The comics I read in 2016. Were they good?

I know that a chorus of people on the internet are bemoaning the state of the world in the year 2016 and they're not wrong. I could easily throw my voice into that discussion but I'd like to use that energy for something else. 2016 was a difficult year for me on a personal level but the worst part is, not having enough money to buy new comics! (I kid, it was actually the crippling depression or maybe my home flooding multiple times. Who knows?)

The Best Comics I Read This Year:

Murder by Remote Control by Paul Kirchner and Janwillem Van De Wetering - I'd never heard of this book before this reprint but it really smacked me across the face when I read it. Now I want to read every comic Kirchner has ever drawn.

Peplum by Blutch - Another reprint except instead of smacking he across the face it crawled inside my belly and at sat there. 

Ganges #5 by Kevin Huizenga - Ganges is possibly my favorite comic book series of all time and this keeps that streak alive. Huizenga's beautifully designed pages evoke the complex relationship between the micro and macro levels of the physical and metaphysical world(s).

Transformers vs. G.I. Joe # 11-13 by Tom Scioli and John Barber - Okay, if you don't know anything about this, bear with me. When this series started I was only passingly familiar with Tom Scioli. Years earlier I had unfairly written him off as another derivative Jack Kirby torchbearer. I figured "I love Kirby but I get enough from the King himself." Later, an acquaintance linked me to some of his webcomics and I came to realize that Scioli was a creator with his own distinct voice. Not long after that I got the first Free Comic Book Day issue of this series. I don't really have nostalgia for these properties but I thought I'd give it a try. I never thought I'd fall in love, but I did. This series is a mix of Kirby, Steranko, and Druillet taking on action figures. It's packed to the brim with fun, funny, and awesome concepts and it always managed to top itself. The final issue is fittingly bastshit crazy. I wish his new DC Super Powers comics were their own series instead of a back-up in a comic by that My Chemical Romance guy.

Mary Wept Over The Feet Of Jesus by Chester Brown - Chester Brown is a major inspiration for me. That said, I had been a bit disappointed in Paying For It. I wasn't bothered by it's polemical nature or the views expressed in it's pages. It just struck me as a bit too detached from it's subject matter. I actually really love the subdued emotion of Brown's cartooning but it's far more effective in his newest book. There are a few sequences of panels in Mary Wept Over The Feet Of Jesus that recall the achingly beautiful starkness of Louis Riel but in the dreamy biblical landscape of his previous Gospel adaptations. This book is still a polemic but the subject matter is one that I already find fascinating. I wonder what Chester Brown thinks of Tolstoy's theological musings? I really ought to write him a letter one of these days.

Sir Alfred no. 3 by Tim Hensley - Here's a comic book art object in a similar vein to John Pham's last few issues of Epoxy, only without the otherworldly vibe. Instead Hensley is handling the imagery of mid twentieth century media in both film and comics. Lovely stuff.

What Am I Doing Here? by Abner Dean - I like Mark Newgarden as well as Steig's The Lonely Ones so I'm predisposed to enjoy this sort of material.

Other Great Comics:

Island #6-12, published by Image - These are mostly on this list because of the final installments of this anthology's two greatest serials, Ancestor by Matt Sheean & Malachi Ward and Habitat by Simon Roy which are just great sci-fi comics. I haven't dug everything in this anthology but Lando and Farel Dalrymple have me excited about future issues.

Blubber #2-3 by Gilbert Hernandez - Grotesque, erotic, violent dream comics. Beto makes it look so easy.

Copra #25-28 & Copra Versus #1-2 by Michel Fiffe - Issue #25 came out in December of 2015 but I didn't read it until early this year and it's probably one of my favorite issues. I had loved the "solo" issues a couple years ago that fleshed out the lives of the main cast and this issue does the same thing for the traitor Vitas. I really loved seeing a story from the past of this world which had me excited about the new Copra Versus series. The A.R.M. issue was pretty nice. Otherwise this year of Copra has been all about psychedelic cosmic imagery which is a field that Fiffe thrives in. He should really start making black light posters.

Honorable Mentions:

Frontier #11-14, published by Youth in Decline - Frontier is still a pretty consistent book but I do wish there were more capital "C" Comics in it like the Eleanor Davis issue.

Prophet: Earth War #1-6 by Brandon Graham, Simon Roy, Giannis Milanoigiannis, Ron Ackins, Grim Wilkins, Jenna Trost, Joseph Bergin III, Lin Visel, and Ed Brisson - The actual action that takes place in this miniseries isn't as epic as you'd expect. At least it feels a bit smaller than what I had imagined during the break between the end of Prophet and the start of this miniseries. I guess that isn't exactly fair of me. Instead of a series of epic showdowns, each grander than the last, we get more evocative snippets of the history of these characters, which I suppose is appropriate. I think I need a little more time to figure out how I feel about that.

Love and Rockets #1 by Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez - I've actually never read any L&R in pamphlet form but when I'd read the collections I'd find myself curious about the experience. There's some interesting material in this issue. Jaime taps into something similar to Blubber in one story. The Fritz story in here has my curiosity piqued. This is unsurprisingly a good comic but mostly it's whet my appetite for more.

Trap: Frankie Teardrop by Matt Seneca - Lurid comics about corporate properties are better than corporate comics that exploit lurid properties. Seneca's a witty guy and he's pushing buttons close to my heart here. I appreciate the personal touches about Bushwick. It's strange for me because I grew up in Queens within walking distance from Bushwick. When I was a kid my parents were terrified of me traveling there, thinking of it as a "dangerous neighborhood." Even as a kid I knew that was bullshit. Every neighborhood has it's seedy underbelly and I'd seen enough glimpses of the ugly side of my own neighborhood. I spent most of my time in Bushwick being afraid of the trouble I'd be in if my parents knew what we were doing there. As an adult I've been aware of the gentrification of Bushwick but it's been hard for me to grasp due to the way I remember it. Seneca's depiction, as well as his personal recollection creates an interesting bridge between the known and unknown Bushwick for me.

The Secret Voice #3 by Zack Soto - I know these are uploaded to the studygroup site but I can only bring myself to read these as comic books. I obsessed over the first and only issue of the original series when I was in High School. When I met Chris Pitzer at a convention a few years later it was the first thing I asked him about. I was happy to see that it continued and I'm always happy to spend a little more time in this world.

Jupiter's Legacy 2 #1-4 by Frank Quitely, Mark Millar, Sunny Gho, and Peter Doherty - I basically buy every Frank Quitely comic the day it comes out. Quitely could easily be credited with elevating the material he's given but Millar is putting together a fun superhero comic here. This is tasty junk food.


Regrets:

I wish I'd read the new Joe Daly book (my copy's actually in the mail at the moment along with that Queen Esmeraldas book). I haven't read Band For Life or Laid Waste yet but I'm planning on picking them up when I get the chance. There's probably other stuff I'm forgetting about as well as stuff I'm not aware of and you can feel free to enlighten me. If things work out right I'll hopefully have more disposable income in a few months. Fingers crossed.