Every comic you've read in 2019

[Donomark]

Batman #67 (2019): Two good issues in a row. I've of the mindset that this is exactly how Batman stories should be. Simple, light on the dialogue. And King knows how to use Lee Weeks.

Incredible Hulk #731-#732: AWESOME issues. Loved Kyle Holtz on art, gave it a real slick 90s feel.

Nightwing #58 (2019): This story isn't bad, and years from now people will find it an interesting diversion...but us old school guys was Dick back. We know it's coming. He's been shown in Doomsday Clock and in 'Tec #1000. So the patience is already wearing out.

 

Single Issues: 93

Trade Paperbacks: 3

[Dread]

Frank Frazetta's Adventures of the Snowman: this is more of a picture book than a graphic novel, but it's important as Frazetta's first published work. Racist as the times were with the yellow peril stuff, but it's an interesting pulp adventure with a snowman as the lead. Weird.

Cosmic Ghost Rider #1: dumb and weird and un. I'll check out more.

Death of the Inhumans #1: unreadable dreck.

Hunt for Wolverine Weapon Lost #3: really good.

Immortal Hulk #2: I want this as a low-key TV show. Each issue as an episode of quiet horror would REALLY work.

Infinity Countdown Champions #2: not good.

Judge Dredd Under Siege #2: not good.

Lowlifes #1: also not good.

New Lieutenants of Metal #1: sometimes I really look down on myself and think I'll never get anywhere. Then I see stuff like this getting published. Good lord.

Project Superpowers Chapter Three #0: not the best, but I give these characters a long lead.

Pumpkinhead #5: solid.

Quantum Age #1: fuck. I love Black Hammer and this is Black Hammer a thousand years in the future. I'm in.

Submerged #1: unremarkable. Literally forgot it entirely after reading it.

Sword Daughter #2: very good.

The Cape Fallen #1: good.

The Last Siege #2: good, but not enough to continue.

• Comics: 67
• Trades: 9
• Graphic Novels: 1
• Omnibus: 1

[Donomark]

Spider-Man: Life Story #1: Written by Chip Zdarsky and illustrated be Mark Bagley. This goes all the way back to the 60s, exploring what Spider-Man and the Marvel U would really have been like in the 1960s, with each issue detailing a succeeding decade.

I'm not sure exactly where this series is going, but I was quickly sucked into the first one. It's not exactly anything we haven't seen before. It loosely follows the Stan Lee stories, combining Flash's farewell party with ASM #39 and #40, but the overarching thread of concern for Peter is the Vietnam War. Unlike the actual stories, he's genuinely torn about enlisting to fight, unsure if it's the best adherence to his promise of responsibility. It's a compelling dilemma, and though Bagley's past his prime he still can do facial expressions with the best of them. So far this book lives up to my hype for it.

Single Issues: 94

Trade Paperbacks: 3

[Venneh]

Delicious in Dungeon v 5 + 6: I wondered how they were going to keep this going, but man, this got. Uh. Real dark all of a sudden. Let’s see how fucked up this gets!

Bloom: Kevin Panetta and Savannah Ganucheau do a super sweet graphic novel about a budding romance between two boys and them growing up and figuring out how not to suck at things like communicating and what they want from life. The art style is wonderful, the stakes aren’t stupidly high story wise, and the baking (and recipes!) are lovingly depicted. A very sweet (no pun intended) story. 

(Also, First Second continues to be the only publisher I’ve seen that includes things like flowcharts to suggest other books readers might like from them. Publishers should really do things like this more often.)

10 Dance v2: We get to see a competition, and we learn the crazy ass history between the competitors. The slow burn continues to build, and it’s fun to see them on an international stage. 

My Solo Exchange Diary v2: Well this took a hell of a turn. She writes honestly about her breakdown and issues with alcohol, and how recovery from mental illness isn’t exactly a linear process. This is all there is for now, but I do hope she updates. 

Buffy 2-3: Again, Dan Mora does great work on the art, Jordie Bellaire does wonderful twists on the characters we know and building the first “episode” as it were here. Xander seems to be going in a very interesting direction in particular. (Also yay for establishing Willow in a non straight relationship right off the bat!)

Trades/Tankobon: 10
Single Issues: 15

[Venneh]

Spinning: Tillie Walden’s autobiographical comic about her middle and high school skating career and her queer awakening, alongside her first real dealing with depression and anxiety. This is primarily in black and white with occasional amazing highlights on gold, which I love. Nice read during an evening soak.

Bad Girls: Is this the best title in the world? Hell no. Is it a great heist story about three women stealing 6 mil and trying to get out of Cuba on the evening of the Cuban revolution, and a girl trying to find Marlon Brando who ends up getting swept along in the actual revolution happening? Yes. Victor Santos does a mostly solid job on the art, but his women look a bit weird at times. Definitely fun though.

Trades/Tankobon: 12
Single Issues: 15

[Donomark]

Detective Comics #1000: I really enjoyed this. None of the tryhard wannabe writing styles of the past couple decades are Batman are found here. Just a series of nice, celebratory stories that really honor the character. Some are better than others. Denny O'Neil straight up rips off his own issue (Detective Comics #457) wholesale in his story, and the Neal Adams/Chris Priest story left me with nothing much, but most everything else was fun. Snyder's story was fun, Kevin Smith's story was surprisingly good. Best Batman work he's ever done. Warren Ellis' story was cool, Bendis' story was neat. James Tynion IV's story about Dick Grayson was probably the best of the entire lot, and apparently he fought to use the original Robin suit for which he'll always have my respect because the new 52 Robin costume is crap. Tom King's story was about his usual: Good, not great but ultimately heartfelt. I'm glad in this day and age the fandom for the Bat-Family is being recognized more so we have a terrifically sweet moment for Bruce and his family. Overall, I can't think of a Batman-related centennial issue I've enjoyed more than this.

Amazing Spider-Man #819: Decent issue. Not the best, but I'm looking forward to what the ending is leading up to.

Heroes in Crisis #7: Same old crap.

Single Issues: 97

Trade Paperbacks: 3

[Dread]

The Unexpected #2: new policy, if by issue two I can't give you a vague idea what the book is about then I'm out. And I'm out.

Uber Invasion #14: great.

Unnatural #1: sexy, weird and interesting. I'll do more.

Weapon X #20: starting to lose patience with this book.

X-Men Gold #31: this was lame.

Amazing Spider-Man #1: not worth a second issue.

Champions #22: not bad.

Daredevil #605: still pretty great.

• Comics: 75
• Trades: 9
• Graphic Novels: 1
• Omnibus: 1

[Donomark]

Detective Comics #422-#424, #486-#493, #513, #518-#546, Batman #346, #349, #352, #355, #365-#366, DC Comics Presents #86, Infinity Inc. #22, Crisis on Infinite Earths #4, #7 and #12, Secret Origins #20, The Batgirl Special #1 (1988): The Barbara Gordon Reading Project Concluded.

Went back and clocked a majority of Barbara's appearances from the storyline in her Detective Comics backups when she ran for Congress to when she lost for re-election and the aftermath. It's a fascinating history for the character than can sequentially be documented month by month and with many more issues checking all of her appearances on the Batgirl to Oracle: Barbara Gordon Podcast. 

To begin, Barbara is spurred into running for Congress after a former boyfriend - turned - crook gets out on parole, only to try and grift her into committing another crime. She's so disillusioned that she takes up the ticket being pushed onto her father, (who at this point it's revealed he'd previously figured out her secret identity) running to "boot out" the lobbyists and fat cats in Washington. Issues of voter intimidation, voter fraud and having new, young voices for representation really bring AOC to mind when reading this in 2019. But after three issues, she wins and moves to Washington in a story titled "Batgirl's Last Case". She didn't appear in a Batman title for over three years, making only three appearances in Superman and Superman Family (Bruce tried to set her up with Clark Kent).

After not appearing for three years she regularly teams up with Robin in the pages of Batman Family, before those adventures were shunted off back into Detective Comics when Batman Family got cancelled during the DC Explosion and subsequent implosion of the 1970s. Years later in 1980, she loses re-election and moves back to Gotham. Here's where things start to go south. In 'Tec #490, Batgirl and Robin encounter a criminal with a brainwashing device, and Batgirl temporarily loses her memory. By the story's end, it's implied that she doesn't regain her knowledge of Batman and Robins IDs, which rightfully pissed fans off. This was an era where Jimmy Olsen knew Batman's ID, but a train of conversation about Batgirl not needing to know who they were after she'd deduced it on her own seemed to be editorially mandated. Then in #491, she's nearly killed by a hitman who strikes fear in her spirit, almost making her quit out of fear of her own life. Talk of her never taking the job seriously and not knowing the danger of a crime fighter read as pretty fucking hollow considering she'd been around for a decade fighting the worst Gotham had to offer. This is a character who was actively made to be more of a realistic woman than the Bette Kane Bat-Girl, who the lack of appearances leading to the lack of belief in her as a character doesn't wash. She continues to have solo backups in Detective Comics, but in the pages of Batman, Gerry Conway and Don Newton's run consistently use her as a supporting character to her father, never appearing in costume and relegated to his troubles getting kicked off the force by Mayor Hamilton Hill. The one exception is in 'Tec #526 "All my Enemies Against Me", a big blowout anniversary issue that sees the deaths of Jason Todd's acrobat parents at the hands of Killer Croc. In this issue, she re-reveals to Dick that she still knows he and Bruce are B&R, "It seemed important to you two that I not know", and forcibly gets him into action. It's a pretty great appearance, and the last one. Contrary to popular belief, Batgirl does not appear for two years, only in some pages as Babs Gordon, and even then there are stories where she doesn't have any dialogue. Her next appearance, during Crisis on Infinite Earths, she tells Supergirl how useless she feels in the wake of Armageddon and in the company of super powered heroes.

The theme of her worthlessness sticks with her for the remainder of her career. After the Crisis she disappears for another two years, before getting a set-up story/new origin by Barbara Randall which changes her parentage to Jim Gordon being her father's brother (this was done to reconcile with Batman Year One, where Miller wanted the baby to be Barbara but DC said that would make Batman too old, hence the retcon). Her final appearance before the Killing Joke is in Batgirl Special #1, which was mandated as Editor Denny O'Neil was getting the TKJ pages in from the Alan Moore. Seeing the writing on the wall, he commissioned Randall to write a final (for real this time) adventure where Batgirl goes up against the Commorant, the assassin who nearly killed her back in 'Tec #491. It's a depressing story, riddled with scenes of Barbara feeling useless (including the only time she was ever on the same page as Nightwing, seeing him and Jason Todd-Robin beat some muggers from afar). She barely defeats the Commorant, telling her bestie that maybe other girls will fill her boots in the future and she might even want to help out the heroes without their knowledge. It's a neat bit of foreshadowing, but totally coincidental. DC had zero plans to use Babs after The Killing Joke, and it should never be forgotten that the character wouldn've mired in limbo had it not been for Kim Yale and John Ostrander turning her into Oracle a couple of years later.

Single Issues: 149

Trade Paperbacks: 3

[Venneh]

Black Beetle in “No Way Out”: Francavilla gets to do some gorgeous pulp style art, and I’m 90% sure there’s a sequence where one of the mob goons who gets beat up is based on Warren Ellis. A fun, quick read.

Skyward 11: Decided to peek my head back in here. Garbett’s art continues to be dynamic, no clue what’s happening plot wise.

Snotgirl 13: Continues to be a fun pretty book with what looks like some minorly crazy subplots going on.

Maneaters 7: ....yeah, peeked my head in on this, has kind of reinforced that I’ve been right about not putting the effort in to follow this.

Isola 7: Pretty fantasy, probably something I’ll try to follow on the trade. 

Monstress 21: Malika’s asshole dad comes into the picture, more political intrigue, and Jesus fucking Christ Sana Takeda is insanely good at what she does. 

Criminal 3: Actually a continuation of last issue’s story, and a hell of a bitter conclusion. I’m here for this shit.

Die 5: And now the shape of things is revealed. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit. Hans continues to do gorgeous work. I’m in.

Mirror 10: Yeah, I decided to read the last issue of a series I hadn’t picked up at all, but damn if it isn’t gorgeous. 

Redlands 12: Combination origin issue and villain monologue to set up the next arc. I’m here for this.

Ascender 1: Interesting continuation of Descender, now leaning into “technology so advanced it seems like magic” side of things. Let’s see where this goes. 

Trades/Tankobon: 13
Single Issues: 25

[Dread]

Detective Comics #984: this is mediocre bullshit. Fuck waiting around for 1000. I'm out.

Die!Die!Die! #1: this was kind of fun. Early Avatar vibe. I'll give it one more.

Hunt For Wolverine Adamantium Agenda #3: this was alright. These are petering out.

Old Man Logan #43: still good. Kind of a quieter issue. 

• Comics: 79
• Trades: 9
• Graphic Novels: 1
• Omnibus: 1

[Donomark]

The Immortal Hulk #16: Great as always

Amazing Spider-Man #18.HU: I've always had the tiniest soft spot for the Gibbon, going back to when I first read him in the Essentials. So while this wasn't the most original one-shot issue, the story affected me the way it intended. Very strong, very sad.

Batman: Troika: A four part storyline post-Prodigal, this is included in the new Knightfall collection...for some reason. There are scant references to Jean Paul Valley, but otherwise I don't see the immediate need to include this in the trade dress. That being said, it's classic 90s Batman at its finest. Great art, great action, Bruce and Tim working together. Very fun little story. The new collection also includes Nightwing: Alfred's Return and Vengenace of Bane II.

Single Issues: 151

Trade Paperbacks: 4

[Dread]

Outpost Zero #1: not my thing.

Plastic Man #2:I'm out.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #24: really solid. Can't wait to see where this goes.

Red Sonja #18: not the best. Still decent.

• Comics: 83
• Trades: 9
• Graphic Novels: 1
• Omnibus: 1

[jim]

It's 1 am, forgive me if these are kinda short.

10 Dance v1,v2: Good old fashioned BL mixed with ballroom dance. Someone finally got it right.
The Weatherman v1: Glad I gave this one a shot despite my ehhhhhh-ness about the writer. Nathan Fox and Jody Lehup (sp?) deliver fun scifi. Nothing mindblowing, but engaging nonetheless.
The Wrath Of Fantomas: Des, you should take a look at this one. Fantomas, the pre-WWI Parisian villain gets rebooted. Deranged and masterful.
Bone Parish v1: What if we put together Narcos and Game Of Thrones? It's worse than that, but still popcorny fun.
When I Arrived At The Castle: Emily Carroll puts together an old gothic yarn (go to a castle in the rain, kill a monster) and adds lust to it. Noice.
Tyler Cross: Angola: Europeans do more American crime. A couple racial slurs in there for...flavor...I suppose, so be aware. Nothing special, but I did care about the doomed characters by the end.
Whatever Issues Of Buffy The Vampire Slayer Are Currently Out: Came in knowing little, came out wanting more. Well executed popcorn.

[Missy]

Dead Man Logan #6: Just randomly gave it a shot. Solid book. Glob and (Old Man) Logan's goodbye is heartbreaking.

[Dread]

Relay #1: wow...this was a real mess.

Robocop Citizen's Arrest #4: wow, I don't understand how there's another issue to this series. I'm very intrigued.

Suicide Squad #44: pretty great.

The Flash #50: no thanks.

The Punisher #227: this is so fucking good.

X-23 #1: this was good. Looking forward to see where they go next.

Dead Life #1: this started out like a riff on Pet Sematary but just sort of turned into the Walking Dead. Not really my thing.

Euthanauts #1: not my thing.

Hunt for Wolverine Claws of  Killer #3: fun.

• Comics: 92
• Trades: 9
• Graphic Novels: 1
• Omnibus: 1

[Donomark]

Miracleman #1-#16: by Alan Moore, Rick Vietch, Alan Davis John Totleben and Garry Leach

For whatever reason, I'd always viewed Miracleman (Marvelman) as "foreign comics" considering they never initially printed in America. I dunno what I was expecting, because it's definitely Alan Moore writing, that's for damn sure.

I need to find a new reference, but Moore's run reminds me on Evangelion. Everything starts out both familiar and subversive, but working its way around a science fiction/superhero plot. The first four issues tending with Kid Miracleman I found more interesting than the retconny sci-fi origin. The marital problems between Moran and Liz were interesting (issue #9 hit me like a smack in the face. I think I'd read about that before but certainly wasn't expecting it). But Moore's skills as a storyteller grow with each issue, and by the return of Kid Miracleman I found myself completely hooked. I would argue that this is the darkest, starkest story Moore's ever told, with nothing held back and everything being greater for it. John Totleben is the artist by this point, and his depiction of carnage and superhero action is absolutely stunning. More abstract, fiery brushstrokes than penciled illustration. The follow-up issue where Moore ends his run the only way it could was simply perfect. I bipped and bobbed a bit into Neil Gaiman's issues, but I thought Moore's run worked fine as the end of the series. 

A lot of Miracleman can be found in Dr. Manhattan later on, but it was different enough to be familiar not not repetitive. The idea of a godlike superhero inacting maximum, page-one change onto the world seems like the only real story to tell if you're going to go there. Highly recommended, but not for the squeamish. This is adult storytelling at its best.

Batman #69 (2019): Yawn

Single Issues: 156

Trade Paperbacks: 3

[Donomark]

Magnificent Ms. Marvel #2: Solid

Spider-Man: Life Story #2: Awesome. Zdarsky is a born Spidey writer.

Single Issues: 158

Trade Paperbacks: 3

[Dread]

Ice Cream Man #5: this is beautiful and haunting and weird and delightful.

Immortal Hulk #3: still fucking great.

Infinity Countdown #5: Jesus...how much longer does this shit go on?

Jessica Jones #1: basically unreadable.

• Comics: 96
• Trades: 9
• Graphic Novels: 1
• Omnibus: 1

[Donomark]

Detective Comics #1002: I get the appeal of the blank white eyes explained as slits filled in with glass, but Brad Walker makes that so apparent with his otherwise solid artwork that I don't care for it. That approach is better in live action films like Black Panther.

Heroes in Crisis #8: There's no way anyone can read this issue and not immediate recall every time Dan Didio strong-armed a character to get his way. Even if he's not the culprit here, what the issue and story at large basically amounts to is character assassination of an order that reaches the heights of Leslie Thompkins killing Stephanie Brown in War Games. It also makes little sense.

Spoiler

The first thing we learn of speedsters, going back to Showcase #4, is that they perceive time FAR slower than non-speedsters. This is referred to again in the story. So if Wally has enough time to concoct and frame people for murder, he'd have enough time to realize how stupid and useless of an idea that is.

Probably the worst comic book I've read in years.

Action Comics #1010: Decent

Batman Beyond #31 (2019): Good

Batgirl #34 (2019): The writing is fine and the artwork is good, but I am just not a fan of a dark Barbara Gordon Batgirl. For all the character's historic protestations of most things Batman throughout the years, she's become increasingly hypocritical since the new 52 in being short tempered, needlessly violent and reactionary. There's no real attempt to understand this parallel, and it always reeks of writers not knowing what to do with her or trying to legitimize her as a character. It's annoying to read.

Amazing Spider-Man #820-#821: I was getting worried this story was going on too long, any maybe it is, but it's too well written for me to mind that much. Great characterization of all the characters. 

Single Issues: 165

Trade Paperbacks: 3

[Missy]

Heroes in Crisis question:

Spoiler

Did they make Wally a killer?

 

[Donomark]

2 hours ago, The Master said:

Heroes in Crisis question:

  Hide contents

Did they make Wally a killer?

 

Spoiler

By accident, he reacts so quickly that his speed kills people. That's not the worst thing in the world, but then he frames Booster Gold and Harley Quinn for the deaths, which is insane.

 

[dc20willsave]

Spoiler

I picked it up out of curiosity today. Yeah... that was a mistake. Looking back on Rebirth, DC got so much goodwill from bringing back Wally. The fact that someone thought, "Yeah, everyone is so happy with Wally so this request from Tom King to make him a mass manslaughterer is totally the correct path to take" is so freaking bad. Like, honestly, I liked King's writing in the past but just the last year has been... no. He could be writing Dazzler and I wouldn't buy it at this point. Both this and his Batman run just are characters acting out of character, plot twists that make no sense, and a general feeling of, "Why should I care?"

 

[Venneh]

(Writing these down now, will expand later)

When I Came to the Castle: Emily fuckin’ Carroll. Gothic horror woven through with sensuality. It’s been amazing to watch her grow as an artist as she’s moved from online comics to print comics, and she’s using what she learned in one medium to do new boundary pushing things with the other. Yes, yes, and yes. 

WicDiv 43: Third to last issue, and jfc, the things the boys do here. Excellent deconstruction. 

Wonder Woman Earth One Vol 2: At the time I’m finally writing this up, the main things I can remember about this is: Paquette does gorgeous art, and Dr Psycho is a MRA/PUA. Also lots of Nazis?

My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies: Brubaker and Phillips do another astoundingly effective one off about Bad People Making Even Worse Decisions, but it’s a song and dance they do well.

Dept H v4: Everything finally comes around again in the end, and this makes me want to reread the whole thing one more time. The Kindts are an amazing team, and they don’t feel tempted to extend things out; they gave themselves 24 issues to tell this story, and they don’t push beyond it. 

Trades/Tankobon: 17
Single Issues: 26

Edited June 18, 2019 by Venneh

[Dread]

Ninja-K #9: this is still really good. Surprised the best thing Valiant ever had going was Ninjak. So strange

Old Man Hawkeye #7: this is the origin of OMH issue where we find out why he is the way he is and it's great.

Savage Dragon #240-242: these are really solid issues. A move away from porn to heavier story elements. Still a little goofy during those serious moments to be tonally great.

Wildstorm: Michael Cray vol 2: so fucking good.

The Flash by Mark Waid Book Five: ehhh...I thinkI'm getting these just to be a completist at this point

Mutant X: The Complete Collection vol 1: I loved this book when it came out. It's a little iffy now, but I really enjoy the world they create and Havoc is the most underrated character in Marvel history probably. They do him a good service here. LOVE the Tom Raney art, just wish there was more of it.

• Comics: 101
• Trades: 10
• Graphic Novels: 1
• Omnibus: 3

[Donomark]

The Infinity Gauntlet: By Jim Starlin, George Perez and Ron Lim.

Talk about living up to the hype. This is a Comic Book in all the best ways, from typical Marvel bombast to the wealth of character, powers and concepts. The imagination that went into every issue, the wonderfully purple prose and the continually escalating stakes made this an utter joy to read. Unlike the movies, the greater celestial and godlike beings are really at the center stage in this story, because the story calls for it. Thanos is inarguably the most powerful, omnipotent being in all the cosmos with the Infinity Gems in his possession. The heroes that grand stand against him merely serves as a distraction, while beings such as Adam Warlock and the Silver Surfer think of a better plan, and as a result are purely lambs to the slaughter. But it's terrific action. Characters like Dr. Strange are lucky to be included in the final conflicts, but his place is worthwhile as well. 

Because the MCU have yet to dole out the more powerful godlike beings such as Eternity and the Gods of Order and Chaos, the movies are ultimately saddled with their Earthbound heroes, so there's no real foul there. But I have to say, the actual comic book Infinity story blows both movies out of the water. In the first issue, Thanos uses the soul gem to rip out the souls of the Silver Surfer and Warlock, for openers. The movies are still a lot of fun, but in comparison come off as quaint compared to the monster Starlin, Lim and Perez accomplished back in 1991. There's just far more imagination, but again, they had access to far more characters.

Single Issues: 165

Trade Paperbacks: 4