Mostly
that’s because I’ve been doing the Previews Recaps
and I really enjoy those. I get about enough commentary about the
books I’m reading into them, so I don’t feel like my quarterly
report is necessary.
But
now it’s a new year and I have a slimmed-down pull list. Sometime
around October I isolated myself in a small pueblo in the deserts of
New Mexico with only the most recent three issues of Previews. I made
a vow that I wouldn’t emerge from this isolation until I had culled
all of the habit books from my pull list. Twelve weeks later I handed
the list you will be reading about today into my Local Comic Shop.
Afterlife
With Archie
Right
from the start this comic book was powerful. As I’ve mentioned
before, I’m no expert on Archie. But I don’t think you could be
an American and not at least be familiar
with the gang from Riverdale. This book takes that familiarity and
crafts one of the finest horror comics I’ve ever read. Each issue
expands upon the last and as the series goes on you just get the
feeling with each issue that this dark, twisted take on a classic
comic is only going to get more and more fucked up and Francesco
Francavilla’s spectacular art sets a tone that mirrors that of the
narrative – both familiar and horrifying.
All-New
X-Factor
This
is Peter David’s baby. As such, it is excellent. The new X-Factor
team now works for the private corporation, Serval Industries. So far
Serval doesn’t seem any shadier than any other big corporation
(pretty shady), but there’s no doubt the narrative is taking us
somewhere. The art on this book has been wonderful, as well.
Angela:
Asgard’s Assassin
This
one is still in the “giving it a chance” phase, but I really
liked the concept set up in the first issue. Plus it’s written by
Kieron Gillen, who is currently on my (short and growing shorter with
the loss of Rick Remender) list of writers who have done no wrong.
Annihilator
Grant
Morrison’s current independent book looks like one of Marvel’s
old Epic Comics (and I mean that in the nicest way possible) and,
with Frazier Irving’s art, is one of the most cinematic things I’ve
read in a long time. It’s the story of an alien that visits Earth
to tell a struggling screenplay writer that he must write his (the
alien’s) story so that he can know his past.
I
don’t know if that made any sense to you, but in an odd way I feel
like I’m understanding this book a lot more easily than I have some
of Morrison’s other works. I like it a lot.
Batgirl
This
soft reboot of the New 52 Barbara Gordon Batgirl has been everything
I wanted. It has the sense of fun that Bryan Q. Miller’s book did,
but still manages to portray Barbara in what I see as an accurate
way.
Batman
and Robin
To
me, this is the last remaining book to be carrying on the golden age
of Batman that preceded the disastrous (in my opinion) New 52 reboot.
Peter Tomasi is a fantastic writer and I honestly feel that Patrick
Gleason’s art gets better with every issue he creates. I thoroughly
enjoy every issue of this book.
Batman
Eternal
I
hope this book isn’t losing its way. While every fourth issue (or
so) has been saddled with an artist who is lousy at storytelling, for
the most part the overall narrative has remained solid. But with the
reveal that the new commissioner isn’t
behind everything, some things seem to be crumbling a bit. When Bard
offered to help it seemed really weird and out of left field, like I
had missed an issue. Also, what the heck happened to Stephanie?
Eternal
needs
to decide if it sticks with certain characters for a few issues or
features all of the characters trading feature roles every few pages.
Chilling
Adventures of Sabrina
Another
great horror comic from the world of Archie. It doesn’t seem to
take place in the same universe as Afterlife
With Archie,
but that’s okay because that would have been limiting.
Daredevil
Mark
Waid and Chris Samnee have crafted the Daredevil story I never knew I
wanted. Mostly because I never really cared about Daredevil. But I
love
this book and I’m tremendously sad to know that it’s ending
sometime in the next few months. It could be speculated that Marvel
wants the old, depressing Daredevil back to go along with the tone of
the new Netflix series. I dunno. I don’t even know for sure that
the show will have a darker tone. I do know that I’m excited about
the fact that Vincent D’Onofrio is Wilson Fisk and that his
character arc is an important part of the show. I have a soft spot
for D’Onofrio and I’m looking forward to seeing him sink his
teeth into the role of Kingpin.
Harley
Quinn
This
book from the adorable husband/wife team of Jimmy Palmiotti and
Amanda Conner is probably the best thing to come out of the New 52. I
feel like I might be doing it a disservice to label it as DC’s
Deadpool, but that’s kind of what it is. The book is a whole lot of
fun and to me portrays the Harley Quinn that I think most people like
best, even if they don’t realize it. This Harley is still a
lunatic, but she mostly keeps to slaughtering and maiming bad guys. I
also very strongly feel that every issue of this book has presented a
tight, ready-for-TV story. Harley
Quinn would
make a fantastic sitcom if anybody at WB had the brains and balls to
do it.
Hellboy
& the B.P.R.D.: 1952
I’m
excited about this book detailing the early days of Hellboy’s
career. I’ve read the first few volumes of Hellboy
trades and several of the one-shots, but I’m somewhat intimidated
by the remainder of the library. Once you get into the B.P.R.D. and
Abe Sapien books it seems like there’s a
lot out
there. This looks like stripped-down Hellboy that I can enjoy without
knowledge of the rest of the universe.
Iron
Fist
Kaare
Andrews directed the incredibly shitty third installment in the Cabin
Fever
series. But he also creates incredibly awesome comic books. So I’m
not going to hold that movie against him. Iron Fist is another guy
that I’ve never really followed to any degree, but this book –
written and drawn by Andrews – has made Danny Rand a fascinating
character with a very compelling past. Goofy steampunk fists aside
(those showed up last issue), I’m digging the heck out of the wild
story and wilder art of this title.
Joe
Frankenstein
This
one hasn’t even come out yet, but it’s from Chuck Dixon and
Graham Nolan, a couple of old school favorites of mine from their
time on Batman books. And from Dixon’s work on GI Joe. I’m down
to see their take on Frankenstein’s monster.
The
Multiversity
I
love Grant Morrison playing around in the DCU. This book has been a
lot of fun, as well as an interesting look at how important
continuity is (or isn’t) when strong characters are involved in a
good story.
Rocket
Raccoon
It’s
a little disappointing that this isn’t an all-ages book, but if
you’re over thirteen and you enjoyed Guardians
of the Galaxy,
this is for you. It’s a lot of fun and surprisingly irreverent for
the cartoony style of Skottie Young.
Fortunately,
Marvel is also launching an all-ages Guardians book to coincide with
the new Disney XD cartoon that’s coming out. I sure hope it’s
better than Avengers
Assemble
and Ultimate
Spider-Man.
And let’s not even mention Agents
of S.M.A.S.H.
Saga
Best
comic book ever. Twice this book alone has kept me reading comics
when I was close to stopping.
Silver
Surfer
Fantastic
fun from the team of Dan Slott and Mike Allred. This book is how good
Doctor
Who
should be right now. And isn’t.
Star
Trek/Planet of the Apes
I
love both of these things, so I have to at least give it a try. It’s
a good sign that the guys that wrote Doctor
Who: Prisoners of Time
are writing this. That was a great series.
I
hadn’t planned on buying any of these, but Marvel just kept putting
my favorite writers on the books. So now I’m picking up the main
title as well as the Vader and Leia books. Rest assured – I’ll
let you know how they are.
I’ve
really enjoyed Geoff Johns’ current Superman story and it’s been
awesome seeing John Romita, Jr.’s pencils on the Man of Steel. Both
men are clearly having fun telling a good, old-fashioned tale. I
don’t look forward to the inevitable day when a lesser creative
team is put on the book and I don’t have a Superman book to read.
He’s not my favorite character, but when done well I can really
enjoy the Big Blue Boy Scout.
Still
outstanding after all these years.
A
great play on mythology in the modern world. Another wonderful work
from Kieron Gillen.
That’s
all, folks! There’s no doubting that I’ll add more titles to this
list as the year goes on, but for now I’m happy to have whittled my
list down some.
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