The Best Pages & Panels of 2017

BATMAN #50

STRAY BULLETS: SUNSHINE & ROSES #16

VISION #8

 

 THE FIX #6

BATMAN #48

 

SAVAGE DRAGON #213

 

SOUTHERN BASTARDS #14

 

DESCENDER #15

 

PAPER GIRLS #7

 

STRAY BULLETS: SUNSHINE & ROSES #12

4 KIDS WALK INTO A BANK #3




























MOONSHINE #2

KILL OR BE KILLED #1 & #2

Ed Brubaker, one of my current favorite writers, is back with a new book. That's always welcome news, as his books never disappoint and he's been on quite the interesting run as of late (The H.P. Lovecraft-esque Fatale, then the 50's Hollywood epic The Fade-Out, now this). It probably helped that I didn't know what the central plot was to this. I figured it was just another crime book. The main character is a typical guy, a 28 year old grad student living with a roommate that's dating a girl he's in love with and fucking on the side. The main character attempts suicide and fails...but a demon shows up saying that he's been granted a new life. The catch? He has to kill someone every month or else he dies, hence the title. Yes, it's truly bizarre, but it works. The people he ends up killing are bad guys...so it's sort of a super-hero book? Kind of like Kick-Ass in a weird sense. Why this works, though, is fairly obvious: Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips, who have been working together forever, work wonderful together. The art is gritty and perfect. The script is typical Brubaker; brutal, cutting, funny, dark, and engrossing. After two issues who really knows where the hell this book will go, and that's kind of the beauty of it. It's strange but compelling. ***1/2

BATMAN #1 & BATMAN #2

Batman has been around solving crimes and fighting bad guys since, what, the 40's? So I probably haven't read enough to say it, but c'mon, Greg Capullo and Scott Snyder just finished the greatest run on Batman ever. Ever! A long time, no doubt. But it was awesome. And so any run to follow such a great five-year stretch will probably be disappointing no matter what. The new Batman book, now out twice a month, is written by the critic's favorite, Tom King, and penciled by David Finch, no one's favorite. King has an interesting back-story. He used to work for the CIA, even working for the CIA in Iraq at one point. He left to follow his dreams of being a writer. He published a super-hero book a few years ago and is now in the big time after signing an exclusive deal for DC (his Marvel book, Vision, is ending shortly). We were all curious what King would do with Batman. What he did was inject a super-hero duo into the mix. Gotham and Gotham Girl, two Superman types, are now fighting super-villains in Gotham City. The first issue featured a daring plane rescue. #2 features a fight with a villain and murmurings of the big bad, The Monster Men, arriving soon. King definitely gets Alfred and Commissioner Gordon right, probably the only true highlight. There's a black Robin in the book, which confuses me. When did he arrive? Before "Rebirth?" If so...I thought the whole point of re-launching all the series was to get new readers an easy jumping on point (and Superman has a wife and kid now for some reason, which is even more confusing in Superman #1). So the new Batman is interesting but not great. The villain that changes seasons, seen in Batman: Rebirth #1 (another confusing book), is no where to be found in Batman #1 or #2. David Finch's art is mediocre at best, which doesn't help. I remember him drawing awesome covers when he first came to DC for Brightest Day. So perhaps Finch is only good when he draws slow? They probably should have put one of DC's good artists on this flagship book; Ivan Reis, Jim Lee, or Patrick Gleason. Which brings us back to Rebirth. It certainly isn't as cool or as exciting as "The New 52," launched in September 2011 (they waited until most of the books reached #52 to re-boot again...although Batman was the only one that had the same writer and artist for those five years). "The New 52" had the caveat of being fresh. Marvel copied it already a few times and now DC is doing it again. The one big problem with "Rebirth" is that there aren't many books that look exciting. "The New 52" had Batman with Snyder and Capullo, Aquaman with Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis, Justice League with Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, and Action Comics with Grant Morrison. What are we excited to read for "Rebirth?" Tom King on Batman was intriguing...until we read it and it was just okay. Snyder and John Romita, Jr. are doing All-Star Batman in August and Jim Lee is on Suicide Squad in August. Kind of slim pickings, really.
Batman #1 ** Batman #2 **1/2

BATMAN: REBIRTH #1

So in two weeks, Batman #1 comes out. Yes, DC is going back to the well. Last month a few of their titles hit #52...so they're re-booting again (the last time was in September 2011). This issue is more or less just a preview of things to come. It's also fucking confusing as hell and pointless. There's a new villain who's changing the seasons in Gotham at will and a new black Robin. But all of this isn't introduced...it's just thrown at us. Okay...so it's stuff that we'll see in the new series by David Finch and Tom King? Who knows? This issue is co-written by King and Scott Snyder, so we're still unsure of how King will be at the helm. This book is a total mess. The art, by Mikal Jenin, is serviceable. But so far this "Rebirth" is off to a bad start. *1/2 (out of ****)

THE WALKING DEAD: THE ALIEN

When it was announced last summer, the news was pretty momentous. The best writer in comics was going to write one of the best and most popular comics out there. It was a bit of surprise since only the co-creator, Robert Kirkman, has written The Walking Dead since it debuted 150+ issues ago in 2004. It's kind of been his baby. If The Walking Dead had started at Marvel or DC there would have been multiple #1's by now, various spin-offs, annuals, and specials probably all written and drawn by different people. But The Walking Dead has chugged along for so long with one writer and one artist (Charlie Adlard since #7). And to get Brian K. Vaughan of Y: the Last Man and Saga fame to write it now? Insane. Vaughan did it to promote his and Marcos Martin's panelsyndicate.com site. And Image got to publish The Private Eye in print form. What nobody was really sure of, though, was what this new The Walking Dead book would be about. When this one-shot opens, it sure feels like it has nothing to do with the regular book. The Walking Dead: The Alien is set in Barcelona and features an American tourist and a Spanish woman. There's zombies, action, and a big reveal that ties it into the main book very surprisingly. Marcos Martin's b&w art is fantastic. The writing is stellar; dramatic, quick, engaging (it does have a bumpy opening but a fantastic finish). It's a simple 32 page issue (available only online for the price of pay-what-you-want). For casual fans of The Walking Dead, this might be a disappointment. Maybe they wanted to see the regular characters or see the The Governor again or a backstory to one of the comic's actual characters. Hardcore fans will probably love this, however, as you really need to be a super-fan to remember the character portrayed here. The ending is kind of a cliffhanger. So...more please. *** (out of ****)

Best Book of 2015: AIRBOY

Writer James Robinson and artist Greg Hinkle made the best comic book of 2015. At only four issues it was brief, but an adrenaline-fueled masterpiece nonetheless. The original Airboy character started during WW2. He was the typical, Nazi fighting super-hero. In this new book, James Robinson and Greg Hinkle are characters attempting to re-boot the book but are short on ideas. When they go on an alcohol, sex, and drug-induced bender, Airboy shows up wondering how he got to 2015 and what the hell is going on? Robinson and Hinkle eventually travel back to WW2 to help Airboy and his crew save the day while also trying to clean up their acts. The book is a lot like the gonzo adventures of writer Hunter S. Thompson and artist Ralph Steadman mixed with the Charlie Kaufman film, Adaptation. This means that it's a lot of fun but also crazy, wild, exciting, entertaining, controversial, cathartic, and touching. The art is loose but detailed and it's perfect for this. The writing is the star, though. Robinson really lays it all out here; his failures as a writer and a human being are told with such gut-wrenching, sad sincerity that the emotion just drips off the page. But the book is also hilarious. It's an R-rated romp that is breath-taking in its audaciousness. This is, in my opinion, James Robinson's finest hour. It's one hell of a read, and reaches new heights that very few comic books even dare to dream about.

Best Writer of 2015: BRIAN K. VAUGHAN "SAGA" "THE PRIVATE EYE" "WE STAND ON GUARD" "PAPER GIRLS" "BARRIER"

Even though Saga seemed a little lost and We Stand on Guard was just okay, Brian K. Vaughan was still the best writer in comics in 2015. All it takes to realize this is to read the first five pages of Paper Girls #1 and you realize that his writing is bizarre, beautiful, hilarious, wild, energetic, and hugely entertaining. Saga may not be as good as it was in the beginning, but it's still a highlight in the comic book world every month (and the letters page is always awesome). The Private Eye concluded in dramatic, action-packed fashion. We Stand on Guard was at least truly sadistic and weird. Paper Girls was even weirder and one of the best books of the year. And he capped off the year by releasing the first issue of Barrier, a strange, compelling book involving illegal aliens and space aliens. Vaughan is great at writing dialogue, creating off-the-wall moments and plots,and introducing memorably flawed but interesting characters. His books always surprise and shock but also make you feel something. They're alive in the best way, and it's really a treat that we got five books written by him this year. Keep 'em coming.

Best Issue of 2015: DESCENDER #1

Writer Jeff Lemire and artist Dustin Nguyen created one of the best comic books of the year with Descender, and issue #1 was a masterpiece. The basic premise is similar to the film A.I. in that the main character is a robot boy who loves his family and ends up going on a journey. The twist here is that all of a sudden a horde of giant robots came out of nowhere to destroy most of humanity and then vanish. Years later a few humans learn that a robot boy, stranded on a forgotten planet, has the same technology as those mysterious killer robots. Sent to find the robot boy are some humans. Also sent to find the robot boy is a group of monstrous bounty hunters. This is, without a doubt, an awesome premise. And issue #1 reveals it all while setting the stage for a grand, intergalactic adventure. Add this with the gorgeous, water-colored art and this was an outstanding, memorable beginning to a great series.

Best Art of 2015: MIKE DEL MUNDO (pencils/colors) & MARCO D'ALFONSO (colors) "WEIRDWORLD"

Best Cover of 2015: WEIRDWORLD #5