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.
Zero #2 - PAGE 4
A wooden box at the bottom of a river somewhere in England. It’s at least 20 feet deep. And it’s winter.We don’t see the ice at the top of the river, probably, at least not yet.
ZERO: BASIC TRAINING.
Zero, inside the box, looking completely calm.
ZERO: WE ALL HAD TO GO THROUGH THE BOX UNTIL WE MANAGED TO GET OUT OF ITIN UNDER TWO MINUTES.
A different angle. We realize he’s in a straightjacket.
ZERO: KIDS DIED, FROM TIME TO TIME. KIDS DIED A LOT. ONLY THE STRONGESTWOULD SURVIVE, AND THEIR DEATHS, WELL, THEY WOULD BE FUEL FOR OUR SURVIVAL…
The sense of claustrophobia is total. It’s not making us just slightly nauseated – it’s making us straightup ill. Lee/Ditko in that Amazing Spider-Man issue (is it #29?), Marcos Martin riffing on it in one of the recent covers, Ennis/Dillon doing something similar in Preacher, Steranko’s stories, the way Zero applies himself in Zero #2 on pages 8 & 9, Kill Bill, any time you’ve ever been trapped somewhere tight and feared for your life and air…this is it, this is that condensed into one page. Use however many panels you wish for, whatever effect you think will convey this the best… We’re above Zero. He looks so calm. He’s pondering whether to stay down there or fight his way up. Might be multiple panels here, too, with almost no change in his expression.
ZERO: …THE STRANGE THING IS, IT FELT GOOD.
ZERO: I LIKED BEING ALONE DOWN THERE.
ZERO: I TOYED WITH THE IDEA OF NEVER COMING BACK UP.
ZERO: MEETING MY PARENTS AGAIN.
If you’re not reading Zero by now I guess there’s nothing more I can do for you. If you want to start, you can pick it up on discount before our aleskot sale ends tonight at 11pm EST.
“Well i want to die holding your hand.”
Zero #2
aleskot has become one of my favorite new creators, and it’s mostly because ZERO is so damn good.
We couldn’t wait any longer so we started our imagecomics SDCC Sale a day before the con even starts!
Featuring
East of West by Jonathan Hickman & nickdragotta
Lazarus by ruckawriter & Michael Lark
Nowhere Men by Eric Stephenson & fetorpse
Pretty Deadly by kellysue & steinerfrommars
Rat Queens by kurtiswiebe & johnnyrocwell
Saga by Brian K Vaughan & fionastaples
Sex Criminals by mattfractionblog & zdarsky
The Manhattan Projects by Jonathan Hickman & nickpitarra
Zero by aleskot & jordiecolorsthings
(Plus a whole lot of other people)
Nothing gets me more pumped these days about the future of comics like imagecomics solicits. Check out all the greatness coming out from Image in June right here: https://imagecomics.com/content/view/image-comics-solicitations-for-june-2014
There might be some spoilers in there so read with caution, howevr I can’t help but put the solicit for Saga #20 here:
SAGA #20
story: BRIAN K. VAUGHAN
art / cover: FIONA STAPLES
JUNE 25 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $2.99
Something terrible happens.
heh. can’t wait!
Zero #004 comes out Wednesday 12/18/2013. Drawn by Morgan Jeske.
Have you been reading Zero?? It’s become one of the most interesting titles this year. Each issue is almost like a stand alone book, but all of them have an overarching storyline. This scene from #2 effectively turned me into a puddle of mush.
Don’t even get me started on #3.
(via imagecomics)
