Well, I completely failed my resolution from last year's best of post. I said I would get this up sooner, but instead it took me longer. Life goals people. You need to have them.
Anyways, 2017 is gone and in the books. DC
continued it’s resurgence and Marvel has begun to flounder. My books still skew
towards the Marvel side, but that is supplemented with DC and Independent
books, so I am still getting my variety. The volume of books I buy have
certainly gone up since Marvel and DC have become obsessed with the double
shipping of most of their titles. On the DC side, it isn’t as bad since most of
their books are $2.99. Marvel on the other hand wants to stick to their $3.99 cover
price and I can’t remember the last time they were below that number as an
average. I'll have a full rant about how I really feel about double shipping later in the year.
Without further ado, here
is my review of 2017.
Dearly Departed (The Comics I dropped this year)
Before I get into the rest of my list, a moment of silence for the number of comics that I dropped this year after giving a good go at it:
- Paper Girls – Image
- Champions – Marvel
- Star Wars – Marvel
- Wonder Woman – DC
- Low – Image
- Extraordinary X-Men – Marvel
- Doctor Strange – Marvel
- Avengers – Marvel
Favorite Comic Book Movie of 2017
Spider-Man: Homecoming (Marvel) – There were a lot of comic book movies this year and there was a clear line between the good and the bad. However, when I think about which movie I had the most fun with, that made my decision easy. I liked everything about Spider-Man: Homecoming. Also, a hero is only as good as his villain and I thought the Vulture was hands down the best villain this year. He’s the only one that had some depth and some real motivation that extended to being bad for badness sake. Also, we had a hero that was not perfect, but he kept trying without giving up.
Honorable Mentions: Wonder Woman, Logan
Worst Comic Book Movie of 2017
Justice League (DC) – I’m sorry, DC fans but this was a no-brainer. Don’t get me wrong, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was an easy second. Ultimately, I found this movie to just be plain boring. A movie about the biggest super heroes DC has and I was completely bored. The action lacked any stakes in my eye. The villain was one note and a bad looking CG villain at that. We’re supposed to buy these guys acting as a team when they barely know each other. They were hastily thrown together, just like this movie was. I already went on at length about how I really feel, so I will spare everyone here.
Honorable Mentions: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Favorite Comic Book TV Show of 2017
Riverdale – CW – When I heard they were going to do a modern day adaption of Archie comic characters, I was skeptical. What I got was a show that surprised me and that I legitimately enjoyed. This show falls under the guilty pleasures list. They were mostly faithful to the characters, while also putting on some different twists. Jughead is hands down the best character on this show. I’ve been meaning to do a full post on this and I think will once season two wraps. So I will save my words about this show for then.
Honorable Mentions: Runaways, Punisher
Worst Comic Book TV show of 2017
Iron Fist - Netflix – This one wasn’t even remotely close. I won’t get into detail, but my full thoughts on this show already exist on this blog [insert link]. It is easily the worst of the Marvel shows. It’s a show I hate watched if we’re being perfectly honest. The character/actor was marginally better in Defenders.
Honorable Mention: N/A. This show sits alone.
The “Oh you still come out and I buy you” of 2017
Ringside (Image) – I hate to say this cause a few years ago it was one of my favorite new series. Now, due to delays I still read it, but I have long since lost the thread. What started off as a promising take on Wrestling and the lives of those characters has become a bit of a disappointment for me. Due to it coming out infrequently, I have a hard time remembering what happened. I still have faith it will turn around, so we’ll see if it shows up on my 2018 list as a book I dropped.
Favorite New Artist of 2017
Jorge Jimenez – Super Sons (DC) – So apparently he’s drawn an issue or two of other comics I own over the past two years, but this year is when I really noticed him on his work with Super Sons, so that is why he is getting the nod here. I realize he is not technically a new artist, but he’s new to ME and it’s my blog. So… there. I really enjoy his cartoony style.
Honorable Mentions: Dan Mora – Go Go Power Rangers, Oscar Bazuldua – Spider-Man, Juann Cabal – All New Wolverine
Worst Artist of 2017
R.B. Silva – X-Men: Gold (Marvel) – I wanted to be really catty and say just about anyone drawing X-Men Gold right now. I mean, the double shipping is killing this book. My love of X-Men and the desire to see them rise back to prominence is what has kept me reading so far. What I saw out of Silva in his stint is work that just looked sloppy and rushed. Again, maybe the double shipping is a factor, but I can’t give that a pass since he’s not drawing EVERY issue.
Honorable Mentions: Travel Foreman – Ultimates 2, Ken Lashley – X-Men: Gold
Favorite Artist of 2017
Stefano Caselli – Invincible Iron Man (Marvel) – As always, this is a crowded field, but out of all of them an artist emerged that in thinking about it, I really liked. That honor goes to Stefano Caselli. He’s drawn a lot of comics I read before, but his take on Riri Williams and the Invincible Iron Man comic really struck a cord with me. For me, it’s always important how an artist renders black characters. Do they have stereotypical flat tops or afros? Are they drawn with comically large lips or noses? Caselli did none of these and that helps earn my respect. There is also a lot of detail to his work and I like his design of the Ironheart armor.
Honorable Mentions: Matteo Scalera – Black Science, David Marquez – Defenders, Russell Dauterman – Mighty Thor
Favorite New Writer of 2017
Rainbow Rowell – Runaways (Marvel) – It is always refreshing to come across a writer you have not encountered before. A quick Wikipedia search will show you that Rainbow is a prolific YA Author, so it makes since she would be working on Runaways. To my surprise, it really felt like the Runaways. After a couple of years of mini-series that never really felt right, THIS feels right. I hope this book goes long enough for her to tell her story.
Honorable Mentions: Mariko Tamaki – Hulk/She-Hulk
Worst Writer of 2017
Nick Spencer – Secret Empire (Marvel) –This book will appear again in a few sections, but I chose Spencer here because I really didn’t like Secret Empire. Like all the Marvel event books lately, it was choppy. There’s holes that are left intentionally so that you will go buy all the mini-series, but this book was never compelling enough to make me care. I can appreciate that he took the long view on what he did for Captain America, but how we got there was boring and I lay that solely at Spencer’s feet.
Honorable Mentions: N/A
Favorite Writer of 2017
Tom King – Batman (DC) – I have really enjoyed Tom King’s time with Batman, but this year he seemed to settle in and really push the limit. I can’t pinpoint exactly what I like, but I just really love his take on Batman and the way he’s handled the Batman/Catwoman relationship. If you have any doubt, read the magnificent Batman Annual #2. Recent issues that have also featured a double date between Batman/Catwoman/Superman and Lois Lane was a stroke of genius and a great character study on the Batman/Superman relationship. I’m practically gushing here.
Honorable Mention: G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel)
Pleasant Surprise of 2017
Mech Cadet Yu (Boom Studios) – This book scratched that anime itch that I didn’t realize I still had. I say this because this comic feels very much like an anime. Not to say that all anime involves humans and giant robots, but come on. Anyways, like the writing and the art in this book. I’ve always liked Greg Pak’s writing and the art of Takeshi Miyazawa, who I’m glad is still putting out work. I first encountered him on a book called “Sidekicks” about fifteen years ago? Sorry, why am I asking you, the reader this question? I would be the only one to know!
Honorable Mentions: She Hulk – Marvel, Lazarus X+66 - Image
Worst Mini-series of 2017
Secret Empire (Marvel )– For everyone that freaked out about Captain America being a Nazi, we get the payoff with this mini-series. My problem with this mini was just how mundane it was. I had a feeling of been there/done that. I mean, we JUST had Civil War II where the characters were fighting each other. I’m so over heroes versus heroes. Here a couple of characters died, but who really feels like these deaths will last more than a year? I’ve been reading comics a very long time and if it’s done one thing above all else, it’s made me extremely cynical.
Honorable Mentions: N/A
Favorite Mini-series of 2017
The Old Guard (Image) – I’m a huge fan of Greg Rucka and I read just about everything he puts out. If nothing else, he is really great at world building. He’s also well-read and that is reflected in his books. In this mini-series, it is about a group of characters that are immortal and how they have dealt with changes in the world as they can never theoretically die. Set against the backdrop of a black ops team, this mini was fantastic and the art style fit well with this book.
Honorable Mentions: Lazarus X+66 - Image
Favorite New Series of 2017
Invincible Iron Man (Marvel) – I can’t even believe I am picking an Iron Man book, but here we are. I loved that we had a positive character in Riri Williams and the fact that Bendis had just a fresh take and voice on this book. He was still able to keep his patented snark with the Tony Stark A.I. that is a supporting character here. I don’t want to oversell it, but this is an important character because Marvel is truly trying to create a more diverse cast of characters. That may have had some bearing on my pick here.
Honorable Mentions: The Defenders
Worst Series of 2017
Star Wars (Marvel) – It pains me to even put this here because I really love Jason Aaron’s writing. However, towards the end of his run on this book, I just quit enjoying it. I ended up dropping the book altogether. This series is supposed to fill in the gaps between Star Wars and Empire Strikes back. So we start getting all these tales in between that if you REALLY think about it, just don’t line up right. Anyway, the reason this book ends up on this list is we had a few issue story arc revolving around Yoda and some evil kids using the force. I wish I was making this up, but I’m not. And there was a giant mountain that was sentient. There was other silliness with C-3PO being kidnapped and the band not really going after him. I think I am also just getting Star Wars fatigue…
Honorable Mentions: N/A
Favorite Series of 2017
Defenders (Marvel) – The combo of David Marquez and Bendis on this book is more than enough reason. I’ve expressed my love of Marvel’s street heroes before, so I won’t rehash that here. What we do have are the characters from the Netflix show, so let’s not pretend that wasn’t the reason this comic book exists. However, it rises above that premise by taking another C-level villain in Diamondback and trying to raise him up a little. Also, outside of David Walker, Bendis easily writes the best Luke Cage out there. After all, he is the main reason Luke Cage came back to prominence so many years ago. Where was I? Oh right, a book about street level characters. If you recall, I think I chose Power Man and Iron Fist as a favorite last year, so clearly I have a type.
Honorable Mentions: Mighty Thor – Marvel, Ms. Marvel – Marvel, Batman - DC
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