THE BEST COMICS OF 2019:
- One great thing about comics is: they can always surprise you. Some of my go-to, comfort-food books/characters went through some creative slumps this year - kind of a bummer, sure ... but it let me to expand my horizons a bit and try some things I may not have normally tried. Some new comics that I had no real expectations for blew me away, and some that I figured were overhyped more than lived up to that hype. Comics are certainly guilty of recycling - plots, characters, deaths/resurrections, new continuity/old continuity. But they are also an endless source of the new. Want to find the next cool thing before it becomes a movie or TV show that everyone is talking about? Read comics. Want to see an idea that you've *never* seen before, that's truly original? Read comics.
Message being: read comics. Here are some of my favorites from this past year.
DANNY'S BEST COMICS OF 2019:
1.) Criminal
I know, I know - it's becoming cliche for me to have whatever's new from writer Ed Brubaker at or near the top of my annual list. But Brubaker is just that good. He has a knack for writing dark, moody noir and crime comics - but he somehow manages to squeeze in amazing characters and perfectly-plotted story arcs into his books too. Criminal is a new ongoing series that picks up threads and characters from the writer's popular series of "Criminal" graphic novels. You don't have to have read those to read the new book, but there are some cool/interesting tie-ins. Basically though, Criminal is a book about ... criminals, doing crimes. That sounds simple, and it is, but the book is also an incredibly-written series of mini-arcs about the hows and whys of these lifer criminals. How did they fall into a life of vice and crime? Why can't they escape it? If you want a quick primer on Criminal, read the Bad Weekend graphic novel that collects issues #2 and #3 of the series. It's a fantastic self-contained story about an aging, down-on-his-luck comic book artist who tries to steal some of his own original art to pay back some debts.
2.) Paper Girls
- Paper Girls wrapped up in 2019, and Brian K. Vaughan's time-travel adventure will go down as an all-time classic. Vaughan rarely disappoints, but Paper Girls had a unique combination of nostalgia, great characters, and a twisty plot that makes it among the author's best works to date. Imagine Stranger Things meets Back to the Future meets the wit and storytelling greatness of BKV. A must-read. Luckily, there is more BKV on the way soon - his long-running cosmic epic Saga returns from hiatus in 2020.
3.) The Walking Dead
- After well over a decade, The Walking Dead unexpectedly ended in 2019, and it really felt like the end of an era. Robert Kirkman's zombie apocalypse epic found new momentum has it headed towards the finish line - ultimately dropping a surprise, flash-forward ending that wrapped up the series in undeniably moving fashion. At its best, TWD was the ultimate page-turner - with Kirkman delivering one jaw-dropping cliffhanger after another - and some of the shockers leading up the big ending were up there as among the series' most holy-$#&% moments. Thank you Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard for one of the all-time best-ever ongoing comic series.
4.) House of X / Powers of X
- I was never a huge reader of X-Men comics, but over the years I have become a big fan of writer Jonathan Hickman. Hickman has a way of creating hyper-imaginative, mind-bending narratives that have the driving intensity of a Christopher Nolan movie mixed with the unbridled weirdness of a Grant Morrison comic. But man, Hickman really knocked it out of the park with his 2019 X-Men reboot for Marvel - crafting a sprawling, epic story that sees Professor Xavier join with Magneto to form the new island nation of Krakoa - a home for all mutants good and evil. Plot-wise, Hickman created a new status quo that can and will give birth to endless cool stories. Stylistically, he created a crazy, time-spanning narrative that kept me eagerly anticipating each new installment.
5.) Lois Lane
- Writer Greg Rucka gave us the Lois Lane we needed in 2019 - a brilliant, tough-as-nails reporter who fights for truth and freedom of the press, all while butting heads with corrupt politicians who try to write her off as "fake news." Rucka gives us spot-on, no-BS political commentary mixed in with intriguing DC Comics mystery. It makes you appreciate the real life Lois Lanes who are out there fighting for truth to power. This is not your grandma's Lois Lane, and thank god for that.
6.) Harleen
- This one shocked me. DC's Black Label - its new mature-readers imprint - has predictably been churning out a lot of Joker-related content timed with the new film. It felt like a new Joker or Harley Quinn book was coming out nearly every week. But on a whim, I picked up Harleen, and couldn't put it down. Writer/artist Stjepan Šejić gives us a deep dive into the psyche of a young Dr. Harleen Quinzel - re-imagining her origin story as a dark and twisted tumble down the rabbit hole of insanity.
7.) Female Furies
- Another unexpected gem from DC, this book, written by Cecil Castellucci, was a look at Jack Kirby's classic New Gods through a modern, 2019 lens. I've always loved Kirby's weird and colorful Fourth World characters. I love the cheesy names, the gaudy costumes, and the epic, Shakespearean mythology. But to see the usually fun-but-one-note Furies given a story that looks at misogyny on Apokolips and the fight for gender equality among Darkseid's elite female guard? That's no easy feat to pull off - but Castelluci does it with resonance, humor, and panache.
8.) Lazarus: Risen
- One of the best comics of the decade returned in 2019, with a new quarterly schedule and a new 64-page-per-issue format. I'd still prefer that this one came out monthly, but I'll take what I can get - as Lazarus remains one of the best and most chillingly relevant books going today. If you don't know, imagine a near-future, post-apocalyptic Game of Thrones type scenario. The world is run by mega-corporations and the families that own them. A few lucky serfs get to serve the families. All others are "waste." And, oh yeah, each family has a genetically-modified super warrior called a Lazarus that leads its combat forces. And in Lazarus: Risen, we're now seeing what happens when Forever - the Lazarus of North America's Carlyle family - realizes the true nature of what she is. Slight spoiler: she's not happy.
9.) Black Hammer: Age of Doom
- Black Hammer is another of the best books of the decade, that came to an (at least temporary) end in 2019. Jeff Lemire's long-running Black Hammer universe provides a fun, witty deconstruction of superheroes - telling the story of a group of heroes stranded in a pocket dimension, trying to figure out the mystery of how they got there and how they can get back. Imagine Lost, but for superheroes? Anyways, Lemire is one of the best writers in the biz, and in Age of Doom he skillfully brought the main Black Hammer story to a meta, mind-bending conclusion. If you've not yet sampled Black Hammer - you've got some good reading ahead of you.
10.) Wonder Twins
- Here's one more surprising gem from DC - a re-imagining of the Wonder Twins (of Superfriends cartoon fame) as the teen interns for the Justice League. What could have been lame is in fact one of the best comics of the year - as writer Mark Russell brings an Adult Swim-esque sense of random wackiness to the book, making it a genuinely hilarious read. It brings the bwa-ha-ha to DC Comics like nothing else has since the old 80's Justice League book, and mixes in some wry satire with absurdist hijinks. I'm glad that the powers that be at DC "activated" this new Wonder Twins book - it's good!
Other Favorites from 2019:
- Life is Strange
- Batman: Curse of the White Knight
- Batman by Ton King
- Fantastic Four by Dan Slott
- Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson
- The Magnificent Ms. Marvel by Saladin Ahmed
- DCeased
- Captain Marvel by Kelly Thompson
- American Carnage
- Batman: Last Knight on Earth
- Blade Runner
- Skyward
- Oblivion Song
- The Batman Who Laughs
- Silencer
- Snotgirl
- Ascender
- Teen Titans by Adam Glass
- Superman Smashes The Klan
- Green Lantern by Grant Morrison
- Captain America by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Gideon Falls
WRITERS OF THE YEAR:
1.) Jonathan Hickman (House of X / Powers of X)
2.) Ed Brubaker (Criminal)
3.) Jeff Lemire (Black Hammer: Age of Doom, Ascender, Gideon Falls)
4.) Brian K. Vaughan (Paper Girls, Saga)
5.) Greg Rucka (Lois Lane, Lazarus: Risen)
6.) Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead, Oblivion Song)
7.) Stjepan Šejić (Harleen)
8.) Cecil Castellucci (Female Furies, Batgirl)
9.) Scott Snyder (The Batman Who Laughs, Batman: Last Knight on Earth, Justice League)
10.) Mark Russell (Wonder Twins)
ARTISTS OF THE YEAR:
1.) Stjepan Šejić (Harleen)
2.) Cliff Chiang (Paper Girls)
3.) Sean Phillips (Criminal)
4.) Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead)
5.) Gary Frank (Doomsday Clock)
6.) Pepe Larraz (House of X)
7.) Mike Perkins (Lois Lane)
8.) Liam Sharp (Green Lantern)
9.) Sean Murphy (Batman: Curse of the White Knight)
10.) Stephen Byrne (Wonder Twins)
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