It recently dawned on me that I’ve written almost every Spotlight on New Releases column since July of 2010.  That’s almost a year and 1/2 of writing about new comics every week for readers of our Heroes Blog.  The biggest lesson I’ve gleaned from this experience is the idea that as a comics reader and critic it’s really important to maintain one’s joy and passion for our industry and hopefully encourage the same in our readers and customers.

Every week there are hundreds of books released, and there won’t always be something groundbreaking or revolutionary hitting the stands.  However, there are always books throughout a given month that entertain us or encourage us to think beyond the scope of our personal experience.  As readers it’s no crime to comment on things we wish were better in comics.  In fact, if you’ve been reading a title or following a character for a few decades, you have a lot invested in comics and should speak your mind.  Let’s remember that we all participate in a truly unique medium where on a weekly basis the opportunity still exists for us to be reminded of the inherent joy that exists within the pages of a comic book.  So with that thought, here are a few things about DC and Marvel comics in 2011 that I believe warrant reflection.

It would be wrong to talk about 2011 without first mentioning the DC reboot.  A gamble on many fronts, DC really took a chance when they decided to restart all of their titles.  The reality of the situation is that DC needed to do something different to try to increase their sales after years of turning in numbers behind Marvel.  They did garner lots of national media coverage for their event, and we did see many new faces excited about comics find their way into our store.  There have already been some concerns about how DC would be maintaining the quality and regularity of creative teams and storylines, but that’s to be expected.  Like it or not, the company did manage to refurbish some of their properties, and whether or not you agree with the strategy or enjoy some of the books, some really entertaining comics were produced.  In Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, Justice League brought two fan favorite creators to the biggest of books and did so with a wide-reaching effect. Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s Wonder Woman reminded many of us that this is a character who deserves to have talented creators working hard to tell her stories, and that when they do, good comics are inevitable.  Other books like Animal Man and Swamp Thing found a nice balance between horror and mainstream comics, and continue to build toward memorable stories.  The goal for everyone is to see DC do well, have strong creators on titles, and bring in new readership.  If this happens, everyone can benefit.

Marvel Comics had a bit of an unusual year.  DC clearly grabbed the most headlines for their reboot, but Marvel always seems to have a longterm plan, and certainly has multiple film properties to capitalize upon.  Like DC they offered up several new #1 issues with the goal of reaching new readership.  In some cases, as with Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera, and Marcos Martin’s Daredevil #1, Marvel found a solid creative team who managed to tell some great stories by steering the character away from his typical grim and gritty fare, and back toward some of his more swashbuckling roots.  No, this isn’t a reinvention of the wheel, but it is a good, fun comic that more and more readers are starting to enjoy.

Marvel probably grabbed their biggest headlines with their controversial decision to kill of the Ultimate version of Peter Parker/Spider-man.  Regardless of what you think of this decision, the idea that they then introduced a new Spider-man who might reach a wider range of readers is an exciting prospect.  If comics can’t reach a new, young readership base then the industry will continue to change in increasingly dramatic ways over the next decade.  The effort to gain new readers is also a reason for this year’s breaking of the X-men into two separate schools of thought.  With a lineup in Uncanny X-men consisting of darker, more villainous characters like Magneto, Namor, Emma Frost, and a Juggernaut-powered Colossus, and a younger, more lively bunch of mutants being headmastered by Wolverine in Wolverine and the X-men, Marvel has offered up two distinct X books for readers with very different sensibilities.  The latter has also given us some of the year’s most entertaining superhero comics, and has offered writer Jason Aaron an opportunity to explore a different kind of book than he has previously written.  By the same token, with Uncanny X-force Marvel has maintained and grown a steadfast audience for a mutant-centric book that doesn’t quite read or look like X-titles of the past.

Whatever you might take away from comics in 2011, it’s worth noting that like with almost anything in art there can be strong, entertaining possibilities if you look hard enough.  If you find a comic that moves you or offers up great escapism, support it by buying it and encouraging your friends to give it a try.  If you’re unhappy with a book you might have read for a long time, don’t be afraid to put it down for awhile and look for something new.  There are plenty of  books well worth your time and money.  The important thing to me is that we all do our best to try to be positive about our industry, encourage new readership, and support writers and artists who are focused on producing quality comics.

This is really just the tip of the iceberg.  Both companies had plenty more worth mentioning this year, and we’d like to hear from you about what you think.  What DC or Marvel books really impressed you this year?  What book did you buyon a whim and then proceed to pick up every month thereafter?  What are some things in 2012 that you’d like to see, or might be looking forward to?

So what are the two best comic books on the market today? How the heck should I know? I only read a handful of monthly titles.  However, there are two that are out and about that you may not be reading, but you really, really should!

First up is SNARKED by our good friend from down-under (that’s New Zealand, not Greenville) Roger Langridge. This is an on-it’s-head retelling of the adventures of the Walrus and the Carpenter characters from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass. In addition to being a well paced, fun, exciting comic adventure–it has something to do with a missing King, an eight year old Queen and of course, a map! Langridge is a master craftsman who is incapable of drawing a panel without adding a ton of funny details. Even the letter page is a hoot-and-a-half.  The Walrus is the best comic scoundrel since J. Wellington Wimpy and believe me, that is saying something! You’ve been hearing us rave about Roger for years. If you missed his version of The Muppets, or his Fin Fang Foom or his vastly underrated Thor the Mighty Avenger, please give SNARKED a try. You won’t be sorry.

As a cartoonist, Langridge is a tough act to follow, but I know of one other cartoonist who can. Sergio Aragonés, the man responsible for MAD Marginals and of course Groo the Wanderer, displays all of his comic talents in the monthly Sergio Aragonés Funnies. This is a great comic artist still in his prime. Each issue is packed with jokes, skits, puzzles and some surprisingly moving stories from his rather picaresque past. Five issues have been published so far and I can’t tell you which is my favorite.  It is a five way tie for first! You can pick up any issue and read it in any order. Please do so, you will be glad you did.

PS–Did I mention that Sergio will be at HeroesCon 2012?? To quote Syndrome (arch enemy of The Incredibles) “Oho man, this is just too good!”

Comics have changed drastically with the new millennium. The industry’s embrace of digitization has elevated the contributions of letterers and colorists to heights heretofore unseen. And while it has made these historically downplayed positions finally recognized as the arts they truly are, programs like Photoshop have also borne amateurish, ugly trends. Motion blurs. Digital inking. Stock fonts, typos, awkward balloon placement; foibles that are all the more obvious in context of the progress that enabled them.

I’ve always been wary of “colored pencils”, where pencil art skips the ink stage altogether – digital or analogue – in favor of colors filling the space, achieving the depth and mood of the story’s setting. This approach has yielded practically nil in enjoyable comics. Without the bold, dynamic lines of proper inking, the energy inherent in comic art is lost, leaving soft figures, muddied page layouts and set pieces. So then, I was also wary of Avenging Spider-Man #1. Joe Madureira + Spidey = no-brainer, but when I heard that the book was skimping on the inker, I was understandably skeptical. Mad’s work had always popped kinetic, but then his turn in Ultimates 3 was a far cry from the lushness of Battle Chasers. Color me unimpressed.

That is until I read Avenging Spider-Man #1.

Okay, even the title wasn’t so encouraging, but with an open mind and an appetite for something fun and easy, I read AvSM #1, and I felt like a kid again. The book’s team-up tack is a potent catalyst, conjuring a vibe akin to the old Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends TV show. Clearly, Joe Mad is (excuse the pun) the big draw here, but Zeb Wells is a workhorse writer, too, crafting simple, sensible plots and writing punchy, unobtrusive dialogue. His idea-man approach is perfectly suited to Madureira’s wild imagination.

It would seem Madureira is putting a little more elbow grease into his pencils this time out, too. The only spots that don’t play well are the lightly filled blacks, which could stand a little darkening somewhere along the line. Otherwise, colorist Ferran Daniel does an excellent job in maintaining the integrity of Madureira’s lines, adding shades and hues that enliven each and every page. His strong sense of texture roots his flashy palette in four-color reality, too, the solidity that was lacking crucially in Ultimates 3.

With issue 2, the story has clearly revealed itself as padded, but not in a negative way. Guest star Red Hulk is given plenty of scenery to chew alongside Spidey, and their character interplay is infectious, just like watching a couple of old pals argue. The involvement of J. Jonah Jameson is similar, and while it may seem repetitious or old hat, the plot’s simplicity is its charm. Nothing story-wise is overdone or overwrought; this book’s not here to make you think. Actually, quite the opposite: it’s pure entertainment, the kind of comic you read once, then again, then flip through languidly for another half-hour, basking in the afterglow.

Issue #2 ups the stakes by really playing to Madureira’s strengths as an artist. He and Wells’ variation on Mole Man and his Moloids – the Immovable Ra’ktar and the Molans – and the environs of Subterranea make Avenging Spider-Man look a bit like a Marvel crossover with Battle Chasers. These new villains are bulky and earthy, complete with chunky armor adorned in spikes and skulls (they speak in runes). Madureira was always billed as manga and anime influenced, as far back as his star-making days on Uncanny X-Men, but that’s always been somewhat overstated. It’s there in his proportions, his sense of motion and perspective, but the fundamentals of Mad’s work are as indebted to the likes of Jack Kirby and Art Adams as they are to anything from the Land of the Rising Sun (unless you wanna count video games).

Avenging Spider-Man is a perfect gift for any superhero fan, and a great book for new or young readers. With the holidays rapidly approaching, issues one and two of this exciting new series would make an ideal last minute gift idea, or just an extra stocking stuffer (but PLEASE don’t ROLL ‘em!) Each issue also includes a free download code, officially making it the gift that keeps on giving. If you’re in the market for good old-fashioned superhero fun, unencumbered by dense continuity and needless exposition, Avenging Spider-Man is the book for you. And the first two issues are available in ample supply at your friendly neighborhood Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find…whenever you’re ready…

I admit it: I’ve never read 100 Bullets. I’m a casual fan of the crime genre, and have a bad habit of trade-waiting with long running, highly acclaimed series. Given its status from even its earliest issues, 100 Bullets would always be available, so the urge to be current was never insistent. But the team of Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso is rightly celebrated, I know, from their Batman work in both Batman: Black and White and Wednesday Comics. Now, Vertigo launches a new Azzarello/Risso collaboration, a perfect gateway for the uninitiated such as myself: Spaceman #1.

Spaceman is another genre turn for the pair: science fiction. Like crime, sci-fi can offer scope within its very clear limitations. As a writer, Azzarello seems to understand these limitations, and deftly avoids them. Rather than dwell on expository schema of the world and times of Spaceman, Azzarello simply implies them through the dialogue and backgrounds. This does result in a somewhat disjointed first read, but upon closer inspection the frustration turns to intrigue. The entire issue is borne of a complex intelligence that is serviceable, not flaunted. It’s nearly impenetrable, but highly inviting.

Luckily Risso brings with him a rare chemistry, matching the script beat for beat with mood and atmosphere. His style exhibits wonderful flashes of Mignola, Ba and Fegredo, while maintaining an identity all its own. Virtuosity is eschewed in favor of storytelling, with nice layout variance and a solid underpinning of the story’s futuristic set pieces. Risso’s art sidesteps the cliche gloss that a lot of sci-fi yarns get sprayed on them, too, achieving a grit that roots the fantastic in realism, reminiscent of another genre cousin, the western.

Spaceman wouldn’t be as appealing without the contributions of colorists Patricia Mulvihill and Giulia Brusco. Their palette straddles the fine line between muted and vibrant, filling the linework in an attractive way that conveys the necessary chilliness. Even the reds seem cold. Ace letterer Clem Robins ties everything together with his expert, organic approach, lending this fresh, modern comic the timeless design it deserves. A Dave Johnson cover never hurts anything.

Overall, Spaceman is an imposing book, from its grotesque protagonist (a dead ringer for Mr. Hyde from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) to its bizarre slang (a la the Mutant gang in Dark Knight Returns). But what the best writers and artists in comics seem to do is take these familiar tropes, and twist, and pull, and stretch and beat them into something that seems wholly new. That’s exactly what you’ll get from Spaceman, if you have the patience: a new take on an old favorite. Whether it’s the genre or the talent, the hooks are there, deliciously baited.  So don’t wait…cashiers are standing by!

As part of our recent trip to this year’s Small Press Expo in Maryland, I had an opportunity to pick up an advanced copy of Craig Thompson’s eight years in the making new book, Habibi.  Thompson has had something of a meteoric rise to fame, with an acclaimed first book Goodbye, Chunky Rice, and his next book Blankets becoming a nationwide phenomenon and Eisner Award winner.  Blankets was a rare comic, a 500+ page original graphic novel memoir that went on to sell thousands of copies and inadvertently become a gateway comic for countless new readers.  Thompson followed Blankets with Carnet De Voyage, a much shorter work that was more travel journal than distinct narrative.  It has been known that Thompson’s newest book Habibi was being worked on for the better part of a decade.  Fans and critics alike have been curious about what kind of book Habibi will be, and whether or not it could live up to the subsequent hype created by the success of Blankets.  Once we got back from Maryland I took it upon myself to read Habibi and post some thoughts about it here on the Heroes blog in hopes of giving you all some idea about what you might expect from this massive book.

The first and most obvious aspect of Habibi is that it represents Thompson’s continued interest in creating long form graphic novels as opposed to serializing longer stories in the same way that creators like Adrian Tomine or Chris Ware typically might.  Thompson admits that there are positives and negatives to this publishing ideology, but the fact that he now has two 500+ page original graphic novels in his catalog is indeed an impressive feat, especially when you remember he’s only in his mid thirties.  These hefty works demand a great investment from readers, but if you see that a creator has put so much time and energy into a work, the book seems to offer a substantial potential for gravity, depth, and hopefully a high degree of entertainment.

While large comics do signify the creator’s dedication to story and craft, they don’t necessarily mean they are always good, entertaining comics.  How does Habibi stand on its own merit?  Habibi is quite an accomplishment because, if anything, it clearly shows how much Thompson wanted to grow and progress in his art after Blankets.  It might’ve been tempting to churn out a follow up to that story and tell another autobiographical story, but Thompson went to an entirely different well for Habibi.  It’s a Middle Eastern story that owes as much to Islamic history, poetry, art, and symbology as Blankets did to Thompson’s own Christian upbringing. Thompson isn’t Muslim, and didn’t necessarily grow up with an understanding or appreciation for cultures outside of his own, but his attention to detail is beyond meticulous.  Every pattern and example of calligraphy, though based on existing examples of Islamic art and history, was painstakingly reproduced by Thompson’s brush.  The fine adornments, chapter fronts, and panel frames weren’t cut and pasted from a computer, but drawn by hand.  To me this exemplifies that Thompson not only wanted to push himself as a cartoonist, but wanted to be very respectful to the traditions and forms that inspired this book.

Beyond Thompson’s clear motivation to make Habibi an accurate and appropriate Middle Eastern tale, it’s worth noting that there are several entertaining chase scenes and action sequences in the book.  I’ve heard from some who didn’t like Blankets that they thought it was too emotional, and not necessarily a story that demanded a visual interpretation.  Habibi reminds us that Thompson is acutely aware that comics are a visual medium, and that he understands and enjoys crafting pages filled not just with fine adornment, but with fluid movement.  The characters of Zam and Dodola are often in life-threatening situations, and that sense of danger is clearly evident, especially in the way Thompson depicts their faces and body language.  While Blankets was very much about individuals growing up in a strict fundamentalist environment, Habibi deals with characters maturing and changing amid a place of relegated status where their lives are often threatened.  For that reason the stakes seem dramatically higher in Habibi, and thus considerably more heavy in their global sense of relevance.

Somehow amid all the danger, Thompson maintains the thread of Habibi’s love story.  Blankets also had a love story, but while its focus was on young people still discovering their identities, Habibi’s love story exists between two very scarred individuals who allow themselves to know love in spite of their tremendous personal struggles.  While we see the characters age from young children to adulthood and witness their individual tragedies, we see them come to terms with their respective scars and still accept love in spite of their pasts.  The characters truly seem to need each other in order to fully realize their own true selves, and that necessity doesn’t come across as contrived or forced.  This feels like a story that could have already or may yet happen.

Habibi gives us plenty of evidence that Thompson has matured in his storytelling and his cartooning.  There is perhaps no better example of that than by simply noting that Habibi is a comic of layers, where symbolism and parallels exist amid the characters and scenes, but are also made more resonant by their reflection of Middle Eastern numerology, spirituality, and philosophy.  Blankets was in part about Thompson’s struggle to accept his fundamentalist upbringing and find his own voice amid that belief system.  Habibi is set in an equally fundamentalist culture, but here faith and the hope it brings act as a buoy for the characters.  Faith is something that the characters have even when everything else is against them.  The characters’ understanding and use of their faith is exemplified by the numerous inclusions of Islamic symbology, and while they give us a better sense of the characters’ identities, they are also a smart method Thompson uses to incorporate themes and symbology he wanted to illustrate in this story.

As with any creator who has a huge commercial and critical success, all their subsequent works will inevitably be measured against that previous work.  It wasn’t hard for me to read Habibi as its own story, but it is hard for me to talk about it now that I’ve read it without noting that this was made by the same guy who created Blankets.  While the stories have some similarities between them, Habibi stands out as a much denser, detailed, adult story reflective of an older, wiser cartoonist at work.  There certainly are some darker, more mature elements to Habibi, but they aren’t included gratuitously.  Thompson carefully researched Middle Eastern history, art, literature, and spirituality, and with Habibi adds his own mark to those centuries old stories.  Regardless of how you react to Habibi, I doubt anyone who reads this book can experience it without at least respecting the continually refining craftsmanship of Craig Thompson as a writer, cartoonist, and storyteller.

Toby Cypress has amassed a nice set of original work in recent years with acclaimed contributions to books like The Tourist, Popgun, Marvel’s Strange Tales II, and this year’s Blue Estate.  It was with the recent book Rodd Racer that I finally fully realized why he’s such a respected creator.  As one who processes and writes about new comics every week for this blog, I’m always looking for a new book to capture my attention and remind  me why I still love comics.  On a first read, Rodd Racer succeeds for me because it pays homage to racing strips of the fifties and sixties, with characters like Frank Frazetta’s Johnny Comet serving as one antecedent.  In the same way that Cypress respects the visual traditions of the racing strip, his narrative work doesn’t branch too far away from those original narrative structures.  The resulting effect is one of instant gratification, whereby readers can enjoy Cypress’ visual craft while remaining unencumbered by an overwrought story.

Sometimes a creator working within a specific sub-genre might be tempted to elaborate on certain elements of a story, thus taking away from some qualities that made those stories work in the first place.  Cypress’ story in Rodd Racer serves the purpose of this particular type of comic.  The framework suggests a clear, simple backstory of a murdered mentor and a vengeful pupil, a strong female support role, and the inevitable symbolic and literal victory over the immoral.  While there aren’t many unexpected plot twists, the natural progression and rhythm of the racing setting act as a wonderful palette for Cypress to explore elements of inky motion.

While Cypress clearly does a great job of achieving motion with his illustration skills, he also adds meter to the book’s momentum with his use of chapter headings.  Aside from being the book’s only inclusions of color, the musical and lyrical quotes are intentionally placed to add to the feeling of movement.  Aritists like The Misfits, Miles Davis, Beastie Boys, Television, and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers are all mentioned or quoted.  The range from punk, to hip hop, jazz to rock signifies Cypress’ intelligent use of certain songs, genres, and musical forms to accompany the moods and tempos suggested by certain parts of the book.  Visual rhythms harmonize with musical time signatures, creating a natural, built-in soundtrack for the book.  At the same time, while operating seamlessly within the realm of comics, Cypress also shows us he has an awareness of the properties of film and storyboarding.

Cypress’ greatest achievement with Rodd Racer is that both he and his readers are knowingly cognizant of the multiple ways a comics artist might convey the action of movement.  In a way, the necessary sequential mannerisms of the comics form make it ideal for racing narratives.  Cypress allows himself to stretch out and play with the spatial relationships of vehicles at high speed, and the passage of time from panel to panel, page to page.

At the same time, Cypress turns the genre slightly on its ear by making the protagonist’s success dependent on the female lead character, thus subverting the damsel in distress or the strictly eye candy roles female characters were relegated to in the heyday of the racing strips. And while the book takes place in an unspecified time, the suggested dark, neon future portrayed reminds us that some stories might be cyclical, but don’t necessarily lose their entertainment value.  Rodd Racer is a clear presentation of an artist who, before our eyes, deftly melds the work of his craft with the innate joy of comics.  Check it out if you haven’t yet, and enjoy a solid stand alone volume from a talented creator.

What does Hell on Earth mean?  In terms of publishing, it’s Mike Mignola giving an official name to the series’ next uber-arc.  All the B.P.R.D. material to this point has been retroactively dubbed Plague of Frogs and will be re-collected under that title, in snazzy, reasonably priced hardcovers forthcoming.  Hell on Earth is the landscape of the series now.  Hell IS on Earth now.  Crazy Guy Davis-drawn monsters are running amok cutting swaths of destruction across the world.  The B.P.R.D., now a U.N. sanctioned organization, finds their jobs harder than ever and not just because of the monsters.  Because they are U.N. sanctioned, they have more to answer for and are constantly hamstrung in getting the job done.

The neat thing about all of it is that information I just splayed out for you is delivered subtly in the book.  It’s all background or hinted upon or briefly mentioned at the most.  John Arcudi and Mignola world building through atmosphere but different than how they usually do.  This is an emotional landscape more so than the Gothic/Horror/Strange landscapes that they usually build for us.  A landscape of frustration as the world is ripped asunder.  The frustration of being able to do more and accomplishing nothing.  The B.P.R.D., when they most need to stick together, is falling apart.

The main plot is more concerned with Abe Sapien and a former B.P.R.D. regular cast member hunting down the source of a plague that is turning a small town into possessed monsters.  When the source is discovered it is devastating in its human element and twisted because of it.  I won’t give it away.

I haven’t forgotten though, and it would be stupid of me to ignore, that this is a comic book about killing monsters and when it comes time to do that between the in-fighting and campfire conversations about survival, it delivers.  The action centerpiece in issue #3 is the most scrumptious of chase-fights.  Abe is at the wheel of a pick-up truck and Ben Daimio is in the back with box full of guns and grenades fighting/being chased by a big black mega-demon thing. The art of the action sequence sometimes seems lost in this modern day of freely used double splashes.  A proper action scene takes into account setting and geography, the physical proximity between characters and their surroundings.  The progression of panels must flow in such a way that those things interact with each while showing the passage of time properly freezing momentum at its most dynamic but also most information conveying.  It is such a delicate balance.  Guy Davis with his deceptively scratch style accomplishes it and makes it look easy.

You’ve heard the buzz now is the best time to get in on one of the finest of monthly comics.

Among the staff members at Heroes I’m likely the one with the least background in visual art.  My creative tendencies tend more toward music and the written word.  Strange then that my first review of 2011 concerns one of 2010’s most dynamic art books.  Denys Wortman’s New York is a fascinating book however you look at it.  For me, the real hook of this publication lies in its stranger than fiction backstory.  Noted cartoonist James Sturm (James Sturm’s America: Gods, Gold, and Golems) apparently came across a single strip of Wortman’s, grew curious, and set out to find out more about this largely forgotten artist.  As luck would have it Sturm was able to find Wortman’s son who had a shed full of his father’s art that was in danger of succumbing to the elements.  Sturm’s good timing led to our good fortune.

On one hand, the fact that an artist of Wortman’s caliber was nearly lost to the ages is a pox on the comics community.  How could the industry forget work like this?  On the other hand, it might be a simple case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Just as you have to possess luck along with talent to break into this industry, I guess to some degree the same can hold true for cementing one’s legacy.  Wortman lived and worked in New York City in the ’30’s and ’40’s, and most of the strips in this book act as a document of those times and places.  There are sarcastic one liners being lobbed back and forth from women out on their apartment balconies, visages of streets with horse-drawn carriages and early automobiles packed together like sardines, and charcoal renderings of Coney Island’s Cyclone roller coaster. 

Was Wortman trying to consciously play the role of zeitgeist-catcher?  I’m not sure if any artist of any genre can really achieve that measure by his own will.  On the off chance that he succeeds, it usually falls upon future generations to determine the successes or failings of a work.  More likely, Wortman was creating these strips for his own pleasure as much as anyone else’s.  And somewhere between the conversations and the gags, the bricks and the pushcarts, we as readers in 2011 open up Wortman’s book as if it were a time capsule.  And like Canadian cartoonist Seth’s fictional story It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken, sometimes we inadvertently stumble upon the work of an artist that grabs us, sits us down, and instantly etches itself upon our consciousness.  So it has been for me in my encounters with Denys Wortman’s New York.

Eric Shanower and Skottie Young have been doing an incredible job of adapting L. Frank Baum’s Oz books. I love the way that they’ve re-imagined the characters making them fresh. Despite the numerous adaptations of the Oz characters, Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Marvelous Land of Oz were full of joy and imagination making them delightfully fun books to read.

I think I am more excited about reading Ozma of Oz than I was the previous two stories. I have a particular fondness for this story because of the movie Return to Oz. I rented this a million times from the local video store when I was younger. I watched it recently and it really holds up. Mombi and the Wheelers still freak me out after all these years.

Ozma of Oz #1 started off strong and I know that this book won’t let me down despite my ridiculously high expectations. Young’s art is dynamic and expressive. The characters are bubbling over with life. Shanower’s dialogue and pacing is perfect. This is an impeccably created comic book that is great for old Oz fans or those new to Baum’s world.

In today’s final holiday gift suggestions blog, I’ll focus on our bread and butter, Super Heroes!  Here are some great suggestions for a variety of heroic fans.

1) Shazam: the Golden Age of the World’s Mightiest Mortal

I first heard Chip Kidd talking about this book at this year’s C2E2 Convention in Chicago, and the slideshow he presented got me excited to see the finished product.  Now that’s it’s in the store, it more than lives up to the hype.  Kidd and collaborator Geoff Spear dig deep into the Captain Marvel vaults to give a pictorial history of the character’s merchandise through the years.  Want to see stills from the various black and white Captain Marvel serials?  They’re in here along with items featuring the largely forgotten Hoppy the Flying Marvel Bunny!

2) the Marvel Encyclopedia/the DC Encyclopedia

These are always popular gift suggestions.  Do you have a friend or family member who is just getting into comics and wants to know everything about every character?  These are great ideas for them, as well as longtime super hero fans who want the ultimate in source book material.

3) Wednesday Comics HC

One of the great books published in recent years, the deluxe Wednesday Comics HC collection features every strip from the 12 issue newsprint series along with a couple of unused strips and sketchbook material.  All this and it’s all published in a glorious oversized format.  Who wouldn’t want to see Ryan Sook‘s Kamandi or Karl Kerschl‘s Flash strip in a large bookshelf format?

4) The Simon and Kirby Superheroes/The Best of Simon and Kirby HC

Longtime Heroes friend Steve Saffel worked closely with the legendary Joe Simon to start bringing the many volumes of the Simon and Kirby archives back to the public.  The Best of Simon and Kirby is a great overview of some of the legends classic works before they went on to create so many timeless characters for Marvel and DC.  And The Simon and Kirby Superheroes reminds us just how relevant their early costumed heroes were for their time, and how influential they remain.  These are great books by great people that any fan of comics history should want to include in their library.

5) 75 Years of DC Comics: the Art of Modern Mythmaking by Paul Levitz

If you haven’t seen this coffee-table sized opus from Paul Levitz, you’re in for a treat.  If there’s any person qualified to do a complete examination of DC’s history it’s Levitz, and he more than delivers in what is one of the year’s great studies of comics history.  At over 700 pages in length, this is the ultimate gift idea for any lifelong DC fan.  It’s also large enough to be a hefty weapon, though we don’t encourage that kind of thinking during this or any other time of year.

6) Essentials, Showcases, and Archives!

As a young comic reader I always enjoyed receiving DC Archive editions of classic stories.  While those are still available and ideal for fans of any age, both Marvel and DC have done a great job of continuing their Essential and Showcase lines which are very affordable reprints of renowned tales from past decades.  If you know someone just getting into super hero comics that you’re interested in buying something for, this may be the best and most varied option.

7) Popular Modern Collections in TP and HC

Maybe you’re trying to buy something for something you know who likes comics but has gotten away from them in recent years.  Why not think about getting a trade paperback of some of the most popular stories and crossovers?  For the Marvel fan try Civil War, Siege, World War Hulk, X-men: Messiah Complex, X-men: Second Coming, for DC fans try Blackest Night and it’s related crossover collections, Green Lantern: Rebirth, Identity Crisis, Brightest Day, or any of the great Grant Morrison Batman collections.