Best Comics of the Year - 2019

My contributions to MultiversityComics.com’s Best of 2019 coverage is below. Each blurb was included as part of a larger list of content, which I highly recommend checking out. You can find a link to the full article with each blurb, and you can find Multiversity’s full 2019 end of year coverage here.

Best publisher: Image Comics

After a long [checks notes] two whole years of being ousted as the sole champion of Multiversity’s Best Publisher honor, Image Comics has taken back its place atop the leaderboard. What’s most remarkable to me is that Image continues to avoid relying on a few high profile books to earn its reputation. This year “The Wicked + The Divine,” “Paper Girls,” and “The Walking Dead,” some of Image’s heaviest hitters, wrapped up their acclaimed runs with bold finales–in one case so bold that Image neglected to inform anyone that it was coming.

Yet you could ignore those books when judging Image’s 2019 output and still have a deep deck of outstanding original content from which to draw. “The White Trees” delivered a queer high fantasy narrative that was equal parts contemplative thinkpiece and action thrill ride. “Little Bird” built a twisted vision of the future with an emotional beating heart. “Ascender” brought a worthy sequel to one of Image’s best books.

Image’s returning books only grew more accomplished this year, as well. The weird and wonderful “Die” refused to be pinned down, morphing and reshaping itself, defying explanation with each new issue. “Bitter Root” exuded blackness with its mystical Jazz Age monster tale. The religious nightmares of “Gideon Falls” continued to push the boundaries of what a comic can do. Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda added to their ever-expanding list of accolades with their third consecutive Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story for “Monstress.”

You could likely go through each and every book Image Comics published this year and not come back with any that felt like they were playing in the same sandbox. It’s no small feat that with two of their biggest books–“Saga” and “Sex Criminals”–sitting out for the year, Image still managed to top our list. That points to stability and longevity for this flexible powerhouse of a publisher who isn’t looking to drop from our #1 slot any time soon.

Best Original Graphic Novel - Shadow of the Batgirl

When I first saw the solicits for “The White Trees,” I was apprehensive. The previews looked gorgeous and a team of Kris Anka, Chip Zdarsky, Matt Wilson, and Aditya Bidikar felt like a dream collaboration, but two issues seemed awfully brief. The scope looked epic and the pitch of the story seemed to promise a big fantasy drama, but cramming that into just two issues seemed destined to shortchange what could have been a great book.

As it turns out, I was both right and wrong—“The White Trees” is both the perfect length and far too short. Crucially, two issues was the exact right number for this narrative. It packs in stunning imagery, embraces its characters’ queerness, and moves from scene to scene without a hint of abruptness. The magic trick of “The White Trees” is that it feels larger than its format while fitting perfectly into its boundaries, never feeling like it is straining to be something larger.

The creators built a full world of nuanced characters and an emotional narrative tinged with regret. Anka and Wilson composed one of the most kinetic and engaging action sequences I’ve ever read in a comic. All of this is brilliantly accomplished in two issues, giving each story beat—up to and including its devastating finale—the space it needs to sing.

Yet I long to spend more time in this world, with Sir Krylos the Bold, Sir Dahvlan the Swift, and Sir Scotiar of Blacksand, with this fantastic country filled with somber magic and an implied bloody past. That’s not a knock on “The White Trees,” really. That’s a testament to how much this book and this world grabbed me, and how much of a knockout this miniseries truly was. Two issues was enough for this story, but it wasn’t enough for me, and I hope we get the chance to journey back to The Fourth Realm with this creative team. 

Best new Series - Something is Killing the Children

Decompressed storytelling gets a bad rap. Handled incorrectly, it can kill any energy a story has, but in the right hands (like, say, the hands of James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera, and Miquel Muerto), you can get a slow burning build-up into a symphony. That’s what we’ve gotten from “Something is Killing the Children” so far. With only three issues on the shelves at the time of this writing, we haven’t gotten much in the way of plot. Instead, Tynion, Dell’Edera, and Muerto have seeded kernels of horror throughout their depiction of a small town haunted by a mostly unseen monstrous presence.

I’d be hard pressed to think of a more masterful opening scene in a comic this year than the one we get in issue #1. It’s a hell of a calling card, one that announces this book as one of the most exciting books on the shelves. It layers us in dread–first, we hear a horror story; then, we learn that story was a fantasy; and finally, unsettlingly, we learn that the truth is much, much worse than the story we’ve been told.

For most of these first issues the series has kept us mired in the terror surrounding the horrific acts of violence being visited on the children of this small town. Beyond one horrific, gory sequence that closes the first issue, most of the violence is implied, existing off-panel or in the wide, traumatized eyes of our central character. In rereading the first issue for this write-up, I was surprised at just how brutal that sequence actually was, mostly because of how the following issues build their tension from implication rather than action. The sequence is so shocking, the violence rendered so impressionistically by Dell’Edera and Muerto, that you could convince yourself it was nothing but a nightmare.

What we’re left with after that bloody child reaping is the knowledge that this is just the beginning. For me the mark of a great new series comes not just from what we’ve gotten, but from what it promises for the future. With the horror brewing in “Something is Killing the Children,” we can be sure the destination is going to be well worth the slow, creeping ride.