This was certainly a year. I think the number of comics I buy in a year actually went down for the first time in a while. I have no explanation other than the obvious, I was just buying less. Why? The musical chairs of writers/artists on books and the slow output of creator owned projects left me with my normal pull list and I would MAYBE pick up a book or two outside of that. I also get behind on my comics all the time due to a kiddo, so I'm not in the shop every week grabbing what is new like I used to.
I have definitely pulled away from DC, as they have reduced their output and nothing much interests me over there outside of the big three. And even then, I buy based on the creative team, not the character.
Marvel is the same thing, but there is so much quantity, I have a lot more choices and I will take a little more risk. With all their movies, some characters got pushed more than others, for good or for bad. I didn't take good (any?) notes this year, so let's see how this goes. It's going to be a dumpster fire.
This year, I will do a few fun, superlative categories to fluff my content.
Without further ado, here is part I of my review of 2023.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:
- N/A - I didn't actively drop anything. Stuff just ended!
Spider-Man: Across the Multi-verse (Marvel) - Come on. I honestly almost forgot that this movie was THIS year because it was so early on, but this is easily the best comic book movie of the year. This movie had heart and fantastic visuals. It sucks to know that those visuals came at a cost of the poor people that worked long hours for us to get this. Even though the movie starts a lot with Gwen Stacy, it is still very much Miles' story and how he is adapting to things. I already wrote my review on this, so I will finish by saying, it was a great film.
Honorable Mentions: Blue Beetle (DC), The Marvels (Marvel)
Worst Comic Book Movie of 2023
Antman and Wasp: Quantumania (Marvel) - This was a hard choice between this movie and The Flash. The Flash was an absolute mess, but it had Michael Keaton as Batman, which is the only factor involved. This movie moved away from what made the other Ant-man movies so fun. You can argue it's still a heist movie, but this time it's on a much grander scale that doesn't serve this character. I'm sorry, but Ant-Man is NOT going toe to toe with Kang. No way in hell. But that is what we get here. Also, all the actors just seemed exhausted with this movie (probably not as exhausted as the poor SFX people) and bored, like we were. There were stakes here, but I never felt like they wouldn't achieve them. We knew this movie was only another step up the laborious tower of Marvel to get to the next big thing.
Honorable Mention: The Flash (DC)
Favorite Comic Book TV Show of 2023
My Adventures with Superman (DC) - I will be real here, this honor would probably have gone to Superman and Lois, if I wasn't a season or two behind, so I guess I have to pick something. So I will go with the next best thing, "My Adventures with Superman". I would say I'm a low-key Superman fan, but I think I've proven time and time again that he is one of my favorites ever since childhood. As an adult, I like seeing how they handle a guy who is clearly overpowered, dealing with something that could actually threaten him. In this show, since we're just starting out with him, just about everything is a threat to him. Underneath all that action is a sweet love story between brash and bold Lois and timid and meek Clark. Caught in the middle is Jimmy Olson who realizes he's becoming a third wheel. I loved the fun take on classic superman characters and the voice acting is superb.
Honorable Mentions: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (Marvel)
Honorable Mentions: Blue Beetle (DC), The Marvels (Marvel)
Worst Comic Book Movie of 2023
Antman and Wasp: Quantumania (Marvel) - This was a hard choice between this movie and The Flash. The Flash was an absolute mess, but it had Michael Keaton as Batman, which is the only factor involved. This movie moved away from what made the other Ant-man movies so fun. You can argue it's still a heist movie, but this time it's on a much grander scale that doesn't serve this character. I'm sorry, but Ant-Man is NOT going toe to toe with Kang. No way in hell. But that is what we get here. Also, all the actors just seemed exhausted with this movie (probably not as exhausted as the poor SFX people) and bored, like we were. There were stakes here, but I never felt like they wouldn't achieve them. We knew this movie was only another step up the laborious tower of Marvel to get to the next big thing.
Honorable Mention: The Flash (DC)
Favorite Comic Book TV Show of 2023
My Adventures with Superman (DC) - I will be real here, this honor would probably have gone to Superman and Lois, if I wasn't a season or two behind, so I guess I have to pick something. So I will go with the next best thing, "My Adventures with Superman". I would say I'm a low-key Superman fan, but I think I've proven time and time again that he is one of my favorites ever since childhood. As an adult, I like seeing how they handle a guy who is clearly overpowered, dealing with something that could actually threaten him. In this show, since we're just starting out with him, just about everything is a threat to him. Underneath all that action is a sweet love story between brash and bold Lois and timid and meek Clark. Caught in the middle is Jimmy Olson who realizes he's becoming a third wheel. I loved the fun take on classic superman characters and the voice acting is superb.
Honorable Mentions: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (Marvel)
Worst Comic Book TV show of 2023
Secret Invasion (Marvel) - Hands down, the easiest choice I had to make here. And I don't take pleasure in doing this. This is a concept that should have been a slam dunk, but they fumbled this one big time and quite frankly, wasted Sam Jackson's time. Like Wolverine, Nick Fury is a character we don't really need to know much about his past, only what he's doing now. By trying to flesh him out, you made him less interesting. They would have been forgiven if we had like an episode of sad Nick Fury, but six episodes of him being a step behind and not proving why he's the best? That's a no from me, dawg. Let's also not forget the little nugget that dropped at the end about Rhodey having been replaced by a Skrull some undetermined amount of time ago.
Honorable Mention: N/A.
The “Oh you still come out and I buy you” of 2023
Immortal X-Men (Marvel) - I know I've been back on the X-Men train for the past two-three years, but for the life of me, I'm not sure why I still buy this book. It's about the last interesting X-Men characters (Douglock) and I guess what's left of the little government they set up.
The "Oh, why don't I drop you because it would be so easy" of 2023
Immortal Thor (Marvel) - Historically, I've never cared for Thor. Then I read Jason Aaron's Thor: God of Thunder run and I got into the character and I've stayed around for a few years. I've read spinoffs like Valkerye and Jane Foster. Now though, I'm so done with this character, but I keep buying the book. It's fine, but I don't enjoy it enough to keep spending money. I need to stop. I just have to remember to take it off my pull list...
Favorite New Artist of 2023
Elena Casagrande - Blade - (Marvel) - For years, Marvel has been running this "Young Guns" or "Stormbreakers" stuff that showcases "new" talent. I say "new" because they've been drawing for a while, but are newish to Marvel and they're getting put in the spotlight. Sometimes they hit, sometimes they miss. Elena was someone in the group and when I saw her work on Blade, I instantly became a fan. I'm going to go track down other books she's worked on (like Black Widow) to fully appreciate her. I hope she continues to get more high profile books.
Honorable Mentions: Can't think of none
Worst Artist of 2023
Carlos Magno - Captain America - Cold War - Marvel - Unfortunately, I'm basing this award on ONE issue that I saw drawn by Carlos, but it was igregious enough that I marked it down so I wouldn't forget about it, seven months later. So here we are. My notes on why I put it here were, "Low Rent Gary Frank". If you don't get that reference to well known comic book artist, that's fine. I also put, "People were all teeth." Which meant there were a lot of "Grrrrrr" faces, which is a cheap trick in comic book art. So there you have it.
Honorable Mentions: Caio Majado - Incredible Hulk Annual
Favorite Artist of 2023
Khary Randolph - Sirens of the City (Boom Studios) - I did some soul searching and followed my heart. I see a lot of good art, but there isn't always a lot that moves me and makes me go, WOW. Randolph's work in "Sirens of the City" did that for me. His art crackled with a creative freedom I hadn't seen from him in a while. He clearly was enjoying himself on the book and when I heard about this book, I bought it solely for his art. Definitely recommend picking it up.
Favorite New Artist of 2023
Elena Casagrande - Blade - (Marvel) - For years, Marvel has been running this "Young Guns" or "Stormbreakers" stuff that showcases "new" talent. I say "new" because they've been drawing for a while, but are newish to Marvel and they're getting put in the spotlight. Sometimes they hit, sometimes they miss. Elena was someone in the group and when I saw her work on Blade, I instantly became a fan. I'm going to go track down other books she's worked on (like Black Widow) to fully appreciate her. I hope she continues to get more high profile books.
Honorable Mentions: Can't think of none
Worst Artist of 2023
Carlos Magno - Captain America - Cold War - Marvel - Unfortunately, I'm basing this award on ONE issue that I saw drawn by Carlos, but it was igregious enough that I marked it down so I wouldn't forget about it, seven months later. So here we are. My notes on why I put it here were, "Low Rent Gary Frank". If you don't get that reference to well known comic book artist, that's fine. I also put, "People were all teeth." Which meant there were a lot of "Grrrrrr" faces, which is a cheap trick in comic book art. So there you have it.
Honorable Mentions: Caio Majado - Incredible Hulk Annual
Favorite Artist of 2023
Khary Randolph - Sirens of the City (Boom Studios) - I did some soul searching and followed my heart. I see a lot of good art, but there isn't always a lot that moves me and makes me go, WOW. Randolph's work in "Sirens of the City" did that for me. His art crackled with a creative freedom I hadn't seen from him in a while. He clearly was enjoying himself on the book and when I heard about this book, I bought it solely for his art. Definitely recommend picking it up.
Honorable Mentions: Andres Genolet (She-Hulk), Daniel Sampiere (Wonder Woman)
Favorite New Writer (to me) of 2023
Rodney Barnes - Killadelphia (Image), Blacula: Return of the King (Zombie Press Studios) Gang War: Luke Cage (Marvel) - Rodney Barnes has been in the game for a while and has written for a number of tv shows. I'm still behind in his book, Killadelphia, but I started to read it this year and I instantly became a fan of his work. I also picked up his graphic novel, Blacula: Return of the King and that is also excellent. I always want to support black writers and he's starting to gain steam in the comic world, so I want to continue to support him. He trends towards more horror, but it's always from a black person angle, which we don't get enough of in horror. He's definitely worth checking out.
Honorable Mentions: N/A
Worst Writer of 2023
Joe Madueria - Battlechasers (Image) - What is this, the 90's all over again? I honestly don't know why I picked up this series which had been on ice for about twenty years. The writing definitely didn't improve in that time. Picking on this feels like low hanging fruit, but it was so egregious, I had to put it here. His art is great, but his writing is definitely not. This book is about as generic fantasy as it gets.
Honorable Mentions: N/A. (I can't remember anyone else that should be on this list)
Favorite New Writer (to me) of 2023
Rodney Barnes - Killadelphia (Image), Blacula: Return of the King (Zombie Press Studios) Gang War: Luke Cage (Marvel) - Rodney Barnes has been in the game for a while and has written for a number of tv shows. I'm still behind in his book, Killadelphia, but I started to read it this year and I instantly became a fan of his work. I also picked up his graphic novel, Blacula: Return of the King and that is also excellent. I always want to support black writers and he's starting to gain steam in the comic world, so I want to continue to support him. He trends towards more horror, but it's always from a black person angle, which we don't get enough of in horror. He's definitely worth checking out.
Honorable Mentions: N/A
Worst Writer of 2023
Joe Madueria - Battlechasers (Image) - What is this, the 90's all over again? I honestly don't know why I picked up this series which had been on ice for about twenty years. The writing definitely didn't improve in that time. Picking on this feels like low hanging fruit, but it was so egregious, I had to put it here. His art is great, but his writing is definitely not. This book is about as generic fantasy as it gets.
Honorable Mentions: N/A. (I can't remember anyone else that should be on this list)
The Oversaturation of 2023
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - It mains me to say this, but there was a lot of damn Ninja Turtle stuff this year. I love them, you all know this. But when I list out what came out this year in addition to their mainline title, you'll see what I mean. I'll even use a numbered list to hammer home my point.
- "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Power Rangers II"
- "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Stranger Things"
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: Wherewhen
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs. Street Fighter
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin - The Lost Years.
Could it be that there was a movie coming out? Couldn't tell ya. But also, damn. Look at that list. That's too much. I am also guilty of having read EVERY SINGLE ONE. I can tell you that the Street Fighter one didn't need to happen. The Stranger Things was better than you would think because they used the Eastman/Laird original turtles from the 80's since Stranger Things takes place in the 80's. Get it? Cute. The Power Rangers one was built for me and I loved every damn issue of it's nonsense. I'll do a separate set of reviews for these later. I need to re-read them because honestly, they run together.
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