Let's carry on with Part II of my year in review. Now we get on to favorite writers, mini-series, events and favorite series and whatevers.
Favorite Writer of 2023
Ryan North - Fantastic Four (Marvel) - This was a toss up between Rainbow Rowell on She-Hulk and Ryan North. I went with Ryan because he's been having a great, inventive run on Fantastic Four. His writing has been very different than it was in the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. I figured he had range, but I didn't know it was like this. He is clearly a smart person, because this book has been infused with a lot of great science in how the Fantastic Four approaches problems and solve them. Everything this year was compelling, inventive takes on the characters as they tackle their issues. It sounds bad, but by removing the kids for the run so far (they got trapped in a building zapped one year into the future), he's been allowed to get back to the core of these characters to see why they mesh and what makes them tick. Everyone has had a chance to shine. His Reed Richards is almost likeable compared to how he's usually portrayed. We are in a renaissance of Fantastic Four stories.
Ryan North - Fantastic Four (Marvel) - This was a toss up between Rainbow Rowell on She-Hulk and Ryan North. I went with Ryan because he's been having a great, inventive run on Fantastic Four. His writing has been very different than it was in the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. I figured he had range, but I didn't know it was like this. He is clearly a smart person, because this book has been infused with a lot of great science in how the Fantastic Four approaches problems and solve them. Everything this year was compelling, inventive takes on the characters as they tackle their issues. It sounds bad, but by removing the kids for the run so far (they got trapped in a building zapped one year into the future), he's been allowed to get back to the core of these characters to see why they mesh and what makes them tick. Everyone has had a chance to shine. His Reed Richards is almost likeable compared to how he's usually portrayed. We are in a renaissance of Fantastic Four stories.
Honorable Mention: Rainbow Rowell (She-Hulk)
Pleasant Surprise of 2023
Transformers (Image) - WOW. We're only three or four issues in, but this re-imagining of OG Transformers is fantastic. Darren Warren Johnson is putting on a master clinic here. He's taking what we've known from the 1980's cartoon and putting a different spin on it. His Transformers look really cool and he does great action scenes with hand drawn sound effects. We live in the era of the trade paper back, so the pacing is written with that in mind, meaning it takes like five issues for something significant to happen. However, I'm all on board and I'm glad so far they have kept things simple without mucking up things with too much mythology.
Transformers (Image) - WOW. We're only three or four issues in, but this re-imagining of OG Transformers is fantastic. Darren Warren Johnson is putting on a master clinic here. He's taking what we've known from the 1980's cartoon and putting a different spin on it. His Transformers look really cool and he does great action scenes with hand drawn sound effects. We live in the era of the trade paper back, so the pacing is written with that in mind, meaning it takes like five issues for something significant to happen. However, I'm all on board and I'm glad so far they have kept things simple without mucking up things with too much mythology.
Worst Event of 2023
Sins of Sinister (Marvel) - Look, the X-Men have always had complicated crossover events that occur because the writers get too cute. This was no exception. I swear, everyone keeps trying to go back to the well of "Age of Apocalypse" from the mid 90's, an event that was sheer perfection and full of shock value. Now every few years, they try a different spin on that with diminishing returns. They keep chasing that dragon. This time, we look at an alternate timeline where Mr. Sinister has "won". At this point, nothing is shocking and we know the status quo will be returned to in a few weeks, so why bother investing? As I was reading, I was like, "I don't really like this..." Can we not just have a character focused event that is small in scale?
Sins of Sinister (Marvel) - Look, the X-Men have always had complicated crossover events that occur because the writers get too cute. This was no exception. I swear, everyone keeps trying to go back to the well of "Age of Apocalypse" from the mid 90's, an event that was sheer perfection and full of shock value. Now every few years, they try a different spin on that with diminishing returns. They keep chasing that dragon. This time, we look at an alternate timeline where Mr. Sinister has "won". At this point, nothing is shocking and we know the status quo will be returned to in a few weeks, so why bother investing? As I was reading, I was like, "I don't really like this..." Can we not just have a character focused event that is small in scale?
Biggest Missed Opportunity
Predator vs. Wolverine (Marvel) - You knew that once Disney bought the rights to all the Fox properties, stuff like this would come to fruition. On it's face, this seems like a natural fit and would be a great series right? WRONG. This book seemed to have missed the memo on the basic premise of this book. Wolverine fighting a Predator. Instead, we get snippets throughout his history where they fight (for like five pages) then we spend the rest of the time pontificating on what may or may not have happened, cause you know, Wolverine has a bad memory, a thing comics seemed to have fixed years ago. What in the hell. You had one job, book. Just give us that. I don't want to see past versions of Wolverine encountering people. This is the problem with modern comics where they write for the trade. In the 90's this would have been one 64 page book where they would get to the point. Instead, you have to read maybe about 112 pages to get the story. UGH.
Favorite Mini-series of 2023
Clobberin' Time (Marvel) - At this point, it should be no secret that The Thing is one of my favorite Marvel Characters. He is number 2, maybe even 1b behind Black Panther on any given day. So this little team-up series was a lot of fun. Steve Skorce is a name I'm familiar with from waaaaaaaay back in the 90's during the Age of Apocalypse event with the X-Men. He drew "X-Man" for a few issues. His art fit with the 90's aesthetic back then, but thankfully he evolved. Along the way, he also became a fun writer and that was shown in this series. This was like a good ol' "Marvel-Two-In-One" with the Thing teaming up with a rotating cast of characters. The main villain was as comic booky as it gets, but the fun is in watching the interactions between Thing and his co-stars.
Clobberin' Time (Marvel) - At this point, it should be no secret that The Thing is one of my favorite Marvel Characters. He is number 2, maybe even 1b behind Black Panther on any given day. So this little team-up series was a lot of fun. Steve Skorce is a name I'm familiar with from waaaaaaaay back in the 90's during the Age of Apocalypse event with the X-Men. He drew "X-Man" for a few issues. His art fit with the 90's aesthetic back then, but thankfully he evolved. Along the way, he also became a fun writer and that was shown in this series. This was like a good ol' "Marvel-Two-In-One" with the Thing teaming up with a rotating cast of characters. The main villain was as comic booky as it gets, but the fun is in watching the interactions between Thing and his co-stars.
Honorable Mentions: Joe Fixit (Marvel)
Favorite New Series of 2023
Blade (Marvel) - I'm just as surprised as you are. I like Blade, but I don't love him. Something about this book though clicked for me. It didn't rely on any of the old stuff we know about Blade, it refreshingly introduced us to some new characters from his past that we never met before. It had super natural hijinks and in the most recent issues, Dracula get involved, but not in the way you think. Bryan Hill's writing combined with Elena Casandre's art made this my easy pick. I'm actually excited for a Blade comic. Didn't have that on my bingo card.
Blade (Marvel) - I'm just as surprised as you are. I like Blade, but I don't love him. Something about this book though clicked for me. It didn't rely on any of the old stuff we know about Blade, it refreshingly introduced us to some new characters from his past that we never met before. It had super natural hijinks and in the most recent issues, Dracula get involved, but not in the way you think. Bryan Hill's writing combined with Elena Casandre's art made this my easy pick. I'm actually excited for a Blade comic. Didn't have that on my bingo card.
Honorable Mentions: Wonder Woman (DC)
Favorite Graphic Novel of 2023
Blacula: Return of the King (Zombie Love Studios) - I only read one graphic novel this year, but even if I had read more, it still would have been this book. In part one, I mentioned how Rodeny Barnes is my favorite new writer. Some of that is attributed to this book. It is a clearly a labor of love. He took a blaxploitation movie and infused it with more mythology and pathos than I thought possible. Combined with his frequent partner, Jason Shawn Alexander, this book was a lot of fun. I wish more Blaxploitation properties could get renewed life in comic book form.
Honorable Mentions: N/A
Worst Series/Mini-Series of 2023
Daredevil & Echo (Marvel) - Taboo from Black Eyed Peas co-wrote this in case that is a thing that interests you. Whatever pull he might have had with this book ended about ten years ago, but I digress. There's a very particular reason I wanted to call this book out. It's a problem throughout all Marvel comics in regards to Echo. She is a great character and I love that there is some Native American representation. However, one of the main parts of her character is that she is deaf. She can read lips though, so that is how she can know what people are saying. The problem is, literally every comic she is in has her doing dialogue side by side with someone and not facing them head on. So how does she know what people are saying? Also, how is she having perfectly normal conversations, when she is a deaf person. It's like anyone working on this character has never met a deaf person in their lives. She doesn't even use ASL with ANYONE, so they tell us constantly, "Oh she's deaf, but she overcomes her disability", but never showing or acknowledging it. So this book did that constantly and I was so annoyed by that detail, it overshadowed the dump story about fighting a demon or something. What are editors even there for? Ugh. Anyways, given how much I just wrote shows how pissed off this book made me.
Honorable Mentions: N/A - I can't think of any others that made me dislike them.
Favorite Series of 2023
She-Hulk (Marvel) - This might come as a shocker, but this book has been really good. It stays consistently at the top of my stack when I pick up books for the week. The writer, Rainbow Rowell, has made a huge fan out of me. She had a great run on Runaways a few years ago and now she has taken over She-Hulk. This book has been low-stakes, but just focusing on everyday life of Jen Walters aka She-Hulk as she navigates her life with work and a relationship. This sounds so mundane, but Rowell deftly handles this with some super hero stuff that has worked really well. She's really humanized Jen in a way that makes you root for her. She-Hulk has been back and forth with her portrayal over the years, so I'm glad to see they are just keeping it simple. What gave this book the nod over the Fantastic Four is the wonderful art of Andres Genolet. Fantastic Four has had a who's who of nobodies filling in and there's no consistent style. This book has it. I will also state the obvious. Women write better characters than men do, because there are so many complexities that I can't fathom, that she presents in this book to an idiot like me that is easy to digest. I full endorse this book to anyone that is new to comics or just wants a good, fun read.
Honorable Mentions: Strange Academy (Marvel), Fantastic Four (Marvel)
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