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COMICS! |OT| December 2014. Alas, reading this thread backwards simply doesn't work.

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I touched on this briefly in my Top 10 post, but I need to get this off my chest.

Rereading Ms. Marvel (for like the 5th time) over the weekend as well as trying to keep up with the Strangers in Paradise Book Club has somehow soured my opinion of Batgirl... it's still one of my most-anticipated monthly comics, but I'm coming to the conclusion that it has absolutely nothing to say. I used to think the villain in the first issue was some clever social commentary, but now I'm beginning to think that was me reading farther into it than the creators intended. And where are the little moments that help these characters feel real... where is the heart?

Help. :(

>expecting superhero comics to have anything insightful to say
 

fauxtrot

Banned
I was comparing it to Ms. Marvel, which is a series that says a lot about life as a first-generation American (and more specifically, as a muslim) without it bogging down any of the fun that book has on a regular basis.

I don't think it's unfair to expect a little more from our books, even the girly hijinks ones...
 
I was comparing it to Ms. Marvel, which is a series that says a lot about life as a first-generation American (and more specifically, as a muslim) without it bogging down any of the fun that book has on a regular basis.

I don't think it's unfair to expect a little more from our books, even the girly hijinks ones...
I don't disagree but way more often than not, you're not really getting anything out of these kinds of comics. Ms. Marvel's an exception. I never got the impression that it'd ever be more than "bein' a hip young adult". Though maybe because i didn't expect a lot out of Fletcher/Stewart as writers
Make it entertaining and I'm happy. Batgirl post #34 (and pre), is not.
yeah basically. It's a step up, buuuut it's still not quite there
 

Messi

Member
The PG crossover has been the tits, I absolutely agree.

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1.
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Zero by Ales Kot and Various Artists
I give Zero the top spot because every issue has been captivating in it's own way. It's a series that is always changing, each issue holds importance towards the story and values each of the artists input.
2.
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Deadly Class by Rick Remender and Wes Craig
Deadly Class hits all the right notes for me, it's high school, it's personal, it's violent, it's drama, it's nostalgic. I wasn't in high school in the late eighties but it is so easy to identify with a punk like Marcus. You think you're better than everyone else, you don't like it when others bullshit, you try to be a good guy, you want to sound deep and important. Remender writes it so well cause most of us live it. This was my first time seeing Wes Craig's work and it blew my mind.
3.
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Batman by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo
This year saw the end of Zero Year and the beginning of Endgame. Zero Year might have become my favorite Batman story of all time. The finale issues of each of the arcs were incredible. Greg Capullo drew the hell out of this series, the damn page when Batman jumps from his blimp to the weather balloon, chills from a damn comic book. All I can hope for, is this team to reach for those peaks again.
4.
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Moon Knight by Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey
I'm a fan of Warren Ellis, I like a lot of his work, Nextwave and Thunderbolts were my introduction to his writing. Ellis's short run on Secret Avengers introduced his concept for Moon Knight and I wanted more and Marvel delivered this year with an amazing artist. It has ghost punks, killer dreams caused by fungal spores, an issues clearly inspired by "The Raid" and killers of all types. Although the team's run was disappointingly short, a creator owned series with Ellis/Shalvey/Bellaire is on the horizon.
5.
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Avengers/New Avengers by Jonathan Hickman and Various Artist
The storyline of how everything ends. Hickman has crafted an incredible story of universe's colliding and the shaky morality of Marvel's Heroes. You see the desperation of kings and gods and iron wills crumble at the inevitable end.
6.
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Southern Bastards by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour
This comic has heart, you meet an old man coming back to his hometown. He doesn't want to be there, he sees wrongs tries to do right. You feel for him, you care about him, he gives you hope. Aaron masterfully writes this man, Latour masterfully illustrates this man. This man cries for these bastards. Damn good comics.
7.
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The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen and Jamie Mckelvie
Every ninety years, blah blah blah whatever this series is good. I was hyped for this series at it’s release, Gillen/Mckelvie just finished a run of Young Avengers that impressed me, I wanted to see what they did next and they didn’t disappoint.
8.
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Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
I tried to explain this comic to a friend the other day as I was reading Just the Tips. ”It’s about these people who have sex and when they orgasm time stops” Friend gives me weird look. “It also explores the sexuallity of those characters”
“Like a sexy X-Men comic?”
"Yeah"
9.
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Grayson by Tim Seeley, Tom King and Mikel Janin
I've always liked Dick and couldn't get into the new 52 series of Nightwing, I read a few arcs and it always felt reserved and afraid to reach higher. Grayson gave Dick freedom and has been releasing some of the best issues I've read of the character.
10.
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Silver Surfer by Dan Slott and Michael Allred
When I first heard about a new Silver Surfer series coming out I was a only a little interested, when Allred's name was mentioned I was ready to buy day one, when Slott name came up my hype faded and I was ready for disappointment (I wasn't happy with the current Spidey issues coming out). I WAS WRONG and this is one of the most charming series I've ever read.
 

Filthy Slug

Crowd screaming like hounds at the heat of the chase/ All the colors of the rainbow flood my face
Damn, I ripped through Superior Foes in like 3 days. Despite the plot kind of falling apart at the end, that was a great fucking run with some damn endearing characters. Also, glad
Herman
got his time to shine.
 

Messi

Member
Gillen's Journey into Mystery is good ,yes? I want to read more Loki/Kid Loki. Also, can I read Journey into Mystery with Sif on its own?
 
When it comes to rankings, I'm pretty shit. So, in no particular order, here were my 10 favorite books of 2014.

Superman
Geoff Johns' Action Comics run was so good, it's been great to get him back writing for the character. The book has been so...meh since the New 52 started, and it feels awesome to have the book be good again. It doesn't hurt that he's got a really great team with him in JR Jr, Klaus Janson, and Laura Martin.

Green Arrow
I'd never read Green Arrow before. I was a fan of Jeff Lemire, going back to Sweet Tooth and Superboy. So, I gave it a run. Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, & Marcelo Maiolo were so in sync on this book, it boggles the mind. Outsiders War was probably my favorite arc of the year, and I hope that somehow these three get to make a return trip to Seattle.

Trillium
Lemire + love story + time travel hijinx = very happy FF.

Batman
I can't say anything that hasn't already been said. Zero Year was incredible, Endgame looks nuts. The run this book has been on is starting to remind me of the Waid-to-Johns run of the Flash.

Uncanny Avengers
Rick Remender at his shit-hitting-the-fan best.

Deadly Class
At the back of the first trade, Remender talks about his experiences as a teenager and how that was an inspiration/fuel for Deadly Class. I don't know why it surprised me so much, because you can feel that connection in the book itself. Like Buddy wrote, we've all had those moments as a teenager, when we think we're bigger than we are, an we feel like everything's against you. This book hits on a personal level, and that's due to Remender's writing. Wes Craig + Lee Loughridge are both incredible and their art is a big reason why this book is a must read (the Acid King tripping in Las Vegas is amazing).

Moon Knight (Ellis/Shalvey/Bellaire)
The story of this book is the same as Green Arrow - a team of insanely talented creators draw me into a book/character I hadn't really read and completely kill it. This was my first taste of Moon Knight...ever. No disrespect to Marc Spector, but I was never that into his series. I am, however, very into Warren Ellis. Which is why I decided to give this book a go. I'm really happy I did. Whatever this team decides to do next, I'm with them all the way.

Wicked + The Divine
You have no idea how much I wanted to hate this book. I didn't like Gillen's most recent Young Avengers work, I really really didn't like his Iron Man run. I thought this was going to be bad, especially since pre-release interviews sounded a lot like what he was saying during the later parts of YA. Even when the series premise interested me, I ignored it, thinking I'd hate it.

I have never been so happy to be so wrong about a book ever. Holy shit, everything about this book is amazing. Art, writing, color, the fucking name of the first trade. Goddamned everything. I'm back in on Gillen/McKelvie.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
This is probably my favorite representation of the Turtles in any form of media, just edging out the Nick show. It's also responsible for one of my favorite covers of the year:



TIE: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor/Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor

I loved the IDW Doctor Who series, and I was quietly anticipating the move to Titan Books. It didn't disappoint, as both of the creative teams for each book have managed to perfectly get the voice of the two Doctors. I'll continue with the series into 2015, as well as catch up with the Twelfth Doctor series that just started in October.

Honorable Mentions:
Justice League 3000
Justice League United
Justice League
The Flash
Cyclops
Daredevil
Grayson
The Walking Dead
Batgirl
Hinterkind
BPRD
Batman & Robin
The Unwritten (I will dearly miss this book)
Avengers/New Avengers (Namor getting sonned by Doom will never not be glorious)

Books I really should start in 2015
Rat Queens (I'm sorry)
Ms. Marvel (I said I'm sorry)
Southern Bastards (I'M SORRY)

Old books that I just started reading this year and still loved:
Uncanny X-Force - WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD BEFORE GODDAMN
 
I like all the Deadpool (pretty much his solo series and a handful of the minis) I've read but I've never read this one. But you guys always say how good he is in this. His costume is doooooope

Yeah his costume is awesome. Opena's art that he did in UXF is amazing. I'm really excited for Rage of Ultron for more of that.

Have you read Cable and Deadpool? That seems like it'd be up your alley. It was really fun.
 
The inking is very heavy in those New X-Men issues and tends to erode some of Quitely finer details. Jamie Grant inked his work for awhile on We3 and All-Star Superman, but eventually he said, "Flex Mentallo I inked myself...why don't I just do that!?" and that's what he's been doing ever since(Batman and Robin, Batman #700, Jupiter's Legacy, Pax Americana)

coming back to this post, I'm noticing more and more a lot of artists inking themselves nowadays, which makes their art more "pure", but its hell for keeping monthly deadlines. Opena, Aja, Quitely, Marcos Martin, Staples, Wes Craig, Stewart, etc. The few "old school" 1980s artists still producing comics still have their traditional inkers though, like Romita Jr/Jenson or Hanna, Alan Davis/Mark Farmer, Jim Lee/Scott Williams, George Perez, etc.
 
It's time to read some of these amazing titles that y'all are always talking about.

What do I start with...?

Well... with this one:

5436cfb7d161e.jpg


I will post my thoughts afterwards.

I will follow Ms Marvel up with... Immortal Iron Fist, I guess. Fraction/Aja goodness, right?
 
When is the voting deadline for December's comic of the month?
December 27
December votes are going to be due by Saturday (Dec 27) so I can get the EOY thread done. I know that cuts off a week of December but a) it's the last Wed of the year, historically there's not much out and b) I'll allow inclusion of those books in the January vote.

Plan accordingly.

Got my last IST order of the year which includes Punk Rock Jesus, DMZ and another Preacher HC. I hope I get my next DCBS order before the deadline. Looking forward to They're Not Like Us.
 
It's time to read some of these amazing titles that y'all are always talking about.

What do I start with...?

Well... with this one:

5436cfb7d161e.jpg


I will post my thoughts afterwards.

I will follow Ms Marvel up with... Immortal Iron Fist, I guess. Fraction/Aja goodness, right?

Good choice. I really like the new Ms. Marvel. And Immortal Iron Fist is incredible.
 

PsychBat!

Banned
It's time to read some of these amazing titles that y'all are always talking about.

What do I start with...?

Well... with this one:

5436cfb7d161e.jpg


I will post my thoughts afterwards.

I will follow Ms Marvel up with... Immortal Iron Fist, I guess. Fraction/Aja goodness, right?
Immortal Iron Fist talk is scarce here.
 
Is... is that the dude from Hotline Miami in Ms Marvel 5?

Has the new Ghost Rider been canceled or is it still alive? I was wondering if it got canceled alongside She-Hulk.
 
Teen Titans Earth One - I guess I don't really like Terry Dodson at all. It's energetic sometimes and he can still draw pretty ladies ok sometimes but a lot of this book looks rushed as hell and just incomplete. It reads like it too, because the endings aren't earned at all and don't feel satisfying. I did like their takes on Raven (both in the origin and in the design, it's probably the best Raven design in comics) and Starfire (rofl at the end where
Tara complains about Starfire using them to free her even though Starfire's been locked up in a facility for 16 years and their problems just started
).

I should probably read X-Men Season One, that seems similar but more up my alley from an art standpoint
 
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