This year, the ladies, graphic novels, and Marvel dominated the best comics has to offer. So, before 2014 ends, here's my picks for the top 5 books for the year plus a few honorable mentions.
Black Canary/ Zatanna: Bloodspell.
Written by Paul Dini, the creative force behind Batman: The Animated Series amongst others, this graphic novel pits Black Canary and Zatanna in a 'Thelma and Louise' type adventure across the United States. The adventure starts in Las Vegas where a year prior, Black Canary infiltrated a gang bent on robbing a casino. Just before the ring leader dies, she puts a curse on her former minions and the undercover heroine. A year's past and the curse is coming to pass with the former villains succumbing in supernaturally weird ways. Desperate to prevent herself from being next on this list, Canary seeks out her JLA teammate Zatanna to find a cure for the uncommon curse. Bloodspell was the one graphic novel I read over the past year in which I thought to myself, that this would make a great series in DC's New 52. It's got action, adventure, the supernatural, and just a little bit of sex appeal.
Waid and Samnee's Daredevil
One part pop art, one part John Grisham, one part James Bond and his reputation with the ladies. This is Mark Waid's Daredevil. Volume 4 ended this year with Matt Murdock losing everything and making a move back west to sunny California. But that's okay because the perfect formula that Mark and artist Chris Samnee created in that series carried over into volume 5. The changeover resulted in yet another confusing bout of titles having to be renumbered. It would seem to have Daredevil switch coasts would be the perfect leeway towards beginning another volume. but the change was all a marketing ploy by Marvel that angered many. Despite this, the company didn't seem to lose many customers over it. (YET!)
Andre the Giant: Life and Legend
This biographical graphic novel about the larger than life wrestling icon of the 1980s told the tragic tale of a French young stricken with acromegaly, a disease that causes the pituitary gland to overwork thus resulting in in Andre's gigantic size. This volume balanced the facts of this gentle giant's life with the over-the-top antics of his career in the square circle, much of which was fodder generated by promoters to hype matches starring the man touted as the "Eighth Wonder of the World."
Ms. Marvel
The newest superhero to bear the moniker of the House of Ideas is fun, brash, and storytelling at its very best. This Ms. Marvel was controversial for about 5 minutes because she was cast as a Muslim girl. But writer G. Willow Wilson, who herself is a Muslim living in America, balances young Kamala Khan's faith with her life in America without being preachy or militant. The book could use subtitles for its Arabic dialogue and the villains are a little hokey. But, it's a wild ride I would mind going on ago soon.
Gaijin: American Prisoner of War
Matt Faulkner's tale of a young Japanese-American boy and his white mother's internment in an American POW camp for being Japanese is based on true life events in both Faulkner's family history and the real life internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. This little known segment of American history is something that should not be forgotten nor ignored least we repeat this social experiment mistake again in the future.
Honorable Mentions:
Batman: Arkham Unhinged- features some great single-issue tales about Batman's most dangerous foes with some unique origin changes that make for better stories than the original.
Dead Boy Detectives- Encyclopedia Brown meets the Sixth Sense. The stories were fresh, frightening, and so very British.
Hip Hop Family Tree, Volume I (New Printing)- Artist and writer Ed Piskor did something with this book I never expected, it got me a little bit interested in hip hop. An interesting Who's Who in the history of Old School rap, this new addition featured new art, extra scenes, and a fascinating story.
Red Light Properties: Previously Haunted Real Estate- A unique storyline with great art, it has the potential to be considered a modern classic. But in the vein of 'Little Miss Sunshine' and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' its just a little too bleak for my tastes.
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