What does it say about comics when the best comic I read in 2007 was actually published four years ago?
Civil War finally ended and was followed by that “No more mutants” thing and the World War Hulk thing and One More Day. It annoyed me that most of the Marvel titles tie in to whatever crossover event is going on and, in order to glean the entire story and fully appreciate what was happening in a single issue, I would have to buy ALL of the tie in series. DC has their “events” too, but it’s not as labyrinthine. I can pick up JLA and enjoy it without buying ten other titles simultaneously. Who has that kind of time, anyway?
Is it really too much to expect to pick up a single issue of a single series and not get hammered by things that are happening in other series?
Guess not. So, I stopped buying and reading Marvel comics in 2007. I don’t miss them.
I also stopped buying Exterminators, previously my favorite comic. I always looked forward to sitting down with a glass of wine after work, opening my new issue of Exterminators, and inevitably turning a page to a revolting image that would, occasionally, make me put the wine glass down and turn my head away for a minute.
That’s a nice feeling.
For several issues in a row, Exterminators pushed the envelope less and less. The story meandered, taking on a Lost, “we’re making this up as we go along” feeling. After several disappointing issues, Exterminators fell off my buy list.
I miss being regularly grossed out.
The random nature of publishing also took its toll on my buy list. I can’t remember the last time I saw an issue of Fell or an issue of Local at the local comic shop. For weeks I bugged clerks from three different stores about Walking Dead volume six and got three different answers: 1. It was sold out. 2. The store must not have gotten it that week, so I should check back the next week and did I want to subscribe to the monthly? (no, I didn’t.) 3. The publisher switched to a printer in China who screwed up the print job on volume six, pushing the release date back indefinitely and did I want to subscribe to the monthly?(still no).
It was frustrating.
However, on the heels of the Walking Dead debacle, I actually got FOUR issues of All-Star Batman and Robin after waiting, what?, a year between issues four and five? Then I got FOUR issues in six months. I love the goddam Batman.
In 2007, I started buying more titles from DC and it’s mostly because of the Black Canary – Green Arrow wedding. I read the first couple pages of the Wedding Planner and even though I hadn’t paid much attention to those characters before, I was drawn in. That led me to pick up the JLA #13 wedding tie in and I’ve been buying that title ever since with no disappointment. I’m also loving the Green Arrow/ Black Canary series and Shadowpact.
Still can’t get into Wonder Woman. I’ve bought it periodically this year and wasn’t thrilled. I hoped that would change with Gail Simone taking over, but even though the writing itself is good, I can’t muster up a care for the character.
The best comic I read in 2007? That was Darwyn Cooke’s DC: The New Frontier, which I finally got around to picking up in December after having the Absolute Edition sitting on the bookshelf for months. It had a depth and historical context which I rarely see in comics (or anywhere else for that matter. I know people who don’t know what the Cold War was – I’d like to punch them). I hate to write something as trite as “The New Frontier is the War and Peace of comics,” but it kind of is.
Thank god I didn’t read New Frontier at the beginning of the year – nothing else would have lived up to it.
Never miss an update. Subscribe to Pink Raygun by Email or subscribe via RSS
Related Stuff:
Lisa Fary's earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She's angry that it's 2011 and she still doesn't have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram. 
Oh, man. See, I’m actually reading Civil War now, including the tie-ins, and I love it for the exact reason why you seemed to hate it.
It seemed like a cheap marketing ploy to me, too! But I’ve really come to love storylines set across different titles. I first felt that way when I read the “Resurection of Ra’s Al Ghul” storyline in Batman (a DC comic, no less!), which was spread out over Batman, Robin, Nightwing, and Detective Comics. And I loved what each writer taking on different aspects of the story did for the whole. What could have gotten really monotonous ended up being really interesting for me, because it was being looked at from so many different points of view. That’s what I’m enjoying about Civil War now – the fact that I can look at the goings-on through so many different lenses!
As you may have guessed from my reviews, I really loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight this year.
Now, New Frontier is going to be difficult to compete with, but I think you just need to find yourself some new titles. Talk at the local comic shopped recently turned to best of lists, so I’ve got some thoughts for you.
Over in the Marvel universe, I was just recommended The Immortal Iron Fist, and I’m a convert there — some background knowledge about the character helps, but not necessary, as it’s building a new mythology. And it pays lip service to Civil War and then proceeds to do its own thing. The collected Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. is a beautiful-looking, wild ride; some of the jokes are for the longtime fans, but it’s crazy fun. Joss Whedon’s run on Astonishing X-Men has been, well, astonishing. Whedon brings his deft touch to these established characters, with an approach that takes them in directions nobody else would have. Picks up where Grant Morrison’s run left off and pretty much ignores everything else.
For some tough noir reads, check out Criminal and Scalped. Or Jason Shiga’s Bookhunter for a more wry look at the cop genre. And the sprawling conspiracy of 100 Bullets is consistently gritty and smart.
Ex Machina and Y: The Last Man hit some rough spots, but they weave together small stories and overarching arcs in a clever way. Both are more approachable for the non superhero-reading crowd.
Finally, Elephantmen. It can be frustrating and baffling, but after more than a year, it’s becoming more apparent how all these characters and plotlines are coming together, and the thought that was put into how it all unfolds.
We should talk at the Phoenix Cactus Comicon.