This is also the year I practically went all-digital so I'm usually behind on my reading, waiting for Comixology sales to make the most out of my budget (since I also made the effort to go legit and pay a fair price for all the comics I follow).
But! I still follow quite a few series week by week, as you can see every Wednesday on my Instagram account, and I have my say on the year that was in comics.
IMAGE
Sadly I didn't pick up many new series this year, but instead stuck to my regular picks: Saga, The Wicked and the Divine, Paper Girls, Outcast, Sex Criminals, Kill or be Killed, Wayward, Descender, Deadly Class, Black Magick.
Two series I love that are currently on hiatus from their original creative teams: Lazarus and Bitch Planet, released underwhelming spin-off series that I personally could live without, after checking their first issues. I'd rather wait 8 months as I did for Sex Criminals coming back than settle for an inferior placeholder.
The best new Image series I found was The Old Guard, by Rucka and Fernandez, which was absolutely stellar both in writing and art. I also caught up on Injection by Ellis and Shalvey, which is now on my pull list as I eagerly wait for each new issue.
Other Image titles on my radar that I expect to check soon after reading so many recommendations were: The Fix, Extremity, Curse Words, God Country, ... Expect to read from me about them next year.
DARK HORSE, ONI, BOOM, IDW...
It was a good year for comics out of the mainstream and superhero stuff. From Dark Horse I stuck to the excellent and now Eisner-awarded Black Hammer, with guest artist David Rubin excelling at his work, and then being promoted to official artist on the spin-off miniseries Sherlock Frankenstein and the Legion of Evil. This was also Rubin's year with the excellent Ether series also releasing its first arc. Harrow County remained a reference of horror comics (and probably the best of Cullen Bunn's many books).
Finally, from Dark Horse I also caught up on the already finished The Massive, a series as good as Brian Wood gets, and of course my beloved Groo by Sergio Aragonés, which remains my favorite humor artist of all time.
From Oni I'm really hooked with Chris Sebela's Heartthrob, a crime drama like nothing I've read before. Oni seems to have an impressive and really well curated lineup of creator-owned titles that I really need to check as soon as possible. Oh wait, there's a Comixology sale now... 😋
From Boom I haven't been following any current series, but I have an entire Humble Bundle in my backlog featuring collections of fan favorite series like Lumberjanes, Giant Days or The Woods.
From IDW I'm still in the process of reading through an entire Humble Bundle including such gems as the entire runs of Darwyn Cooke's Parker, The Maxx or Locke and Key. Definitely reading those soon.
DC
For the past year, probably my most anticipated titles have been from DC, not because of some stubborn loyalty to the characters but because they have been really good, and honestly, they have the best star creators of the industry.
Tom King remains definitely the best writer in comics, with Batman and Mister Miracle making themselves into instant classics with every new issue, taking the character in unexpected directions - don't want to spoil it, but BIG things happened. Having such talented artists as Mitch Gerads, Mikel Janin, Joelle Jones and Clay Mann on your staff doesn't hurt either. The last Batman annual by King, with artists Lee Weeks and Michael Lark, is an absolute masterpiece.
I also love the other Batman family titles: Detective Comics (though it suffers when it's not Eddy Barrows or Alvaro Martínez on art duties), All-Star Batman (already finished, but a masterful work by Scott Snyder and his team of rotating artists) and Batwoman.
Deathstroke remains as strong as last year, although still uneven in the art department. But the main Superman series definitely went down after its third arc, and seems to be still struggling. By comparison, Action Comics has been consistent in its sense of adventure, although I have mixed feelings about the big reveal in The Oz Effect.
Wonder Woman kept struggling after the departure of Greg Rucka but I at least I'm enjoying the current run by James Robinson, not as good as you'd expect from the writer of Starman, but still pretty good thanks to the excellent artwork.
I've just started to follow Justice League since Christopher Priest took over the book (I didn't care for it before) and almost caught up on Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, which is a really entertaining adventure book. Also checked, and loved, the Aquaman series since Stjepan Sejic stepped in as artist, and it's been a real charmer.
But for me the real winners of the year that was at DC were the Young Animal titles. Doom Patrol, Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye, Shade the Changing Girl and the just finished miniseries Bug: the adventures of Forager. They were fun, fresh, and they felt different without feeling completely outlandish - I'm currently reading Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol which must be the gold standard of weird superhero comics. Definitely check them out, each has its own style and appeal, I'd be surprised if you don't love at least one of them. (but ignore Mother Panic, which for me is the exception to confirm the rule)
Sadly, the Vertigo imprint seems to be at its lowest, with only two titles still running (and one is Astro City, which feels like a genre of its own). I'm hoping 2018 brings some of the old greatness to the brand, that this year released excellent, but short-lived, titles like Clean Room, Unfollow and Everafter.
Regarding the two biggest events that started at DC this year: Metal and Doomsday Clock - loving both so far, but I want to see where all this is going before giving a verdict. So many events started out great and ended up terribly that I'd rather wait till the jury comes back.
MARVEL
OK I'll try to be generous. I'm currently catching up on some series from the last few years of Marvel and you have to admit that some really good stuff came out if there, and some of it is still going.
Thor by Jason Aaron remains one of the best superhero titles around, going strong for 3 years straight with the female Thor. The Asgard / Shiar War was, probably, the best saga of the year. Other excellent titles from the pre-Legacy era I can totally recommend: Doctor Strange also by Aaron, Charles Soule's Daredevil, Moon Knight by Lemire, the entire Captain America run (both Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers) by Nick Spencer. And definitely the core Star Wars titles. Probably a few other series (Silver Surfer, etc) but the bulk of Marvel's lineup is made of less than decent products.
Contrary to many people's opinions, I absolutely loved Secret Empire, which made the effort to take the publisher and its most iconic character, to some really dark place. But the end of that event felt rushed and almost fake, not at all what we had come to expect from Nick Spencer, and one can't help but wonder how much editorial interference was there.
Then along came Legacy and all my big expectations came crashing down. Nothing really new on the horizon, old characters getting resurrected just because, and barely any exciting news about the future. This has really been a tough year for Marvel as a publisher, where almost every month there was some new embarrassing story coming from them - paradoxically at the same time Marvel Studios was making even better and more successful movies.
Still, there is always a silver lining and I can recommend a few excellent series still coming from the publisher: the new Captain America is the annual dose of goodness from the Waid-Samnee factory. Hawkeye starring Kate Bishop is a charming mix of superhero, detective and young adult narrative... that unfortunately couldn't find a bigger audience and just got cancelled. Doctor Strange is back with Cates and Walta seamlessly filling the big shoes left behind by Aaron and Bachalo. Above the general mediocrity of the mutant books, Astonishing X-Men by Charles Soule and a rotating team of artists keeps the mutant flame alive. Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man by Chip Zdarsky brings back the fun to the Spider-Man titles. And of course, there's The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, which remains my favorite Marvel title for the third year in a row. As I said, it can't be all that bad, and I'd probably find even more hidden gems if I cared to dig (or Marvel to give them more visibility).
So that was it. Not exactly a Best of the Year list, since I'm not really qualified to do that, but I hope at least some of my recommendations intrigued you enough to give a try to a new series or two.
So I wish you a happy new year full of excellent comics. And now if you'll excuse me I have a bunch of 90s classics pending to read. Feel free to ask me about those: magarciascomics@gmail.com and keep up with my pull list on Instagram.
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