Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 42

Hey Tuesday Night Comics podcast listeners! In this episode, Billy and Dave preview new comics coming out October, 22, 2014, including Amazing Spider-Man #8, All-New Invaders #11, Arkham Manor #1 and Multiversity – The Just.

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The guys also review some recent comics (and Dave reaches way back in the Marvel Unlimited app to review Mark Waid’s run on Deadpool.
Plus, Dave and Billy talk about Jeff Lemire taking over Hawkeye, and the slate of comic book movies coming our way from Marvel and DC the next few years.
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Give it a listen!

Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 30

Billy and Dave are back from not being at San Diego Comic Con! The guys preview new comic books coming out Wednesday, 7/30/14. Billy talks about all the MonkeyBrain books he’s been reading lately (Are you reading Edison Rex. You need to read Edison Rex). Dave talks about series he’s fell off of and series that have fell off him. And are you excited for DC’s Multiversity? Because we are, thanks in no small part to this map of the DC multiverse by Grant Morrison.

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Comics Podcast #10

Are you heading to the comic book store this Wednesday? Check out the newest episode of the Tuesday Night Comics podcast. In this episode, Billy and Dave preview the must read comic books coming out on Wednesday, March 12 and highlight some great comics from last week that you might have missed.

The guys also weigh in on how they feel about DC’s 3D covers, now that the 2nd printings of the 3D cover Villains Month books are hitting the stands this week.

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And Dave reads Charles Soule and Javier Pulido’s She-Hulk! Does he love it as much as Billy does? Listen to the show and find out!

Plus, at promised in the episode, here is Billy’s favorite panel from Misunderstanding Comics!

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Comics Podcast #9

Welcome to the 9th episode of the Tuesday Night Comics podcast. In this episode, Billy and Dave preview new comics coming out the week of Wednesday, March 5, 2014 and review comics from the previous week. Reviewed comics include Hawkeye #15, The Walking Dead #122, Fantastic Four #1 and Batman/Superman #8, among others. The guys also discuss DC’s recent announcement for their 3D covered, 5 years in the future happening comics in September, and their thoughts on variant covers in general.

 

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:

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1. CopraI 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!

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2. HawkeyeIf 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.

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3. Battling BoyI 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.

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4. Young AvengersI’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.

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Best variant cover ever?

5. Sex CriminalsMatt 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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

My Time at HeroesCon


Written by Nicholas Doyle.

A few weeks ago, Charlotte, NC played host to the 31st annual HeroesCon, put on by Shelton Drum’s fantastic comic shop, Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find. The convention is among the best in the country, and is beloved by both fans and professionals alike – mostly due to the fact that its focus is completely on comics, which is a welcome change as the bigger conventions are including more TV/Film/Video Game content and pushing the comic stuff off to the side.

I’ve been going to the convention for a few years now, but this time was going to be different; for one, I was going to be there all three days, which I’ve never done. Also, my wife Brooke was going to join me the entire time – while she’s not super interested in comics, she’s been to the convention in the past and had a good time – another great thing about HeroesCon is that it is very family friendly, and doesn’t include some of the creepier aspects that you might find at other conventions. Her being there meant that we would spend a good majority of our time in various panels – which was also new to me; in the past, I’ve usually gone to conventions to have books signed, and not gone to many panels.

Our author, now with kung fu grip!

  

The con started on Friday, and after walking around the floor for a few hours, we made our way to the Sports in Comics panel. I don’t care that much about sports, but my friend Rob Ullman (http://rkullman.blogspot.com) was going to be there talking about his hockey comics, so I wanted to check that out. In addition to Rob, the panel also included Kevin Freeman (who writes NFL Rush Zone,) Paul Friedrich (who makes hockey comics for the Carolina Hurricanes website,) and Jarrett Williams (who creates Super Pro KO for Oni Press.) The panel mainly focused on the challenges inherent with adapting sports to comics, and why they felt that sports comics were not more popular. While the panel was sparsely attended, I really enjoyed it, and it led to my first impulse buy of the convention – after almost buying Super Pro KO at last year’s HeroesCon (and again at the 2012 New York Comic Con,) I decided to pick it up after hearing Williams discuss it on the panel – I really enjoyed it, and fans of pro wrestling, manga, and Scott Pilgrim should definitely check it out.
 
After that, we randomly found ourselves in what would end up being my favorite panel of the convention. I wanted to check out the QuickDraw panel (where convention goers are given the opportunity to draw whatever they like and have it judged by instructors from the Savannah College of Art and Design) but when we got to the room, it was standing room only – Brooke decided to walk down the hall and see if one of the concurrent panels struck her fancy. She wandered into the Stumptown panel, where writer Greg Rucka and artist Matthew Southworth were discussing their Portland-based crime book, which is published by Oni Press. After a few minutes, Brooke texted me to join her, and I’m really glad I did. Rucka described Stumptown as a love letter to The Rockford Files, and it was great hearing both him and Southworth discuss the effort they put into the book – for example, there’s a car chase that takes place in the second volume of the book that essentially prompts the reader to hold and turn the book like they themselves are driving a car – which, frankly, sounds awesome. Southworth said that the editor of the book actually filmed a “practice run” of the route of the chase, so that he had exact reference. To be honest, the only Rucka work I’ve read is Gotham Central, but by the end of the panel not only did we both want to pick up Stumptown, I also decided to pick up Lazarus, Rucka’s collaboration with Michael Lark.
 
That pretty much wrapped up the first day of the convention, but there was still tons to do – the con hosted a drink-and-draw at a nearby hotel bar that benefitted Team Cul de Sac, a charity stated in honor of cartoonist Richard Thompson to raise money for Parkinson’s research (Thompson was diagnosed with the disease a few years ago, and he was forced to end his Cul de Sac Collection strip last year –  if you want to be happy and heartbroken at the same time, go to http://www.gocomics.com/culdesac and read through the archives – Thompson is a master, and it’s a shame the disease has taken the his work away from us.) The D&D was not just limited to professionals – the convention had provided paper and coasters that everyone could use – and  there are few things that are more fun that sitting in a bar, doodling.
Day two of the convention started off with the Marvel Writers panel, which featured Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman, Kelly Sue Deconnick, and Jason Aaron (Jason Latour was also scheduled to appear, but he was a no-show.) This panel was tons of fun, with Fraction and Deconnick taking center stage – the four writers definitely enjoyed each other’s company, and enjoyed talking about the books they’re writing. Topics ranged from the difficulties Deconnick, Fraction, and Aaron ran into when beginning to write Thor to, well, beards (although I would assume that any panel that includes Aaron would get to this topic sooner or later.)
Immediately following that panel, we came to the one I was initially the most excited about – and it turned out to be the low point of the con for me. Starman is one of my favorite comics, and the convention was hosting a 20th anniversary panel with series artist/co-creator Tony Harris and cover artist Andrew Robinson. I was a little hesitant because James Robinson, the writer of the entire series was not going to be present, and Harris left the book before it ended, but I was still interested in seeing what he had to say. It turned out to be the most boring hour of the entire convention. While I did learn some things (for example: Harris and Robinson are contractually obligated to be included in anything that involves Jack Knight, even if it’s just them signing off on something,) the panel (obviously) revolved around Harris, and his stories about his time on the book (or his eventual falling out/making up with Robinson) just were not that interesting. Add into the mix that Harris seemed to have no interest in anything that happened in the book after he left, and it just felt like a waste of time – we would have gotten up and left, but there were not a ton of people in the room and did not want to be obvious. It definitely would have been great to have had Robinson, who steered the book through its entire run, present on the panel.
 
One plus side of going to the convention for all three days was that we didn’t feel obligated to be in the convention center the entire time – we pretty much decided to come and go as we pleased, and after walking around the convention floor for about an hour after the end of the Starman panel, we decided to grab some food and spend some time at our hotel’s pool. ConTip: stay at a hotel with a pool. After dinner, we headed back to check out the convention’s annual art auction – another thing I’d never been able to go to, since I’ve always been gone by Saturday night. Team Cul de Sac was auctioning off a couple of items (including a Complete Calvin and Hobbes box set signed by Bill Watterson!) and I wanted to look at all the art that had been created specifically for the auction. When we arrived, there were some empty seats, but by the time we’d looked at the art on display, the room was packed. We only stuck around for a little bit of the auction (enough to see the Calvin and Hobbes collection go for over $1000, which is admittedly a lot, but I wonder what it would have gone for if Watterson had doodled in the book instead of just signing it.)
 
We only had limited time on Sunday, because Brooke had to go to work in the evening, but we weren’t going to miss the Matt Fraction panel – confession: my wife has a bit of a crush on him – and we were not disappointed. Fraction is currently writing Marvel’s best book (Hawkeye) and spent a good chunk of time talking about that book and how his family has influenced his writing of FF and Fantastic Four. In addition, he also touched on the future of Casanova (Michael Chabon is coming onboard to write back-up stories!) and his two new creator-owned books, Satellite Sam and Sex Criminals. I’ll admit to being in the tank for most of Fraction’s stuff, but both of these books sound great – Satellite Sam looks what goes on behind the scenes on a 1950’s kid’s show (and with Howard Chaykin on art, it’s bound to be risqué,) while Sex Criminalswas described by Fraction as his attempt at creating a Bridesmaids or Knocked Up for comics. 
After another short stroll of the con floor, we decided to grab lunch and head out of town, completely satisfied with our convention experience. HeroesCon is my favorite convention, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in comics and comic art – it’s not as big (or as overwhelming) as NYCC or San Diego, and it really does a great job of being a fun, family friendly show. I’ll definitely be there next year.     

The Best of Marvel’s 700 #1s

Last month, Marvel and Comixology announced they would be giving away the #1 issue of 700 Marvel titles through their joint digital comics service. This quickly crashed the Comixology servers and the program was suspended. The program is reopening today for readers who signed up on Comixology’s website earlier in the week (check your inbox today for an email from Comixology if you signed up). The different #1 issues available to download span decades; you can download the Avengers first appearance as well as the first issue of a new Avengers series that debuted earlier this year. 700 comics can be a little daunting. Here are what Tuesday Night Movies feels are your best choices:

Hawkeye #1 – You might recognize this from our Best Comics of 2012 post. Hawkeye is the best series that Marvel currently produces. The creative team of Matt Fraction and David Aja are working magic on the page. When I recommend this series to people, their reaction is usually, “Hawkeye? The guy from the Avengers? With the arrows?” Yes, yes and yes. This series is so much more than that though. It focuses on what Hawkeye does when he’s not with the Avengers. It’s very street level. His main antagonist is the Russian mob. After you download the first issue for free, you may want to buy the just released Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon, which collects the first five issues of the series.

Avengers Arena #1 – If you like The Hunger Games or Battle Royale, I highly recommend checking out this series. 16 heroes have been captured by murderous villain Arcade and taken to an island where they’re told they have to battle it out to the death. I won’t lie, when this series was first announced I thought it would be cheesy and shallow. I was wrong on both counts. Writer Dennis Hopeless is giving us great stories on what it means to be a hero. The pacing reminds me of the TV show Lost.

Infinity Gauntlet #1 – That purple guy at the end of The Avengers movie? That’s Thanos, an alien obsessed with death. Infinity Gauntlet is the tale of Thanos getting the power to do what he wants. He starts the story by wiping out half the universe with the snap of his fingers. Needless to say, Marvel’s heroes aren’t happy about this (the half of them that are left, that is).

Amazing Fantasy #15 – Spider-Man is my favorite superhero. After four movies and countless cartoons, I’m sure you know the story by now. Nerdy high school student Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider, imbuing him with spider-like superpowers. Yes, this isn’t technically a #1. But this is the issue that started it all, and Marvel is including it in this promotion. See Spider-Man’s origin as it was originally told by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

Superior Spider-Man #1 – What you need to know: Doctor Octopus switched brains with Spider-Man. Spider-Man died in Doctor Octopus’s body, leaving Doctor Octopus in charge of Spider-Man’s body. Having access to Peter Parker’s memories have inspired Doc Ock to use his powers for good and become a superior Spider-Man to Peter Parker. It’s an exciting series full of thrills and intrigue. Will Ock woo Mary Jane? Will Peter find a way back to the land of the living? Will Peter’s friends realize it’s not him in his body? Only time will tell.

Fantastic Four #1 – Another classic. Stan Lee. Jack Kirby. This is the one that really started it all. This is the birth of the Marvel Universe right here.

Daredevil Volume 3 #1 – The best Marvel comic on the stands right now not named Hawkeye. For years, Daredevil has been portrayed as a hard boiled action hero. Writer Mark Waid flips the script with the new Daredevil comic, giving readers the first lighthearted Daredevil in decades. Artist Paolo Rivera gives us the coolest visuals from Daredevil’s POV that we’ve ever seen.

Wolverine #1 – Without a doubt, the most popular character to wear a X on his belt in the Marvel Universe, it was years before Wolverine starred in his own solo comic, a 4-issue mini-series. This is the start of that mini-series. Besides having one of the coolest covers of all time, this comic takes Wolverine away from the X-Men to Japan where he fights ninjas. Ninjas!

All-New X-Men #1 – In the next X-Men movie, the story is going to focus on Days of Future’s Past, a story where X-Men from the future come to the present to stop the annihilation of the mutants from coming about. In All-New X-Men, the original five teenage X-Men from the past come to the present and aren’t exactly happy with what they see.

If you’re a Deadpool fan, you’ll find a bunch of comics to choose from. The two that I recommend most are Deadpool #1 and Uncanny X-Force #1. The latest volume of Deadpool is written by comedian Brian Posehn and his TV writing partner Gerry Duggan. Uncanny X-Force #1 is the first issue of the recently completed 35 issue epic by writer Rick Remender. It gives you Deadpool, Psylocke, Wolverine and Archangel at their absolute coolest. It’s a must read.

That’s 11 of 700. There are a lot of other really good stories among the 689 that remain. Try some out. What’s it going to cost you?

Best Comic Books of 2012

Tuesday Night Movies presents a look back at the best comic books of 2012. These are the books that reminded us in the past year why we’re comics fans. 

Billy says…

Hawkeye– If you are not reading Hawkeye, then you are missing out on Marvel’s best series. Matt Fraction and David Aja show what Purple Arrow does when he’s not on missions with the Avengers. Fraction’s scripts are thrilling and witty. Aja’s artwork is amazing. The way he breaks down the page story-wise is unlike anything being published today. I defy anyone to read issue #1 and not become a fan. I love this series so much that I want a pair of purple Chuck Taylors.
 
The Walking Dead– 2012 was the year where I went from reading The Walking Dead in the collected softcover books to buying the individual issues. The build-up to issue #100 was just too much for me. I used to be able to wait. I can’t anymore. When part 1 of Something to Fear was released in issue #97, I had to read it immediately. Issue #100 was a punch to gut. I love this series so much.
 
Spider-Men– The Spider-Man from the Marvel Universe, Peter Parker, meets his Ultimate Comics counterpart, Miles Morales, in this awesome adventure. Which was the better scene? Peter interacting with Ultimate Gwen Stacey or Ultimate Aunt May getting some more time with Peter?


Uncanny X-Force– Rick Remender, you magnificent bastard. What an end-cap to an amazing series. This series will make you a fan of Deadpool and Fantomex if you aren’t already. Remender’s Uncanny X-Force is an instant classic, and is easily the best X-Men comic to be released in years. When’s the omnibus for this series coming out?

Batman– Scott Snyder and Greg  Capullo are killing it with every issue of Batman. From the Court of Owls to the current Death of the Family story line, Batman is consistently the best book DC is publishing since the beginning of the New 52.
 
Earth 2– When DC relaunched their line of comics in 2011 with the New 52, the Justice Society of America was nowhere to be found. The series Earth 2 launched this year as part of DC’s New 52 Second Wave. It takes place on an Earth in another dimension from the main DC Earth. Green Lantern and Flash are here, but it’s their Golden Age JSA versions. Remember when it was in the news that Green Lantern came out of the closet? That was Earth 2.
Green Lantern– Geoff Johns’s run on Green Lantern has consistently been one of the best comics on the stands every year since 2005. This year saw Johns replace Green Lantern Hal Jordan with the first Muslim Green Lantern from Earth, Simon Baz. Baz is imprisoned by the US government when the ring chooses him as Hal’s replacement. The Justice League hunted him down, leading to one of my favorite sequences of the year:
 
Edison Rex – Edison Rex is a reason to own an iPad. The digital-exclusive series from Monkeybrain focuses on a Lex Luthor-like villain who manages to take out his heroic archenemy and has to figure out what to do next. And each issue is only $0.99! It’s a bargain for this level of quality!
Daredevil– If you told me two years ago that Daredevil would be one of my favorite comics, I would have rolled my eyes so hard that I might have suffered from a detached retina. But man, Mark Waid, Chris Samnee and Paolo Rivera have made this such a fun read, month in and month out. I love the new take on Daredevil’s radar sense. The art is stellar and the writing is great as well. This is Marvel’s best currently published title not named Hawkeye.

John Romita Amazing Spider-Man Artist Edition– I love Spider-Man. I love the art of John Romita. On the Wednesday this book was released, the staff of my LCS and I stood around trying our best not to drool on the pages as we flipped through this book. It is so, so pretty. I highly recommend buying a copy. The black and white art is reproduced in full color so that you can see every blue line, white out and editorial note on the page. IDW is coming out with an Amazing Spider-Man Gil Kane Artist’s Edition in 2013. Expect that to appear on my list at the end of 2013.

 
Nick says…
 
When it came time to make a “top 10 comics” list from this year, I ran into a slight problem: while I read a ton of stuff in 2012, a lot of it was not actually released this year – I re-read a few favorite series, finally got around to reading books I’d had for a long time, discovered a few things that were “new to me” but not anyone else, etc. So, with that in mind, I decided to put together a list of my favorite comic book related things from this year – some are comics, some are books, some are movies…but it’s all stuff I liked, and it all was released in the last 12 months. In no particular order:
Hawkeye, by Matt Fraction and David Aja – Last year’s unexpected hit for Marvel was definitely Mark Waid’s Daredevil series, which is a fun superhero book that exists outside of the company’s current event-driven mentality. Hawkeye is the same kind of book – a well-made series that doesn’t require a reader to know anything other than “Hawkeye is an Avenger, but he does other stuff when he’s not fighting aliens.” Fraction puts as much information as possible into each issue – I’ve never really minded “decompression” in comics, but as single issues get more and more expensive, I appreciate the effort to make each comic stand-alone. As for the art, David Aja is channeling David Mazzucchelli circa Batman: Year One, and it couldn’t be a more perfect fit. The comic is one of the best-drawn on the stands today. If you’re looking for an entry point, issue #7 is out soon, and Fraction will be donating all of his proceeds for the issue to Hurricane Sandy relief – it’s a good opportunity to check out a great book and support a great cause. Times are tough for any comic series without an “X” or “Avengers” in the title; hopefully Hawkeye will stick around for as long as Fraction and Aja want to make it.   
Groo Artist’s Editionby Sergio Aragones – Aragones is my all-time favorite cartoonist – a few years ago I flew from Charleston, SC to Baltimore, MD just so I could go to a comic convention for one day in order to meet him – so when I heard that IDW was releasing an Artist’s Edition featuring his work, I was ecstatic! I’d resisted the urge to buy past Artist Editions (I knew once I started, it’d be hard to stop) but this one was a no-brainer. This book reprints a four-issue story from the latter days of Groo’s Epic series, along with covers and two page spreads from other issues in the run – all at “actual size!” The only “downside” of the book is that, by this point, Aragones was such a good cartoonist that there’s hardly any “work” that can be seen. There might be some white-out here and there, but for the most part, looking through this book is an exercise in “let’s watch this craftsman be perfect.” But to be honest, that’s fine by me.  
 
King City, by Brandon Graham – Graham’s work may be my favorite discovery of 2012. I had heard a ton of good stuff about King City, and picked the collection up as soon as it was available. There’s a strong Manga influence in his comics, which I don’t have a lot of knowledge about, but there’s just something about his art that really grabs me. Even though he has a very simple line, his pages are just packed with visual information – there’s always something happening in the background. The story is great as well – Graham has taken many different story threads (some of which you wouldn’t think would work together) and created a story that deals with how our memories can influence (and in some case impede) our progress in life – of course, this is wrapped up in action and romance and sex and puns (so many puns!). Image is currently publishing Graham’s new Multiple Warheads series in full color, and I cannot wait to dive into them.
Marvel Comics: The Untold Storyby Sean Howe – This was released just in time for this year’s New York Comic-Con, and it made for the perfect plane/subway reading for my trip. This book is a must-have for anyone who’s ever loved Marvel Comics; it covers the entire history of the company, providing tons of behind the scenes anecdotes and stories. 
 
My favorite parts of the book were the chapters dealing with the company during the 1970’s – I started reading comics in the 80’s, and have gone back and read a lot of the classic books from the 60’s, but was almost completely unfamiliar with what the company was doing during that decade – it was interesting to see how the company changed as the old guard left and the books were taken over by younger talent. I also loved the chapters dealing with the formation of Image Comics in the early 1990’s. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the history of the comic book industry.

Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score, by Darwyn Cooke – This is the third of Cooke’s adaptations of Richard Stark’s classic crime series, and if you’ve read the others, you’ll know what to expect here. I’ve been making my way through the novels over the last few years, and The Score is definitely my favorite of the ones I’ve read so far – who could resist a story about a small group of criminals attempting to knock over an entire town? Cooke’s art keeps getting better and better, and he keeps finding interesting ways to make the books (which are very exposition heavy) into comics. In addition, he keeps most of Stark’s dialogue intact, with only a few tweaks here and there. I feel that Cooke’s involvement in the ill-conceived Before Watchmen debacle overshadowed this book’s release – I say you ignore all of that and pick this up. 
Sagaby Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples – Y the Last Man is one of my two favorite comic series ever, so I was super excited when this new series was announced. Only 8 issues have been published so far, but the book has already exceeded my expectations. Vaughan and Staples have created a sci-fi love story, leaning heavy on the “Romeo & Juliet in space” angle, introducing a huge cast of characters without ever getting too confusing. Staples’ art is fantastic, and she’s designed characters that are completely unlike those that we’ve seen in science fiction in the past, which is no mean feat. I know this list is not in any specific order, but if I was forced to assign numbers, this would be my #1 pick.   
The Dark Knight Rises–  First off, I will state for the record that this movie is a mess. The plot didn’t really make any sense and movie was filled with dei ex machina (in the case of “clean slate,” literally). That said, it was probably the most fun I’ve had at the movies this year, and I’m not just saying that because I have an unnatural love of (almost) all things Batman. One of the weird things about Nolan’s Batman films is that due to the acting talent on display, Batman almost becomes a supporting character in his own movies – but I think that that works – Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine – hell, I don’t usually care about Joseph Gordon Levitt but I loved him here. And I may be one of the few that absolutely loves Tom Hardy’s Bane voice – if I could sound like a jaunty Sean Connery, I would always talk like that. Billy and Bryan were kind enough to let me yammer on about the movie (and Batman) for like 2 hours on their podcast, so I’ll just say: as long as you don’t pay too much attention to the plot, The Dark Knight Rises is a ton of fun.
Hellboy in Hell, by Mike Mignola – Over the last 10 years or so, while Marvel and DC have been turning out endless iterations of phony deaths and “big changes,” Mike Mignola and his colleagues (most often John Arcudi) have been quietly creating the best superhero comics with his Hellboy and B.P.R.D. series. Over dozens of books, Mignola’s been able to craft stories where things change and stay changed, and where “nothing will ever be the same” actually means something. Favorite characters have died, never to be seen again, and cities have been leveled. Mignola took a few years off from drawing the Hellboy books, but Hellboy in Hell marks his return to the drawing board, and while only one issue has been released so far, it is (of course) one of the best looking books on the stands. The series picks up after the shocking events of the Storm & the Fury and allows Mignola to dive right in to what he does best – draw Hellboy punching monsters, and crackin’ wise. I don’t know if the series is necessarily “new reader friendly” (I’ve been reading them all along, so I know what’s happening/who’s who, for the most part), but I recommend giving it a try. Besides – if you like superhero/adventure comics, and you’ve never read Hellboy/B.P.R.D….well, boy, I don’t even know.    
God and Science: Return of the Ti-Girls, by Jaime Hernandez – Much like Sergio Aragones, Jaime Hernandez is a cartoonist’s cartoonist. He (along with his brothers) has been making Love & Rockets for 30 years now, and it’s one of the best series in the history of comics. I’m not really a fan of Gilbert’s work, but I’ve fallen hard for Jaime’s comics over the last few years, and this book is a prime example as to why. Most of the story was originally published in the first 2 issues of Love & Rockets: New Stories, but Jaime has added pages, turning this into its own book. The story (sort of) introduces superheroes into the “Locas” universe, and allows Hernandez to focus on Penny Century, along with some of the other characters that have been on the fringes. It’s a pretty light, fun story, and (as usual) is an absolute joy to look at.    

Scott Pilgrim Deluxe Color Editions, by Bryan Lee O’Malley –  Remember when I said that Y the Last Man was one of my two all-time favorite comic book series? Well, this is the other one – I’ve read the original comic series multiple times, and probably watch the movie adaptation every few months. That said, when these color editions were first announced, I was a little hesitant to double-dip – there was never a point when reading the original books that I felt like color was needed. Once I started seeing previews online, however, I knew I’d pick them up – these new editions are just fantastic. Much like the color editions Bone, the colors (by Nathan Fairbairn) add to the story without being overbearing. In addition, this has allowed O’Malley to make subtle changes to the art throughout the books. As an added bonus, there’s also tons of supplementary material in the back. Now that I’ve seen the new versions, the only downside of buying them again is that we have to wait until 2014 to get all six books. 

Dave says…
 
Justice League Dark– When I was a kid I always enjoyed the mystical C to Z list characters. When they would be involved in some sort of team-up with each other I’d wish it was a regular event. A series based on a team of mystic loners seemed always just out of reach. There was a group called the Conclave in the Fate series just after Zero Hour. Though Dr. Mist’s team, The Leymen in Primal Force almost fit the bill, that series was canceled almost as soon as it was started. Geoff Johns gave us the Sentinels of Magic in Day of Judgement but they never were given their own book. It took the horribly entitled; Justice League Dark to bring a team of magic based characters into a team book. I was really excited to read the first issue but the book didn’t live up to what I expected. It felt depressing, slow, and a tad boring. I didn’t read past there until Jeff Lemire took over writing duties with issue #9. I’ve been loving this series since then. If characters like Felix Faust, John Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman, Black Orchid, Dr. Mist, Tim Hunter, Amethyst, Frankenstein, and Madame Xanadu are you cup of tea, I’d suggest picking it up. 
Jeff and new co-writer Ray Fawkes start a new storyline in January with #15.
 

Batman Inc.– Grant Morrison has been by favorite writer for a long time and this series is one of the many reasons to love his writing. Relaunched a few months after the start of the New 52, this series continues from where Grant left off in his epic batman story he started back in 2007. The new series should be penetrable to new readers but is so much more rewarding if you have been reading from the beginning.

Spider-Men– I got hooked reading the adventures of Miles Morales with his start in his own series. Brian Michael Bendis was doing very interesting this with Miles in the series. This year it seems to have slowed down and with the past few issues being a crossover with  the rest of the Ultimate Marvel Universe I am becoming uninterested. This cannot be said of the limited series Spider-Men where the 616 Spider-Man (Peter Parker) makes his way into the Ultimate Universe to meet Miles. Bendis tells a very touching, action-packed, and heartfelt story here. I came out wanting to read more Peter and Miles adventures. I’d suggest picking this up in trade.

 
Aquaman– I recently was complaining to Billy how All-New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen was moving too slow for me. I felt like the first three issues of story I could have obtained from looking at the cover of the first issue showing the original X-Men time displaced in our present. I had almost the same complaint when I initially started reading Aquaman with the start of the New 52 except I felt there was too much action. I felt like tore through those books in a couple minutes. As the book as gone on that problem has seemed to dissipated. The story in this book has been great from the beginning. The first arc we meet a new life form from the seas that makes Jaws look like a guppy. And with the second arc series writer Geoff Johns builds on Aquaman’s mythos by giving him a whole team of new characters from his past which all builds to the “Throne of Atlantis” Crossover between Aquaman and Justice League. Johns and Ivan Reis are doing what they did on Green Lantern on Aquaman but ten-fold. These stories are funny, action-packed, gorgeous, and challenge the idea of who people think Aquaman is. Check this book out!
 
The Flash– Month in and month out Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato provide gorgeously written and drawn comics that make the make the reader stop, slow down, and take in the art. The Flash is anything but a quick read. It’s a book that always keeps me guessing and amped for the next issue. The only time I am not completely into this book is when there is a fill in artist. Manapul and Buccellato have such a distinct storytelling style it feels jarring when a fill in artist comes aboard, no matter how good he or she is. All in all this is a series definitely worth reading.

 

Action Comics– As I stated in my review of Batman Inc., I love Grant Morrison’s writing. What is better is I also love Superman and the art of Rags Morales. Grant brings us stories about the early days of Superman’s career. He reinvents much of Superman’s story. He gives it a modern twist and often a heartfelt one. This series starts off as a tale of Superman for the people. The story grows and twists and often requires more than one reading. I’d suggest reading this series in trade or re-read the single issues a lot to get the most enjoyment out of them. I highly recommend it.

The Shade– This 12 issue series should be collected soon because it just wrapped up a few months ago. When James Robinson writes the Shade he is at his best. When James Robinson writes the Shade with top-notch artists like Cully Hamner, Darwyn Cooke, Jill Thompson, and Gene Ha he is even better. The Shade was a character Robinson breathed life into in the Starman series from the late ‘90s. In this series he sends Shade on a globe trotting mission and gives us his origin. I highly recommend this series for anyone who is a fan of James Robinson, Starman, The Shade, Earth 2, JSA, or good comics.

Earth 2– James Robinson is also the scribe on Earth 2. The extremely talented Nicola Scott joins him on the art. Scott brings a unique style to this parallel world. The characters are reinvented from their original Golden Age/Justice Society counter parts with new updated origins. Robinson and Scott are building a diverse world of heroes that has nod to the old. This is a perfect comic for someone who doesn’t want to worry about the rest of the DC Universe because this is a universe unto itself.

Daredevil– Daredevil has been gorgeous, fun, and insightful since the start of the series. Mark Waid has brought a look at Matt Murdock we have not seen in a long time. This series shows how Waid knows how to write to his artist and his character. He is doing something here that will be looked at again and again in years to come.

Wonder Woman– This year Wonder Woman has edged out Daredevil as my favorite book. Brian Azzerello has turned Wonder Woman’s origin on it’s head and made her a much more interesting character. She now has a family of gods and goddesses that act like a crime family. Azzerello’s use of mythology reminds me of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. This series is filled with reveals, twists, and gorgeous art.


Written by Billy Henehan, Nick Doyle and Dave Tomko.

Now it’s your turn. What are your top comics of 2012?