Every comic you've read in 2016

[Donomark]

American Virgin was pretty great as I remember.

Green Arrow Rebirth #1: I'm a mark for the "classic" Green Arrow stuff from the O'Neil/Adams era. Personal politics aside, I really enjoy the type of overtly liberal superhero where he carries that persona as both a gift and a curse, because he's constantly both wrong and right. I've not followed GA since the new 52, but this was everything I wanted to read in a GA comic. The writing was excellent, Oliver is WAAAYYY more classically "Ollie" than he has been in years. The dynamic with Dinah was on point. The art was stylistic and cool. This was a 5/5 read. Highly recommended.

Batman Beyond vol.5 #13: I don't read this book continually, but I hear it's good so I checked out this latest issue. Jurgens' is a reliably solid writer and does good work mixing in elements of the animated series with the new 52 continuity. Good twist at the end.

Red Hood/Arsenal #13: Scott Lobdell's titles involving these two have routinely sucked but he's simultaneously always been the best writer for Jason Todd since the character's return ten years ago. As such, parts of this are annoying to read but Jason's character is well done here.

Amazing Spider-Man v.4 #13: Peter and Tony have a mindlessly stupid dick-measuring contest that is so senseless it would make Stan Lee blush. Someone get Slott off this book please.

Civil War II #1: This begins more of an actual story than a clearly structured event. The artwork is IMO much better than Steve McNiven's was. The conflict presents itself mostly-understandably and everyone isn't in 0-100 mode like they were in the original Civil War.

Bendis plays wonky with characterization here. It's all over the place. Also, War Machine and She Hulk die off-screen, which is utterly ridiculous. Like the previous Civil War, this is marginally entertaining but can't help but feel cheap. It's better written and drawn than the Millar one so far tho.

 

[Dan]

The Fury of Firestorm (1982) #10-18 and Annual #1: This really was a terrific series. Gerry Conway was the Spider-Man guy in the 1970s, and he took what he learned when he crossed over to DC and created Firestorm as a fairly typical teenager who merges with a middle aged physics professor and becomes an all-powerful supergod. As a star athlete, Ronnie Raymond has different problems from Peter Parker, but they're generally just as relatable and provide the same avenues for all kinds of soap operatics: his single dad has a tragic past and anger issues, his girlfriend is the daughter of an overprotective cop and the sister of a were-hyena (some problems are more relatable than others), his frequent absences lead to trouble at school and his position on the basketball team, and he has a bully/antagonist at school who sometimes veers into straight up criminal territory. Further, Ronnie's not stupid by any stretch, but he's not going to have to worry about having to sit through a long, boring Nobel Prize banquet any time soon either, so bringing in Professor Stein as someone to guide him makes a lot of sense and brings something unusual to the character; further, it makes sense that someone whose powers involve affecting things on an atomic level should probably have someone around who actually knows something or other about the science behind it.

These particular issues are pretty straightforward stuff, throwing Firestorm's Rogues Gallery at him for a number of multi-issue arcs. Part of the problem is that Firestorm's bad guys generally aren't that great. A handful of them (Killer Frost, Multiplex, Plastique) have made appearances in The Flash TV series, and they're the best ones, and even they aren't super awesome. Here we get four issues of the Hyena scratching Firestorm and turning him feral as well, followed by an ongoing series of plots leading to Multiplex aiding in the creation of both Firehawk (a minor DC hero who didn't do a whole lot before retiring) and Tokamak (a fat guy in a metal suit who became the Plasma Anti-Firestorm or some nonsense). The plots aren't what matter here, though. Conway was a very good writer of character and dialogue, and this was structured like a classic Marvel-style book, with lots of ongoing plot threads interweaving with each other, humor, character growth, and the ability to not take anything very seriously, except for when it becomes time to take everything beyond seriously into entertaining high melodrama. The art is generally decent as well; Pat Broderick does most of the work, but he has a frustrating tendency to draw the main character really, really well, and slap everything else together kind of all over the place. The result is that Firestorm invariably looks absolutely fantastic and exciting, and everyone else looks like a Mr. Potato Head who was left out in the sun. Towards the end there are a couple of fill-in issues by George Tuska, and they are actually quite good. Much better than Tuska was usually churning out at the time. Overall, this was a strong series, one that had a very Marvel-like sensibility at a time when DC had yet to really get to that place in a big way. Recommended.

[Donomark]

Flash Rebirth #1: Serves as sort of a prequel and sequel to DC Comics Rebirth #1 in that it shows what Barry was doing the night that Wally reached him. Barry seeks out Batman and the two agree to solve the mystery together. Not much more than that but it was a fine read.

[Davedevil]

Batgirl #52 - Kinda forgettable, the goodbyes got tedious. Decent art.

Batman Rebirth #1 - Decent issue with some nice horror. Janin's art has gotten a lot better since Justice League Dark. Probably not gonna be following the Batbooks except for All Star.

The Flash #52 - Good wrap-up to the New 52 run.

Superman Rebirth #1 - Also decent, will probably get the Superman books in trade.

Godzilla Oblivion #3 - Oh hell yes, MechaGodzillas!

Orphan Black Helsinki #5 - Not sure why I buy the tie-ins beyond brand loyalty.

A-Force #6 - Solid issue with nice art. Really liking Dazzler.

ANAD Avengers #10 - Wondering how this will work out. 

ASM #13 - Ugh. 

Daredevil #7 - Great art, the story is starting to feel easier to get into. 

Spider-Woman #8 - Phenomenal. Love the Javier Rodriguez art.

Spider-Women Omega - So much fun. Spider-Women hasn't lived up to all my expectations but it was still a great ride. The armor bit had me laughing out loud.

Star Wars #19 - Good wrap-up to the storyline and a nice setup to the next. Also nice to see a canon lesbian relationship in Star Wars.

[Missy]

Action Comics #957: This! Yes! The direct homage to the John Byrne Man of Steel was a chill-inducing moment.

Detective Comics #934: I'll overlook the somewhat clunky dialog because I love the idea of Batman and Batwoman co-leading what's essentially The Outsiders. Clayface's development is going to be fun to watch, and any book that has Tim, Stephanie, and Cassandra gets my attention.

Aquaman: Rebirth #1: A lot of the narration feels like a "you're wrong for not getting Aquaman" finger pointed directly at the reader. I'll give the ongoing a chance, but this didn't set the bar high for me. 

Comics: 294

[Dread]

Hyperion #3: fucking loving this.

Illumiinati #7: weird ending. Cancellations will do that.

Imperium #16: I might drop this. There is an illusion of things happening but nothing REALLY HAPPENS in this character-wise.

International Iron Man #3: better than last issue. Interesting swerve.

Jackpot #2: ok, this was the issue to tell us what the fuck is going on and I think they failed at that. I'm out.

Lobster Johnson Metal monsters of Midtown #1: this isn't Tolstoy. Fun.

Lucifer #6: solid.

Mae #1: fucking beautiful. Good on the story end too. I'm planning a portal novel too, so that's interesting to me.

Ines the Pneumatic Girl: Spanish (?) graphic novel that is more like a design/art book with words to tie it all together. Beautiful to look at, just not if you're interested in story.

Comics: 598
Trades: 28

Graphic Novels: 18

 

[Missy]

Darth Vader #21: I think I'm done until the series ends with #25. Nothing bad here, but there's a long game I'm not seeing yet.

Thunderbolts #2: Nope. Done.

Wonder Woman: Rebirth #1: Not sure where this is going, but Greg Rucka on Wonder Woman always has my attention.

The Flash: Rebirth #1: Wasn't crazy about the art, but I like how the book wraps around DC Universe: Rebirth #1.

Comics: 298

[Venneh]

The Lovely Horrible Stuff: Read this right before I went to Eddie Campbell's talk at CAKE this weekend. Neat comic, like the things he did stylistically and talking about nonfiction stuff, both on an economic and personal level. Worth a read if you find it.

Not Love But Delicious Foods (and I'm pretty sure there's more words in this title but I forgot them): Early semi autobiographical food porn from Fumie Yoshinaga. She's still finding her feet here, but the food porn is pretty great. The autobiographical element is pretty take it or leave it.

ingle Issues: 243
TPBs/Collections: 75
Digital First Issues: 101

 

Edited June 13, 2016 by Venneh

[Missy]

Vision #8: Despite the cover, I did not see the ending coming. In fact, I was so hooked by the characters, I kept wondering how the cover would pay off. And boy, did it! And speaking of covers, this issue seems to make it clear how the cover to the next issue will come to pass, but they might swerve us.

Civil War II: Gods of War #1: Herc sulks in a bar while Amadeus tries to cheer him up. Civil War II begins, Herc realizes his set of skills are unwanted, and he heads home a dejected demigod. While the premiss might sound a little far from what people would expect from a Hercules comic, it really gets to the heart of who Herc is in this moment in time. He's looking back on his misspent youth, addictions, and the trouble they've caused him and his friends. It's a very sold read that makes me want to give the short-lived series from this year another chance.

Comics: 300

[Donomark]

Green Lantern: A New Dawn

Collects the tail-end of Green Lantern #50 and GL #51-#55 (I'm assuming this is all vol.2). Kyle Rayner's origin issues. I've been searching for Emerald Twilight for years and can't find it anywhere. This is the second half of that story, obviously. Kyle is thrown the ring from Ganthet an unwittingly becomes the new Green Lantern.

Everything about this story deserves the backlash it had coming. Hal Jordan's character is thoroughly assassinated and replaced with a younger "hipper" new guy who's quite plainly a doofus. The story still works though going from Kyle's perspective. He's a dopey guy with a moderately good heart. It's really Alex who's the brains of the operation for the few issues she's presented. For her brief time she was a good character, and her murder sequence is every bit as awful and misogynist as has been written about it in years since. The issue is even titled "Forced Entry". Ugh...she's almost literally Uncle Ben, telling Kyle he needs to be more responsible. Kyle takes her death and that concept to heart after being given exposition as to what the hell the GL Corps is(/was) by Alan Scott. This is a very 90s comic but aside from Alex's murder and everything surrounding it I quite enjoyed seeing Kyle's first few issues as the new Green Lantern.

[Missy]

Superman #1:

Batman #1:

 (Though, I could have done without the whole "Is this a good death?" bit.)

Green Lanterns #1: While it's better than the Rebirth one-shot, I'm still not hooked. The bickering is rote, there's no reason to care about Simon's family or Jessica's anxiety, the big threat is tired, and there's another damn prophecy / vision. It's great they're trying something new with Green Lantern (that is, if you ignore the time Kyle shared the book with Jade when they were Green Lanterns), but there's not much to elevate this above a trade-wait. Despite that, I will say I enjoyed Simon's need to runaway to space; the threat of space aliens eating his face is more appealing than the United States government breathing down his neck because of his heritage.

Scooby Apocalypse #2: This book is incredibly fun. The characters are beginning to show more depth, the mystery is growing, and the team is starting to slowly come together. It's fresh and new, yet very familiar. There's a moment where Daphne does something so very brutal -- yet needed -- and I really want to see where it takes her character.

Star Wars #20: Another entry from Ben Kenobi's journals, and it's a cracker. An aging Kenobi has to risk exposing himself as a Jedi, otherwise people will die. Worse, doing so could cause more people to die. I love these one-issue stories between the main tales. They're quick, solid issues that chart the growth of Luke through the eyes of his future mentor.

Black Widow #4: Things are coming together well, and there's a perfect balance of characters, plot, action, and reveals.

Daredevil #8: Matt enters a high-stakes, international game of poker. To what end, I do not know, but watching Matt use his powers to read the other players was a fun, inventive take on the character. The cliffhanger promises a team-up next issue, so I'm... all in. 

Comics: 307

[Missy]

Poe Dameron #3: Glad to see they left the door open for Terex to return down the line, but these first three issues felt like they could have been done in two. Once Terex showed up -- as fun as he was -- it became a game of "I can do this!" "Then I will do this!" "A-HA! If you could do that, you would have by now!" And so on. It was a little padded, but enjoyable.

Han Solo #1: Reminds me of the novels from the mid- to late-1990s, which brings with it a very warm, nostalgic feeling. Both the writing and art nail not only the Star Wars Universe, but also Han, Leia, Chewie, and The Falcon. Though I think I can see where the series might go, I'm eager to enjoy it -- no matter what it brings.

Comics: 309

[Donomark]

Dark Knight Returns - The Last Crusade: I was not going to read this. In this current era of Miller-sploitation where nothing's come even halfway close to matching his glory days, this appeared to be yet another cheapening of the original story. But with Brian Azarello on the script and Romita Jr. on one of his (currently rare) good days, this turned out to be a very solid read that I've no problem plugging into DKR continuity. It's less to do with Jason's death at the hands of the Joker in this universe and more to do with Batman coming to his decision to retire. We don't see him pull the trigger in this story but we don't need to. More than enough is left for interpretation. The characterizations of Bruce and Jason are very sound. Bruce sounds like Bruce (with some Batffleckisms of him saying "Shit" and "Jesus" thrown in which I personally don't care for) in how he really does not want to retire but isn't as stubborn and idiotic as writers enjoy portraying him of late. Jason's traditionally more violent and less empathetic but his morality doesn't come off as dubious either. It's a lot like the flashback scenes in the Under the Red Hood story. The Batman and Robin dynamic is pretty Superfriends (they kind of even look like those versions) with gritty realism thrown in, but solely for the sake of the story. I'm admit to being a prickly, particular guy when it comes to Batman stuff but this met my narrow sensibilities and I enjoyed it.

Dark Night - A True Batman Story by Paul Dini: Review forthcoming

[Donomark]

Superman #1 (2016): A fast read but a solid one. Actually another instance of modern decompression making a whole issue out of what should really be a beginning act of a comic. Nonetheless, good stuff.

[Missy]

Superman #1:

Expanding my thoughts some:

Despite the plethora of splash pages (four double, three single, three half-page) in this 20-page book, the creative team was able to cover plenty of ground within.

• Post-Crisis Superman comes to term with the fact that his counterpart of this Earth is truly dead, thus committing himself to working out in the open as Superman.
• The Mr. Oz mystery was touched upon.
• Superman's origin is retold, and his new adventures are shown.
• He's also shown tending to issues on his farm, as a family man.
• Jonathan's budding powers are revealed with tragic, character-shaping results.
• There's the introduction of Kathy and the questions of what she saw and who she'll tell.
• Then the visit (spoiler-free) and cliffhanger.

There's some wonderful art-driven storytelling here, both in terms of plot and characters. For a lot of people, this will be the return of their Superman. DC will want to announce that with grandiose pages that not only sell Superman as the powerhouse that he is, but also by setting up the new status quo. For me, at least, this issue did that splendidly thanks to the pacing and larger-than-life art. I couldn't have asked for anything more from this book, and the creative team has me for a long, long time.

EDIT
Donovan, this wasn't meant to disagree with your point about decompressed storytelling. Please don't take this as a longwinded shot at your opinion. I only saw your entry after posting mine.

[Missy]

Titans: Rebirth #1: "Who are you?!" KZT! "Wally! How could I have forgotten?!" "Who are you?!" KZT! "Wally! How could I have forgotten?!" "Who are you?!" KZT! "Wally! How could I have forgotten?!" "Who are you?!" KZT! "Wally! How could I have forgotten?!" "Who are you?!" KZT! "Wally! How could I have forgotten?!" Skip!

Green Arrow #1: The writing featured here has the characters jumping from scene to scene carrying on the same dialog as the previous panel / scene. Once or twice is fine -- a mistake, even -- but every scene? That's a choice an editor should have stopped.

Comics: 311

[Donomark]

EDIT
Donovan, this wasn't meant to disagree with your point about decompressed storytelling. Please don't take this as a longwinded shot at your opinion. I only saw your entry after posting mine.

Ah nah, no worries, it's all good.

Civil War II #2: Okay this thing has already started to go off the rails. Tony's downright bi-polar in his grief over last issue's casualty, but he quips in every other two panels. It's like Bendis has Avengers 2 syndrome, it's awful. This really is not a good story at all two issues in.

[Donomark]

Green Arrow #1 (vol.7): A step down from the Rebirth issue by the exact same team. A lot of the dialogue was really bad and the exposition was hamfisted. They're also awkwardly jumping into the Arrow/Canary romance which doesn't feel as natural as it should, more of a requisite for the characters. There's also some character dynamics I'm worried they're cribbing from the show, like Oliver's random half sister who's his sidekick.

Batman #1 (vol.3): This one was a bit up and down for me, but overall I liked it. I enjoyed the fact that the entire issue was a rescue mission and that it showed Batman leap into a scenario where he had to sacrifice himself to save everyone. Characterization was on point for the most part, although Gordon was a bit iffy for me at times and I agree with Mike about the maudlin "good death" line. The artwork's decent.

Justice League v.2 #51: Interesting idea for a story, Dick interacting with the League for the first time. No one is ever going to like or miss Hal Jordan: toolbag, so I'm looking forward to him going away.

Titans Rebirth #1: This is an incredibly long game DC is playing. If you remember DC Rebirth #1, it's establish that the Post and Pre Crisis timelines get forgotten once someone enters the new 52 timeline. It happened to Wally immediately when Barry pulled him out of the Speed Force. Thus, most all of the stories and flashbacks in this issue we know are BS because the timeline is specifically being messed up. So even though everyone is happy to see Wally again, we know that they have no idea how messed up their lives have truly been.

It's also a bit of a relief though, because fuck douchebro Roy Harper so hard.

Still, I like the fact that much of this Company-Wide story is taking place throughout the pages of the Flash and the Titans. The Titans, moreso than the League, are the true cornerstones of the DC Universe. Those characters connect to everything DC is about, so there's no better a fit a book or team for this story to continue in.

Amazing Spider-Man v.4 #14: Maybe it's all the Rebirth stuff going on, but...are they...are they gonna be re-addressing One More Day? Tony misremembering Peter and MJ living in Stark Tower, Peter and MJ tension, Aunt May coughing up blood. I'm wondering if "DEAD NO MOREZ" is gonna lead into this.

[Dan]

Legends of the DC Universe (1998) #1-6, 14: This was a fun little series that focused on telling stories from the first year or so of DC's timeline. It opens with a three-issue arc by James Robinson and Val Semeiks that shows Superman's first run-in with the Ultra-Humanite, followed by two issues of Wonder Woman puzzling her way through Man's World by William Messner-Loebs and Mike Deodato, Jr. The series tended to be light and fun in comparison to the usual 90s stuff surrounding it, but reading these stories now - holy shit are these 90s books. Wonder Woman is wearing a leather jacket over her costume, for God's sake. The Superman story is inconsequential and the Wonder Woman story is, quite frankly, very bad, and they both have very, very dated art. Issue 6, on the other hand, is a team-up featuring the first meeting of Superman and the Dick Grayson Robin by Kelley Puckett and Dave Taylor, and this issue is quite a lot of fun and looks really great. After that, I skipped ahead to issue 14, a double sized Fourth World story that has Superman and Jimmy Olson (with the Guardian) teaming up to battle Darkseid's minions, and it's by Mark Evanier and Steve Rude, and there was no way I wasn't reading that. Every issue features a gorgeous painted cover, many of them also by Rude, and they are almost always stunning.

Fantastic Four #306-318: This was a weird era for the FF. Steve Englehart was in the driver's seat (with John Buscema and then Keith Pollard on pencils, and Joe Sinnott's inks keeping things awesome throughout), and this was the era when Reed and Sue went into retirement to raise Franklin in the suburbs, to be replaced by Crystal and the Sharon Ventura Ms. Marvel. Sharon is a character that can be alternately interesting and problematic. Shortly before she started her four-year run in FF, she was held captive by the Power Broker and (although the actual words were never used and since then Marvel has tried to dial it back) was very clearly gang-raped by his henchmen, resulting in tremendous PTSD which is sometimes portrayed devastatingly well and at other times like shrill misandry that she just needs to fortify and get over. After a few issues, she and Ben are struck by cosmic rays, leading to her becoming She-Thing (she's never actually called that, but that's what she's come to be known as) while Ben mutates further and gets all spiky and shit, while his strength increases to Hulk-levels. Meanwhile, Johnny and (who we thought was) Alicia have just gotten married, but there is still very much something between he and Crystal. Between that and the lingering feelings between Alicia and Ben (and the growing ones between Ben and Sharon), there's a lot of soap opera happening here. The actual stories are mostly generic (one story has them fighting a Middle Eastern living TV screen who got his powers when he stabbed a camera with a sword; seriously, that happened) but the character stuff is generally enough to keep things interesting. Also, there's a fair amount of Doctor Doom happening, and Englehart writes the hell out of Doctor Doom.

[Professor]

Batman '66 Meets the Man From U.N.C.L.E. - Not as fun as the non-crossover stuff.  I had never heard of Man From U.N.C.L.E. until the movie came out and this did little to help with that. 

Zodiac Starforce - So, Power Rangers/Captain Planet based around a group of high school girls.  A pretty good second story.  Too bad that this was the first story. 

Broken Moon - I want to like this.  I really do.  And the idea is so ripe with possibilities.  None are realized.  This comes off like a ten year old telling you the story of their action figure battle than a real story.

 

Comics: 23 (17)
Graphic Novels: 6
Trade Paperbacks: 7 (36)

[Dread]

Midnighter #12: solid.

New Suicide Squad #20: so fucking good. I think I'm going to buy a Ferreyra page.

Nighthawk #1: fun. Solid art. I'm in for a little while.

Nova #7: really solid little book.

Rai #13: not great. mediocre.

4001 AD #1,2: this is fucking terrible. Yawn-inducing at best.

4001 AD: Bloodshot #1: I really like this.

Robin Sonof Batman #12: alright.

Satan's Hollow #3: good. not great.

Scooby Apocalypse #1: one of the worst comics I've read this year.

Sons of the Devil #7: better than the last issue.

Spider-Man #4: His friend's a total dick. 

Squadron Supreme #7: fucking awesome.

Suiciders Kings of HelL.A. #3: not sure where this is going exactly, but i still like it.

Superman Lois & Clark #8: definitively the second best book out of the New 52 after Wonder Woman.

Superman American Alien #7: after a pretty stellar series, this was about as ho-hum as a finale could get.

TMNT #57, 58: still really fun.

Short Strokes: funny erotic GN. Not bad.

Colder vol 3: amazing and profound ending to this amazing comic series. Maybe the best modern horror comic.

Birthright vol 3: so fucking great. Crazy cliffhanger.

Comics: 617
Trades: 30

Graphic Novels: 19

[Donomark]

Dark Night - A True Batman Story by Paul Dini: Review forthcoming

http://thebatmanuniverse.net/paul-dini-3/

[Donomark]

Totally Awesome Hulk #7: Loved it. Alan Davis goes a long way for me but loved showing Bruce without the Gamma Radiation in his blood. Great, psychological issue.

[Dread]

Astonishing Ant-Man #8: solid as always. Not as memorable as other recent issues though.

Fourth Planet #1: not very good sci fi.

Mighty Thor #7: really good. This art is fucking amazing. Really glad we haven't abandoned Odinson.

The X-Files #2: spooky and relevant. Sensing a theme here. I'm betting on a gay rights-related story in the next few issues.

The Black Hood #10: solid. Better than the past few issues.

Uncanny X-Men #7: fucking great.

Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #7: fuck. yes. Finally, this is what I've been waiting for. Loved it.

Action Comics #957: hell yes. So fucking good. Jurgens owns Superman. 

All-New Wolverine #9: ok. I prefer her without Wolverine.

All-New X-Men #10: also ok. I'd like them to advance in this storyline a little quicker.

All-New All-Different Avengers #10: fucking great. Really fun.

Aquaman Rebirth #1: pretty good, but I'll be happy when I read a fucking Aquaman comic that doesn't apologize for being an Aquaman comic.

Comics: 629
Trades: 30

Graphic Novels: 19

[Missy]

Aquaman Rebirth #1: pretty good, but I'll be happy when I read a fucking Aquaman comic that doesn't apologize for being an Aquaman comic.

That a great way to put it. For that, it seems, you'd have to go back before Flashpoint, because that's how the New 52 series began, too.