Hey you! Have you ever wanted to read some different comics? Hopefully! Do you have a friend who you are always trying to get into comics? Yeah, you probably have 20! Are you looking for a list where three out of the four recommendations aren’t finished so this feels like a PROPER mystery? Well aren’t you in luck! If you answered yes to at least one of those questions then boy do I have the article for you! In Pageturn, I’m going to break down comics genre by genre and give you the best recommendations you can pester yourself and others into reading.
Some rules before we start (Even though I’ll almost certainly break all of them)
1. No superheroes
2. No Marvel or DC (maybe a sneaky Vertigo here and there)
3. Mostly modern reads
Sheriff of Babylon
Tom King and Mitch Gerads’s “Sheriff of Babylon” has more pathos than any other book on this list, and I’m telling you now, the others aren’t really bundles of joy. This was the first collaboration by the creative team behind”Mister Miracle” and it might also be the first comic the CIA ever had to check for national secrets before publishing. It’s about the burgeoning Baghdad police force of the US-controlled Iraqi Green Zone during the early years of the War on Terror. More specifically it follows San Diego cop Chris Henry as he investigates the death of one of his trainees with the help of Iraqi-American intelligence agent Sofia, and Nassir, the last police officer of Saddam’s old Baghdad. It’s a lot to digest and it definitely requires some political history from the reader, but at the end of the day, this string of terrors and tensions boils down to one question: how can someone stay morally upright in a place you would never have reached without a deep societal pervasion of corruption and immortality. How do you fight the good fight in a war waged between devils?
This story is two parts Hurt Locker, one part Detective Noir, which y’know, might seem a little light on the mystery for an article specifically promising Mystery Comics, but I promise it’s more than enough. This comic is more about the little anecdotes, the poetry it weaves as its characters spiral towards their self destructive desires. I think a large part of reading comics is about letting it wash over you, taking all the elements in at once, plucking what interests you as you go and discarding what doesn’t. But when I read “Sheriff of Babylon” I found myself backtracking a lot, I would reread every page, analyse the dialogue, then the art, then the colors, then the page layouts, then how that all fitted together. Every page was a little puzzle I wanted to crack, it’s intoxicating. Everything feels so meticulous and you’re left feeling like you could solve the whole murder if you just keep counting the tiles in that cratered swimming pool.
With that in mind, and it almost goes without saying, Mitch Gerads’s art is such a beautiful spectacle. “Sheriff of Babylon” is checkered with the motifs and melancholy that he would become famous for. The book flips between moments of majesty followed by intense reminders of just how fucked up the War on Terror is and was. I mean, we all know that but like, it’s easy to forget that the Western world just royally screwed over a whole other corner of the planet to fund their oil and defense industries. That historical sentiment is told a lot more eloquently and a lot more impartially by King, who used to work for the CIA, hence the authenticity (and heavy government scrutiny) of the book. Tom King has a style of meandering yet poetic dialogue he’s become famous for, and I think this might be the place where it works best. Every character has a distinct voice, a diction influenced by their lifestyle, education and native language, all of which helps reinforce the social divides and innate connections between King’s characters. It feels so obvious when you read the whole summative cohesion of textured art and textured dialogue, but that’s simply because of how thoughtful and authentic the story being told is.
Continued belowNo matter how intently and often you read “Sheriff of Bablyon,” I guarantee you that it’ll sneak a surprise in front of your eyes. Yet despite all those layers, the core message of sympathy, apathy, passion and disillusionment it carries will stay with you and make you wonder how a democratic nation let itself export the Wild West to foreign soil.
Grab it if you like:
-Neo-westerns
-Modern war stories
-Rich and layered texts
If you like “Sheriff of Babylon” read:
-“Omega Men” by Tom King and Barnaby Bagenda
-“The Seeds” by Ann Nocenti and David Aja
-“Bad Karma” by Alex De Campi and Ryan Howe
The Black Monday Murders
“The Black Monday Murders” is a mystery with a capital M. It comes from Jonathan Hickman, the mind behind the new slate of “X-Men” and ”The Nightly News,” alongside artist Tomm Coker (who’s also a film director, because apparently some people are blessed with more than half a talent). The series follows the heads of the investment bank Caina-Kankrin across some 90 years of history, going from the 1929 Wall Street Crash, through Black Monday in ‘87 and up to the modern day as Detective Theodore Dumas investigates the murder one of the dynastic heads of the company. But what separates “The Black Monday Murders” from a classic like The Wolf of Wall Street or The Big Short, is the inclusion of Pagan magic and the dark god Mammon, the embodiment of Greed. It gets funky.
This series is a massive, heavy entity that will leave you feeling exhilarated; everything has another layer to it, another lens through which you can view it, something more you can study or re-contextualise. I think no matter who you are, this book will feel like it was written for somebody who’s smarter than you, and that’s ok! It’s the point even! You’re being taken on a journey into a world you aren’t supposed to understand, both Freemason-esque paganism and the modern stock market are fields of intense socioeconomic seclusion that in today’s age are dominated by white guys with a fuckton of money. You aren’t supposed to feel at home there, you’re supposed to feel like Alan Greenspan is about to sneak up behind you and drink the blood from your throat (and he’s capable of it, you know he is). Jonathan Hickman is the only creator who makes me feel like I have to take notes while I read his stuff; that might be a turn off for some, especially if you’re still getting into comics, but I find it so compelling. The aforementioned intellectualism is kept compelling through the thematic core that mixes these cynical truths we’ve all come to accept about late stage capitalism, with this ritualistic, ancient culture of destructive excess and apathy. It all coalesces into a book that feels intriguing, expansive and full of forward momentum.
The other aspect that makes this story both digestible and compelling is the stand-out art of Tomm Coker. If this had been a novel I probably would’ve started bleeding out of my eyes two pages in, but Coker’s art has so much gravity and magnetism to it that my brain forces me to keep reading and keep absorbing the psychedelic shot of information, ideology and mystery being fed through this book. A huge part of that presentation comes down to Coker’s own amazing inks that are just as notable for what they obscure as for what they show, and colorist Michael Garland whose muted palette creates a greater degree of narrative distance while still tinting every scene with emotion. The art feels like a progression on what Hickman did for himself in “Nightly News,” heavy silhouetted figures being suffocated by ideas, monologues and infographics. That element of graphic design through storytelling persists here as Coker’s perfectly designed charts, timelines and transcripts give you a top-down yet obscured vision into the seemingly clean-cut world of blood sacrifice and finance.
I feel that “The Black Monday Murders” brings something to comics that exists genuinely nowhere else. This level of heavy analysis, intersectionality and philosophy is something that feels alien in a genre built on a foundation of quick, digestible stories of good versus bad. I mean this literally has a contents page, name a single other comic that is so heavy on information that it has to give you an annotated list of what it gives you every single issue. This book has so many layers to it, it’s such a massive narrative, which is why it’s so frustrating to wait this long for it all. That might be my one criticism of the book and it’s not even a fair one. When “The Black Monday Murders” was publishing regularly it was releasing an issue every 1-3 months, but after Tomm Coker’s health deteriorated, the book stopped publishing. It’s been promised we’ll see the series again, but expect to do a lot of rereading when it does. Still, “The Black Monday Murders” will scratch an itch and expand your horizons in a way you didn’t know could happen. And remember, either you eat the rich or the rich will eat you. Literally.
Continued belowGrab it if you like:
-Analytical thrillers
-Magic realism
-Stories about the greed of the class divide
If you like “The Black Monday Murders” read:
-“Pax Romana” by Jonathan Hickman
-“Bodies” by Si Spencer, Dean Ormston, Phil Winslade, Meghan Hetrick and Tula Lotay
-”The Immortal Hulk” by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett
Snotgirl
“Snotgirl” is one of those books where I have no idea how I started reading it, but it just sort of clicked for me in a way I never would have expected. It’s the story of fashion blogger Lottie Person (A.K.A Snotgirl) and her circle of friends, the Haters’ Brunch (A.K.A Normgirl and Cutegirl and sometimes Coolgirl), as well as the world they inhabit. I know it might sound out of place alongside “The Sheriff of Babylon” and “The Black Monday Murders,” but that’s why it works, “Snotgirl” is the master of the sneak attack. It lets you fully inhabit this world of photo-shoots, pop-up shops and brand synergy, then stuff starts getting weird. Characters start bleeding from the scalp only to turn up fine, characters become complicit to murders they aren’t sure were even real, restless ghosts start hunting for Beyoncé in desert hotels. And then it’s normal again, and we’re back to the fashion.
The thing about it too, is the fashion is really fucking fun. Leslie Hung kills the pencils on every issue. Writer Bryan Lee O’Malley (of “Scott Pilgrim” fame) carries a lot of his styles and sensibilities into this, and Hung only expands on them, building a really interesting progression onto his style which fits into the just-too-bright world of Snotgirl and the gang. You can tell how much research, thought and personality goes into every single character design, let alone every single new outfit that has to express a brand new mood and facet of each character and their current circumstances. It’s character design on steroids and crystal meth for cosplayers. I think the art also makes the book more digestible, it’s hard to find a moment in this series that isn’t full of conflict, and not even bam-pow conflict, instead it’s just anxiety-inducing microaggressions, sharp whispers and ghosted texts. I don’t think I’d have the endurance to get through that without some nice soft art to look at.
O’Malley’s character work in this is stand-out, he inhabits a really specific bundle of voices that realistically sell a comic set in the modern-day fashion-influencer landscape. We have soft yet conceited models like Cutegirl, abrasive and overcompensating men like Ashley; then softer, cooperative personalities like Sunny and Esther compromising in between. It’s a fun balance in a story that lives and breathes in its character interactions. It’s like there’s all these conflicting, broken egos that make you wonder not only who’s guilty of what, but who even feels guilty of anything? That’s where Caroline and Virgil thrive (yes I’m going to keep throwing names at you until you feel obligated to read this book), they’re the unknown quantity in this, embodiments of the allure and obsession with forbidden love, endlessly elusive in their own manners, and the source of endless revelatory dynamism in their contrastingly loud and soft ways. They’re the gaslight that pulls in all these unsuspecting… moths? I don’t know where that metaphor was going. Still, they’re what makes this mystery a mystery. You just want to know how they work, you want Lottie to know what Caroline wants from her, you want to know if Sunny wants to fuck Virgil as bad as Virgil wants to fuck him. It’s an emotional whirlwind that starts dropping bodies in the process.
“Snotgirl” just released its 15th issue and is going on an extended hiatus. This is another series with a very erratic release schedule, so expect to be digging in for the long haul on this break. Still, that gives you the perfect opportunity to catch up on this insane read.
Grab it if you like:
-Unexpectedly psychological stories
-Fashion and design
-Books that are both horny and deadly
If you like “Snotgirl” read:
-”Scott Pilgrim” by Bryan Lee O’Malley
-“Crowded” by Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein and Ted Brandt
Continued below
-”Sex Criminals” by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
On the Shelf: Friday
Alright, “Friday” is a series in the earliest of early days, but with Diamond on the fritz and pencils down all over the place, it’s a miracle that it’s publishing right now. We’re one issue in as of writing, and so far it seems super funky. The story by writer Ed Brubaker (one of the minds behind “Criminal,” “Gotham Central” and “Daredevil”) and artist Marcos Martin (“Doctor Strange: The Oath,” “Private Eye” and other good things) is a progression on classic teen detective fiction like Encyclopedia Brown or Nancy Drew, following Friday Fitzhugh, a teen sidekick coming back to the small town where she and prodigy Lancelot Jones would track down all the no-good criminals of a bygone era.
I’ve written a lot about Brubaker’s writing and the general styles and tropes of it all, I don’t think this is a huge growth on that beyond the genre shift, but it’s still standout. The thing I found really interesting here was the pervasive sense of creeping violence under everything. Martin has an artstyle that, to me at least, feels warm and inviting, homey, so when it carries Brubaker’s darker undertone it starts to be intriguing in a way that neither element could be on its own. The series, beyond just being a teen detective book, carries in elements of lovecraftian small-town horror. They’re treading through the remains of abandoned rituals and tracking down newly-mad, wealthy eccentrics while watchful owls dominate the pages in their weird, understated way. Funnily enough, it’s these quiet undertones that make the book more enjoyable on your second read. It’s got layers that you’re invited to untangle if you’re willing to go that distance. Also this article gave me some more insight into the whole lovecraft element of it (and made me really want to rewatch True Detective”), so if you want to see someone say everything I just said but better, go give that a look.
This book is dripping in personality. I’m in love with the idea of a “post-YA” story, as Brubaker puts it, what happens after the coming of age when newly-formed adults are forced to either regress into a childhood state or cut their ties and move into a new life. That’s Friday’s whole dilemma (the book and the character). Brought to life by Martin’s soft-cornered, stylish designs and Muntsa Vincente’s gradient-heavy colors, the whole book just enchants you. I have no idea where to even start in this mystery, but I’m already invested! I want to watch the plot and the emotions thrive, clash and coalesce, I want to hear what this book is trying to say.
You can grab chapter one right now on Panel Syndicate where you can choose your own price for it. I also just want to shout out all the other amazing creators self publishing and making their content available online through all this. Wes Craig, Gavin Fullerton and Sachi have been putting out some amazing slices of genius on Twitter. Plus we’ve had some huge debuts recently. “Write it in Blood” is a Neo-Western crime story that I fell in love with; it just began and concluded a four-issue run over the last month, which is awesome. “Bad Karma” just started and it might be the best new thing I’ve read since Diamond shut. That’s written by Alex De Campi, who also just co-authored the upcoming“Madi” alongside Duncan Jones and a swathe of talented artists. “Cosmic Detective” by Matt Kindt, Jeff Lemire and Dave Rubin went live on Kickstarter as well, it’s very on brand for this column. Finally we have the one dollar monthly minicomic “Brutal Dark” which is super cool and sits perfectly alongside “Criminal” and “Friday.” Hopefully some of you guys find something you enjoy amidst all that!
Grab it if you like:
-Understated thrillers
-Small-town supernaturality
-Kid detectives
If you like “Friday” read:
-”Fatale” by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
-“Abbot” by Saladin Ahmed and Sami Kivelä
-”Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder” by Mike Mignola and Ben Stenbeck
Rulebreakers
Black Hammer
On to some rulebreakers! “Black Hammer” is a series I’ve always wanted to give a full feature, but no matter how I reconcile it, it’s still too superhero-y to qualify, so I’m going to just do it as much justice as I can here! I think the central mystery of “Black Hammer” doesn’t quite live up to the set-up, but the character work and worldbuilding it does along the way is some of the best in modern comics. It follows a group of superheroes who, after a battle with a cosmic god, are banished to a strange, inescapable farming town where their powers are on the fritz and no one recognises them. Every character is laced with such intricate mixes of cynicism and optimism as they find new identities for themselves and cling onto their old ones in whichever ways they can. Writer Jeff Lemire has always had a knack for crafting characters built on their traumas, experiences and losses; his characters are patchworks, not paintings. This is really reinforced by artist Dean Ormston, whose heavy faces and quiet expressions show the depths of these characters behind their masks. This is a really quiet, intriguing series that’s never afraid to pivot straight into batshit insanity.
Not only that but Jeff Lemire has gone on to create a whole universe of ‘Black Hammer’ titles and characters. “Sherlock Frankenstein and the Legion of Evil” is another lackluster mystery
with a cast of amazing characters, Chthu-lou and Mectoplasm are clear stand-outs. Then we have “Doctor Star and the Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows” which is based on the equally amazing “Starman” by James Robinson and Tony Harris, it is a really touching, timespanning father-son story. Finally there’s “Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy,” which finds a cool middle-ground between “Batman” and “Punisher,” while putting it’s own really introspective yet bombastic spin on the whole thing. Most of that is thanks to Tonci Zonjic’s great line-art, which left me obsessed after one issue. That series is still ongoing, so get in on the ground-floor if you can. All three of these books (to varying degrees) work as great solo pieces independent of “Black Hammer” proper, so find your flavor and see if it sticks!
Jessica Jones
In Pageturn: Crime Comics I talked about Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos’s “Alias,” so I thought that I’d look at the follow up here, Kelly Thompson and Mattia De Iulis’s “Jessica Jones.” This series is just as good as its inspiration, it even feels punchier at times because of its more self-contained stories (and its writer being less prone to ranting dialogue). This series nails the action, intrigue and layered personality of PI Jessica Jones as she unravels both the mystery in front of her and the insecurities inside her. The biggest selling point for me though, is Iulis’s incredible art. He uses a realist style with a heavy emphasis on lighting, that fits in with a classic noir feel while putting a cutting modern edge over everything. It’s gives Jessica Jones and her extended cast so much gravity and personality, allowing Thompson’s script to adjust with some finer points, rather than having to do the heavy lifting. Currently there are two volumes out, ‘Blindspot’ and ‘Purple Child’ both of which are fully available in digital and are coming/have come out in print.
Watchmen
Dude, It’s Watchmen. C’mon.
Thank you all for reading, stay secretive, stay silent, stay scholastic.
