Comic Books Comic Book • Page 284

Looove Baby Teeth

 

My thoughts after reading Batman & Robin vol 3:

I like Grant Morrison.

I don't like Frazier Irving.

I don't care about the evil magical Wayne ancestor or any of that nonsense.

I like there being two Batmen and wish New 52 didn't erase that.

 

Totally loved the first issue of Phoenix Resurrection. Rosenberg has clearly done his research on Grey with callbacks to moments of her life. There was a total Twin Peaks vibe that I can get behind for this mini. He was able to get so many things right that have felt missing from the last few years. When it comes to the Phoenix Force, nothing is ever easy and straight forward. Picking out what is real or a projection from it will be a fun time. I do wonder if at the end Scott will still be dead in the White Hot Room, and she must say goodbye him to kinda like the reverse version of Phoenix Endsong.
Also, I just love Domino.

 

Domino is cool.


You guys remember Shatterstar? That guy was cool too.

#90sXForce

 

I finished White Sand last night. It got really good at the end and now I can't wait for vol 2.

 

Tom Taylor looks like the kinda guy I would've thought looked so cool when I was younger, and I mean that in the nicest, most sincere way possible. Like, I could see him being in one of the Christian rock bands I loved growing up and still enjoy every now and then.

 

Afterlife with Archie is DARK

 

After watching The Shape of Water the other day and adoring it, I decided to finally do some Alan Moore Swamp Thing reading. I own the first two trades but, like much of what I own, never got around to it.

Just over halfway through the first trade, I must say I'm really enjoying this. I wasn't sure if it'd end up being too wordy, trippy, and dark for my tastes, but it's ended up being just wordy, trippy, and dark enough. The human element anchors it enough for me to not get lost, and this weird tale taking place within the world of the Justice League also adds a fun flavor to it.

I'm still not interested in going too far down the Alan Moore rabbit trail (I've previously only read Watchmen and his Superman stuff), but I'm glad this particular series is clicking with me. For as much as I love comics, it's weird how little time I've spent in classic Vertigo/DC stuff.

 

2017: The Year Almost Everything Went Wrong for Marvel Comics

 

We3 was stellar.

 

Jaime Hernandez is my favorite indie comic creator. Love his work in Love & Rockets. His work is often pretty, um, mature, lol, so it'll be interesting to see him do a young readers story.

 

So what were everyone’s favorite reads of 2017?

 

That's a tough one. There's been so much good stuff.

God Country
Snotgirl
Babyteeth
East of West
Reborn
The Old Guard
Green Lanterns
Batman
Wonder Woman
Doctor Aphra
Lady Killer
Mighty Thor
Silver Surfer

Its weird how little Marvel I read.

 

(My personal rule for my list was the series had to release at least 2 issues in 2017. So, I was willing to include Doomsday Clock but not Marvel Two-In-One, which looks 100% certain to be in my 2018 list. And, I also left out the Marvel Legacy one-shot, even though I liked it as much as my favorite individual issues of all my favorite series.)

1. Hawkeye (Kelly Thompson, Leonardo Romero, Michael Walsh)
2. Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man (Chip Zdarksy, Adam Kubert)
3. Silver Surfer (Dan Slott, Michael Allred)
4. Paper Girls (Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang)
5. Mighty Thor (Jason Aaron, Russell Dauterman)
6. Doomsday Clock (Geoff Johns, Gary Frank)
7. Black Widow (Mark Waid, Chris Samnee)
8. Jem: The Misfits (Kelly Thompson, Jenn St-Onge)
9. Kill or Be Killed (Ed Brubaker, Sean Philips)
10. Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows (Gerry Conway, Jody Houser, etc.)

 

My very favorite this year was actually Reggie & Me. I wasn't sure what to expect with it. I had no plans to read it. Why would I read a book about Reggie? He's the bad guy. He's self-absorbed and actively trying to ruin the lives of his friends. Then I read the first issue that was included in the back of one of the Archie books. The entire book is narrated by Reggie's pet weiner dog, Vader. Vader is a loyal, good dog, so he doesn't see Reggie as the bad guy. Throughout the book, Vader explains away and justifies Reggie's actions in captions. The book gives depth to a lot of side characters who, despite being around since the 1940s, haven't been given much background. I have been emotional reading comics, but this is the only one that's ever made me cry. Actual tears. I love Reggie & Me.

 

Good lists, some stuff I missed for sure. I have the first East of West trade on my shelf, and I need to give that iteration of Silver Surfer another chance. Loved Paper Girls, God Country, and Doctor Aphra.

 

My favs were Doom Patrol, Black Science, Deadly Class and Saga.

 

- Iceman (Sinna Grace, Alessandro Vitti)
- All New Wolverine (Tom Taylor, Juann Cabal)
- Dark Nights: Metal (Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo)
- Black Hammer (Jeff Lemire, David Rubin)
- Mister Miracle (Tom King, Mitch Gerads)
- Generation X (Christina Strain, Amilcar Pinna)
- America (Gabby Rivera, Joe Guinones)
- Hulk (Mariko Tamaki, Leon/Christopher)
- Shade, the Changing Girl (Cecil Castellucci, Gilbert Hernandez, Kelly Fitzpatrick, Laura Allred)
- Mighty Thor (Jason Aaron, Russell Dauterman)

Coming up with a list reminds me how much I neglected indy books in 2017.

 

I definitely want to read a lot more this year, been kinda out of the comics scene for the most part for a few years. Love the few things I did keep up with though (God Country, Saga, Paper Girls, Deadly Class, some Star Wars stuff but Aphra in particular).

 

I started Y: the Last Man and it is as underwhelming as I remember. I wasn't a fan of the first trade when I first read it, but decided since it is BKV, I'd give the whole run a spin. Read the first 10 issues and it really didn't do anything for me. I'll make my way through the whole thing, but it just isn't clicking so far.

 

I really like Y but it might be my least favourite of the things I've read by him.

 

Between last night and this morning, I read vol 1-4 of Tom King's Batman. I am Gotham/Suicide/Bane and The War of Jokes and Riddles. And unsurprisingly, I have thoughts. Things I didn't love about it.

But, at the center, I gotta say, this is by far the most I've liked a non-satirical Batman since The Animated Series. (Sorry, Chris Nolan and Scott Snyder.)

What I like so much about this is that, as much as this is a love letter to Batman, and as much as I can tell that King is someone who thinks Batman is inherently cool, the actual story being told is ultimately subverting Batman's iconic coolness in all the right ways. Maybe it's a product of King trying to say something different with a character this overexposed, coming off such a beloved run? Whatever the reason, it works.

I'm almost tempted to call what King is doing a "deconstruction" of the character, but that's not true. (And thankfully so, because superhero deconstruction is so dang tired, lol.) In a weird way, his approach to Batman's history, embracing both vintage silliness and modern sensibilities, reminds me of Grant Morrison's, and I love it the same way. The one place he's going the opposite direction, though, that makes all the difference to me, is by veering headfirst in the humanity of Batman instead of the mythology of Batman.

Funny enough, for how much I loved King's take on the character, I really wasn't that invested in the actual plots. It was weird how much time was spent with the Bane and Psycho Pirate angle, and the War of Jokes and Riddles fell into some of that "oh look how dark and gritty we are with these murderous villains" territory that I find so terribly boring. (The idea that Joker wasn't able to laugh anymore was at least interesting, even if it led to cheap stuff like him murdering that family to take their home.) But, the characters and themes thankfully more than made up for that lameness. Selina, Alfred, Gordon, Kite Man, Gotham Girl, and Duke are so wonderful that, even if this wasn't a great Bruce, they would carry the series for me. And, Bruce himself has a vulnerability that perfectly blends emotional pain and warmth in a way that thankfully avoids corny moodiness.

I was on and off with the art. This is the best Finch has ever looked, largely thanks to those Bellaire colors, but he's still Finch. Janin is talented, but his figures sometimes look like awkward computerized models. Gerards is fantastic when at his best, but sometimes he uses coloring that I don't love. Weirdly, the most consistently delightful artist here was Clay Mann, whose previous work on that Poison Ivy miniseries was super hit-or-miss for me; maybe Jordie Bellaire's colors were the magic ingredient he needed, too.

Anyways, I'm super pumped for the next volume. For as good as this was, the ratio of grim and corny fun was a little more to the dark end than I'd prefer. Alfred and Gordon's commentary (especially Alfred's), the Batman-themed restaurant (which felt straight out of the end of Kingdom Come), the Ballad of Kite Man (who felt like he could've been in Superior Foes of Spider-Man), and the Bruce-Selina romance (complete with a debate on if their first encounter was in the Golden Age Batman #1 or Miller's Year One) were the best parts of this. Vol 5, w/ the double date and whatnot, will probably be a perfect Batman volume for me.

(I know this post is super long, but my feelings on Batman compared to everyone else's are well documented, so I figured y'all would appreciate a longer review.)

 

I don't have as many thoughts on what I just read as @Tim does on Batman, but I enjoyed Green Arrow by Kevin Smith. The Quiver storyline was interesting. They blended in the rest of the JLA well so that it still felt like a GA story. The issues after Quiver weren't as good, but still had some good moments sprinkled throughout. Overall, had a fun time reading that.

Next up: Superman: Last Son of Krypton, Catwoman: Trail of the Catwoman, and then Manhattan Projects Vol. 1. By the time I read those, I should have my IST order and can work up my next reading list. It feels like a silly thing to do, but I found myself just staring at my shelves after finishing a trade or a book, so making a list ahead of time seems to help me save some time. Which just means more time to read, and that's always a good thing.

 

*crosses fingers for some Superman and some Vertigo*