WONDER WOMAN #1

 

    Tom King hasn't written an ongoing comic since he was fired from Batman in 2019. He's still all over the place at DC, though he's mostly only been doing mini-series with obscure, B-characters. They did let him finish his Batman run with a Batman/Catwoman mini-series and he also did two other Bat books: a one-shot and another mini-series with The Riddler and a few other characters. I kind of figured they should let him write an ongoing Superman title, or maybe one of the other big DC titles like The Flash. Nope. They've given him Wonder Woman. Maybe they're still mad at him for his Batman run. I forget who even fired him. While I do like Tom King as a writer, I also admit that none of his recent mini-series have been any good. They're interesting but nothing more. And while this first issue of Wonder Woman is interesting and kind of bold, the big problem is that's it way too dark and depressing, which, realistically, is basically his calling card. Tom King books have never been fun, colorful romps. That's probably why the word "divisive" is always thrown around when talking about him. The basic premise so far of Wonder Woman is a Wonder Woman vs. The United States Government plot. It's kind of a Marvel's Civil War type of thing, but also obviously a mirror of today's real world Republicans vs. (take your pick) transgendered women, immigrants, LBGTQ. and woke politics. A woman from Wonder Woman's Amazon home kills a bunch of bikers in a pool hall and suddenly all of the Amazons are banned from the U.S. The news proclaims that it's a war against men. Wonder Woman is a wanted woman. We finally learn at the end that the new, big bad is an old guy called The Sovereign. The Sovereign sits on a throne and has a crown and also a lasso of lies. I guess this lasso of lies is supposed to represent all of the lies Trump and the Republicans have told over the years about pretty much everything. I remember Tom King posting videos on Twitter of him walking up to the Capital on January 6th, 2021, after he saw the melee on the news. He wasn't a part of the riot, just must live nearby and wanted to see what was going on. After reading this issue, I'm guessing he's a Democrat. Or, at least, anti-Trump. The artwork in this issue is tonally different than what it's about, though. The art, by Daniel Sampere, is very similar to Tony Daniel. It's big, pure Superhero comic book art. You'd think they'd be better off with something darker, because the big, colorful, superhero art doesn't mesh with the dark, brooding plot. The one good thing I'll say about this book is that it's something new and bold for a totally stale character. And I am curious where it'll go from here, which is a plus. Making the big bad an old geizer is kind of a dumb move, though, because you kind of want to have the inevitable fight between him and Wonder Woman...and what's he going to do? Jump in a robot suit to fight her? Supposedly this issue already sold out, so divisive or not, they're doing something right. **1/2

KNIGHT TERRORS #4

 

    Knight Terrors is DC's big summer event this year. I don't think Marvel has a big event this year, which is strange. Marvel does do a lot of smaller event books, like the Sins of Sinister X-Men event they did earlier this year. That was only 11 issues, though. Last year they did A.X.E.: Judgment Day which was 35 issues. I vaguely remember either of those. Not that I'm clamoring for a missing Marvel event book this summer, as none of them are any good and ultimately meaningless. Knight Terrors is an odd one. Most of the regular titles just did tie-ins for July and August, but the tie-ins have absolutely nothing to do with what's going on in the regular books. Like if you were reading Batman, the two issues for July and August just had Batman in some nightmare. It had nothing to do with the current storyline in Batman, which means you could easily just skip them. I do wonder how sales have been, since it's pretty hard to figure out comic book sales these days. Months later there is a top selling books list, so maybe someday we'll figure it out. The actual basic idea behind Knight Terrors is at least somewhat fresh, although it does ultimately just have the superheroes battling an evil villain hell bent on destroying the world, which is the basic plot of most event books. The big bad, Insomnia, has put everyone on Earth to sleep, and everyone is trapped inside their own nightmares. In this issue, Batman, Damian, Deadman, and The Sandman (the 1940's noir Sandman version), head to Arkham to use a mystical dream stone thing to wake Insomnia from his coma. It is revealed that Insomnia was once a family man but his family died and the Justice League wasn't there to save them...so he now seeks revenge. When they wake up Insomnia, all of the nightmares are now in the real world. At least the issue is a brisk read. I really enjoy writer Joshua Williamson's Image books (Ghosted and Nailbiter were good and his new book, Dark Ride, is one of the better books being published), but I've never cared for his DC books. He seems to be writing a million DC books every month these days, so that probably tells you how much I dislike DC currently. Guiseppe Camuncoli did most of the art in this issue, and I've loved his stuff since his Hellblazer and Greek Street days. One of my favorite comic book runs ever is his Hellblazer run with writer Peter Milligan, the one with all of those awesome Simon Bisley covers. Fuck was that an entertaining run. That was memorable. Knight Terrors? It's like a typical, forgotten dream. **

READING THE CLASSICS: THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #251

 

Published on April 1st, 1984

    This ends the original Hobgoblin storyline. The shocking thing about this is that the identity of The Hobgoblin isn't revealed. While the issue is fairly action packed and features a big moment when J. Jonah Jameson steps down at The Daily Bugle, leaving the idenity of The Hobgoblin up in the air after all this time is such a cop-out and letdown. Even the cover has Spider-Man holding The Hobgoblin's mask. What a cheat. This issue is also strange because it has a new writer and artist on board. Wouldn't they let the previous writer and artist finish their storyline? Especially when it's one issue? Strange. They do mention on the title page that Roger Stern wrote the plot. The script is by Tom DeFalco. It says that Ron Frenz did the pencil breakdowns and Klaus Johnson did the finished art. As for the story: The Hobgoblin escapes the burning building in an armored van with Spider-Man clinging to it. There's a chase and they end up in the river where Spider-Man escapes and The Hobgoblin is presumably dead at the bottom of the river. The ending has Spider-Man finding a strange building in Central Park and he's zapped into another galaxy far away...which leads to the famous Secret Wars mini-series where Spider-Man gets the black suit which eventually becomes Venom. This issue was entertaining and fun but the ending is super disappointing. Supposedly writer Roger Stern came up with the idea that Roderick Kingsley was The Hobgoblin. Stern left the book and the new writers came up with the idea that it was Ned Leeds. Leeds was finally unmasked as The Hobgoblin in The Amazing Spider-Man #289. Then, years later, Roger Stern did a mini-series we he came up with the stupid idea that no, it was Kingsley all along, but he had brainwashed Leeds into thinking that he was The Hobgoblin. You know...all of that ridiculousness would have been thwarted if they had just unmasked The Hobgoblin as Kingsley in this issue. They probably wanted to keep the mystery going to sell books but it backfired and turned out ludicrous. While they certainly didn't stick the landing, the original Hobgoblin storyline was actually pretty awesome. Every time I read a new, current issue of Amazing I just sigh, wishing it was as good as it used to be, wondering what went wrong, if it'll ever be good again. **1/2

The Best Comic Book of 2022: WHAT'S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE?

    Writer Matthew Rosenberg and artist Tyler Boss made 4 Kids Walk into a Bank, my favorite comic of 2016, so it's not too much of a surprise that their follow up, What's the Furthest Place From Here?, from Image Comics, is fantastic. I was poised to name it the best comic of 2021, but since only the first two issues came out in 2021, I figured I should wait a bit to see if it continued it's excellence. It did. I should admit that the last two issues released in 2022 (#8 and #9) weren't that great, but I kind of blame the fact that artist Tyler Boss didn't draw them. Boss also didn't draw #7, released in July, but that issue was one of the best comic book issues of the year. The thing that I loved about What's the Furthest Place From Here? is how original it is. I could attempt to describe it...but even a long winded description wouldn't really give it it's just due. I saw one comic book reviewer online mention that it's similar to the 1970's movie The Warriors. In that film, different gangs in NYC fight it out, and each gang has it's own gimmick: one dresses up in Yankees baseball outfits, one gang is all bald and rides in a bus, etc. In What's the Furthest Place From Here? there are various gangs and groups of kids. There are no adults because we're in post-Apocalyptic times. Everything is weird and everything is bonkers. There are rules, and if you break the rules you might end up betraying a weird, spirit-like group of cloaked beings that show up out of nowhere. 

    Usually you read a comic and it's same-old, been-there-done-that. But reading this book is like being shot up with a wild new drug. It's fresh, bizarre, captivating, alive, strange, refreshing, and super engrossing. Rosenberg is having the time of his life showcasing his creativity, and Tyler Boss' art fits the story like a glove. The layout of the book, with short, numbered chapters, also creates a fog-like, futuristic, out-there vibe that make this a bold thing to read and get lost in. Truly original and one of the best books I've read in some time. 

The Best Artists of 2022: MATTEUS LOPES & MATTIAS BERGARA

    I'm a big fan of writer Si Spurrier, but even I didn't agree with his decision to write a book with no words except for a little bit of untranslated, alien dialogue. 

    What saved the book was the gorgeous art by artist Matteus Lopes and colorist Mattias Bergara. My God was this book gorgeous to look at. 

The Best Writer of 2022: ED BRUBAKER

 

    Writer Ed Brubaker put out the same number of books he did in 2021: three issues of the online, pay-what-you-want Friday, and two full-size, Reckless graphic novels. It's kind of sad that he's not writing a monthly title anymore, but considering how great every book he wrote in 2022 was, does it matter? 

    Friday started out as a typical, teenage detective whodunnit, but morphed into a really crazy and disturbing horror, time travel tale. It seems to get better every issue. Both Reckless graphic novels in 2022 have been extremely entertaining and the kind of book you can't put down until you're finished. 

    Brubaker has been one of my favorite writers for years now, and his skill at dialogue and pacing is unsurmountable. Dude's a legend. 

The Best Covers of 2022

 

Best Pages & Panels of 2022

Batman: Beyond the White Knight #2

Clean #4

Batman: Beyond the White Knight #5

Groo: Gods Against Groo #1