Every comic you've read in 2015

[Dread]

That's a pretty solid Bat-list, man.

[Professor]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Vol. 4) - Back to Mirage and completely ignoring the Image series.  Written solely by Peter Laird, this is set 15ish years past where Volume 2 ended.  And that annoyed me, maybe more than it should have.  The somewhat constant "remember that time X happened" got old.  And maybe more than that, nothing seemed to have changed.  Other than being older (and really, outside of Shadow, it doesn't matter) the Turtles, Splinter, Casey, April, and the Foot are the same.  Why jump forward if the status quo remains the same?

As for the story, kinda boring.  First 11 issues were fun (and included another six month time jump).  But afterwards, every character went into a solo story.  Seven (or more) concurrent stories that don't really crossover.  It just doesn't feel like a TMNT book.  It feels like all their solo titles got mixed up at the printers and they said 'fuck it' and sent them out.  First time a TMNT series 'ended' without something of a resolution.  And I don't think I mind and that is sad.

The other thing about this book that irked me was a random letter in a random issue.  Talking about what happened to Donatello in the Image book, Laird shit on it.  Then he does the same damn thing in the book.  And the direction he takes April is worse than anything in those Image issues.

Donatello: The Brain Thief - Filling in a gap that I don't think needed filled.  And really light.  Could have been a 48 page special and not a mini.

Michelangelo: The Third Kind - Same thing really. 

Comics: 674
Digital First Comics: 65
Graphic Novels: 25
Trades: 145 (775)(4)(144)

[Davedevil]

Harley's Little Black Book #1 - Fun team-up between Harley and Wonder Woman. Like Harley idolizing WW in her own crazy way. Nice to see Amanda Conner interior art too.

Sensation Comics #17 - Decent last issue. Fitting to have the villain be the Cheetah. Art's pretty interesting.

Star Wars #13 - One of the funniest comics I've read lately. I never would've thought that Mike Deodato Jr. could work for a comedic story, but it's great. 

[Venneh]

Twlight Children 3: I need to reread issues 1 and 2, get a better sense of where this is going. Hernandez does a great job of contrasting the sleepiness of daily life in the village with the bizzare goings on. I could stare at Cooke's art and ladies a good long while, so there's that at least.

Scarlet Witch 1: It's gonna be neat to see the artist switch out on every issue - this issue is Del Rey, next issue is Rudy. Neat one off to introduce the series, and a good introduction to Wanda's methods (various pagan traditions, yes please). 

Gwenpool Holiday Special: MORE SHE HULK. And also cute stories with the Hawkeyes, Deadpool, Ms. Marvel, and Gwenpool. But mostly MORE SHE HULK.  

Monstress 2: Holy fucksticks this is beautiful. Still trying to get a sense of the world, but screw it, I'd pay just for this art. 

New Romancer 1: Ehhhhh? Not really sure about this. $4 for 20 pages and a quarter of it being a Lucifer preview doesn't really sell me on this. It's pretty at least? I'm gonna need another read through on this one. 

Ultimates 2: So as far as I can tell they just turned Galactus into a force for life and rebuilding. Uhm. Hell. You've got my attention Al. Rocafort is doing real well here too. 

Insexts 1: Victorians. Misandry. Lesbians. Alien insect monsters. I am here for this shit all the way. 

[Dread]

Anibal 5 v1,2: Jodorowsky sci fi graphic novels about a male sex bot going on adventures...or something. It makes as much sense as his other stuff. Feels a little too much like Ranx which came out long before this.

Archie #4: super great. One of the best books around right now.

Batman Castle of the Bat: an Elseworlds GN where Bruce Wayne is basically Victor Frankenstein and instead of becoming Batman, he makes him.

Batman/Houdini-The Devil's Workshop: a terrible Elseworlds GN.

Batman & Robin Eternal #8,9: Still great.

Black Jack Ketchum #1: Nope. I'm good thanks. Boring.

Black Magick #2: heating up. I dig this.

Conquistador v 1: historical GN. Boring as fuck.

Crossed Badlands #90: End to Max Bemis's first arc, and it might be the craziest and most depraved, but also the most personal of the whole series. I've never been made to feel like The Crossed before. It kind of happened here.

Daredevil #1: If it wasn't for Ron garney's art, I would have chalked this up to a total loss. I don't think it's enough for me to come back though. This was terribly written.

Fight Club 2 #7: still great.

God is Dead #45: ditto.

Hail Hydra #4: another SW tie-in dies with a whimper.

Howling Commandoes of SHIELD #2: hands down, the worst single issue I've read this year. Reads like a child wrote it. Fucking terrible. I'm out.

Invincible Iron Man #4: feels like the sick kid thing was shoe-horned in and they cut the espionage stuff down to fit it in. It's still good. I'll keep reading, especially with Doom next issue.

Ivar, Timewalker #11: Goddamn.

Jacked #1: I really liked this, even though it's kind of cliched and rote by this point. It does capture the energy of the 90s era of Vertigo quite well, though. I'll stick around a little.

Joe Golem #2: unfolding slowly, but nicely.

Comics: 1596
Graphic Novels: 72
Trade Paperbacks: 123
Omnibus: 17

 

[Davedevil]

Rocket Girl #7 - The writing's a bit more focused than previous issues, but it's still pretty unremarkable. Art's gorgeous as always.

All-New All-Different Avengers #2 - The characters are all well-written, but the plot's a bit ehh. Kubert does great as always.

Gwenpool Holiday Special - Surprising in how fun it was. Should've been just titled the She-Hulk Holiday Special, for how much more of a selling point Jennifer Walters was. I wasn't gonna buy this until I heard that it was basically another issue of Charles Soule's She-Hulk. I will say though, that the art in the Gwenpool segment was the best in the book.

Ultimates #2 - The best Marvel book I'm reading right now, I think. Just well-done overall, from the dialogue to art. Next issue, please.

Edited December 12, 2015 by Davedevil

[Dread]

Justice League of America #5: is Hitch done? Am I missing something? Is this a fill-in? Confused.

Midnighter #7: fucking hell....Midnighter versus Prometheus. Not sure there's a better fight in comics this year.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #1: I'm a Moon Boy fan, so this has a hill to climb. It feels pandering, but there's some fun to it. I'll give it another issue.

Mystery Girl #1: it danced around its central premise that not enough happened in this issue. Quit wasting pages! I love the writer and the artist. get into the shit! I'll try another issue.

Nova #2: this issue sucked terribly until the last six pages. I'll give it one more.

Plutona #3: I saw this ending coming a million miles away, but I still really liked it.

Project Superpowers Blackcrsoss #6: cool.

Comics: 1603
Graphic Novels: 72
Trade Paperbacks: 123
Omnibus: 17

[Koete]

It's a fill-in. 

[Dread]

It's a fill-in. 

God...like, why bother? Martian Manhunter has his own series. I'm reading this for Hitch's art more than anything else.

Puppet Master #9: Not great. A few shining points here and there.

Red Wolf #1: This first issue proves definitively that a comic about a Native American Sheriff in a white man's city in 1872 would be an amazing premise for a comic. The fact that he flashes forward to the present on the last page is upsetting. The "Man Out Of Time" cliche is one that's been done to death at Marvel. 

Ringside #1: Terrible.

Robin Son of Batman #6: Very solid end to the first arc. I liked it a lot. Maybe my favourite issue of the bunch. I've never liked Damian until now.

Comics: 1607
Graphic Novels: 72
Trade Paperbacks: 123
Omnibus: 17

 

[JasonC]

The Mighty Thor #1: I picked up the initial run pre secret wars when they introduced the female Thor solely because I wanted to know who she was. I had no idea but I figured there was no way it could be Jane Foster because that would be too obvious. Shows what I know.

I picked up the restart because I was still curious. I liked it. I am particularly interested in what wielding Mjolnir is doing to her fight against cancer and her attitude to that. I will be putting this on my monthly pull list just for that thread alone.

[Venneh]

WicDiv 17: Brandon Graham does Sakhmet. Substantially less full page puns than I was expecting. The style was a real good fit, especially for the latter parts of the book (which went full into the Sakhmet mythos, thank fuck). Also, dat cliffhanger.

Phonogram 5: Bring on the finale. Perfect bit of windup for next issue, can't wait to see it hit home. 

The Spire 5: Art on this continues to be spectacular, the way the relationships and the larger mystery are unfolding (also, calling the twist with the Marchionness now) are perfect, and this is honestly one of the better minis that's coming out this year. Even Vulture knows it. 

I Hate Fairyland 3: I literally can't stop laughing when I'm reading this book. Young knows how to make his jokes hit perfectly, and there's the perfect balance of crassness and sweetness to it. Just a great, fun ride. Also, I seriously need to screencap that last page preview for next time. Young has so much salt in it, it's fucking amazing.

Mighty Thor 2: Things are continuing to build, whatever the fuck is going on with Loki is happening, and we get to see more of the AllFather being an AllDick. Like ya do. The art and colors on this are fucking amazing, and this is probably going to go on my pull now. 

Weirdworld 1: Yeah, alright. This is completely different than anything else Marvel has got going on right now. You've got my attention alone for the premise, but the Del Mundo art sells it home so hard. The splash page revealing Becca's worst day ever? I fucking gasped when we turned the page to that. This has my attention, for sure. 

Rai 1-4: Kindt and Cowles do future Japan and a larger unfolding mystery of the man who essentially serves as Japan's enforcer for its dictator leader, and the larger dystopia around him. These first four issues are a neat hook, and I'd be interested to see where it went from here. 

(I feel like there's something else I read Tuesday night. I don't remember what.)

Edited December 17, 2015 by Venneh

[Davedevil]

The Wicked and the Divine Volume 1 - Avoided this for awhile, mostly because the fandom annoyed me. I knew full-well that this was something that I would be totally into though, so I picked it up finally. And wow, it's a quick read (I read it over the course of my commute to and from school) but it's engaging. McKelvie's known for same-face art but this is the only experience I've had with him so far and it's great work. Some of the writing can get over-the-top but the world is pretty interesting.

Amazing Spider-Man #4 - Decent read. Still not onboard with the new direction, but it's alright. 

Spider-Gwen #3 - Enjoyed all the stuff with Jessica(again, why is she pregnant?) and Gwen. Evil Matt Murdock continues to be a delight, and this is a great time to bring Harry Osborn into the mix.

Star Wars Annual #1 - I guess this character's gonna play into Vader Down? Issue's a bore, really. The art's competent but not all that exciting.

Doctor Who Eleventh Doctor #3 - Pretty reminiscent of the last two episodes of Evangelion, in that it's an extended trip through the main character's head, complete with panels that are just text. Like those episodes, nothing really happens, but it was an interesting read regardless.

Edited December 17, 2015 by Davedevil

[Dread]

Martian Manhunter #1: reminded myself I had this. I read it. Not great.

Robin War #1: it was okay. Will it make me buy any other Robin series other than Son of Batman right now? No. Event fail.

Rowan's Ruin #3: solid underrated horror series.

Sheriff of Babylon #1: This takes its sweet time getting going, but once it does? Wow. I'm in for a little while longer.

Spawn #258: Erik Larsen on art. It's fucking glorious.

Spidey #1: So amidst all this fucked up continuity, they're going back and doing classic SM again? I don't get why. I don't hate it. I also won't be reading any more of it.

Superman Lois & Clark #2: so good. DC's best series right now. Lee Fucking Weeks. 

Survivor's Club #3: Losing my patience with this.

Switch #2: collapse more into a traditional superhero thing here, but it's still good. One of the more interesting police interrogations in a comic book I've ever seen as well.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #52: Great as always.

Black Hood #7: Better than the first arc thus far.

Totally Awesome Hulk #1: I hated this issue for about the first three quarters, then it started to grow on me. I'll give it another issue.

Trancers #2: This is not good.

Unfollow #2: This is pretty great.

Vision #2: Pretty great too. I don't really buy the premise, but I like the story.

Comics: 1622
Graphic Novels: 72
Trade Paperbacks: 123
Omnibus: 17

[Missy]

Weirdworld 1: Yeah, alright. This is completely different than anything else Marvel has got going on right now. You've got my attention alone for the premise, but the Del Mundo art sells it home so hard. The splash page revealing Becca's worst day ever? I fucking gasped when we turned the page to that. This has my attention, for sure.

Upon seeing her worst day, I legitimately sucked air and pulled back in shock. I'm so in.

I'm trying to read the letter, though. All I can make out is:

"Dear Beccy,

You are bad ASS...

_____ from an _____ a

the _____ so hard _____

together and I'm a 

_____ _____ _____.

_____"

[Missy]

Also, I'm kinda thinking Goleta is a grown Molly Hayes.

[Venneh]

I can totally see that being the case.

Re: the letter: (second line): your, can't make out the rest (fifth line): mother, can't make out the rest, June? 

[Professor]

Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 2) - The final series in the Mirage timeline.  I liked this better than the main series (Vol. 4).  I think that is due to the self contained nature of the stories.  And it felt like a TMNT book, rather than four solo titles going on at once.  Also, having changes in art made things interesting.  Only downside is that each issue fills a gap in the continuity, but not in order.  It doesn't really matter much (and a fair amount are evergreen), but it did hamper my enjoyment from time to time.

Issue #5 might rival the original Donatello mirco series as my favorite TMNT single issue.  The entire issue is just white silhouettes on a black background.  It is unlike anything else in the series and I've gone back a read it at least five times.  So good.

Tales of Leonardo: Blind Sight - Which of course means that it needs it own four issue mini.  Well, the art style stays for 2.5/4 issues, so there is that.  But, sadly it just as good.  Still, best of the solo minis by a far margin.

Raphael: Bad Moon Rising - Again, spinning out of a Tales issue.  I prefer my Turtles to be dealing with Ninjas. Magic and werewolves and mer-folk are not as fun.

 

Comics: 752
Digital First Comics: 65
Graphic Novels: 25
Trades: 145 (775)(4)(144)

Edited December 23, 2015 by Professor

[Davedevil]

Atomic Robo Volume 1 - Giving this as a Christmas gift to a relative, so I checked it out first. Fun, hilarious book with some nice art.  Bit confused by the disjointedness, given that they're actual issues and not a webcomic put together in a trade, but I got over it.

Harley Quinn #23 - Decent issue but it just feels like it's ticking off the checkboxes of a typical Harley issue. And the art wasn't as polished as it's usually been.

Darth Vader Annual #1 - Struggling to remember the plot points. Yu's art has looked better, hopefully it'll be cleaner by the time he takes over the main Star Wars book.

Web Warriors #2 - Fun issue, not a whole lot of plot to it, but fun regardless. I found the Gwen and Electro Prime interactions funny. The art continues to do a great job distinguishing between the different iterations of everybody. Spider-Ham is a delight as always.

[Dread]

Manhunter #1-38: funny reading this while watching Jessica Jones. This is certainly better than Alias was. Gaydos' art is way better on this too. In fact, this series is close to perfect until the last few issues which did a ten year jump forward for some stupid fucking reason. Major mistake there. I really enjoyed dipping myself into the Pre-New 52 DC again, but better. Back when Wonder Woman had just killed Maxwell Lord and then One Year Later happened. Fun times.

Comics: 1660
Graphic Novels: 72
Trade Paperbacks: 123
Omnibus: 17

[Donomark]

Ms. Marvel vol.2 (Kamala Khan): Still solid. Currently (and probably has been for a while) my favorite Marvel book out right now.

Batgirl #46: The sheen is starting to wear off on this current team. Art's still great but the decision to keep Babs' adventures from getting too intimately personal to her is having a negative effect on the book's intrinsic interest. The team-up between her and Stephanie Brown was kind of surface-level fanservice which didn't amount to anything.

[Dread]

Batman Second Chances: what a weird fucking tpb. The first half or so of these 11 or 12 issues are written by crime writer Max Allan Collins and drawn by Jim Starlin (yuck) and Dave Cockram (also yuck). It screams into modernity with some terrible early silver age looking art. These issues introduce Jason Todd. He is caught stealing tires off the Batmobile and by the end of the next issue, Batman calls him Robin. The next issue takes place 8 months after training him to be Robin. There was a very clear editorial edict here loaded onto a non-staff writer whose talen was totally wasted. Once Jason is Robin, however, the issues are written mostly by Jim Starlin (cosmic!) and drawn by Aparo. Aparo is so distinct in his style that Batman, Jason and Dick are shown as very distinct fighters by the way they throw a punch. There is an amazing scene between Dick and Batman at the end here that rivals a lot of stuff in the Bat-canon. Batman admits that he took on Jason because he missed Dick (haha) but I think he did it to spite him. Fuck. Some loaded shit right there. All subtext. No wonder they killed him in a few years.

Comics: 1660
Graphic Novels: 72
Trade Paperbacks: 124
Omnibus: 17

[Donomark]

Batman #416 is one of the best single issues of the character ever. It's the first of its kind that really goes into the psychological hangups of Bruce's feelings for Dick and a Robin in general. (AS I'VE WRITTEN BEFORE ELSEWHERE) It's carried over thematically in Titans #55 after Jason's death, Batman #442 when Tim joins the team, and concluded in Robin #13, the last chapter of Prodigal when Bruce and Dick finally reconcile since Batman #416.

I'm a fan of the Jim Starlin/Jim Aparo Batman run. Starlin's really the only writer that did jerkass Jason Todd, while over in Detective Comics Mike W. Barr wrote him like Burt Ward, even with the new origin. But Starlin's voice for Batman is really distinct and engaging, and you have Jim Aparo on art. What else can ya ask for? He stayed on when Marv Wolfman wrote Batman, and Doug Moench afterwards for the lead-up to and during Knightfall.

Edited December 23, 2015 by Donomark

[Dread]

Batman #416 is one of the best single issues of the character ever. It's the first of its kind that really goes into the psychological hangups of Bruce's feelings for Dick and a Robin in general. (AS I'VE WRITTEN BEFORE ELSEWHERE) It's carried over thematically in Titans #55 after Jason's death, Batman #442 when Tim joins the team, and concluded in Robin #13, the last chapter of Prodigal when Bruce and Dick finally reconcile since Batman #416.

I'm a fan of the Jim Starlin/Jim Aparo Batman run. Starlin's really the only writer that did jerkass Jason Todd, while over in Detective Comics Mike W. Barr wrote him like Burt Ward, even with the new origin. But Starlin's voice for Batman is really distinct and engaging, and you have Jim Aparo on art. What else can ya ask for? He stayed on when Marv Wolfman wrote Batman, and Doug Moench afterwards for the lead-up to and during Knightfall.

I'm not out of my mind in thinking that Jason was brought on to spite Dick in a way then?

[Donomark]

In the way that was written, yeah totally.

The thing is though that in Pre-Crisis Dick became Nightwing on his own after Bruce adopted Jason Todd and Bruce was fine with it. Post-Crisis there's this cockamanie instant where Bruce fires Dick from the role because it's "TOO DANGEROUS!" that was eventually ignored, so he still basically yearned for a teenage boy to be by his side once the first one grew up and started nailing Oompa Lompa-colored super models.

[Donomark]

Amazing Spider-Man vol.4 #5: This current volume is stunningly boring. I can appreciate Slott continuing to show Peter's scientific and business potential, but so little of it is give-a-shit worthy. This book seriously demands a new writer and some form of a back to basics approach.