THE BEST COMIC BOOKS OF 2023

 

                  THE BEST COMIC BOOKS OF 2023

Is the Comic Book Industry falling apart? Well, I think you can swap out ‘Comic Book Industry’ and put almost any business model, institution or political party before the words ‘falling apart’ and it would be an apt statement for this past year or two. Yet this year, more than any other, has been in my view one of the roughest years of comic books that I can remember. It just felt waaaay off. I mean, I hear how LCS retailers are constantly complaining about the publishers. I see how stores are closing all over the country. I hear the Comic Book Pundits (am I one? Mmm, not really) decrying the ills and missteps of the industry itself. Fans seem to whining and moaning left and right, what the fuck is going on?

 

Well, I can only speak from the experience of a dude who has been buying comics for over 40 years. What I would say is, mmm, it’s not that it’s falling apart it’s that it’s been reassigned. In other words, comics are means to other ends especially when you’re talking about the Big Poo (the Big 2). For these corporate death stars, comics feed into its inordinate amount of IP offerings that are charted on X & Y Axis graphs and all kinds of business degree mumbo jumbo bullshit that have basically ruined comic books. Sure, the independents are going strong. Wait, no, scratch that, Image is still going strong while other independents thrash and claw for a limited audience with either rehashed characters or gruesome over the top silly horror/sexy books. Dark Horse got bought out by a gaming company and their titles have also sunk to new lows of blecchh. Even Image, as wonderful as they are, didn’t knock a lot out of the park this year.

 

Here’s the bottom line for me: I bought 150 comic books this year. That’s the lowest amount of comics I’ve purchased since I started keeping track of it about 15 years ago. Back in the heyday of 2016-2018 I was buying over 300 comics a year. So what happened? Well, Marvel got bought out by Satan aka Disney and their comics became all but unreadable. 

 

I seriously root for Disney’s stock to crater every day with the hopes that, I dunno, they sell Marvel cuz they need the cash or don’t care anymore? DC? I dunno either, last year was the year of their amazing run of Black Label titles, this year? Pure poop. I don’t think anyone knows what the fuck to do or how to do it over in DC and it shows. Their recent Aqua Turd movie is dead in the water as was most of the garbage they put out this year. So when you have the Two Pillars of the Industry mired in caca it fucks things up for everyone else. One would think “oh there’s now a void to fill because Marvel & DC are churning out titles that look like the pink goo that they make McNuggets with” but it’s actually the opposite. Hate on them as much as you want but Marvel & DC are comic books. If they’re going strong everybody is going strong because that means butts in the Comic Book shops which means more sales of the independent offerings.

 

Here’s another reason why I bought less books: y’all raised the prices a bit too much. See, back in the day I could jump on a book for 5-6 issues, grab a mini-series for 4 issues, try out a series and spend about $15, woop dee doo. Now, every story arc/mini series is like $25-30, hmm, yeah fuck that! If issue one sucks, buh to the bye homie. Now I’ll check out the solicits for future issues to see what’s going on with the plot before I decide to pick something up whereas before I wouldn’t care, I’d just add it to my pull and read the whole series, because, well, I love comics. But I’m not trying to spend over $100 a month on comics right now especially since most of them are so disappointing. So with the quality of books in the toilet and the prices up it makes for a very nasty combination.

 

Mark Millar, who I’m not a big fan of but who I deeply respect as guy who loves comics, had this to say on what he thinks should be the fix for the industry

 

Mark Millar's Comic Book Plan

 

I wouldn’t know if this would work or not but it’s clear to me that something has to change. Somebody has to come in and clean fucking house at the Big 2 like Javier Milei is doing in Argentina. I need a Comic Book Geek of the People to go in the same way that Javier did and get rid of all the Editors and Ideological Fuckwits that have ruined Hero Books.

 

Yo Marvel and DC Dipshit Editors? AFUERA!

 

There’s a guy who makes amazing videos about the Comic Book Industry. I would say he is the true voice of reason for Comic Book Geeks like myself and it’s clear that he loves comics as much as anyone. I remember watching a video of his where he said that the Big 2 were more interested in the Variant Cover market than they were in actually making good comics. So, that makes a whole lot of sense to me. People are buying up covers at astronomical prices regardless of what’s inside so the more you poop out and the more you create artificial scarcity for them the more shekels you will make. That’s all well and good for your corporate hooker and blow budget but, yeah, sucks for us. If that is what’s really going on then we may not see the end of this downturn for a while until they cut back on these variants. You can check out this dude’s channel here:

 

Thinking Critical 

 

Anyway, as for the ‘Best of the Year’ it was a slog to say the least. Last year I chose a dozen books that were absolutely amazing along with some honorable mentions. This year? I couldn’t even find 10 titles that blew me out of the water. Not even 10 for goodness sake. I went over every week of my pulls and, man, I pulled a lot of stuff that ended up sucking ass. To be clear, this list isn’t of comics that were good, or decent or really good. This is a list of Greatness. This is a list of books that after I put them down I went ‘That was fucking awesome’ If I didn’t feel like that then it’s not on this list. So yeah, not that many to choose from but these did the trick, here ya go…

 

 

8. Deep Cuts - A series of stories that travel through the history of Jazz? Sign me the fuck up! Kyle Higgins and Joe Clark along with some bad ass artists deliver some wonderfully poignant and historically accurate tales that span the early decades of Jazz. I really wish this was an ongoing series rather than a standard ‘Six issues and we’re done’ affair. That’s something that would be exciting to dive into every month. I really loved the sheet music that they included in the back matter and the homage to Blue Note. This was Image's Golden Offering of the Year by far. For some reason they dropped three issues and then stopped in July but it looks like they’re picking up again in January. 

 

 

7. barnstormers - Dark Horse has been reprinting all of Scott Snyder’s Comixology’s Originals Digital Series into 3 issue Drops for the past year or so. One was atrocious (We Have Demons) one was mediocre (Night of the Ghoul) one was really good (Clear) but this one was downright awesome. I’d say the main reason besides an out of the box story of a death defying pilot and his forbidden love on the run is Tula Lotay’s spectacularly beautiful art that graced each and every panel. Bonnie & Clyde take to the air! What an absolute joy to read. Snyder’s got another one that just started, ‘Canary’ and so far it’s also a great first issue. Go Scott Go!

 

 

 

 

 

6. The Avengers: War Across Time - The best thing Marvisney put out all year by far was a Retro Series. What a fucking blast it was to read a story that hit on all the right notes from the Golden Era of Comics! They dusted off some dude named Paul Levitz who was probably busy noshing on a pastrami sandwich at Katz’s Deli and made him pop out a paean to what made hero books great: bright colors, silliness, goofy and sexy dialogue, gravitas, time machines and buildings and streets that were always being destroyed or spewing lava men. I’ve been saying for years that Marvisney should just publish monthly facsimile issues of their great titles like Spidey & FF & The Avengers on a monthly basis so it could give us the feeling that we’re reading them as if we were living back in the 60s when they first came out. But that would be too much fun, so, that won't work these days.

 

 

 

 

5. Love Everlasting - The second arc of what very well might be Tom King’s masterpiece of a series upped the ante and the wow factor on what already was a perfectly executed story of Joan Peterson and the multiple timelines of deadly love that follows and torments her through all of her lives in all of the different eras that she has lived in. Written in the style of a dimestore comic book romance this mind trip of a book just kept getting better and better from issue to issue. It’s one of those rare books that you really get excited about when you see a new issue pop up on the solicits. Elsa Charretier is officially an Art Super Star and I will follow her work wherever she goes. I will also say that so far King's first few issues on Wonder Woman are quite good, the best Dubz story I’ve read in ages! Tom King comin’ wit da ruffneck bidness in the two three boyeee.

4. Batman: City of Madness - It was a really tough year for my homie Bats. I just could not get into anything that he was in. All the books were just blah or refried plot beans. Sean Murphy ended his beyond brilliant White Knight run on a ‘ehh, that was cool but not great’ note then handed it off to his wonderful wife and a putz who wrote a series about the Joker’s kids which I couldn’t stomach. I suffered month after month begging the Comic Book Universe to deliver me a majestic Bat Book and it finally answered my prayers at the very end of the year with Christian Ward’s eye popping beast of a book. My goodness, give this man an ongoing series for the next five years! In a year of cheap fake meat Bat burger stories this was the Wagyu patty with the Goldleaf Bun story that beat the bejeezus out of them all. Hopefully this is the beginning of a new run of great Black Label titles.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Rare Flavours - The creative team behind one of the best comics of the decade ’The Many Deaths of Laila Starr’ returned with another magical tale that invoked the earthly representation of another Hindu deity. This time around it’s a Raksha or demon that fancies itself as a type of cannibalistic Anthony Bourdain. Each issue just feels like an event as you’re transported away from your life and immersed into a fully realized elevated world of monstrous beauty. I feel like these two had a conversation that went something like 'Should we tell the Demon Bourdain story now or should we wait?' as if they were waiting for the perfect moment to unleash this gem of a story on humanity.  Ram V and Filipe Andrade have that uncanny artistic synergy that doesn’t come along very often in comics. Catch them while you can. 

2. A Vicious Circle - Only one issue of this mind blowing three issue series was released this year, over six months after its first issue which was released in December of 2022 but oh what a fucking issue it is. The art in this comic is absolutely astonishing. Lee Bermejo puts on a clinic on how to turn a comic book into art gallery material. I suppose with the amount of assumed work and attention to detail that went into each of the first two issues it’s understandable why it takes them so long to release them. Mattson Tomlin’s exhilarating time jumping story of mortal enemies does more than enough to keep up with Bermejo’s legendary work. A book like this puts publishers and creators on notice. This is how it’s done. This is how you make a statement to the world on why comic books matter. Despite it being limited to only three issues this is a time traveling book for the ages.

1. Conan The Barbarian - By Crom you did it! You wrested the Conan license away from the evil clutches of Marvisney and showed the entire planet how to make a Hero Book. True, this Cimmerian isn’t like the heroes of neon tights and inter-galactic superpowers but make no mistake, this Barbarian slashed his way through those mangy curs to the top of the heap of the comic book world this year. Oh, what a joy to experience the true unbridled love that the creators of this comic most certainly have for this character and for them to have the courage to present him in all of his glory. In a pathetic world where nitwits, meager mealy mouthed toads and spindly cowards froth at the mouth with their idiotic claims of toxic masculinity, Titan Comics had the balls to say ‘Yeah, fuck that, here’s Conan’. 

 

And yes, it wasn’t just their approach, Jim Zub’s writing and Roberto De La Torre’s art was as perfect a match for Conan as you could ask for. What an absolute triumph. If you’ve never read a Conan story before you could actually pick up the first arc of this book and know exactly what it’s like to read one of the best from the past as it feels just as authentic as any of Robert E. Howard’s offerings. Perhaps this is the future of comic books. Is it possible for a group of hyper excited artists and writers to somehow get the licenses from all of our favorite heroes and start them over for us? Can we join Conan on his pirate ship with Belit and do a hostile takeover of the Hulk, Spidey and Iron Man? Can we have Scott Snyder and Christian Ward storm DC's offices with guns blazing and take Batman from them? 

 

Is this the way? Will there need to be a Comic Book Civil War? Drastic times call for drastic measures. Titan's 'Conan' reminded me how amazing it is to read a heroic tale. Yes, all genres can be found in comics but it's the heroes that really shine the most. It's the heroes that we can't find in our world, lifting buildings, shooting lasers out of their eyes, flying above us, it's these heroes that we find next to the staples of the pages of our favorite childhood titles that inspire us the most. And yes, we're adults and we have jobs and responsibilities now that go beyond these tales. Yet these tales remind us of what can be, not only in the world but within ourselves. They reminds us that life is a magical journey where anything can happen at any moment. The improbable victories over evil that we read in the pages of strong iconic heroes can somehow give us what we need to overcome the obstacles that we face in our lives.

And so as we turn the page on another year I see hope for a return to this glorified experience of reading comics that sit in our hands, not in our computers. I'm not sure how it will happen but I know it's possible. 

“There is always a way, if the desire be coupled with courage,” - Conan

 

Happy New Year - Issac

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1 - Review

 

I drive a 1979 Camaro. It’s my only vehicle. I used to own a fancy shmancy Lexus but I got into an accident last summer that completely totaled the vehicle; the front of it looked like an accordion. It was a miracle I walked away from the car all but unscathed. My Camaro is my dream car. There’s a whole story about how I found it ten years ago, which I’ll save for another day but it was completely non-operational when I got it. The breaks didn’t work, it didn’t start, it took years until it did. After my accident I had two options, get a new or used car or, hmm, what if I just get my Camaro fixed up again? The car market is awful, my credit sucks, why not drive my dream car full time? So I did just that. It’s been a bumpy ride for sure. There were many months that the car stalled doing basic turns or by just idling at a traffic light but recently I had some work done on it; work that I thought was inconsequential. Well, turns out the work was the fountain of youth because now it runs like a dream.

 

When I drive this car, well, I feel like a man. I feel human. I feel like, yeah, this is what it’s supposed to feel like when you drive a car. Now, it still needs a lot of work and doesn’t have a horn or a radio or air conditioning etc. BUT it feels amazing. It’s also the safest car I’ve ever driven. I mean, this thing is pretty much Detroit Bad Ass Steel and Iron, it’s a fucking tank. If one of these new cheap fiberglass cars rams into me I might get a dent but their plastic microchipped car is going to fall apart. The cars on the road now are computers on wheels that do everything for you. Press a button and off you go. The EVs are even more ridiculous. First of all, the notion that you’re saving the planet with them is a complete scam, and, it feels like you’re driving a Roomba with a radio and four seats. You can have them. Give me a pair of keys that I have to stick in an ignition to start my car, where the engine hums like a gentle giant. That’s a car.

 

I say all this because it feels like humans are moving in two different directions right now. Some are diving headfirst into technology: AR, VR, AI, the whole megillah. Their lives are governed by devices from morning until night, if they can even differentiate between that anymore. Then there’s the rest of humanity who are retreating away from the Machine and returning to a simpler way of life. They’re buying vinyl records, gardening, getting a landline again, finding their way back to nature and the way things used to be. 

 

I say all of this in a comic book review because, well, I think we’ve lost our way when it comes to our comic book heroes. They’ve become hollow digital automatons in stories that veer far far away from the essence of who these characters were.  Sure there’s good stories out there, every now and then. But the Big 2 in general have become the Big Poo. I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but their comics have become all but unreadable. They feel cheap. They feel like they’re trying to do to much. They feel like they’re just a cog in a machine. The art feels computerized. The stories feel like they’ve been pumped out by an algorithm. There’s something deeply unsatisfying when you finish a series; it feels like you just got taken advantage of. Like you open a comic book and there’s some invisible claw that grabs your junk. I mean, if the publisher was called ‘Grab Your Junk Comics’ okay, fine, I’m asking for it, but a regular old Moon Knight or Batman or Spidey or Hulk shouldn’t make you feel like you just got roofied. Maybe the MeToo movement is going to be replaced by the Big Poo movement. A harsh reaction to DC and Marvisney violated out comic book private parts.

 

I say all of this in a Conan review because, well, this book had hope. They dropped several pages of the prelude of this comic in a Free Comic Book Day book and it looked and felt unbelievable. It looked and felt like what a Conan comic should look like. It was like an Organic, Non-GMO, locally sourced comic free of fillers and micro chips. The hearts of Conan fans and possibly comic book purists must have skipped a beat upon laying eyes on the pages in the FCBD release. It was not hurdling towards some ridiculous reimagining of the character, it was not tied into an upcoming plus network’s TV line-up, it did not have the stank of an unimaginative suit sitting in an office with their minions supping at their anus for paychecks and validation. No, this felt real.

 

That being said, it took me forever to get to it! I know, the second issue is already out! What took me so long! Look, I was nervous! This comic had to be amazing. It had no margin for error, it could not disappoint. It felt like the fate of the comic book universe hinged upon its pages. The Conan license was snatched from the evil clutches of Marvisney by a small independent publisher who vowed to honor the character in a way that harkened back to its origins. Who knew what Titan Publishing had to do to get this out of Marvisney’s clutches? Did they have to venture with torches and machetes in hand to the catacombs under Disney Land? Did they have to confront a naked and frothing at the mouth Bob Iger and C.B. Cebulski in their fetish gear and riding crops? Did they tie the both of them in their Thor and Darth Vader sex swings and force to them to sign over the rights to Conan??? I bet. I bet it was even worse than what I just described.

 

So this comic had to deliver the goods. Because if it didn’t then it was all for naught. So this comic sat next to me for weeks. I anxiously wringed my hands and whined every time I laid eyes on it. If this was a dud what did I have to look forward to? Another mind boggling Monstress comic??? Ooh look, a new Black Label Batman book, some Gargoyle thing that was getting lambasted by reviewers. Awesome, can’t wait to be let down by that. Ooh, a new Daredevil #1 for the 85th time in the past 5 years. A new #1 with a seven fucking dollar price tag! Yeah, I’m sure that’s going to over deliver and wow me, right? A new Wonder Woman came out this week, I’m weeping just thinking about opening it. Sure, Tom King is literally murdering it on ‘Love Everlasting’ one of the best of the year, but, I dunno, he goes to work for DC and they somehow render his books into mush. It’s like they want his comics at DC to give you migraines; they must have a Big Pharma clause wrapped up in his contract.

 

Oh Conan, please be amazing. Please make me love you. Please make me remember what it’s like to actually read a great ‘Hero’ comic book again. It’s been too long. I feel like I’ve treated this Conan comic the way I treat a girl that I match with who is way out of my league. Like, I wait forever to actually message her, because the message has to be perfect. It has to be perfect so that when she doesn’t respond and unmatches with me I know that I gave her the best message she’s ever had. Yeah, my dating life is pathetic, but this comic, this comic messaged me back. This comic made me fall back in love with comics again.

 

It was so wonderful that I have to show you exactly what I’m talking about in an unprecedented personal video that I’m making exclusively for this blog. Something I’ve never done before. Here is the link:

 

 Conan #1 Video Review!

 

 

 

As for the story? They've got the makings of an amazing Conan adventure. I will say the 'Zombie' element that they've introduced feels a bit mnyeh. Like, they could have saved the Zombie story for a second or third arc but I trust this creative team to knock it out of the park and turn it into something special.

 

A Bitchin' Camaro, a real Conan Comic and Marvisney stock falling by the day. Life is Good.

 

 

Rating: 9.8

Verdict: Pull! Praise Crom!