#yeah yeah disappointingly mostly modern stuff i know but im working on it

[slaapkat]

PRESENTING, THE THIRD ANNUAL COMIX OF THE YEAR!

This year, in my opinion, was a HUGE year for comics! As evidenced by most of my list being composed of modern-day stuff, BUT I did manage to read some new things here and there in spite of that! If nothing else, I’ve expanded my physical library IMMENSELY over the past year as nothing brings me more joy than collecting anything I may have read in the past. 

This year was a GREAT year for some incredible writing by some amazing authors. Dark Crisis has been one of the best events I’ve ever gotten to witness unfold, and makes me so much more excited for everything we have in store next year. Namely: the return of the JSA! Many of my choices in this years list will reflect that, as a result. Organized more or less in order, here is my top ten list of comics that have stuck with me the most throughout this year!

1. The New Golden Age (2022) #1

-NOW THIS IS CINEMA! I’ve been waiting for this since the moment I first declared myself a fan of the JSA. They’re coming back! Finally! and every part of it just feels so genuine and real! This on top of the new upcoming Justice Society of America title, as well as every interview Geoff Johns has given in the past few months has really started to let me believe he’s GOOD again. Not to mention him stating right out that Alan Scott is the main character of his world. What could be better than that! As apprehensive as I was at first with this sudden plethora of OCs, I’ve swung right back around to loving the entire concept immensely, from mystery surrounding this new Red Lantern to the excitement of Stargirl: The Lost Children. Plus! Jared being included and acknowledged among the fates! the ENTIRE future JSA being built on second chances! KYLE KNIGHT! RUBY SOKOV! absolutely chomping at the bit to see where this goes and I trust Geoff every bit of the way.

2. Flashpoint Beyond (2022)

-what originally started as a “haha look how crazy tommy is” quickly developed into a realization of “holy shit this is fantastic actually”. A beautifully tragic story about a man fighting for his life against the narrative with almost suicidal determination until he ultimately comes to reaccept his place in the world after losing his son twice over. A surprisingly well-written continuation of Tom King’s arc on Geoff Johns’ part, that packages everything from Flashpoint, Batman (2016) and Justice League Incarnate (2021) into a neat little bow that ultimately makes for an extremely satisfying character arc. With Thomas and the Flashpoint universe confirmed alive, I’m hoping we get to see more of him soon, especially reunited with his pals in the JLI.

3. Justice League Incarnate (2021)

-Also a VERY surprising fav. A team of characters that you wouldn’t ever expect to work together and yet, THEY DO! Now, I usually hate the Justice League and any JL offshoots as a rule, but these guys were FUN and the concept of a multiverse-hopping rag-tag team of heroes was immensely entertaining. There was a chemistry between everyone involved that made it all feel more real than any other JL team. With the infinite earths now once again made canon by Dark Crisis, I have my fingers crossed for their return (along with flashpoint batman!), whether it be an ongoing or even just a mini. 

4. Watchmen (1986)

-Okay, I will admit, Watchmen was one of those books that always sounded WAY overhyped, and up until this year I gave it a wide berth as a result and kept dragging my feet about reading it generally. I loved the movie, I loved Tom King’s Rorschach, but I just couldn’t make myself take that first step and actually READ it until I found the tpb for sale at a con and figured. might as well. and now I can say: yes, it is worth the hype. a fantastic gritty deconstruction of the superhero genre with solid writing throughout. thankful to have read it in the end as well, given its connection to Rorschach, as well as Doomsday Clock, Flashpoint Beyond, and arguably Geoff John’s vision for his little corner of DC moving forward. Reading the source material also lead me to appreciate the movie SO much more. Literally what is with all the hate surrounding Zack Snyder when he’s the only one in the world to ever produce a perfect comic book adaptation. be real. 

5. Doomsday Clock (2017)

-Another series I frequently passed over due to it being largely panned in most fandom spaces and being willing to believe it due to not being a fan of Geoff John’s writing until recently. Boy was I wrong! And boy am I glad I did read it, as from here alone its obvious Geoff Johns has been working at SOMETHING for years now, playing the long con between this and his Stargirl TV show to get his dream JSA book off the ground. Doomsday Clock plays with many of the same themes in Watchmen, albeit a bit more loosely, and more importantly provided what I found to be a fascinating examination on the cultural importance and staying power of comic book superheroes itself, particularly with the sequence showcase the example of superman’s floating timelime. Of course, you can’t forget Geoff Johns explicitly stating canonically in-text that Alan Scott is the most important one of them all, to the point if he didn’t exist then neither would the JSA or the whole world of superheroes at all <3

6. Enemy Ace: War Idyll (1990)

-This entry, admittedly, is borderline, HOWEVER: my defense is that I didn’t read it until after I made last year’s list, and I didn’t get into Enemy Ace as a whole until this year as it was, so it counts! War Idyll is a beautifully illustrated, beautifully written story that encapsulates everything that was tragic yet morbidly beautiful about WWI. George Pratt is one of those rare men who can write as well as he paints. While the Vietnam flashbacks still fail to interest quite as much, I can still see the obvious parallels drawn between the two wars. I always end up sobbing towards the end no matter how many times I read it. 

7. Rogues (2022)

-This one surprised me more than anything else. I tend not to enjoy anything Flash related, and as much as his rogues gallery is admittedly far more entertaining on their own, the association with the Flash (any of them) is usually enough to make me ignore them. However, the concept of this story was simply too good to ignore. Joshua Williamson perfectly captures that look and aesthetic of a washed-up former great, and you can’t help but feel sorry for the Rogues and even actively start to root for them..... until it all begins steadily unraveling, bit by bit. I didn’t realize how emotionally invested I’d actually become until I got to a splash page at the end of the last book and suddenly I couldn’t stop crying! An absolute gut punch of a series, 10/10.

8. Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985)

-Right after the news broke that George Perez’s health had taken a turn for the worse and that he didn’t have too much longer to live, I found a paperback copy at a local used books store and figured it was as good a sign as any to finally read one of the most famous and widely known events in DC history. While in my opinion George and Marv do struggle with juggling such a large ensemble cast and the story subsequently suffer in parts for it, as a whole the book holds up exceedingly well decades later, including Supergirl’s emotional sacrifice. As much as it held up well enough on its own, I also appreciated the additional context reading the original gave me as Dark Crisis unfolded over the course of the year. Not to mention, the addition and appreciate of a new fav (Pariah).

9. DC vs. Vampires (2021) #1-6

-Specfically the first half of the series because I genuinely, genuinely believe these first 6 issues are best of any apocalyptic au story ever written. The sheer DRAMA of everything that happens, Hal lying out his ass at every single opportunity, being to most mustache-twirling evil maniac he can be. Parallax......2! Whatever happens after largely doesn’t exist to me and as of writing this the scans to #12 have yet to drop so I’m reserving my full judgement of the series until then. Ollie’s whole one-on-one with Hal in #6 still guts me as much as Dick suddenly revealing he’s actually the vampire king and then immediately killing the entire batfam makes me laugh (as well as the ensuing freakout on the batfam side of tumblr to the point several others had to make posts assuring them none of this was canon or real lmaooooo). 

10. Deathstroke (1991)

-Also a surprise, motivated by some covers I saw at a convention that showed Slade with such feminine allure I simply had to investigate. While it does start falling off towards the end, overall I found this series to be a fun exploration of Slade’s character. By and large, it was a fun book generally. Slade is the main character of the world, just living his life as he sees fit. He can’t stop sleeping with women. He’s divorced. He ignores his kids. He will win or kill himself trying. He might be in love with Wintergreen. Who knows. I enjoyed reading this and as a result keep finding it hilarious that people keep complaining about Slade losing his enhanced abilities in Dark Crisis when that’s not even the first time it’s happened lmao. Wish all his other solos were even as remotely readable and enjoyable as this one.  

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

The Justice Society of America (2022)

Enemy Ace/Hans von Hammer as he appears in Star-Spangled War Stories (1952), Men of War (1977), Unknown Soldier (1977), and Our Army at War (1952).

Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths (2022)

Dark Crisis: The Deadly Green (2022)

Catwoman: Lonely City (2021)

The Human Target (2021)

Sword of Azrael (2022)