The Best Marvel Comics Since Secret Wars (2015)

Marvel Comics is struggling, readers are losing interest, journalists are writing think pieces about what’s up, and some retailers have linked a downturn in the industry to poor Marvel sales. I’ve made my own theory known: these struggles stem from an ongoing obnoxious cash grab wherein Marvel over-connects its comics to its movie/TV premieres, and wherein it also cancels and reboots books before creators can execute the long-form serial storytelling that’s been a hallmark of the medium.

I’m writing more about Marvel’s struggles later this week, but what I’d like to do first is highlight some quality stories that have been told amid the strife, particularly in books shorter than 20 issues. For simplicity’s sake, I’ll say the troubles began at the end of the 2015 line-wide event Secret Wars, which narratively “destroyed” the Marvel Universe. Marvel had been relaunching titles for a few years before that, but it seemed to step up in the aftermath. Fans seemed willing to play along with All New, All Different Marvel, but the second Marvel Now! launch of the decade less than a year later was just too much.

SPECIAL NOTE: Runs like Jason Aaron’s The Mighty Thor, Dan Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man or Saladin Ahmed’s Black Bolt are not on here because those books are still alive, as are Brian Michael Bendis’ titles (I’d put Infamous Iron Man on here, but it’s an offshoot of a continuing Invincible Iron Man run, not its own thing). Furthermore, I’m not putting Dan Slott and Mike Allred’s Silver Surfer on here, because I’ve lauded it twice now, once in my Top Comics of October 2017 and again in my overall Top Comics of 2017. That run on Silver Surfer is truly special work, one of my all-time favorites, but writing about it three times in four months is excessive. That’s it, though, no other rules. Let’s do this!

The Ultimates (1 and 2) by Al Ewing and Kenneth Rocafort / Travel Foreman
There’s been a void at Marvel ever since a contentious movie rights negotiation (allegedly) resulted in the end of books about the Fantastic Four. This is partially because Marvel’s First Family contains some of the most iconic characters in comics, but also partially because there’s been a lack of ambitious cosmic adventures grounded in science. The Ultimates ultimately filled this gap a bit, with a lineup of varied, powerful characters, most of which were geniuses. This team took on the big problems in the Marvel Universe, such as satiating Galactus, and it ran in two iterations, both of which were fantastic, even if it did seem like Ewing had some longer-term plans cut short by the cancellation and maybe also disrupted by the 2016 event Civil War II.

Spider-Woman by Dennis Hopeless and Javier Rodriguez
This was an incredibly sweet book that started with Jessica Drew being a pregnant superhero before turning into book about Jessica Drew being a single mother superhero. There was really solid character-work, combined with a fresh premise, which gave Spider-Woman a warm and unique feel throughout its 17 issues. This book was an example of some of the highs that can be reached by taking a different approach to traditional Big 2 storytelling.

Scarlet Witch by James Robinson and various
This 15-issue run saw James Robinson team with a new artist each issue, including some of the best in the industry. In these stories, Wanda Maximoff wandered the globe on missions of self discovery and redemption, and the mostly self-contained tales felt like watching Wanda grow away from her tumultuous past. The sad part, however, is there likely won’t be any lasting effect on the character moving forward.

Black Widow by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee
Mark Waid and Chris Samnee just know good comics, from pacing to continuity to action sequences, and reading their work together often feels like watching a masterclass in superhero storytelling. Like the excellent run on Daredevil that preceded Black Widow, that’s how this book felt. I was shocked when it ended after a year of publication. The good news is that the band is back together, giving its same expert treatment to the traditional Steve Rogers iteration of Captain America. Their three understated issues have already been more interesting than the entirety of the Secret Empire event, which I was lukewarm on in terms of both concept and execution.

Moon Knight by Jeff Lemire and Greg Smallwood
This run was so good I haven’t been able to read a panel of Max Bemis’ current run on the character (which I’ve heard here and there is also pretty good) because I’m not ready to let go of the madcap yet introspective story Lemire and Smallwood told. The team really took hold of Moon Knight and his pliant mythos, and these 14 issues contained twist after twist, diving into ideas about mental health and then running laps around their fringes, looking gorgeous all the while due to Smallwood’s (and other contributing artists’) visual contributions.

Nighthawk by David F. Walker and Ramon Villalobos
This run only lasting 6 issues was an absolute tragedy. From the artwork to the thematic content rooted firmly in current events, this book was a fantastic read. Much was made when it died of whether fans properly supported Nighthawk, but the real conversation should have been about Marvel’s role in supporting its own books, and also about whether the book was lost amid the publisher flooding shops and over-shipping too many titles. Did we really need books about Black Knight, Weird World, Hercules, Web Warriors, Drax, or Starbrand and Night Mask? Would worthier books like Nighthawk have gotten a fairer shake without so much over saturation? It’s impossible to tell now, although DC’s modest Rebirth line serves as a glimpse to what could have been (however, I should also note that Nighthawk may not have existed at all if Marvel pulled a Rebirth, as the most obscure character during that launch was, arguably, Blue Beetle).

The Vision by Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta
This book was Marvel’s peak since Secret Wars, and, in my opinion, it ranks as a classic that ought to be remember among the best the medium has produced. It also marked Tom King’s arrival as a major writing talent in comics. In fact, before the 12-issue run had ended, DC snapped him up on an exclusive contract, a development then-Marvel E-I-C Axel Alonso seemed none too thrilled over. Through Gabriel Hernandez Walta’s excellent clean and emotive artwork, King’s scripts went to some truly dark and heartbreaking places.

As with Spider-Woman, The Vision also serves as a prime example of the good that can come from Marvel’s unrestrained editorial approach. It’s a quirky concept (a superhero in the suburbs! Superman + American Beauty!) executed by creators operating with total freedom, and it’s all about an often-minor character given a chance to star. Marvel’s milked the success of this book since it ended, putting out director’s cuts and hardcovers and all of that, but what if the publisher had had less titles, less relaunches, less series that looked exactly like their movies? Maybe books that were worthy, like The Vision, Nighthawk, The Ultimates or Spider-Woman would have found wider readership and hung around.

SPECIAL NOTE PART TWO: Later this week, we’ll look deeper into some of Marvel’s struggles, including what will possibly happen to Miles Morales with his name changing and Bendis stepping away, and how Marvel could be more successful by caring more about rewarding readers and less about swindling them into opening their wallets.

Most Anticipated Comics of 2018

If there’s one thing this site hasn’t done enough of, it’s definitely lists. Sure, midway through December we posted our always-late Top 5 Comics of November 2017, and then more recently we posted our surprisingly-on time Top Comics of 2017: part 1, part 2, and part 3, plus a list detailing how 2017 was the year Marvel’s bad habits finally caught up. Oh, and sometime next week we’ll have our always-late Top Comics of December 2017 (hey, gotta take time to make careful choices, right?). But can you ever really have enough lists? Lists!

Anyway, this list looks toward the future, specifically at our most anticipated comics of 2018. Obviously, more exciting books will be announced soon, and we really don’t know much about either Marvel or DC’s plans at this point. Just think, the comics that shaped much of 2017 were totally off the radar at this time last year, including the major events Secret Empire, Marvel Legacy, Dark Nights Metal, and Doomsday Clock.

This list is a collection of announced books we know a little bit about. Enjoy!

Abbott by Saladin Ahmed / Sami Kivela

Saladin Ahmed’s work on Black Bolt has been one of the rare successes at Marvel lately, surprising much of fandom because the Inhumans just can’t seem to find an audience, even with Marvel once pushing them as an alternative to the X-Men (curse the movie marketing machine!). This book, however, took hold, with an almost cult following (but not major sales success).

Abbott looks intriguing, too, and it’ll mark Ahmed’s first creator-owned work in the medium. The book, illustrated by Sami Kivela, is about a woman investigating and attempting to destroy dark forces, which is close thematically to Ahmed’s Hugo Award-nominated fantasy novel, Throne of the Crescent Moon. It’s also being published by Boom!, which has quietly been putting out some top-notch indie books (Giant Days, Mech Cadet Yu, Victor Lavalle’s Destroyer, etc.) as of late.

Bitter Root by David F. Walker / Sanford Greene

I LOVED David Walker and Sanford Greene’s Powerman and Iron Fist, which came to a sour end at the hands of the Marvel marketing machine (THAT’S a subject for a future post, though). This book reunites that team for a creator-owned story that sounds like a perfect fit for the duo’s aesthetic. It’s a story set during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, and a legendary monster hunting family that has fallen from glory must get it together to stave off an epic threat. Please please take my money and give me this book.

Doomsday Clock by Geoff Johns / Gary Frank

The first two issues have had the Herculean task of justifying the integration of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ classic Watchmen characters into the DC Universe, and, at least in my mind, they’ve largely accomplished that. Now, this isn’t to say that when the story ends I’ll still feel that way, but early indications are that Johns is using Watchmen, respectfully, to craft a new DC classic. We should be getting 10 issues next year, and I for one plan to savor every one.

Gideon Falls by Jeff Lemire / Andrea Sorrentino

We’ve never done the math, but Jeff Lemire could be the writer we praise most (apologies to Donny Cates and Tom King). So, it probably comes as no surprise that we’re stoked for his new creator-owned book Gideon Falls, which will reunite him with his Green Arrow and Old Man Logan collaborator Andrea Sorrentino. The reason for this excitement (besides it being new Lemire) is simple: this team worked at DC, it worked at Marvel, and chances are it will work at Image. You can find the info elsewhere, but this story sounds awesome. Here’s a snippet from the press release, “Rural mystery and urban horror collide in this character driven meditation on obsession, mental illness and faith.”

The Next Step for Miles Morales / Jessica Jones / Riri Williams

With the exception of Jessica Jones, we’re actually more nervous than excited to see what becomes of these characters. With her own Netflix show and established fan following, Jessica Jones is firmly entrenched in the Marvel Universe. The same can’t quite be said of the other two, although Miles is closer, but simply put, they are both legacy heroes who might flounder without a champion within the publisher who has as much clout as their creator Brian Michael Bendis did.

In a perfect world, these characters would be written and drawn by creators with similar backgrounds who understood their experiences, and, if the stories merited it, they’d get their own monthly books, but it’s very very very hard for new characters to take hold in comics, ever, which is why we’re still reading about so many heroes created so long ago. Only time will tell if Miles and Riri have staying power, but the year to come will give us a solid indication.

Superman by Brian Michael Bendis

Bendis has been saying for years he has a plan in mind if he ever gets to write Superman. Well, now according to swirling rumors (Bleeding Cool), he’s about to do just that. We believe it, too. There’s no way DC acquires a name like Bendis (who’s jump to the company merited an analysis piece in the Washington Post) without promising him keys to one of its best cars, and the Batman books are too good to touch right now.

Making this even more intriguing is that over the past year Bendis has been doing outstanding work at Marvel, almost as good as any in his career. He’s got some writing ticks that get out of hand (Writing ticks? Writing ticks. Ticks. That’s right. Writing-Ticks, that’s what I said), and DC strives for a semblance of consistency in art and voice throughout its titles. Bendis, however, is a pro and knows this going in, and we think he’s eager to play nicely at DC.

The Terrifics by Jeff Lemire / Ivan Reis

Oh, what a surprise, more Jeff Lemire. This time it’s for a book at DC, specifically The Terrifics, which takes a handful of b-list characters and turns them into a group that has a passing resemblance to the Fantastic Four. I have a bit of trepidation about the wave of books launching alongside The Terrifics as the New Age of DC Heroes, because launching one book with a new character is incredibly hard, let alone a half dozen at once. Plus, this kind of mass rollout of new stories runs directly counter to the measured back to basics approach that put DC on top of the market with its Rebirth titles, only like 3 of which have been canceled. If anyone can make this work, however, it’s a writer like Lemire.

Unannounced Marvel Projects by TBA

It’s pretty clear that 2017 was not great for Marvel. Hope, however, springs eternal, so we’ll keep talking about Marvel’s output (even if we’re not buying as many as their books as we used to). With that in mind, a number of Marvel’s creators have been teasing big announcements that they can’t yet talk about, including Donny Cates, Matthew Rosenberg, and Al Ewing.

Meanwhile, rumors are swirling (via Bleeding Cool again) of an extended run on Captain America by the untouchable duo of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee, followed by National Book Award Winner Ta-Nehisi Coates taking over the character. There are more rumors swirling (again via Bleeding Cool) about Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley taking over Amazing Spider-Man and Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic taking over The Avengers. We’re A LOT more excited about one of those books than the other, but no telling which! Go ahead and guess, just like we’re doing with Donny Cates next project (Wolverine? Please be Wolverine! Preferably set entirely in West Texas).

X-Men Grand Design by Ed Piskor

X-Men Grand Design has real potential to change the way comics records continuity, serving as an epic and stylish doctrine of how to do it right. This book is that ambitious in scope, and as I’ve noted in one of the best comics of the year features (and as I’m preparing to note in Top 5 Comics of December 2017), this book could be an all-timer. One issue came out in 2017, and if I’m not mistaken we’re about to get another 5 over-sized glorious issues from writer / artist Ed Piskor in 2018. What a thing that will be.

Top Comics of 2017, Pt. 3 #1 - #5

Picking the 5 best comics of the year was difficult, with God Country, Saga and Wic + Div all making aggressive arguments for why they should be included. I powered through, though, but the thing was, once I had a top 5, it was even harder deciding on an order. Changes were literally being made as recently as this morning. Making comics is tough, sure, but ranking comics is, well, slightly less tough but still pretty hard.

Anyway, this speaks to how good comics were in 2017, powered largely by a renaissance at DC. Whether this keeps going in 2018 is a matter of discussion best left to a future post, but as you’ll see here, 2017 really was a great year for DC Comics. The industry, however, also needs Marvel in order to comfortably sustain the thousands of small retail shops that sell books every Wednesday, but, again, that’s a matter of discussion best left for a future post.

Let’s get out of the future and into the past! That sounds good, right? I mean, if you spend as much time as I do reading about heroes created decades before you were born, the past is probably an interest of yours. But okay okay, no more rambling. Let’s do the thing.

The Top Comics of 2017

5. The Flintstones by Mark Russell / Steve Pugh
I remember openly laughing at this book when it was announced: a realistic monthly comic adaptation of The Flintstones. This was before Rebirth, when DC was still short on goodwill and almost every choice the publisher made was wrong. Man am I embarrassed by that laughing now. In time, it was my dopey pre-publication mockery that proved to be as thick as Barney Rubble.

With The Flintstones, writer Mark Russell and artist Steve Pugh created an incredible satire, one that used a prehistoric setting to examine so many issues that matter today, issues like religion, warfare, employer dominion over employees, gentrification, materialism, whether true happiness can be found in success, and the list goes on. Every issue was packed with more ethos and questions than a freshman philosophy course. It’s a shame that in June it had to end, but stop crying! Who's crying? I'm not crying, you're crying! Anyway, Mark Russell returns this month with a new book in the same vein, Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, which some critics are already calling the best new book of 2018.

4. Black Hammer (Sherlock Frankenstein and the Legion of Evil) by Jeff Lemire / Dean Ormston & David Rubin
Jeff Lemire’s work is difficult to describe. It's a special type of storytelling, so intriguing and layered that the entire scope of what drives it is rarely evident, even long after a story has ended (I still think about Plutona, like, often). Lemire is a nuanced writer who has supreme confidence in the worthiness of his stories, and nowhere is this more evident than in creator-owned books like Descender or Royal City.

What Lemire has done with Black Hammer, however, is even more impressive. He’s created a superhero universe unlike any we’ve ever seen. It has a similar mythos and many of the same tropes from those we know, but the world of Black Hammer is defined by a central tragedy in which the biggest superheroes inexplicably disappeared. It's a concept that would stem from a Big 2 event, before being quickly undone in order to return our heroes to the status quo. In Black Hammer, however, the heroes have never reappeared. Our story instead finds them aging and in a strange small town they can't escape. The tone is dour, the characters deep, the themes varied. Sometimes the story seems to be about family, sometimes contentment, sometimes duty, sometimes something I can't even guess.

The main storyline has paused for a moment while we digress into an auxiliary book, Sherlock Frankenstein and the Legion of Evil. This spot, however, is for the entire Black Hammer concept, which was one of the most original superhero takes of not just 2017, but of any year in recent memory. This might be a deconstruction of superhero deconstruction, but you'd have to ask Lemire to know for sure.

3. Batman by Tom King / Various
Tom King had such big shoes to fill when he took over this title. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo had just stepped away after a 51-issue run during the New 52 era that ranks as one of the greatest in the history of the character, and, meanwhile, Scott Snyder was sticking around, playing the Jay Leno to King’s Conan by doing All-Star Batman while King was still working to find his way and his audience.

Unlike Leno and Conan’s dumpster fire of a situation, however, King’s and Snyder’s seems as if it has been mutually beneficial, pushing both writers to do some of the best work of their careers. While Snyder strings together one of the best events in recent memory with Dark Nights Metal, King has become a rock star at the height of his powers, putting out hit after hit after hit. He’s done multi-part arcs like The War of Jokes and Riddles, and he’s done stirring romance with issues like Batman Annual #2, which was the second best standalone issue of any comic this year, and Batman #37, the double date with Superman issue. Speaking of the best comic this year, that would be King’s Batman and Elmer Fudd special, an imaginative take on both of those characters that dove deep into their core conceits and emerged as a poignant and entertaining one-off.

I remember when Tom King was first announced as Scott Snyder’s successor on Batman at the DC Rebirth live stream launch event during Emerald City Comic Con. Someone (either Geoff Johns or Dan Didio or Jim Lee) asked Snyder how it felt to have King take over, and Snyder said you always kind of hope the next guy will be Hacky McScripty, but, ego aside, he was glad the character would be in good hands with King. At this point, I think all of comic fandom agrees (apologies, of course, to Hacky McScripty, a dirty sonofabitch who owes me money).

2. Mister Miracle by Tom King / Mitch Gerads
It’s nice that in a year of so much polarization and national discord, the entire comics industry and fandom could agree on Mister Miracle as one of the best books of the year. In fact, as I write this I’ve just come from Twitter where someone noted that Mister Miracle has been awarded best comic of 2017 more than any other book. Readers of the series understand why.

Mister Miracle has the makings of a modern masterpiece, just as King and Gerads’ Sheriff of Babylon was before it, just as King’s work on The Vision and Omega Men was before that. Like all of King’s best work, Mister Miracle turns its titular superhero into a lens through which we as readers are forced to view ourselves, evaluating our own reputations, skills, and struggles with malaise and depression. It’s a dour book that also has a sense of humor; it’s a bleak story with heart; it’s a tale of ugliness and suicide and betrayal that also brims with beautiful art.

It’s a study in contradictions, a story perfectly suited for our times, for the heavy examination we as Americans are doing in this chaotic era where norms are being broken and our country often can’t agree on even minor issues or concerns. Where facts themselves have been called into question. At the end of 2017, this book is just shy of halfway done, and based on what we've seen, I'm confident enough now to predict that its second half will make it one of the most praised books of 2018 as well.

Finally, I'd like to note that deciding between Mister Miracle and the final entry on the list was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do as a critic.

1. Silver Surfer by Dan Slott / Mike Allred
Silver Surfer ranks as the best comic of 2017 and one of the best runs of all-time on any well-established superhero comic character. The final issue of Slott and Allred’s phenomenal collaboration ran in October, capping a story that started back in March of 2014 and saw the duo put out 29 phenomenal issues, some of which were innovative (the endless Silver Surfer #11 from the Marvel Now! era comes to mind) and all of which were filled (as I noted back in October) with Slott’s ambitious emotional concepts and Allred’s utterly unmatched eye for pop art.

Throughout its run, Silver Surfer was often delayed, but when it finally arrived it was immediately evident the extra time (which Slott says was his fault, always) had been put to good use. I’ve never read a book with such a unique feel. It was like watching a deep romance, an unfurling love story between The Surfer and Dawn Greenwood of Earth. The book was sweet and funny and sometimes even sexy. As I also noted in October, I’ll really miss it, and, to be honest, I can't intellectualize much more beyond that.

This Silver Surfer run accomplished one of the most difficult feats in modern superhero comics: it gave us an ongoing story that was driven by character but was at the same time satisfying on a monthly basis. It was this medium at its best: a mosaic of contained chapters that wove a larger tapestry but could also be appreciated for their individual merits. My favorite issue was the penultimate Silver Surfer #13, which was about our human desire to share our lives with a deeply beloved partner, all while knowing that time will eventually claim one of us, knowing how painful that day will be and deciding that loving another person is worth it anyway. It drove me to tears with its beauty.

Pt. 1, #16 - #25

Pt. 2, #6 - #15

Top Comics of 2017, Pt. 2 #6 - #15

Long-running books like Saga and The Wicked + The Divine NOT cracking our top 5 comics of 2017 has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of those books. No, in fact, Saga is as good as always, while Wic + Div is reaching new and awesome heights, propelled by epic twists that have changed this story of music and gods as we know it.

Those books didn’t make the top 5 because, as you’ll see when part 3 drops (hopefully tomorrow!), 2017 was a killer year for comics, at least critically (sales is another story). In our top 5, we’ll have a truly phenomenal Marvel series with a perfect ending, and we’ll have one of the industry’s best writers doing great things on multiple books and characters over at DC. But hey, we’re getting ahead of ourselves! Let’s save it for the next post.

Besides, the crop we have here is pretty great. So, let’s quit fiddling around and check out 6 - 15!

15. Doomsday Clock by Geoff Johns / Gary Frank
We predict Doomsday Clock will end up higher on next year’s list once it's get further into the story, but at the moment we’ve only seen two of the twelve issues. Those issues, however, were quite promising, setting up a tale likely to have ramifications throughout the DC Universe. With Geoff Johns and Gary Franks leading the way, we’re in for some real good comic booking.

14. X-Men: Grand Design by Ed Piskor
As with Doomsday Clock, X-Men: Grand Design will likely be higher on next year’s list. We’ve only seen one of six issues, but this might just be a masterpiece. Reading this book is like watching a perfectly-executed historical documentary, one informed by massive amounts of research. Ed Piskor, the auteur behind Grand Design, did the same thing on his last book, Hip Hop Family Tree, which traced the history of that music genre as Grand Design traces the X-Men. Simply put, this is an unprecedented and artful attempt to streamline decades of convoluted stories, and Piskor is nailing it. If he’s willing, Marvel should have Piskor produce similar books about Spider-Man, The Avengers, Hulk, Iron Man and so on and so on, etc, forever.

13. Secret Weapons by Eric Heisserer / Raul Allen
There was a cinematic quality to Secret Weapons, a Harbinger offshoot that ended up being the best Valiant book this year. That cinematic feel is likely owed to writer Eric Heisserer, who also penned last year’s excellent film Arrival. Secret Weapons is about a team of underdogs who learn to use seemingly useless powers to combat a threat that is hunting them. The plot doesn’t break new ground, but the characters’ powers are fresh, the script is compelling, and the art is top-notch. I'm becoming exhausted with Valiant not letting series grow into themselves, but this mini was satisfyingly self-contained.

12. Deathstroke by Christopher Priest / Various
Deathstroke has been a highlight of DC Rebirth. It's written by PRIEST, an all-time great creator who returned to monthly comics to helm this, and man, are we lucky he did. The plotting and character work in Deathstroke is more complex and nuanced than almost any other superhero title today, and PRIEST is consistently planting seeds that payoff later. His work here has been so good that DC allegedly offered him the Batman editor gig (which he allegedly declined) before giving him its flagship team book, Justice League. Smart moves, all around.

11. The Wild Storm by Warren Ellis / Jon Davis-Hunt
We’ve gone two whole spots without saying this, but The Wild Storm is yet another book likely to be higher next year. There is an incredible amount of complex track being patiently laid here by writer Warren Ellis. In fact, before this book launched, Ellis said he’d plotted exactly what would happen and when (and which books would spin out of the title), and this intricate planning shows. Also, Jon Davis-Hunt is one of the most underrated artists in comics. His facial expressions are almost photographically realistic, and The Wild Storm #9 had a samurai sequence that ranks as the best graphic action storytelling of the year. We can’t wait to see where this goes.

10. Royal City by Jeff Lemire
Royal City is a personal and introspective book, easily the most personal and introspective book appearing monthly in almost every shop. What’s especially impressive for such an introspective book is that the story here is also relatable, rich as it is with family dynamics, economic struggles, addiction, etc., and it's told with a really cool ‘90s grunge vibe, super familiar to readers of a certain age. Also of note is that Royal City is written AND drawn by Jeff Lemire, whose Google Calendar must be INSANE because he’s writing a half dozen other books always.

9. Supergirl: Being Super by Mariko Tamaki / Joelle Jones
Supergirl: Being Super gives the titular character the reimagined out-of-continuity origin story treatment, a concept that has previously resulted in great stories about more prominent characters, mostly Superman and Batman, over and over and over. It's nice to see it now applied to Supergirl. All four of the glossy oversized issues that make up the run of this book were killer, and Joelle Jones’ art was so good it often felt like watching a great teen drama that was heavy on emotion. 

8. Saga by Brian K. Vaughan / Fiona Staples
Saga has been a favorite throughout its run, and we’ve given it to friends and co-workers who don’t read comics (harshly judging any who did not respond with praise), and we never miss an issue. Recently, @SageTerrence described this book on Twitter as “Star Wars and Romeo and Juliet combined,” which is a good starting point for explaining Saga. Taking it further, this is also a book about a family fighting to survive a galactic conflict that is so polarized and entrenched many of those engaged in it have lost sight of the cost, becoming blinded to what's productive and only focusing on whether they're right. This, sadly, was a tragically-relevant theme for 2017, a drag-ass year if ever there was one. Here’s to a better 2018, in which Saga continues to be this good.

7. God Country by Donny Cates / Geoff Shaw
Donny Cates was a talented up-and-comer when 2017 started. Then God Country dropped. Now, as 2017 ends, Donny Cates is a bonafide comics star. If you’ve read God Country, this makes total sense. The book was so good, my LCS now orders all of Cates stuff, marking the first time this particular shop has stocked AfterShock Comics or Vault Comics titles (because of Babyteeth and Reactor, respectively). Like all of Cates’ best work, this book is powered by a mix of unique concept and clever scripting, with a healthy coat of pure Texas, Cates native state.

6. The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen / Jamie McKelvie
It’s been easy to forget The Wicked + The Divine in recent years, not because the book hasn’t been good or memorable, but because it’s been so reliable. It’s like the friend you take for granted because he or she is always there. This year, however, Gillen and McKelvie took the story to new places with a blockbuster arc that paid off events from the first issue that pretty much anywhere realized would come back to be relevant. This year's incredible arc was easily Wic + Div’s best, no minor feat for a story that’s 30-some issues old. The end game is coming for this book, and while we're sad to see it end, we have total faith that the finale will be spectacular. 

SPECIAL NOTE: The exciting conclusion, complete with the Top 5 Comics of 2017, is coming tomorrow!

Pt. 1, #16 - #25

Top Comics of 2017, Pt. 1: #16 - #25

Nearly a year ago to the day, Civil War II #8 came out with a pitiful whimper, eliciting mostly shrugs from fans and lackluster reviews online. At the time, Marvel must have thought, well, it’s a new year soon, we can regroup, and things can only get better from here.

Without going into detail about Marvel’s troubles, things did not get better. Things, in fact, got worse—much worse. So epicly worse that earlier today the Hollywood Reporter published a piece about how almost everything that could go wrong for Marvel in 2017 went for Marvel in 2017, like the House of Ideas was suddenly Jurassic Park, battling Ian Malcolm’s Chaos Theory.  

And my Top Comics of 2017 reflects this. A scant 3 of 25 spots on the list went to Marvel. By comparison, 10 went to DC and its various imprints, and 11 went to independent publishers, with Image unsurprisingly leading the way with 6 books. But this list is supposed to be celebrating the good! So, enough about problems. I’m sure much will continue to be Tweeted and blogged about Marvel’s ongoing struggles anyway. 

So, let’s get to the obsession that, if you’re anything like me, drives you to some storefront every Wednesday for a stack of floppy comics, a medium that blends of art and capitalism better and more directly than anything else this great nation of ours has conceived.

Here are 16 - 25 of the my top comics of 2017. Enjoy!

25. Infamous Iron Man by Brian Michael Bendis / Alex Maleev
I’ve said this on Twitter and been met with silence from my admittedly modest following, but one of the most interesting things about Brian Michael Bendis ending a nearly two-decade run at Marvel is that in 2017 Bendis quietly did great work for the publisher. Jessica Jones, Defenders, Spider-Man and Invincible Iron Man were all engaging, character-driven stories. Spider-Men II didn’t work for me, but the rest were A+, and none was better than Infamous Iron Man, 12 excellent issues that tackled ideas of public redemption and also featured Doctor Doom cleaning house.

24. Catalyst Prime by Lion Forge
I’ve dug Lion Forge’s Catalyst Prime books, an ambitious attempt at a new superhero universe. It doesn’t have iconic characters like Marvel or DC, obviously, and because of this, at times the stories can be fuzzy and dull. That’s just the cost of doing business in a world where there are really only 8 - 10 good superhero narratives. What Catalyst Prime does at its best is provide alternative takes on these narratives, positing questions like what if an alienated teen hero had a disability, or what if a suave rich guy hero got an unglamorous power rooted in mindscapes and introspection? Within this line, I like Superb and Astonisher the best, with Noble close behind. The art in Accell is strong and Summit is promising after only one issue.

23. Clean Room by Gail Simone / Jon Davis-Hunt & Walter Geovani
This book was so good for its entire run, but it seemed like nobody paid attention. I get that Vertigo had fallen on hard times, but Gail Simone is one of the best writers in the industry and Jon Davis-Hunt’s art is Frank Quitely-esque yet still wholly his own (Walter Geovani also did an admirable job when Davis-Hunt left for The Wild Storm). Anyway, since I feel like the only one who read this, I want to implore you now to please please please pick this up in trade, so we can get another volume of Clean Room at some point.

22. Grass Kings by Matt Kindt / Tyler Jenkins
Grass Kings is a beautiful and deliberate book, rich with Matt Kindt’s interest in the effects of malfeasance or neglect through time and Tyler Jenkins blurred, almost abstract watercolor artwork. It’s a book that feels real, from the things the characters do and say to the ideas about independence and transparency and the cost of preserving a larger community even if it means sacrificing safety of those inside. At least, that’s how I’ve read it so far anyway. This is a bit of a mystery book, the scope of which is yet to be made entirely clear.

21. Snotgirl by Bryan Lee O’Malley / Leslie Hung
There are few books as stylish or obsessively in the moment as Snotgirl, a tale of a vapid Instagram model in LA, who is only concerned with personal growth if that growth leads to a reduction in the severity of her super gross allergies. This book is a smart take on us as a social media generation, as well as a meditation on the personality disorders constant social media validation is likely creating.

20. Victor LaValle’s Destroyer by Victor LaValle / Dietrich Smith
Victor LaValle is one of my favorite literary writers, and, in fact, I may write a post early next year about how his novel The Changeling is a good choice for fans of modern suspense and horror comics. But that’s later. If you’ve already read the Changeling, I can tell you Destroyer’s plot has far more action and sci-fi, but it also has the themes of parenthood, being the other and technology that powered The Changeling, glossed with a layer of mythology culled from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Trust me, it works.

19. Super Sons by Peter Tomasi / Jorge Jimenez
Super Sons did an impressive job telling a story about new characters and a new situation (Batman and Superman mutually raising adolescent sons) while also creating a nostalgic, classic feel that so many fans enjoy, myself included. This book was filled with fresh stories that felt familiar, and although we’re only 11 issues in, the scripts by the criminally underrated Peter Tomasi made this book feel as if it had been around for years. I love all things Super Sons, and I hope this rumor about Brian Bendis taking over Superman doesn’t rock the boat (Bendis never seems to write just one book about a character, see Iron Man, see X-Men). And Jorge Jimenez's impossibly clean lines are a perfect fit.

18. Aquaman by Dan Abnett / Various
Dan Abnett’s Aquaman has been a great book since before DC Rebirth, depicting Arthur Curry as a global diplomat constantly juggling a desire to do the right thing for Earth, to placate the nationalistic populism of his people in Atlantis, and to soothe the fears and concerns of the equally nationalistic populist surface dwellers. This book, however, has really become something special now that *SPOILER* Abnett has taken Arthur off the throne and put him in Atlantis’ underworld, where he leads a timely resistance effort against the leader that schemed to replace him. Oh, and Stjepan Sejic dual work as artist and colorist since June has been something to behold. His aesthetic is a fantastic fit for the character.

17. Think Tank by Matt Hawkins / Rahsan Ekedal
Think Tank, now on its fifth volume since launching in 2012, was as sharp as ever, taking writer Matt Hawkins dense scientific research and insatiable curiosity about the military, and distilling it into stories about global dynamics, all while telling the personal story of Dr. David Loren. What I like so much about Think Tank is every arc essentially tells three stories at once: one about the protagonist’s personal life, one about technology, and one about global affairs. It never becomes unwieldy, which is a testament to Hawkins’ deft plotting and Rahsan Ekedal’s crisp art.

16. Extremity by Daniel Warren Johnson
Aside from the gorgeous artwork, strong family dynamics and earned big twists, one of the things that endeared Extremity to me was artist / writer Daniel Warren Johnson’s earnest back matter, in which he explained this story is about his greatest fear: losing his drawing hand. It’s a personal premise, and Johnson does a great job of weaving a rich sci-fi / fantasy around it.

SPECIAL NOTE: Tomorrow I'll be posting my Top Comics of 2017, Pt. 2: #6 - #15, and Sunday I'll be posting my Pt. 3: #1 - #5.

Top 5 Comics of November 2017

How about November? It was a great month for comics, so good I could probably get away with saying that this post is tardy because I spent weeks debating the order. And yes, while I did grapple with that, truth is my rankings are always late and I’ve just been busy. But, again, the idea behind this monthly piece is to maybe help with pull list decisions, rather than single issue purchases.

Anyway, without further adieu (wait, there was adieu?! Did I miss the adieu??!!), here is November’s list:

Honorable Mention: The Batman Who Laughs #1

The Batman Who Laughs is one of the year’s best Batman stories, and it isn't even the best Batman book this month (more on that later). This one spun out of DC's Metal event, which has been grandiose yet laden with sheer comic book goofiness, all transposed against a terrifying threat of alternate Bruce Waynes. This story lacks the goofiness (like in Metal how the Justice League piloted robots that unified to form a Voltron — I know!). This story is all darkness.

And it’s a story that expands a bit on an idea in The Killing Joke regarding the commonality between Batman and Joker, minus the one bad day idea (which, c’mon). It takes us to a dark Earth where *SPOILER* Batman kills Joker and is transformed by gas released upon his death into a hybrid of their two personas. There have been many stories about how Batman and Joker are similar, or different, or parts of the same coin, but this one shows us Joker’s volatility complimenting Batman’s capability and drive, creating something else that's utterly terrifying. Also, how about that title?

5. Mister Miracle #4

That Mister Miracle has appeared here twice and I’ve only been writing this for three months says a good deal about how much I like this comic. As I noted when it landed on my Top 5 Comics of September 2017, writer Tom King is inclined to play with form. This book does that by putting Mister Miracle (aka Scott Free) on trial in the living room of his schlubby apartment, then using spurious logic and rapid questioning to give us a window into the titular character’s mental state, which is tinged with depression and PTSD.

Free is tried by Orion, who took his place when the benevolent High Father swapped Scott with the malevolent Darkseid, hoping it would put their worlds at peace (Narrator: it didn’t). The tension, resentment, and differences between the characters is on full display as Orion grills Free within Mitch Gerads’ intricate nine-panel pages. I’m not the first to call this 12-issue series a modern classic in the making and certainly won’t be the last. In fact, I do it again in two months at this rate.

4. The Wild Storm #9

I’ve been a little baffled at the seemingly low profile writer Warren Ellis and artist Jon Davis-Hunt’s The Wild Storm has had during its excellent run. I’m either missing the buzz about this book, or too many people are disregarding it as a ‘90s throwback relaunch that relies purely on nostalgia. This is, however, far from being that. The Wild Storm stands easily on its own as a rich and compelling story.

What landed it on my list this month was Davis-Hunt’s artwork, particularly during the incredible feudal Japan fight sequence, among the best action storytelling I’ve seen in the medium all year. It was actually one of two fantastic action sequences this month, with David Marquez’s Elektra and Iron Fist battle in Defenders being the other. This one gets the nod because The Wild Storm has been stronger for longer, and I also feel like Davis-Hunt didn’t get enough credit for his fantastic pencils in Gail Simone’s highly-underrated Clean Room series, which recently concluded but is very much worth reading in trade.

3. Descender #26

There’s a tendency in shops and online to take Image’s many long-running super strong books for granted, books like Wicked + Divine, Saga, Sex Criminals, and even The Walking Dead. Descender is a prime example. The story has slowed a bit after its breakneck early issues to log a few backstory installments, but it’s really picked up in The Rise of The Robots arch, which concludes here.

Jeff Lemire’s books often make this list, in part because his work has so much nuance. There’s a literary quality to Lemire’s comic writing, in that characters and stories are layered with meaning (at least as I read them) and tend to land places that are unpredictable and so organic that truth rings through. This is even true of work he's done for the Big 2. Descender is no exception. It’s a slow-burn, and whatever the payoff ends up being, Lemire is doing the important work to earn it.

2. Doomsday Clock #1

Geoff Johns's comic work is rare these days, now that he’s guiding DC's larger direction across various media. Johns, however, is among the best superhero writers of all time, and he follows up here on his industry-shaking DC Rebirth one shot from last May. This is a huge deal, as it has promised to incorporate Watchmen characters into the DC universe proper. I think it's telling that a friend of mine who posts online maybe once a year about comics went out to check it.

And I was thoroughly satisfied by the story. There’s a significant percentage of fans who are super weary of messing with anything Watchmen, creating scrutiny for this book, but I’m all in. Johns and artist Gary Frank have earned trust. On another Johns note, I think it’s folly that his role in the DC movie universe is rumored to be changing because Justice League bombed. I mean, Johns came on board for Wonder Woman, which was the best superhero movie in years, and by that time, Justice League’s trajectory already seemed firmly in place. Hell, director Zack Snyder seemed to have had it planned before Batman V. Superman even opened. Not much Johns, or anyone else, could have done to make the wholesale changes needed. I know someone had to fall on their sword for Justice League bombing, but Johns is the WRONG answer.

1. Batman Annual #2

Okay, so more praise for Tom King: his work is so good it helped draw me back into being a Wednesday Warrior with my comic reading. I’d been following via trades at the library for a few years when Marvel announced its All New, All Different relaunch. I went back to shops, feeling that as an adult with steady income, I should directly support the industry. However, minus a few exceptions, I was disappointed with the storytelling. One of those exceptions was Tom King’s incredible Vision series with Gabriel Walta. From there, I read Omega Men and Sheriff of Babylon. It was all so good, so willing to take chances to make the text more beautiful and the story human. I was, of course, upset when Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo ended their all-time great run on Batman, but King taking over cushioned that blow. Issues like Batman Annual #2 are the reason why.

This is a fairly straightforward love story between Batman and Catwoman, one that transcends costumed ridiculousness and speaks to the beauty and tragedy inherent to romantic love. Drawn by Lee Weeks, King's collaborator from Batman Elmer Fudd (another improbably great work from Tom King), this is a heart-rending love story that is easily among the best comics of the year.

Top Comics for October 2017

Comic book critics have a tendency to over-review #1 issues. With good reason, I suppose, as the first installment of a series is generally a jumping on point read far more than future issues, and, presumably, one that more people want to read informed takes about before deciding whether it’s worth their $4, or whatever.

I get that, but I have an aversion to putting #1 issues on this list, unless they really earn it. I don’t want to reward potential over a solid track record. Besides, I don’t write real-time reviews aimed at helping decide what books to buy. I write retrospectives on what did and didn’t work each month, sometimes not until weeks after said month has ended (ahem, this month).

Maybe, my thinking goes, such pieces will help influence decisions about what to keep on a pull list. That would be rad. Really, though, I just try to discuss what is and is not working in the industry. It’s a conversation that’s particularly relevant now, with reports suggesting comic sales are on pace to finish 10 percent lower than they did in 2016. So yeah, while series like Kid Lobotomy, Wildstorm: Michael Cray, and Slots all launched in October with strong debuts, you won’t find them here. Instead, I’ve gone with two concluding issues for great runs, two issues from series that seem to be hitting their strides, and...oh snap, a #1. It’s a weird #1, though. Not technically a debut...ah, let’s just get into it.

5. Sherlock Frankenstein and the Legion of Evil #1

I know what the cover says, but this isn’t a real #1. It’s not a jumping on point, like, at all. It’s actually the first of a four-part interlude within Jeff Lemire’s superhero deconstruction, Black Hammer, which just finished a brilliant 13-issue run with Dark Horse Comics in September, concluding in a way that (cliche alert) left us with more questions than answers. But I won’t get into plot here.

What I loved about Black Hammer, and by extension the “first” issue of Sherlock Frankenstein and the Legion of Evil (perfect name for a comic, btw) is the subversion of the mood of traditional superhero deconstructions like Watchmen or The Dark Knight Returns, both of which are exceedingly grim. That’s not to say Black Hammer is cheery or optimistic. Far from. Its prevailing tone is somber. Those classic works, in spite of their realism, still trade in excitement, but this is a subdued story about purgatory, about dedicating one’s life to others and as a result being lost, possibly imprisoned. It’s a story in which what’s NOT on the page speaks volumes, like, for example, how there are next to no fight scenes.

Black Hammer is a mystery, so I could be way off, but my take is Lemire is concerned more with implications. He’s asking if violence is ever justified, if it is ever righteous enough to come without a steep price. It’s a theme that has recurred in his recent work, specifically in the excellent 2015 Image Comics mini-series Plutona, which turns a lens on readers who exalt superheros, and in his even better original graphic novel Roughneck, which does the same for hockey fans (and which Lemire both wrote and drew, while continuing to produce several high quality monthly comics...don’t think too long about that).

I’m in on Black Hammer until the end, and I highly suggest you get with it, too. Once this mini wraps up, I fully expect a return to the main plotline, likely with a new #1 that’s also not really a #1.

4. Royal City #6

Speaking of work Jeff Lemire both wrote and drew, the next comic here is Royal City #6. This is also a somber book, with nothing cartoony about it. This is, simply put, one of the most outwardly-personal serialized stories from a major publisher, and I’m continually surprised to see it stocked at high volume in local comic shops alongside tights and spaceships and time travellers.   

Royal City landed on my list after I was wondering if Lemire would be interested in continuing past the first five issues. These are slice of life stories, tied thematically (by loss, nostalgia, love of music) rather than by grand plotlines. The first arc was poignant and haunting, and I wasn’t sure where the story would go. The answer, turns out, is an obvious one: the same place, only deeper.

I’ve also been impressed with how well this book uses the graphic medium. With the possible exception of Grass Kings (a kindred spirit to Royal City in some ways), no book right now is better using the flexibility of hand-drawn images to convey losses that characters hold tight, with visual representations of phantom loved ones blending seamlessly into the current lives their absences have so greatly impacted. To have a protagonist talking to his dead brother all the time would take viewers out of a film, but it’s a perfect fit for comic book storytelling.

3. Paper Girls #16

Brian K. Vaughan’s body of work is among the most impressive of any writer in comics. He’s not as prolific a creator as Lemire (who is?), but his career is filled with landmark, influential series that have reached beyond the insularity of comics to win fans in the mainstream, like Runaways (coming soon to Hulu), Y: The Last Man, and Saga, an issue of which made my favorites list last month.

Vaughan has earned our trust, which is why I never worried when Paper Girls began with muddled narrative clarity. None of Vaughan’s other series had been so hard to decipher early — hell, Saga arguably has the best narration in the history of the medium — so I figured withholding was intentional and destined to be used to great effect. Plus, Cliff Chiang’s artwork was sharp and compelling. And guess what, looks like my figuring was right!

Paper Girls #16 is the start of a new arc in which the reasons for the adventure seem poised to get clearer. I’ve long suspected the letters page of being a clue, oscillating from a bygone-era male paperboy voice to a modern (possibly futuristic) female voice that describes print as anachronistic and dead. Plus, whether or not the window has closed to get a membership card to the paper delivery guild seems to fluctuate wildly. That’s got to be significant. Theorizing aside, this issue was great because it naturally delivered the first character with an interest in figuring out the time struggle our namesake paper girls have been engaged with for the past 15 issues. I can’t wait to learn all that she knows.

2. Victor LaValle’s Destroyer #6

I’ve been aware of Victor LaValle for some time through literary friends and fiction circles, but didn’t know he wrote (or had interest in writing) comics. It’s not surprising. In fact, many of my favorite literary writers either dabble in or have been influenced by the medium (Junot Diaz, Mat Johnson, Michael Chabon, Jonathan Lethem, Benjamin Percy, Ta-Nehisi Coates, to name a few). So, based on the creator’s reputation, I pre-ordered Victor LaValle’s Destroyer months before the first issue came out.

Now that it’s over, I’m excited I did. I try to keep my comic consumption to 75 titles a month (I know, how noble of me) and what first drew me into this book was LaValle’s clear obsession with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which shapes this narrative. What kept me reading was the characterization and thematic exploration of the ongoing American police violence against young black men. LaValle’s story, spread over six issues, is exciting on a surface level, too, so much so that by the time the emotional scope becomes evident and you realize the cost paid by the family at the center of the story, it’s entirely too late to avoid being devastated, especially if you’ve been following the news. It’s a poignant and expert bit of storytelling.

Last month, #5 could have just as easily made the list, but I knew the end was coming in October and wanted to hold off until it had been completed, sort of like how the academy awards waited for the last movie to give best picture to Lord of the Rings. I also want to note that Boom Studios has been putting out great, creator-driven work as of late, titles like Mech Cadet Yu and Grass Kings, and Destroyer is part of that wave. So yeah, if you haven’t been reading it, I highly suggest making it a point to pick up the trade.

1. Silver Surfer #14

At my top spot this month is the finale issue of writer Dan Slott and artist Mike Allred’s run on Silver Surfer, which started back in March of 2014 and saw the duo put out 29 phenomenal issues, some of which were innovative (the endless Silver Surfer #11 from the Marvel Now run, namely) and all of which were filled with Slott’s ambitious emotional concepts and Allred’s incredible eye for pop art.

The release schedule for this title was sporadic, and I often assumed (correctly) that each issue would be a month late, minimum, but when they arrived it became evident that the extra time (which Slott has said was his fault, always) was put to good use. I’ll really miss this book, and, to be honest, I can't intellectualize much more beyond that.

This Silver Surfer run accomplished one of the most difficult feats in modern superhero comics: it gave us (cliche alert!) a rich tapestry of installments driven by character, while at the same time serving as a set of contained chapters that could be appreciated for individual merits. My favorite was the penultimate Silver Surfer #13, which was about our human desire to share life with a deeply beloved partner, all while knowing time will eventually claim one of us, knowing how painful that day will be and not caring. It drove me to tears with its beauty. It’s hard to think of a better way to spend $3.99.

Ursula K. Le Guin Adaptations Should be the Next Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones deconstructed the familiar cliches of high fantasy, taking a grittier, more logical look at that genre. And everyone loved it.

Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns both did that for superhero comics. And everyone loved it. Or comics people did, at least. Then everyone did when Christopher Nolan drew from the latter work to inspire his Batman trilogy.

And The Walking Dead did that for zombie fiction, kind of (kind of because George A. Romero started at a gritty and logical point with it years ago, but Walking Dead has extended the concept out to long-term survival, arguably a deconstruction of a genre often limited to the early days of the outbreak). Everyone loved it, kept loving the comic, stopped loving it after early seasons of the show.

A billion people have deconstructed horror movies. Some love it. That’s fine. I’m not really interested in most horror films, but I do want to make my point a little more.

Zombies, wizards, caped crusaders, murderers...all major tentpoles of genre storytelling have been deconstructed and taken to real, logical places with a notable exception: science fiction.

There is, however, source material out there awaiting adaptation to remedy this, to take our Star Wars and Star Treks and turn them into something we relate too without having to sustain disbelief. This material might even stand up to scientific scrutiny from Neil Degrasse Tyson, it's that good.

I’m talking about Ursula K. Le Guin’s Hainish Cycle novels, the bulk of which were written during a torrid and arguably unmatched ten-year literary stretch from 1966 to 1976, with the final three entries capturing the Hugo Award, basically the Pulitzer Prize of sci-fi.

I can see it so clearly in my head, a series on FX or HBO or AMC, an anthology where characters don’t carry over from one season to the next, starting with Rocannon’s World. I can see the world-building, done slowly at first. I can see the twists and reveals of the first book, as well as of the second and third, Planet of Exile and City of Illusion, respectively. I can see warring and subtle aliens and fights for survival.

I can see it then transition from genre into undeniable prestige TV in the fourth season, which brings the classic The Left Hand of Darkness, easily the most distinguished book in Le Guin’s prolific career, made more relevant now as society begins a presumably long process of integrating gender fluidity.

In these books there are myriad alien races, different worlds, civilizations in various states of development, windows into ages of fantasy. There are love stories and meditations on consciousness and questions about whether human evolution itself might have been tampered with by peoples from the stars. There’s political intrigue and politicking and science, all built upon a staggeringly realistic foundation of ideas rooted in real anthropology, presumably gleaned by Le Guin’s upbringing as the daughter of a UC Berkeley anthropologist and a writer.

I know the anthropology stuff is a dry sell, but Mad Men worked, didn't it? I also think the zeitgeist has never been so primed for such an adaptation, for an alternative to the annual Star Wars releases, which are tiring now in their early phases with the accompanying year-round news and hype cycles, both of which only stand to get worse in the years to come.

What you get in Le Guin’s works is not swashbuckling space operatics. It’s a series of barely-connected stories of how planetary characteristics influence culture, evolution, and the ways people socialize. It’s different and easier to relate to than laser swords. In her work, communication through space is hard, travel is harder. People spend lifetimes moving between worlds, as it no doubt would be had we mastered that sort of technology.

This all makes so much sense, and it would seem Le Guin herself is amenable to having her work adapted. A recent news note suggested Left Hand of Darkness was getting a limited television series, but also called into question its own likelihood by noting there was no screenwriter. And she has previously allowed for adaptations of another series of books of hers, the Earthsea fantasy novels (although she lambasted the questionable quality).

The point is this can and should be done, and if it does happen, the potential for mainstream success is there, as much as it was for Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead.

Top 5 Comics for September 2017

September was a great month for long-running series reminding us what made them so compelling in the first place, specifically Saga #47 and The Wicked + Divine #31 (Southern Bastards #18 was also close). This is comforting. There’s been much quality churn in the big two of late (blame superhero box office success and resulting corporate interest) and I wonder where comics would be without these steady books from the vanguard of Image Comics’ recent renaissance. There's always imaginative and strong work to be found in true indies — ahem Vault Comics, ahem Lion Forge — and while I suppose the mainstream might consider Image indie, it hardly seems like it, as the company's books are in most shops.  

Marvel and DC, though, are basically like struggling sports teams in die-hard cities: no matter how much they suck, hope springs eternal because we grew up rooting for them and, hey, how cool would it be if they defied all odds and got better? Keeping with sports analogies, DC Rebirth is a resurgent team having a surprising big year … in that this is nice and all but fans are still waiting for them to fall apart because we've been burned in the past. Two things I’m doing, though: 1. Knocking off sports analogies (‘bout time, right?), and 2. Enjoying DC Rebirth while it's strong. This month is a good time to savor DC, to be sure, with the publisher delivering a foundation for a character-defining maxi series in Tom King’s Miracle Man #2 and a rare well-done modern mega event in Scott Snyder’s Dark Knights Metal #2.

Also, my top five for September includes Snotgirl. So, without further adieu...

5. Snotgirl #7

Snotgirl’s Lottie Person is the anti-hero antidote (antilote?...antilottie?...oh jesus, I'll stop) for the hyper-masculine angsty middle-age men that swept prestige TV a few years ago, your Don Drapers and Heisenbergs and whatnot. Where those guys methed it up or leveraged power and looks to abuse women, Lottie is just selfish and vapid and consumed with appearances. She also has severe allergies and green hair. Like Don Draper and Walter White, though, one can make a case that she’s a product of environment.

I’ve been all in on Snotgirl from issue #1, enthralled with the promise of monthly work from Scott Pilgrim’s Bryan Lee O’Malley, and, sure, after returning from hiatus this summer, Snotgirl is now every other month, but one of the reasons I gave this book a top five slot is that the added time really shows. This seventh issue is a significant improvement over the end of the last arc. The script is just as clever, but the book has regained a sense of purpose and pacing that had gotten a bit jumbled, evidenced here by intriguing B and C plots —  her foe waking up and the detectives, respectively — that seem to be building.

Basically, this book is funny, hip, and could be a timely satire of Internet/Instagram looks versus truth culture, something (correct me if I’m wrong) no medium has quite nailed.

4. Dark Knights Metal #2

Much has been written about Metal, and even more has been said during awkward exchanges at registers in comic shops (one side always seems to enjoy those more than the other, btw), but I still want to note that Metal, the biggest event so far in the Rebirth era, is a perfect blend of what the publisher got right in the New 52 and the back-to-basics simplicity of Rebirth.

The Snyder-Capullo Batman run was New 52's best sustained work, possibly one of the best runs ever done in-continuity for the character, or any other big two character really (I may compile a list of my all-time favorite in-continuity runs soon). It obsessed over the idea that Batman’s insistence on fighting crime was at its core a young man escaping the trappings of adulthood, not getting married, having kids, settling down, etc. This was great (and also a theme in all of Snyder’s short stories from his excellent collection, Voodoo Heart) but what gave it lasting emotional heft was often funneling it through Alfred’s perspective, the ersatz father who wanted his adopted boy to just be a happy man, pitting Alfred's desire against Bruce's powerful trauma and Gotham City's need for safety. Anyway, my point is it was serious and well done.

Metal isn’t that, not entirely. It posits a New 52-ish question — what if DC had a corresponding dark multiverse —  while also delivering rocking set pieces (Justice League-themed Voltron, anyone?). Basically, Metal blends high-minded motifs from the Snyder-Capullo New 52 run with rocking superhero accessibility from Rebirth. It’s a great hybrid, even better because the Rebirth storyline (especially with Superman) is bending towards a reality that deliberately includes bits of both pre- and post-New 52 continuities as a plot device (the full extent of which is likely to be made clear in Rebirth mastermind Geoff John's forthcoming event/Watchmen sequel, Doomsday Clock). 

3. Saga #47

The first act of Saga #47 is jarringly normal. A boy watches dysfunctional caretakers interact in what might be Earth, might even be suburbia. Jarring because this Saga arc started with an old west-themed issue on an alien abortion planet, something far nearer its cruising altitude than the suburbs. The second and third acts then contain plenty of the factors that have made Saga Image's most successful book since The Walking Dead: twists, earned obstacles, increased stakes heading for our protagonists, ongoing exploration of a central metaphor (star-crossed inter-species lovers from perpetually warring species), plus world-building, world-building, world-building. It's amazing that this deep in the run Saga's world is still being satisfyingly fleshed out.

Saga is my favorite ongoing series in comics, and this issue is a digression from its central plot, to be sure, but these sort of side trips are one of Saga’s strengths. Basically, issues like this are the reason why, upping the stakes significantly for the little family at the story's core, an impressive narrative feat that never feels like filler. Even one of the best writers in the industry (if not the best), Jeff Lemire, has struggled with this at times in his own excellent sci-fi opus Descender. But Brian K. Vaughn consistently nails it in Saga.

They say this is an unfilmable story (who’s they? I don’t know, the Internet? Someone says it), and that may very well be true. But Saga is tailor-made for serial monthly graphic storytelling, and an issue of this quality after 47 tries is even more remarkable because it’s exactly what we’ve come to expect.

2. Mister Miracle #2

Look everyone, it’s a month of proclaiming my favorite this and my favorite that! I’ll come right out and say it: Tom King is my favorite writer in comics. I’m a sucker for a backstory that involves struggle, and King’s creative journey is filled with it. He’s late to the comic creator game, having logged time in the CIA after 9/11 (no big deal), and he took a risk by quitting his full-time to stay home, watch his kids and write at night. He misfired on a novel (which I'd still like to read), before fighting into comics and rising to the top. Since then, he's been cranking out modern classic after modern classic (Omega Men > Vision > Sheriff of Babylon), and Mister Miracle is poised to be next in line.

King’s stuff on more well-known superheroes has been fine, better than fine, but he really shines when taking characters with inherent wackiness seriously and then going right for the heart strings. He certainly did that with Vision and within his Batman run with Kite Man (Kite Man!), and he’s doing that again here with Mister Miracle, aka Scott Free.

Issue one hinted that King would play with form, one of his strengths, while issue two reminds us who exactly Scott Free is (grew up child-swapped to the evilest being in the universe as part of a peace agreement, escaped horrendous conditions over and over again until it become second nature). Issue 2 isn’t as offbeat or perplexing as issue 1, but that’s fine. It does the unsung work of giving Scott Free meaningful relationships in his life. This story is going to land somewhere powerful, and it's on us to enjoy the journey as much as we can. 

1. The Wicked + The Divine #31

Let's compare The Wicked + The Divine this month to Saga, both of which were reminders of how excellent and taken for granted these books can be. Yet, whereas Saga has long been a carefully-paced slow burn with occasional flare ups that tear you down and make you cry, Wic + Div has been crescendo after crescendo, putting readers in a small boat in a tumultuous sea of remixed religious dogma and obsessive music fandom.

This month’s wave was the biggest to crest since the demise of the series primary antagonist, Ananke. Kieron Gillen loves telling readers broad strokes of upcoming arcs in this book's backmatter, writing stuff like in three issues there’s a major surprise, in four issues we have a guest artist, etc, and I swear he’s said a few times that we'd be ramping to an end game soon. Now, however, I suspect Gillen is still having better ideas, still not ready to start winding this story down, and it's not hurting the book at all. He's got so many pieces in play that suddenly losing one in this issue was surprisingly tough to see, a reminder of the lush and mysterious journey we've been taking with all these people. That's good writing.

We’ve been given one certainty over and over from the start: Every ninety years, twelve gods incarnate as humans. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are dead. That's right, our sexy embodiments of modern music stardom are not long for this world, but how exactly they will destroy each other is the pressing question Gillen continues to ask on a scale as effective as it is grand.