As those of you who’ve been following our weekly podcasts over at Comics Corner Podcast know, there hasn’t been a Comics Corner podcast in a while (we’ll have a holiday one soon!) I just wanted to list a few things we (either individually or both of us) have been reading and we’re in love with. We’re keeping it to a reasonable number so that you’re not going out to buy $200 every month in comics. But these are really good works of fiction—even if you’re not a comic reader but enjoy sequential art and well written fiction I’d still recommend you buy the graphic novel trade paperbacks coming out next year.
• Batman (Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo). Scott pens an amazingly smart, fast moving batman story, with the art being exceptionally flowing and evocative. There have been so many well written Batman stories that Snyder had quite a job before him, but he not only succeeds, he exceeds expectations.
• Wonder Woman (Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang). This is fantastic—both literally and figuratively. Princess Diana has unfortunately not always gotten the attention or the best story arcs she deserves, but Brian’s tight, modern, and amazing story, and Cliff Chiang’s absolutely incredible and unique lines make this one of the very best comics being published today.
• Animal Man (Jeff Lemire, Travel Forman). One of the darker, “horror” comics of the new 52, Lemire keeps it exciting and creepy, with high stakes and lots of page turning events.
• Demon Knights (Paul Cornell, rotating artists). This is a “high fantasy” story, using some characters from mythology (Merlin, et al), and others from DC Comics (Etragon, Shining Knight, and so on). It’s swords and sorcery and energetic and fun. It’s also incredibly sharply written, and deserves to be far more popular than it is.
• Last of the Greats (Josh Hale Fialkov, David Peeples). What happens if the only superhero who can save the earth hates our guts? This is an amazingly interesting take on the superhero genre, fresh and new. And the art is excellent to boot.
• Daredevil (Mark Waid, Paulo Rivera). After all the “dark” stories above, Daredevil is like comic relief. I say “like” because it’s not, really. The stakes are high, the danger real, and Matt Murdock can be as serious as anyone. But he clearly enjoys being a superhero, and Waid has been writing a fun series of adventures for him.
• Ultimate Spider Man (Brian Michael Bendis, Sarah Pichelli). In the Marvel Ultimate universe, where dead means dead, Peter Parker is dead. And young multi-ethnic Miles Morales finds himself “infected” with spider powers. This is a wonderful take on the spider man mythology, the responsibility of powers, and growing up. It’s a slow burn, but it’s absolutely worth it—and the art is wonderful!
• The Ultimates (Jonathan Hickman, Esad Ribic). A wild and action packed adventure in the Ultimate universe featuring their version of The Avengers, called The Ultimates. Tense and exciting, the heroes aren’t always the winners, there’s lots of tension and trama, and this is definitely an exciting read.
We’ve been reading lots more than those, and there’s many others that are good. But as I said, I wanted to only recommend the absolute best of the best, and these are they.
