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

READING THE CLASSICS: THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #250

 

Published on March 1st, 1984

    The big #250 issue wasn't even double or triple size or anything. And nothing really "big" happened in it. Were anniversary issues not a big deal back then? They do mention the reason in the letters page. They said it was because this Hobgoblin story was big enough for 3 issues and thus wouldn't fit in a double size issue, anyway. Hmmm. I think this is the only #250 of The Amazing Spider-Man, isn't it? I don't even think they ever get near #75 or #100 again before they re-booted it. Currently they're on volume 6. That means they re-booted it five times. It looks like they originally went to #441 in 1998. So they've had five #1's since 1998...that's five new starts in 24 years. I wonder if they're going to keep doing that forever, because lately they go back to #1 every time a new writer comes aboard, which is getting ridiculous. Either way, #250 definitely feels like a golden era of the book, with writer Roger Stern and artist John Romita, Jr. on board. This issue picks up from #249 where The Hobgoblin was blackmailing some people like J. Jonah Jameson and Harry Osbourne. Spider-Man visits each person being blackmailed to try to find out more info on The Hobgoblin. Eventually he just uses the spider tracker that The Kingpin put on The Hobgoblin to track him down. There's a big brawl at The Hobgoblin's base of operations, which ends up catching on fire. Also, J. Jonah Jameson writes an article about how he funded The Scorpion and he gives it to the printer to publish. That's how the issue ends, with pretty much everything up in the air. I'm not entirely sure why they didn't just wrap this story up in this issue, considering it's the big anniversary issue. Great art and cover by JR JR and the writing is top notch. The great thing about this book is that it's a classic serial...meaning you really can't wait for the next issue since all of the storylines have been slowly built up so great. I really should just go and read the whole original run of this book. ***

READING THE CLASSICS: THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #249

 

Published on February 1st, 1984

    This was a fantastic issue. The book was so engrossing back then, it's kind of hard to even fathom how awful it is these days. Back then, the book seemed to be more coherent. Now it seems like it constantly changes and thus there's no long term build and very few side characters of note that don't disappear for long stretches. John Romita, Jr. did the "breakdowns" in this issue and Dan Green did the "finishes." I don't know if that means Green just inked it or he basically drew it. It is crazy that John Romita, Jr. is currently drawing The Amazing Spider-Man. This book came out almost 40 years ago. And The Hobgoblin is still around these days...so they've pretty much run out of ideas. In this issue, we find out that Harry Osbourne and J. Jonah Jameson are being blackmailed by someone. It turns out to be The Hobgoblin, who invites everyone at a rich, members only club to a private meeting. The Hobgoblin wants their money to keep their secrets. Harry's being blackmailed because The Hobgoblin knew his dad was The Green Goblin, and if that got out I guess the Oscorp stock would fall apart. J. Jonah Jameson is being blackmailed because he helped create The Scorpion and nobody knows that. There's a brief fight between The Hobgoblin and Spider-Man and Spider-Man gets a tracker on The Hobgoblin thanks to The Kingpin's help. The Kingpin is still a bad guy, but doesn't want The Hobgoblin to meddle in his crime business. We also get a meeting between Mary Jane and Parker at Harry and his wife's bbq. Mary Jane turned down Parker's wedding proposal in #183 but she's still around. Shockingly, Mary Jane is still hovering around Parker's love life in 2020. It's almost as if Marvel can't make a decision about those two. Considering this will-they-or-won't-they end up together storyline has been going on for like 50 years, it's past the point of ludicrousness. That's probably one of the many reasons The Amazing Spider-Man hasn't been a great book in years. The book worked back in the day by being a continuous soap opera but now it's just been glazed and locked down in amber with no hope of growth. It's a shame, because back in '83/'84 the book was glorious. ***1/2