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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 31, 2020 7:14:58 GMT -5
Let's see, my favorites of 2020 list, right now in no particular order my top 12 reads...(this is a bit tough a sI am way behind on my new comics reading, so it may be well into '21 before I catch up on all the new stuff I got in '20). -Something is Killing the Children (BOOM! Studios; Tynion) -Folk Lords (BOOM! Studis; Kindt) -The Last God: Book One of the Fellspyre Chronicles (DC; Johnson) -Superman Smashes the Klan (DC; Yang) -Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower GN adaptation (John Jennings; Abrams) -Invisible Kingdom (Dark Horse; G. Willow Wilson) -Seven Secrets (BOOM! Studios; Taylor) -Department of Truth (Tynion; Image) -Pulp OGN (Brubaker/Phillips; Image) -Reckless OGN (Brubaker/Phillips; Image) -Wynd (BOOM! Studios, James Tynion) -Bang! (Matt Kindt; Dark Horse) lots of recurring creators and publishers there for me. I still have a huge TBR list of 2020 offerings, so the list could change as I read more of it. -M I really liked the Last God when it started, but it petered out for me. Maybe I'll try and see if it reads better collected than it did as it was coming out month by month. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 31, 2020 12:58:47 GMT -5
I had time to think about the stand-out (for me) comics of 2020. So...my list.
1. Billionaire Island - Mark Russell & Steve Pugh (Ahoy Comics)
Russell vies with Ed Brubaker as my favorite current writer of funnybooks. Billionaire Island is exactly what I needed in 2020. Russell and Pugh's send up of the world's billionaires setting up their own island nation hit the zeitgeist of a year that saw the 1% increase their wealth almost exponentially while a huge swath of the world struggled in hunger and despair. While it didn't quite hit the high points of Flintstones or Snagglepuss, Russell is the current king of comic satire.
2. Pulp - Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips (Image Comics)
My other favorite writer (and my favorite writer/artist combo) came out with a great graphic novel that hit almost all my loves in one volume. Crime, pulp, western, in one tight package. And no trite Hollywood ending. I want to clone these two so we can get more books out of them.
3. That Texas Blood - Chris Condon & Jacob Phillips (Image Comics)
Chris Condon was a new name to me. Phillips I recognized as the colorist on most of Brubaker & Phillips' work...without knowing he's Sean Phillips' son. What they gave us was a nice little noir tale set in a small town in Texas. There's a little Bru & Phillips here, mixed with a bit of Jim Thompson. It's not perfect, but it's damn fine work from some young creators who show serious promise.
4. The Return of Black Hammer - Jeff Lemire & Co. (Dark Horse)
I'm mostly burned out on superhero funnybooks. The clear exception to that has been Lemire's Black Hammer books, which really scratch that long underwear itch. Unfortunately it had been a long time since we'd gotten any books from the Black Hammer Universe. I don't count the Black Hammer/JLA x-over because, by and large, I hate inter-company team-ups. But at the end of an inauspicious year we got the start of both Barbalien and Colonel Weird: Cosmagog. Two very different books that take us deeper into the Black Hammer U. and throw a mirror up to some other super-hero universes with which we may be familiar.
5. Stillwater - Chip Zdarsky & Ramon Perez (Image Comics)
We'll see if it holds up, but right now I'm pretty intrigued by this horror book about a town where nobody can die.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 31, 2020 16:19:52 GMT -5
Stuff I got this week:
Kaiju Score #2 : The heist is moving along, and of course doesn't go as planned. I love me some genre mash ups, and this is a great one. Highly Recommended.
Fantastic Four #27 : I had read the first year or so of Slott's run, and it was pretty decent, but just hadn't really gone back to it. 12 issues later and they're still dealing with the same stuff.. apparently Ben and Alicia adopted some aliens, but otherwise I don't feel like a missed anything... not sure that's a good thing. Maybe there were some crossovers or something. It's cool seeing the Tony Stark made Fantastic-armor (which was on the cover and what tempted me to pick it up). Not sure I need to keep reading for $4 a pop, but not bad.
King in Black: Namor #2 : Pretty straight silver age-y flashback story so far. a bit slow, for sure. I suspect this will read will as a trade, but as the monthly, it's feeling a bit like nothing happened. Not bad, but not Busiek's best for sure.
Wonder Woman: Loveless TPB(collecting the last of G. Willow Wilson's run) : I'd been meaning to check this out, and because I'd dumb, I got the last volume instead of the first. Being an intrepid comic reader, I figured things out pretty quickly. Good story that I suspect would be better if you read the first 2 thirds first...some of the emotional beats would probably be more meaningful if you cared more for what was going on, but Wilson writes with alot of heart and emotion in general, and you defintely get that.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 31, 2020 18:56:27 GMT -5
I had time to think about the stand-out (for me) comics of 2020. So...my list. 1. Billionaire Island - Mark Russell & Steve Pugh (Ahoy Comics) Russell vies with Ed Brubaker as my favorite current writer of funnybooks. Billionaire Island is exactly what I needed in 2020. Russell and Pugh's send up of the world's billionaires setting up their own island nation hit the zeitgeist of a year that saw the 1% increase their wealth almost exponentially while a huge swath of the world struggled in hunger and despair. While it didn't quite hit the high points of Flintstones or Snagglepuss, Russell is the current king of comic satire. 2. Pulp - Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips (Image Comics) My other favorite writer (and my favorite writer/artist combo) came out with a great graphic novel that hit almost all my loves in one volume. Crime, pulp, western, in one tight package. And no trite Hollywood ending. I want to clone these two so we can get more books out of them. 3. That Texas Blood - Chris Condon & Jacob Phillips (Image Comics) Chris Condon was a new name to me. Phillips I recognized as the colorist on most of Brubaker & Phillips' work...without knowing he's Sean Phillips' son. What they gave us was a nice little noir tale set in a small town in Texas. There's a little Bru & Phillips here, mixed with a bit of Jim Thompson. It's not perfect, but it's damn fine work from some young creators who show serious promise. 4. The Return of Black Hammer - Jeff Lemire & Co. (Dark Horse) I'm mostly burned out on superhero funnybooks. The clear exception to that has been Lemire's Black Hammer books, which really scratch that long underwear itch. Unfortunately it had been a long time since we'd gotten any books from the Black Hammer Universe. I don't count the Black Hammer/JLA x-over because, by and large, I hate inter-company team-ups. But at the end of an inauspicious year we got the start of both Barbalien and Colonel Weird: Cosmagog. Two very different books that take us deeper into the Black Hammer U. and throw a mirror up to some other super-hero universes with which we may be familiar. 5. Stillwater - Chip Zdarsky & Ramon Perez (Image Comics) We'll see if it holds up, but right now I'm pretty intrigued by this horror book about a town where nobody can die. I love Russell too but I missed that book somehow, I'll have to track it down |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2020 21:21:52 GMT -5
I think Superman Smashes the Klan may be the only new book I read this year, so I guess
1. Superman Smashes the Klan
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 1, 2021 8:35:31 GMT -5
I think Superman Smashes the Klan may be the only new book I read this year, so I guess 1. Superman Smashes the Klan Hey, if you're only going to read one book atleast you got a great one! |
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sacorn
Junior Member
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Post by sacorn on Jan 2, 2021 18:05:40 GMT -5
While I haven't been buying huge amounts of new comics each week, the ones I've consistently enjoyed each month have been:
-Thor
-Red Sonja
And, still seeing where its going
-Department of Truth
I know Mark Russell has left Sonja now due to Dynamite policy, so I hope it can continue to be my best read overall. I doubt it!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2021 20:17:22 GMT -5
While I haven't been buying huge amounts of new comics each week, the ones I've consistently enjoyed each month have been: -Thor -Red Sonja And, still seeing where its going -Department of Truth I know Mark Russell has left Sonja now due to Dynamite policy, so I hope it can continue to be my best read overall. I doubt it! I cancelled Sonja from my pull list with Russell's last issue. The Sonja book had been meh to terrible for a long time before Russell came on board and I have little hope they will be able to land a creator who will do better than their pre-Russell track record. That and I haven't liked Dynamite's business practices as a whole since I got back into comics in 2012 and rarely buy their stuff unless it is a creator/character combo that is just too good to pass up. -M |
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Post by berkley on Jan 3, 2021 1:52:01 GMT -5
I wish I liked the Dynamite books more, because I'm attracted to a lot of the "properties" they've somehow got hold of - the ERB stuff, for example - but the artwork just doesn't do it for me. Everything looks so crude and over-simplified, and not even attractive in a Cave-Girl sort of way. Heaven help me, for once I almost find myself wishing Marvel owned the rights to something. But probably Image or someone like that would be the best case scenario under current industry conditions.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jan 3, 2021 18:46:52 GMT -5
thwhtguardian thanks for doing this thread every week.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 3, 2021 21:00:14 GMT -5
thwhtguardian thanks for doing this thread every week. Shucks, it tweren't nothin. Besides I'm not alone, there are plenty of folks like md62 profholt82 and even occasionally Slam_Bradley and others I'm forgetting who enjoy sharing their thoughts on the week's new releases. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2021 21:44:35 GMT -5
I think Superman Smashes the Klan may be the only new book I read this year, so I guess 1. Superman Smashes the Klan Hey, if you're only going to read one book atleast you got a great one! It would seem I have a new favorite from 2020. 1. Wonder Woman Dead Earth 2. Superman Smashes the Klan |
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