2016 Comic Book Awards Pt 1: Best Characters

Best Female Lead (non superhero):  Becky Montcrief (The Sixth Gun)
Though at first it appeared she was cast in the sidekick role when the title made its debut, by series end it was evident that the brave and beautiful Becky was the heart and soul of Cullen Bunn’s supernatural western… and the only true savior of the universe.
Nominees: Loma/Megan (Shade), Forever (Lazarus), Addison (Tomboy), Maika (Montress), Rachel (Rachel Rising)

Best Male Lead (non superhero):  Drake Sinclair (The Sixth Gun)
Drake went through hell and high water to obtain the 6 guns and change his destiny. He, Becky and their allies were an unbeatable team. And his final act showed there was a good man under that hard ass exterior.
Nominees: Mont (American Monster), Viv Headland (Injection)

Best Female Superhero: Spider-Woman
In 2015 Jess received a costume upgrade, with this season came happy beginnings and sad ends. There was the birth of her son, the death of two men she was close to and the fracturing of her friendship with Carol. She mentored the younger Spider-ladies, faced impossible odds in a battle with the Skrulls and won with a combination of brains and brawn. Jessica exemplified heroism in its truest form.
Nominees: Spider-Gwen, Gwenpool, Black Widow, Casey Brinke (if she is indeed slated for superherodom)

Best Male Superhero:  The Vision
Though he was dipping into anti-hero territory, I’ll post him here. Nominees: Ant-Man, Spider-Man

Best Super-team:  Red Hood and the Outlaws
The dark trinity, or as someone on the net referred to them, “the broken trinity” has been the surprise of the Rebirth line.
Nominees: The Justice League of China (New Super-Man), Doom Patrol

Best Supporting Character (Female): Virginia (The Vision)
In truth, she was the one who drove the series. What a sad, broken figure she was, her sacrifice at the end left me with a lump in my throat.
Nominees:  Sofia Al Aqani (The Sheriff of Babylon), Etta Candy (Legend of Wonder Woman), Jet (Rachel Rising), every Lazarus and Stray Bullets supporting character

Best Supporting Character (Male):  Nassir (The Sheriff of Babylon)
I found the supporting characters in this mini more compelling than the lead.
Nominees: Cecil the Ghost and Batroc (Gwenpool), Grandpa in Tomboy, George Stacey (Spider-Gwen), every Lazarus and Stray Bullets supporting character

Best Sidekick: Emiko (Green Arrow) 
Emi can be a brat; she grew up knowing she was better than just about everyone, and under the thumb of a toxic father figure. Watching her arc of development due to Ollie’s stern but loving care is one of the character’s positives. Another is her fierce independence, her refusal to bow down to Shado’s faulty sense of honor, while still looking out and fighting for her mum. All of this gives her layers, makes her interesting and makes her the best thing in “Green Arrow”. When she’s not around the series sinks.
Nominees: Abigail (Black Monday Murders), Gabby (All-New Wolverine)

Best Villain (Male):  The Jackal (Amazing Spider-Man)
Why Dan Slott would want to dredge up bad clone memories is beyond me. Thankfully he tweaked the idea. Went all Egyptian, resurrection of the dead with it - Even got the Jackal out of that goofy furry costume and gave him an Anibus mask (the god of mummification and the afterlife).  Then sneaky Slott upended expectations with a surprising revelation.
Nominees: Frank Castle (Spider-Gwen) The Injection (Injection)

Best Villain (Female):  Griselda, the Grey Witch (the Sixth Gun) 
Nominee: Gen Cale (Revival)

Best Anti-Heroine:  Gwenpool 
Though she really, really wants to be cast as the hero. Her willingness to kill, followed by her unwilling recruitment into M.O.D.O.K.S gang of assassins, has thrown her into grayer waters.
Nominees: Lilith (Rachel Rising), Maika (Montress)

Best Anti-Hero:  Karnak, as written by Warren Ellis
Speaking of heroes who kill with impunity… this antisocial, philosophical Inhuman does bad things for the sake of good.

Best Child/Youth (Female):  Kippa (Monstress) 
She might be too darned adorable for her own good, but this fox-girl gives the book its humor, heart and the hope (naive though it  may be) that there’s good in the protagonist Maika. That she’s someone worth believing in, despite the monster within her.
Nominees: Lunella Lafayette (Moon Girl), Zoe (Rachel Rising)

Best Child/Youth (Male): Babylon (East of West)

Best Comic Book Version of the “Odd Couple”:  Jess and Porcupine (Spider-Woman)
A long time hero paired with a long time baddie? Not only that but the big lug is her kids Nanny

Best Siblings:  Vin and Viv Vision (The Vision)

Best Ensemble Cast:  Lazarus 
Nominees: Injection, East of West, Stray Bullets, The Sixth Gun, Rachel Rising

Best Couple: Shan and Hwan (Dr. Mirage) 
The spooky weirdness and mysteries are fine, but it's this couples love story that make this series of minseries soar
Nominee: Vision & Virginia

Best Performance by an animal: Master Ren Momorian, the 2 tailed cat (Montress)
Nominees: Devil Dinosaur (Moon Girl), Lotion (Doom Patrol)

Best New Character Female: Casey Brinke (Doom Patrol) by Gerard Way and Nick Derington - Because she's cool and quirky and sweet (and when I see her the Hello Dragon song "Ambulance Driver" plays in my head.)

Best New Character Male: Kenan Kong (New Super-Man) from Gene Luen Yang
Because he's funny, flawed and a classic 'coming-of-age' figure.
Nominees: Loma/Megan (Shade the Changing Girl), Violet (Mother Panic), Grigoria Rothschild (Black Monday Murders) and Vision's family,

Happiest Returns:  The Doom Patrol from Gerard Way and Nick Derington

Links

Part 1: 2016 Best Comic Book Characters

Part 2: 2016 Best Writing, Art, Designs
Part 3: 2016 Best Stories, Arcs, Events, Misc

My Top 10 Comics from November 2016

November saw the last Sheriff of Babylon, as well as the return of the Spider-Family in Renew Your Vows, an Unworthy Thor, a second new Iron Man (Ironheart) and a short Prez story which was seen as a back up in a Catwoman election special.

Death of X concluded on a strong note.

Snyder & Lemire’s anticipated comic/prose series, A.D. After Death came to life.

Young Animal introduced the last of its 4 books with Mother Panic. The thing I admire about the line is how it did things right. It had a vision -a commitment to the fringe- and it hired the right people to bring that vision to light. Each title has the right artist and writer, the right colorist and letterer… every piece fits seamlessly.  Take Marley Zarcone on Shade: she’s like the second coming of Steve Ditko (the creator of Shade). She draws in that same angular, awkward, surreal manner… and it suits the series to a T

10. Red Hood and the Outlaws #4 (DC)
Written by Scott Lobdell
Art by Dexter Soy * Colors by Veronica Gandini
Spider-Gwen #14 seemed a Top 10 shoo-in, what with its incisive character study that saw Gwen interact with her father, then slimy Murdock and finally kindly May Parker. But a sappy, sloppily drawn backup story murdered her shot at a perfect score, and allowed Red Hood to take the spot instead. RHATO is the one Rebirth title I still read that has maintained its high standards. Arrow and Hellblazer are slipping, and despite the stellar art, Batgirl is undone by blah plotting and cornball moralizing (Wonder Woman and Batman never impressed me much). But Hood is surprisingly good. Not guilty pleasure good, but GOOD good: From the character work to the ever building drama, and tense moments that leave me pining for more, I’m digging every page of it. In this issue the ‘dark trinity’ bonds. And Black Mask shows his hand, which leads to a great cliffhanger. 

9. Mother Panic #1 (Young Animal)
Written by Jody Houser
Art and colors by Tommy Lee Edwards 
And Y.A. is 4 for 4 with this winning début!  Mother Panic (great name BTW) takes a look at an unexplored corner of Gotham’s dark streets. The snarky protagonist isn’t likeable but she is interesting. The issue has mystery and a baddie with a nasty artistic talent.

8. Shipwreck #2 (Aftershock) 
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Phil Hester * Colors by Mark Englert
The protagonist is named Shipwright - but nothing is right in this twisted world of gruesome death rituals, a murder of crows, plucked eyeballs and cryptic remarks. The surreal series is thematically centered on people who seek escape, and the saboteurs who would foil that desire.

7. Revival #44 (Image)
Written by Tim Seeley
Art by Mike Norton * Colors by Mark Englert
More pieces of the puzzle drop into place, more shocks at the end, more set-ups on the coming clash at the grand finale.

6. Harrow County #18 (Dark Horse) 
Written by Cullen Bunn
Art by Carla Speed McNeil * Colors by Jenn Manley Lee
The conclusion of the 2-part story reveals the surprising secret of Emmy and the Abandoned. This gripping tale might be the series finest issue to date.

5. Jessica Jones #2 (Marvel) 
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Michael Gaydos * Colors by Matt Hollingsworth
What a beautifully fleshed out character. Jones has a fully realized and lived in life that rings true page to page. I like the mystery here, I like the human qualities even more, I like how Jessica is the ultimate outsider. “Perfect Carol” she mutters upon seeing Captain Marvel fly by. Jess isn’t perfect, she isn’t polished or pretty or nice, she’s just a regular messed up person who just happens to have powers (that she still hasn’t mastered). The one time we do see her perfect, pretty and nice is when she’s with her daughter - ‘Ah, how sweet’, but ‘ah how sad’ if she screws up and loses it all.

4. Spider-Woman #13 (Marvel) 
Written by Dennis Hopeless
Art by Veronica Fish * Colors by Rachelle Rosenberg
What? NO NO NO NO that can’t have just happened! NOOOO!! Forgive my outburst, but this comic was built on establishing a strong emotional bond between the characters and the reader. Even when it gets sappy, or too precious (as it does when Jess visits Moon’s Hollow and everything (‘cept for Roger’s ex) is all so peachy keen) you go with it because you care. And because you care the ending to this issue hurts. Hurts like a son of a bitch!

3. Doom Patrol #3 (Young Animal)
Written by Gerard Way
Art by Nick Derington * Colors by Tamra Bonvilain
This entertaining book gets better each month - with this issue providing some fun homage’s, as well as a brief look at the teams history (with a couple of new wrinkles thrown in for good measure.) There’s added clarity on the plot and Casey’s origins are revealed. The art is a huge plus, beyond Derington’s talent as a storyteller - the shading in Bonvilain’s colors and Todd Klein’s smooth lettering are big reasons why this comic works as well as it does.

2. Shade: The Changing Girl #2 (Young Animal)
Written by Cecil Castellucci
Art by Marley Zarcone * Colors by Kelly Fitzpatrick
I’m keen on the language in this comic, the way Loma describes this strange new body and this strange new world. I adore the literary references (in word and picture) and laughed when she quotes Dorothy Parker’s doorbell greeting upon seeing the School for the first time. I like the way the protagonist struggles to navigate through this unfamiliar life with all its history -- The investigation on Meta is of less interest, but with my eyes worshiping at the altar of the psychedelic freak out in the art and colors, that becomes a minor concern. “Madness is toxic even in small doses” whispers one character, a good thematic mission statement for the series. Madness is also addictive, especially in comic book form.

1. Black Monday Murders #4 (Image)
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Tomm Coker * Colors by Michael Garland
Damn brilliant, labyrinthine storytelling that guides us through Grigoria’s history... how she fell and what has spurred her to action.

Honorable Mentions
James Bond #11, James Bond Hammerhead #2, The Clone Conspiracy #2, Moonshine #2, Hadrian’s Wall #3, Spider-Gwen #14, Monstress #8

Writer of the Month 

Jonathan Hickman (Black Monday Murders)

Artists of the Month

Marley Zarcone and Kelly Fitzpatrick (Shade: The Changing Girl)

I wrote of Zarcone’s Ditko-esque style above, but I also like her design sense. The circle of girls in the swimming scene, the repeated patterns on their suits is a good example of this (I frequently leaned on circles in my own art and design work in College and beyond, so my eye is drawn to that). And Fitzpatrick has never been better. In the past I’ve felt she was a bit flat and mundane as a colorist. But here her work is a kaleidoscope of trippy color, and rainbow gradations.

To December

Back to October

My Top 12 Comics from October 2016

The next Spider-Event “The Clone Conspiracy” got off to a strong start, as did (to a lesser degree) the Death of X, which will fill us in on what happened to Cyclops and his group.

October was loaded with promising first issues: From Image I tried Cannibal, Green Valley, Romulus, and the Mark Millar teaming with Capullo on Reborn

Gilbert and Jamie Hernandez launched Love and Rockets Magazine (I read L&R in trade form, so I’ll have a wait on this one)

And Young Animal had a  good month: with top drawer debuts for Shade and Cave Carson, and a 2nd helping of Doom Patrol that was stronger than the 1st, as we saw some connective tissue in the plotting.

On the other side of the coin, several Marvel books came to an end: The Vision, Ant-Man, A-Force and Mockingbird.

Retro Reading: I finally got to David Lapham’s disturbing, comic and tragic Stray Bullets. From the start it was easy to see why Virginia Applejack eventually took center stage in the series. She’s a great character. I also adored the Amy Racecar story that played off all of Kurosawa’s Samurai films. (I‘m a huge fan) all in all, cool beans!

12. Shipwreck #1 (Aftershock) 
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Phil Hester * Colors by Mark Englert
Warren Ellis takes us to a nightmarish dimension that resides in the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, a dimension between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge… Um, yeah, this is the Twilight Zone on acid. I don’t know yet if we are in another world, in Hell, or in this guy’s head. But I’m happy to stick around and find out.

11. The Unbelievable Gwenpool #7 (Marvel)
Written by Christopher Hastings
Art and Colors by Gurihiru 
Gets back to business, and back to the candy colored wonderfulness I loved in the first arc. Gwen is a hoot; I laughed at the line about her grandpa, and chortled over the physical humor (Gwen stuffing her head in the shark) I enjoyed the way the creative team plays with the trope of the dramatic reveal… “YOU!!” says Gwen, as if we’re about to get a startling surprise.  It’s playful and mad cap, the perfect tonic for a gray day.

10. American Monster #5 (Aftershock)
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art and Colors by Juan Doe
Further seedy happenings in this dirty little town with it’s dirty little secrets. And in a surprising move, our title character shows his hand.

9. Stray Bullets: Sunshine and Bullets #19 (Image)
Written and drawn by David Lapham
Dark and hilarious (see Joey on the phone). Beth’s mom should win an Oscar for this performance. She plays everyone like a fiddle, even the reader, even her street savvy daughter - which is especially sad because you know there’s a part of Beth that wants her to be genuine, needs her to be a real mother to her.

8. Invisible Republic #12  (Image)
Written by Gabriel Hardman & Corinna Bechko
Art by Gabriel Hardman * Colors by Jordan Boyd
I honestly don’t ‘get’ the book thing at the heart of this series. I’ve been told why it’s important, but I don’t feel the urgency. I haven’t seen anything in its content that is so explosive that people need to be killing over it. I don’t see why those people had to die last month, what was the point, what threat did they pose? It’s strange that after 12 issues that part of the comic still isn’t connecting with me. On the other hand, I’m exceedingly interested in the people, the geopolitical history and the peaks into the past. Of which this issue has in abundance

7. Jessica Jones #1 (Marvel) 
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by  Michael Gaydos * Colors by Matt Hollingsworth
Bendis is so wrong on some titles (Iron Man) but so right on others…. like this one. There’s a mystery here, Jessica has fallen hard and gone back to zero - but how, why? Meanwhile she’s on a case that involves something else Bendis was good with, The Ultimate Universe (which ties into Secret Wars. Side note: considering the build up and the aftermath, S.W. was no throw away event)

6. Moonshine #1 (Image)
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso and Colors by 
Boy, this was a month of great first issues. And the return of super team Azz and Risso is one to celebrate. This is a hard, slow burning backwoods tale of gangsters, moonshiners and… werewolves? Color me curious. Risso’s lines and shadows create a world and a people that are as exquisite as they are ugly. I especially liked the German expressionism in that panel where we see a girl on the stairs with her doll in the foreground, with Lou’s skewed shadow looming in the back.

5. The Sheriff of Babylon #11 (Vertigo)
Written by Tom King
Art and Colors by Mitch Gerads 
I originally trade waited on this comic, but as with Rachel Rising and The Sixth Gun earlier this year, I elected to grab the final issues in periodical form. While a compelling political piece, what makes Sheriff soar for me are the fully realized characters. They are distinct, fascinating personalities one and all - struggling as humans do on a gamut of issues both personal and political. Here Chris learns what became of Ali, while Nassir and Sofia discover their adversary is a paper tiger. Here’s hoping King nails the conclusion next month

4. Lazarus #24 (Image)
Written by Greg Rucka
Art by Michael Lark * Colors by Santi Arcas
Kept me on the edge of my seat as it teases a scary new opponent - meanwhile Forever learns more about who and what she is. The overall character development on this series is without peer.

3. Shade: The Changing Girl #1 (Young Animal)
Written by Cecil Castellucci
Art by Marley Zarcone * Colors by Kelly Fitzpatrick
Artist Zarcone (who was so good on the short lived Effigy) and colorist Fitzpatrick give the book a groovy, psychedelic look, which establishes tone right off the bat. The twin protagonists are bad girls (the one in the coma is so hated that her parents are upset when she wakes up before they can pull the plug!) Their lives/past histories have the potential to bring complexity and depth to the tale, and will allow Castellucci to explore multiple themes on multiple worlds (allowing for a heavy dose of culture shock for one of them). There’s black humor, plenty of sweet madness and a hell of a cliffhanger.  I’m looking forward to learning more about Loma and Megan and seeing their future adventures.

2. Monstress #7 (Image)
Written by Marjorie Liu
Art and Colors by Sana Takeda
It’s back! And sets sail on a promising new phase of the series, one that illuminates key plot points while keeping others shrouded in mystery. The baroque art is as gorgeous as ever.

1. The Vision #12 (Marvel) 
Written by Tom King
Art by Gabriel Hernandez Walta * Colors by Jordie Bellaire
A very special series has come to its end, and thematically it was all about the sacrifices you make for the ones you love. The book had poignancy and heart. It was both a frightening and thought provoking examination of suburbia and the family unit. I do wonder why there were no repercussions from the previous issue (the Visions are home as if nothing happened) but that’s a small quibble for an otherwise stellar story. Which closes on a disturbing scene that brings us full circle. 

Honorable Mentions:  James Bond #10, Revival #43, Amazing Spider-Man #19-20, Spider-Woman #12, Black Widow #7, Astonishing Ant-Man #13, Seven to Eternity #2, Teen Titans #1, Red Hood and the Outlaws #3, Resident Alien: Man With No Name #2 

Writer of the Month: 

Tom King (Vision, Sheriff of Babylon, Batman)

Artists of the Month:

Gabriel Hernandez Walta & Jordie Bellaire (Vision)

To November

Back to September

My Top 10 Comics for September 2016

Of the first issues I read: The Young Animal line made its debut with the hit and miss Doom Patrol. Image had the rock solid sci-fi noir, Hadrian’s Wall and Archie launches the all new Josie and the Pussycats.

I didn’t spread the wealth as much in Sept as Image dominated my Top 10, despite a few gems taking the month off. Marvel chipped in 3, while DC was shut out (though they are represented in the honorable mentions)

10. The Wicked + The Divine 1831 AD (Image)

Written by Kieron Gillen

Art and Colors by Stephanie Hans

Gillen riffs on the romantics as Mary Shelly and other literary analogues share stories and raise the dead. Oh, and a shout out to letterer Clayton Cowles who added much to the look and mood of the piece.

9. Invisible Republic #11 (Image)

Written by Gabriel Hardman & Corinna Bechko

Art by Gabriel Hardman * Colors by Jordan Boyd

So the biography nobody wanted published is published, and Babb is on a book tour. Later he (and we) learn some terrible news. While I still can’t make sense of certain plot points and character motivations (even after 11 issues) it’s such a richly told tale that I gladly go with it.

8. Seven to Eternity #1 (Image)

Written by Rick Remender

Art by Jerome Opeña * Colors by Matt Hollingsworth

This supernatural fantasy stuff isn’t really my bag, but by God that art, that freaking, mind-blowing art… I was completely lost in this world: the details, the exquisite line work and lighting technique, which is accentuated by some gorgeous coloring. Even Opeña’s sketches in the backmatter are breathtaking - hell this could have been a picture book, sans dialogue, and it would have made the top 10.

7. Revival #42 (Image)

Written by Tim Seeley

Art by Mike Norton * Colors by Mark Englert

Man, things have turned grim, as this small rural town has become hell on Earth. More slivers of truth are revealed, and Cale makes a desperate play to save her family as the series inches towards it finale.

6. House of Penance #6 (Dark Horse)

Written by Peter J. Tomasi

Art by Ian Burtram * Colors by Dave Stewart

Wraps everything up nice and, well, not so neat. The finale was bittersweet, haunting - and while Sarah’s prediction proved not to be true, she at least made her corner of the world, the people she touched, a little better.

5. Spider-Gwen #12 (Marvel)

Written by Jason Latour

Art by Robbi Rodriguez * Colors by Rico Renzi

Flat out superb writing on this series of late - it succeeds as both a character study and morality play. While Frank Castle has become pathetic and loathsome (a classic monomaniacal figure) honor takes center stage when a father stands up to protect his daughter. And Gwen, well she makes a deal with the devil. Bad move (even if she has a secret plan, so far her plans have all ended in failure). They say it’s always darkest before the dawn. I only hope Gwen’s ethics live to see that dawn.

4. Karnak #5 (Marvel)

Written by Warren Ellis

Art by Roland Boschi * Colors by Dan Brown

With this ish we get a psychological and philosophical standoff that cuts Karnak to the core of his being.

3. Kill or be Killed #2 (Image) 

Written by Ed Brubaker

Art by Sean Phillips  * Colors by Elizabeth Breitwesier.

The internal dialogue is beautifully scripted, I like the way Brubaker is developing character and story. Art is perfection.

2. The Vision #11 (Marvel) 

Written by Tom King

Art by Gabriel Hernandez Walta * Colors by Jordie Bellaire

Another piece of the psychological, existential puzzle: we learn that what Vision wants is to be like everyone else. It’s everything he’s strived for since his birth. The scenes with Virginia are frightening and terrible, and we discover that she’s suffering from a split personality.

1. Black Monday Murders #2 (Image)

Written by Jonathan Hickman

Art by Tomm Coker * Colors by Michael Garland

You gotta love a comic that gives a credit to Satan on the cover. Top drawer detective story that thematically rests on the axiom that “money is the root of all evil.” I don’t know what else to add, other than, “Wow, that was good.” And, “Ouch, my brain hurts from overwork!” What a fascinating, perspicacious puzzler. 

Honorable Mention:  Harrow County #16, New Super-Man #3, Hellblazer #2, Spider-Woman #11, All-New Wolverine #12, Kingsway West #2

Writer of the Month: 

Jonathan Hickman (Black Monday Murders)

Artists of the Month: 

Jerome Opeña & Matt Hollingsworth (Seven to Eternity)

With a nod to Albuquerque on Batgirl and Walta on the Vision

To Oct 2016

Back to Aug 2016