Best of 2004

Okay, yeah, I could go on and on about all the good comics I read in 2004. But you don't want to read it and I don't want to write it. So, briefly, here are the three comics which I think were the best of the past year:


Tiempos Finales, vol. 1
by Samuel Hiti
original review here

We3
by Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely
original reviews here and here

Making Rain
by Ursula Murray Husted
original review here


There may have been better comics, but I probably didn't read them. And there were many many good comics. But these are the three comics which either touched me or showed me something exciting and different, pushing the medium forward. Comics which demanded to be experienced over again.

Here's looking forward to 2005!

Quick Manga Reviews

Ai Yori Aoshi, vol. 2
by Kou Fumizuki
At the end of the last volume, Aoi's family agreed to let she and Kaoru be together. That would have made a decent end to the love story, but if the series is to continue without being a constant stream of the two young lovers making googly eyes at each other there needs to be some complications. Complication number one arrives in the form of living arrangements: while Aoi & Kaoru can be together, they are not allowed to be together 24/7; Aoi & Miyabi, Aoi's family's assistant, get to live in a spacious American-style house while Kaoru is relegated to sleeping in the small guest quarters out back. The second complication arrives in the form of the photography club at Kaoru's college, particularly two attractive female coeds: Tina, a brash American (raised in Japan); and Taeko, a shy, clumsy and very busty freshman. Both girls end up as boarders in the house, and though there are many typical pratfalls involving accidental groping, Aoi is not the least bit threatened. She should be though, because both of the new girls have tons of personality compared to the boring Aoi, who only seems to care about making Kaoru happy. There's actually the potential for an interesting series here, one in which Aoi's being brought up to be the perfect wife for a boy she barely knows is examined in light of modern society. But we are never privy to Aoi's internal life, and she remains a bland 'dream girl' with no real personality. It's a shame, because Fumizuki's art and storytelling are quite good, even taking into account the numerous scenes of gratuitous nudity. Ai Yori Aoshi stands on the line with the potential for being rather good, yet it keeps shooting itself in the foot with its young male fantasies.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)


Angelic Layer, vol. 1
by Clamp
Twelve-year-old Misaki has just moved to the Big City, where she discovers Angelic Layer, the game of remote-controlled combat dolls that is all the rage. With the assistance of a strage and somewhat creepy middle-aged scientist-type she purchases an Angel of her own (hatched from an egg) and begins to compete in the miniature battles. While not a completely unique set-up, there are echoes of something different make the story a bit above the typical kids-with-combat-drones story, including some very subtle subtext about creation and godhood (Angel controllers are called 'Deuses'). Unfortunately the art is miserable; the action scenes are impossible to follow, and the people have a tendancy to be suddenly rendered with freakish squid limbs when the artist is too lazy to do proper rendering. I've seen much better art out of Clamp before--this is just bad.
Rating: 2 (of 5)

Making a Profit

One of the best TV shows you never saw is finally coming to DVD!

TV Shows on DVD has the news that Profit, the extremely short-lived (just four of ten episodes aired) FOX series will be out on DVD by the end of the summer.

(via Crocodile Caucus)

Now if only we can get Cupid, EZ Streets, Misfits of Science, and the second season of Twin Peaks on DVD, I'll be a happy lad.

Quick Comic Reviews

Queen & Country #26-28
by Greg Rucka
In "Operation: Saddlebags," Tara Chase and her new Minder 3, Chris Lankford, undertake what should be a routine mission to Russia, but after it goes all fubar it causes crises of conscience all along the chain of command. It's another great spy story from Rucka, its only fault being that I read it so soon after the superlative A Gentleman's Game novel. Norton's art is at the top of his game, providing clean and sharp interiors along with some great covers. If I had my choice, Norton would be the regular artist on the series instead of the round-robin art (although most of the artists have been quite good in their own right). After this I think that I'm going to switch over to trades for Queen & Country, since I seem to be holding all the individual issues in a story to read all together anyway.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)


Shaolin Cowboy #1
by Geof Darrow
So, you might see this comic in the shop and be entranced by the pretty cover. Then you might pick it up, leaf through it, and say to yourself: "Hey, this comic has some very nice artwork. I'm going to buy it and take it home and read it." Stop right there! Yes, the artwork is very pretty. But there's no story. None. Nada. It's just a silent guy (with a talking horse) killing a bunch of scum in the wild west. That's it. No plot. No characterization. I only wish I'd been able to warn you all ahead of time. If you see this in a quarter box someday, by all means take it home and look at the pretty pictures. Otherwise, leave it on the shelf. You'll thank me.
Rating: 1.5 (of 5)


Savage Henry: Powerchords #3
by Matt Howarth
They thought they had stopped the other-dimensional alien invasion, but a copy of the infamous dimension-shattering Bulldaggers concert escaped destruction, and unless Henry can stop it from being unleashed we'll all be overrun by The Loud Ones. Can the world be saved? Yes, but only with the help of Lord Lyre, England's Musical Diety, and through the power of... mellow banjo music. Yes, this conclusion may smack a bit of Deus ex Machina, but when you have an Elder God as a member of your band you have to allow for a little divine intervention now and then. As a bonus, this issue also features an in-story discussion of the ethics of bootlegging.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)

Quick GN Reviews

Gatecrasher: Ring of Fire
by Mark Waid, Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti
Evil other-dimensional aliens are opening trans-dimensional gates and invading Earth, and only the Gatecrashers, an elite secret miltary force, can stop them. The Gatecrashers' secret weapon is Alec Wagner, high school senior and human/alien hybrid. Unfortunately for Earth, Alec would rather go to the prom with his hot girlfriend than save the planet from aliens, much to the dismay of Hazard, the unit's commander. Waid shows an early talent for writing non-super-hero action (though admitedly it's not far from that particular apple tree) and Conner & Palmiotti are in their element with sci-fi action and alien monsters. This is not deep stuff by any means, but it is pulpy good fun.
Rating: 3 (of 5)


Enemy Ace: War in Heaven
by Garth Ennis, Christian Alamy, Chris Weston, Russ Heath; Robert Kanigher & Joe Kubert
It's 1942, and Hans Von Hammer, Germany's Ace pilot during the first World War, has been reluctantly convinced to come back and lead a fighter squadron over the Russian theater. Von Hammer does this only out of concern for the young German fighter pilots, not for any love of the Nazi regime, which gets him into trouble with those more loyal to the National Socialist ideas. But his kill rate and the survival of his squadron cannot be ignored, so Von Hammer is allowed to stay around, until he learns too much about the horrors of modern war. It's nearly impossible to read this and not see parallels with certain present-day armed conflicts, but I suppose that has more to do with the general themes of all war stories. Ennis seems to be strongest when he is writing war comics, and his Enemy Ace is no exception; I suspect that, given his druthers, Ennis would prefer to stay with war stories, as even his horror & super-hero work usually have strong military characters and themes. The art in the first chapter, by Chris Weston over layouts by Christian Alamy, is astounding; I don't think I've ever seen aerial battles depicted in a comic with such fluidity, grace and power. The art in the second chapter is by the legendary Russ Heath, and while it is quite good, it suffers a bit in comparison to the first chapter. Heath appears to be attempting a Joe Kubert look rather than staying with his own style. The colors in both chapters are by Matt Hollingsworth, and they also seem much more vibrant and alive in the first chapter than in the second. It would have been better to keep a consistant look throughout (the story was originally published as two separate 'prestige format' issues). Rounding out this collection is a classic "Enemy Ace" story by Bob Kanigher and Joe Kubert; it's nothing much special, but I'm never going to turn down a chance to look at some Kubert artwork.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)

Quick Manga Reviews

FLCL, vol. 1
by Gainax & Hajime Ueda
I really wanted to like this. The art by Ueda has a unique, rough style that melds a manga flavor with something resembling Jhonen Vasquez, and the premise--a boy in a slightly surreal Tokyo suburb must help an alien fight robots from destroying Earth--held promise. The problem is that the only reason I know that's the premise is because I read it on the back cover blurb. The story here is totally incomprehensible. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I like to at least have a chance at understanding what my comics are about.
Rating: 1.5 (of 5)


Imadoki! Nowadays, vol. 1: Dandelion
by Yû Watase
Ah, see, now this is how you do a shojo comic. As a new scholarship student at an elite academy, bubbly Tanpopo Yamazaki only wants to make friends. And no matter how much the rich students snub her, she's goign to keep trying until they come around. Her tactic? Start a gardening club! Watase's art is in top form, with strong characters and backgrounds and dynamic yet easy-to-follow storytelling. But it's the personality of the heroine that draws you in. Compared to many mopy shojo protagonists, Tanpopo's sunny disposition and never-say-die attitude is a welcome change. While I tend to burn out on shojo series after a few volumes as they become repetitive (e.g. Kare Kano), I hope that Imadoki! will remain fresh for a while. (Note: Viz rates this 'T+' for 'older teens' though I have no idea why, as there's no reason why younger kids couldn't read and enjoy this. Perhaps things get more intense later in the series?)
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)

Making Music

Jon Silpayamanant over at Mae Mai has posted a cover of "Dancing Queen" by his band Il Troubadore. Some time back I urged Jon to try this ABBA classic, so I'm glad to get a chance to hear their version, done in a Renaissance band style on mandolin and cello.

And since one musical turn deserves another, I've put up a song I created a few months back: "Peach Pit". Enjoy...

New This Week: December 29, 2004

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop tomorrow:


The pick of the week is the third collected edition of Girl Genius by Phil & Kaja Foglio. If it seems like just a couple of months ago that the pick of the week was Girl Genius vol. 2, well, you're right. And since I know that you enjoyed it, I'm sure that you'll want to pick up volume 3 as well.


In other comics:

Antarctic has the collected edition of Rob Espinosa's Courageous Princess; if you've enjoyed Rob's Neotopia, you'll want to pick up the collection of this earlier work in the same vein. Antarctic also has the sixth issue of Ben Dunn's Heaven Sent.

Avatar has the second of Warren Ellis's Aparat one-shots, Quit City, with art by the wonderful Laurenn McCubbin.

Dark Horse has the first issue of Concrete: Human Dilemma.

DC has the fourth issue of Adam Strange, the debut of the once-again-rebooted Legion of Super-Heroes, and the conclusion of Ed Brubaker's Tom Strong two-parter (issue #30).

Image has Wildguard: Fire Power, a one-shot follow-up to Todd Nauck's mini.

Marvel has the delayed third issue of the latest Kabuki series, a new issue of the much-delayed Ultimate Nightmare (#4), a new issue of Supreme Power (#14), and almost all of the What If one-shots.

Viper has the final issue of Daisy Kutter (#4).

Viz has new volumes of Fushigi Yugi (v. 13) & Inu Yasha (v. 20).


Remember when the week between Christmas & New Years was a true skip-week, and DC and Marvel didn't publish any comics? It was a great time to break out of the mold and try an indy comic or two. So even though DC & Marvel are publishing some comics this week, make it a point to try something off the beaten path; give a title from Oni or AiT/PlanetLAR or Slave Labor/Amaze Ink or Fantagraphics or Drawn & Quarterly or Alternative a try. Who knows, you just may find something that you like!

Rarebits

Last night I dreamed of Marv Wolfman.

I'm not really sure why--I've never actually met the man, and while I've certainly enjoyed many things he's written over the years, I don't think I've read anything by him recently. But dream of him I did.

Marv didn't show up until the third part of my dream; the first part involved me helping out at a public library (but not any public library I've ever been to in real life...) creating a series of displays of children's books for each major section of the Dewey Decimal Classification. This somehow transitioned into a dream where I was in the Babylon 5 universe, aboard a giant Earth battleship. We captured a malignant alien entity and were holding it captive in a stasis prison (whose other captives included one of the Shadows and Mexican General Santa Ana...) The evil alien entity escaped by possessing the body of a female vice-admiral, and as the entity/vice-admiral wandered the corridors of the battleship I found my perspective in the dream morphing into the vice-admiral's, where I was in my body but unable to affect it's actions as I watched the evil alien entity go through its nefarious paces (oh, Freud would have a field day!)

Which brings me to Marv Wolfman. As I turned a corner in the battleship I found myself back to being me again and in control of my own body. I was now in what appeared to be a shopping mall but in the dream I took it to be a convention center. As I turned the corner, I ran into Marv Wolfman. Now I couldn't tell you what Marv looks like in real life, but in my dream he was tall, with slightly greying hair and a goatee, and I instantly knew him to be Marv Wolfman despite the lack of any sort of identifying badge. I wold him how much I liked his wook on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics, which is odd because he's never written any. But Marv took my compliment in stride, and asked me which of his works I liked best. I told him that I of course liked his work on Teen Titans, but what I really thought was underrated was his work on the Star Trek comics; I was thinking of the early DC Star Trek, but Marv didn't write those either, although he was the series editor for a time. I was just about to mention his work on The Adventures of Superman when Marv said that he had to get back to a panel he was on; we shook hands and then I woke up.

Not much point to retelling all this actually, except to thank Marv Wolfman for being a consummate professional to a blathering fanboy in his dreams.

Christmas Loot

Thank goodness for Amazon wish lists, as my comics-naive relatives don't have to wonder what I want, or try to negotiate with clerks at the mall bookstore to figure out exactly what's on my list.

So on Saturday morning I opened up packages containing: The Complete Peanuts: 1953-1954; the Strangers in Paradise Treasury Edition; The DC Comics Encyclopedia; and The New Smithsonian Book of Comic Book Stories: From Crumb to Clowes.

As if I didn't have enough stuff on my to-be-read stack!

Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover.

For our return to regular Monkey Cover features I present Murphy Anderson's cover to 1955's Mystery In Space #23. I can think of no better way to end the year than with "Monkey Rocket to Mars!", illustrating Otto Binder's story of Earth's first visit to the red planet.

Image is courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.

Christmas Covers - December 25

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version from GCD.

Today's cover is a scene of the nativity from 1946's Treasure Chest vol. 2 #9, by an unknown artist.

Christmas is finally here, so that'll do it for our Comic Cover Advent Calendar for this year. I'll be back next December, as there are plenty of good covers left, and each year brings even more holiday-themed covers to add to the mix.

(You can find more comic cover Advent calendars at Polite Dissent and Raw Feed.)

Christmas Covers - December 24

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version from GCD.

Today's cover is 1943's Captain Marvel Adventures #19. Legendary artist C. C. Beck shows The Big Red Cheese and Mary Marvel helping Santa on his rounds while the reindeer are grounded.

Just 1 more 'get-up' until Santa!

(You can find more comic cover Advent calendars at Polite Dissent and Raw Feed.)

CBLDF Goal Achieved!

We've now reached our goal of 10 first-time donors for the CBLDF fund drive!

Right after I finish this post, I'll be heading on over to the CBLDF Website to make my $250 donation.

Big thanks to the following donors for making our goal possible:

David Welsh of Precocious Curmudgeon
Jeremy of The Pickytarian
Gordon of Blog, THIS, Pal!
Marc, the Howling Curmudgeon
Guy from Comic Book Commentary
Kevin of BeaucoupKevin
Will Pfeifer of X-Ray Spex
Steve Pheley, the Gutterninja
Michael of Riverside, CT (no blog)
Nevin Steindam from Ohio (also no blog)

But it's not over yet...

Nevin, our tenth and final donor, has generously offered to match any more $25 donations between now and tomorrow, the 24th (up to a limit of 10). Forward your email confirmation from CBLDF to me and I'll pass the info on to Nevin.

Also, a big YACB thank you to everyone who linked here to spread the word. We couldn't have reached our goal without you!

Have a happy holiday!

Quick Holiday Comic Reviews

The Punisher: Red X-Mas
by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, & Mark Texeira
Punisher kills bob bosses. Mob bosses wives hire assassin to eliminate Punisher. Punisher defeats assassin, takes revenge on wives. Sounds like just about every boring Punisher story you've ever read, right? The only thing that makes this an X-mas story is the fact that Frank is posing as a sidewalk Santa in the opening scene. Yes, it's nice to see art by Texeira, but there's really no good reason for this comic to exist.
Rating: 1.5 (of 5)


X-Men #165
by Chris Claremont, Salvador Larroca & Danny Miki
It's Christmas at Xavier's, and Claremont uses the opportunity to check in with just about everyone who is currently affiliated with the X-Men. It's not so much a story as it is a series of vignettes, but this is the sort of thing that Claremont is good at, and he does it well. Larroca's art is great as always, and I particularly enjoyed the entry of The Beast dressed as Santa Claus. I'm feeling the Christmas love.
Rating: 3 (of 5)


Jingle Belle #2
by Paul Dini, Jose Garibaldi, & J. Bone
The main story features a mystery writer who--haunted by a brief encounter in his childhood--puts off writing his next best-seller to research a book about Santa's ellusive daughter. Dini's story works wonderfully, giving a sense of depth and history to a character who is often presented as flighty. Garibaldi's art works very well, especially the WWII flashback sequence. Dini's back-up story about Christmas in Mutant, Texas is senseless fluff, but it doesn't distract from the strength of the lead story.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)


Sabrina, the Teenage Witch #63
by Tania Del Rio & Jim Amash
It's not really a holiday story, but "Cabin Fever" features a winter-time story with the gang and Aunt Hilda (as chaperone) taking a vacation to a cabin in the woods. Harvey and Shinji get trapped in a blizzard, and I'll be darned if Del Rio isn't making an effort to actualyl move the characters forward. There's a tendency with Archie comics to keep things status quo, but hopefully the manga influence that Del Rio is bringing to this series will break out of that mold.
Rating: 3 (of 5)

Christmas Covers - December 23

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version from GCD.

Today's cover is 1998's Impulse #34. This cover by Craig Rousseau & Wayne Faucher shows Bart living up to his super-hero name on Christmas morning.

Just 2 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(You can find more comic cover Advent calendars at Polite Dissent and Raw Feed.)

Quick Christmas GN Reviews

Archie's Classic Christmas Stories, vol. 1
by ?????
This volume reprints selected holiday stories from various Archie comics of the 1950s & early 60s. The stories are all just a few pages long (typically six to ten pages) and read remarkably well given their age. Sure they may be a bit dated in their outlook, but all of the stories are told without narrative captions or thought balloons, just like most modern comics. However, they eschew the decompressed style that is prevalent in many comics today, taking just a few pages to tell a complete story. Most of the stories revolve around either Archie tryig to please Veronica's father, or around kissing, with mistletoe being a primary factor in more than one tale. The biggest disappointment is the utter lack of any creative credits for the stories; while I know that Archie was never really big on crediting creators and that records for old stories may be hard to come by, I would think that with a little effort at least some of this information could have been tracked down and included.
Rating: 3 (of 5)


The Vampire's Christmas
by Joseph Michael Linsner & Mike Dubisch
It's Christmas Eve, and Esque the Vampire is cranky. He'd rather sleep through the holiday, but having been awoken by a bell-ringing Santa he now needs blood. But Christmas is a horrible time for hunting, and Esque is frustrated at every turn. Linsner tells a story that is consistant with the whole Goth-Vampire ethos in which this story resides, yet still manages to tell a somewhat heart-warming tale, relatively speaking. The art by Dubisch is painted over Linsner's pencils, and it tells the story well while maintaining the proper mood. I was surprised to find myself liking this more than I thought I would.
Rating: 3 (of 5)

Christmas Covers - December 22

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version from GCD.

Today's cover is 1958's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer #9. This cover by an unknown artist proves that nothing says Christmas like Santa & Rudolph on a rocket ship.

Just 3 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(You can find more comic cover Advent calendars at Polite Dissent and Raw Feed.)

New This Week: December 22, 2004

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop tomorrow:


The Pick of the Week is Ariel Schrag's Likewise #3 from Slave Labor. I'm not a huge fan of autobiographical comics, but Ariel's diary of her high school days is raw, earnest and real. Yes, it's over a year late, but I'm sure it will be worth it.

In other comics:

Alternative has Bipolar #5.

Antarctic has a new issue of Gold Digger (#58), plus a fourth Gold Digger Pocket Manga and the first Twilight X Pocket Manga.

Burlyman has the second Matrix Comics anthology, plus the first issue of Shaolin Cowboy.

Dark Horse has a new issue of The Goon (#10), the second volume of Samurai Executioner (finally!), and the fifth volume of Seraphic Feather.

DC has the first collection of Darwyn Cooke's exquisite DC: The New Frontier, the third issue of Green Lantern: Rebirth, the second issue of Grant Morrison's JLA: Classified, and Richard Corben takes over for the second issue of Solo.

Fantagraphics brings Charles Burns' Black Hole to a conclusion with issue #12.

If your comic shop didn't get last week's Pick of the Week, Thieves & Kings vol. 5, last week, it should show up this week. (Unless they foolishly didn't order any copies at all, in which case you need to use a better comic shop!)

Image has a new printing of JMS and Gary Frank's Midnight Nation trade.

Marvel has new issues of Astonishing X-Men (#7), Black Widow (#4), New Thunderbolts (#3), and holiday stories in Punisher: Red Xmas and X-Men #165 (now with 100% less Chuck Austen!)

Oni has the penultimate issue of Ojo (#4) and a new Queen & Country (#28).

Penny Farthing has the final issue of Stuart Moore's Para (#6).

The guys at Win-Mill have their second issue of Following Cerebus.


A lot of good stuff this week. I hope that you're all done with your Christmas shopping, because after tomorrow's trip to the comic store you won't have much cash left!

More contests, more donation opportunities

BeaucoupKevin is sponsoring a contest where you could win a copy of Julius.

And on the philanthropy front, Prism Comics is looking for donations to eliminate their debt. Despite their name, Prism Comics is not a publisher, but rather a "nonprofit organization that advocates for greater inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) characters and creators in the comic book industry." So after you've donated to CBLDF, Prism Comics could use a bit of help too.

(both items here via Precocious Curmudgeon.)