Every comic you've read in 2014


Missy

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While I'm truly enjoying the characters, banter, and art of the Matt Fraction / Mike Allred FF, I find myself wondering: "What's the point?" It feels like a book that's in a holding pattern from the second issue onward. Granted, I'm only up to issue #10 (of 16), but, thus far, there's nothing hooking me story wise. If anything, it comes off like an advertisement for Fraction's Fantastic Four. Don't get me wrong, this is a beautifully drawn book and the kids are amazing -- especially The Moloids. I just want a book that isn't constantly reminding me that there's another comic by the same author on the market.

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I enjoy FF on the basis that it's a feather-light goofy read that isn't pretending to be anything else. If I want something meatier or smarter, I'll read Hawkeye or Sex Criminals. FF is just a ton of fun, but I wouldn't ever dream of paying full price for individual issues. It's the dictionary definition of a book you wait for the trade for.

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Ms Marvel 9: So, we get a better idea of why Medusa is taking an interest in Kamala here, and what she actually is. Which actually brings up a hell of a lot of questions. But I trust Wilson, she knows what she's doing. Kamala and Lockjaw are kind of the best.

Captain Marvel 8 Rocket Raccoon, Carol's cat secretly being an alien? Yeah, this is pretty neat. Tie-in-y to the latest hit property as hell, but still fun.

Seconds: Bryan Lee O'Malley's newest graphic novel. Not quite sure how I feel about this. Its a neat actions and consequences/vaguely magic sort of thing look at young adulthood, really good art. But it just doesn't connect all the way on the first readthrough. Might on the second one, not sure.

Angela - Asgard Assassin 1: Gillen gets back into Journey Into Mystery mode, which is pretty interesting. They're woking on who Angela actually is (besides a character they want to use to spite McFarland), and the flashbacks are a neat way to establish that. Not quite sure where this is going, but if it gets to touch on some of JiM's hanging threads, I'll be interested in at least the trade for sure.

Fantastic Four 600-611 Neat companion book to what's going on over in FF. The fact that I read through FF first likely influences my reading of this a lot. This has some pretty fantastic moments (Ben Grimm in 605, Doom in 611), but overall, kind of eh. Foreshadows a lot of the AvX bullshit.

FF 1-23: This is where the heart of Hickman's run is - the kids. Val and Franklin are front and center here, with the other kids in the Foundation playing significant roles. Val and Doom's relationship also takes front and center for a good half of the run, and I'll be honest, that's where some of the most interesting stuff of the run plays out. Has the best hitting moments of the comics (DOOM! DOOM! DOOM! and TO ME MY GALACTUS), but also the best consistent storytelling. You can kind of tell this is where the effort was.

House of M 1-8 Interesting to see what seems to have been one of the integral events for the X Family for most of the last decade, and informs their relationship with the Avengers. There's no clear divide in who wants to do what with Wanda along the lines, so that's interesting. And the AU she makes canon is pretty interesting, honestly. If there are any tie ins I should pursue from this, let me know.

She Hulk 1-4: Genuinely sad I only found out about this after it'd been cancelled. This has been a pretty consistently neat little book, with a combination of superheroics and lawyering up. Doom's son shows up again, when I mostly hadn't seen him since Runaways (I read this before Fantastic Four/FF).

Loki: Agent of Asgard 2-5: Again, lots of more filling in on the current situation on Asgard, and how Loki is playing into all of that. Also some very interesting things going on with Old!Loki. Also is picking up some of the JiM threads and running with them, as far as I can tell. Very heavily tied into the current major events, though.

Lazarus 1-11: Rucka's new series. It's basically a futuristic dystopian Queen and Country-esque scenario. Some very interesting world building going on, a good amount of mystery, and enough intrigue that I'm definitely interested, but will probably wait until the next major Image sale to catch up.

Deadly Class 1 Super deadly 80s assassin school. Uhm. Vaguely intrigued by this first issue, but it's not anything I feel like I need to go out of my way to read more of unless it's super cheap.

Kill Your Boyfriend: A neat oneshot Morrison did back in 95. A fun, crazy little romp, worth it just for that last page.

Saga 24: Time jump, which I wasn't expecting. We get to see some of the characters that have fallen to the side this arc, which I really appreciate. More of Gwendolyn, Sophie, and Lying Cat having awesome adventures forever and ever please. A nice place to leave things before the small gap we've got coming up here.

Satellite Sam 1: My first introduction to Chaykin as an artist, with Fraction on writing. Definitely interested in the trade or if it goes on sale on Image, but this first issue sets up a neat murder mystery with a heavy dose of the underside of 50s TV.

We3 1-3: One word summary. WAUGH. Really effective storytelling, which is amazing given that half the dialogue is broken almost baby talk from the animals WHICH MAKES IT EVEN WORSE AS I REALIZE IT. Still manages to have a happyish ending? One of those classics for a reason. Plus it manages not to be as hit you in the face dense as say, All-Star.

WicDiv 5-6 Issue 5 is one of those amazing slow motion gut punches that Gillen does so well. There's literally no other way it could've turned out, but you're still screaming at the pages as you watch everything fall into place. McKelvie and Wilson do absolutely amazing work on this issue, possibly the best I've seen from either, and was the perfect thing to leave us with for a gap as they released the trade last month. #6 sets up our next arc real interestingly, we meet a new god (who is the Princiest genderqueer thing I have ever seen and it's pretty fucking fantastic), and the larger mystery gets even deeper. Given that we get to see more of the actual culture around the gods now, it's gonna be pretty fantastic. Next issue is Daft Punk Woden and the K/J-Pop Valkyries. Yessssssss.

SexCrims 9: Fraction and Zdarsky introduce another sex bender using a narrative I'm pretty sure most girls my age have at least considered once in their lives. We are now gathering a group of sex vigilantes to take down the Sex Police, so this is gonna turn out pretty amazing, I'm thinking. They also continue to raise their ongoing game of reference chicken with Gillen and McKelvie, and I can't wait to see what the answering shot is on this one. (Lick-ed and the Divine. GUYS.)

Bitch Planet 1: Hell of a mix of exploitation films with a strong dose of Atwoodian dystopia and reality TV. We've got an interesting setup with being introduced to the jail, but it's the last few pages where the "red window" opens and we get to see just how fucked things are, on several levels. The art is really well done too, especially in the shadows and how things are framed. Good opening issue, but I have a feeling it's going to get even better.

Ody-C 1: Possibly one of the more beautiful things i've read this year. Fraction + dactyl hexameter + SPACE + a completely genderswitched cast with Christian Ward's psychedelic as fuck and beautiful art = I want the next issue yesterday. The way they've done the history that leads to this moment in their Odyssey is amazing and really well done. This is basically the Odyssey by way of Barbarella and an acid trip. I can't wait for more.

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Yeah, in the collection I read it has the original outline where Batman's possessed by Parallax, is confronted by Nightwing, Jim Gordon, Robin and the League, shoots Robin with a gun and is talked down by Hal. That would have been sooooo over-the-top, and the story, while very entertaining, is fan-fic-ish enough as it is.

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Multiversity The Just: I'm kind of of the opinion that Morrison is, at times, only as good as his artist. His artist draws a mean, pretty picture, but there is an astounding lack of storytelling in this, a boutique comic/massive event series. It's a damned shame. As a result, an interesting premise is not given the vibrance of youth that it needs. The characters come across as mopey, boring losers and that's a shame. I wished they had gone for a more fun view of things,, especially since they used the aesthetic of Kingdom Come for the most part. Interesting, just not very good.

Multiversity Pax Americana: THIS, on the other hand, might be the best single issue of a comic book of the past decade. Ho-Lee. Fuck. If comics was concentrated to Morrison and Quitely doing a Pax Americana comic once per year/month/whatever, then I would sure save a lot of money. THIS is visual storytelling at its finest. In fact, it is the most compressed story I have read since the last time I peaked at Golden Age reprints. It's like Watchmen condensed into a single issue and the only way it suffers because of that compression is that there just isn't more of it.

Avengers vol 5: Adapt or Die: The Avengers versus another universe's Avengers. Great stuff between Tony and Cap, great Hulk stuff, great Larrocca art. There's still a lot of "I don't know what's going on here" but it's fun. That buys it a lot of cred.

New Avengers vol 3 Other Worlds: I get what Hickman's going for here, but four out of the six issues in this trade have the exact same plot: the Illuminati of a world slightly different than ours tries to save their universe and fail). It really could have been done in one issue. That said, I enjoy the final issues covering the JLA analogue and the Morales art because Bianchi so dominates this trade in the early issues (ugh) and there is some amazing stuff between Namor and Black Panther at the end.

The Chimera Brigade vol 1: A cool meeting of the world's superheroes on the eve of the Second World War. VERY pulpy and exciting new graphic novel series. I look forward to more.

Angela": Asgard's Assassin #1: Tripe. Terrible bullshit. McFarlane used this character better.

Arkham Manor #2: Fun and crazy. Liking it.

Baltimore-The Wolf and the Apostle #2: I don't remember much of this because I was very drunk on Christmas Eve when I read it. Gory and darker than other Baltimore stuff I've read which is saying a lot.

Birthright #3: Genius. Maybe the best comic series of the year for me.

Bitch Planet #1: There's an interesting story twist here, but there's not much else to grab onto. I'll check out a second issue before I decide on the trade. I'm not too optimistic though.

Colder: The Bad Seed #2: Scariest comic series ever. Goddamn this is some creepy shit.

Dark Gods #2: Bleak and insane.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes #1: Not sure I want to know what happened between the first and second new POTA movies. It's still pretty good.

Deathstroke #2: Awful. The worst. Probably the worst single issue I've read this year.

God is Dead #25: Wow. Talk about a jumping on point! This takes the first 20 or so pages to synopsize the series up to this point and then gives you another 20 pages of story. The fact they put this out on an almost biweekly basis is crazy.

Trades: 102
Comics: 980
Omnibus: 8
Graphic Novels: 37

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The Secret Service Kingsman - Everyone has probably seen the commercial for the movie it is based off of and it is just as silly as it looks. The villain is pretty much Malthus meets Hitler meets Bill Gates meets a fanboy. I believe it was Ian who asked the question whether Mark Millar does not make a comic unless it is going to be made into a movie. If that is the case it cannot be any more obvious. I look forward to the changes Matthew Vaughn will make.

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Gotham by Midnight #1: This is kind of a fun series with Templesmith art. I don't think it'll change anything, and it will be abandoned and forgotten by DC inside of the year, but it's fun. Gotham's secret supernatural division of the police.

Hellboy and the BPRD 1952 #1: This is the first of a series of prequel miniseries telling the early exploits of Hellboy. This one, drawn gorgeously by Alex Maleev tells the tale of his first mission. This is cool and fun, if a little abrupt. I will be checking out more.

Klarion #3: This just took a turn into the crapper for me. No mas.

Men of Wrath #3: Holy shit, this is cool. Badass and grim. I like it.

POP #4: Fun fact: I first typed POOP #4 and that couldn't be farther than the truth. This started out as very similar to an idea I have for a comic and then diverted pretty quickly. It ended up becoming one of my favorite minis of the year. Great art, fun story.

Rasputin #2: not as good as #1, but this has my vote for one of the best new series of the year.

Trades: 102
Comics: 986
Omnibus: 8
Graphic Novels: 37

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Lazarus 12 and 13: Well, SHIT. We get to see more of the families, and the shape of the larger world. The Lazarus party is pretty neat, thoufh.

The Fade Out 1: BruPhillips noir. Not too much to make it stand out. Will probably read it on the trade.

Supreme Blue Rose: gonna need another read through to get an accurate sense of how I feel. Gorgeous art, though.

Wytches 1: Well fuck, Snyder, you and your artist and colorist have my attention. Might pick up the other two issues in the Image Comixology sale.

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Epochalypse #1: This was a Legendary comic. The first I've ever read. As such, it is built to be a movie. That's fine. I was not expecting to love it as much as I did. It centres on a diner in the Great Depression-Early thirties era who happen to have a microwave. Future cops show up to destroy the anachronism. That's the whole plot. It is done beautifully and, inspires wonder even though it sounds so ridiculous. There are clues that this world is very changed by the names of the days so perhaps that's what drove things. Not sure yet, but I want more.

Escape From New York #1: Was not happy with the Big Trouble in Little China comic. This one isn't much better. It is better though. The art is great, like it is in the former. I think this character really should only be a movie character.

Secret Six #1: Sometimes you read something written by a pro, a well-regarded pro, and it really makes you wonder how this ever got the go-ahead at the editorial level. It is non-sensical and the only character that is given any characterization is, shockingly, Catman. This is awful.

Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection- The Cosmic Adventures: this is a weird collection. It covers the entire Spider-Man aspect of Acts of Vengeance when he had the powers of Captain Universe. It's entertaining and kind of holds up. This is a huge change for the character, but they still manage to give a lot of page time to Mary Jane, Flash, Liz and Harry and the Daily Bugle. I forgot how well they balanced that in the 90s. Back then, there was only one Spider-Man in the Spider-Man Universe and it was infinititely more entertaining. THEN there's like six issues afterwards of depowered Spider-Man, but that's okay because it's the Erik Larsen era and, until Marvel decides to do an Erik Larsen Spider-Man omnibus, I'll take what I can get. I suppose it's okay though because there's a lot of depowered fallout in those issues. What I don't really understand is the collection of Annuals at the back which do not have any relation to these stories. There are some good backup stories there though. They used a lot of Steve Ditko in those days, weirdly enough.

Trades: 102
Comics: 989
Omnibus: 9
Graphic Novels: 37

Overall, a pretty heavy year of comic reading. LOTS more graphic novels this year. On to the next!

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