April showers bring May lists of things that happened in April.
Yeah, I could’ve worked on that intro more but there was no time since a lot happened in April. For one, Captain America: The Winter Soldier arrived and kicked both box office and critical ass. Meanwhile in the future, Zack Snyder’s Justice League will assuredly do well at the box office but that’s four years from now and we have a lot of other things to worry about. For example you might care about the Superman vs. Batman movie coming in 2016 starring Ray Fisher as Cyborg. I, meanwhile, am really worried about my future career prospects as a millennial. To each his own.
In the meantime, enjoy these amazing trailers that came out in April for X-Men: Days of Future Past and The Fault in Our Stars. (Like I said: millennial.) Also, the cast for J.J. Abrams’s Star Wars: Episode VII was announced with not just most of the original cast but some exciting new faces (Attack the Block’s John Boyega! Max Von Syndow! Living Taran Killam impersonation Adam Driver!) that’s certain to excite a large amount of people, especially young people whose exposure to Star Wars has never not included Jar Jar Binks. #MillenialFalcon
Over on the comics side of things, Peter Parker came back from the dead, Stephanie Brown came back from editorial undeath, and I don’t even know what’s going on with Wally West. Something about him dying but in the future? He’ll probably come back for good, unlike Beware the Batman which is going to be aired this summer at 3AM. Young Justice didn’t die for our sins so you could pull stunts like this, Cartoon Network.
Oh, and somebody should call 2010 Denzel Washington because Warren Ellis was Unstoppable this month.
Best Issue: “Moon Knight” #2
Speaking of Ellis, no I am not over “Moon Knight” #2, holy hell. With the first issue, Ellis set up the type of groove we could have seen coming (Moon Knight as a suave yet crazy man in a suit dealing with the supernatural). Then this issue comics along and it turns out that Ellis was just making us comfortable so Declan Shalvey could burst into our homes and smash our faces in with a baseball bat. I don’t want to spoil too much of this comic since A) I kind of talked about why it’s so damn crazy good in my review and B) it’s something that needs to be experienced firsthand. Really, “Moon Knight” #2 shattered any expectations anyone could impose on the title.
Runner Up: “Deadly Class” #4
Best Writer: Antony Johnston
With “Umbral” and “The Fuse”, Antony Johnston’s crafting some epic worlds to play around with, made all the better with his dynamic characters. No, this isn’t nepotism. (At least I don’t think it is. Antony, call me if you had a wild night in 1994 you don’t really remember.)
Runner Up: Ales Kot
Best Artist: Brooke Allen
If you don’t think “Lumberjanes” was one of the most adorable/endearing/entertaining comics of the month then I have no idea what happened to make you so cold. Please check it out if you haven’t already.
Runner Up: Michael Del Mundo
Best Cover: “Amazing Spider-Man” #1
I have not stopped staring at this cover for three months. Excellent job, Marcos Martin.
Runner Up: “Southern Bastards” #1
Best Debut: “Shutter” #1
There is nothing more exciting than a comic that brings with it an exhilarating sense of freshness and “Shutter” #1 just does that. Joe Keatinge and Leila del Duca crafted a beautifully strange world for us to explore in the coming months and that’s as good a reason as any to get excited.
Runner Up: Elektra #1
Best Ret-Con: “Doop” #1
I hope that anytime Marvel has a disappointing event like “Battle of the Atom”, they just make a miniseries where Doop makes everything a lot more entertaining. Hell, DC could do the same if “Futures End” doesn’t work out.
Runner Up: Welcome Back Stephanie Brown. Freaking Finally.
