The Inevitable Look Back at 2023

No, I’m not looking back at the year as a whole – that still seems to be in a shambles with the ongoing Ukraine conflict now joined with the Israel/Gaza war, and Trump looking likely to be the Republican nominee despite the multiple indictments against him.

Instead, for the fourth year running, I’m going to look at each month’s comics that I bought and pick out one for a brief review. And, just to mix things up, I’m going to include a trade or collection if I bought any that month as well.

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January

Dark Ride #4

Joshua Williamson’s horror story set in a horror-themed amusement park continues to entertain with some lovely twists and turns plot-wise, but also teamed with Andrei Bressan and Adriano Lucas on art and colours (as he was on BIRTHRIGHT, makes this one of the best looking books out there at the moment. Some wonderfully gory visuals teamed with a good story.

Who’s Who Omnibus #2

It seemed to take forever for the first WHO’S WHO OMNIBUS to get published (probably due to legal/copyright/royalties issues knowing DC) but the second one seemed to follow fairly quick.

Both of these hefty tomes are gorgeous editions showcasing the art and history of the various DC characters from a time when CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS was still being published to several years later after things had settled down and the DCU became what many of us knew and loved until 2011 and the New 52 raised its head.

These books weren’t cheap by any means, but they are lovely looking things if you’re a fan of late 80s/early 90s DC.

February

Inferno Girl Red #2

Another of the Massive-verse titles that are loosely connected to RADIANT BLACK, this mini-series introduced Inferno Girl to the shared world and was a fun, compact little story that looked really good. To be fair, all of the Massive-verse titles have a similar look and feel with art that really compliments the other titles and the story.

There’s plans for a second mini for next year so I’ll be looking out for that.

Strontium Dog: Search and Destroy #2

I’m a sucker for a lovely collection featuring Carlos Ezquerra’s art, especially when he’s illustrating one of my favourite characters, and even though I have every story in this collection already in multiple other collections, I couldn’t help but pick this up.

This hardcover collects the first STRONTIUM DOG storylines that ran in 2000 AD after STARLORD had merged with the more successful comic, including the Hell Dimension and the Shicklgruber Grab stories, the latter where Johnny Alpha and co kidnap Adolf Hitler in order to bring him to justice in the future!

March

Justice Society of America #3

Not since DOOMSDAY CLOCK have I seen a DC title so beset by publication delays – coincidence that that was also written by Geoff Johns?

It’s a shame as this (and the STARGIRL AND THE LOST CHILDREN mini-series) were meant to act as a launch pad to the New Golden Age push that held so much promise and yet has struggled to gain much traction, mainly because of the delay in this title, which may not be down to Johns, I don’t know.

If you can look past the erratic publishing schedule, this is actually a good story.

April

The Forged #1

I’ve never been a massive fan of hard core science fiction, but when it’s presented well and has a good story, I’m willing to give it a go, hence me picking up THE FORGED #1 based on reading a preview in . . . well, PREVIEWS before Image dropped previews from that catalogue. And it ticks both of those boxes for me – an absolutely gorgeous looking, magazine sized comic that has a massive world/universe building story with characters that are both archetypes and complicated.

Well worth a read.

May

Shazam! #1

Thank you, Mark Waid and Dan Mora, for reinvigorating SHAZAM! and the characters within, and for writing such a damn fine book that is full of heart, and imagination, and just so much damn fun!

Regular readers over the years have heard me bemoan the lack of fun in comics, particularly from DC, and especially during the long, long reign of Dan Didio, but this book feels like none of that happened at all. As I write this in December of 2023, we’re six issues into this series and I’m so happy I picked it up. Those of you who wait for the trade probably won’t have to wait too long for this to be collected and I heartily recommend it.

Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files #41

2000 AD are producing about two of these each year and they’re still years away from catching up to the present date.

They’re great collections, though, reprinting the Dredd stories in order from both 2000 AD and THE MEGAZINE and it’s a mix of both massive, multi-part epics where you generally don’t know who is going to survive (apart from Dredd, of course), to the silly, one-and-done stories that still showcase the humour and satire that the strip is known for, alongside the ultraviolence.

June

Power Girl Special #1

Okay . . . guess we have to talk about this one.

I’ve always been a Power Girl fan, right back from JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE which is probably where I first encountered her – I missed the post-Crisis retconning of her origins in SECRET ORIGINS and then her first mini-series, so I’m pretty sure JLE was where I picked up with her story. And I loved her no-bullshit, strong minded, attitude that made her one of the heavy hitters of the League and (if we skip over the never to be mentioned mystical pregnancy storyline) I’ve stuck with the character ever since. Her Palmiotti/Gray/Conner series (ie the first twelve issues) were superb and even Judd Winick managed not to balls the series up when he took over.

I had high hopes for this new series, even with her developing new psychic powers following the LAZARUS PLANET event earlier in the year, but her ongoing that followed this one-shot has so far left me cold. I can even get along with the secret identity name change to Paige, but the drastic change in her character, to where she’s so unsure of herself and her relationship to other characters . . . that’s not the Power Girl I’ve been reading for years.

Colonel Weird and Little Andromeda

Over in the BLACK HAMMER world, we have this oversized hardback one-shot that focuses on Colonel Weird and some multi-versal . . . sorry, Para-zonal adventures that allows for guest artists galore to detail different stories, as well as introducing Willow D. Whisper, Chaos Investigator who I really hope turns up in the currently running final BLACK HAMMER mini-series.

It’s a really nicely done exploration of the character with some stunning art that varies from dreamy watercolours to some really horrific scenes in a mid-70s pen and ink style, with each story having an appropriate look and feel.

July

Knight Terrors: First Blood #1

DC’s summer event this year was KNIGHT TERRORS which kicked off with this one-shot before romping through a mini-series. There were the inevitable spin off to show how certain characters were affected, but I didn’t bother with those and just bought the main title which, to be honest, was good fun. Super-heroes dealing with essentially a horror-themed villain in a story that was basically wrapped up in that mini-series was something I enjoyed. Sure, there’s a tease for more shenanigans to follow, but the tale itself was well written and very nicely illustrated.

August

Rogue Sun #15

Another Massive-verse title in the shared world of RADIANT BLACK but separate enough to hold its own. Rogue Sun is the hero, possessor of the Sun Stone that gives them powers to fight the bad guys, and is handed down from hero to successor. Trouble is, by issue #15, one of the previous holders of the stone, Caleb, doesn’t think the current holder, Dylan, is doing a good enough job and has tricked him into giving up the mantle so that Caleb can possess Dylan’s body and show him how it’s done.

Consistently well written and easily one of the best looking books out there, if you like your superheroics tinged with a bit of mysticism and without a spandex outfit in sight, I easily recommend this one.

Blue Beetle: Graduation Day

This was the first time in years that a new series spotlighting Blue Beetle came out and my reaction was to wait for this trade, something I’ve done with another few series towards the end of the year.

It was good, probably better than I expected to be honest, though it was clearly created in the hopes of getting a bump in sales from the (sadly) slightly disappointing move. The original mini-series obviously did well enough to get a continuation which, again, I haven’t bought but will grab the trades once they’re collected.

September

Black Hammer: The End #1

This is (probably) it – the final (almost certainly) storyline in the BLACK HAMMER universe that has gleefully homaged/parodied the superheroes from DC and Marvel and spun them into a damn fine story with numerous spin-offs and side stories, each one (well, the majority of them) adding to the overall universe building that pays off here. Anti-God, the cosmic villain defeated by the original Black Hammer, has returned, the Para-Zone is collapsing, and alternate versions of heroes are teaming up to try and defeat the bad guy. Well worth a read.

Providence Compendium

It’s not often I pick up collections of recent series that I already own, but I treated myself this year to both this and the NEONOMICON collection as I was on a bit of a Lovecraft kick and really wanted to re-read both stories without digging through my back issue boxes.

And re-reading it for the first time the original series, I was picking up on so many more Lovecraft references – side characters that had a couple of mentions here and there, locations that are touched on, as well as the connections between THE COURTYARD and NEONOMICON and this story. It’s superbly done by both Moore and Burrows and I got a lot more out of it this time round.

October

Green Arrow #5

GREEN ARROW used to be one of my mainstay titles for years, right up until 2011 and the New 52 when the revamp happened and everything went downhill in my opinion. With Joshua Williamson picking the character up after DARK CRISIS, I thought I’d give it a go and was glad that I did as this has been an enjoyable series, acknowledging what a mess Ollie’s continuity became for a time, while also putting it to one side and getting on with telling a story that also includes Connor Hawke’s full time return as Green Arrow alongside his dad.

Tom Strong’s Terrific Tales

Another little treat for myself, picking up the hardback collections of this title that I missed first time around.

It’s an anthology title with numerous characters featured in short stories each issue with only young Tom Strong and Jonni Future having any sort of continuing storyline, but all of them are fun reads if you enjoyed the ABC line of comics back in the day.

November

Geiger: Ground Zero #1

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank have been building stories set in their own world for the last year or so, and this is one of them, exploring the origins of Geiger while also fleshing out the horror that the world has become in the wake of the unknown war that devastated the planet and turned the survivors into characters who wouldn’t be out of place in a Mad Max film.

Really looking forward to the new forthcoming titles set in this shared world.

The Old Guard

I knew nothing of this series until I saw the Netflix adaptation earlier this year which I’d enjoyed. When Mrs Earth-Prime and I went away for a week’s break, she found a nice comics shop in the city where we were staying (as she always does) so when I found this and the second volume on the shelves, I thought I’d treat myself.

I was pleasantly surprised at just how closely the film had stuck to the story within the book down to story beats and even some dialogue, but the second volume was completely new to me and, if the rumoured adaptation of that is going ahead, it’ll be good to see that transferred faithfully as well.

December

Legenderry: Red Sonja #1

Regular readers will know I enjoy the occasional bit of steampunk so when Dynamite produced this one-shot (among other things) to celebrate Red Sonja’s fiftieth anniversary, I grabbed it as I liked the previous stories set in the Legenderry world.

It’s a one-and-done that features a well-known literary character famous for his picture (or is it portrait?) that shows his inner self, and how he uses his paintings to leach the life-force of unsuspecting women. It’s nicely done for what it is, but I’d prefer another mini-series or two in the Legenderry series.

The Wrong Earth

Back when Comixology was still a thing and useable, I would occasionally browse the collections that fairly regularly came up for sale, picking up a handful of titles that in print would have been expensive. Alongside them were the standard trades that only cost a couple of pounds and were sometimes worth taking a punt on. One such was THE WRONG EARTH, a mini-series that took alternate versions of the same hero (and their main villain) and swapped them from one Earth to another.

With Comixology having died and the Kindle app replacement just being awful, I thought I’d pick this one up in a physical trade and I’m glad I did as it’s a damn fine series that takes a fun, hopeful hero and transposes him into the grim-and-gritty world of violence on Earth-Omega, and swaps the grim, relentless hero of that world and puts him in the harmless, shiny world of Earth-Alpha. I will be picking up the follow up trades, as well . . . in physical format.

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And that’s my favourite titles from this year, month by month, or at least those that gave me pause (POWER GIRL, I’m looking at you) or think. Honourable mentions also go to THE MIGHTY BARBARIANS, RADIANT PINK, THE BLOODY DOZEN, and STARGIRL: THE LOST CHILDREN.