10 Comics Read at Least Twice in 2019

Though many new exciting comic titles dropped in 2019, this year appeared to be one where the past, specifically the 1980s, intersected clearly with present day concerns and modes of inquiry. There appears to be something rather cyclic in the air. Much revisitation occurred. From Animal Man to Basquiat: A Graphic Novel to Tomb of Dracula to Watchmen, there was a sense that ongoing issues related to political criticism, global annihilation, racial tension, religious power structures, and our fascination with classic horror characters remain today to be interesting topics for comics creators and those who read the books. In assembling this year’s list, once again, I stand by the stance that these are publications that enticed or required a minimum of a 2nd reading. This is not a top 10 list for the year, some of these books were initially published prior to 2019. This was a year where I’ve been baffled, contemplated, cringed, laughed out loud, and enjoyed the art and narratives on various levels. I trust you will too.

Animal Man by Jeff Lemire Omnibus
Author: Jeff Lemire
Artists: Trevor Foreman, Rafael Albuquerque, and Timothy Greeen II
Publisher: DC Comics
2019 (originally published 2011)
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Animal-Man-Jeff-Lemire-Omnibus/dp/140128941X

Grant Morrison introduced me to Animal Man in the late 1980s, but Jeff Lemire’s yarn tends to be the one that holds the most resonance. Originally released in 2011 along side the massive DC Comics relaunch of the New 52, this year the publisher compiled these materials into an omnibus with loads of extras. There’s more than 80 pages of behind the scene materials and a thoughtfully crafted introduction by Lemire. This is long overdue. Buddy Baker is a family man and activist. He has a daughter, Maxine, who has similar, though frequently disturbing, animal powers. The coupling of horror elements on par with Swamp Thing with a complex view of a modern American family resonates clearly. Plus the artistic team of Trevor Foreman, Rafael Albuquerque, and Timothy Greeen II make this a book that will be revisited again in the new year.

Basquiat: A Graphic Novel
Artist & Writer: Paolo Parisi
Publisher: Laurence King Publishing
2019
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Basquiat-Illustrated-Biography-Paolo-Parisi/dp/1786274159/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Paolo+Parisi%2C+Basquiat%3A+A+Graphic+Novel%2C&qid=1576603988&s=books&sr=1-1

Basquiat is that troubled soul enigma that art students of the 1980s to today often gravitate to due to the rawness and visceral connection found in his graffiti meets naïve art imagery. His turbulent impulsiveness and those who surrounded him is often what holds the most fascination. Parisi illustrates Basquiat’s life from his days as the street artist SAMO© through his rise in the New York art scene to his early death due to a drug addiction and eventual overdose. Short chapters are organised in a manner where stories by the artist, his father, Suzanne Mallouk, Larry Gagosian and news clippings give insight into the excessive nature of celebrity and the harm that eventually unfolds. There’s a sadness in this tale that becomes a romantic homage due to the cinematic approach of this graphic novel. If you find this book of interest, it’s recommended checking out Parisi’s books on John Coltrane and Billie Holiday.

Batman: Last Knight on Earth
Artist: Greg Capullo
Writer: Scott Snyder
Publisher: DC Comics
2019
Link: https://www.amazon.com/BATMAN-LAST-KNIGHT-EARTH-VAR/dp/B07S499K41/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Batman%3A+Last+Knight+on+Earth&qid=1576604232&s=books&sr=1-2

The creative team of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have produced some of the best Batman books over the past decade (The Court of Owls, Death of the Family, Zero Year, Endgame). In Batman: Last Knight on Earth they stay the course. Here, Batman wakes up in Arkham Asylum with no memory of his past. The Dark Knight’s level of sanity is frequently brought into question as Bruce Wayne attempts to piece together his past while understanding what created the present and future. There are similarities (desolated environment, shifting meta) to that found in previous books, yet with the adept expertise of Snyder and Capullo a new look at this seminal character is achieved. If you’ve found any interest in recent Batman titles, this is one to put on your reading list. It will draw you in and take you to another plane of existence in the DC landscape. A collection of this tale will drop in April of 2020.

Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom County Artist’s Edition
Artist and Writer: Berkeley Breathed
Publisher: IDW Publishing
2019 (originally published 1980 through 1989)
Link: https://www.idwpublishing.com/product/berkeley-breatheds-bloom-county-artists-edition/

I recall reading Berkley Breathed’s Bloom County in the Indy Star in the 1980s. This comic strip was my counter-balance to the Reagan era, being consistently broke, and living on the Southside in a neighbourhood known by the locals as Dogpatch. The frequently four-panelled musings examined political and cultural events by way of a the look at an offbeat small Middle America town. The characters were often kids who had adult personalities and used verbiage beyond their years. Plus, there where animals who could talk. All of this seemed rather appropriate, even normal, when considering the business of the day. IDW has collected some of the best strips in their original form into their well crafted artist’s edition format. One can see the works at 100% scale, understand Breathed’s creative process, and draw connection from past events not issues not dissimilar today.

Criminal
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Sean Phillips
Publisher: Image Comics
2019
Link: https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/criminal-1

I often wonder if Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips live in an alter mid-20th century universe and transport their books to the present via some strange time travel device. Since 2006 this duo has created some of the most provocative and surprising crime noir mysteries in comics history. Teeg Lawless’s son Ricky has made another bad choice. He’s ripped off the wrong guys. The initial thought is that this story is cliché, but with Brubaker there are twists a plenty. The setting is gritty. The art by Phillips compliments through its’ directness in voice. And, you know you will not fully understand the unseen motivations and results until reaching the last page. The best part in reading Brubaker is found in a 2nd pass. He’s a master at inserting subtle clues while leading you to astray with a red herring or two. If you find hard-boiled pulp reads suiting your taste, you should revisit the Criminal series. It will be well worth time spent.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Tempest
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Kevin O’Neill
Publishers: Top Shelf Productions and IDW Publishing
2018-19
Link: http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog/league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen-the-vol-iv-the-tempest-1-of-6/982

When it was announced that Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill were producing their final comics series I felt a bit of dismay. Was this a ploy to sell more books? The two have been producing this epic for nearly 20 years. The 4th volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Tempest, appears to be (some) closure on two stellar careers. Though here there appears to be loose ends. There are familiar faces (Mina Murray, Orlando, Emma Night) and the recurring play with time and space. You are catapulted throughout millennia. To understand the recent iteration, I am now rereading all of the volumes to make sense of Moore’s cosmology. There’s a post-modern layering where one needs to look at the patterns of art, culture, history and a plethora of obscurities employed by the artist to understand the present and look toward the end of the world (once again). Perhaps, this is Moore and O’Neill’s conclusion? There is a sense that some doors have been left ajar. Only the two have the power to return, and this is what they have done in the past. Fingers crossed… for the future…

Little Bird
Writer: Darcy Van Poelgeest
Artist: Ian Bertam
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Publisher: Image Comics
2019
Link: https://imagecomics.com/features/little-birds-darcy-van-poelgeest-and-ian-bertram-craft-a-fever-dream-about-resistance-and-identity

This is a fairly disturbing tale filled with religious fanaticism, a violent civil war, mysticism, and an art style that reminds of Moebius and Geoff Darrow. Darcy Van Poelgeest (writer) and Ian Bertram (artist) have created a world where the Canadian Resistance is in coercive conflict with the theocratic United Nations of America. Little Bird is the daughter of a resistance leader. You are introduced to her tragic world through her eyes. There is unsettling body-horror and allusions to present day global issues. When I initially opened the book, I spent the first pass just looking at the art, page to page, it’s exquisite. The 2nd viewing was focused on the narrative, then a 3rd was a combination of the two. I rarely give titles this measure. This is usually assigned to those books I see as holding great potential. Though in early stages, there’s a percolating of potential. If this book stays true to the unconventional approach to storytelling while maintaining an accessibility, this could end up as one of the best books that could inform the next generation of creators.

Spider-Man: Ben Reilly Omnibus, volume 1
Various contributors
Publisher: Marvel Comics
2019 (originally published 1976-2016)
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Spider-Man-Ben-Reilly-Omnibus-Vol/dp/1302913859

Unlike many, I found the Spider-Man shift in primary character to Ben Reilly refreshing. This collection includes books dating back to 1976. The events enclosed follow-up the somewhat controversial Spider-Clone Saga. Ben Reilly is the Scarlet Spider. He’s figured out that he is not a clone of Peter Parker. There’s flurry of artists (Sal Buscema, Gil Kane, John Romita Jr., Tod Smith, etc.) and writers (Tom DeFalco, Dan Jurgens, George Perez, Roger Stern, etc.). This is omnibus is designed to be read in short spirts. Here is some of the best spider books of the 1990s with familiar foes like the Carnage, Kaine, Mysterio, Sandman, Tombstone, Venom and the new Dr. Octopus. There’s definitely something a bit over-the-top and rather juvenile in these stories. But, who doesn’t want to be 12 again (even for a brief moment) swinging from skyscraper to skyscraper with the omnipotent web-slinger?

Tomb of Dracula Artist’s Edition
Artist and Writer: Gene Colan
Publishers: Marvel Comics and IDW Publishing
2018 (originally published 1972-1979)
Link: https://www.idwpublishing.com/product/gene-colans-tomb-of-dracula-artists-edition/

Collected and published in 2018, I have read this book roughly a half dozen times since receiving. This past October, I introduced the book to a handful of students in a book design class at USF. Gene Colan’s Tomb of Dracula is one of those rare compilations that established my interest in classic horror characters and fiction. I did not read this 1970s series until my junior year of high school in the 1980s. I was in the midst of creating a D&D campaign centred on the world of Ravenloft. A friend, Scott Huff, gave me his books to read to add a bit more background and depth to this new adventure. As I recall the campaign was a bit meh, but I was hooked on Dracula and Gene Colan. Included here are 6 classic stories and delectable gallery section. IDW’s production values are 2nd-to-none. The translation of the original art on a solid matte stock allows the viewer to see the craftsmanship of one of comics masters. This is a book that will be returned to and shared frequently for years to come.

Watchmen
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Dave Gibbons
Publisher: DC Modern Classics Reprint
2019 (originally published in 1986)
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Watchmen-Modern-Classics-Alan-Moore/dp/140128471X

With the rising interest in reconsidering the Watchmen via the HBO series, there was much time spent in the pages of this 1986 graphic novel, the Before Watchmen books (2012), and a number of writings focused upon the content as cultural commentary, literature, and philosophical treatise. The TV series is polarising, yet without doubt one of the best television productions currently being produced. Like my originally reading the TV series introduced me to new histories and ways of looking. I have used Watchmen as part of a comics seminar for the better part of 20 years. The book remains a classic. New readers find the book consistently engaging. The materials are universal due to the complexity of the writing by Moore, and the clean line rendering by Gibbons. This is a book that all should read, reread, and discuss with peers. If you have not read this book, do so…also, give the HBO series a gander. You may find a bit of ground to better understand you presently live in, full of glaring flaws, with a sliver of hope…always.

Writing by Chester Alamo-Costello