July 29, 2015 by Billy Henehan

Sex Criminals 11 Cover Reveals

I entered the Sex Criminals #11 cover lottery today, hoping to snag a signed and sketched cover. Unfortunately, I came up short and received the regular cover. I also bought the XXX Bryan Lee O’Malley variant that I mentioned on the latest Tuesday Night Comics Podcast. It is very NSFW and…in your face.

Here are the back covers:

I like that both back covers are different from each other. The regular cover is on the left and the Bryan Lee O’Malley variant is on the right.

And here are the front covers:

I really like how the Bryan Lee O’Malley variant is done to look like the box art of a classic NES game. It’s well designed, and has a lot of humor in it, but maybe don’t whip this cover out on the bus and start reading. But if you do, please tweet us a picture of yourself doing so to @TuesNightMovies.

January 7, 2015 by Billy Henehan

Best Comics of 2014

2014 was a great year for comic books. The hosts of the Tuesday Night Comic podcast were asked to list their top 5 favorite comics of 2014. Whittling the lists down to just 5 comics each was tough, but here they are!

Billy:

5. Andre the Giant

As soon as I started reading Box Brown’s biography of Andre the Giant, I could not put it down. Besides being incredibly well researched, it’s also a very good read. Box Brown really shows off his skills as a cartoonist on a subject that comes across as very dear to him. This might be the best biographical comic book I’ve ever read.

4. Copra

At the tail end of 2014, fans of Michel Fiffe’s Copra worried that his deal with Marvel might mean Copra would be put on hiatus. Thankfully, Fiffe’s love letter to the Suicide Squad continued in 2014 with 6 new issues. The series shifted for Round 3, with each issue focusing on a specific character. As of this writing, Michel has exactly 8 subscriptions available for the next 6 issues of Copra available at his Etsy shop. Trust me, you will not regret treating yourself to this.

3. Silver Surfer

Dan Slott is writing the best Doctor Who comic on the stands, and it is Silver Surfer.

2. Ms. Marvel

Month in, and month out, this comic book is so good! I can’t rave about it enough, and I know I’m not the only one. It was great seeing fans coplaying as Kamala Khan at NYCC this past year, and any panel attended by Ms. Marvel writer G. Willow Wilson was a packed one.

1. The Multiversity

There’s a reason Dave and I go into lengthy conversations on the Tuesday Night Comics podcast about every new issue of The Multiversity. It’s because it’s that damn good!

Dave:

5. The New 52: Futures End

This has really been a fun read.

4. The Multiversity

Can Grant Morrison write these series of books forever?

3. Wonder Woman

Great series and a great end to the series.

2. American Vampire

I just loved this series. I purchased this series during a sale and I’m all caught up. The world the Scott Snyder builds here is great. I can’t wait to jump on board the new series.

1. Locke & Key

Read this series this year and I couldn’t stop reading it. The speed at which I ripped through these books reminded me of binging on the Harry Potter novels.

Nick:

5. Batgirl

…by Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, Babs Tarr, and Maris Wicks: I was a little hesitant to add this one, since we’ve only gotten three issues so far, but what can I say: good comics are good comics! And Batgirl is a great comic. Other than Snyder and Capullo’s run on Batman (another contender for best-of-the-year, by the way,) I’ve pretty much stayed away from DC since the New 52 started, but I love everything about this take on the character. The team got a lot of press with the redesign of Barbara’s costume, but, just like Silver Surfer, the emphasis is on fun, and the art (Stewart does the layouts, Tarr does the drawing) is rad. I’ll be picking this up as long as they’re making it.

4. Silver Surfer

…by Dan Slott, Mike Allred, and Laura Allred: Look, I’m as surprised about this as you are; I don’t care about the Silver Surfer, I’ve never cared about the Silver Surfer – not even in the issues of Fantastic Four where he was first introduced. But this book is fantastic! It’s charming and fun, which shouldn’t surprise me, since it’s Mike Allred, but still. Much like Mark Waid’s Daredevil run, Slott and the Allreds have taken a character I had zero affinity for and put together one of my favorite books. Who’s going to do that next year?!?

3. Saga

…by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples: this was on my list in 2012, but like I said before: “good comics are good comics!” This year saw both the conclusion of the 3rd arc of the book and the whole of the 4th, which jumps ahead in time a few years. After pulling us in with the Romeo & Juliet-style love-affair between Marco and Alana in the first 18 issues, Vaughan and Staples then proceed to yank the rug right out from under us over the next 6. I’m not going to spoil things for you, but I will say this: we never did have to see Romeo & Juliet actually have to learn to live with one another.

2. Sex Criminals

…by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky: Another repeat, this time from last year’s list, the second volume of Sex Criminals hits the same note as Saga: in a relationship, what happens when the honeymoon ends? This arc is definitely darker than the first, although Zdarsky tosses in enough background jokes to keep everything fun. The end of the second volume hasn’t come out yet, but I have faith that Fraction and Zdarsky will not let us down. Also – if you’re trade-waiting this series, don’t! The letters page is the best!

1. Seconds

…by Bryan Lee O’Malley and Nathan Fairbairn: Scott Pilgrim is one of my all-time favorite comics, so I was anxiously awaiting O’Malley’s follow-up ever since it was announced a couple of years ago. When the book finally arrived in July, I spent a morning reading the entire thing…then read it again that afternoon. Even though it probably gets the most attention for its video game references, Scott Pilgrim was essentially about figuring yourself out in your early/mid 20’s. Seconds follows the same path, only this time it’s about realizing you’re in your 30’s, and looking back on the decisions you’ve made and how they’ve brought you to where you are. The book replaces Pilgrim’s video game metaphors with a more supernatural flavor, which fits the subject matter perfectly. On the art side, O’Malley has grown as a comic artist by leaps and bounds – the book is stunning. I already knew going in that the colors would be great (Fairbairn has been doing an amazing job with the Scott Pilgrim color editions) but I was blown away when I read the final product – throw in lettering by my second favorite letterer, Dustin Harbin, and Seconds was not just the best comic I read this year, it might be the best book I read this year, period.

Alli:

5. Annihilator

Grant Morrison’s Legendary comics debut with Annihilator this year really blew me away. With fantastic art from Frazer Irving and the story being written by one of industry’s best writers, this book had everything going for it and it did not disappoint. Ray Spass is a writer who has to team up with his own fictional character to save his sanity and the world in the process, Annihilator was a real welcome new book from this past year.

4. Black Science

Take one part Sliders, one part Lost in Space, and add some of the best action in comics and you have Rick Remender’s Black Science. Parallel worlds and dangerous alien races with a cast of characters who are as expendable as the cast of Game of thrones. The action is intense and this book grabbed me from issue one and never let go.

3. East of West

Jonathan Hickman is writing one of the most gripping post apocalyptic westerns ever and I just can’t stop reading it. I love this book and got the first 2 trades as gifts and have added it to my monthly pick ups. East of West is a harsh and uncompromising vision of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse and the Horsemen Death’s quest for revenge and redemption.

2. Saga

Saga is still good and still worth reading every single issue. Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples spent 2014 continuing the exploits of Alana and Marko and just keep offering the best story and dialogue in the business, hands down.

1. Rat Queens

Kurtis J. Wiebe was at a signing this year and I missed him by 10 minutes. If i had met him I would have said “Thank you so much for writing one of the most important comic books in my social adult life.” Rat Queens was the book I gave to my girlfriend and she gave to her friends, and I gave to my friends, who in turn gave to their friends. Rat Queens is not a book made just for girls or women but it is a book about girls and women that is so important and necessary in our day and age. It takes archetype Dungeons and Dragons style characters and breaks down all of the tropes, stereotypes, and replaces them with characters who are incredibly deep and also kick ass and can be incredibly funny. Rat Queens is a book that is loud and crude and at the same time violent and depressing. It’s about mythical creatures who have real world problems and relationship woes.

Okay, these are our lists. Now it’s your turn. What are your top 5 comics of 2014?

January 7, 2014 by Billy Henehan

The Best Comics of 2013!

2013 has come to an end, and it was a great year for comics! Here are our picks at Tuesday Night Movies for the best comics of 2013!

Billy says:

1. Copra: I hopped on the Copra train late. I picked up the first Copra Compendium when issue #7 was on the stands. I devoured the first three issues and quickly ordered the rest of the series, rereading that first compendium over and over again until the issues arrived. It is a gorgeous comic, with sublime art and a great story. If you’re a fan of the Suicide Squad, forget the series that DC has on the stands right now and read Michel Fiffe’s Copra instead!

2. Hawkeye: If it wasn’t for Copra, my #1 comic of 2012 would have repeated in 2013. Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye remains the best comic being published at Marvel. Heck, it’s the best comic produced anywhere but inside Michel Fiffe’s apartment. I wouldn’t be surprised to find this comic at the top of my Best Comics of 2014 list.

3. Battling Boy: I had never heard of Battling Boy before Nick told me about it just before NYCC. I’m glad he recommended it to me, because it is awesomesauce. This and Copra are superhero comics for those who want more from what they’re finding on the stands. Pope’s art is insanely kinetic. I’m really looking forward to the next chapter in the Battling Boy saga.

4. Young Avengers: I’m typing up this list the day before Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s excellent Young Avengers series comes to an end. It’s been a glorious 14 issues thus far. This comic has such a unique voice, and I’m very sorry to see it come to an end. McKelvie’s line work is so beautiful and Gillen captures the voice and feel of teenagers perfectly. And I think this series marks the first time I’ve liked Noh-Var since Grant Morrison’s Marvel Boy series.

Best variant cover ever?

5. Sex Criminals: Matt Fraction makes my list twice! I first heard Fraction talking about Sex Criminals on the Word Balloon podcast and immediately put it on my watch list. I hyped it up a bit in my head and my expectations were blown away. The comic has a wry sense of humor that doesn’t turn cornball or overtly perverse, which it easily could have devolved into.

Nick says:

When I started compiling my list of the best comics of 2013, I found that I hadn’t started reading many new comics this year – most of the books I read were launched earlier – but there are a few that stood out above the rest. Here’s my top 5 comics of 2013 list, in no particular order:

1. Batman ’66: If you listened to the Billy & Bryan Show where we discussed the Dark Knight Rises, you may remember that I love Batman more than most things, and when I heard that DC was releasing a weekly digital series based on the classic Adam West Batman TV series, I was ecstatic! The show is one of my very favorite interpretations of the character, and this book echoes it perfectly – it’s fun without being silly, is gorgeous to look at, and is the best use of Comixology’s “guided-view” technology that I’ve seen so far. Even though they later release them in physical form (with beautiful covers by Mike and Laura Allred,) reading the comics digitally is the way to go. I’ve found most post New52 Batman books to be virtually unreadable (outside of Scott Snyder and Grant Morrison’s stuff) but as long as they keep putting these out, DC will at least get some of my money every week.

2. Battling Boy: Years in the making, Paul Pope finally released the first book in his Battling Boy series at this year’s New York Comic Con, to pretty much universally rave reviews (I tried to put one together myself but had trouble coming up with more than “this is a fantastic book, and I like it.”) In addition to being a great adventure story, it’s also perfect for readers of (almost) all ages – the closest analog I can make is that it reminds me of Kirby’s classic 1970’s work. Pope is firing on all cylinders and I cannot wait for the next installment(s) in the series.

3. The Private Eye: Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ Saga was on my list of my favorite stuff from last year, and continues to be among my favorite books each month. That said, I think I might like The Private Eye, Vaughan’s newest book, even more. Featuring gorgeous art by Marcos Martin, the series takes place in a future where all of the information contained in “the cloud” has been released into the world for everyone to access, which results in the internet being completely shut down and people reverting back to paper records for everything. An inspired idea from Vaughan, who eschews social media (he doesn’t have a Twitter account or a website.) In addition to being a great comic, the series has also made waves by its business model – customers get to decide how much they’re willing to pay for each issue, even going so far as to be able to get the book for free. In addition, there are no plans to offer a physical version of the comic; digital is the only way to get it.

4. Lazarus: I found myself reading more of Greg Rucka’s work this last year than I have in the past, mostly due to the release of his and Michael Lark’s Lazarus series. I’ve been a fan of Lark’s work ever since I first read Terminal City in the late 90’s, and this is definitely some of his best work. The premise of the book, where all of the world’s wealth is under the control of a handful of families, leaving everyone else to pretty much work under them, is fantastic while at the same time completely terrifying, as this is something that could eventually occur in real life. Rucka has taken to joking at conventions about how he’s been pigeon-holed as “just a writer of strong female characters” and while the main protagonist of the book, Forever Carlyle, is not going to change anyone’s mind about that, his handling of the book makes those comments completely moot – comics needs more books like this, and Lazarus continues Image’s recent winning streak of putting out some of the industry’s best books by its best creators.

5. Sex Criminals: speaking of fantastic comics that Image released in 2013, Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky’s Sex Criminals is my book of the year. They’ve taken what could have been, in lesser hands, a crass idea (basically, they’re trying to translate a “sex comedy” such as American Pie into comic form) and created a charming and hilarious book. The premise is (pretty) simple: two characters, Jon and Suzie, find that they have the ability to stop time when they, um, “climax” and decide to do what anyone would do in that situation – commit crimes! Like I said, this could have definitely been an embarrassing lowest-common-denominator book full of low-brow jokes, but it’s turned out to be witty, fun to look at, and (surprisingly, at least to me) legitimately sexy. Zdarksy is an inspired choice to be on art duties; the drawings are full of hilarious background details, and Fraction’s story presents a realistic portrayal of how people learn about sex and fit themselves into relationships – seeing where this book is headed is one of the things I’m most looking forward to in 2014.

Written by Billy Henehan and Nick Doyle

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