The Best Pages & Panels of 2023

Daredevil #16

                                                           

                                                                     

                                            Saga #66

                                  Werewolf by Night #1

               Something is Killing the Children #34

 

The Best Covers of 2023

 

The Best Art of 2023: MARCOS MARTIN & MUNTSA VICENTE "FRIDAY"

                             

   I think back to the "glory" years of reading comics in my youth, back when the artists were king. All those great artists left Marvel to start Image Comics. McFarlane, Lee, Silvestri, Keown, Portacio, Larsen. Image Comics didn't exactly set the world on fire with the stories, but they sure looked dynamic and bigger than life. Are there just not any good artists left in the comic book world? It's just not lucrative enough? Going into advertising or storyboarding for Hollywood or something is a better career path? Or am I just old and harking back to when I was young and I thought comics were better? Who knows? I don't read everything, so I'm sure there are a bunch of fantastic comic book artists out there I don't know about. But thinking of any great artists at the big two, Marvel and D.C., left me completely blank. The best looking book I read all year, though, was hands down Friday from Panel Syndicate. It was published pay-what-you-want (i.e. free) online, and only 2 issues came out in 2023, but it was gorgeous to look at. Marcos Martin drew it and Muntsa Vicente colored it. It probably helped that it was written by 2023's Writer of the Year, Ed Brubaker, so it was nice to read and look at. The great thing about Marcos Martin's art is that he's skilled enough to change it to fit the story. When he drew The Public Eye for Panel Syndicate, it was set in the future and so it looked futuristic. Friday is set in a sort of old-school, film-noir small town with a kid detective...and it looks exactly like you would think an Encyclopedia Brown type of book should look. The gorgeous colors set the tone as well. The art in this book is just note-perfect.

The Best Writer of 2023: ED BRUBAKER

 

    Ed Brubaker only wrote two issues of Friday, the Night Fever hardcover, and the Where the Body Was hardcover. Maybe if he was a typical comic book writer churning out monthly books left and right his excellence would fade. That seems to be the case with a lot of good writers. Matthew Rosenberg's What's the Furthest Place From Here? is fantastic, but he writes a lot of forgettable books for Marvel and D.C. Probably my other favorite comic book writer, Brian K. Vaughan, only wrote six issues of Saga this year, and it's perhaps the best that book has been in years. But 2023 was another stellar year for Brubaker. Friday is excellent, a classic whodunnit with a kid detective that got super weird and super wild this year, with time travel and otherworldy beings. He branched out with his hardcover books this year, too, which was a plus. Night Fever was a weird, fever dream, crime book that held your interest 'till the last page. And Where the Body Was was my favorite book of the year, a totally engrossing, totally entertaining, totally enthralling puzzle piece of a book set in 80's suburbia. Brubaker has been one of the best comic book writers for years now, and 2023 was a highlight year for him. I can't wait to see what he does next.

The Best Comic Book of 2023: WHERE THE BODY WAS

 

    I was reading Where the Body Was, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' latest graphic novel, on my Ipad when the power went out a few weeks ago. Instead of getting up and checking on things or finding a light, I kept reading. I was so engrossed and entertained with the book that the power going out was a meaningless distraction. It was that good. Lately, Brubaker has dismissed putting out monthly comics. I suppose it's a financial decision (everyone these days seem to ominously foretell the death of the comic book store). While I miss his weekly books, the good thing is that we can read a mini-series in one chunk on it's release date, and his books are usually so good it's easy to read them in one sitting. And Where the Body Was is one of his best in recent years. The basic premise is that it follows a bunch of characters on a suburban street in the 1980's. Everyone gets their own story and every story ties into one another. The thing is...there are no weak links. Every story is great; from the cheating housewife to the kid playing superhero to the drug addicted twenty-somethings to the guy pretending to be a cop. Like most of his books, it plays with time and regret, but also features crime and violence. Sean Phillips and Jacob Phillips did the art, and as usual, the book looks fantastic. While this isn't a book featuring anything new or bold, it's just a great writer and artist working at the top of their game.