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Best Comics of 2025

21 Sunday Dec 2025

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by Derek Mainhart

2025 may have been a terrible year for the world, but it was a great year for comics! Here are my top picks, presented in classic Casey Kasem reverse countdown order:

10. Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man.

James Tynion’s prequel to the classic film accomplishes the feat of making Dr. Griifin’s experimentation phase more horrifying than the murderous spree that the reader knows will follow. Dani’s standout art moves seamlessly between expressionistic scratchiness to graceful line, sometimes in the same panel. Her masterful use of negative space perfectly conveys things that are there, but that you can’t see. These Universal Monsters series have all been pretty great in their various approaches to the originals. This one is the best.

9. Batman: Dark Patterns

Dan Watters interconnected anthology wove an atmospheric tapestry that delved into the shadowy corners of Gotham’s history. The tone balances an old-school 1970’s Detective Comics vibe with modern flashes of horror. The whole affair is heightened immeasurably by Hayden Sherman’s groundbreaking art: architectural page layouts and dizzying shifts in perspective make for an immersive visual experience in which Gotham City is truly a lead character. The best Batman book of the year, hands down.

8. Absolute Superman

Jason Aaron strips Superman of his earthly comforts (his childhood with the Kents, his Fortress of Solitude, the Daily Planet). What we’re left with is a raw nerve of a hero: homeless, hunted and full of righteous anger at the cruel, unjust world that increasingly resembles our own. It’s often been asked why Superman doesn’t try to fix the underlying causes of inequity and misery. Well this one does, making him a Superman for our times.

7. Absolute Wonder Woman 

Wonder Woman has always been tied to a specific mythology. Kelly Thompson is blowing the doors off. Something about the way she is restructuring WW’s mythology (magic, hell, Lovecraftian kaiju) almost makes it seem as though (at the risk of painting it too broadly) Absolute WW is the Grimm’s fairytale, and the WW we’re used to has been the Disney version all along. And Hayden Sherman’s artwork, both epic and timeless, is allowing us to unearth the previously unknown legend. 

Between this and Dark Patterns, Sherman is the Artist of the Year.

6. The Seasons

Rick Remender, by his own admission, channels the likes of Miyazaki and McCay, to craft an exuberant tale of a precocious girl’s search for her lost family. The candy-colored art by Paula Azaceta and colorist Matheus Lopes give otherworldly life and menace to the literal and metaphorical circus our hero finds herself in. This comic is a breath of fresh, cotton candy scented air.

5. Absolute Martian Manhunter 

The best superhero comic of the year is barely a superhero comic at all. Rather, it’s a psychedelic, noir-tinged, sci-fi exploration of fractured identity, mob mentality and how easily we’re manipulated by forces around us. Deniz Camp’s story wildly swings from outside catastrophe to inner crisis in a centrifugal whirl of cause-and-effect. And Javier Rodriguez’s show-stopping art keeps you off balance, but never lost, through this hallucinatory mind-trip of a comic (which includes a visual effect, at the end of the first issue, which is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in a comic book. Which is why Javier Rodriguez is the Artist of the Year)

4. Spectrum 

(Speaking of tripping balls…)

Order vs. Chaos. Creation vs. Destruction. Themes that might seem the stuff of standard superhero fare are here explored through the lens of a lightly fictionalized tour of music history. Rick Quinn’s wonderfully dense and wooly script transports us through time to show how the struggle of creativity shapes the universe as well as our perception of it. Dave Chisholm’s otherworldly art, combining unorthodox page design, minute detail and bursts of expressionistic color, is itself, a celebration of creativity and vision. 

Fitting then, that Chisholm is Artist of the Year.

3. Monkey Meat

Comics are a wonderfully collaborative process. But there’s something about the creators who can do it all. Jeff Smith. Alison Bechdel. Frank Miller. The auteurs. Or better yet, the cartoonists. Juni Ba is one of these. And in Monkey Meat, he is unleashed; a tornado of lines, panels, color and sound effects. Combining the absurdity of Sergio Aragones with the ferocity of Daniel Warren Johnson, Ba’s vivisection of late stage capitalism is pitiless and hilarious.

2. FML

Anytime Kelly Sue DeConnick writes a comic book, it’s a cause for celebration. Here we’re dropped into a pre-apocalyptic reality (in other words, a slightly heightened version of our own) to witness the trials and tribulations of a mother and her teenage son, as they navigate the insanity of the world, the chaos of their everyday lives, and puberty. Surrounding them is a wonderfully oddball assortment of friends and family who provide support through the madness. There’s also a True Crimes-style murder mystery that drives the plot. But it’s really the central relationship between the mother and son that provides the beating heart of this book (there’s a page that depicts the mother’s actual heart that is unforgettable). It all feels so unkempt and lived in that it must surely be partly autobiographical. David Lopez’s art (and Cristina Peters’ bold colors) effortlessly combines the magical realism of the story with collage-like DIY elements, reflecting the book’s awesome punk rock aesthetic. Which is why David Lopez is Artist of the Year.

And any other year FML would be Book of the Year, but…

1. Assorted Crisis Events

Despite the treasure trove of creativity that comics afforded us this year, this was really a no-brainer. From the get-go, every issue of Deniz Camp’s anthology series has been a masterpiece. Camp uses the old superhero trope of a time crisis to explore the very real crises we face in our time. Whether tackling big issues (mass immigration, xenophobia, inhumane systems of food production) or more intimate ones (depression, caring for a loved one with dementia, the indignities of simply aging) Camp simultaneously provides a reflection of, and a release valve to, the insanity of living in our our current, fracturing era. Artist Eric Zawadzki performs the Herculean feat of re-inventing his approach, every single issue, so that the page design and overall structure of the book matches the themes being presented. The result is harrowing, heartbreaking and oddly hopeful and invigorating. 

Which is why Zawadzki is, oh you get it.

So many Artists of the Year, huh? What unites them is they’re each pushing the form of comics storytelling in new, thrilling ways, expanding the possibilities of the medium itself (ok, if I had to pick one – which I don’t – I’d probably go with Hayden Sherman)

As for Writer of the Year, between ACE, AbMM and The Ultimates (also pretty great) I’m planting my flag firmly in the Deniz Camp.

Honorable mentions: Escape, The Voice Said Kill, The Ultimates, Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum, Ice Cream Man, Lazarus Risen, The Hero Trade, CalExit, Life, Herculoids, Benjamin, Batman & Robin Year One, Far Down Below, Dust to Dust, Out of Alcatraz, Poison Ivy, Ultimate Spider-Man, Tin Can Society 

Biggest disappointment: the cancellation of Zdarsky Comic News. Truly, a shining beacon has been extinguished!

Best single issue of the year: Superman: the Kryptonite Spectrum 4 (by the same creative team, Prince & Morazzo, who also produced last year’s best issue in Ice Cream Man) tied with every single issue of Assorted Crisis Events.

Beating this year’s cream of the crop is going to be a tall order. Have at it, 2026!

Creator Watch: Deniz Camp

31 Wednesday Aug 2022

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By Derek Mainhart

It can be interesting tracing the arcs of creators’ careers, watching them take their first trepidatious steps into storytelling, finding their initial footing, beginning to develop the themes that will guide then, ultimately honing a voice to match their ambition. And then there are those annoying folks who arrive, seemingly, fully formed.

To wit, Deniz Camp.

With a scant comics resume, Camp has two of the more interesting books on the stands right now. Anyone who’s had the pleasure of reading the first issue of Agent of W.O.R.L.D.E. (published by Scout Comics) by Camp and artist Filya Bratukhin was treated to a maelstrom of wild sci-fi concepts rendered in hyper-detailed art. Melancholic teddy-bear poets, biomorphic pocket universes, robot orgies; in lesser hands, all of the ideas on display could have easily spiraled into incoherence. But, out of the gate, the creative team is fully in control of their potentially unwieldy material.

If Grant Morrison and Geof Darrow got together to make a super spy comic, tinged with chaos theory, it might look something like this.

The second title, 20th Century Men (from Image Comics) is even more ambitious, as it weaves the geopolitics of the Cold War, with the myth-making of nationalist superheroes, among multiple timelines. In fact, with its fractured structure, political themes and surreal sensibility, it recalls the work of Ales Kot, a comics wunderkind from a few years back (whatever happened to that guy?). The artist, S. Morian, varies his style, depending on the needs of the story; at times recalling Frank Quitely, at others Richard Corben. The kaleidoscopic effect beautifully enhances the wide ranging narrative. The ideological battle of the century never looked better.

In any case, both titles are two of the more audacious debuts of the year. This Deniz Camp guy is all over my radar.

The Best Comics You’re Not Reading

26 Saturday Mar 2022

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By Derek Mainhart

Welcome to The Best Comics You’re Not Reading, where we highlight some books that are deserving of your attention. This week we dare to enter…Vault Comics.

Revisionist Victorian ghost stories, punk rock apocalypses, explorations of literary dream realms; in the 1980’s and 90’s, such was the dominion of Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics, founded by legendary comics editor Karen Berger. Their unique, sophisticated blend of horror and experimentation, fantasy and commentary, set a new standard of storytelling in comics. Then, in the 21st century, the rest of the comics world caught up. The boundaries Vertigo broke were explored and integrated into all manner of comics and publishers, for both good and ill. But since its demise, no other publisher has captured that rarified air of Vertigo in its heyday.

Until (perhaps) now.

Vault, with its stable of titles featuring boundary-pushing work by top-tier creative teams, is doing a better job at occupying the space formerly occupied by Vertigo than anyone around. To wit:

Radio Apocalypse

Anyone tuned in to the comics scene knows that you should be picking up anything Ram V has been laying down. His book The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (published by BOOM! Studios) was the best comic of last year.

Add this track to the hit list. Yes it’s the Apocalypse (that played out genre), but the emphasis is on the Radio. Here, it’s the only thing keeping what’s left of humanity together. And humanity is in some Dire Straits (musical pun intended), what with ecological devastation, dwindling resources and refugee crises among the pressing issues cast into sharp relief. But music lives on, and its power helps what’s left of the population not just to scratch for survival, but remember, even in bleak circumstance, to live.

It’s a bit as if Mad Max had been directed by Cameron Crowe. And the art by Anand RK absolutely shreds; a little Chris Bacchalo punk, a bit of Sanford Greene funk, with some psychedelic flair added by colorist Anisha.

All this and Springsteen? I’m down.

Dark Interlude

Imagine the precocious literary tapestry weaving of Neil Gaiman, mixed with the meta-gamesmanship of Grant Morrison, add a healthy does of caustic wit, and you might get something approximating Dark Interlude.

Henry, Henry, a most unreliable narrator (and a would-be writer himself) previously introduced us to an allegorical literary dimension called the Fearscape (in the eponymous first volume of the series), even as he tried to corrupt it for his own petty ends. In this sequel, he further implicates the reader, as he again offers commentary on the nefarious goings on, as they are occurring. In this case, the offending literary trope is the concept of sequels, which Henry vehemently argues against, even as we are reading one.

(The lettering, credited to Andworld Design, cleverly abets the meta fun)

Too much you say? Gloriously so. The joy of reading this book is reveling in Ryan O’Sullivan’s purposely overwrought, beautifully hilarious use of language, as we quaff his heady brew of satire and allegory.

 This is paired perfectly with the pleasure of savoring Andrea Mutti’s atmospheric artwork, especially suffused in Vladimir Popov’s misty hues. 

A puzzle for the mind, a feast for the eyes and a tickle for the funny bone.

The Rush

Western stoicism meets eldritch horror in Si Spurrier’s latest; a tale of one woman’s quest into the unknown. Set during the Gold Rush, a desperate mother braves that fabled, desolate frontier in search of her missing son. There, she discovers a land beset by greed, obsession and….something darker. The evocative period narration (told via the mother’s letters to her son) perfectly sets the tone, as her indefatigable nature comes up against forces that are increasingly unfathomable. (Fans of Tom King’s and Bilquis Evely’s recent Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow – also one of last year’s best – would do well to check this out). Spurrier seems to be forgoing the ornate world-building and narrative metaphor he’s explored elsewhere, instead offering something more focused and intense, heightening the claustrophobic paranoia of the story nicely.

Nathan Gooden’s remarkable artwork seamlessly balances the stark western and visceral horror elements, accentuated by Addison Duke’s refined palette, alternating from pale blues and sepias to spasms of crimson violence.

Unlike what most prospectors found in their ill-fated pans, this comic is pure gold.

Vertigo may be long gone. But luckily for you, the discerning comics reader, the Vault is open.

Pick of the Week

14 Monday Feb 2022

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By Derek Mainhart

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow 8 (DC Comics)

A greenhorn seeking help from a seasoned warrior.

A mission of vengeance and rescue.

A journey narrated through memoir, with language that’s beautifully ornate and of a simpler time.

A trail that leads our heroes through many a backwater town.

Hostile landscapes full of deprivation and suffering.

A band of low-down killers terrorizing the local popuation.

A hero astride her trusty steed.

In addition to being an invigorating re-definition of the character (one that I hope sticks), this masterpiece, by Tom King, Bilquis Evely and Matheus Lopes, is also one of the best damn western I’ve experienced in a long while.

The Searchers in space.

I’m at once at the edge of my seat for the climactic showdown,  and terribly sad that the trail has reached its end.

Best Comics of 2021

26 Sunday Dec 2021

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By Derek Mainhart

There’s something thrilling about serialized storytelling. Sure, a work of art that arrives fully realized, complete, of a piece, can provide an immersive envelopment; a meal satisfying in its soup to nuts wholeness. But there’s a special excitement about the delayed gratification, the suspense of awaiting the next installment, of dissecting and discussing the latest episode/installment/issue of an ongoing narrative that pulls a continuous tug on the soul. It’s how Dickens captivated his audiences. How movie theatres of old ensured repeat business.  It’s why we watch TV the way we do now. And it’s something comics have always had.

So this is not a list of graphic novels. Those auteur-driven pieces of art undoubtedly deserve praise and parsing. Elsewhere. Here you will find the best of the installments, the cliffhangers, the roguish improvisations whose most sacred credo is  “To be continued…”

1. The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (BOOM! Studios):

Death takes a forced holiday, as some upstart mortal has discovered the secret to immortality. When unleashed, this will render the (not so) grim reaper obsolescent. Here, Death takes the form of the titular character, and meets her would-be adversary at various points in his life. Each of these meetings ends in her demise, though not at his hands. What could have been a game of cat and mouse, with death trying to thwart her nemesis at every turn, becomes, in Ram V’s hands, something far more lyrical; a meditation on choices made, the nature of purpose, and the beauty of being present in the moment.  This is aided immeasurably by Filipe Andrade’s style (with notes of Gabriel Ba’s visual poetry, mixed with Marc Hempel’s cartoony expressionism, perhaps). The joy comes less from the plot than from the audacity of the storytelling, as profound observations can come from such unlikely sources as an abandoned temple, or a discarded cigarette.

2. 6 Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton (Image Comics):

A kick to the jaw. A slap to the face. A withering put-down. All of these grab your attention, as delivered by one of the most low-down, irredeemably caustic S.O.B.’s in recent memory, Trigger Keaton. A peripatetic star of the small screen, he abuses all around him like a Chuck Norris written by Charles Bukowski. Good thing he’s fucking dead. And lo, it’s up to his hapless assortment of onscreen sidekicks (each an object of his abuse) to find out who killed him. Kyle Starks takes this bonkers concept and careens it through a pop cultural landscape dotted with the B-list detritus of yesteryear. And it is flat-out hilarious. Chris Schweizer’s kinetic, madcap art seamlessly mixes the comedy and the action, with the sequencing chops of a Chris Samnee, flowing through the loopy inventiveness of a Sergio Aragones. He has, among other things, playfully advanced the sequential depiction of martial arts  (no small distinction), as well as accomplished the herculean feat of depicting a breathtaking car chase in comics. This is sublime bad-assery in a bottle and your life is incomplete without it.

3. Eat the Rich (BOOM! Studios):

Jesus. So, it’s like Get Out, except focusing on issues of class instead of race. Plus with cannibalism. It answers the question: What’s the reward for a lifetime of service to the one-percent? No surprise, it’s brutal desecration. Grindhouse exploitation you say? Well there’s enough of that, via Pius Bak’s evocative art (shades of Phil Hester), to satisfy the promise of the title (special shout-out to letterer Cardinal Rae, whose design wittily adds to the shock value). But mostly it’s couched in Sarah Gailey’s trenchant, bleakly reasonable explanation as to why this horrific world works the way it does. And we realize it’s unsettlingly close to our reality. A Modest Proposal for the 21st century.

But wait, you should also read these:

The Me You Love in the Dark (slow burn Gothic horror)

The Good Asian (classic noir with something to say)

Dark Blood (for fans of HBO’s Watchmen)

Maw (uncompromising feminist horror)

Two Moons (western / horror mash-up with an Indigenous American antihero)

Ginseng Roots (a fascinating exploration of the intersection of autobiography, local history, agriculture and cultural diffusion)

Sandman / Locke & Key (a rarified treat for the sophisticated comics nerd)

Happy 202To Be Continued…

Worth Your Time

27 Thursday Aug 2020

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By Derek Mainhart

Being a cartoonist myself, naturally I read comics. A lot. With hundreds of titles to choose from, who has the time to comb through all that content?

I do. Here are some that are worthy of your attention:

Strange Adventures (DC/Black Label): I’ll admit it: I didn’t care for Tom King’s and Mitch Gerads’ previous collaboration, Mister Miracle. Though highly lauded elsewhere, I found its mix of quotidian family life with the apocalyptic horror of war unconvincing; each aspect undercut the other. The elliptical storytelling approach, so effective in The Sheriff of Babylon and The Vision, here seemed too coy by half.

Now King and Gerads take on another classic character, Adam Strange. Strange is part of a continuum of a specific type of hero, dating back to the likes of Flash Gordon, whose role as saviors of foreign, untamed lands sits uneasily with a modern, examined view of colonialism. King and Gerads tackle this legacy head on, telling two sides of the same story. In one version, Strange saves his adopted home world from certain destruction, in classic comic book fashion. In the other, depicted more realistically in the present day, his actions are called into question, possibly amounting to war crimes. Here the juxtaposition (queasy in Mister Miracle) cuts to the heart of the historical subtext of the character, and other classic characters like him (Matt Fraction and the Dodsons are exploring similar territory in Adventureman – also worth a look). The format itself, with a different artist depicting each version of the story, provides the perfect structure for the themes being explored.

In this, King and Gerads are immeasurably aided by the addition of Evan ‘Doc’ Shaner. His clean, concise, fluid style is the perfect match for the ‘classic hero’ sections of the book. Shaner’s work effortlessly recalls the art of past greats of the genre, seemingly distilling them into a timeless sort of comic book storytelling. In the promo material King calls him a “Platonic comics ideal”. He is this generation’s Curt Swan.

Gerad’s approach is more structured and repetitive, evoking something more akin to our reality. The constant shifting between the two keeps the reader appropriately off-balance, given the subject matter.

In its critical re-examination of who and what is considered a hero, Strange Adventures couldn’t be more timely.

DC Strange Adventures Comic Book 1 of 12 Evan Shaner Variant Cover ...

G.I. Joe (IDW): Yes I see you rolling your eyes: yet another man-child gripped by nostalgia for his childhood soldier-dolls. The reason to get this book, however, is writer Paul Allor. In the past, he has displayed a knack at taking established, staid properties and pushing them in unexpected, expansive directions (a couple of years back, he took Clue – yes the board game – and crafted a meta-mystery-mini-series that was at least as engaging as the beloved cult movie).

Here, he takes the concept of G.I. Joe and flips it. In this iteration, Cobra (the bad soldier-dolls of yore) has indeed conquered the world. But here’s the rub: they didn’t do it with some giant laser pointed at the sun. They accomplished it through dominating the tech sector, establishing global markets and creating a media empire. In other words they did it drip by drip, using multiple levers of control in order to convince enough people that they were better off with Cobra in charge. True, they brutally crush dissent when necessary (which is where the crux of the story lies). But that is not their only, nor even their primary, method of keeping their grip on power. The acquiescence of the population is the foremost element required. Cobra has come to power by studiously following the authoritarian playbook. Cue the real-world comparisons.

As such, the Joes, in this new reality, are seen by much of the general populace as terrorists. And they are truly a rag-tag group: scant resources, constantly on the move, and engaging in guerilla tactics (small acts of sabotage, disrupting supply chains and such – think Red Dawn, but not dumb). Indeed one of the intriguing things Allor is presenting are the internecine conflicts within the Joe’s themselves (there are at least three different factions opposing Cobra). The interpersonal conflicts of these desperate freedom fighters provides much of the tension. Imagine – G.I. Joe driven by character development!

Not that there isn’t plenty of action. The difference is that, unlike a child’s (or man-child’s) fantasy of war, violence here comes with cost. Indeed one of the issues the characters wrestle with, is if that cost, measured in their lives and the lives of others, is too high.

Artist Chris Evenhuis, working with colorist Brittany Peer, render the proceedings with a no-nonsense, clear-cut graphic style that acts as a nice counterpoint to a story in which there are so many shades of gray.

As our own democracy teeters on the verge of authoritarianism, this prescient iteration of G.I. Joe warns us what it will look like when we get there.

G.I. Joe (2019 comic book) - Wikipedia

Alright, enough wading in pop-culture. Do weighty issues have to be tied to entertaining, escapist fare in order for people to pay attention to them? What about those rooted more firmly in reality? Which brings us to today’s final entry:

*TOP PICK* 

Yasmeen (Scout Comics): Yasmeen, the remarkable debut comic by writer Saif A. Ahmed, follows the eponymous character as she survives the horrors of war, and tries to navigate what comes after. Her story unfolds along dual timelines. One takes place in Iraq in 2014 as ISIS invades the city of Mosul. The other, two years later in Iowa, as she tries to gather the strands of her life while simultaneously assimilating to a strange, new land.

In Iraq, Yasmeen lives a comfortable, even privileged life. Ahmed exposes the fragility of this seeming security with an almost casual abruptness. Violence and capture follow. The tragedy is presented with fidelity, but never gratuity. Much credit goes to the thoughtful staging and restraint shown by artist Fabiana Mascolo whom imbues the visuals with a cinematic flair for both the domestic and epic.

In Iowa, Yasmeen, having survived her ordeal, is reunited with her family. But any happiness is undercut by the changes her experiences have wrought on her, and the gulf it creates between her and those closest to her. This is compounded by the alienation she feels in her new, foreign surroundings.

While the tragedy of Iraq and neighboring Syria are well-known via news coverage, Ahmed’s focus on one teenage girl achieves the feat of making the abstract intimate, though never exploitative. This is due in large part to the story being informed by the writer’s own experiences and of those he knew. He himself escaped ISIS and immigrated to the US. Others were not so fortunate. Though the fictional Yasmeen is drawn from these sources, Ahmed breathes life into her as an individual, with care for the closely- observed details that imbue her, and the rest of the cast, with gravity and authenticity.

Ultimately this is a tale of trauma and the strength needed to heal. One of the most laudable things art can do is to give voice to the voiceless, to enable us to truly see them, and in seeing them, build empathy for their individual experience. In a world that is increasingly a patchwork of people displaced by violence, the story of Yasmeen is one of no small urgency. Highest recommendation.

Yasmeen #1 from Scout Comics - REVIEW — Comics Bookcase

 

 

Derekommendations: 8/9/17

09 Wednesday Aug 2017

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Here are my 3 must-read comics for this Wednesday:

Mister Miracle #1 (DC): Tom King and Mitch Gerads crafted the best comic book of last year with The Sheriff of Babylon, a shattering, close-up deconstruction of the everyday tragedies created by the fog of war. King also created last year’s best superhero comic in The Vision. In that book, he used the creative latitude afforded in penning a B-lister to orchestrate a tale about a family of androids, living in suburbia, that incorporated bits of Mary Shelley, Philip K. Dick and Leave It To Beaver. The resultant tale explored, amongst other trivialities, death, prejudice, and what it means to be human. Throughout, King established a pitch-perfect tone that was absurd, poetic and tragic, frequently all at once. One hopes that in working with another character not-well known outside of comic circles, King and Gerads will produce something similarly profound.

MISTER MIRACLE #1

Mister Miracle #1

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #23 (Marvel): If you already aren’t reading this comic book about a computer-science grad student with the powers of a squirrel (who is soon to be featured in a gosh-darn TV show), you’re missing out on the best superhero book that isn’t Black Hammer or Silver Surfer. Ryan North continues to delight with buoyant, laugh-out-loud writing that manages to feel upbeat and empowering without a trace of didactic, self-congratulatory posturing (hear that Saga?). If you still need an excuse to jump on this book, the current story allows the inimitable Mr. North to return to his first love: Dinosaurs! The child-like exuberance North obviously feels for the subject is matched by Erica Henderson’s energetic, Ditko-inflected art. The joy in this book is infectious.

UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #23

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #23

Clue #3 (IDW): Yes, I can feel your eye-roll: a book that’s an obvious corporate tie-in to a friggin’ board game? Has Battleship taught me nothing?! But my childhood affection for said game, as well as the cult-favorite movie it inspired (itself a corporate tie-in) impelled me to give it a shot (Or a candlestick. Whatever.). Happily, like the movie, Paul Allor’s story benefits from a wacky cast, clever pacing and an off kilter sense of humor. Nelson Daniel’s art contributes some fittingly comedic touches, especially in terms of staging and page layout. And Clue features that hallowed comic book trope, the mordant, omniscient narrator/host (think the Crypt-Keeper except with impeccable manners and in a butler’s suit). Except it seems he’s not so omniscient after all. Hmm….

CLUE #3 CVR B DANIEL

Clue #3

Happy Wednesday!

-Derek

The 2015 Innies: The Winners!

14 Monday Sep 2015

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And the winners are…

  • Best Colorist: Matthew Wilson, for The Wicked + The Divine (Image) and Daredevil (Marvel)
  • Best Artist: Matt Kindt, for Mind MGMT (Dark Horse)
  • Best Writer: Matt Kindt, for Mind MGMT (Dark Horse)
  • Best Limited Series: Dry Spell (Action Lab/Danger Zone) by Ken Krekeler
  • Best Ongoing Series: Mind MGMT (Dark Horse) by Matt Kindt

Congratulations! See you in 2016!

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The 2015 Innie Award Nominations!

07 Friday Aug 2015

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The Harvey Award nominations have been announced! The Eisners are in the books! And now we offer our annual corrective: THE INNIE AWARDS!

What does ‘Innies’ stand for? Well, other than an attempt at shameless self-branding, it stands for ‘independence’! Being ‘in’ the know! Part of the ‘in’ crowd! And possessing the non-freaky type of belly button.

Since we don’t have the big-time budget of the fancy-pants Eisners or Harveys, we’ve limited ourselves to five categories.  (Sorry Best Translation of Foreign Material for Tweens!)

Keep in mind that these are for comics that were published in 2014.

If the Eisners are the Oscars, and the Harveys are the Golden Globes, then the Innies are the Independent Spirits–or at least the People’s Choice Awards!

The Nominations:

Best Limited Series:

  • Brass Sun by Ian Edginton and I.N.J Culbard (2000AD)
  • Dry Spell by Ken Krekeler (Action Lab/Danger Zone)
  • Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland by Eric Shanower and Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)
  • The Twilight Zone by J. Michael Straczynski and Guiu Vilanova (Dynamite Entertainment)
  • Wild’s End by Dan Abnett and I.N.J Culbard (BOOM! Studios)

Best Ongoing Series:

  • Afterlife with Archie by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla (Archie Horror)
  • Lazarus by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark (Image)
  • The Massive by Brian Wood and various (Dark Horse)
  • Mind MGMT by Matt Kindt (Dark Horse)
  • Silver Surfer by Dan Slott and Mike Allred (Marvel)

Best Writer:

  • Matt Kindt, Mind MGMT (Dark Horse)
  • Ken Krekeler, Dry Spell (Action Lab/Danger Zone)
  • Greg Rucka, Lazarus (Image)
  • Dan Slott, Silver Surfer (Marvel)
  • Brian Wood, The Massive (Dark Horse), Moon Knight (Marvel)

Best Artist:

  • Mike Allred, Silver Surfer (Marvel)
  • I.N.J. Culbard, Wild’s End (BOOM! Studios), Brass Sun (2000AD)
  • Francesco Francavilla, Afterlife with Archie (Archie Horror)
  • Matt Kindt, Mind MGMT (Dark Horse)
  • Gabriel Rodriguez, Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland (IDW)

Best Colorist:

  • Laura Allred, Silver Surfer (Marvel)
  • Jordie Bellaire, The Massive (Dark Horse), Moon Knight (Marvel), Zero (Image)
  • Nelson Daniel, Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland (IDW), Wild Blue Yonder (IDW)
  • Dave Stewart B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth (Dark Horse), Hellboy & the B.P.R.D.: 1952 (Dark Horse)
  • Matthew Wilson The Wicked + The Divine (Image), Daredevil (Marvel)

Now it’s your turn. Did we miss anyone or anything?

Let the internet shouting begin!

Turning pages,

Derek & Scott

I&N Review: TERRORIST by Henrik Rehr

10 Friday Apr 2015

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By Derek Mainhart

What makes someone become a terrorist? It’s a question with some urgency at this point; one that, given recent events, is particularly resonant with cartoonists. In his new book Terrorist: Gavrilo Princip, the Assassin who Ignited World War I, cartoonist Henrik Rehr explores the mixture of ideology, desperation and political circumstance that are at the root of the phenomenon. Rehr’s vehicle for this exploration is perhaps the most infamous terrorist act in history.

Starting at birth, Rehr traces the forces that shape his subject, Gavrilo Princip: from his grandfather’s nationalistic stories of Serbia’s past glory, through the repression and indignity of daily life under occupation, first by the Turks, then the Austrians. Lacking any real education or prospects due to his second class status, Gavrilo’s idle days are filled at cafes digesting the news of the time with friends whose radicalization slowly, frighteningly, transforms from theoretical braggadocio to cold, irreversible action. As young Gavrilo (he was nineteen when he assassinated the Archduke) and his cohorts engage in ever more dangerous behavior, Rehr pulls off the neat trick of having the reader, fully aware of the historical implications of their actions, still feel anxious for their safety. He accomplishes this by skillfully interspersing telling, personal moments (Gavrilo’s sweetly naive relationship with his girlfriend, the family life of a reluctant co-conspirator), humanizing the principle actors.

As counterpoint, he interpolates scenes from the life of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, revealing him to be, yes, privileged and insulated, but also a loving family man, a reluctant leader, and also an optimist (charmingly naive in his own way) regarding human nature. If anything, he was predisposed, as Rehr portrays him, against exacerbating the tensions that would lead to war; more’s the tragedy.

Rehr’s even-handedness speaks to his humanistic underpinnings: whatever you think of his actions, Gavrilo’s concerns for his people were heartfelt. Whatever the cruelties of the Hapsburg Empire, Franz did not deserve to be gunned down in cold blood. (There is also a fatalistic irony at play as the author traces the combination of incompetence, botched plans and sheer chance that ultimately led to the fateful act.)

The subtlety of Rehr’s approach extends to his art, which is gorgeous throughout: beautifully composed, convincingly researched without being cluttered, the occasionally dense storytelling broken up by poetic vignettes of starkly lyrical black and white. This is especially true in the largely wordless coda, the powerful imagery of which recalls the work of the legendary Frans Masereel.

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In trying to condense a massive amount of complex information, Rehr does occasionally commit the misstep of having his characters narrate history through their dialogue. And as Gavrilo’s coterie grows, it sometimes becomes difficult (to these American eyes at least) to keep track of everyone amongst all those dark moustaches and names with too many consonants.

These are quibbles of course. Terrorist takes an impressive spot amongst the burgeoning field of politically-minded, historical graphic works. In addition to the aforementioned Masereel, Rehr’s exploration of history’s intimate effects on people’s daily existence recalls Jason Lutes’ magisterial Berlin, as well as the works of the incomparable Joe Sacco. (In fact, one could construct a credible primer on the tragic twentieth century of the region by reading a ‘graphic trilogy’ comprised of Rehr’s book, the acclaimed Fatherland: A Family History by Nina Bunjevac, and Sacco’s masterpiece Safe Area Gorazde.) Comprising various approaches and styles, the underlying hope offered by these works is that by attempting to understand how outsize forces affect individual lives (their dreams, their failures, their loved ones, their deaths) we can, on some small level, alter the course of our troubled times, before our own lives become so much grist for some future account of catastrophic history.

Terrorist: Gavrilo Princip, the Assassin who Ignited World War I, published by Graphic Universe, is on sale now.