THE BEST PAGES & PANELS OF 2017

BATMAN #14 

OUTCAST #24

 BLACK WIDOW #12

 

INFAMOUS IRON MAN #9

 BATMAN #27

 DOOM PATROL #8

 

 DESCENDER #23

 

DARK KNIGHTS: METAL #2 

 SAVAGE DRAGON #225

SAGA #47

DOOMSDAY CLOCK #1

When DC put out Before Watchmen, their various, prequel mini-series, I remember hearing that Alan Moore gave they money he got for it to the original Watchmen artist, Dave Gibbons. When Marvel was reprinting Miracleman (aka Marvelman, one of Moore's best works) a few years ago he told them he didn't want his name on the book so instead of saying Alan Moore anywhere it said "the original writer." I suppose you could argue either way. Moore is just a senile, old bastard. Or...you shouldn't be fucking with what he created. Granted, he didn't create Miracleman, and Watchmen was based on pre-existing characters, but still, those were his books, he made them famous, they're legendary and he doesn't want them to continue if he doesn't want them to. His contract with DC apparently stated that he would get the rights back to Watchmen when it went out of print. DC sneakily never let it go out of print so they could keep the rights. This is thirty years later, and finally we have a Watchmen sequel whether you wanted it or not. When Before Watchmen came out I wasn't against it. I figured it gave a shot in the arm to the comic book industry and if it was great then it was a good decision. The books turned out mediocre at best. The only true highlight was getting Amanda Connor to finally draw a book (she usually on does covers and once in a blue moon a full book). As for this new book, Doomsday Clock, the best thing so far I can say about it is that they got a great team. Geoff Johns hasn't written a comic book in awhile because he's busy doing DC movie stuff but he's back writing this 12 parter. He got his Superman: Secret Origin artist, Gary Frank, on board, which is good thing. This is a sequel, but didn't most of the characters die in the original? Rorshach is in this, but since he died it's a new Rorshach. And Superman shows up in this, albeit his parents died in a car crash so something is amiss. Supposedly the book will be about how Dr. Manhattan has been messing with the DC timeline. 12 issues is a long haul, though, and so far this is a bit of a mess. I do trust Johns, though, as he usually knocks everything out of the park. The big problem is that Watchmen is such a pillar of legend that nothing is going to come close to matching it. I didn't even think Watchmen was all that great and I still admit that this first issue is a very poor imitation. So what ultimately is the point of doing this if even going in you know you're setting yourself up to fail? Money, I guess. Slap Watchmen on a comic and people'll buy it. Which is the problem, really, and Moore understands this, no matter how much of a senile old bastard he might be. *1/2 

PETER PARKER: THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #1

These last few years, I often wondered why Batman had, like, three of four monthly books but Spider-man just had one, The Amazing Spider-Man, bi-monthly. Spider-man is Marvel's biggest and best character. Why the hell aren't they milking it dry? Well our prayers are answered this month because Peter Parker has a new monthly comic. Whereas writer Dan Slott has made The Amazing Spider-Man a globe-trotter and millionaire and the stories are mega and epic and huge, this new book is supposed to be set in New York City and smaller. Back to the roots and so forth. I guess it doesn't help that in this first issue Parker travels to Chicago. But I suppose the idea behind the book is solid. And Marvel does have other Spider books, just either in parallel worlds (The Amazing Spider-man: Renew Your Vows) or with other characters (Spider-Man 2099, Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider, Spider-Gwen...and Miles Morales in Spider-Man). What we really want is for Parker to be in NYC, dating MJ, taking pictures for The Bugle, and fighting Dr. Octopus. But I suppose that's all been done before. So this new #1 is sort of a half-way there approach. Parker is in NYC. No MJ. No mega-traditional villain just yet. Writer Chip Zdarsky has made this book pretty much an all out comedy, though, which is good and bad. What this book is, though, is fun. It's light, breezy, forgettable. The craziest thing about Spider-man books is that when you think about it...when was the last great run? Maybe J. Michael Straczynski's run? And before that it was probably when McFarlane was drawing it. So while The Amazing Spider-Man has been entertaining and a fun ride, it hasn't produced a whole hell of a lot of excellence in a long time. When you look at Batman you can rattle off a bunch of great recent runs, from The New 52's Snyder/Capullo run to Morrison's lengthy, multiple book epic. Will writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Adam Kubert's Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man end up a legend? No. It'll be a fun romp, but we're all still waiting for Marvel to put Jason Aaron on the flagship and be done with it. ***  

SECRET EMPIRE #1

 
   Marvel comics have been in a funk lately. There's a lot to blame, but one main issue is that four of their top writers quit to go and work for Image in the last few years (Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, Rick Remender, and Jonathan Hickman). They do have a few good writers left like Jason Aaron and Nick Spencer. And this summer's big Marvel event, Secret Empire, is being written by Spencer after he built it up for the last year. The last event, Inhumans vs. X-Men, just ended, as it Spiderman's Clone Conspiracy, and Civil War II ended in December. So it's pretty much non-stop events forever at Marvel (they even snuck in the Monsters Unleashed event book that no one read or cared about earlier this year).
     With decent art by master Steve McNiven, Secret Empire has Captain America as the leader of Hydra taking over the world. The story is that the A.I. cosmic cube altered Cap's history so that all along he was evil. And I guess that's new...Marvel's All-American, gung-ho hero being a villain (although, since the character has been around forever, I'm sure he was evil in a few books whether by clone or magic or whatever over the years). The premise; an evil leader taking over the globe to stop crime, enforce new laws, create a police state, etc. isn't a new plot. Hell, Invincible just did it when Robot took over...and Marvel's done it before in Age of Ultron and Age of Apocalypse. But there is a reason it's been done before: it's kind of cool and somewhat interesting. And Secret Empire is, at least, fairly entertaining.
     The ending has Captain America sending Rick Jones to the firing squad. Jones apparently helped start The Avengers way back when and was also there when Bruce Banner got blasted by gamma rays to turn into the Hulk. So Jones is a major character that people care about...if this was forty years ago. I didn't even know his illustrious history until this week when I read it online. So the "major" death is not a shock or a big deal to anyone but the old, comic book buffs in the know.
     I am curious how they're going to end this series. They can't kill Captain America (Brubaker just did that ten or so years ago). If they leave him evil then, honestly, that's okay, because he's boring to begin with, but then where would the pay-off be? I guess we'll see...and at least an event book has me mildly intrigued. **1/2 (out of ****)

The Best Comic Book of 2016: 4 KIDS WALK INTO A BANK

Matthew Rosenberg co-wrote 2015's We Can Never Go Home, one of the the best comic books of the last few years, so his new book was highly anticipated. Thank God it exceeded the hype. 4 Kids Walk into a Bank is basically the tale of a group of high school nerds dealing with the usual antics and horrors of being a teenager...while also dealing with criminality. One of the kids' fathers is mysteriously involved with a local gang of thugs...so bring on the clandestine, spy missions to uncover the truth! And, I guess, a bank gets robbed eventually...but only #1 through #3 were released in 2016 (yes, they're apparently going with the Afterlife with Archie release schedule) and it's a 5-issue mini-series. The art, by Tyler Boss, is pretty bare and standard (it kind of looks like a 50's newspaper serial), but the writing is off-the-charts. This was by far the funniest and most entertaining book of the year. It was also one of the weirdest. The hilarious dialogue is top notch, the unfolding mystery is compelling, and it just feels fresh and vibrant and thrillingly alive. This is the kind of book you can't wait to read and you're sad when it's over. Books this good just make you glad you started reading comic books in the first place.

Best Writer of 2016: BRIAN K. VAUGHAN "PAPER GIRLS" "SAGA" "BARRIER" "THE WALKING DEAD: THE ALIEN"

Paper Girls is an entertaining, weird, funny, beautiful book. Saga isn't even as good as it used to be but it's still one of the best, most creative and wildest books out there. Barrier, Vaughan's weakest, is truly bizarre. And his The Walking Dead one-shot was awesome. Everything he writes is compelling. He just doesn't do boring or stale or by-the-numbers. Vaughan has been the best writer in comics since Alan Moore and Frank Miller. And 2016 was another stellar year for him.

Best Issue of 2016: VISION #4

Writer Tom King wrote quite the masterpiece with Marvel's Vision this past year. It will definitely go down in history as a legendary book in league with Watchmen and Sin City and Preacher. I didn't like it as much as some of the critics, however, mainly because it was way too depressing and dark and also, more or less, just a super-hero version of the movie American Beauty. But I admit that a few of the issues were emotional powerhouses. This particular issue had a light, playful opening that spoofed Charlie Brown trying to kick the football that Lucy always moves. It had a heart-warming talk at school between Viv, the robot daughter, and her "crush." And it had a shocking, gut-punch of an ending that made you dying to read the next issue. Just a stellar piece of work.

Best Art of 2016: GREEN VALLEY

Guiseppe Camuncoli has been one of my favorite artists for awhile now, ever since his work on Hellblazer. He moved on up to work on The Amazing Spider-Man, which he's been drawing for a few years now. He somehow found the time to also pencil writer Max Landis' 9 part Medieval book, Green Valley, and it was well worth it. Along with inker Cliff Rathburn and colorist Jean-Francois Beaulieu, GV is a gorgeous, colorful, awesome looking book. The story is typical dragons and knights stuff, but I looked forward to the art the most. It was the reason I continued to read the book, and that's certainly saying something.

Cliff Rathburn, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Jean-Francois Beaulieu - See more at: https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/green-valley-1#sthash.eUIUaCVq.dpuf

Cliff Rathburn, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Jean-Francois Beaulieu - See more at: https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/green-valley-1#sthash.eUIUaCVq.dpuf

The Best Cover of 2016: VISION #7