A fine story on it’s own. Now add a dash of romance – or the bounty hunter’s version of it – to the mix, sprinkle in a little personal vengeance, and top it off with a jolting reminder of how cruel life can be, and you’re left with a portrait of a man who makes no excuses for who he is or what he does, life expectations be damned.