My Top 12 Comics For September 2013

TOP Trade Paperback

East of West Vol 1 "The Promise" by Johathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin

12. Shadow Thief - JLA #7.3 (DC)

Writer: Tom DeFalco * Artist: Chad Hardin

Lets start off with one of DCs "Villains Month" issues. I picked this up on a lark, and wowza, I really dug it. I like that she's not your standard villain, she's more an anti-hero, Punisher type. The story was thrilling, and heartbreaking, and I heck, I just thought she was cool. The inks on the art were soft, like pencils, which looked great.

11. Parasite - Superman 23.4 (DC)

Writer and Artist: Aaron Kuder

Kuder draws up a storm... the issue looks fantastic, but he also does a bang up job as a writer. This is a rich character study, with scares and humor.

10. Killer Frost - JLA 7.2 (DC) 

Writer: Sterling Gates * Artist: Derlis Santacruz

What an unexpected treasure. This new Frost is a likable, brilliant scientist named Caitlin Snow, who is betrayed and transformed into a heat vampire. Despite the death she causes, Sterling Gates makes Snow a sympathetic villain (and a scary one, as she even freaks out her allies). Art is solid, that last panel is heartbreaking, and Frost has good reason to hate the Crime Syndicate.

9. FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics #3 (Vertigo) 

Writer: Simon Oliver * Artist: Robbi Rodriguez

The complicated science makes my head spin, but I appreciate a book that pushes me, makes me think, in addition to having a strong dramatic pulse. Art wise, the sketchy line work and candied color scheme give a sense of reality gone skewed. 

8. X-Men Battle of the Atom #1 (Marvel) 

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis * Artist: Frank Cho

X-Men from the past, present and future converge. This was a quality, character heavy set up for the X-event. Cho's art is so very pretty and Bobby (with Bendis pulling the strings) had me howling with laughter several times. 

7. Batman ’66 (DC) 

Writer: Jeff Parker *  Artist: Jonathan Case

the digital semi-animated format makes its return and it was an absolute gas, as the dynamic duo head the England to battle the Mad Hatter and Clock King. Reading this title makes me feel like a kid again.

6. Wonder Woman #23.1 – Cheetah (DC) 

Writer: John Ostrander * Artist: Victor Ibanez

Priscilla Rich, Deborah Domaine, Barbara Minerva (and that dude): The Cheetah has never fully lived and breathed -or held my interest as intensely- as she does here. Ostrander’s story is expansive, and he draws parallels in Barbara’s life to Diana’s. But what makes this issue soar is that John does what Geoff couldn’t in JL. He made me ‘feel’ something for the psychologically damaged Cheetah (who spends the issue wiping all vestiges of humanity from her person). I was both repulsed by her actions, while finding something tragic and pitiable in her. Artist Victor Ibanez is an asset as he expertly captures Cheetah’s animalistic movement, expression and temperament. 

5. Red Sonja #3 (Dynamite) 

Writer: Gail Simone * Artist: Walter Geovani

Keenly written adventure is packed with emotional resonance – Simone does a great job of drawing me into this woman's past. She changes a few things in her origin: adds a father and ditches the rape, to the betterment of the character and this series in my opinion.

4. Revival #14 (Image) 

Writer: Tim Seeley * Artist: Mike Norton

After a year at a slow boil, the story really heats up. Here, Em looks for redemption by trying to protect Jordan from one of the “passengers”, but she might have caused more harm than good. Jordan is one scary little girl, but she understands the truth of this situation more than the adults. Oh, and that final page was horrifying and disturbing, Yuk!

3. Rat Queens #1 (Image) 

Writer: Kurtiz J. Wiebe * Artist: Roc Upchurch

Wiebe and Upchurch’s new series is a bawdy, bloody and side-splitting funny sword and sorcery adventure -- starring 4 female trouble makers who –after a raucous night of boozing and brawling- choose to be sent on a quest rather than spend time in the dungeons. 

2. Count Vertigo - Green Arrow 23.1 (DC)

Writer: Jeff Lemire * Artist: Andrea Sorrentino

Villain's month was a mixed bag, but when it was good, it was very, very good. And this was the best of the bunch. The art was incredible, some of Sorrentino's best work, and the story packed a wallop and humanized the character and showed what a terrible and frightful thing he's become.

1. Trillium #2 (Vertigo) 

Writer and Artist: Jeff Lemire

My top choice is a beautiful story from writer/artist Jeff Lemire. There wasn't much movement on the plot. It simply serves to bring the characters together and to give us the hint of an interest between them, despite the language barrier (And oh how a small smile conveys so much)

Honorable Mentions...

Amelia Cole and the Hidden War #10 (Monkeybrain), Infinity: Against The Tide #2 (Marvel),  Wonder Woman – First Born #23.2 (DC), All-New X-Men #16 (Marvel), Ghosted #3 (Image), Buzzkill #1 (Dark Horse), Miss Fury #6 (Dynamite), Kings Watch #1 (Dynamite)

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