In the interest of full disclosure, I feel it is important to say that March was not my finest month of fandom. Late in February, my son was born, and I spent the first two weeks of the month on full time dad duty. After that, I was catching up on my Multiversity responsibilities, so this list is cobbled together from stuff I read, stuff that our staff loved and that I either read on their recommendation or will be reading shortly, and a slight diversion into the cinemas.
Best Issue: Batman #50
While not the best issue of the Scott Snyder/Greg Capullo “Batman” run, this issue achieves things that just couldn’t be possible by any other comic released in March. More than almost any other ‘mainstream’ comic of the last five years, “Batman” has had a consistent creative team and an overarching story that grew and evolved with every single issue. Snyder and Capullo have added as much to the Bat mythos as just about any other creative team in recent memory, perhaps save Grant Morrison.
This issue both gives a fitting send off to Jim Gordon’s Batman, but also restores Bruce Wayne in ways that are both insane and exciting. Despite there being two more issues of this series before relaunching as part of ‘Rebirth,’ this is the true climax of the nearly 5 year run of Snyder and Capullo. Well played, gents.
Runner Up: “Faith” #3
Best Writer: Scott Snyder
Snyder, as mentioned above, wrapped up his “Batman” run this month, but that isn’t all he did in the Bat-family. “Batman and Robin Eternal,” which was co-scripted by Snyder and James Tynion IV, also wrapped up in March, and told a story that was far more about what Batman thought he was – an angle we’ve really never seen before – than what his Robins thought he was. The series, though lulling in the middle, took the entire Bat-family through something unthinkable even a few years ago: a Bat-series that didn’t miss Batman at all.
Snyder, through the last two years of weeklies, and the last five years of “Batman,” has proven that he is the premiere Batman writer working today.
Runner Up: Jody Houser for “Faith” #3
Best Artist: Greg Hinkle
Hinkle, who I first encountered on “Airboy” last year, illustrated “The Rattler,” a new Image graphic novel with Jason McNamara, which just solidified his status as one of the most exciting new artists working in comics. Whereas “Airboy” mixed classic, Golden Age imagery with equally cartoonish ‘gritty’ San Francisco reality, “The Rattler” takes this the other way – there’s nothing cartoonish or exaggerated about this. Instead, Hinkle’s work is terrifyingly rooted in reality, and it is just as affecting. Hinkle deserves a monthly book – someone give it to him.
Runner Up: Gabriel Hernandez Walta for “The Vision” #5
Best 90’s Revival A): Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers
I was never a Power Rangers fan – I was a little too old to like it honestly, and a little too young to like it ironically – but everyone I know who was a fan can’t say enough good things about the new BOOM! series.
Best 90’s Revival B): X-Men ’92
On the other hand, I was a huge X-Men fan in the 90s, and so “X-Men ’92” is a book that was directly up my alley. It also doesn’t help that Multiversity alumnus/real life friend Chad Bowers is co-writing the book, but to be honest? Even if anyone put hair on Doop, I’d be in – even if it was written by my arch nemesis.
Best 90’s Revival C): Azreal in “Batman and Robin Eternal”
And somehow, the most 90s thing that happened all month was seeing Azrael back in the pages of “Batman and Robin Eternal.” Something about that flaming sword just brings me back.
Biggest Disappointment: Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice
I know, I know – you’re sick of people being mad about this film. I am too – although I went in with low expectations, I still was rooting for the film to prove me wrong. Growing up, I had both Superman and Batman painted on the walls of my bedroom – a movie with the two of them in it has been a dream for my entire life.
If this had been good, I’d have gladly eaten my words and embraced the film. But it wasn’t – the movie represents everything that I dislike about superhero culture in 2016. I came out of the movie legitimately bummed out about the film – a film that, somehow, wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but was so soul-crushingly dark that it didn’t even matter. There is nothing this month in the world of comics quite as off-putting as this.
