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

[the4thpip]

Harley Queen ouy of top 100? And I thought it was a good book, and a critic favorite...

It's possible that the bathtub-suicide controversy turned some critics off for good.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

I really feel like I'm missing out on Lazarus. The first trade just didn't click with me for some reason. Too dark perhaps and I really couldn't connect with Forever in anyway. I'll give it a look at some point again, but the first go left me a bit cold. I definitely didn't hate it, I was just hoping for more based on the rave reviews. I'm sure it deserves to be where it is though. A lot of people seem to really dig it.

Lazarus is one of my favourite books but I will say this, if it was based purely on the first arc, I don't think it would be. I thought it was good from the start but it is a slow-burn kind of series - not just in the world-building but in the plotting and characterization as well. I totally understand where you're coming from as I felt similarly at first but the second arc is notably better than the first and the third has just been straight out excellent. Plus, Forever herself gets more and more sympathetic and likable with each passing issue - to the point that over on CBR's Image forum awards I rated her as my favourite character this year.

While there's certainly something to be said for comics grabbing you straight from the off, there's something uniquely rewarding about ones that grow on you more and more as they go on.

[Agent John Bishop]

That sounds reasonable. Prophet has become somewhat more insular as the mythology has turned from a colorful backdrop into a part of the plot, but that's a barrier that virtually every ongoing series has to cross sooner or later. And Prophet has managed the transition better than most things, with new weird scenarios to keep things off kilter while Brandom Graham maneuvers his characters together. But I wonder if the book's refusal to let its world come into focus hasn't been a mixed blessing --- it makes the book surprising and challenging, but by the same token it makes it a little fatiguing compared to the more straight-forward pleasure of Ms. Marvel's teenage empathy or Saga's twenty-something comedy of (bad) manners.

And that's not a knock on people who like those books (I like them). The way that Prophet's tangents and riffs blur the shape of the plot is a tricky problem for the creators, one that they have not entirely solved. But still....so good.

Great way of putting it. I suppose part of what irritates me about these lists is that the comics that make it to the top often have the feeling of "lowest common denominator" whereas the stuff that's really challenging can be ignored.

[VJ.]

Lazarus is one of my favourite books but I will say this, if it was based purely on the first arc, I don't think it would be. I thought it was good from the start but it is a slow-burn kind of series - not just in the world-building but in the plotting and characterization as well. I totally understand where you're coming from as I felt similarly at first but the second arc is notably better than the first and the third has just been straight out excellent. Plus, Forever herself gets more and more sympathetic and likable with each passing issue - to the point that over on CBR's Image forum awards I rated her as my favourite character this year.

While there's certainly something to be said for comics grabbing you straight from the off, there's something uniquely rewarding about ones that grow on you more and more as they go on.

Totally agree - it's a slow burn series, right from #1 you can see the epic scale of the story in the back matter (the fake adverts on the back covers are genius) and whilst not necessary for the story add to the world building. I'm certainly loving the series.

[Agent John Bishop]

Personally, the reason why I rate it so high when I review it and praise it isn't because of the social elements (I don't even really think about that part of the book), it's just because it's just an enjoyable, well-told story with a very wonderful and well-characterized main character. It feels like it has so much heart and soul in the book, unlike a lot of other books I read where I just don't see the passion put into it (even including the complex and challenging stories). It's a familiar story certainly, but if it does what it does so well, I really have no problem with rating it high and enjoying it so much.

And there is of course nothing wrong with that. I can't comment specifically because that was not my reaction to it, but that is of course, the reader's prerogative. My problem with the book was that I didn't see any of that passion. It read like a nice, inoffensive version of Spider-Man updated and made lighter. I do tend to prefer darker books, but again, that's a matter of taste.

[ImprobableQuestion]

Personally, the reason why I rate it so high when I review it and praise it isn't because of the social elements (I don't even really think about that part of the book), it's just because it's just an enjoyable, well-told story with a very wonderful and well-characterized main character. It feels like it has so much heart and soul in the book, unlike a lot of other books I read where I just don't see the passion put into it (even including the complex and challenging stories). It's a familiar story certainly, but if it does what it does so well, I really have no problem with rating it high and enjoying it so much.

To be honest, Kamala's race/religion isn't a HUGE part of the plot. Aside from occasional scenes in her mosque and her mother's devoutness, the only major additions it has made are the vision when she first got her powers and the very subtle snag it puts on Bruno's crush on Kamala. I like the book for its sight gags and expressiveness, not for any diversity reasons.

[Myetche]

some, like myself, wonder how Ms. Marvel is the best comic of the year in a year chock full of complex and challenging stories.

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.

[Billy Batson]

When someone mentions complex and challenging stories they don't mean Marvel's superhero fare.

[Fused]

Personally, the reason why I rate it so high when I review it and praise it isn't because of the social elements (I don't even really think about that part of the book), it's just because it's just an enjoyable, well-told story with a very wonderful and well-characterized main character. It feels like it has so much heart and soul in the book, unlike a lot of other books I read where I just don't see the passion put into it (even including the complex and challenging stories). It's a familiar story certainly, but if it does what it does so well, I really have no problem with rating it high and enjoying it so much.

It's hard to not think about that part of the book when it's being written so blatantly obvious. When dealing with social commentary, the piece should handle the material with subtlety. There simply nothing subtle about any of the themes yet the title continues to get accolades for what it does, not for what it is.

[Myetche]

It's hard to not think about that part of the book when it's being written so blatantly obvious. When dealing with social commentary, the piece should handle the material with subtlety. There simply nothing subtle about any of the themes yet the title continues to get accolades for what it does, not for what it is.

The Muslim themes rarely even come up past the first two-to-three issues, as the book prefers to focus more on Kamala being a superhero fangirl.

[VJ.]

Personally, the reason why I rate it so high when I review it and praise it isn't because of the social elements (I don't even really think about that part of the book), it's just because it's just an enjoyable, well-told story with a very wonderful and well-characterized main character. It feels like it has so much heart and soul in the book, unlike a lot of other books I read where I just don't see the passion put into it (even including the complex and challenging stories). It's a familiar story certainly, but if it does what it does so well, I really have no problem with rating it high and enjoying it so much.

Quoted for Truth. Kamala as a character just resonates with me in ways other characters usually don't; despite the fact that I'm a 30-something male. However, it's less that I'm also a 2nd gen. immigrant with brown skin* (though I suspect that adds another layer to the comic for me) but far more because of her geekish\fangirl behaviour. It feels like she's basically a female me transplanted 15+ years into the future; the type of person I can imagine being in my friends circle back at school. I've never really got that vibe from a comic character before - other comics try "realism" and get grimdark fantasy. This comic has gone for "fantastical whimsy" and has ended up with a far more realistic & down to earth feel to it. That's the real reason it's topped the list IMO.

*albeit to the UK & of Indian heritage.

[Kusanagi]

The Muslim themes rarely even come up past the first two-to-three issues, as the book prefers to focus more on Kamala being a superhero fangirl.

I'll back this up, I came in mid series, there's a much higher focus on the cockatiel clone of Thomas Edison than any heavy Muslim themes. It's just what she happens to be rather than the focus.

[Agent John Bishop]

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.

Well ok, but why are we limiting the conversation to Marvel? When I say complex and challenging stories I tend to mean things like Image's great line-up of books or ones from other publishers. That's exactly my problem with Ms. Marvel. It seems content to be a good superhero book and nothing more. As you say yourself, nothing novel or imaginative, just enjoyable. I think that's fine, but I also think that limits it from being the best comic of the year.

[Nick Miller]

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.

For ex. Snyder's writing on Batman is fine, nothing great. And its very devisive among some Batfans. But the art makes the book one of DC's best because it IS great art.

The art on Saga is also good, not great. Too many pages, there is nothing but the characters drawn.

[electr1cgoblin]

Well ok, but why are we limiting the conversation to Marvel? When I say complex and challenging stories I tend to mean things like Image's great line-up of books or ones from other publishers. That's exactly my problem with Ms. Marvel. It seems content to be a good superhero book and nothing more. As you say yourself, nothing novel or imaginative, just enjoyable. I think that's fine, but I also think that limits it from being the best comic of the year.

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?