Off on holiday starting tomorrow, will have almost no time for reading comics the rest of the year I think. So here's my top 10 list of comics I read for the first time in 2015.
(I actually hit 800 issues read this year!)
10) Damage Control (McDuffie/Colon) - Great concept that might have fallen flat after the first couple of issues, if not for the writing. Constantly inventive and gives us some hilarious moments from completely new characters playing off established Marvel Heroes (and Villains). I am constantly surprised that there isnt an ongoing for this. Now I am also super excited for a possible TV Show now.
09) Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (North/Henderson) - Constantly hilarious. Great art. And just plain fun. I am only a few issues in but this is easily the comic that has made me laugh the most this year.
08) Unknown Soldier (Dysart/Ponticelli) - A great comic that I think dealt with a very difficult issue very delicately. At no point did it feel preachy or judgemental or presume to offer solutions from an armchair a few thousand miles away. Art, colouring and (more importantly here) the lettering were a perfect fit for what Dysart was writing. And the final issue and conclusion, which was foreshadowed well, was one of the best I've read.
07) It Was a War of the Trenches/Goddamn This War (Tardi) - Two very different views of the same shitty war, written 15 years apart. The first was a close up look at war in the trenches during WW1. Told as a series of vignettes of the war without a constant narrator. Goddamn This War also starts talking about the bigger picture a little bit and also has a narrator. Very gory, very detailed and also very hard to read.
6) Maze Agency (Barr/Hughes) - Feels like Remington Steele: The Comic and I loved it. Fun mysteries, very likable lead characters and one of the best romantic relationships I've seen in a comic. Great Adam Huhges art. The colouring was wonderful too, definitely more 2010s than the 80s period it was written in. Only small hurdle to reading it all is that it is only available in single issues.
5) Wonder Woman (Greg Rucka) - The first 2/3rds of this run was so good. Great expanded cast of characters, intricately plotted, good adversaries and I really liked Wonder Woman. The last 1/3rd got bogged down by a stupid event, or I would have had to put this higher up in my list.
4) Love & Rockets: Locas (Jaime Hernandez) - I've only dipped my feet into this series, but what I saw was enough to put it up here. A fascinating setting with very interesting characters (Titanon, Penny, Maggie, Hopey) and very very expressive art. It is a bizarre mix of magical realism and sci-fi and afternoon soap opera drama and it all blends together perfectly! Can't wait to read the rest and also the Palomar series.
3) Starman (Robinson) - This is how I like my comics. With great jumping on points, no requirements of prior knowledge and with a satisfying conclusion. While reading it, I did realise that Robinson was attempting to align and tie-up the loose ends in Starman mantle's canon but the series never gets bogged down by that. On the contrary, it gives a whole lot of depth to the world and what Jack Knight is dealing with. (And I am always up for more comics with Wesley Dodds).
2) The Mighty Thor (Simonson/Buscema) - Most reviews I read before I picked this up talked about the art but I think the writing is even stronger. This reads like an Epic in the real sense of the world. Like something out of The Odyssey or The Silmarillion. Every character and event is larger than life and the writing style fits perfectly. Though the titular Thor gets a lot of screen time, Balder might actually be my favourite character in this run. Each character gets their moment. (Skurges plotline might just be one of the most memorable for me in superhero stories.) Simonson juggles so many parallel plot-lines and brings them all to a very satisfying conclusion. Simonsons art is a standout but I really liked Buscemas work too. And then theres the lettering and sound effects in the series. So good!
1) Usagi Yojimbo (Stan Sakai) - There are many comics that have great runs where a team has told an amazing story and moved on. But there are only two series that I have read that have been brilliant and maintained that quality for a consistent period of time. The first is Astro City (which actually had a couple of dips). The second has to be Usagi Yojimbo. I am only saying that based on the first 15 years output of the 30 years of this comic available but I dont see my opinion changing. Brilliant art, great inking, some of the best lettering/sound effects Ive seen. And more importantly, some of the best story telling (not just in comics). Any story you read, it feels like an immense amount of thought has been put into its pacing and plotting and the background the story is set in.
And the best thing, you can jump in at any issue without feeling like you missing a whole lot of backstory.
I read a lot of other great comics too this year. And there are many more that I just about started but haven't made too much headway into. They might make next year's list.
And a special award..
Biggest regret of 2015: Having bought and read Geoff Johns' Green Lanter omnibus.
Selfishly bumping this now the thread is a bit more active. So something that isn't Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar, etc. A nice big epic Space yarn akin to The Walking Dead or something.
Space Usagi!
That's what CMX trade sales are for.