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Top Tenosity 2004 pt 2: Comics!

In conjunction with What's Andy Cooking, I'd like to present the best comics I read in 2004 (though not necessarily comics released in 2004). I imagine this will be interesting to about three other people, but for the rest of you readers, I'd like to think that our lists and our recent spouting off about comics in general will make you think twice about the medium. There's more to it than people and things being blown up, although that happens quite regularly. Comics are part of the mindset of our generation; judging by their incredible popularity not just with kids but also with adults (in fact, in the two shops I've patronized regularly, I'd say adults outnumbered children about 15 to 1), there's something here that is very important to a great number of people.

PS Yes, I suppose Top Ten lists should have ten entries. In theory this list should be rounded out by two comics: Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men. But ultimately (pun totally intended) I found these two comics disappointing this year. While a number of good issues came out for each, I feel that neither had even one storyline strong enough to merit list-placement. It seemed that both titles simply went on autopilot this year, with X-Men introducing too many new characters at once, and with Spider-Man succumbing to high-school plots and politics. So there you have it: Top Eightosity.

THE BEST COMICS I READ IN 2004

8< Daredevil, written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Alex Maleev. This has been Marvel’s only consistently excellent series of the past few years. And somehow it only gets better: Daredevil’s identity as lawyer Matt Murdock has been outed, and he’s been faced with a relentless barrage of enemies seeking to take advantage of this. He’s snapped and had a nervous breakdown and declared himself the Kingpin of Hell’s Kitchen in NYC (nearly killing the old Kingpin), his home turf, determined to clean up his neighborhood. Now he’s an even greater target. He’s not giving up, and neither are his enemies; and thus the great cycle of violence, power, and redemption, given to us with a gritty eloquence by Mr. Bendis, continues. Bendis' gift is his ability to make the strongest most powerful people seem utterly human, utterly normal. Daredevil is the great example of this. There are no golden rules in this comic; people act like people. They're evil and vengeful, pissed off and scared, and, at times, happy. While Bendis seems to have slacked on some of his other duties (the above-mentioned Spider-Man), Daredevil continues to be the bright red, naked, beating heart of Marvel.

7< Ex-Machina, written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Tony Harris. This is certainly one of the most unique stories I’ve ever read. Mitch Hundred is an ex-superhero once known as the Great Machine—his power is the ability to communicate with electronic devices. As his last great feat, he saves one of the World Trade Center towers from being destroyed. The occasional images of the one tower standing over the NYC skyline are haunting. Now, Hundred is the mayor of New York, and he has a whole new set of problems to deal with. Vaughan blends superheroics and politics together in a way previously unimaginable. It’s a strange comic and it takes some getting used to, but so far it’s been incredibly rewarding. I keep looking forward to every issue.

6< Ultimate Fantastic Four, written by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, and Warren Ellis; art by Adam Kubert and Stuart von Immonen. The powehouse trifecta of Bendis, Millar and Kubert took the first crack at this new comic, which reinvents the Fantastic Four in a modern setting. And while their six-issue run was incredibly badass, telling the tale of how the Four get their powers and how they beat their first real enemy, Moleman—the team of Ellis and von Immonen completely outshone them. Ellis’ six-issue arc was a slow burner, like all of his stories. In it he tells of the first meeting of The Fantastic Four and their great nemesis, Doctor Doom. The brilliance of Ellis here is in his ability to stretch suspense almost indefinitely, and to know exactly when to release the tension. And in the story appearing on stands now, Ellis is accompanied by Kubert’s art, a team whose awesomeness is sure to be unmatched.

5< Marvel Knights’ Spider-Man, written by Mark Millar, art by Terry and Rachel Dodson. Simply put, Spider-Man gets his ass beat in this comic, repeatedly and thoroughly, physically and mentally. But he keeps coming back for more, and he keeps WINNING! Spider-Man’s always been the champion of the underdog, but no writer has taken it to this extreme before. And after 8 harsh, violent, sad, and strangely uplifting issues, Millar shows no sign of letting up on Peter Parker just yet.

4< Hellboy, writing and art by Mike Mignola. This is really Andy’s comic, but I’ll say a few things because I love it greatly as well. Hellboy the character is a lot like Indiana Jones. He’s an investigator, working for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense; he encounters things that are both of and out of this world; he really hates Nazis; he deals heavily with religion, mysticism, and mythology. The main difference I guess is that Hellboy is a huge red spawn of Satan with broken horns and a tail and a Right Hand of Doom, and Indiana Jones is Harrison Ford. And while Indiana retains a healthy skepticism toward his subjects until confronted directly with them, Hellboy believes in the strangeness of the world outright; he’s a living example of it.

3< Astonishing X-Men, written by Joss Whedon, art by John Cassaday. A good X-Men story has been a long time coming. The whole plethora of X-Men-related titles had become mired, as it often is, in its own convoluted universe. And so, as Marvel often does, they cleaned house. Usually this involves slashing the number of X-spinoff titles; inexplicably, however, this last time around, MORE titles were added. Luckily out of all this mediocrity we had Astonishing X-Men. Written by the creator of the Buffy TV series and drawn by the artist of Planetary, a comic you’ll meet in a minute, this comic breathed some fresh, hearty life into a dying legacy. The first story arc of this series featured not only an amazing and powerful plot—scientists find a possible cure for genetic mutation, which is what makes the X-Men (and millions of others) who they are—but also the return of a character thought long dead; one of my all-time favorites, Colossus. Now, this may not mean much to you, but his startling reappearance was so well written and well drawn, with such love and subtlety, it’s now easily one of my favorite moments in comicbook history.

2< Y: The Last Man, written by Brian K Vaughan, art by Pia Guerra. In which Yorick and his monkey Ampersand, the last two males alive on Earth after a strange plague hits, travel across the country to find out why he is the last man alive. There’s a lot of crazy, weird, strange stuff going on in Y. We’ve got rings and amulets, women with names like Hero and 355, neo-Amazons, ninjas, Russians, Arizona militias, escaped convicts, S & M queens giving suicide interventions, magic, science (what’s to save humanity from dying off?), mysticism, and plenty of horniness. This story is unique in that it has both short story arcs and a longer overarching story—as you read, you can feel yourself getting closer to the end of the comic’s run. (As opposed to X-Men, for example, which could continue infinitely if Marvel so desired.) So ninjas and Russians and grammatical monkeys all have their own bizarre stories, but they’re all connected in this huge world with only one man in it, pulling him in all directions while he tries to move forward in his own way.

Vaughan’s writing has a number of strengths. In fact, it’s all strengths. His dialogue is always perfect for the situation—whip-smart and witty, awkward and confused, mysterious, suspenseful. Always suspenseful. His greatest asset as a writer lies in his ability to craft anything into a suspenseful situation or important plot twist, a skill essential in keeping the reader until the next issue. I’ve yet to read an issue of this comic that didn’t make me want to read the next one right away. So we careen towards the ending—the comic is clearly at the tail end of its run as I write—both wanting it and not wanting it to end. Above all, this is a very human comicbook. People are messed up here. Some are hopelessly optimistic, some hopelessly pessimistic. They’re chaotic. They seek new causes to stand behind in a world fundamentally changed. They do and say things they never would have done or said before. It’s a fascinating story, and for the anti-superhero types who want to/should read some comics, this is the perfect comic place to start.

1< Planetary, written by Warren Ellis, art by John Cassaday. The story of Planetary is one of the best comics I’ve ever read, if not, dare I say, the best. As a kid reading comics, the action of X-Men and Wolverine was enough to sate my appetite. As far as nostalgia goes, they’ll still be my number one comics. But as an older reader, Planetary’s mystery, drama, poetry, structure, and occasional asskickings combine in a way that’s constantly intriguing and truly original. It’s just a brilliant book.

The basic premise of Planetary can be summed up in a line that ends both issues #18 and #21: “It’s a strange world.” The job of the three heroes of the Planetary Foundation is to figure out this strange world; its history, its future, our places in it. Ellis' storytelling is subtle and mysterious. As readers we see more and more with each issue the hidden architecture and structure of Ellis' story; we know/hope that some future issue will bring it together for us. The heroes of Planetary must feel the same way as they investigate the mysteries of Earth. This is the exact same thing poets search for--the hidden world.

Fiction and fact weave together seamlessly into a sort of magic realism where something as astounding as a glimpse into parallel dimensions is unimaginable yet not unexpected. Like Ellis' writing, Cassaday's artwork is both realistic and ornately psychedelic. The two form a seamless bond that is a towering example and symbol of the power of the comic medium, a medium unlike any other.

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Pow! Now stop bugging me, Morrison! Coming soon: pictures of my life here in Minneapolis, a poem about hangovers and another about Chicago, and many more posts that will not include numbering systems. So prepare: POEMOSITY 2005: X-TREME POEMOSITY! begins soon! Now with more exclamation points!

Posted by jack at January 11, 2005 5:31 PM