Every comic you've read in 2016

[Professor]

Beyond! - A wanna be Secret Wars.  I think part of the problem for me is lack of context.  I only know about half the characters, and the half I do know behave in ways I do not understand. 

Fantastic Four #545-550 - A somewhat follow up to some things that happened in Beyond!  And while I dropped in randomly, I was able to pick up everything I needed very quickly.  And Sue being a complete badass is something I fully support.

X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever - I loved this, until the last issue.  That last issue was a complete cop-out.  And I think the last page actively pissed me off.

Harley Quinn and Power Girl -  Didn't know this was a continuation going in, which did annoy.  This was horrible.  Probably would have stopped if I had anything else to read while at the mechanic.  'Humor' never landed, so much filler and the 4th wall garbage got old fast. 

 

Comics: 46 (17)
Graphic Novels: 6
Trade Paperbacks: 7 (36)

[Davedevil]

Flash Rebirth and Flash #1 - Decent issue, but a little too reminiscent of the previous run. I'll see where it goes.

Wonder Woman Rebirth and Wonder Woman #1 - Pretty good. Love the art by Liam Sharp. I like the take that she's a symbol for truth, instead of love or femininity. Not that she shouldn't stand for those things, but this seems new to me.

Black Widow #4 - Samnee continues to own.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #8 - Highly amusing. 

Ms. Marvel #8 - Really sells the conflict between Kamala's adoration of Captain Marvel and her hesitance over Carol's methods. Glad to see Alphona and Miyazawa working together some more. 

Spider-Gwen #9 - Ahh, classic Spider-Angst. Seeing the fallout from Spider-Women is pretty cool. Good to see the band coming back together (literally). There's also a really neat tribute to Darwyn Cooke in there.

Star Wars: Han Solo #1 - Love the Mark Brooks art. The premise is pretty solid.

Poe Dameron #3 - Fun issue.

The Ultimates #8 - I'm not reading Civil War II, thankfully it had enough for me to follow. It hurt to see the characters like this. Hoping it gets back to the cosmic scope of the previous stories, and I'm pretty sure it will.

Web Warriors #8 - Glad to see Spider-UK and Spider-Girl figuring into the plot again. Wondering where Spider-Gwen ended up. And it should be fun to have Spidey Noir, Spidey India and Spider-Ham all stuck in Noir-verse together.

[Dread]

The Nikopol Trilogy: three combined/connected Enki Bilal graphic novels. I'd never read the whole thing together before. I have the first two parts in Heavy Metal magazines and the third in French. What a bizarre and gorgeous presentation. Bilal is, in my opinion, the greatest living cartoonist in the world. So evocative and beautiful and weird.

Black Magick vol 1: I loved this. I will be reading more if there is more. I don't know if there is, though.

The Fix #2,3: I may get the trade depending on price, but otherwise, I'm out. One trick pony here.

The Flash Rebirth #1: pure fucking garbage. The decade-long campaign to make Barry Allen is a sad failure that cannot even be made a reality by brining back Wally. Terrible.

The Punisher #1,2: fun on one hand, on the other I find it difficult to read an all ages punisher book after all that Max stuff.

The Wildlands #1: not very good.

Thunderbolts #1,2: hahahahaha...no.

Unfollow #7,8: still fucking beautiful. Maybe the best monthly comic of the year.

Vision #7,8: probably the runner-up. Great single issue and great beginning to a fucked up arc. I'm still in.

Wacky Raceland #1: I was interested in this. Was.

Weavers #1,2: this was weird. It took the second issue to get any momentum, which is a little scary. Nothing really new here.

Wonder Woman Rebirth #1: this was alright. Hard not to look good after the fucking Finches trampled all over the best WW run in history. I'll give it another issue or two.

Xena Warrior Princess #2: I so wanted this series to be good. Alas, it is not.

Comics: 679
Trades: 31

Graphic Novels: 21

[Rjoyadet]

We are Robin: Ba ba buh buh BUH bom bom bom. 

actually I kinda like it. 

comics: 5 

Trades: 4

Graphic novels: .3 

[Missy]

Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor #3: Read it last week, so I don't remember much, but I did like Rose here. Her willingness to save a foe seemed spot on. However, I just realized this story takes place between Aliens of London / World War Three and Boom Town, which doesn't quite fit because of how Rose treats Margaret in the latter story. Small quibble, I know.

Superman #2: Lois is a little too accepting that Clark secretly took their son on a mission, and that the boy accidentally killed her cat. Otherwise, I'm loving this series.

Batman #2: While building to the Monster Men story, we see Batman is reluctantly bringing Gotham and Gotham Girl into the fold. Bruce realizing his limitations and mortality was a nice touch, one which made the "is this a good death" part from last issue a little more palatable. However, Bruce saying he doesn't trust Alfred? Either that was a failed joke or really poor characterization.

Justice League Rebirth #1: As a prelude to the upcoming ongoing, it does its job. As a standalone comic, there's not much of a story or anything in way of character. Also, the ending is straight out of The Eleventh Hour episode of Doctor Who.

The Flintstones #1: Sorry if I'm being too stuffy, but a Flintstones comic book is not the place for the word "bastards," war-related PTSD flashbacks, or an ethical discussion about how the world runs on war-profiteering. While the book was a fun read, it's trying too hard to balance old-style Flintstones jokes with modern sensibilities and political commentary. Hopefully it will find its footing down the road, because it looks great and I want to enjoy it.

Comics: 338

[Koete]

Not even Captain Gotham? Just Gotham?

[Missy]

Yup, Gotham and Gotham Girl. I'm hoping they're the living embodiment of Gotham City, otherwise the names are rather lame.

[Missy]

The Totally Awesome Hulk #7-8: Though he's been cured (again), Banner tests his limits to make sure The Hulk can no longer manifest from his anger. Meanwhile, Amadeus has started to begin dealing with some of his Hulk-related issues. These two issues, drawn by Alan Davis, are light on story but very heavy on character, and they're great for it. They're both a passing-the-torch story and a jumping-on-point; anyone who only knows Banner as The Hulk will be able to read these two and will come away with an understanding of how the new status quo came to be.

Comics: 340

[Missy]

The Punisher #3: Still, typical Punisher action, but the scene with the smoke grenade worked well.

The Fix #4: The ending would seem to indicate the shenanigans are about to end.

Comics: 342

[Missy]

Green Arrow #2: Though it feels as if an entire issue is missing from the middle of the book -- as if they rushed to get to this point -- I find my interest sparked once more.

Comics: 343

[Missy]

The Man of Steel #1-6: Oddly, this is a series I always forget I've read before. Bits and pieces stay with me -- Clark swooping off in-costume for the first time, Batman's ruse with the bomb -- but the major plot points and overall narrative slip through the cracks of my memory. And I think that might be because, honestly, I don't find it to be all that special. While I truly understand its importance to the modern Superman mythos -- especially as it laid the groundwork for the Superman I grew up with -- it still retains a very Silver Age quality; everything about Magpie is straight out of the Batman TV show, Lois endangering herself to get Superman's attention was tired by this point, and The Kent's are as saccharin-sweet as The Cleavers. Elements like these come off as a fresh coat of paint rather than building something new. On the other hand, I truly enjoyed Lex as a slime ball, Clark not realizing how light his hand weights are, and the fact that this is not a Year One-type story; we're looking at the first few years of Clark's adventures as Superman. Maybe I'm asking too much from a story that's 30 years old, but when held against other game-changing books of the same era I find it lacking.

Superman: Lois & Clark #1-8: Despite some plot holes (e.g. Superman forgetting all about the Oblivion Stone), a threat that felt like filler (e.g. Blackrock), and some of the non-Lee Weeks artists, I adore this series. Watching Lois and Clark work in the shadows to bring down Intergang and prevent familiar threats from forming on this Earth, all while raising their son, is a truly fresh direction for Superman. The family dynamic is well-realized, with Lois being the provider so Clark can clandestinely save the world. Jon's anger and frustration when the truth is revealed to him is exactly right for a child his age, though he does let go of it a little too easily. (However, I'd rather have that than a melodramatic diversion of him hating his parents for issues on end.) With Dan Jurgens writing this and Action Comics, I trust some of the loose ends will eventually be picked up, so I don't mind the open-endedness of the Hank Henshaw plot and Hyathis running off when she was outclassed by Superman.

Lee Weeks brings a honesty to his pages, one that works for the light, dark, and human moments. His Superman is older and a touch weaker, yet he's as powerful as ever. When Superman is tasked with lifting rubble or speeding around the globe, you can feel his muscles strain and hear the sonic booms. Few others come close to his standard, and that is clearly demonstrated when artists come in to assist. Whereas Weeks adds life to every moment -- be they super or mundane -- those who fill-in for him seemingly dash through the married-life pages to get to the fights; rooms are left nearly empty, figures are clunky, and the general composition is lacking when someone isn't being punched through walls. Worse, they can't resist illustrating Lois from reverse low angles, placing her butt in full view. When Weeks returns, some of his inkers overpower his pencils, giving the pages a Leinil Francis Yu look. Though Yu's style is a favorite of mine, it doesn't work over Weeks' lines and becomes a distraction.

All that griping aside, only a few issues are affected by artistic changes, and, as I noted before, I love this eight-issue series for bringing back my Superman and Lois, and adding a son into the mix. Also: bearded Superman! In black!

Comics: 357

[Missy]

Hellboy in Hell #1-3: With the Hellboy line coming to a close, I thought I'd give this 10-issue series a try. (Why start with the end? It's what I do sometimes.) It wasn't for me, so I stopped at issue three. Mike Mignola's work is beautifully expressive and captures the tone of his world as perfectly as Jack Kirby did the early days of the Marvel Universe. Yet, his pacing never clicks with me. Same for some of his storytelling choices. Issues breeze by due to little dialogue, fights are jumbled, and I find Hellboy himself to be a bland tough guy here. I guess it comes down to character-investment; coming in at the end, I have little. Maybe those who've been around for the long haul and love these characters will connect with this series more than I.

Comics: 360

[Dan]

Hanna-Barbera Future Quest #1: Jeff Parker, Doc Shaner, Steve Rude and Jordie Bellaire working on a massive crossover of H-B's mid-60s adventure/superhero characters? Yes, please.

[Missy]

Sadly, that one didn't keep my attention past a few pages, but I'll give it another go.

Mockingbird #1-3: This is an exceptionally fun series which not only looks at Bobbi and her place in the Marvel Universe, but also how women and female characters are treated in society as a whole. The third issue, especially, touches upon this point with much humor but frank truths. Going into this series, I must admit, I knew very little about Bobbi, but thanks to this book she's rising on my Read More with this Character list. Hopefully Marvel will keep the creative team together after the fifth (and final?) issue, because the writing and art perfectly compliment each other and fit Mockingbird's world.

Comics: 363

[Donomark]

Black Panther #3 (2016): I'm more on board with this series now. Coates is telling an epic about Wakanda and the T'Challa's an important part as king, but this is an ensemble piece. Stelfreeze's art is fantastic. The Midnight Angels are great, and the book really question's the place of a monarchy in the modern world, especially for a techno-futurist country like Wakanda. Zenzi has yet to come across like an evil villain at all, and T'Challa really doesn't know if he's doing the right thing anymore. Coates' is getting better at comic scripting. The scene transitions could be a bit better, it's still refining itself. But this comic is great.

[Dread]

A Year of Marvels June: not great.

Action Comics #958: I fucking loved this. I'm in. I haven't read Action Comics since Superman died, you know, the first time.

Action Man #1: this was ok. Interested to see where it goes.

Aquaman #1: ehhh...alright. I'll give it one more.

Archie #9: laughed out loud at one point. This comic, about a bunch of stupid teenagers, is better written than damn near anything Marvel and DC have got. I love it.

Batman #1:ok, I teared up a little bit near the end. I mean, I knew that nothing was going to happen, but it still got to me. I'm getting fucking old.

BLack Road #3: how has NOTHING happened yet?

Black Eyed Kids #3:, ok, this is getting really good.

Captain America Sam Wilson #10: I thought this was ok. Not great. Ok. I find it weird that there's this strange assortment of black superheroes who've created this secret society without any prior acknowledgement. 

Carnage #9: ehh...ok.

Civil War Choosing Sides #1: I really liked the Night Thrasher story.

Civil War Ulysses Infinite Comic #1: this was ok.

Civil War X-Men #1: very cool. Basically, just a continuation of Bunn's Uncanny X-Men, which I'm ok with.

Civil War II #2: really good, actually.

Comics: 693
Trades: 31

Graphic Novels: 21

 

[Donomark]

 

Captain America Sam Wilson #10: I thought this was ok. Not great. Ok. I find it weird that there's this strange assortment of black superheroes who've created this secret society without any prior acknowledgement. 

 

 

 S'not really a secret society. Just an agreement between most of the long-running black heroes. It's not like the Marvel Divas miniseries where oh actually, Black Cat, Misty Knight, Patsy Walker and Firestar have all been secretly best friends for years. I did wonder why Prowler wasn't in on it, but he barely ever appears.

[Dread]

I just don't see that group coming together in any way like this. Seems forced. Maybe if BP and Storm weren't there it would make more sense.

Complete Crepax vol 1: Dracula, Frankenstein, and Other Horror Stories: This is the first of Fantagraphics' Crepax collections. I love his line work and have only really read small spurts of it in Heavy Metal magazine in the past. These early Valentina stories are amazing pulp stories with a sexy side. Fun and gorgeous. Easy to see where Frank Miller came form after reading this. The Dracula adaptation is interesting in that the lines become thinner and daintier, but the horror is palpable. The Frankenstein adaptation looks horrible but that's because the poor bastard was drawing through Multiple Sclerosis at the time. Kind of brutal.

Comics: 693
Trades: 31

Graphic Novels: 21

Omnibuses: 10

[Dread]

Clean Room #9: solid.

Crossed #99: some sick shit in here.

Death Force #1, 2: note to writers of comic books: if you're going to rip off Ghost Rider, at least have the character become your Ghost Rider ripoff before the end of your first issue.

4 Kids Walk Into a Bank #1: this is a little like Deadly Class Lite. Art is very similar. Great looking book. Sharp. I laughed a couple times. Effectively pulls off a couple pages straight of a 24 panel grid. Solid.

Comics: 698
Trades: 31

Graphic Novels: 21

Omnibuses: 10

[Missy]

Star Trek #59: Not much of a story -- rather, a setup for the series finale next issue -- but it was a treat to see the crews swap bodies Quantum Leap style. Also, they actually acknowledged that the actors look different in the two universes.

Action Comics #959: Loved Lois' character here, and having her narrate it was the perfect choice. She's scared to the bone, but has to present confidence to her son. Wonderful.

Detective Comics #936: Did not see that coming, but it'll shake things up for sure. Tim was spot-on.

Nightwing: Rebirth #1: Fuck yeah! All in! Holy hell, they're actually making the outcome of Robin War part of the new Nightwing ongoing. Also: Nemesisters. Heh!

New Super-Man #1: Not for me.

Vision #9: Damn. Just damn.

Comics: 369

[Donomark]

Justice League #1 (2016): Perfectly decent issue but not strong enough to get me hooked into following the series. Bryan Hitch is was past his Ultimates days, now into that zone where really good artists have aged to the point where their art's not as strong anymore. It was weird seeing Lois so enabling of Clark joining the Justice League, the opposite stance she took in Action Comics.:

Civil War II #3: Holy crap, this feels a lot more "stakes"-y than the previous Civil War. It's all gimmickry that you don't buy lasting for a minute, but dammit if it isn't engaging. 

Killing off Bruce Banner in the way that they did at first felt completely forced, but worked out better in reading how the issue progressed. For this death to have any weight at all whatsoever, it needed to be much longer, involve the reactions of Rick Jones, Amedeus Cho, Thunderbolt Rulk and Betty She-Rulk. You just can't kill off characters anymore without it smacking of a temporary stunt. But in the issue concerning the Marvel Universe characters, it's interesting. I bought the reasons they gave for Hawkeye to do it. At the same time, having every popular character present to "talk" to Bruce before he was killed was asking for trouble in a way only idiotic comic book writing allows. Tony and Carol should have just arrived solo. Why are the Avengers, Uncanny Avengers, SHIELD and the Inhumans all there on his front lawn if they didn't want to agitate him? They could have at least been hiding in the wings in case he did Hulk-out. That bit was stupid, but the aftermath was intriguing. I'm tacitly enjoying this comic but it's still coming off as forced enough that it cannot be anything more than what it is, a cash-grab with no meaning.

Green Arrow #2 (2016): Liked it better than the last issue, especially the ending.

Detective Comics #936: Neat twist with Colonel Kane. I've not been following Batwoman since the beginning, so it's not as impactful to me personally as it is to others. T'was a good issue. Great action shots of Cassandra.

Action Comics #959: This is a pretty slow moving fight, with enough characterization to make it interesting. Still, it will have officially gone on too long if something doesn't get resolved next issue.

Nightwing Rebirth #1: I didn't realize until the end of the issue that this was a Rebirth one-shot. I was annoyed until then, as it was entirely a transition issue from the Grayson book to the Nightwing book. It was fine. Characterization was solid, especially between Bruce, Dick and Damian. Yanick Paquette's art wasn't as strong as it was during Batman Inc. The last page was great tho.

Wonder Woman #2 (2016): This was great. I was pretty hesitant to jump into another re-telling of Wonder Woman's origin story only because I recently read (and loved) Morrison's Earth One take. But Nicola Scott's artwork goes a long, LONG way. It's a very slowly paced story, but one that works and reads deliberate, not padding. I'm glad Steve Trevor's backstory wasn't all that focused on him as it was simply what he was up to in the months leading up to his departure that landed him on Paradise Island. But I love how the Amazons, Diana and the Queen were all portrayed.

New Superman #1: Interesting read. It kind of reminds me of early 90s comics, but not in a bad way. Could have been paced a bit better, but I'm interested in following up with the next issue.

 

[dc20willsave]

Nightwing: Rebirth #1: Fuck yeah! All in! Holy hell, they're actually making the outcome of Robin War part of the new Nightwing ongoing. Also: Nemesisters. Heh!

I fucking loved the Nemesisters line. Then again, I love Midnighter/Dick when they team up.

[Missy]

Daredevil #9: A fun Daredevil / Spider-Man adventure.

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps: Rebirth #1: Very quick read, and more of a preamble to the series than anything else. Number one will get a look, but I might leave the Green Lantern corner of the DCU alone after that.

Wonder Woman #2: The odd issues are telling one story, while the evens tell another. I like this format, as well as the dual focus of this issue. I'll be reading more.

Web Warriors #9: I have no idea what the hell is going on, but I'm having a ball.

Black Science #1: Intense. The idea of a dark-to-the-core Fantastic Four-like book is an idea I can get behind. Yet, I never feel like reading the second issue. This is the second (third?) time I've read number one -- and it looks and reads great -- but I'm okay leaving it there for some reason.

Comics: 374

[Dread]

4 Kids Walk Into a Bank #2: this book is really fucking fun.

4001 AD Shadowman #1: garbage. What a fucking waste this event is.

A Year of Marvels July: Pretty ok.

All-New All-Different Avengers #11: really good.

Batman #2: making Tom King the new writer is the best thing DC could have done for Batman. I'm interested. I'm excited. I'm along for the ride, even though I'm pretty sure I know exactly what's going on.

Bloodshot Reborn #14: an island of historical Bloodshots? A Bloodshot dog? Deathmate? Holy fuck.

Brik #1: an idea I've had in the kitty for a while now. I'm still going forward with mine.

Comics: 705
Trades: 31

Graphic Novels: 21

Omnibuses: 10

 

[Dread]

Clara After Dark 1,2: the first two volumes in Jordi Bernet's sexy comedy series about a hooker named Clara. These are mostly graphic novel compilations of short stories. Some of them, involving her son, are quite sad. Perhaps it doesn't translate to English as well that way. Great stuff though.

Brutal Nature #3: there's not much to this storywise. The art from Olivetti is the real star here. Beautiful stuff.

Captain America Sam Wilson #11: solid. Really enjoyed Sam's personal investigation into which side to choose.

Captain America Steve Rogers #2: god, people are such fucking babies.

Civil War II Kingpin #1: I loved this.

Civil War Ulysses Infinite Comic #2: ok.

Civil War II X-Men #2: oof...nothing's happening.

Cryptocracy #1: this is something I would write. I'm a little jealous. A little impressed too.

Dark Knight III The Master Race #5: terrible.

Divinity II #3: also pretty terrible.

Flinch Book Two: holy shit. I think I'd only read two of the seven issues in here before. This was even better than the first volume. The last issue is pretty garbage, especially the last story, which I've read three times now and just don't understand. Overall, brilliant. Some amazing Lansdale stories here especially.. Last issue feels like a dump of stories they got that they were unsure of whether they were going to publish them or not. Also, if this isn't the freakiest comic book cover in the history of comic covers then I don't know what is:

Comics: 714
Trades: 32

Graphic Novels: 23

Omnibuses: 10