Another month has passed, and so we look back at the last month of the year to talk about some of the best that happened to us comic readers. Not really so much the worst, though. Why? No particular reason. That category hasn’t been entirely dropped from this column. It just so happens that I couldn’t think of anything to put in those categories, and I decided my joke of making “Hawkeye” #6 best and “Hawkeye” #5 would be lost on people skimming the articles for pictures. Ah well.
Read on for the Best of December. Some spoilers for books that came out during the month, but nothing you probably haven’t heard about already (and nothing Spider-Man related, either).
Best Book of the Month – Hawkeye #6
In a complete shock to no one, the best comic of the month (and perhaps the best comic of the year that came out too late to make it into any of the best of the year lists since those are all done in November) was “Hawkeye” #6 by Matt Fraction and David Aja, featuring Hawkguy doing normal things in preparation for Christmas. Let’s repeat that thought for a second: a superhero comic from Marvel Comics starring a character from the biggest movie of the year doing nothing but celebrating Christmas and dealing with the problems of being a normal guy with normal neighbors. This honestly could’ve been one of the worst books of the month with that kind of set-up, but Fraction and Aja made little things like hooking up a sound system and talking with neighbors so infinitely endearing that the issue becomes instantly memorable and a definitive rallying points for fans of the book to share with other readers to expand the legacy of Hawkguy.
Someone else said it first (Steve Wacker on Twitter, I believe?) but last year’s big breakout Marvel title was “Daredevil.” Now the big breakout title is “Hawkeye,” and if the series continues with more one-off issues like this that tie to a greater story, with stellar artwork and a great ear for dialogue, it may just be Marvel’s big breakout title next year too.
Best Writer – Matt Fraction
This is sort of like in the Academy Awards when the Best Actor and Director are indicative of what the Best Film is, but never the less Fraction astounded with “Hawkeye” #6 and continues to build excitement with the epic four-issue mission statement for the new direction he’s taking the Fantastic Franchise in. Granted, we’re giving him Best Writer here mostly for “Hawkeye” because, well, did you read that freaking issue? But the Fantastic stuff is fun as well.
Best Artist – David Aja
Again, it’s seemingly the Academy Awards mentality at play, but that doesn’t mean that Aja was any less astounding this month. I’ve said it multiple times to friends, but Aja went full on Chris Ware with the most recent issue. This is the “Building Stories” of the Marvel Universe, and Aja is doing amazing things here. The above page was my absolute favorite from the issue, and we’re talking an issue with many great pages. Just goes to show you what inserting some design into a comic can really do to making it stand out.
With no offense to Javier Pulido intended, I wish Aja would never take a break from this book ever again. I’ll gladly wait any amount of time for a “delayed” issue if it ends up looking like “Hawkeye” does.
Best Scene: Elektra Appears (from Thunderbolts #1)
This might be off the cuff a bit considering all the accolades “Hawkeye” has gotten so far in this column, but one scene that really stuck with me this month was that of Elektra’s first appearance in the new “Thunderbolts” book. While Daniel Way is certainly a divisive writer of sorts, you can tell when he’s writing things specifically for his new collaborator Steve Dillon based on the kind of stuff everyone wants to see Steve Dillon do – and if you happened to like Dillon’s past work on “Punisher MAX”? Well, then this was like a little walk down memory lane. A bit unexpected, definitely exciting and by far the best part of that issue.
Continued belowIf you don’t like that answer, though, just pretend I said “All of “Hawkeye” #6″ then.
Best New Series – Mara
A new book by Brian Wood is always an insta-buy purchase. Having this be Ming Doyle’s big coming out party at Image ina bombastic sci-fi series with sports stars as superheroes (kind of) was just that much more exciting, and the whole issue was rather grand. One of two books published by Image last week, this was a definite can’t miss debut.
Best Returning series – Hellboy (in Hell #1)
Man, how great was it to not only go to a shop and pick up a new comic with Hellboy in it but to pick up a new issue that was illustrated by Mike Mignola? It’s been a long time coming and we’ve missed the big red guy quite a bit, but his return was well-crafted, beautifully executed and incredibly exciting. I can’t wait to see what else Mignola has planned for his seminal character in his walk through Hell.
Most Overlooked – Rachel Rising #13
Every time I read an issue of this book, I can’t help but sit back in shock that I don’t hear more people geeking out about it on a regular monthly basis. I mean, really, Terry Moore is doing incredible stuff as per usual, and this book always makes me go online and look for something by Moore I’m unfamiliar with just so I can keep reading something from the guy. Heck, I can’t draw to save my life but every issue of “Rachel Rising” makes me want to pick up his “How To Draw” book just because its full of his illustrations. While it might seem like I’m avoiding talking about the book’s contents it’s only because I’ve found that “Rachel Rising” is something better left discovered, but I’ll at least say this: if you like horror, mysteries, ladies, demons and snow that you can hear crunch when you read it, go grab some trades and issues off the shelves of your local shop.
Really, if you’re not reading it for any other reason besides you didn’t know it existed, I find that relatively unacceptable.
Best Collection – The Fear Agent Library Edition Volume 1
I didn’t buy it because I already own the entire series, but that hasn’t stopped my “BUY ALL THE THINGS” mentality from screaming in my ear whenever it pops up in a “Related Items” Amazon section or when visiting a shop. This is a gorgeous hardcover collection of one of the best comics of the last decade and a personal favorite of mine, and if you’ve never picked up the series before now is assuredly the time. Please. Buy it. Buy all of them before I end up buying all of them myself.
Worst Loss – Haunt’s Unceremonious Farewell
I’ve been a huge fan of the collaborative work of Joe Casey and Nate Fox on the series “Haunt,” and it has easily been one of my favorite books whenever an issue happens to come out. Kinetic, exciting and full of rock and roll, I’d go so far as to say that Casey and Fox took a relatively middling title by Kirkman and Capullo and injected it full of vibrant life. It was truly something different.
However, “Haunt” #28 marks the last time that will happen anymore apparently, because as the issue reached its climax everything randomly blew up and the book was cancelled. What? Yup. “Pix or it didn’t happen” provided above for proof.
It came out of left field, but apparently Todd McFarlane, co-creator of the character with Kirkman, wants to take the book in a different direction and, despite soliciting a few more issues with Casey and Fox and their incredible work on the book, “Haunt” is just going to go away, to appear in “Spawn” at some random later date.
Well, boo to that. Here is me, pouring one out for my homie.
