THE BEST OF 2021 - The Best COMICS Of The Year

THE BEST COMICS OF 2021:

- As with 2020, comic books were, for me, one of the great comforts of this crazy, mixed-up pandemic year. Perusing the Comixology website to buy my weekly digital books became an important ritual - a guarantee that, no matter how insane or dire things out in the real world got, I'd still be able to look forward to some quality time curled up with my iPad and some comic books - because really, what's better than that?

While comic distribution stuck to a pretty regular schedule this year, the market still felt like it was missing some of its heavy hitters. Brian K. Vaughn, for example, was mostly MIA - his fan-favorite sci-fi adventure Saga now slated for a 2022 return. But nature abhors a vacuum, and this meant that I discovered a lot of new favorite creative talent this year. Writer Mariko Tamaki is a prime example - until recently, I wasn't at all familiar with her work - but she wowed me this year with her versatile writing on DC's flagship Batman book Detective Comics and on their banter-filled father-daughter team-up book Crush & Lobo. Additionally, rising stars really found their groove this year - James Tynion IV went from "one of my new favorites" to "maybe the best in the biz right now," with his stellar, cerebral, page-turning work on everything from DC's Batman and related spinoffs to Image books like The Department of Truth and The Nice House on the Lake. 

Speaking of DC, they had a pretty good year. Their Batman books enjoyed one of the more engaging big-event stories in a while in the Tynion and Tamaki-penned Fear State saga, about an authoritarian regime known as The Magistrate taking over Gotham (with the help of the villainous Scarecrow). The mainline story, as well as its various spin-off one-shots, were excellent. DC also continued to use its recent status-quo changes (thanks to events like Infinite Frontier) to bring back long-missing pieces of its continuity from limbo, like fan-favorite characters Connor Hawke (who popped up in the Robin comic) or the original members of the JSA (also featured on the TV series Stargirl). Now that the pieces are in place, I hope that DC can really deliver on some can't-miss big event storytelling next year. 

As for Marvel, I tend to be more into their standalone stories as opposed to their big events. This year saw acclaimed writer Jonathan Hickman wind down his celebrated run on X-Men, which was one of my favorite books of 2020 and continued to entertain me so long as Hickman and his unique, mind-bending storytelling were driving things. I also continue to be a huge fan of writer Kelly Thompson and the fun, witty, action-packed vibe she brings to her Marvel books like Captain Marvel and Black Widow.

Of course, so much of what's great about comics is the cool stuff that can be found on the fringes. There's always more to discover - new books to find, new writers and artists to become a fan of. So I hope you enjoy my picks below, and maybe even find a new favorite comic book.

Oh, and one more thing! After years of thinking about it, this coming year I'm actually doing it - I'm writing and publishing my own comic book! Yep, keep an eye out for HALLOWEEN TEAM - coming in 2022 - written by me, with art by the uber-talented Matt Shults. It's going to be awesome.

 

DANNY'S BEST COMICS OF 2021:


1.) The Department of Truth

- James Tynion's ongoing book from Image has, gradually, became my favorite comic going today. It's a dark, thought-provoking X-Files for the current era, with a brilliant twist on the classic conspiracy theory genre: that conspiracy theories are only true when enough people believe them to be so. This metaphysical spin allows Tynion to really dig into modern American history, and explore exactly why and how certain ideas developed from fiction into supposed fact - from the Kennedy assassination to the "Satanic Panic" of the 80's to urban legends about aliens, Bigfoot, and more. If you want to really go down the rabbit hole, you've got to read this one.

2.) Reckless

- For the second year in a row, Ed Brubaker's graphic novel series Reckless is near the top of my list. With two new Reckless books out this year, Brubaker again shows why he's absolutely one of the best to ever write comics and one of the true masters of pulp crime-fiction. Set in the seedy Los Angeles of the 1980's, these brutal, page-turning pulp-fictions are filled with compelling mysteries and memorable characters. Brubaker at his best (and fantastic art from his partner in crime Sean Phillips as well).

3.) The Nice House On The Lake

- And here's James Tynion again - with another book with a banger of a premise: a group of people whose only connection is a mysterious mutual friend end up in an isolated vacation home together, only to discover that the world has ended and they - thanks to the supernatural influence of their friend - are the earth's last survivors. Killer premise aside, Tynion makes each chapter pack a punch - with well-drawn characters and cliffhangers a plenty.

4.) The Other History of the DC Universe

- This one made my Top 10 list last year despite being only one issue in - and so of course it's back again for 2021, now that award-winning screenwriter John Ridley has completed his sprawling profiles of some of DC Comics most underutilized heroes of color. Ridley deftly mixes the DC Universe's most seismic storylines with the real-world politics and news stories of of the era in which each issue takes place. In doing so, Ridley not only gives new depth to characters like Katana and Renee Montoya, but also succeeds in giving a broader historical and socio-political context to the DC comics of various decades. A masterwork.


5.) Rorschach

- Many understandably rolled their eyes at the idea of writer Tom King doing a Watchmen pseudo-sequel series. DC had made rather prolific use of the once-untouchable characters from Alan Moore's classic in recent years, and it was easy to wonder if this was a bridge best not crossed. But Tom King truly brought his A-game to this one - and crafted a wonderfully intriguing mystery that blends the impending-doom deconstruction of Watchmen with the style and aesthetic of classic 70's paranoid conspiracy thriller films. The result is a surprisingly fantastic maxiseries that really wowed me, featuring an unexpected spin on one of Watchmen's iconic characters.

6.) Batman: Fear State - Secret Files Specials (Miracle Molly, Peacekeeper-01, The Gardner)

- As I mentioned above, the big Batman event of 2021, Fear State, was pretty excellent. The story detailed Gotham on the brink of a full-fledged dystopia, with Batman having to rely on new allies and new tactics to not just stop the badguys, but win over the people of Gotham to his side. While the main story that ran through monthly books like Batman and Detective Comics was very good, the true highlights of the event were the series of "Secret Files" specials, each written by James Tynion (there's that name again!), and each spotlighting one of the new characters introduced as part of this event. The standout, to me, was Miracle Molly - the leader of an underground revolutionary group who Batman forms a reluctant partnership with. The story of how Molly mind-wipes herself in order to cleanse herself of mental baggage - consequences be damned - was both harrowing and affecting.

 
7.) Crush & Lobo

- Lobo is an iconic DC character - an over-the-top riff on antiheroes like Wolverine, Lobo quickly developed his own fanboy following throughout the 90's. But what to do in 2021 with a character whose central joke is perhaps slightly played out? Easy - give him a badass but still self-doubting LGBTQ teenaged daughter named Crush. Crush, introduced a few years ago over in the Teen Titans comics, has become one of DC's breakout characters, and it was great to see her get the spotlight here. Written by new fave Mariko Tamaki, this was a fun, banter-filled outer space adventure with humor and heart a-plenty.


8.) The Joker

- Okay, fine - one more book from James Tynion on my Top 10 (yep, the guy was everywhere this year). But The Joker is more than deserving of placement on this list. And it's funny, because I don't know that almost anyone was sold that The Joker needed his own series. But the genius here is that this isn't *really* a Joker series - it's a James Gordon series. And it's a series that dives deep into the long, messy history between Gordon and the Joker, and takes a hard look at the moral difficulties of being a purveyor of justice in an unjust world that would allow an insane killer like The Joker to continually cause havoc. A great read month in and month out.


9.) Nightwing

- Yes, it was a good year for the Bat-family books. Nightwing has had a lot of strong runs over the last couple of decades, but the character is currently enjoying another renaissance thanks to the fantastic creative team of writer Tom Taylor and artist Bruno Redondo. From great relationship-y stuff (Taylor addresses the will-they/won't-they Dick Grayson/Barbara Gordon romance head-on, with a lot of nuance and heart) to really interesting social justice questions (Dick uses his fortune in interesting ways to help the people of his adopted hometown Bludhaven) - Taylor gives a little bit of everything here. And Redondo's smooth, cinematic art makes the action scenes sing.


10.) Mazebook

- Jeff Lemire had another prolific year in 2021 (not to mention his seminal Sweet Tooth series getting adapted for Netflix). I'm a big fan of almost all of his work, and in 2021 I enjoyed everything from his Black Hammer franchise books to a weird pets-in-space sci-fi story called Primordial. But my favorite of his 2021 output was Mazebook from Dark Horse Comics - a very intimate story that's also a real page-turner. Written and drawn by Lemire, it's the story of a middle-aged man convinced that his long-dead daughter might still, somehow, be alive - and that solving a strange, all-encompassing maze might be the key to finding her. This is the kind of story that Lemire always nails, and I hope we get more like this from him in 2022.


OTHER FAVORITES FROM 2021:

Batman (James Tynion run)
Detective Comics (Mariko Tamaki run)
Captain Marvel by Kelly Thompson
Robin by Joshua Williamson
Black Hammer: Reborn
Catwoman by Ram V
Fantastic Four: Life Story
Life Is Strange
The Human Target
X-Men: Inferno
Fantastic Four by Dan Slott
Task Force Z
Superman and the Authority
The United States of Captain America
Batman: Urban Legends
Lazarus: Risen
Shadecraft
Batman: The Adventure Continues
The Next Batman
Dark Knights of Steel
Firepower
One-Star Squadron
Deathstroke Inc.
Stranger Things: The Tomb of Ybwen
Swamp Thing by Ram V
Made in Korea
Home
Barbalien: Red Planet
Superman '78
Action Comics by Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Superman: Son of Kal-El
Far Sector 

WRITERS OF THE YEAR:

1.) James Tynion IV (The Department of Truth, The Joker, Batman, The Nice House On The Lake)
2.) Mariko Tamaki (Detective Comics, Crush & Lobo)
3.) John Ridley (The Other History of the DC Universe, The Next Batman)
4.) Ed Brubaker (Reckless)
5.) Tom Taylor (Nightwing, Dark Knights of Steel)
6.) Jeff Lemire (Mazebook, Black Hammer: Reborn)
7.) Tom King (Rorschach, The Human Target)
8.) Matthew Rosenberg (Batman: Urban Legends, Task Force Z)
9.) Joshua Williamson (Robin, Deathstroke Inc.)
10.) Mark Russell (Fantastic Four: Life Story, One-Star Squadron)


ARTISTS OF THE YEAR:

1.) Bruno Redondo (Nightwing)
2.) Sean Phillips (Reckless)
3.) Dan Mora (Detective Comics)
4.) Jorge Fornes (Rorschach)
5.) Martin Simmonds (The Department of Truth)
6.) Alvaro Martinez (The Nice House on the Lake)
7.) Mike Perkins (Swamp Thing)
8.) Jorge Fornés (Rorschach)
9.) Amancay Nahuelpan (Crush & Lobo)
10.) Jeff Lemire (Mazebook)

 

THE BEST OF 2019 - The Best COMICS Of The Year

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)

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST Is The Best and Biggest X-Men Film Yet

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST Review:

- The Bryan Singer-directed X-MEN films were huge in their day. Rarely had we seen beloved comic book superheroes adapted for the big screen with so much seriousness of tone and purpose. Despite some clunky moments, these movies generated an excitement for comic book-based films that had not been seen since the Tim Burton Batman days. And yet ... I don't know if those movies 100% aged well, at least in my own mind. As much as the X-Men films took their characters seriously, there was also a sort of self-hating dullness to the films that now feels dated next to the colorful, comic-book roots-embracing Avengers films. Singer's muted colors, workmanlike black leather character uniforms, and eschewing of beloved comic tropes in favor of realism (reportedly Hugh Jackman had to beg Singer to let Wolverine call someone "bub") was a mixed blessing. It was, likely, what was needed to erase the day-glo nightmare memories of Joel Schumaker's abhorrent Batman films. But the X-films also felt like a bit of a letdown to those raised on the colorful sci-fi soap-opera of the 80's and 90's cartoons and comic books.

But lo and behold, DAYS OF FUTURE PAST is Singer's most sci-fi, most over-the-top, and most epic X-Men movie by a mile. It fully embraces its plot's time-travel wackiness, and revels in comic book-style action scenes, high-concept sci-fi imagery, and a sense of anything-can-happen fun that previously eluded this franchise.

Loosely based on the classic Chris Claremont / John Bryne comic book story from the 80's, the new movie sees Wolverine sent back in time from an apocalyptic present (a grim, black-sky dystopia in which the few surviving mutants wage a hopeless war against the all-conquering robotic Sentinels), to the swingin' 70's ... in hopes of preventing disaster. As in the comics, Professor Xavier believes that if a pivotal assassination attempt planned by Mystique were to be thwarted, then it would prevent a chain of events leading to mass public anti-Mutant sentiment, and thus the creation of the Sentinels. But unlike the comics, where Kitty Pryde sends her older-self's consciousness back in time to inhabit her younger self's body, the movie version has franchise favorite Wolverine make the timestream trek. Since Wolvie doesn't age (theoretically), it makes sense that he'd be the one to go back. Plus, in the movie, it's explained that only Wolverine and his healing powers can withstand the mental toll of the process, which is, it seems, now one of Kitty's abilities (so she can phase through walls, and *also* transfer people's minds back in time - random).

But the great thing about the whole set-up is that it gives Singer and co. an excuse to have a dream-melding of his original X-cast with that of Matthew Vaughan's well-regarded X-Men: First Class prequel. That film was a breath of fresh air, bringing talented actors like Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, and Jennifer Lawrence into the fold. Once again, these three are huge spark plugs, and help to cover some of the weak spots that existed in the supporting cast of Singer's original lineup. And it's also just a lot of fanboyish fun to see the old and young versions of Professor X and Magneto in the same film. In particular, Patrick Stewart gets some great moments with McAvoy as his younger self. And let's face it, any excuse to bring back the legendary duo of Stewart and Ian McKellan is cause for much rejoicing. They quite simply rule (and as great as Fassbender is as a younger Magneto, he still can't match the sheer gravitas of McKellan in rage-mode).

Lawrence's Mystique is also a huge focus here. Rightfully so, I think, given how talented of an actress Lawrence is. And the actress does a fine job of making the character into more than just a badass in leaves-nothing-to-the-imagination blue body paint (though she is that, too). Here, Mystique is sort of the pendulum at the center of the eternal morality play being waged between Xavier and Magneto. To stand up for Mutantkind through peace and understanding, or through blunt force and aggression? The issue is forced by Peter Dinklage's Bolivar Trask, an anti-Mutant crusader and father of the Sentinel program. Future Xavier and his fellow X-Men know that Mystique's attack on Trask would lead to his Sentinels getting funding and eventually decimating the planet, Skynet-style. And so the fate of the future lies largely in Mystique's vengeful blue hands.

Singer populates the film with some of the most ingeniously shot set-pieces he's ever put to film. The biggest highlight comes thanks to the newly-introduced Quicksilver, a laid-back speedster who performs dazzling light-speed feats all while chilling to hippie rock on his slightly anachronistic headphones. Played by American Horror Story's Evan Peters, Quicksilver is one of the best new additions to the cast. And his big showpiece set piece - in which he makes quick (but seen in slo-mo) work of a room full of armed assailants - is emblematic of what makes this movie better than all other X-movies. It's fun, dazzling, funny, and fully embraces the potential of the character's powers. Singer also gets some good mileage out of Nicholas Holt's Beast, who gets to shine both in his geeky scientist guise and in his ass-kicking Mutant form.

The combination of Singer's seemingly reinvigorated direction with a surprisingly lean, mean, and effective script by Simon Kinberg makes the movie work in a way that it probably shouldn't. There's a lot going on here, but Kinberg's script ties everything together in a very digestible way that mixes plenty of solid character and emotional beats into the big sci-fi tapestry. Yes, Wolverine serves as our central character, but the movie soon morphs into a great Xavier / Magneto story that also feels like closure, of sorts, to this entire chapter of the X-Men cinematic saga. That said, the time-travel conceit allows for the kind of big, comic-bookish stuff that we really haven't seen before in the mainline X-movies. We get teams of X-Men fighting off legions of invading Sentinels in a Matrix-esque future. We get big, world-ending stakes. We get an anything-can-happen set-up in which all bets are off - with time-travel shenanigans going on, favorite characters can die at any time, maybe even on multiple occasions. And of course, the movie introduces a concept very familiar to comic book fans, but perhaps a bit of a revelation for newbies - the idea of the retcon. Basically, the time-travel hijinks give Singer and Kinberg the ability to selectively, retroactively undo a few choice developments from previous X-Men films (cough*3*cough), wiping the slate clean for future installments, but also just sort of leaving the house (or manor, in this case) in order.

DAYS OF FUTURE PAST really surprised me. Going in, I was weary of yet another X-Men movie, and weary of yet another film in which Hugh Jackman's Wolverine takes center stage. I wanted Ellen Page's Kitty Pryde to get some love, and for the franchise to move in a new direction more in line with The Avengers and other Marvel studios films. I wanted the bright colors and melodrama of the comics and cartoons. Well, this one may not have bright colors, but it did capture the bigness and craziness that made The Uncanny X-Men the biggest thing since sliced bread in the 80's and 90's. It's a fun movie, plain and simple, and has about everything you could ask for in an X-Men/First-Class passing-of-the-torch film. There are nice callbacks to the previous movies, as well as some nice stage-setting for stories yet to come. This is pretty much the ultimate Brian Singer X-Men movie, both keeping what worked about the older films but also addressing some of the issues. I'd still like to see the X-films take a different path after this one, but this is a film that elevates the franchise as a whole.

My Grade: A-

THE WOLVERINE: Finally ... The Claws Come Out

THE WOLVERINE Review:

- If I've had any one problem with the modern-day X-MEN film franchise, it's that it's always, to me, felt sort of middle-of-the-road. The team's colorful comic book origins were greyed-out (both literally and figuratively), and characters like Wolverine, at times, seemed to lose a bit of their bite. Growing up, Wolverine was always the badass berzerker - the furry ball of rage and bad-attitude whose feral nature made him a less-than-ideal team player. Echoes of the classic Wolvie have shown up in previous X-films, but the Hugh Jackman version has always felt slightly whitewashed. His was Wolverine-as-heartthrob - a gruff-but-lovable loner who felt slightly de-clawed. It's no wonder then that fans responded to the moments in the films when Logan was allowed to unleash his inner badass - his rage in the X-mansion in X-Men 2, or his brief but kickass cameo in First Class.

Sadly, the first Wolverine solo flick, Origins, was sort of a mess. Marred by a weak script and an overload of misused characters, it performed well at the box office, but fizzled with fans. Now though, THE WOLVERINE aims to take things back to basics - mining the classic Chris Claremont / Frank Miller Logan stories from the 80's, in order to present a darker, grittier, streamlined Wolverine story.

Whatever else there is to say about THE WOLVERINE, I give it credit for getting the basics right. On a macro level, this is the Wolverine solo movie that fans have always wanted. It's Wolverine in Japan, on a violent quest to protect a mysterious woman. It is a Wolverine struggling to reconcile his humanity with his animalistic, mutant side - who is grappling with the potential for a normal life vs. the instinct to be a wandering warrior - a ronin. This is a Wolverine movie that directly references the Claremont/Miller classics. It finally introduces Logan's Japanese love interest, Mariko. And it mostly adheres to the pulp-noir, stripped-down sensibilities that Miller brought to the character way back when.

And after all this time, it feels like a slightly older and more grizzled Hugh Jackman has now grown into the role of Wolverine, perhaps more so than ever before. Freed from being just a cog in a large ensemble cast, Jackman has room to breathe here, and to give some additional heft and texture to his performance that I don't think we've seen in previous outings. Jackman does a great job of conveying Logan's inner turmoil - his guilt at having killed Jean Grey in X-3, his creeping doubts about his mutant gene-enabled immortality, and his reluctance to get back into action - after retreating to a life of relative solidarity in the Canadian wilderness. Jackman also does a nice job of dialing up the gruffness. This feels like a legitimately dark and gritty version of Logan - and not the sanitized, PG-ified version from other movies. The added depth in the character is a welcome byproduct of a more mature movie, overall, than what's come before.

That said, director James Mangold seems to waiver between dark n' gritty and more standardized Hollywood blockbuster sheen. The movie *is* dark, and there are times where I was almost reminded of the aesthetics of 70's crime thrillers in the way that Mangold keeps things, mostly, grounded and street-level. At the same time, it doesn't feel like he quite pushes things far enough. The movie never quite jumps off the cliff, keeping at least one foot in the familiar waters of the Marvel movie house-style. Mangold also tends to break up the gritty mood with various scenes that burst forth with more standard-issue Hollywood blockbuster trappings. Some of the movie's more colorful villains, for example - like the poisonous Viper or the robo-assassin Silver Samurai, seem present more to up the film's f/x quota as opposed to any real necessity story-wise.

Mangold does do a nice job with the film's action scenes - giving us a level of brutality that we haven't yet seen in any X-flick. In particular, there is a riveting battle atop a moving bullet train that, I have to say, is one of the best action scenes in any Summer blockbuster this year. It's over-the-top, sure, but it's also thrilling, visceral, and nail-biting. It does sort of reinforce the movie's conflicted nature - trying to be both a stripped-down character piece and also a big-time blockbuster. But I also can't deny that it's an awesome sequence.

The Wolverine does, however, suffer from a problem that is becoming increasingly notable in blockbuster films - plots that are unnecessarily convoluted. I said earlier that THE WOLVERINE really nails it on a macro level - taking a commendable back-to-basics approach. But on a micro level, the details of the plot, the various characters, and their motivations - it amounts to a rather labyrinthine web that moviegoers are going to be hard-pressed to make sense of.

The main plotline involves Logan being summoned to Japan by an old friend named Yashida. During World War II, Logan saved Yashida from the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki by getting him into a bunker in the nick of time. From that point on, Yashida became fascinated with Logan's mutant abilities. Now, elderly and dying - and the billionaire head of a large Japanese corporation - Yashida summons Logan to make him an offer. Yashida wants to drain Logan's mutant abilities, giving him the opportunity to live a normal, mortal life. In exchange, Yashida will gain Wolverine's healing abilities and be able to recover from his ailments - essentially unlocking a fountain of youth. Meanwhile, there is the matter of who will inherit Yashida Industries should its founder die. A war is brewing between Yashida's scheming son - who has ties to the Yakuza - and his beloved granddaughter, Mariko. Yashida sees the kind-hearted Mariko as the natural inheritor of his empire, but her father, Shingen, is not happy about being passed over.

Logan finds himself caught in the middle of these various power struggles, and over the course of the movie, he's pitted against a long line of adversaries. How all of the movie's various villains relate or don't relate to each other is sort of a tangled web - and it's often unclear who, exactly, is after Logan, and why. And yet, the film builds towards a pretty obvious endgame that comes off as a bit cartoonish given what's come before. Point being: when the movie focuses on being a simple tale of Logan-as-ronin, on-the-run, seeking answers, and grappling with his emerging feelings for Mariko - it really works. But that dynamic is undermined repeatedly, especially in the film's final act, by all the various plot convolutions and excessive characters - few of whom really leave an impression.

The one supporting character who is the clear show-stealer is Rila Fukushima's Yukio. Yukio - Yashida's adoptive daughter, and Mariko's friend and protector, is quite simply a badass. Fukushima's unique and striking look makes Yukio instantly compelling, but it's her uneasy alliance with Logan that takes the character to the next level. Yukio gives the film a great female hero who can go toe to toe with even Wolverine.

Mariko, on the other hand, is a little more of a mixed bag. Tao Okamoto is good in the role, but an extra scene or two between her and Jackman might have helped prevent their relationship from feeling just a bit boilerplate. The character also falls a little too much into the standard damsel-in-distress tropes. Part of the film's theme is Logan-as-protector ... so it mostly fits. But Mariko could have used a bit more fleshing out, so as not to feel so one-note. Overall though, Okamoto does some strong work, and there is a sort of interesting dynamic between Mariko and Logan - with Mariko having grown up hearing legends of the mythical Wolverine. Plus, in Mariko, Logan sees the kind of nice girl who he could maybe settle down and drink sake with - so there's that. She represents the quiet life that he could likely never have.

It should also be noted that Famke Janssen pops up throughout the film as Jean Grey, haunting Logan's unconscious mind, appearing to him in dreams. I enjoyed Janssen's inclusion in the film, although I can see how this may eventually be referred to half-jokingly as "that movie where Wolverine wakes up over and over." Suffice it to say, the Logan-wakes-up-disoriented-and-confused moment is used a couple times too many in the movie.

Ultimately, I think the *idea* of THE WOLVERINE is a bit more compelling than the execution. The movie hits a lot of the right broad strokes, but on a scene-by-scene level, it's up-and-down. The first act is the movie's strongest - when the movie really seems to have this Frank Miller-esque grittiness and moodiness. Later, it gets bogged down by too much plot and too many villains, and things begin to collapse under all of the accumulated weight. Luckily, there's a fun, geek-out-worthy post-credits teaser to make sure things end on a high note - setting the stage, just a bit, for the next X-film: Days of Future Past. Even if THE WOLVERINE doesn't hit a home run, it's still nice to know that we got this well-intentioned, reasonably badass Wolverine solo movie before Days of Future Past unleashes a full-on X-epic.

My Grade: B