Hello and welcome back to Saturday Morning Panels!
With the shutdown of Diamond Comics Distributors due to COVID-19, there won’t be new comics for who knows how long. Rather than put our column on hold, we took a page out of our Special Edition playbook and bring you our favorite panels around a particular theme.
This week, inspired by one of our recent Pageturn columns, we asked our staff to share with us those moments that brought them joy, whether it’s from a favorite series that tops the pull list every week or a moment that brought us happiness even in the darkest of stories. Because let’s face it: thanks to, well, you know, we need joy now more than ever.
So kick-back, watch out for spoilers, and talk about your favorites in the comments section below! And if you have an idea for a theme for an upcoming installment, leave it in the comments. Stay safe, wash your hands, and stop touching your face. (Reading a comic will help with that last one!)
“52” #1: At least he didn’t say he was sponsored by Blue Apron or– HOLD UP, IS THAT THE IMMORTAL HULK TEAM ON PENCILS AND INKS? – Elias Rosner
“52” #1: Moses happened. – Elias Rosner
“Astro City” Vol. 2: Priest Dracula’s got a point, kid. – Elias Rosner
“Bad Luck Chuck” #1: And thunk goes the weasel. – Elias Rosner
“Bone” #1: Scarface, after falling into his Scrooge McDuck style coke vault. – Elias Rosner
“Calvin and Hobbes”: I hate building character, so when Calvin rails against it, I’m practically crying out,
“Hear, hear!” while I read. – Mark Tweedale
“Exiles” #9: A friendship forged in ice cream – Jake Hill
“Explorers on the Moon”: What can I say? It’s always fun spending time with Tintin, Snowy, Haddock, Calculus, and the Thompsons. – Mark Tweedale
“Flavor” #4: I have a real weakness for food comics. – Mark Tweedale
“Forces of Destiny” #3: I too want to be friends and co-pilots with a large talking water-dwelling mammal. – Jake Hill
“Giant Days” #16: I’ve often said that reading “Giant Days” feels like hanging out with my friends, which makes this series invaluable right now. – Mark Tweedale
“Giant Days” #48: Ah Susan, always with murder on the brain. – Elias Rosner
“Giant Days” #51: As someone who has lost a parent (though not suddenly as McGraw did), this statement encapsulates the nature of grief and how to move forward from it so beautifully. Well done, John Allison. – Kate Kosturski
“Giant Days: Where Women Glow and Men Plunder” #1: Ah, the lure of the duty free. I fall prey to it every time. Doesn’t help that in some airports the duty free is a mall you have to walk through in order to get to your gate. – Kate Kosturski
“Gwenpool Strikes Back” #5: For better or worse, I’ve sort of taken this on as my personal motto. – Jake Hill
“Harrow County” #32: This book is often mentioned because of its horror, and rightfully so, but there’s real heart in it too. This is what makes the book truly special. – Mark Tweedale
“Howard the Duck” (2015a) #1: I’m crying and laughing, Uncle Ben. I’m CRAUGHING. (Read “Howard the Duck” please.) – Elias Rosner
“Howard the Duck” (2015a) #3: Dammit Pete! You can’t keep track of ONE aunt? (READ “HOWARD THE DUCK”) – Elias Rosner
“Isola” #1: Cue The Killers “Day and Age,” track 8. – Jake Hill
“Life Is Strange” #1: Max is the over-the-top living embodiment of how to be a
really, really good friend. – Jake Hill
“Mitama Security: Spirit Busters” #34: He trained in the mystic art of Mom for 10 years. – Elias Rosner
Continued below
“Monstress” #5: Maika Halfwolf in a nutshell. – Greg Ellner
“Monstress” #7: My goal in life is to be this image. – Jake Hill
“Ms. Marvel” (2015) #28: I’m from New Jersey and this is . . . quite accurate. – Kate Kosturski
“Ms. Marvel” (2015) #38: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” – John 15:13 – Kate Kosturski
“Murder Falcon” #3: Within each and every once of us is a warrior bird, waiting to hit a demon with a traffic light. – Jake Hill
“Plastic Man” (2003) #3: A Bat-Man of few words. – Elias Rosner
“Plastic Man” (2003) #8: 15+ years later and this series STILL perfectly skewers, parodies and celebrates the DC universe and comics trends. – Elias Rosner
“Saga” #49: Ghüs is bravery. Ghüs is kindness. Ghüs is loyalty. Ghüs is everything. – Jake Hill
“Skip Beat” Vol. 1: A curse on your family. A curse on your house. A curse on your cow. – Elias Rosner
“West Coast Avengers” #8: It ain’t the best coast, but it is the best Avengers team. – Jake Hill
