CBR's Top 100 Comics of 2014: #10-1

[Zartan's Brother]

A lot of books that I like or that I already wanted to read made the top 100, which is well and good. I also found a few that I'm adding to my "must-read" list for when I try out new titles. Two books in particular feel like they got snubbed to me:

Swamp Thing features fantastic writing, and some of the best art on the shelves.
Lemire's Green Arrow is too good not to make this list. I've never enjoyed Green Arrow before that run, but I want the whole thing in hardback.

If I had to dump any from the list to make room for these two, I'd say Bitch Planet and Gotham Academy ought to be cut. The former is getting a lot of buzz, but it's just a good first issue, not a mind blowing one. Gotham Academy is cute, but a little too trite for my personal taste.

[Agent John Bishop]

I don't read the book, but it occurs to me that maybe it simply does what it sets out to do better than others? i.e. it may not be very complex or original, but maybe being a "good superhero" book is it's goal and it achieves that goal more precisely than other, more ambitious books, achieve theirs? Roger Ebert (I think) said something like he judges a movie based on what it is trying to be rather than what we want it to be. Perhaps folks are applying the same logic here?

I think that's part of it and is a valid way of looking at books. It's the old question of whether you'd prefer an ambitious failure or a small success. That said, I think that with the increased quality in comics of late, there's no reason to settle for a simple book just because it succeeds in its goals. I don't ask for a moment that every book (or every superhero book) needs to be complex or original, but I would be surprised if a solid book is lauded as a great one.

Honestly, it's probably not a point I should be belaboring. People have very different taste and there's no reason to expect anyone else's to line up with mine. I love comics and after a long break, I got back into them a couple of years ago. I just find it frustrating on occassion that most public discussion of comics seems to center around a narrow few comics that are not indicative of all that comics can do (I think I have seen more articles about Saga, Ms. Marvel, and Sex Criminals over the last year than all other comics combined...especially on non comic-specific sites). I would be curious to hear your read on this (I have been reading your comments for a while and you always seem well thought out and reasonable).

[VJ.]

So is the Alphona art great? Funny how everyone just talks about the writer.

comcis are great because of the art. YMMV. I myself dont think its 50/50.

Adrian Alphona's art is nothing short of brilliant - the comics are choc full of sight gags that according to G. Willow Wilson are mostly his ideas. For example look carefully and you'll see that Kamala's favoirte cerial appears to be called "GMOs" or that the map of North america on the wall in her classroom has Canada labeled as "Snow Mexico" or the newspaper cutting by her computer - "High School Cannibalism Experiment Proves Disastrous" and so on (take a read of the magazines in the Circle Q). The fill in Artist did two Wolverine issues taking place in the sewers and I really missed the sight gags, though his style was actually probably better suited to those more action oriented issues than Alphona (Wilson said she knew he was good at drawing maze like environments so had it all take place in the sewers - the art worked - the change wasn't jarring)

I think that's part of it and is a valid way of looking at books. It's the old question of whether you'd prefer an ambitious failure or a small success. That said, I think that with the increased quality in comics of late, there's no reason to settle for a simple book just because it succeeds in its goals. I don't ask for a moment that every book (or every superhero book) needs to be complex or original, but I would be surprised if a solid book is lauded as a great one.

Marvel allegedly didn't expect the book to last more than seven issues - I think we can say it exceeded it's targets by a longshot. It's become a critical & commercial success, helped them bring a new demographic to the company. If it hadn't taken off do you think Marvel would have taken the risk on Black Captain America or Female Thor? I mean of course they were planned before, but do you think that the media charm offensive that they embarked on, despite the backlash by some "hardcore fans" would have happened? No, they would have kept it so low key, no #1 relaunches etc. for those titles and there would be far less grumbling about "Marvel is being really PC". How about the slew of other female led titles coming out or about to start now?

[John Ossie]

For me it took a few issues to take to Alphona's art but it's warmed on me and I do like the art.

[the4thpip]

The art on Ms Marvel is awesome. For me, it's like Will Eisner crossed with Sergio Aragones.

[ImprobableQuestion]

The sight gags are the main thing, but actually the art really does suit Kamala's oddball personality. Of special note is the scene where Kamala fishes a bullet out of her pants and then triumphantly holds it up as though she had found the boss key in a Zelda game.

[Kusanagi]

The art on Ms Marvel is awesome. For me, it's like Will Eisner crossed with Sergio Aragones.

Part of the fun is reading the issue, and then reading it again to find all the sight gags.

[Zartan's Brother]

After reading the first three issues of Ms. Marvel, I'd read about Kamala even if she had no powers. She's just fun to read, and I like the little world that the creative team has built for her between her family, friends, and classmates. Same goes for Robbie Reyes. I really like what Marvel has done with these two new superheroes.

[ImprobableQuestion]

I don't even know if I read 10 series this year. Certainly not ongoing. But for my top 10:

1. TIE - Ms. Marvel/Transformers: More than Meets the Eye (specifically "Dawn of the Autobots," #28-34ish, because ain't nobody got time for "Dark Cybertron." ): Of the comics I pull, Ms. Marvel and MtMtE continue to do the most with the number of pages they have. Every issue is jam packed but expertly paced. Special mention goes to the fact that MtMtE features around half a dozen characters at any given time. I just spoke of the art in MM, all I need to say about TF is look up a screenshot and appreciate the colorist.
3. Aquaman: Unlike most, I didn't perceive any drop in quality during Parker's first arc, and this second one is awesome anyway. Witness Mera drink a beer around a bon fire with Arthur's high school buddies. This book is a lot faster paced but each issue leaves you hungry for the next. Paul Pelletier continues to do great work on art, nearing his first year on the book.
4.Loki: Agent of Asgard: This book is hilarious. And dramatic. And manages to tie into AXIS really well. You should buy it, basically. Although my favorite Loki moment of 2014 was his rant about infanticide in Original Sin #5.4 (or maybe 5.3).
5. Inhuman: Charles Soule is a saint. He excells at taking obscure/unpopular concepts (of which the Inhumans are a little of each right now) and making them gold. His voice for Medusa and Maximus, among others, is great, and the art has been consistently solid, even if the names change.
6. Swamp Thing: it's not higher because I don't read it consistently. But soon I will be tracking down trades because this is always a treat to read. And there's the Jesus Saiz art.
7. Green Arrow - "Outsiders War:" Exciting art and layouts plus a really interesting concept.
8.Batman - "Savage City:" Gets special mention for being a Riddler story, even though Dark City has my favorite image of Batman from Zero Year (and that's counting the Batman TAS homage in #21)
9.Wonder Woman: for the art, and the scope of the story. Alsonthe puns. Bite me.
10.Batgirl: The new art team's first two issues are a slam dunk for me. There's something and a Connerish about the style. It's also a very dense book like my #1 picks.

[Triniking1234]

Saga came second last year too. I wonder what Hawkeye had and what Ms. Marvel has that kept the number one spot out of its hands.

Moon Knight came 4th?

Nice to Lumberjanes make it.

EDIT: Oh Saga was 1st in 2012. nvm.

[RLAAMJR.]

I'm happy with the top two spots but I think they missed Harley Quinn who should take the top spot ( imo ) or in the top three. Harley Quinn, Ms Marvel and Saga are the best for 2014.

[Cryptid]

Because I, for one, dislike how Marvel's "complex and challenging stories" often translates to "seeing idiot superheroes beat themselves and each other up for no good reason in the latest 'world-changing' event". I just want one book with a character who is actually happy to say that s/he's a superhero and wants to simply do the right thing without needing some kind of tragedy to define them. Nothing novel or imaginative, just enjoyable. Apparently, that seems to be what others want as well.

That's not how I would put it. I share your disdain for the self-serious tone of the big comic-book events, where there are ultimate stakes but generally no personal motives beyond a few dutiful (and dispensable) squibs of dialogue. But the problem with those stories is their disingenuousness, the promise to change everything without any real creative risk from page to page.

What separates Ms. Marvel from something like Axis is not the difference between simplicity and complexity. The storytelling in Ms. Marvel is more sophisticated than average, with all sorts of visual gags where her shape-shifting accentuates the page flow or smudges the difference between "big" and "close." And the small central cast means that the grace notes in the dialogue accumulate into depth instead of fulfilling some imaginary character quota as we flit between twenty protagonists. The feeling of immediacy that the book conveys is the best proof of the attention-to-detail in its execution. Books that feel effortless for readers are rarely effortless for their creators.

Meanwhile, the portent and scale in something like Hickman's New Avengers mostly works for me, in part because he has a knack for scenery-chewing dialogue and splashy high concepts. But Infinity spun out of control. And I've enjoyed a lot of Rick Remender's science-fiction, but his superhero stories (other than Dark Angel and Dimension Z) have mostly left me cold, less for darkness than for pushiness.

[Aster]

"Annihilator" ( Morrison ). Not even in the top 100?