Some of My Favorite Comics of the Year--2024 in Review

A Great Year for Comics

In 2024 I read an assortment of comic-books and graphic novels. As always, some were better than others. A handful stuck out in my mind as being especially fantastic. I wanted to spotlight those here as we look back at the year. In no particular order...

"Sunday," by Olivier Schrauwen

In my review of, "Sunday," I discuss how this thick book features a lot of nothing happening while so much also occurs. I know that sounds a bit strange, but, "Sunday," is a book you need to read if you enjoy quirky little yarns and fantastic artwork. Another masterpiece of a book by Schrauwen.

"Ultimate Spider-Man," by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto

Everyone and their mother has been raving about this comic, myself included. It features a grown-up Peter Parker who is married to Mary Jane and has some kids discovering whilst an adult how he was meant to become a hero when younger--and then doing so! The Ultimate Universe books have been pretty great but this Spidey-centric one is something special.

"The Power Fantasy," by Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard

The first issue of, "The Power Fantasy," presents an alternative World where a handful of people contain the power of hundreds of Nuclear bombs--they can never come into conflict or we'll all die. That doesn't mean the series has lacked fascinating action or intrigue, however. Gillen and Wijingaard are creating a stupendous ongoing series and I can't wait to see where it goes.

"Plastic Man No More!" by by Christopher Cantwell, Alex Lins, and additional art by Jacob Edgar

This four-issue mini-series just wrapped and expertly mixed body horror and humor into a wild blend. I loved the first issue and it stayed strong the whole way through. As a DC Black Label book, it did not have to hold back on any gruesome visuals either. A thoughtful treatise on life and death with some wild artwork, I loved this book.

"Plastic Man No More!" #1 Mixes Humor and Horror to Stellar Results

Back in June, I wrote about being excited about a newly announced Black Label mini-series titled, "Plastic Man No More!" Having read the first issue, it was as delightfully twisted as I hoped it would be. Plastic Man is often treated as a joker by the Justice League, to the point that once he is hit by a mysterious death ray and seems to be breaking apart it still seems of little worry to his fellow heroes. Writer Christopher Cantwell excels at balancing the seeming humor of our hero with some very dreary and gruesome scenes of his body quite literally falling apart. Alex Lins and Jacob Edgar both supply art, for the, "Happy," and, "Serious," moments, creating a great (intentional) tonal clash.

The first issue of "Plastic Man No More," is fantastic. It has jokes, it has pathos, and all the art is superb. This has the makings to become quite the wild little mini-series as it continues. I especially am curious about one little excerpt hinting at the body-part-goo Plastic Man is losing seeming to have its own volition--quite creepy. If you're into weirder-styled superhero comics, definitely check out this comic!

5 out of 5 Stars.

DC to Publish a Mature Readers Plastic Man Story With Ample Body Horror? Yes, Please!

"Plastic Man No More!" is a new DC mini-series that will be a part of their Black Label (kind of like a new Vertigo). It, "...mixes hard-boiled noir with intense body horror," as over four issues Plastic Man finds himself, "Dying," in the sense his plastic form begins degrading. The talented Christopher Cantwell is writing it with Alex Lins and Jacob Edgar providing artwork. Plastic Man tends to be a bit of a humorous character who has a weird edge to him, so leaning into the stranger stuff should be really fun with a great creative team involved. Plus, as this is the Black Label no punches will need to be pulled with how gruesome Plastic Man's depolymerization could get! The first issue hits stands this early September and should be quite a wild read.

Thanos and a New Illuminati Will be Fighting in a Mini-Series Titled, "Thanos," So That's Fun

I enjoy well-written stories with Thanos. The group of various heroes known as the Illuminati has been an exciting team over at Marvel too. Created under the pen of Brian Bendis, Jonathan Hickman had them basically become a bit evil and destroy other Worlds in an effort to avoid what became the last Secret Wars. Now Thanos will be going up against the Illuminati in, "Thanos," with the talented Christopher Cantwell writing the four-issue mini-series and Luca Pizzari illustrating. That's a great team working on some cool characters! 

The Illuminati has had various members and this latest iteration will include Emma Frost and the Blue Marvel (a fan-favorite character who is criminally underused by Marvel most of the time). The exact plot of this mini-series is a bit of a mystery, with it only written how Thanos is coming to Earth to try to reclaim something that will reveal a shocking secret to the Illuminati. That sounds fun and Cantwell is a great writer so I bet it'll be a good tale. Plus, Pizzari's artwork is always a treat too so a nice concise four-issue series should be a good time. The first issue is set to come out in November of this year so we don't have to wait too long to read about Thanos and the latest Illuminati in, "Thanos."

"Moon Knight: Black, White, & Blood," Was a Decent Little Mini-Series

As anyone who reads my blog knows, I am a huge fan of, "Moon Knight." The current series has been fantastic and after some other characters received the, "Black, White, & Blood," treatment, Moon Knight finally get it too. As for what, "Black, White, & Blood actually is," Wolverine, Deadpool, and Elektra all got their own mini-series where the gimmick is how everything is just black-and-white or red before my man Moon Knight. As this is an anthology series there generally are three stories per issue and the quality can vary widely--which is precisely what happened with this series.

Every issue at least looked good as Moon Knight lends himself well to black-and-white with splashes of red when he's being particularly violent. Only two stories really stuck out to me from everything, however. In the first issue, Jonathan Hickman and Chris Bachalo have a bonkers story about a Moon Knight in the future that is so full of crazy ideas and artwork that it really grabs one's attention. In the fourth and final issue, Christopher Cantwell and Alex Lins give us a tale about a surreal and weird, "Game," Moon Knight seems to play many nights.

Those two stories are great, but nothing else sticks out to me as especially great or awful. I think the issue is some of the tales are busier only taking advantage of the unique color scheme to the degree the story suffers, or have the opposite problem where a decent enough story is told but the specifically black, white, and red artwork feels like an afterthought. I don't mean to sound overly harsh on this anthology comic as it was enjoyable enough, but it just goes to show how hard it is to have an anthology title because when you combine a bunch of shorter stories, some are bound to be solid and others are mostly forgettable.

"Moon Knight: Black, White, & Blood," gave us an enjoyable four issues of stories even if most of them failed to really astound. There are two strong tales at least and the whole thing looked quite beautiful. Worth reading if you're a die-hard Moon Knight fan or enjoy seeing artists play with the form thanks to the unique color scheme, but not at all absolutely required reading. I'd rate this overall mini-series...

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Rant-Reviews: All Stuff I Liked

It's All Good

Sometimes I have reviews focused on a specific theme. I guess the best kind of one I would have today is that I liked all of the books I'm about to share reviews of. That's kind of a spoiler, but perhaps you should still read on to see how much I liked the assorted comics.

The Comics I Enjoyed

Iron Man #5

Christopher Cantwell's writing and Cafu's artwork have been knocking it out of the park on this series. It's got humor (Tony Stark recruits some oft-ignored heroes to help him with a secretive rescue job), has the criminally underused Pasty Walker AKA Hellcat in a major role, and it keeps me guessing where it is going next as Iron Man faces off against a now-android Korvac who wants to regain God-like power as he had in the past. Tony Stark solo titles sometimes struggle with him coming off as an arrogant jerk (it took an actor like Robert Downey Jr. to soften the edges for film without a doubt), but Cantwell has balanced the snark with the humanity quite well. Cafu's artwork works fantastically for this title as well as he gives everything a nice professional sheen--perfect for a man with a robotic suit of armor. It's just a great series so far!

5 out of 5 stars.

Generations: Shattered #1

DC's heroes from all kinds of timestreams come together to fight a mysterious threat that is eating-up all the Universes. No, it's not another, "Crisis," event, which one character even acknowledges, it is this, "Generations," mini-series that seems like it should be a mess but actually kind of works. Artists change every few pages, but it's okay because we're jumping to various timestreams and Universes--making sudden change less jarring. Seeing a Batman from 1939 interacting with a Steel from the 90's and characters from the future has a nice quirky charm and the comic takes these messy ideas and a smorgasbord of artists to combine them into something weirdly effective. Worth a read.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Scout's Honor #1

The apocalypse happened and one big group of the last survivors have lasted so long...following a, "Ranger Scouts," manual that seems like a Boy Scouts-styled guidebook. It sounds darkly hilarious, but this comic by David Pepose and Luca Casalanguida plays everything straight. That choice works well as the comic manages to introduce some clever commentary on gender roles as well as giving us a last-page twist that reframes where the rest of the series will be going in a crafty manner. An impressive debut issue.

4 out of 5 stars.

Penultiman #4

I absolutely adored the first issue of, "Penutliman," and founds its interpretation of a self-hating superhero to be both hilarious and thoughtful. The artwork by Alan Robinson continues to amaze with his nice clean and clear lines working perfectly for this Superpowered man who feels the opposite of super and Tom Peyer's writing avoids coming off too depressing or as if he's making fun of the inner turmoil Penultiman feels. I can't wait for the upcoming final issue that seems to be exploring how Penultiman's biggest threat may end up being his closest ally.

5 out of 5 stars.

Soulstream #1

Saida Woolf writes, draws, colors, and basically does it all for this first issue of, "Soulstream." It won't be getting a second issue, exactly, because it is part of publisher Scout's, "Nonstop," plan where they release a first issue of a comic, and then after people get a taste they put out a full graphic novel of the story. It's a clever idea Scout's been doing and considering how fun this teaser of sorts for, "Soulstream," was I imagine many folk will want to get the TPB! "Soulstream," follows a sibling duo as one gets powered-up with some magic and they need to defend multiple realms from some shadowy forces. The plot is a bit straightforward sounding, but the humorous writing and charming artwork of Woolf elevate what you'd expect to be a standard story into something quite lovely. I'd recommend giving this first issue a look or simply picking-up the trade paperback when it comes out!

4.5 out of 5 stars.