A comiXologist Recommends (their favorites from 2015)
by Harris Smith
There were too many comics this year to pick one favorite, so here’s just a bunch of my favorite things that happened in 2015:
1. Stories from a comic I published, Felony Comics #1, were featured in Best American Comics 2015, so that was pretty cool.
2. Ben Marra, cover artist for Felony Comics #1, published his first graphic novel, Terror Assaulter: One Man War on Terror, from Fantagraphics. That was also cool.
3. Chuck Forsman’s self-published Revenger continued to channel the spirit of 80′s action movies like Death Wish 3, combined with the stark, deadpan sensibility that made his previous comics, like TEOTFW and Luv Sucker so powerful.
4. Future Shock Zero- If you want to get an overview of the best of today’s indie/art comics scene, Josh Burggraf’s sci-fi anthology is the perfect place to start, with comics by some of my favorite artists, including Lala Albert, Alex Degen, Sophia Foster-Dimino, Victor Kerlow, Jasoph Murphy, Aleks Sendwald, Pete Toms and Ben Urkowitz.
5. Every moment of Transformers Vs. G.I. Joe
6. Antisocial gorilla bikers in The Humans
7. Upping the indie quotient on comiXology like wow with the digital debut of MOME from Fanagraphics
8. We got my favorite book by my favorite cartoonist, The Freddie Stories by Lynda Barry, on comiXology, thanks to the digital launch of Drawn & Quarterly
9. Another one of my favorite indie cartoonists, Michel Fiffe, took on Ann Nocenti-era Daredevil (possibly the best creative run on a superhero comic of all time) in Marvel’s Secret Wars: Secret Love #1
10. Good superhero shows on TV- Jessica Jones, for its emotional complexity; Gotham, for being a noir-ish soap opera with Batman characters; and Supergirl, for being smart and fun.
11. DC Comics in general, for giving us a Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League book, teaming up Gilbert Hernandez and Darwyn Cook on the Twilight Children, the new PREZ book, launching the old Joe Simon PREZ on comiXology, launching Jack Kirby’s OMAC on comiXology, and I know it isn’t out yet, but a new Swamp Thing book by Len Wein and Kelly Jones? Too good to be true.
Harris Smith is a senior production coordinator and the editor of comiXology’s Tumblr, as well as the publisher of Felony Comics and a film programmer at the Spectacle Theater in Brooklyn. His New Year’s Resolution is to read and make more comics in 2016.
A comiXologist Recommends (their favorite reprint of 2015)
Best single issue comic ever. I remember the day I bought it and where I was when I read it. Not many comics I can say that about.
Chip Mosher is comiXology’s director of Communications & Content
A comiXologist Recommends (their favorite from 2015)
STAR WARS. JUST STAR WARS.
My pick for ‘Best of 2015’ is Star Wars… All of it. I know, its the obvious choice, but as Bill Murray once famously sang, “Star Wars! Nothing but Star Wars! Gimme those Star Wars.. don’t let them end!” This year was full of it, and it was hard to ignore. There were Star Wars comics, video games, cartoons, action figures, books, trading cards, mugs, pugs, chewable vitamins…etc and it all culminated on 12/18 with the release of the seventh installment of the movie franchise.
This year Marvel started releasing new series, and they have been fantastic. From Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Shattered Empire to Star Wars (2015-) and Kanan - The Last Padawan all of them have been a delight. They did a great job of bringing us back to a galaxy far far away. If the Extended Universe is more your speed, we released back issues dating back to the original series from 1977. We released Star Wars - The Thrawn Trilogy and Knights of the Old Republic to Star Wars: Tag & Bink Are Dead (2001). There is so much here, you could keep yourself busy until Rouge One comes out in 2016. Hopefully next year’s offerings will be just as entertaining. So until then…
May the force be with you.
The force is strong with Chris Zenyuch, who supervises comiXology’s activation and sales team. Yesterday was his birthday.
A comiXologist Recommends (their favorite character from 2015)
Kimber Benton from Jem and the Holograms
Kimber Benton is hands-down THE most adorable character of 2015. As the youngest member of Jem and the Holograms, the hot new band giving the popular Misfits a run for their money, she’s a talented keytar player who has wanted all her life to perform. As a sister to her bandmates, she’s always there when they need her, even if her new maybe-girlfriend makes her late sometimes. She’s the heart of this comic and you’ll wish you could be her bestie.
Kimber’s voice as a character is modern and relatable. Kelly Thompson’s writing shows us a Kimber who talks like our friends do and who gets so excited about things that us readers can’t help but get swept away with her enthusiasm. And let’s not forget Sophie Campbell’s amazing character design. #goals.
It’s corny to say, but Kimber’s honesty and openness has inspired me to be braver and make choices based on what I want and not succumb to peer pressure. She may “just” be a character in a comic book, but that doesn’t stop her from being awesome! Rock on, Kimber. See you in 2016!
Kara Szamborski supervises the production coordinator team at comiXology and co-hosts the weekly comiXologist podcast to help you find new comics to read. She’s currently trying to figure out exactly how many sequins she can get away with wearing on New Year’s Eve.
A comiXologist Recommends (their favorite comics of 2015)
Mike R’s picks
Favorite Issues:
Constantine: The Hellblazer #6
I was incredibly hesitant about this series from the get go, but issue one sold me and #6 ended up being one of the best comics I read all year. This issue in specific was a perfect combination of comedy, internal strife, monsters from within the shadows, and a wonderful bearded man—which is something very hard to come by in most comics, as far as I’m concerned. Constantine: The Hellblazer #6 is wonderful in art and writing and a perfect topper to the first arc of this series and one of the best comics of 2015.
Heathen #1
This book hit me like a ton of bricks. The cover, alone, was something to drool over, and reading the first few pages, it only gets better. A story about a Norse warrior cast out from her family who looks to redeem herself by saving a princess trapped on a mountain is a story I can get behind any day, and this book delivers a great end that hooks you immediately. This is one of those books I will buy until the day I die—and I hope it is published for that long. Natasha Alterici is a one-person-machine of brilliance, and this book is proof of her fantastic work.
Favorite Series that ended:
Iron Fist: The Living Weapon
There isn’t much to say here other than: This book was epic.
Zero
This book had a very satisfying end and I have to credit the MANY creators (specifically artists) who worked on this series for developing an incredible story over 18 issues. Special high-fives go out to Jordie Bellaire who colored the whole series.
Favorite Mini-series:
Godzilla in Hell
Godzilla goes to Hell and fights everything. What more do you need to know?
Favorite New Series:
Archie
Have you ever needed a breath of fresh air? Try the new Archie series. It’s happy and fun and angsty, but mostly fun and happy.
Paybacks
The question of, “Where do super heroes/villains get their money from?” is the basis of this new Dark Horse series, and boy does it deliver. Who lends the money? We don’t know. Who collects the money? Well, the Paybacks, of course—a mix bag of heroes and villains who owe a debt. A perfect mix of action and comedy (with a dash of mystery, because that’s cool too) drives this series and, well, it’s just plain fun. (editor’s note- this series is colored by Lauren Affe, a former comiXologist, so you know it’s good)
Favorite Covers:
Mike Rapin is a web developer at comiXology living in Queens with his girlfriend and two (sadistic and needy) cats—Twix and KitKat. He is also the host of the I Read Comic Books podcast—a weekly podcast about, you guessed it, comic books.
A comiXologist Recommends (their favorite comic of 2015)
One of my favorite moments in the new Star Wars comics #5 is the scene where Darth Vader finds out that Luke is a Skywalker. From #1 when Vader notices the lightsaber, to the moment he hears from Boba Fett, it’s an excellent reveal, show of Vader’s emotion, and even give some backstory to Episode 5. Throughout the intertwining story of the Star Wars main series and the Darth Vader series, more than the rebellion/Luke/Han, we get to see a side of Vader that we hadn’t in the movies. It’s moments like these where we realize how complex and badass of a villian/character Darth Vader really is.
Doug Hwang is comiXology’s Director of Product
A comiXologist Recommends (their favorite comics of 2015)
Superman: American Alien #1 by Max Landis, Matthew Clark and Nick Dragotta (DC Comics)
Center for Otherworld Science #2 by Shing Yin Khor (Sawdust Press)
Tet #1 by Paul Allor and Paul Tucker (Comics Experience)
Josh Doyle-Elmer is comiXology’s Email Marketing Specialist. He is a man of few words.
A comiXologist Recommends (her favorite comics of 2015)
Transformers: Holiday Special #1
IDW’s Transformers Holiday Special is out this week, just in time to take its place as once of my absolute favorite single issues of 2015. It’s made up of three short stories from IDW’s Transformers continuity, all of which had me laughing out loud on every page. I would recommend picking this issue up to anyone with even a passing childhood remembrance of Transformers, if only for the hilarious Christmas poem about a grinchy, scroogey Starscream.
Of course, because I’m a die-hard More Than Meets The Eye fan, the highlight for me is Silent Light, a cheeky side story which, in typical fashion for the series, gets in some quality jabs at your heart and a bunch of juicy character development in between 10 pages of hijinks. Kotteri’s art in this story, accompanied beautifully by Joanna Lafuente’s colors, is lively and bursting with personality in every line. After seeing all these characters (especially Whirl) come to life in this style, I’m really hoping Kotteri lends their wonderful work to the main series someday in the future. Finally, my favorite Former-Decepticon & His Dog duo Thundercracker and Buster star in their very own holiday film noir (it’s a new genre.)
It’s still balmy here in New York City, but when I read this comic I swear I heard sleigh bells ringing… or maybe that was Lightbright and Sparkstalker’s wedding bells?
EMILY FORSTER is a Digital Editor at ComiXology and a cartoonist. These days, robots kissing is all she can think about.
Throughout the day today (and into the night), we’ll be posting some of our staff’s favorite comics from 2015. To kick things off, here’s a repost of Emily Forster’s favorite from last week.
Happy New Year!