2020 Review 3/4: Comics

Since leaving Marvel Comics I haven't been as devoted to following comics as I once was, but I certainly still read quite a few books.

My interest in Christopher Priest's work has of late brought to (of all things) Vampirella and Sacred Six. They're both interesting because of the style Priest uses to tell a story. He's certainly still very much wedded to non-linear storytelling!

Usagi Yojimbo continues to be a fine book, as expected. This last year included a storyline where Usagi returned to his home village which led to some fine reunions with long-absent characters and revisiting much of the series' lore.

I got into Garth Ennis' war comics in a bit way during 2020. I read his recent graphic novel Stringbags which motivated me to go back and read all of his Battlefields, Sara and World of Tanks comics. I appreciate how his stories depict the best and the worst aspects of human nature.

Although I don't read much from super hero comics these days, I did finally read Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing and instantly recognized why that series is being talked up as one of Marvel's finest, and why Ewing has won so much praise in the last few years. It's frequently a disgusting horror comic but Ewing's ability to ground his ideas in established continuity while coming up with new takes on Hulk lore is very impressive, as is Joe Bennett's art, which goes to places I didn't know he could handle. I also enjoyed Mark Waid's Black Widow, whose espionage focus was a little different from his usual hangouts; and Waid's Dr. Strange, which brought back my old favourite Dr. Druid!

I spent a lot of time in 2020 going over the works of Rick Geary, particularly his Treasury of Victorian Murder and other historical books. His ability to dispassionately recount the events of famous crimes is very engrossing. I hope there are more works like these from him to come.

Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics by Tom Scioli was a terrific biography of Kirby and long-since due. I read Angola Janga primarily out of interest in Angola - which the story doesn't really relate to, but I'll cover it in an upcoming review. And I read the first volume of the Lady Snowblood manga, which is a stylish crime series.

Other great books I read included Walter Simonson's Ragnarok, the continued work of Larry Hama on G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and an excellent biography of Rod Serling titled Twilight Man.

Tomorrow: television!