Every comic you've read in 2016

[Dan]

I got a handful of Marvel Season One hardcovers in a super cheap lot. Generally fun but glad I didn't pay more than I did.

Iron Man by Howard Chaykin and Gerald Parel was probably the weakest. The story was fine, generally speaking, but the art didn't do much for me. A lot of the individual images were really quite good, but the painted style was muddy and unclear and the storytelling was incomprehensible to the point of making it extremely difficult to follow. Peter David's Avengers was a fairly standard "early days of Marvel" story that David tells well enough, but the multiple artists really hurt it. Andrea Di Vito is the strongest penciler here, but even his pages aren't super awesome. Spider-Man by Cullen Bund and Neil Edwards was quite fun if unremarkable, and I enjoyed Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and David Marquez' Fantastic Four a lot (even if I'm not super crazy about Marquez' Thing).

Generally decent stuff, but I hope no one ever dropped the $20 cover price on these things.

[Missy]

Batman / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #1: I had fun with this one, but I'm not sure I'll read the rest. Maybe as a trade, though.

Comics: 459

[Venneh]

@The Master, re Riri: Does it feel like Bendis trying to be super deep about racial violence and failing? 

Timely Comics: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: Collects the first three issues for $3. Reread this, it was a fun enough read, and especially in the aftermath of this week. 

No Mercy 11: Nicely formatted check in with all our characters (like how it starts with a four panel page, one of which is the character's phone, and spins out from there). Only three issues left of this sadly. 

Casanova: Acedia 7: Okay. I think I have a better idea of what's actually happening now? I need to reread these issues and see if I can get a sense of the narrative arc again tbh. The twins' art is stupidly beautiful as always. 

Single Issues: 326
TPBs/Collections: 111
Digital First Issues: 11

[Missy]

The flashback scene where Riri's friend and stepfather are shot feels lazy in its reliance on a stereotype. In the scene that follows, though, Bendis is trying to talk about real-world police violence. After Riri saves the day, a cop shoots her square in the helmet from only a few feet away. No helmet, no more Riri Williams. Some could argue that the cop didn't know the ethnicity and gender of the person in the armor, but her gauntlets were off and her hands were in the air.

[Donomark]

Having just read it, I think with Bendis he really wants to make race real in his writing but it always ends up being clumsy because he's clearly wanting it to be a subplot and not the main takeaway of the book or character. You could honestly have nixed the scene with the friend and father figure getting shot and nothing from the character shown in the present would be missing. Heck, move it to the present day and it'd feel more prescient and less slapped together. I liked the issue but Mike's right, those scenes felt lazily written in. It's just not done well enough to where it feels real, it feels exploitative to make the comic feel real.

It's the same with Civil War II. There's a lot of good ideas in it but the execution is held back because it's a super hero comic. If you want to talk about race and the police, talk about it. Don't hold back. But the rub there is that ends up potentially permanently altering the nature of the superhero genre. It's either you go all in or not at all.

I really liked the art. Based on this one issue I like Riri and am gonna be picking up this series.

[Donomark]

Superman - President Lex: God this was therapeutic.

Remember this? When Lex Luthor ran and won the presidency of the 2000 election? I've had the trade for years but re-read it today. It's one of the most foreboding, resonant comic stories I've ever read in my life. Scenes like people wondering how Luthor could ever have a chance being elected, Lois worried that Luthor could possibly get elected, Pa Kent calling Pete Ross an idiot for agreeing to be Luthor's Vice President. Superman repeatedly seeking aid and moral support from the Justice League. It's all awfully hard-hitting stuff right now.

The comics themselves are actually really fun. The trade is a mess though. This is one of the most haphazardly arranged collections I've ever seen. Short stories, back-ups and four part non-sequitur tales make up the whole thing, and it's confusing. Some issues where Luthor has become President come before Luthor wins the election. It's pretty bad, but the comics themselves are solid. Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness' issues are the best. They have a great Superman: the Animated Series vibe to them. Recommended, just know that going into it you'll be confused.

Edited November 13, 2016 by Donomark

[Dread]

Shade the Changing Girl #1: Weird and kind of fun. I'll check out more.

Shipwreck #1: So fucking cool. I'm in. Ellis finally has me again. Been a while since he's written much worth reading.

Sombra #3: Still solid.

Squadron Supreme #12: Great. Sad to see it go.

Suicide Squad #3: Solid. Fun. This is the kind of story I want for the film sequel.

Suicide Squad's Most Wanted El Diablo and Boomerang #2: The El Diablo story is pretty great, actually. The Boomerang one is a little run of the mill.

Suiciders Kings of HelLa #6: Ehh...alright.

Superman #7,8: Loving this series, and, yes Mike, #8 is beautiful.

Surgeon X #1: Wow. Terrible.

Tales form the Darkside #4: So much fun.

TMNT #62: Getting a little old at this point.

TMNT Universe #2: Fuck's sake...can we see more the universe and less TMNT? 

The Astonishing Ant-Man #12: Urgh...slow death this series is.

The Flintstones #4: One of the best comics being published today. Seriously.

The Great Divide #2: Solid, creepy Stephen King-esque sci fi.

The Hellblazer #2: I'm out

Comics: 1140
Trades: 40

Graphic Novels: 36

Omnibuses: 13

[Dread]

Mighty Thor #10, 11: Pretty solid.

X-Files #6: Fun.

Triggerman #1: This was good. I'll give it another issue.

Trinity #1: Ehhh...one more issue.

Uncanny X-Men #13, 14: Steam is gone here.

Vision #11: Worst issue of the run yet. But it's been a good run so it isn't that bad.

Vote Loki #4: It's impossible for this to be funny anymore.

Wonder Woman #7: Ok.

XO Manowar #50: Also ok.

Tarzan on the Planet of the Apes #1: Really fun.

Weird Detective #4: Great still!

Comics: 1153
Trades: 40

Graphic Novels: 36

Omnibuses: 13

[Davedevil]

Teen Titans Earth One vol 2 - The first one was my favorite of the Earth One line. This, I didn't quite love as much, but I get that it has to be more plot-based than character. I really enjoyed it regardless. Raven continues to have the best characterization, which is great because she's my favorite Titan. I love her friendship with Starfire so much (And I got relationship vibes). The rest were equally well-done, but Slade Wilson is the one that is hard to get a read on. 

The art by Andy McDonald is pretty good. It retains a similar vibe thanks to Brad Anderson's colors, but I still think that the Dodsons are better storytellers.

Edited November 20, 2016 by Davedevil

[Donomark]

Legends #1-#6 (1986): The first Post-Crisis DC Comics crossover story after Crisis on Infinite Earths, by John Ostrander, Len Wein and John Byrne. This sees the first appearance of the Suicide Squad, the formation of the "Bwah-ha-ha!" Giffen/DeMatties Justice League, the introduction of Wonder Woman with the other DC heroes as well as Captain Marvel and Blue Beetle.

With Byrne on art, it's a visually entertaining read through and through. The writing however is a gigantic ball of corn. This is perhaps the cheesiest super hero story I've ever read in my life, and I love DC vs. Marvel. Darkseid seeks to tear down Earth's "Legends" so he sends Glorious Godfrey to warp the minds of the planet's populace into hating the heroes for setting a bad example. In the way that the people of Earth are so effortlessly turned into villains, I'm reminded of Maximum Carnage. Robin gets beaten up by mob violence, Blue Beetle gets shot at, and President Reagan orders all heroes to stop being heroes whilst chatting with Superman. It's a very contrived, telegraphed and melodramatic story that in-artfully exposits everything that happens on-panel and in previous chapters. Some fun moments are delivered by Guy Gardner, who's the most realistically written character in the whole thing. It's not a bad read, but as a story it's not very good. I dunno...I like reading cheesy old comics, but as a Post-Crisis story this really kept some of the old-time "gee-whiz" nature of superhero books that maintain the stereotype of the genre. Suggested only if you know what you're getting into.

Edited November 23, 2016 by Donomark

[Dread]

Legends #1-#6 (1986): The first Post-Crisis DC Comics crossover story after Crisis on Infinite Earths, by John Ostrander, Len Wein and John Byrne. This sees the first appearance of the Suicide Squad, the formation of the "Bwah-ha-ha!" Giffen/DeMatties Justice League, the introduction of Wonder Woman with the other DC heroes as well as Captain Marvel and Blue Beetle.

With Byrne on art, it's a visually entertaining read through and through. The writing however is a gigantic ball of corn. This is perhaps the cheesiest super hero story I've ever read in my life, and I love DC vs. Marvel. Darkseid seeks to tear down Earth's "Legends" so he sends Glorious Godfrey to warp the minds of the planet's populace into hating the heroes for setting a bad example. In the way that the people of Earth are so effortlessly turned into villains, I'm reminded of Maximum Carnage. Robin gets beaten up by mob violence, Blue Beetle gets shot at, and President Reagan orders all heroes to stop being heroes whilst chatting with Superman. It's a very contrived, telegraphed and melodramatic story that in-artfully exposits everything that happens on-panel and in previous chapters. Some fun moments are delivered by Guy Gardner, who's the most realistically written character in the whole thing. It's not a bad read, but as a story it's not very good. I dunno...I like reading cheesy old comics, but as a Post-Crisis story this really kept some of the old-time "gee-whiz" nature of superhero books that maintain the stereotype of the genre. Suggested only if you know what you're getting into.

Yeah, that's one of those super-important, but not really good at all crossovers. It's definitely the best example of one I can think of. The intro of Suicide Squad, the new JLA and the Charlton characters being folded in is an amazing point in continuity.

[Venneh]

Runaways (Warzones): The trade collecting Noelle Stevenson's and Sanford Greene's mini run from the Secret Wars event. Fan of Noelle's story - would love to see her get a proper run on it. Not the biggest fan of Sanford Greene's art at times, but it's still fun. Also contains the short stories from the Secret Love anthology, which is always worth it for the Anka/Bennett short piece. 

Single Issues: 326
TPBs/Collections: 112
Digital First Issues: 11

[Donomark]

Justice League of America #258-#261 (final issues of vol.1): Written by J.M. DeMatties and illustrated by Luke McDonnel, this takes place throughout the Legends crossover. It's the end of the JL Detroit era. Professor Ivo is batshit insane and wants to exact his final revenge on the JLA, so he creates killer robots to do so, and they pretty much do. Vibe is straight up strangled to death and Steel (The not-Captain America looking guy) is demolished to the point where he's taken off of life support. Gypsy quits/is fired from the League by Martian Manhunter, as he and Vixen go after Ivo. In the end Vixen resigns from the league having been turned into a bloodthirsty revenger after the deaths of her friends. Immediately this is better than the entire Legends miniseries. It's much more serious, the plot of Reagan outlawing the superheroes puts the whole revenge on Ivo plot a tricky thing for J'onn to get around, and he's trying his best to keep it together to be an effective leader. The deaths of Vibe and Steel are goddamn remorseless. Whereas Legends read like kid's stuff, this is plain sad. Vibe throughout his last issue has issues of self-doubt because he, very meta-textually, knows he's seen as a joke. A Latinix kid in the projects doesn't even know who he is and would rather cheer for Superman. Steel has a violent fight on the streets and is turned into a robo-skeleton, and he's euthanized by his grandfather who I understand was the original Steel from WWII. I should have expected this to be as good because it's J.M. DeMatties, one of the best superhero writers ever in comics. All of the drama and character and weight made Legends a worthwhile story to tell and this should have been in the main story. In the Legends mini, you see the JLA show up in the first issue and in the last J'onn says they've disbanded without any explanation. This four parter and this team deserved better. I've never read comics with Steel, Vibe and Gypsy before, and hardly knew about their backgrounds, but these four issues made me care about them instantly. Terrific writing, and makes the main crossover look like amateur hour by comparison.

[jim]

Battleworld tie-in minis Captain Marvel And The Carol Corps, Runaways: Short Elseworlds/What If? work that I can read and enjoy without worrying about continuity. Admittedly, the trades were remaindered, so $8 for both makes it easy to gamble. David Lopez (CM+CC) looks like Stuart Immonen in a couple pages, so that's fantastic. From this, I see why Marvel tapped him for Civil War II. Noelle Stevenson writes the Runaways with perhaps one too many jokes, but she nails the tone. I enjoyed both minis. Battleworld was great for crazy one offs, between these two and Weirdworld, I'm beginning to wish I bought more of those remaindered trades.

SP4RX: Aggressively indie comic that has three different emotional gears and can't shift between them well. Technically solid (there's two, maybe three styles Wren McDonald works in) but doesn't quite congeal. SP4RX's pacing is killed by a pinup/splash every ten odd pages or so. The individual pieces are solid (male slacker cyberpunk, hahaha we're all fucked by capitalism, action movie) but connecting them is the issue. I'll bet Mr. McDonald's next full length work will be pretty great.

[Dread]

Big Trouble in Little China/Escape from New York #1: weird. I'm in for one more.

Champions #1: Pretty good, actually.

Godzilla Rage Against Time #2: I'm not gonna complain because the Greek gods weren't actually history because this was pretty awesome.

Hellboy and the BPRD 1954 Black Sun #1: I'm actually blanking on anything that happened here.

Rough Riders #6: this is so fucking good.

Action Comics #965: not as good as the other Super-books, but ok.

Antiis Comics Presents #1: not good

Archie Meets The Ramones #1: goofy fun.

Black Light District 6 issues: a oneshot (I think) of song lyrics (I think) written by Dee Snider's son (this I'm sure of)  drawn as comics. It looks good. I'll say that.

Black Eyed Kids #7: still good.

Briggs Land #3: pretty good.

Brittania #2: really cool. I like.

Cryptocracy #4: eh...losing it's shine.

Dark Horse Presents #26: not good.

Deathstroke #4: pretty good.

Detective Comics #942: not a big fan of this crossover.

Doom Patrol #2: a better issue than the first.

E.V.I.L. Heroes #2: I really like this.

Glitterbomb #2: solid.

Great Lakes Avengers #1: I quite liked this.

James Bond Hammerhead #1: as good as the other James Bond books, so I won't be reading more.

Kill of Be Killed #3: good. Losing its shine a little bit.

Lone Ranger Green Hornet #4: this was beautiful. What I wanted this series to be from the get-go. Needed more Tonto.

Mosaic #1: fucking garbage.

Mythos #1: two Lovecraft adaptions in a brand new Comico Press book.

Comics: 1178
Trades: 40

Graphic Novels: 36

Omnibuses: 13

 

[Dread]

Mythos #2: pretty good still.

New Superman #4: I love this. It's like some of the new Marvel stuff in its quirkiness, but it's good.

Oblivion #3: Cool. Fun stuff.

Old Man Logan #12: Confusing.

Peepland #1: Amazing. I loved this.

Puppet Master Halloween 1989: Goofy fun.

Reborn #1: Ok, I'm in for a little while.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #3: This is pretty great.

Sheriff of Babylon #11: Still pretty great.

Solo #1: This is one of the new quirky Marvel series. Not great. Maybe I'll give it another.

Suicide Squad #4: Fucking great.

Supergirl #2: Not great at all. I'm out.

Superwoman #3: Maybe my favorite new DC series after Suicide Squad.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #63: Crazy.

Comics: 1192
Trades: 40

Graphic Novels: 36

Omnibuses: 13

 

[Venneh]

Afterlife with Archie: First trade. As good as everyone's been saying it is. Francavilla plus Aguire-Sacasa for some wonderful moments, especially the We3 reference with Vegas (FUCK YOU). The trade is a good size to digest things, and more than this would frankly be kind of too depressing to read without putting it down several times? There are apparently a few spin offs out of this around Sabrina, too, so that might be worth following up on. 

Adventures of Archer and Armstrong 5: The date issue with Archer and Faith (and tbh, I skipped all but the backup where that hapened). It's cute and tooth rottingly sweet, and definitely worth a read through if you find it cheap. 

Generation Zero 1: Not anything too spectacular, tbh. Van Lente does not do as good as he thinks he does at writing teenagers. Portela's art is servicable.

Ninjak 22: Kindt and Cafu do a silent issue. Frankly, it's great ot see their collaboration growing out of Rai, and seeing Matt essentially give what was likely a loose layout to Cafu, but trust him to do all the little details that you see. 

Wrath of the Eternal Warrior 7-13: There's a decent chance that you've been hearing hype about the Labyrinth arc (issues 7 to 10). The hype is real. Allen and Martin go full David fuckin' Aja on this. Probably the best thing Valiant put out this year, and yes, that does include 4001. Goddamn. The follow up arc (11 to 13 so far) isn't particularly spectacular (and is a bit of a step down on the art from Gill, but is still a sight better than early Gill on XO Manowar), but still has some real goddamn awesome moments. There's a Valiant Comixology sale on right now, go get Labyrinth. 

Single Issues: 336
TPBs/Collections: 113
Digital First Issues: 11

[jim]

Some catching up.

 

Bloodshot Island: Fun concept, and it reminds me how good Mico Suayan is.
Bloodshot Island epilogue: it’s difficult to do an issue of a comic where all the players are on a raft, but Lemire and Giorello pull it off.
Bloodshot USA: Look, it’s Jeff Lemire and Doug Braithwaite. The part that sticks out isn’t the plot (everyone in NYC is a Bloodshot now?) but a panel where four Bloodshots and Ninjak share a sedan that’s too small for them. Lemire and Braithwaite can do whatever the fuck they want, I’m here.

Ninjak 22: Silent issue. Ninjak versus ninjas. Matt Kindt and CAFU turn in solid work, though I have one major gripe with CAFU specifically drawing Ninjak getting stabbed in the foot and then for the rest of the issue it’s ignored? It’s one gripe amidst a comic I enjoyed.

Wrath Of The Eternal Warrior Labyrinth: Duking it out with Rai for the best thing Valiant’s put out this year. Stunning work by Raul Allen and Patricia Martin. It feels like, for want of a better comparison, like those first couple arcs of Mark Waid’s Daredevil where Marcos Martin and Paolo Rivera tore it up. I don’t know what else Mr. Allen and Ms. Martin have done, so I shouldn’t say career highlight, but this hangs with your absolute top-tier cape comics.

Britannia 1-3: Oh, the good Peter Milligan showed up. Cool. He gives Juan Jose Ryp some lecherous, ugly dudes to draw, and Jordie Bellaire colors the hell out of it. The backmatter contains essays from Oxford professors, so someone did research.

Generation Zero, Renegades: No interest, though Darrick Robertson draws an internet cult well.

Archer and Armstrong 5 (the date issue): Sickeningly cute. But I smile when I think about it, so that means everyone executed their job well. A fine done in one, with a couple great quips.

[Venneh]

Six Gun Gorilla 1: Spurrier and Stokely's first collaboration. Retro future war that has some neat commentary on embedded reporters to start, and closes the issue on a sentient gorilla with a gun. Alright. I am intrigued.

Batman/Superman 74: From the ancient DC days, before Brightest Day. Cute little one shot by Levitz and Ordway featuring Lex fucking with Batman and Superman, and it going about as well as you're thinking it does.

Deadly Class 22: Reread this now that I'm not in a fever haze. Interesting to see the fallout of the last arc, juxtaposed against the new class and Saya coming to the forefront of the story. Also, continue to love the music banter here. 

AD: After Death Book One: I remember this being announced a fair while ago, and they've apparently decided to shift to a monthly ~90 page oversize issue. I also had to look up the general premise of the series, as what we get is... Esoteric, at best. Still, Lemire is gorgeous, and what we get hinted at is intriguing. Not sure how big of a fan I am of the random mostly pages of prose from Snyder, but I'm interested to see how it plays out next book.

Single Issues: 340
TPBs/Collections: 113
Digital First Issues: 11

[jim]

The Metabaron: The Techno-Admiral: It's more insane Jodo, still beautiful art. Steady as she goes.

I Am Legion v1: Spooky WWII horror, drawn by John Cassaday. Cassaday's still great. Guy writing it is good.

[Dread]

The Clone Conspiracy #1: nonsense.

The Lost Boys #1: fun. 

The Shield #3: there's no way something this mediocre should have taken more than a year to get to the third issue. I'm out.

Unfollow #12: still fucking great.

Warlords of Appalachia #1: very promising.

Witchfinder City of the Dead #2: this might be the first time I'm enjoying a Witchfinder series.

Wonder Woman #8: pretty dumb. I might quit this.

Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #12: not as amazing as The Labyrinth, but you can say that about basically any other comic this year.

A Year of Marvels October: I REALLY don't like the Kate Bishop character.

Action Comics #966, 967: not as good as the Superman book, or the Superwoman book, but still good.

Comics: 1203
Trades: 40

Graphic Novels: 36

Omnibuses: 13

 

[Venneh]

Saga 40: Welp. I think we're about to lose another one of our long standing recurring characters. Pretty and stunning as always. 

Deadly Class 24: And now that we've had a good amount of introduction to the new class, Saya's past is rearing back up. This should be some good shit. 

WicDiv 24: Sets the new baseline, is gorgeous as ever. Willing to bet that last panel is a fakeout. 

Single Issues: 343
TPBs/Collections: 113
Digital First Issues: 11

[Donomark]

Robotech/Voltron #1: Color me intrigued

Black #3: Same cliche'd tropes as before

Motor Crush #1: A very engaging read with a thoroughly imaginative world with its own language, carried almost entirely by Babs Tarr's artwork. I'm down for the ride

Edited December 14, 2016 by Donomark

[Dread]

ANAD Avengers #15: This was pretty good.

All-New Wolverine #14: not exactly what I was hoping for, but I continue to be interested in a character and series I wasn't for a long time.

All-New X-Men #14, 15: pretty great.

American Monster #5: This is kind of a shocking series. Surprising and delightful.

Archie #13, 14: So fucking good.

Avengers #1: this was...ok.

Avengers #1.1: hmm...another rewriting history book. This is a little tiresome. I'm not sure what they gain by having the new Avengers (Hawkeye and crew) make Cap look wet around the ears and mentioning smartphones or whatever. Seems a waste of time and talent.

Batman/TMNT Adventures #1: I'm not sure this is me. I don't like either cartoon.

Batman #9-11: This is better than the last arc, but that crossover was a real mistake. I hope this gets back to the glory of Batman Eternal. Also, I understand something happens in #12, so I'm interested.

Batman Beyond #1: fucking hell. This is already better than the cartoon ever was, and I liked the cartoon. I'm in for a while.

Belladonna #1: Both cheesecake and barbarian, and yet not enough of either is done properly to continue.

Beyond Doomsday #1, 2: sci fi anthology in the realm of Heavy Metal. Some is pretty good.

Big Trouble in Little China/Escape form New York #2: I'm not sure I like this at all.

Black Hammer #4, 5: this just got good.

Bloodshot USA #1: Odd first issue of a 4 issue mini. They do A LOT of catch-up when they should have jumped right into the action. Piss-poor follow-up form the previous series.

Comics: 1224
Trades: 40

Graphic Novels: 36

Omnibuses: 13

[Donomark]

 

Batman/TMNT Adventures #1: I'm not sure this is me. I don't like either cartoon.

You don't like Batman: the Animated Series???