Every comic you've read in 2016

[Venneh]

Another Castle 2: Continues the A+ writing from last issue, along with the gorgeous art, and continues to be a great ride. Might have to add this to my pull. 

Batgirl 50: The last issue with the Stewart/Fletcher/Tarr team. Almost 50 pages of story for $5. Some good fight scenes for Babs to show off with, and manages to wrap things up well enough. Sad to see this team go, but I'll follow them over to Motor Crush at Image. 

Black Widow 2: Again, probably switching to the trade on this one, but the story work here was necessary after last issue, and Samnee still gets to show right the hell off, which is great.

Vision 6: One word summary of this issue: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-. I'm gonna miss King when he leaves, the way the narration frames things this issue and the actual events are absolutely amazing. Bellaire does some great color work here, too. 

The Fix 1: Again, gonna have to add this to my pull, on simple basis of me having to actively work not to laugh out loud paging through this at work. Spencer and Lieber do amazing with each other, there's some real great wordless storytelling on Lieber's part, and the story of these two asshole cops trying not to fuck up as they do crime in order to cover how much in over their heads they are is just... yes. Yes yes yes yes yes. Here for this. 

Weirdworld 5: Fucking gorgeous, and again, you can tell that right about now is where they got told "oh btw you guys are cancelled, wrap this shit up". Still not saying it out loud, but, at this stage, it's obvious. 

Gotham Academy 17: Second to last issue of the Yearbook arc, and some of my favorites so far - Fletcher and Wu visit to cross over with Black Canary, Klarion shows up briefly, and David Petersen writes and illustrates a short following a Dungeons and Dragons group from the school's past. YES. 

Single Issues: 110
TPBs/Collections: 50
Digital First Issues: 10

[Dread]

Here's a sample of Greg Smallwood's work. I would read the hell out of that.

This I like, even if Hellstrom is portrayed as Hellblazer.

Ultimates #5: OK, this is terrible. I'm out. Let me know when the FF comes back.

Uncanny X-Men #4-6: still great.

Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #5: pretty good.

A Year of Marvels April #1: the daily struggles of a guy named Gene Grey. Pretty lame.

All-New Classic Captain Canuck #1: nope. Not good at all.

Comics: 416
Trades: 17

Graphic Novels: 12

Omnibuses: 5

 

[Venneh]

The Delinquents: I expected an Archer/Armstrong and Quantum/Woody team up to be way funnier than this ended up being. I don't know if it was the cowriting, but while there were some great moments, it just didn't stick. Also Kano decided to try and pull a Hawkeye with some 20 pages panels - worked well for the first few instances, but it got real old after a while. 

Ivar, Timewalker vol 1: So this is kinda just off brand Dr. Who, isn't it. Like, great that Neela calls Ivar out on his crap, and there's some neat stuff being set up here, but, ehhhhh? 

Single Issues: 110
TPBs/Collections: 52
Digital First Issues: 10

[Dan]

Hawkman, vol. 2 (1986) #1-12: So here's a weird post-Crisis artifact. This was an attempt to shake up the Hawks; in the very first issue, Carter and Sheira Hall are outed as Katar and Shayera Hol and the museum they've curated for the past two decades becomes less and less important to their story. Their identities public, Hawkman and Hawkwoman (who are equal costars of the title, despite it only having Hawkman's name on it) spend the entire year's worth of issues fighting back a Thanagarian invasion of Earth. Things start off fairly Silver Age-y, and the status quo from the previous twenty years is in place; the Hawks refer to each other as "Carter" and "Sheira" and work to defend Midway City. By issue six, however, they're firmly "Katar" and "Shayera" full time, the museum is barely a factor in anything, and they spend more time off-world than on. Writer Tony Isabella does a decent job building off the Shadow War of Hawkman miniseries from the previous year, working to modernize the characters over the course of a year, rather than just swinging wildly all at once. He also goes out of his way to give the characters some personality, as Katar is solidified as a man with no sense of humor whatsoever, and keenly aware of it and somewhat awkward about it, while Shayera is a much looser, freer person. Furthermore, he brings in the Gentleman Ghost as a somewhat reformed sidekick to Hawkwoman, and he's a lot of fun. Penciler Robert Powell does adequately but not spectacularly; Hawkman is difficult to draw well, and he does okay, though his Hawkwoman is kind of off. The first six issues are inked by Don Heck, and while I enjoyed a lot of his work in the 60s, by this point he's scratchy and off-model, and it's kind of sad to see.

Unfortunately, the entire thing becomes moot when Timothy Truman came out with Hawkworld two years later, erasing the Silver Age Hawkman entirely out of continuity.

[Davedevil]

Constantine the Hellblazer Vol 1 - Great stuff. Nice to have a good modern Constantine. Has some of my favorite Hellblazer art so far.

Daredevil by Bendis and Maleev Ultimate Collection Vol 1 - Damn good. You can clearly see where the Netflix show took its cues from. The voices are on-point. Some shocking moments. Really keeps me guessing. The plot structure was unusual but not that hard to follow. Maleev is so good. I mean he takes shortcuts as far as repeating panels but it's still great. The David Mack story at the beginning left me cold, it felt a bit like Daredevil #191 and most of Miller's run done over four issues.

Godzilla Oblivion #1 - Pretty interesting set-up. Some scientists find their way to an alternate universe where Kaiju attack on a regular basis but Godzilla is humanity's protector. Art's not bad, but having James Stokoe covers sure makes it pale in comparison.

Daredevil #5 - I dunno man. There's not too much to grab onto, with Matt Murdock barely being a character. Art's starting to lose its luster.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #5 - Still fun, I'm liking where this is going.

Darth Vader #18 - Awesome.

Eleventh Doctor Year 2 #7 - Pretty intriguing. The art was a nice change of pace from the usual but still fit in with the look.

[Missy]

X-Men '92 (2016) #1-2: This is both a follow-up to the four-issue Secret Wars tie-in of the same name and a spiritual sequel to the X-Men cartoon from 1992. Everything about this book -- from the characterization to the era in which it's set, the team itself to the art -- screams "throwback" so hard, one might suspect the intended audience is limited to those who grew up with the cartoon. However, that could not be further from the truth. Chad Bowers and Chris Sims have put together a fun, all-ages X-Men comic that could very easily be called X-Men Adventures. Adults who enjoyed the cartoon when they were kids will love the pitch-perfect voices (Alison Sealy-Smith's Storm and George Buza's Beast come through in every line), and kids will have a blast with the action. As it was with the cartoon, Wolverine is the star, but it's clear the writers love Rogue. Without spoiling anything, she has two action beats with Ursa Major, both of which made me chuckle. There are Easter Eggs aplenty, but the book never stops to point them out; it never says, "Look, kids! Teenage Doop! HA HA HA!" Alti Firmansyah's art draws from artists of the era, but does so without looking dated. The art is also the sole reason I read the first issue; upon seeing it, I was enticed to do more than flip through the book. While there are a few clunky panels, the work here is a fun, familiar take on the X-Men.

Comics: 127

[Venneh]

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 1-4: Viz did monthly releases of Nausicaa installments back in the day (like, very late 80s), and Jim found me some of them (including one with the Moebius poster intact!!) for Christmas. It's interesting to see how translation was handled back in the day, and always fun to see Miyazaki on art. It's very different from the movie, so it's great to see how the original take on it was. (Plus, Miyazaki and Moebius conversation in the back in the first issue, which is just fucking adorable.)

Single Issues: 114
TPBs/Collections: 52
Digital First Issues: 10

[Missy]

Scarlet Witch #4: "I destroyed Ireland! Mwa-ha-ha!"
"... why?"
"Because! Mwa-ha-ha!"
"... okay? Well, I just saved it with wibbly-wobbly, magicy-wimey. So raspberries."
"WHA?! Fine! I'm your arch-nemesis now! Mwa-ha-ha!"
"... well, see you soon. I guess?"

Add a bad Irish accent to the villain, and there you go.

Scarlet Witch #5: So pretty! Javier Pulido can do no wrong. Writing wise, this is the best of the bunch, but that might be because the issue was crafted to be a partially silent tale.

Comics: 129

[Donomark]

Civil War (2006/'07)

Everyone who's a big-2 Superhero comics reader was fully aware of the main beats to this story back in the day. I was mainly reading just ASM so things like Peter talking with Mary Jane and Aunt May in deciding to unmask and the turning point that led to him defecting to Cap's side that are not in the main mini-series I remember reading back then. The main story stands today to be one of the biggest Marvel crossovers in the company's history, and arguably the most universe-shattering one. They've been chasing it ever since with Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, Siege, Original Sin, Fear Itself and now Civil War II coming up which I just don't get.

It's not as bad as I was thinking it would be. Tony Stark in the story is portrayed way more sympathetically that he was in any other title where he was an out-and-out villain. In Civil War proper he's mostly perfectly reasonable...expect for the Thor clone and the gulag. Cap's the one who's a rampaging madman throughout.

A lot of it is over the top, like Daredevil giving Tony a piece of silver and stuff. None of it bothered me. Some bits were really excellent like the scene between Black Panther and Reed in Wakanda, or Spider-Man getting saved by the Punisher in the sewers. I loved how Cap ended up kicking Frank out of the team. It's not as engrossing as Identity Crisis, but as a story with large ramifications it gets the job done. I had low expectations going in, so that might be why I'm more chill about it. It's not a great story but it's entertaining.

[Missy]

The main story stands today to be one of the biggest Marvel crossovers in the company's history, and arguably the most universe-shattering one. They've been chasing it ever since with Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, Siege, Original Sin, Fear Itself and now Civil War II coming up which I just don't get.

That's a really good point. Though some credit can be given to House of M, Civil War truly changed how Marvel does events.

[Missy]

Storm #1-11: I wrote a whole thing about the series then accidentally closed the tab. And, of course, the site didn't auto-save the post. Fuck.

Long story short: While the series starts off very strong with Storm forcing herself into international politics (Authority style) and forging a legacy for herself, it quickly becomes mired in The Death of Wolverine, and you can virtually hear the breaks being put on the book in the form of hastily wrapped up threads around issue seven and eight.

Gripes aside, the reason to read these 11 issues is to watch Pak's characterization of Storm. She goes from restless teacher to rage-filled lover, aggressive protector to social icon, finally landing on levelheaded professor all very naturally.

Victor Ibáñez, who impressed me on Sinestro Annual #1, once again stands out as an artist to watch. His handle on faces and body language is a sight to behold, especially in the first two issues. And his Storm design is so powerful. Throughout the opening issues, I could head the thunderclaps summoned by Storm. The other artists do a fine job as well (I especially enjoyed David Baldeon and Scott Hepburn on #3), but I never quite felt the raw power of Storm when Ibáñez was not on the book.

Comics: 140

[Missy]

X-Men Unlimited #1: Storm, Cyclops, and Xavier are trapped in a frozen wasteland with no hope of escape. Worse, Storm and Xavier have been weakened to the point of exhaustion, and Cyclops is blind without his visor. It's these conditions, however, that allow the three leaders of the X-Men to pull through.

This is a comic I reread every few years because, though some of the storytelling techniques are a bit clunky, it's all about the characters. Storm is a woman who must always control her emotions, because, should she let loose, havoc could literally rain down across the globe. Cyclops is plagued by his abandonment issues. And Xavier is the selfless professor who needs his merry band of mutants as much as they need him. This issue gets that across, with much thanks to the 50 pages this oversized format allows. There's even a nice moment of levity, what with Scott downright refusing to call Professor X by his first name.

Despite praising the format of the book, the extra pages do result in some slower moments. Also, what the hell were Siena Blaze and Gamesmaster doing here? Besides kicking off the plot and providing the final battle, what was the point?

I've always been a fan of Chris Bachalo and Dan Panosian, yet, as dynamic as the book was, there was a push and pull in terms of styles; Panosian's inks are much too heavy for Bachalo's thinner, fluid lines. That said, they do come together to breathe life into a script set almost exclusively in a blizzard. Rounding out the art is Glynis Oliver on colors, and wow! She is the star here. The soft green glow of the monitors, the amazing use of white, and the full spectrum of Siena Blaze's unleashed powers are a sight to behold.

 

Comics: 141

[Missy]

Uncanny X-Men #201: Cyclops is a shitty husband and father, so Storm fight him for control of the X-Men.

The only other time I've read this is when I bought it during my "I must own every Cable appearance" kick, and I always remembered it being this issue-length epic battle between Ororo and Scott. Yeah, not so much. The actual fight covers five pages, but comes down to four with other scenes briefly cut in. The fight itself amounts to Scott shooting wildly at Storm, Storm tripping Cyclops, then she plays keep-away with his visor. It's actually pretty lame, but I think that's the point; Scott is so confused, dejected, and worried he's unable to focus and allows his most-precious tool to be stolen away with very little effort. So, as a standalone fight it's weak, but there's so much more going on here than Cyclops v Storm.

The rest of the issue sees everyone fawning over the unnamed, newborn Nathan Summers; Rachel Summers' love and joy over the birth of her baby brother, yet heartbreak about not being able to tell Scott who she is; Starjammers crap, but Binary's there so it gets a pass; baseball, because Claremont; and Cannonball suffering The Blue Screen of Death. It honestly amazed me how much Chris Claremont was able to get in to these 22 pages, yet it's oddly remembered for the leadership turning point. There's a deep discussion about how a woman's career is treated during and after childbirth, there are little hints at crushes, and Magneto's respect and understanding of a former foe speaks volumes about his character post X-Men #200.

From what I can tell, this might be the only time Rick Leonardi was inked by Whilce Portacio, and that, my friends, is a crying shame. Their respective styles match so perfectly, I wonder how or why they didn't become a team akin to Jim Lee and Scott Williams. There's a light bounciness to the softer moments, some brooding darkness to the marital strife scenes, the fight is energetic despite its length, every character is perfectly realized, and there's a true sense of family in the way they all look at and interact with each other.

Even though my memory recalled this as something completely different, I'm glad I was able to re-experience this almost as a newcomer.

Comics: 142

[Dread]

That was new sleek costume Magneto, right?

[Missy]

We only see a little of Magneto's new costume here, but that's when he was in the purple jumpsuit.

[Dread]

That's my jam.

[Venneh]

Unity vols 1-2: Interesting to see how Valiant handled their first real team book, especially spinning out of what happened in XO-Manowar. First arc as a direct reaction to what Aric did presumably in vol 4 of XO was really well done, the second one also did solidly, but suffered a bit for being three issues instead of 4 (they padded it out with an issue of XO Manowar that you'd presumably already read at that point). 

Single Issues: 114
TPBs/Collections: 54
Digital First Issues: 10

[Missy]

Star Wars Special: C-3PO: This is the story of how the annoying fuckwit got the red arm he has in The Force Awakens.

Ingredients

• One part Midnight Run
• One part survival horror (any will do)
• Two heaping cups of expositional dialog
• Four unripe characters
• One cup Balsamic Vinegar (preferably golden)
• One cup of sun-dried "we could have been friends"
• Five pounds of assorted philosophies
• Add Spice Spiders to taste

Directions

• Dump it all into an extra large pot
• Turn the flame to low
• Stir, as such, until lukewarm 

Comics: 143

[Dread]

Nightbreed vol 2: When this series first got announced, I was unaware that it would be simply origin stories of the Nightbreed, both old and new. I was a little let down by that in volume one, but I think I'm more accepting of it here. Though, I really enjoyed especially that this one tells Lude's origin (he's my favourite, the devil guy) and the untold story of Boone, which is heart-wrenching and awesome. The series went form a nice curiosity in volume one to a must read for NB fans in 2.

The Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection-Return of the Sinister Six: this is as close as we're going to get to Spider-Man by Erik Larsen Omnibus. This includes the RotSS as titled, Powerless, the return of Venom and other smaller stories. This is the height of SM for me. I want more. I will still buy that omnibus if it comes out, because I want the earlier stuff and the adjectiveless Spider-Man stuff all collected (especially with MCP #49-50, goddammit!) in one.

All-New X-Men #8: still great.

Archie #7: not a huge fan of the new artist, but the story is as tight and fun as usual. I can't believe I'm reading a monthly Archie comics series in 2016.

Baltimore Empty Graves #1: Hmm...Might be burned out on these.

Batman & Robin Eternal #26: holy shit. What an ending! This is better than Batman's been in YEARS.

Bigfoot-Sword of the Earthman #1-5:hmm...ok. Not great. Interesting premise.

Black Panther #1: If you're going to charge $5 for a single issue, it better take longer than 4 minutes to read. I'm out. Fuck this overhyped piece of garbage. The art is beautiful, but it ain't worth the money. Writer with literary cred is given the reigns of a cool comic book and is barely able to write a comprehensible first script let alone a compelling one. I'm out.

Black Widow #2: ok, this was good.

Bloodlines #1: hahahahahahahha! This was VERY effective. I literally felt like I was in 1993 again. Oof. Not in a good way.

Captain America Sam Wilson #7: this was quite a beast of an issue. I liked basically everything which is crazy with all the different creative teams involved. Good stuff.

Civil War II FCBD: hoo boy...talk about something thrown together at the last minute to capitalize on a film. Yikes.

Crossed Badlands #95: whoa. This is getting super intense.

 

Comics: 431
Trades: 18

Graphic Novels: 12

Omnibuses: 6

Edited April 21, 2016 by Dread

[Missy]

Superman: American Alien #6: Pete and some other kid come to Metropolis to chat it up with Clark. That's it. However, it's an important chat because Clark needed to realize Superman is bigger than he can ever imagine, and the only person he'd listen to is his best friend.

There were also two awesome guest appearances which made go "Whoa!" out loud.

Comics: 144

[Venneh]

Black Panther #1: If you're going to charge $5 for a single issue, it better take longer than 4 minutes to read. I'm out. Fuck this overhyped piece of garbage. The art is beautiful, but it ain't worth the money. Writer with literary cred is given the reigns of a cool comic book and is barely able to write a comprehensible first script let alone a compelling one. I'm out.

I checked this, and it's only the first issue that's $5; it's down to $4 after this. Still gonna trade wait it.

[Missy]

The Totally Awesome Hulk #5: Though this one has more Hulk smashing giant monsters because it's a Hulk book and he needs to fight giant monsters, it's kicking off a new storyline that seems to be more than Hulk smashing giant monsters because it's a Hulk book and he needs to fight giant monsters. We're privy to some of Amadeus and Maddy's backstory, which explains a lot about the former. He might think his anger is in check, but he could not be more wrong. In that regard, it's picking up on some of the hints he saw in the first four issues.

I love how everyone keeps trying to test Amadeus, anger wise. Maddy's doing it because she's concerned about her brother's inner rage, and The Enchantress does so because she wants the beast at her side. And whenever someone asks if he's mad, Cho is like, "No. I'm cool." It's a fresh take on The Hulk.

Mike Choi is also a nice change from Frank Cho. His work might not be as flashy and curvy (if you know what I mean), but he's able to bring the action and add a spark of humanity to the flashbacks, as well as the quieter sequences. I hope he stays on for a while, because I like his Hulk, Chos, and Enchantress. However, despite his character-design strength, he's not one for drawing backgrounds. Most of his panels are filled with spoke, debris, or random colors; rarely does he illustrate anything more than the bare minimum needed to convey setting.

This one has me re-interested in the series, so that's a plus.

The Uncanny Inhumans #7: You know that thing we both already know so we don't need to speak about it because we both already know the other knows it? Yeah, let's talk about that, in detail. Let's also relegate the only female character to the cheerleader role. (The second point is so bad, she isn't even displayed on the list of characters page.)

That said, I didn't totally dislike this one. While I doubt I'll read the first six or the rest of the storyline, it is what it is -- that being "We're as cool as the X-Men! See, we even have a guy who can track people through smell, and another who has to take his glasses off to use his powers. Love us... please."

The Capo's introduction is solid, even if his design is a little on the nose for a villain.

Brandon Peterson's art is worth a look, if nothing else. It's what kept me going.

Comics: 146

[Dread]

Black Panther #1: If you're going to charge $5 for a single issue, it better take longer than 4 minutes to read. I'm out. Fuck this overhyped piece of garbage. The art is beautiful, but it ain't worth the money. Writer with literary cred is given the reigns of a cool comic book and is barely able to write a comprehensible first script let alone a compelling one. I'm out.

I checked this, and it's only the first issue that's $5; it's down to $4 after this. Still gonna trade wait it.

They could make it free and I wouldn't care. I have enough Stelfreeze in my catalogue that I can go look at his art elsewhere.

[Venneh]

Mike - Del Mundo is taking over on that book shortly. You'll be in for a treat.

Dept H 1: Yes, the title is a pun. I don't even care, it's Matt fucking Kindt. Each issue of this is apparently going to be a day down there, and it's ongoing. We get our setup for the series here, along with some flashbacks fleshing out our main. Sharlene, Matt's wife, is doing her first coloring job on this, watercolors over his pencils, and it's goddamn gorgeous. I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out. 

The Mighty Thor 6: Random Loki story interlude with a flashback story and kinda shitty painting job. And it looks like it's continuing next month, so I'm out for next month at least. 

Dragon Age: Magekiller 1-5: Rucka got to do a tie-in comic to DAI, using some unexplored parts of the lore, and you can tell that he loved every minute of it. We join a pair of original characters, who through various things, end up getting drawn into the Inquisition, and get their own neat arc against the larger backdrop of the Inquisition. Also, not a romantic pair, which I really appreciate. And the big characters who appear don't do so in an overblown way; they fit perfectly into the arc of the story. Art is solid, covers are beautiful, get this when it's inevitably collected into a trade.

Lucifer 5: Garbett gets to show off in a pretty neat way this issue, and the threads from this first arc are wrapped up nicely, while putting the threads for the rest of the series in motion. Hopefully they only look forward after this, and not back.

From Under Mountains 3-5: Christ, this book is gorgeous. The plot's started to come together properly, and I'm looking forward to what happens in 6. 

Captain Marvel 1-4: The reboot with the Agent Carter showwriters and Anka on art. Neat space book, good to see Alpha Flight bought in, as well as someone who remembers that Abigail Brand exists. Anka's needed assists on the later issues, and the artist change isn't too jarring, happily. Plus, bringing in Mar-Vell? I'm interested to see where this goes, and I'm liking this first arc. 

Single Issues: 129
TPBs/Collections: 54
Digital First Issues: 10

[Venneh]

Divinity II 1: Again, Kindt creates a hell of a compelling character in the space of one issue, and I'm real interested to see how this is gonna play out. Harsine does some pretty great stuff art wise, too, especially with call backs to the first volume. 

The Valiant: Pretty awesome mini done by Kindt, Lemire, and Rivera. Not sure it needed to be its own event comic, but it has some real great moments story-wise, Rivera does some solid stuff, but the moments when they let Lemire (and possibly Kindt?) play around on the watercolor panels are great. 

Single Issues: 130
TPBs/Collections: 55
Digital First Issues: 10