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COMICS! |OT| December 2014. Alas, reading this thread backwards simply doesn't work.
- Thread starter Spike Spiegel
- Start date
- Status
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Looking forward to the Best Dick annual awards
slightconfuse
Banned
Issue 9 of zero was so good
KoruptData
Member
Justice League 37 was another great read. Broken record but Johns has been on fire with this team since FE ended. Fabok is jaw dropping as usual.
Shin Johnpv
Member
Yeah I could more easily do a top 10 of the year for writers and artists.
KoruptData
Member
Supergirl was a fun read again! Never heard of these writers but they are doing a fantastic job in only 2 issues.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
GOD
AXIS COLORING IS SO DISTRACTINGLY BAD
AXIS COLORING IS SO DISTRACTINGLY BAD
Wow-Batman 37 is fucking amazing. I would say book of the week, month-maybe even year for me. So amazing. I've got literal goosebumps on my arms after putting it down. All hail Snyder...
Has anyone ever had a run this long and consistently great on Batman? How long was Morrison on the title?
Has anyone ever had a run this long and consistently great on Batman? How long was Morrison on the title?
ViewtifulJC
Banned
OK FUCK IT I LIED
Warming, big pictures, cheating, and laziness on my part incoming
10. The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen, James McKelvie, Matt Wilson, and Clayton Cowles - Gillen and McKelvie continue to hone their craft in the pursuit of the perfect pop comic. They've been through the trenches of superheroes work, and came out the other side fully energized. Combining their love of pop music with a more traditional genre plot, The Wicked + The Divine is an intriguing world of gods, magic, and finger snapping witchcraft. The Faust Act was great, and going by #6, the encore could be even better.
9. Daredevil by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, Javier Rodriguez, and Joe Caramagna - Matt Murdock makes the move to san francisco, but Waid and his A-list creative team still produce many of the same qualities that make Daredevil the most consistently enjoyable Marvel comic month-to-month. Waid, an old pro of the superhero genre, is able craft clever, compelling scripts that understand reader expectations and knows how to upend them. Chris Samnee and Javier Rodriguez sequential storytelling is always on point, and the lettering/coloring are always a great fit. When this book goes away sometimes next year, the comic world will be a little poorer.
8. Zero by Ales Kot, Jordie Bellaire <3, Clayton Cowles, and a bunch of artists - Super spy fiction almost always emphasizes the Super aspect for accessible entertainment purposes. Gadgets, guns, girls, globe-trotting, big on spectacle, not much left to the imagination. With Zero, you have a book whose power often comes from what it isn't said or shown explicitly. It goes to some dark, quiet places, and it relies on the minimalist efforts of the creative team to give its various sequences an ambiguous power. Its unpredictable, personal, and certainly one of the most interesting comics being produced right now.
7. Multiversity by Grant Morrison and bunch of artists - After so many years of dominance as the most popular form in the comic medium, you'd think all the interesting avenues for superheroes have been explored and are now boring and old hat. Multiversity is a big fat laugh in that sentence's general direction. Grant Morrison and a cadre of top tier artists have dedicated this event as a lover letter to celebrating the many viable paths and styles the superhero comic can take. Pulp magazine heroics, dark modern day deconstruction, and family friendly Golden Age fun are all on the board, all still waiting with the potential of creators to craft good, exciting stories with them. If Pax Americana(a 40 page mic drop of formal excellence by the greatest creative team in the business) doesn't get you excited about the possibilities of the superhero comic, you might need to find another hobby.
6. The Private Eye by Brian K. Vaughn, Marcos Martin, and Muntsa Vicente - Cheating a bit, since I'm basically voting the whole thing since the last issue comes in 2015, and it started before this year but its my list so hold dat shit. The Private Eye is a digital-only comic deals with themes increasingly relevant in our ever-connected world. How much do we value our privacy in today's society? What role does the Internet and its various connections have on own lives, and just how dangerous is it? What would happen if the Cloud leaked EVERYONE'S information, and not just Sony and celebrity nude photos? BKV explores this through a strong Sci-fi noir/thriller plot, showcasing his strength for tangible world building that makes the heady concepts easy to invest in. Its some of BKV's sharpest scripts, his future based set-up means he can't fallback on TV/trivia references and tries harder for humor. The protagonist, P.I., is well-developed and a compelling central figure, the entertaining villian who genuinely believes what he's doing is the right thing(and his motivations make sense), and those two are surrounded by a vivid cast of supporting characters. The largest brunt of the success of this book has to go to Marcos Martin, though. Martin, one of the absolute best sequential storytellers in the business, uses a widescreen approach for all your iPad reading needs. Now some artists fumble around at this, but Marcos excels in this format, equally adapt at quiet character moments and action set pieces alike. This is smart, high-quality entertainment, and when its finished up next year, I highly recommend the full 10 issue series.
5. Deadly Class by Rick Remender, Wes Craig, and Lee Louridghe - Deadly Class feels like the book Remender was always suppose to write. Its a perfect venue for his high concept bombastic style mixed with emotionally volatile and violent characters. But as I keep on saying, the real discovery here are the art team of Wes Craig and Lee Louridghe. I wrote some more extensive posts about them, but the tl;dr version is that they probably my favorite monthly art team going right now, and a huge part of what makes Deadly Class the most exciting new comic of the year.
4. Uncanny Avengers by Rick Remender, Daniel Acuna, Steve McNiven, and Laura Martin - But if we're talking the straight up most exciting book of the year, its got to be this Remender book over here. Not nearly as well-crafted as the other titles on this list, it doesn't matter. No other comic on the stands today had me feenin' for the next month's issue even when I'm halfway through the current one. A continuation of plot strands from the popular Uncanny X-Force run, Remender has filled out an epic storyline built across smaller story arcs, filled with the fun character moments, spectacular action beats, and deliciously comic booky high concepts that has become his trademark. Shoutouts to McNiven, Acuna, and Laura Martin for making the book look great most of the time, as I don't want to give the impression this was a totally haphazrd lookin' book with no respect to proper workmanship.
3. Hawkeye by Matt Fraction, David Aja, Annie Wu, Javier Pulido, Matt Hollingsworth, Chris Eliopolous, etc - More cheating, since I'm basically voting for the whole run, since like the Private Eye the last issue(hopefully!?) comes out next year sometime, and I read the whole thing in anticipation of December's #21. Everything I wanted to say about the book's many, many commendable elements of craft, its exploration of time and chronology, or the qualities of everybody involved from Matt Fraction on down to Hollingsworth colors and Eliopoulus letters can be found in these excellent Eye on Hawkeye series of analysis posts. It takes FOREVER to come out, but its worth it. A finer example of what the modern superhero ongoing(lol) you will not find today.
2. Copra, by Michel Fiffe - Because of my increasing laziness in writing this list, I'm just gonna link to smarter, more articulate writers than me to talk about why Copra is the shit. Here's one, here's another, here's a good one as well.
1. Stray Bullets, by David and Maria Lapham - And finally, I'll quote a post I made earlier in regards to me pimping this book out to anybody who would listen: Stray Bullets is everything you claim to want in comics but don't buy for some reason. Long-form story told in done-in-one issues, bang for your buck. Fantastic dialog that never degenerates into tics seriously bro bro seriously. Wonderful pacing thanks to the 8-panel grid, does everything from sex, violence, profanity, perversion, but never skimps on characters, intelligence, humor, and a lot of heart. The complete control David Lapham has on the art, writing, and even lettering with the 8-panel grid is astonishing. His action is exciting, his humor is always on point, and scenes like the above in the context of the larger narrative are devastating. Its the straight up best comic book being published in 2014, and it will probably be the best one in 2015 as well.
Baker's Dozen of Honorable Mentions:
-Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
-Silver Surfer by Dan Slott, and Michael/Laura Allred
-She-Hulk by Charles Soule and Javier Pulido
-Saga by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples
-Grayson by Tim Seeley, Tom King, and Mikel Janin
-Southern Bastards by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour
-Annihilator by Grant Morrison and Frazier Irving
-TRANSFORMERS VS GI JOE BY JOHN BARBARA AND TOM SCIOLI WHY WASNT THIS IN THE TOP 10 I FORGOT FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
-Copperhead by Jay Faerber, Scott Godlewski, and Ron Riley
-BPRD by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, and James Harren
-Satellite Sam by Matt Fraction and Howard Chaykin
-Flash Gordon by Jeff Parker, Evan Shainer, and Jordie Bellaire <3
Warming, big pictures, cheating, and laziness on my part incoming
10. The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen, James McKelvie, Matt Wilson, and Clayton Cowles - Gillen and McKelvie continue to hone their craft in the pursuit of the perfect pop comic. They've been through the trenches of superheroes work, and came out the other side fully energized. Combining their love of pop music with a more traditional genre plot, The Wicked + The Divine is an intriguing world of gods, magic, and finger snapping witchcraft. The Faust Act was great, and going by #6, the encore could be even better.
9. Daredevil by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, Javier Rodriguez, and Joe Caramagna - Matt Murdock makes the move to san francisco, but Waid and his A-list creative team still produce many of the same qualities that make Daredevil the most consistently enjoyable Marvel comic month-to-month. Waid, an old pro of the superhero genre, is able craft clever, compelling scripts that understand reader expectations and knows how to upend them. Chris Samnee and Javier Rodriguez sequential storytelling is always on point, and the lettering/coloring are always a great fit. When this book goes away sometimes next year, the comic world will be a little poorer.
8. Zero by Ales Kot, Jordie Bellaire <3, Clayton Cowles, and a bunch of artists - Super spy fiction almost always emphasizes the Super aspect for accessible entertainment purposes. Gadgets, guns, girls, globe-trotting, big on spectacle, not much left to the imagination. With Zero, you have a book whose power often comes from what it isn't said or shown explicitly. It goes to some dark, quiet places, and it relies on the minimalist efforts of the creative team to give its various sequences an ambiguous power. Its unpredictable, personal, and certainly one of the most interesting comics being produced right now.
7. Multiversity by Grant Morrison and bunch of artists - After so many years of dominance as the most popular form in the comic medium, you'd think all the interesting avenues for superheroes have been explored and are now boring and old hat. Multiversity is a big fat laugh in that sentence's general direction. Grant Morrison and a cadre of top tier artists have dedicated this event as a lover letter to celebrating the many viable paths and styles the superhero comic can take. Pulp magazine heroics, dark modern day deconstruction, and family friendly Golden Age fun are all on the board, all still waiting with the potential of creators to craft good, exciting stories with them. If Pax Americana(a 40 page mic drop of formal excellence by the greatest creative team in the business) doesn't get you excited about the possibilities of the superhero comic, you might need to find another hobby.
6. The Private Eye by Brian K. Vaughn, Marcos Martin, and Muntsa Vicente - Cheating a bit, since I'm basically voting the whole thing since the last issue comes in 2015, and it started before this year but its my list so hold dat shit. The Private Eye is a digital-only comic deals with themes increasingly relevant in our ever-connected world. How much do we value our privacy in today's society? What role does the Internet and its various connections have on own lives, and just how dangerous is it? What would happen if the Cloud leaked EVERYONE'S information, and not just Sony and celebrity nude photos? BKV explores this through a strong Sci-fi noir/thriller plot, showcasing his strength for tangible world building that makes the heady concepts easy to invest in. Its some of BKV's sharpest scripts, his future based set-up means he can't fallback on TV/trivia references and tries harder for humor. The protagonist, P.I., is well-developed and a compelling central figure, the entertaining villian who genuinely believes what he's doing is the right thing(and his motivations make sense), and those two are surrounded by a vivid cast of supporting characters. The largest brunt of the success of this book has to go to Marcos Martin, though. Martin, one of the absolute best sequential storytellers in the business, uses a widescreen approach for all your iPad reading needs. Now some artists fumble around at this, but Marcos excels in this format, equally adapt at quiet character moments and action set pieces alike. This is smart, high-quality entertainment, and when its finished up next year, I highly recommend the full 10 issue series.
5. Deadly Class by Rick Remender, Wes Craig, and Lee Louridghe - Deadly Class feels like the book Remender was always suppose to write. Its a perfect venue for his high concept bombastic style mixed with emotionally volatile and violent characters. But as I keep on saying, the real discovery here are the art team of Wes Craig and Lee Louridghe. I wrote some more extensive posts about them, but the tl;dr version is that they probably my favorite monthly art team going right now, and a huge part of what makes Deadly Class the most exciting new comic of the year.
4. Uncanny Avengers by Rick Remender, Daniel Acuna, Steve McNiven, and Laura Martin - But if we're talking the straight up most exciting book of the year, its got to be this Remender book over here. Not nearly as well-crafted as the other titles on this list, it doesn't matter. No other comic on the stands today had me feenin' for the next month's issue even when I'm halfway through the current one. A continuation of plot strands from the popular Uncanny X-Force run, Remender has filled out an epic storyline built across smaller story arcs, filled with the fun character moments, spectacular action beats, and deliciously comic booky high concepts that has become his trademark. Shoutouts to McNiven, Acuna, and Laura Martin for making the book look great most of the time, as I don't want to give the impression this was a totally haphazrd lookin' book with no respect to proper workmanship.
3. Hawkeye by Matt Fraction, David Aja, Annie Wu, Javier Pulido, Matt Hollingsworth, Chris Eliopolous, etc - More cheating, since I'm basically voting for the whole run, since like the Private Eye the last issue(hopefully!?) comes out next year sometime, and I read the whole thing in anticipation of December's #21. Everything I wanted to say about the book's many, many commendable elements of craft, its exploration of time and chronology, or the qualities of everybody involved from Matt Fraction on down to Hollingsworth colors and Eliopoulus letters can be found in these excellent Eye on Hawkeye series of analysis posts. It takes FOREVER to come out, but its worth it. A finer example of what the modern superhero ongoing(lol) you will not find today.
2. Copra, by Michel Fiffe - Because of my increasing laziness in writing this list, I'm just gonna link to smarter, more articulate writers than me to talk about why Copra is the shit. Here's one, here's another, here's a good one as well.
1. Stray Bullets, by David and Maria Lapham - And finally, I'll quote a post I made earlier in regards to me pimping this book out to anybody who would listen: Stray Bullets is everything you claim to want in comics but don't buy for some reason. Long-form story told in done-in-one issues, bang for your buck. Fantastic dialog that never degenerates into tics seriously bro bro seriously. Wonderful pacing thanks to the 8-panel grid, does everything from sex, violence, profanity, perversion, but never skimps on characters, intelligence, humor, and a lot of heart. The complete control David Lapham has on the art, writing, and even lettering with the 8-panel grid is astonishing. His action is exciting, his humor is always on point, and scenes like the above in the context of the larger narrative are devastating. Its the straight up best comic book being published in 2014, and it will probably be the best one in 2015 as well.
Baker's Dozen of Honorable Mentions:
-Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
-Silver Surfer by Dan Slott, and Michael/Laura Allred
-She-Hulk by Charles Soule and Javier Pulido
-Saga by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples
-Grayson by Tim Seeley, Tom King, and Mikel Janin
-Southern Bastards by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour
-Annihilator by Grant Morrison and Frazier Irving
-TRANSFORMERS VS GI JOE BY JOHN BARBARA AND TOM SCIOLI WHY WASNT THIS IN THE TOP 10 I FORGOT FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
-Copperhead by Jay Faerber, Scott Godlewski, and Ron Riley
-BPRD by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, and James Harren
-Satellite Sam by Matt Fraction and Howard Chaykin
-Flash Gordon by Jeff Parker, Evan Shainer, and Jordie Bellaire <3
Lots of Image love.
Rafa=FedKilla
Banned
Is it GuruFX or D Amratatata?
I have it coming from IST...I'll let you know how it is. I want to say it was mostly process/sketchbook type stuff but I may have mixed up reading that with the Kabuki Reflections books.
BBTS actually got their DC Collectibles stuff in on the right week! Zatanna and Holiday Harley are on their way.
TetraxShards
Member
Take a bow, Viewtiful. That was great. Comics are awesome.
Comics are cool when you're part of a team.
Yes it was. Nice effort.
There's a bunch on that list I'd like to try.
ThyMusicMan
Member
I lol'd
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
that said, the actual story in the new axis was fantastic.
EDIT: viewt da god!!!! amazing list bro
EDIT: viewt da god!!!! amazing list bro
choaffable
Member
Straight up, ViewtifulJC top 10 list thus far is the best top ten, though I would have put Southern Bastards and Sex Criminals in there. Don't know what you would have to pull out. Oh,and uh Secret Avengers...So really, you should have made a top 13 list.
Tyrant Rave
Banned
No Superman or Superior Foes, JC?
googleplex
Member
Wonder Woman #37
So we go from one of the best Wonder Woman runs in the history of the character. To this... This is just bad. Diana is a bad ass war God now and they have her acting and looking like a Confused teenager. And then
All-new X-men
No much happened but I still really enjoyed it. I'm not sure why the Ultimate X-men are mean mugging Miles though. Dude is just setting in their kitchen like 'I'm out side of my comfort zone.' Young Beast and Doom are surprisingly hilarious together.
So we go from one of the best Wonder Woman runs in the history of the character. To this... This is just bad. Diana is a bad ass war God now and they have her acting and looking like a Confused teenager. And then
they bring back Donna Troy is the more retarded way possible.
All-new X-men
No much happened but I still really enjoyed it. I'm not sure why the Ultimate X-men are mean mugging Miles though. Dude is just setting in their kitchen like 'I'm out side of my comfort zone.' Young Beast and Doom are surprisingly hilarious together.
KoruptData
Member
Are we doing top issues of the year or just overall best?
Serpentine
Banned
Good list and writeups, VJC. Didn't know there was a Hawkeye series, gonna have to check that out sometime
Spike Spiegel
Member
New Maihack Christmas strip.
E the Shaggy
Junior Member
So the implication of today's Captain America is
there's a Hydra agent on every major superteam. It's Secret Invasion all over again!
Sounds stupid as hell, but could be interesting...
Tyrant Rave
Banned
Up to you, just post your favorite issues or series of the year. It's not a big deal like on Gaming side, just a fun way to reflect on the year.
Spike Spiegel
Member
Just to let you guys know, I do have something planned as an end of year kind of thing, that you'll be hearing about next week if all goes well. I was hoping to have already started on it, but I did something extremely stupid last week and have been spending my spare computer time fixing it.
Shin Johnpv
Member
Are we going to list every month's top 3, and then vote a top 3 for the year from that?
That could be fun.
That could be fun.
Spike Spiegel
Member
Yes, something like that.
Filthy Slug
Crowd screaming like hounds at the heat of the chase/ All the colors of the rainbow flood my face
Great list, man! Definitely some succinct summations on what makes those books excellent, and I'm sure I'll add Stray Bullets to the Future Read list I have.
Drop it and you will feel no regrets. If need be, sub to Marvel Unlimited and read it there.
my name is ed
Banned
I remember reading Lapham MK Spider-Man mini and hating it. Probably one of my most hated comics ever. It'll take more than hyperbolic praise to get me to pick up a Lapham book.
Pai Pai Master
Banned
I don't drop books very easily, but I'm not getting any more of the trades. Shit run.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Thanks for the kind words ya'll. I meant to link to my Deadly Class comments, but I couldn't find them in time.
I'd be shocked in those links still work tho, but its A+++ comic book shit.
Stray Bullets >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> his superhero comics
I feel the corporate comics are the things he did to make ends meet so he can go back to doing what he's good at but doesn't sell
I'd be shocked in those links still work tho, but its A+++ comic book shit.
Stray Bullets >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> his superhero comics
I feel the corporate comics are the things he did to make ends meet so he can go back to doing what he's good at but doesn't sell
Cool, thanks! It looks really interesting.
Just finished Hawkeye with the Pizza Dog Issue. Great stuff. Cant wait for the sex...eh, second half of the run.
Matt motherfucking Fraction ist a master of writing, I just love this dude.
The only thing that bothers me is the sexual tension between Clint and Kate. First because I see Eli as Kates partner and second because for me, Kate and the other Young Avenger are still not even 18... I think they should be 18 in the comics by now, but this is still kinda disturbing for me...
Matt motherfucking Fraction ist a master of writing, I just love this dude.
The only thing that bothers me is the sexual tension between Clint and Kate. First because I see Eli as Kates partner and second because for me, Kate and the other Young Avenger are still not even 18... I think they should be 18 in the comics by now, but this is still kinda disturbing for me...
E the Shaggy
Junior Member
Yes you do! Mine came in the mail yesterday.
I'm probably just going to have to do this. I can't not know what's happening to some of my favorite characters, even if it means nothing but character assassination and nonsense at the hands of someone who clearly never cared about them and is only addressing previous criticism to make them more like the movie versions, but I really need to stop rewarding him with my money.
At least I can also buy the Abnett and Lanning reprints now and support the good book.
E the Shaggy
Junior Member
On the latest Batman,
I haven't read it but the idea that the Joker is in fact the Devil or some supernatural force is exactly the kind of shit he'd try to pull over on people. There's no way that's real.
I agree, but it's still really fucking spooky.
Yo, has this dude ever seen breasts in real life before? smh
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