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This Month in Comics: September 2021

By | October 5th, 2021
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2021 has been a shocking year for comic books so far. A couple of months ago I was worried about the future of the entire medium and now I’m struggling to keep up with the huge slew of releases from August. September really became an important month due to the sheer volume of releases from all publishers. Marvel and DC in particular released an absurd amount of product that is nearly impossible to keep up with. Marvel and DC both had big events like “Infinite Frontier” and “Inferno” alongside smaller line-wide event series like Batman’s ‘Fear State’ or Spider-Man’s ‘Sinister War.’ Let’s celebrate the comic book industry rising up from the pandemic with more content than ever before in This Month in Comics for September 2021.

I am Batman 1 Cover

Best (Official) Debut Issue: “I am Batman” #1

“I am Batman” #1 is far from the first appearance of The Next Batman. The issue isn’t even the first chapter of “I am Batman” since the series has a #0 issue. It is, however, very good. Writer John Ridley tells a hardboiled tale to get readers familiar with Timothy “Jace” Fox before setting The Next Batman up for a fight against The Magistrate. Tim is a newer Batman that is lacking the experience of Bruce. Having a Batman who is more vulnerable like Tim is a really intriguing idea. Artist Olivier Coipel turns in really inspired work here. At first, I believed Coipel’s art may have been too slick for the gritty content of the issue before I got to the fight scenes. The battles between Batman and the average person on the street are very gruesome. It will be really special to see Tim start to interact with the DC Universe and the rest of the Batman line going forward. Now that we have a better grasp on Tim, I hope Ridley will have him challenge The Magistrate directly alongside Bruce as Batman very soon.

Guardians of the Galaxy #18 SMP - Hell Yeah

Best Swan Song: “Guardians of the Galaxy” #18

I want to take a moment and single out the entire creative team of “Guardians of the Galaxy” #18 including Al Ewing, Juan Frigeri, Federico Blee, VC’s Cory Petit. This issue had the unfortunate position of having to wrap the entire galactic-based “Guardians of the Galaxy” run while ending ‘The Last Annihilation’ crossover. Ewing just barely resolves the big event and Dormammu brawl with just a few pages left to say goodbye to the entire run. The way Ewing’s run was able to expand The Marvel Cosmic Universe again felt magical. The tone on this series was just right all the way through. Ewing would often bring in a lot of characters but still would craft really relatable dialogue with heavy science fiction concepts. The Guardians franchise has the most potential when there is a lofty cast not beholden to the movies. Ewing and company were able to help expand the scope of the franchise and tap into all the potential of this property. Frigeri’s art is smooth, nimble, and able to capture all of the characters Ewing wanted to squeeze into the run. The least Marvel can do is give me the series in a beautiful one-volume collection so I can bask in the glory of the best run on Guardians property since 2008.

Best Event and Writer: “Inferno” #1

I can’t help but shout out Marvel’s “Inferno” #1 even despite the fact that I wrote Multiversity’s review of the debut issue. “Inferno” #1 is the kind of comic book that lingers after the last page is turned. The way Jonathan Hickman teases at the motivations of certain characters and makes you feel as if nobody is safe is enthralling. I was curious to see if Hickman was able to touch the feeling of his great “Secret Wars” event storyline did. Thanks to the psychological impact of “Inferno” #1, I can confirm that this debut has already elevated it to the status of “Secret Wars.” Hickman does not make his readers feel safe in “Inferno” #1. I knew something bad was going to happen, but I just can’t quite tell when or where Hickman will make a plot twist. Valerio Schiti’s art is so beautiful it’s haunting. The pleasant but sinister facial expressions on his characters are the perfect complement to Hickman’s foreboding script. If you are ready for an X-Men comic that establishes the political landscape of Krakoa then you can’t miss “Inferno” #1.

Continued below

Best Artist: German Garcia

I was shocked with delight when I opened up “Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land” #1 and saw artist German Garcia’s incredible art. Garcia’s work on the first page made the series look like it was almost a darker children’s book. Seeing the tone of the issue start to change when the horror elements are introduced lends a wonderful sense of cognitive dissonance to the story. Writer Zac Thompson appears to be a great match for Garcia’s otherworldly art that tests the limits of what readers are used to seeing in comic book artwork. Garcia’s page designs break the flow of the story with glee. There’s one page where a dinosaur’s loud roar ends up breaking the previous panel and really immersing readers in the story. The following page features Ka-Zar launching flowers at the dinosaur and managers to outclass the previous page. Garcia is trying so many approaches to the story here and naily nearly every single one on the page. Garcia starts to utilize a more traditional superhero style towards the end of the issue but it still achieves a serene level of beauty. I’m glad that Garcia was able to stretch his talent so far in just one issue. I really enjoyed seeing Thompson lend Garcia the space to go wild on the page in “Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land” #1.

Spider-Man Sinister War 1 Cover

Worst Event: “Sinister War”

Spider-Man’s most recent storyline just wrapped in “The Amazing Spider-Man” #74. The muddled and confusing nature of the newest issue causes the need for comic book websites to explain the story. The conclusion to the ‘Sinister War’ story and identity reveal of the Kindred character is incredibly underwhelming. Marvel is definitely having a difficult time figuring out how to move forward with Spider-Man right now. “The Amazing Spider-Man” has dedicated a lot of screen time towards resolving past story threads from years ago instead of looking to the future and moving on. “The Amazing Spider-Man” #74 is self-reflexive in the worst way. The issue assumes you have read and actively think of previous Spider-Man continuity and still manages to fumble the ball. Even if you have been following Spider-Man comics as closely as I have, “The Amazing Spider-Man” #74 is a miss. Writer Nick Spender is clearly stuck in the past to a fault while artists like Humberto Ramos also don’t break any new ground from the issue. That being said there is better art from the other roster of artists including Marcelo Ferreira, Mark Bagley, Ze Carlos, Dio Neves, Carlos Gomez and Ivan Fiorelli. The future looks bright for Spidey with the new ‘Beyond’ storyline taking place in “The Amazing Spider-Man” #75.

Thanks for sticking with me! It looks like we aren’t stopping the quick pace anytime soon. These big comic book series are just getting started this month and October looks even bigger than September!


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Alexander Jones

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