Is it June already? Gosh, the year is just flying by. I swear, it was New Years Eve just yesterday.
OK, maybe not. But it hasn’t been my turn to do This Month In Comics since October! Well, lets not waste time with the chit-chat then. I humbly present to you my picks for the Best and Worst of May 2012:
Best Comic of the Month: “Danger Club” #2
This was a tough month to pick a Best for. As you’ll see below, there were a lot of great comics this month. I’m sure I’ve ever forgot a few I greatly enjoyed because, generally speaking, May was a great month for comics this year. However, “Danger Club” remains one of my new favorites for the year for sure, both in term of this month’s output and just as a brand new book added to my pull. If you liked the first issue (which you must’ve, because it was great), the second issue hit even harder and at a more furious pace. You just have to love a comic that starts out with the main character being shot in the face (OR DID HE?!).
Runner-up: “Morning Glories” #18, “Scalped” #58, “Glory” #26, “Saga” #3, “Batman Incorporated” #1
Worst Comic of the Month: “Teen Titans” Annual #1
For a while now I’d been sticking with the DCnU “Teen Titans.” I’m not entirely sure why; it wasn’t particularly good and yet I found myself enjoying “Superboy” enough to justify reading both titles simultaneously due to how they intertwined. The “Teen Titans” annual was so mind-numbingly dull, however, that I’ve officially given up on yet another DC franchise. There have been very few times that I tried to return a comic after purchasing it (twice that I can think of), and this is now on that list.
I don’t like writing things like that. I don’t want to pick on DC as much as I do, and on some level of my weird fanboy heart it does make me feel odd how little DC I like. And yet, when they put out stuff like this, it’s just too hard to get excited over their output.
Runner-up: Every other issue related to ‘the Culling’ that I didn’t read (I assume), “The Activity” #6, “Irredeemable” #37
Best Scene of the Month: Jun’s Sexy Secret (“Morning Glories” #18)
What’s that? A comic book with a diverse cast featuring a moment reflecting the complexities of real life in a scene created to help serve the purpose of the story without resorting to gimmicks and/or announcements to the mainstream media to boost sales?
Quick, somebody call One Million Moms! They missed this one!!
Seriously, though: my blatant love of “Morning Glories” might make this seem like the “obvious” choice or something, but that doesn’t make this scene (or issue in general) any less great. In a book full of great character moments, this one was handled incredibly well; and in a month full of “controversial announcements” and what feel like blatant attention grabs (even if that wasn’t intentional on behalf of the writer and artist) kudos to Nick, Joe and Image/Shadowline for not hamming it up. It’s nice to see things like this in my comics.
Runner-up: The Hulk goes on Holiday (“Incredible Hulk” #7.1), “This is Bat-Cow.” (“Batman Incorporated” v2 #1)
Worst Scene of the Month: The Death of Helena Bertinelli (“World’s Finest” #1)
Again a DC book gets hit in this column with me at the helm, but this is just one of those things that seems so incredibly unnecessary that I can’t help but pick it for Worst Scene of the Month.
So, just to be clear: DC released a “Huntress” book by Paul Levitz (with Marcus To on art) that, from what I hear, was quite entertaining. It introduced some to the character, carried on her legacy for others and made Helena a part of the DCnU. Then, instead of Levitz just coming up with an excuse for how to connect that with the new “World’s Finest” book he also writes, that previous version of the character was killed off-panel because. A simple line of dialogue could’ve easily been written to clarify the connection between the two characters, but instead one was thrown in the trash to make way for an incarnation of the character that is basically the exact same.
Continued belowCome on, DC folks. It’s like you’re just trying to make the odd decisions at this point.
Runner-up: Iron Man shows up to fight Rogue (“X-Men Legacy” #266) and Iron Man turns out to be an empty shell so Rogue smashes him (“X-Men Legacy” #267), dumb kid is “the boss of the controller” for a ship set to blow-up New York (“X-Men #29), the notebook (“Irredeemable” #37)
Best Writer of the Month: Joss Whedon, The Avengers
Alright, this switches things up a bit.
No, it’s not a comic, it’s a comic movie — and yet, The Avengers is currently the third highest grossing film of all time without adjusting for inflation, it appeals both to hardcore comic fans as well as those who have never read a comic in their life and are still aware of all the characters, and it’s a movie that has shattered numerous records and will assumedly hold them for some time. It’s a movie that shattered conventions held by fans and critics everywhere, proving how you can make a superhero property enjoyable to all without having Batman as a character. It’s a movie that made people take the Hulk seriously, and people like me can now finally stop having to defend the character in conversation with various qualifiers to those who don’t read comics. It’s a movie that had one line of dialogue that boosted shawarma sales in Los Angeles!
No, it’s not a comic, but it sure as hell proves to the mainstream audience that perhaps they should be reading some of the books we read a monthly basis, wouldn’t you say?
Runner-up: Grant Morrison, “Batman Incorporated” v2 #1, Nick Spencer, “Morning Glories” #18, Matt Kindt, “Mind MGMT” #1
Worst Writer of the Month: Mark Waid, “Irredeemable” #37
I wrote a fair deal about this in my review of “Irredeemable” #37, but the more time goes on and the more I think about this issue, the less I care for it and Mark Waid’s choices on how to wrap it all up.
Waid is a talented writer assuredly, and I’m willing to admit that I’ve grown fond of “Daredevil” after not enjoying his take on it for quite sometime. His new webcomic, “Insufferable’? I dig it quite a lot. But the finale of “Irredeemable”? Meh. It felt at worst conceited, fairly over-done and basically a cop-out towards creating a book that could stand on its own. This was Waid at his worst, taking his encyclopedia-esque knowledge of comic books and stroking his ego a bit with it.
It’s just not for me, I suppose.
Runner-up: Anyone who wrote any part of ‘The Culling’, probably, maybe. I don’t know. I try not to read comics I don’t like.
Best Artist of the Month: Chris Burnham, “Batman Incorporated” v2 #1 and Nick Pitarra, “The Manhattan Projects” #3 (Tie)
Two artists who have similar styles of art. How can I pick just one?
With the first volume of “Batman Incorporated”, Chris “TheBurnham” Burnham was always an excellent addition to the rotating cast of artists on that book, but as the second volume kicks off it’s hard not to sit back, look at this issue and just marvel at how great Burnham is. Want kinetic artwork that matches the writing with pitch-perfect effectiveness that pulls out some of the best looking line-work of the month? You’ve got it. You want a stylistic book that makes Batman a hell of a lot of fun to read? You’ve got that too. Morrison frequently works with artists who can match him well in their art, and Burnham is an excellent addition to that group of names
Similarly, you’ve got Nick “N1ckyPoo” Pitarra, with his clean line style full of incredibly rich detail and wonderfully evocative characters pulled from the annals of time. If we can claim that Morrison works with artists who “get” his vision well, that goes doubly-so for Hickman on his creator-owned endeavors. Hickman being a graphic designer himself, he has often managed to work with artists with whom he can share his own tricks and habits with to create a beautiful final product, and Pitarra is by far my favorite. (Did you see that last page? Damn.) Add to that some excellent colors by Jordie Bellaire and you’ve got a great looking book from one of the best new series of the year.
Continued belowRunner-up: Bryan Hitch, “America’s Got Powers” #2, James Harren, “Conan the Barbarian” #4, Joe Eisma, “Morning Glories” #18, Jamie McKelvie, “The Guild: Fawkes” #1
Worst Artist of the Month: Renato Guedes, “Secret Avengers” #27
You know, I like Renato Guedes usually, and I love “Secret Avengers” usually, but the tie-ins for “AvX” have not been a good showing of the talent of either. Oddly disconnected from the rest of the “AvX” saga and with art full of poorly constructed characters (what is with that Beast?), the issue and, to be truthful, this arc so far just sank where the rest of Remender’s work on the book with other artists has managed to soar. It’s a shame.
Runner-up: Rafa Garres, “Road Rage” #4
Best #1 of the Month: “Takio” #1 and “Mind MGMT” #1 (Tie)
I will freely admit — “Takio” surprised the hell out of me. I enjoy the team of Bendis and Oeming (“Powers” 4 lyf, yo) and while I sure enjoyed the graphic novel from last year enough, I didn’t have any major opinions about it positive or negative. Yet this single first issue of “Takio” really caught me off guard, in a good way. A fun read, incredibly infectious with it’s charm and style, I would go so far as to say “Takio” succeeded in every way that the graphic novel didn’t, at the very least in terms of hooking me.
And then there’s “Mind MGMT.” Talk about a strong creator-owned debut! While certainly not All-Ages, it is easily one of the best debuts of the month. If “Takio” takes a slice of the cake for being a familiar concept with a shiny new #1, “Mind MGMT” takes the whole cake for brand new out-of-the-blue sheer awesomeness. With an intriguingly eerie concept and a beautifully constructed book all together, “Mind MGMT” is a book you can’t afford to miss out in single issues. (At he very least, you’re going to need these to get the secret code hidden on the back of each issue that helps solve some of the mysteries of the book — and I mean that 100% seriouly.)
Runner-up: “Earth 2” #1, “Godzilla” #1, “Mind the Gap” #1, “Batman Incorporated” v2 #1 and “BPRD Hell on Earth: The Devil’s Engine” #1
Worst #1 of the Month: The Avengefuls #1 (and all related reprints)
Maybe this doesn’t “count.” Most of the Avengefuls books came out in April so that it’d come out before that movie everyone saw and loved. Yet that didn’t stop this one last issue coming out, and that’s a shame.
I’ve got nothing inherently against Rich Johnston, but for all the time the guy spends writing about comics you’d think he’d know how to write one better than this. This was the comic book equivalent of a Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer movie: incredibly unfunny, at times borderline insulting (mostly to your own intelligence) and at surface value thrown together for a quick buck. Reading this just made me feel like I was doing something awful to myself, and that’s pretty bad.
Runner-up: “Mystery in Space” #1, “Fury MAX” #1
Most Underrated Book of the Month: “Secret History of DB Cooper” (Oni)
Maybe this isn’t underrated. I’ve actually heard a lot of people saying really nice things about it. But you know what I haven’t heard? Enough people saying really nice things about it.
“DB Cooper” is one of my favorite new books of the year. Brian Churilla is absolutely killing it in every issue, and I am loving the ride. If you haven’t been picking up the book so far, you’d do well to visit your local shop and grab the issues if they’re still around.
Runner-up: “Smoke and Mirrors” (IDW), “Rachel Rising” (Abstract Studios)
Best Month-Long Arc of the Month: ‘Exiled’
Oh, who am I surprising here, honestly? If you’ve read the site for any amount of time, you assuredly know that “Journey into Mystery” is my favorite Marvel title. If you haven’t read the site before, now you know. I’m 100% biased here, but come on — ‘Exiled’ was great. An excellent way to tell the end of one of the stories Gillen had in his arsenal (heck, maybe even the “first” story, so to say) before Surtur shows up and everything burns.
Continued belowBest Collected Book of the Month: Comic Book History of Comics
I didn’t read this series when it was printed in individual issues, but I made damn sure to pick up the collected edition the week this came out. I spent my weekend devouring the book, and it is easily some of the best money I’ve spent this year. Informative, fun and full of crucial information that every comic fan should know, “The Comic Book History of Comics” is the first must-buy book of the year. If you like comics in any capacity and call yourself a fan, you’re only doing yourself a disservice by not adding this to your library.
Runner-up: “Green Wake” v2: ‘Lost Children’, “Buffy Season 8” Library Edition v1, “Cow Boy: A Boy and His Horse”, “Channel Zero”: The Complete Collection
Best Advance I Read For A Book That Didn’t Come Out This Month of the Month: “The Underwater Welder”
I’m going to do a Hype Machine article about it soon (it’s on my list of books to cover), but for now I want to say this: if you haven’t already pre-ordered Jeff Lemire’s graphic novel, you really need to do so. Here’s the link. Just click it and pre-order. Thank me later.
Best Site Relaunch: Multiversity Comics
You know, I’ve already written and talked quite a lot about the relaunch since we did it, but I just wanted to say one more time: I am super proud of the site relaunch, all the staff and everything we’ve done before and since. I don’t mean to sound bigheaded, but I really think we stepped up our game, and as June approaches and all the new things we have planned coming with it (and a few I’m sure we have no idea is coming), I’m even more excited that it’ll be all on this sleekly redesigned website.
Hopefully you agree!
