2. 0. 1. 7. After the year that will live in infamy, we crossed the threshold into another segment of twelve months with hope and dreams, right? Fuck no. As the real world continues to show that ancient straight white men will continue to ruin things, it’s only going to get worse before it gets better. So what better way to put a salve on that harsh truth then talking about the latest month in this medium to what was the best, what was the worst, and what was the “Why?!” You’ll be happy to know that January was an off-month so I can’t just put “Tokyo Ghoul” in the Best slots, say “Basically That” and kick off for lunch. So let’s take it away!
Best Issue: “Deathstroke” #11
Yeah, to anyone who read my review, this won’t come as a shock. In a climate that isn’t so much “turbulent” as it is “an unstoppable emotional tempest for anyone with a semblance of basic empathy”, many books will try to touch very important and very relevant topics. And that’s good. Books are more than just entertainment. But comics (especially from the Big 2) can have a wider margin on how well they handle these topics. Most of them are just boiled down until the message comes off as tone-deaf and patronizing (*cough*”Champions”*cough*). That said, this “Deathstroke” #11 is an example of how to do it well without coming off as patronizing. And a good portion of that goes to…
Best Writer: Christopher Priest
I mean, it should go without saying that Christopher Priest should be canonized for managing to make Slade Wilson and his world interesting. And what made the previous issues of “Deathstroke” great continues in the aforementioned issue #11: Priest doesn’t make excuses. Just like how his writing acknowledges that Slade is a bad human being, the issue at talk in the “Chicago” one-shot are not lightened, not boiled down and doesn’t provide any easy answers. It all culminates in a final moment with Slade that could be taken in so many ways. Brutal. Ambiguous. And heartfelt. It’s the kind of writing that needs to be seen more.
Best Illustration: Ramon Perez & Ian Herring
I really hesitated on whether to select this or the team of Cowan, Sienkiewicz & Cox for the aforementioned “Stroke of Death” but in the end, the latest edition of “Nova” clenched the crown. Why is that? Because of just how much the artwork for this series transformed the series. Sam Alexander’s previous runs had some good, if unremarkable, artwork. But the team of Perez & Herring (fresh from “All-New Hawkeye”) have provided a needed boost of fun energy. Herring’s colors in particular are a sight to behold, but make space feel vibrant and fun instead of the terrifying void of nothing that it truly is.
Best Example of Killing Your Momentum: “Justice League vs. Suicide Squad”
This may be a bit controversial (especially if we get the DC3 involved), but the back half of “Justice League vs. Suicide Squad” felt very weak. The first half was, while not revolutionary, a fun romp, especially when compared to the event fare from DC’s competitors. With that in mind, the introducing of Eclipso into the mix to have him hijack Big Badship from Max Lord felt very trite, but was only compounded by the very anti-killing Batman telling Waller that there was enough room in the world for both the League and the Suicide Squad, in spite of the majority of the Suicide Squad being unrepentant killers and Amanda Waller being, at best, a war criminal.
Wait, what?
And then we have the settings up of other things, like the Legion of Super-Heroes. It’s confirmed that Saturn Girl is in the present, as was shown in “Batman”, implied to be the focus of the upcoming “Batgirl” annual and then in the pages of “Supergirl”. Ahh comics. Never stop being annoyingly confusing to get into. Still, we’re also getting Orlando’s “JLA”. Should be fun.
Worst Push: Nazi!Cap
Continued belowI will call him Nazi!Cap, not “Hydra!Cap”. I know there are people out there who are going to say that Hydra and the Nazi’s aren’t the same, but those people are going to Hell for lying. To put it simply: It’s bad enough that this story is continuing. It’s bad enough that Marvel as a whole were extremely dismissive about the very legitimate concerns from fans. It’s bad enough that they went even further by doing a “satire” (and by “satire” I mean “not a satire at all”) of social activists in Sam Wilson’s series. But now the next event is going to put this nonsense front and center. To be honest, unless the event is issue #1 we put an end to this Nazi!Cap and issues #2-End are Steve, Sam, Bucky, Future!Dani Cage, Eli Bradley & Miss America Chavez beating the Ever Loving Crap out of the Red Skull, then it’s not going to make the journey worth it.
Best Push: Catalyst Prime
Yeah, I know technically this push started in December, but it was on the 28th so the majority of the news has been in January so be quiet. Lion Forge is a relatively new publisher, but it is beginning to grow. They launched the website for their new superhero universe: Catalyst Prime, as they begin the countdown to Free Comic Book Day and the line promises creative talent such as the aforementioned God Among Mortals Christopher Priest, Joseph Illidge, Amy Chu, David Walker, Alex di Campi and Sheena C. Howard. On top of that, each week Catalyst Prime will be releasing new information about their universe in the forms of fictional documents, photographs, articles, e.t.c. Now, I am the kind of sad bastard that loves watching lore videos on Youtube and spend hours in games like Dishonored reading the books on shelves instead of murdering people. So these tidbits of lore are right up my alley. Hopefully it will be a prosperous launch.
