Nothing like this column to make me realize how many series I told myself I was going to catch up with and didn’t. I admit it, I’m a bad fan! Still, August had quite a few great books, and just as many awful ones. Be sure to leave your own favorites in the comments, so I know what I missed out on — or, more importantly, leave your least favorites, so I know what to avoid!
Best Comic of the Month: “Batman Incorporated” #3
Okay, maybe there are better choices, but I found nothing to complain about regarding this issue. More so than anything else, it was clear that both Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham were having a hell of a time making this comic, and the result was that I had a hell of a time reading it. Morrison’s dialogue was just delightful in every way, and Chris Burnham somehow gets twice as good with every issue that comes out. Above all, I just loved seeing the Matches Malone alter ego back on the field, especially in the hands of a creative team who really knew how to make that kind of story work. If Morrison decided “Screw it, Matches is better than Batman anyway” and went on to do a Matches Malone series with Burnham in tow, I would not even bat an eye. Some comics are just worth a blind buy, and that would be one of them — as this issue proves.
Runners Up: “Saga” #6, “Hawkeye” #1
Worst Comic of the Month: “Before Watchmen: Rorschach”
I got a few pages into “Before Watchmen: Rorschach” before I had to put it down. Then, I remembered that I had made a promise to myself to cover every single Before Watchmen comic in — shameless plug — our weekend wrap-up column, The Weekend Week In Review, and had already missed one, so I picked it back up. What a terrible life choice. In spite of its beautiful artwork, courtesy of Lee Bermejo, “Rorschach” stood out as the worst Before Watchmen comic yet, particularly because of writer Brian Azzarello’s horrible handling of Rorschach as a character — a matter that stood out even more when the story did not really go anywhere. The worst part is that this was the one book that made me think “Well, that creative team could work really well with that character.” Sure, Bermejo can, but boy, Azzarello really killed all the good will for him his issues of “Wonder Woman” generated in me.
Runners Up: “Before Watchmen: Nite Owl,” “Before Watchmen: The Comedian”
Best Writer of the Month: Brian Wood
Multiversity favorite Brian Wood had his hand in a pretty sizable batch of comics this week, and while “X-Men” might not have been everything we hoped for, his other three books are doing just fine. “The Massive?” Great. “Conan the Barbarian?” Also great. “Ultimate Comics: X-Men?” Totally gravy. And even though “X-Men” is not particularly notable, it is hardly a bad comic. As the song lyrics don’t exactly go, 3.5 out of 4 ain’t bad. Earning a title such as “best writer” doesn’t mean putting out one great comic (now don’t go digging through my old This Month in Comics posts to double-check this); it means putting out multiple solid titles without giving any one of them the short end of the stick. The name “Brian Wood” is a seal of quality these days. If you see it on a comic book, it’s probably going to be worth picking up. Sure, neither one of his four issues would be in my top picks for best issue of the month, but that’s fine. Those three that are good have always been good, and consistency is key in serialized media.
Runner Up: Brian K. Vaughn, despite writing only one (great) book.
Most Disappointing Writer of the Month: Brian Azzarello
Much like Gil last month, I don’t want to go so far as to call Azzarello the worst writer of the month. For all my vitriol toward “Rorschach” and, to a slightly lesser extent, “The Comedian,” Azzarello has been writing good stories in “Wonder Woman,” and since I have not yet read any of “Spaceman” I do not want to make a full judgment on him as a writer when he has a new creator-owned book finishing up. Still, while Azz may not be one of my favorite writers, it was a big letdown to see exactly what I feared would happen in this whole Before Watchmen mess actually come to fruition in his comics: a complete and utter disregard for Moore’s carefully crafted character work. Can’t say I didn’t see it coming, though.
Continued belowRunner Up: Scott Snyder, as much as I hate to say it.
Best Artist of the Month: James Stokoe
The first issue of “Godzilla: The Half Century War” was a wild, wild ride, and all because James Stokoe is simply an incredible illustrator. Yep, look at that page — simple, right? There’s nothing I can say about Stokoe that hasn’t been said before. His work is incredibly detailed, bristling with line after line, but that does not at all hamper his sense of expression or sequential storytelling. If you have gone this long without reading a Stokoe-illustrated comic, I feel sorry for you. It’s not something I can tell you about. You have to experience it firsthand.
Runners Up: Sean Gordon Murphy, David Aja, Chris Burnham
Most Disappointing Artistic Moment: From Cloonan to Clarke (“Batman” #12)
I honestly didn’t read a comic with offensively bad art in it this month, unless I burned it out of my brain, which I have been known to do; however, DC did a great job of taking two individually great artists with strikingly different visual styles and putting them on the same story. The “great” there is sarcastic. Becky Cloonan is a wonderful artist, and her work in her “Conan” issue this week was beyond excellent. Likewise, even though I may not like Andy Clarke as much as I do Cloonan, he has a unique visual style that is a testament to his technical ability, and his art truly sings in the right circumstances. Put their vastly different styles next to each other, though, and you bring down both at them. The loss of visual continuity in “Batman” #12 has nothing to do with these two brilliant artists, and everything to do with yet more poor editorial decisions over at DC.
Best Scene: Don’t Mess with a Unicorn (“The Unwritten” #40)
This arc of “The Unwritten” kind of dragged, especially considering the thousand questions #35 led to, but at least it introduced a new favorite character. Is there anything quite so embarrassing as finishing up your evil monologue, only to be knocked out by a storybook unicorn? I think not. This was not necessarily the strongest issue of “The Unwritten” that we’ve seen, but this scene made sure I left the book with a smile on my face.
Runner Up: Everything with Matches Malone (“Batman Incorporated” #3), our heroes evade Godzilla (“Godzilla: The Half Century War #1”)
Worst Scene of the Month: Bitch to Be You Right Now (“Before Watchmen: Rorschach” #1)
Remember how I said that I almost stopped “Rorschach” mid-book? This is the panel that elicited that response. Somehow, from this panel alone, I knew that the rest of the book was going to be panel after panel of Azzarello not really getting Rorschach as a character, and you know what? I was right. And before you try to say “Well, it could be pre-German Shepherd Rorschach,” pay attention to the context clues in the issue: it isn’t.
Runner Up: Rorschach pulls a shotgun on some thugs (“Before Watchmen: Rorschach” #1 as well), “It’s time to shit” (“Before Watchmen: The Comedian” #2)
Best New Series: “Hawkeye”
I know, there are a ton of great creator-owned books I’m letting down, but considering “The Immortal Iron Fist” was one of my first comic loves, I can’t pass this by. Say what you will about Matt Fraction, but when he works with the amazing artist that is David Aja, great things happen. This issue was an ideal debut: a self-contained story that was easily accessible to fans new and old, and one that left the reader wanting for more. Having tons of quotables didn’t hurt matters. My one complaint has nothing to do with the first issue itself, but that Marvel is already bringing in a pinch hitter for Aja. I don’t mind Pulido, but I would wait four months between issues if it meant getting Aja on every issue. Marvel just has to artificially pump up that market share, though!
Runner Up: “Godzilla: The Half Century War”
Best Burns: Scott Snyder
On the one hand, I agree with Multiversity editor-in-chief Matthew Meylikhov: we should not encourage the kind of behavior that happened on Twitter last weekend (read his op-ed for more info). On the other, those are some brilliant jabs on Scott’s part.
