Ryan North's Fantastic Four is damn near perfect, bite sized, optimistic, fun.
I'm also really enjoying Tom King's Penguin and it's the exact opposite. Dark, dreary, and one long story. But it's King doing what he does best. I prefer it to W.W.
Batman Dark Age seems likely to live up to superman space age. A fun alt-history with great writing and art by Allred.
All that said, Tom Taylor's run on Nightwing has been my favorite run. It's meandered a bit, but he knows and loves the characters. I'm sad it's ending.
After I wrote this list I realized I left off Ultimate Spider-Man. It belongs up here. I think it's the best spidey book we've had in a while.
As for WW, I'm enjoying it! I'm paying for it every month, but I'm not sure I'd put it on the level of the rest.
See and while I really enjoy Ultimate Spider-Man I’m the same with you and WW. It’s damn good, but I wouldn’t put it quite with the others. LOL
On the Ultimates: I am not a Black Panther fan typically, but I am really liking that book as well. I’m still on the fence on X-Men. I like it because it’s different, but it’s not X-Men.
It's all spun out of what Hickman did in Ultimate Universe setting up a new universe and status quo. I'm not reading black panther so I can't comment on that, but Ultimates is directly spun out of the mini and Spiderman also references it and was set up by it. X-Men is a wholly unique thing that feels much smaller scale. No crossovers between the books afaik.
IMO you can read any of them independently, but Ultimates in particular it would help to also read the mini.
Ok. My dealer was telling me the X-Men book was disconnected and that the entire universe was setup for a little more freedom of storytelling. I was wondering if they were trying to do a version of *All-Star*.
Indies I am loving: Uncanny Valley and I Heart Skull Crusher.
Ultimate Spiderman is obviously doing really well and loved The Ultimates 1 so excited to see how it continues this year.
Skybound Transformers has absolutely blown me away, and I am utterly obsessed. Daniel Warren Johnson is an incredible writer, and it is evidence of a cruel and uncaring universe that I didn’t know about him sooner.
Fantastic Four is just a lot of fun. The world feels like a brighter place when I read it. If the upcoming movie captures even a fraction of the warmth this comic radiates, it will be a huge success.
The Energon Universe. Each individual comic (Except Transformers) is a tiny bit hit-or-miss, but I can really appreciate this slower, more deliberate approach to universe building, and how the universe seems to serve as enrichment for the individual stories, not the other way around. It’s very refreshing
The Ultimate universe, which is an interesting counterpoint to the Energon universe. Each comic so far has been phenomenal, but it does seem just that tiny bit more preoccupied with being a part of a bigger universe, while still telling a no-less engaging, smaller story. Spider-Man, in particular, is an incredibly engaging take on the character that I want to continue for a long, long time, but it was just that tiny bit off-putting for me when he got his powers by >!Being handed them by Iron-Lad instead of getting them organically!<, while the Energon universe is also a refresh, but needed no such pretense. But that’s neither here nor there, really. Just something I find fun to think about. I still await each issue with bated breath.
It’s been slightly over 6 months since I’ve gotten into comics. It’s now been hundreds of digital comics, 6 omnibuses, about 15 TPBS and about 180 singles!
What I’ve enjoyed the most by far is Sandman Vol 1 through 6 and the Animal Man omnibus. I’ve also greatly enjoyed Something is Killing the Children Vol 1 and 2 and have Vol 3 and 4 coming in my next monthly haul. And how can I forget Maus, which left me speechless for the better part of an evening.
In terms of singles I have also had a lot fun with back issues. Picking up a full run of Professor Xavier and the X-men and New X-Men Academy. For comics coming out this year I have so far picked up everything related to the Ultimate Universe and all titles connected to Blood Hunt.
The coming 6 months I’m planning to move out of my first apartment into my first house, with more space to dedicate to book and comic collection. At that point I want to figure out how to display comics on my wall. I’m thinking a display between two bookcases. For that I’ll be picking up some keys. My favourite character so far has been Wolverine, so probably looking to start there.
Congratulations man. I just started 2 months ago and have been flying through books. Graphic novels and comics have been the best medium of entertainment. I recently got my wife into them and she is reading more than me.
I think there is a stigma with graphic novels that holds a lot of ppl back. They are missing out.
Try Invincible and 8 Billion Genies, 2 of my favorites so far.
**The One Hand / Six Fingers**
Two series showing the same events from different perspectives. It’s a future set noir (think Blade Runner) with one series following a detective and the other following a killer(?).
Ram V, Laurence Campbell, Dan Watters, Sumit Kumar, Lee Loughridge are the creators. Image is putting both series out currently.
*Favorite comics released/finished in 2024:*
**Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees** by Patrick Horvath
**The One Hand** by Ram V & Laurence Campbell/**The Six Fingers** by Dan Watters & Sumit Kumar (two miniseries telling different sides of the same story, so I'm counting them as one - also I'm aware that The One Hand has one issue left but at this point I doubt even a dud ending will knock it out of this list)
**Avengers Twilight** by Chip Zdarsky & Daniel Acuna
**Damn Them All** by Si Spurrier & Charlie Adlard (sneaking this one in here, the final issue came out in January)
*Favorite current ongoings:*
**Rare Flavours** by Ram V & Felipe Andrade
**The Sacrificers** by Rick Remender & Max Fiumura
**Kaya** by Wes Craig
**The Forged** by Greg Rucka, Eric Trautmann & Mike Henderson
**The Whisper Queen: A Blacksand Tale** by Chip Zdarsky & Kris Anka
**Fishflies** by Jeff Lemire
**Ice Cream Man** by W. Maxwell Prince & Martin Morazzo
**John Constantine: Hellblazer - Dead in America** by Si Spurrier & Aaron Campbell
*Favorite reads this year overall, not tied to release date:*
1. **Shubeik Lubeik** by Deena Mohamed
2. **Ordinary Victories** by Manu Larcent
3. **Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees** by Patrick Horvath
4. **The Heavy Bright** by Cathy Malkasian
5. **Stuck Rubber Baby** by Howard Cruse
6. **The Killer** by Matz and Luc Jacamon
7. **Tunnels** by Rutu Modan
8. **Bolero** by Wyatt Kennedy & Luana Vecchio
We seem to have similar tastes, so I'm definitely gonna look into some of the things on your list that I haven't read.
Since you have Bolero in your favorites (well deserved), have you been reading Kennedy's new ongoing, Nights?
Ultimate Black Panther rules. The whole line really. Still not very into Ultimate X-Men as I'd prefer to see them handle the X-Men the way they're doing the other Ultimate books, if it were an indie title I'd dig it but the others seem so grand in scope and style, feels out of place in this Universe.
It's Tom King's new series with Bilquis Evely, Matheus Lopes, and Clayton Cowles (the same team behind Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow). It's coming out from Dark Horse now. Highly recommended
I'm a sucker for Tom King, especially when he's collaborating with really stylistic artists. His creator owned series with Elsa Chartier at Image called Love Everlasting is also excellent
- Ultimate Spiderman & Ultimate X-Men have been to be a joy to go through so far, but probably too early to recommend.
- Nightwing has been my go to series for a while now, and continues to be fantastic
- Batman & Robin also has been a lot of recent, character-building fun
- Avengers Twilight was weird in some ways but overall spectacular
This series has the right amount of weird mixed with great social commentary. Some of the pages make me feel like I’m the character seeing shit. It’s a very empathic experience.
"Interesting thread as there seem to be so many great comics coming out this year. But as you are asking for our favorite, I am loving Redcoat. It has really piqued my interest in new comics. I'm looking forward to getting hold of the next copy as soon as it's out. I haven't had this level of interest in any comic, manga, or graphic novels for years - not since I was a kid.
Thanks
John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America has my vote. Only just picked it up, but I’m really loving it. It’s pretty political, which isn’t everyone’s thing, but so far I think it’s a pretty interesting critique of America and is a great followup to Spurrier’s critique of Great Britain in his last Hellblazer run.
I’m also just a sucker for the Spurrier’s Sandman Universe titles and enjoy his storycrafting about stories themselves.
Transformers - After reading the IDW 05 run in full (which was still a lot of fun but there are parts that really dragged), I've really appreciated Skybounds current run. I don't feel like any characters are terrible to read, I love the art and I really like where the story is going so far
Ultimate Spiderman - I haven't paid much attention to spiderman comics over the years, only reading particularly popular (or infamous) chapters but even then, I can understand how exciting it is to finally see Peter Parker who actually has his shit together.
Ultimate X-Men - As a manga fanatic, I'd have to be insane not to check this series out and I'm so happy I did. I'm really loving seeing mutants being so new to the world and not understood at all by the general population. The art is absolutely phenomenal and is the only comic I'm reading right now where I'm constantly doing rereads just for the art.
Fantastic Four, She-Hulk, Scarlet Witch (including Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver), Immortal Thor, Hulk, Superman, Nightwing, all the Energon Universe books, but especially Transformers, The Sacrificers, The Deviant, to name a few lol.
Ultimate Spider-Man
Ryan North's Fantastic Four is damn near perfect, bite sized, optimistic, fun. I'm also really enjoying Tom King's Penguin and it's the exact opposite. Dark, dreary, and one long story. But it's King doing what he does best. I prefer it to W.W. Batman Dark Age seems likely to live up to superman space age. A fun alt-history with great writing and art by Allred. All that said, Tom Taylor's run on Nightwing has been my favorite run. It's meandered a bit, but he knows and loves the characters. I'm sad it's ending.
The only other I’d add to this list is King’s Wonder Woman.
After I wrote this list I realized I left off Ultimate Spider-Man. It belongs up here. I think it's the best spidey book we've had in a while. As for WW, I'm enjoying it! I'm paying for it every month, but I'm not sure I'd put it on the level of the rest.
See and while I really enjoy Ultimate Spider-Man I’m the same with you and WW. It’s damn good, but I wouldn’t put it quite with the others. LOL On the Ultimates: I am not a Black Panther fan typically, but I am really liking that book as well. I’m still on the fence on X-Men. I like it because it’s different, but it’s not X-Men.
What's going on with this Ultimate U? Is it a continuity free world or something? Are the books connected?
It's all spun out of what Hickman did in Ultimate Universe setting up a new universe and status quo. I'm not reading black panther so I can't comment on that, but Ultimates is directly spun out of the mini and Spiderman also references it and was set up by it. X-Men is a wholly unique thing that feels much smaller scale. No crossovers between the books afaik. IMO you can read any of them independently, but Ultimates in particular it would help to also read the mini.
Ok. My dealer was telling me the X-Men book was disconnected and that the entire universe was setup for a little more freedom of storytelling. I was wondering if they were trying to do a version of *All-Star*.
Dark Age is cool. Gotta check out that FF run.
Indies I am loving: Uncanny Valley and I Heart Skull Crusher. Ultimate Spiderman is obviously doing really well and loved The Ultimates 1 so excited to see how it continues this year.
Transformers Cobra Commander
All of Energon universe. Duel, Scarlett, and destro too!
Yea, they haven't missed yet.
Skybound Transformers has absolutely blown me away, and I am utterly obsessed. Daniel Warren Johnson is an incredible writer, and it is evidence of a cruel and uncaring universe that I didn’t know about him sooner. Fantastic Four is just a lot of fun. The world feels like a brighter place when I read it. If the upcoming movie captures even a fraction of the warmth this comic radiates, it will be a huge success. The Energon Universe. Each individual comic (Except Transformers) is a tiny bit hit-or-miss, but I can really appreciate this slower, more deliberate approach to universe building, and how the universe seems to serve as enrichment for the individual stories, not the other way around. It’s very refreshing The Ultimate universe, which is an interesting counterpoint to the Energon universe. Each comic so far has been phenomenal, but it does seem just that tiny bit more preoccupied with being a part of a bigger universe, while still telling a no-less engaging, smaller story. Spider-Man, in particular, is an incredibly engaging take on the character that I want to continue for a long, long time, but it was just that tiny bit off-putting for me when he got his powers by >!Being handed them by Iron-Lad instead of getting them organically!<, while the Energon universe is also a refresh, but needed no such pretense. But that’s neither here nor there, really. Just something I find fun to think about. I still await each issue with bated breath.
It’s been slightly over 6 months since I’ve gotten into comics. It’s now been hundreds of digital comics, 6 omnibuses, about 15 TPBS and about 180 singles! What I’ve enjoyed the most by far is Sandman Vol 1 through 6 and the Animal Man omnibus. I’ve also greatly enjoyed Something is Killing the Children Vol 1 and 2 and have Vol 3 and 4 coming in my next monthly haul. And how can I forget Maus, which left me speechless for the better part of an evening. In terms of singles I have also had a lot fun with back issues. Picking up a full run of Professor Xavier and the X-men and New X-Men Academy. For comics coming out this year I have so far picked up everything related to the Ultimate Universe and all titles connected to Blood Hunt. The coming 6 months I’m planning to move out of my first apartment into my first house, with more space to dedicate to book and comic collection. At that point I want to figure out how to display comics on my wall. I’m thinking a display between two bookcases. For that I’ll be picking up some keys. My favourite character so far has been Wolverine, so probably looking to start there.
Congratulations man. I just started 2 months ago and have been flying through books. Graphic novels and comics have been the best medium of entertainment. I recently got my wife into them and she is reading more than me. I think there is a stigma with graphic novels that holds a lot of ppl back. They are missing out. Try Invincible and 8 Billion Genies, 2 of my favorites so far.
**The One Hand / Six Fingers** Two series showing the same events from different perspectives. It’s a future set noir (think Blade Runner) with one series following a detective and the other following a killer(?). Ram V, Laurence Campbell, Dan Watters, Sumit Kumar, Lee Loughridge are the creators. Image is putting both series out currently.
I love this series!
***Solo:*** * Vengeance Of The Moon Knight * The Incredible Hulk (particularly the Ghost Rider & "Frozen Charlotte" issues) * Wolverine (particularly the *Sabretooth War* arc) * Blade ***Team:*** * Fantastic Four (particularly issue #8 w/Doom and #19) * The Avengers ***Mini:*** * Wolverine: Blood Hunt * X-Men: Heir Of Apocalypse * Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt * Cable * The Sentry ***One-Shot:*** * Roxxon Presents: Thor * NacelleVerse #0 * Giant-Size Fantastic Four * Giant-Size Hulk ***Event:*** * Blood Hunt
Have you read wolverine bloodhunt 2? I was impressed with the first one
Not yet. I've subscribed to it and I'll probably read it tomorrow or this weekend Issue #1 was great.
Subscribed? Issue #1 was so good lmk how 2 is
*Favorite comics released/finished in 2024:* **Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees** by Patrick Horvath **The One Hand** by Ram V & Laurence Campbell/**The Six Fingers** by Dan Watters & Sumit Kumar (two miniseries telling different sides of the same story, so I'm counting them as one - also I'm aware that The One Hand has one issue left but at this point I doubt even a dud ending will knock it out of this list) **Avengers Twilight** by Chip Zdarsky & Daniel Acuna **Damn Them All** by Si Spurrier & Charlie Adlard (sneaking this one in here, the final issue came out in January) *Favorite current ongoings:* **Rare Flavours** by Ram V & Felipe Andrade **The Sacrificers** by Rick Remender & Max Fiumura **Kaya** by Wes Craig **The Forged** by Greg Rucka, Eric Trautmann & Mike Henderson **The Whisper Queen: A Blacksand Tale** by Chip Zdarsky & Kris Anka **Fishflies** by Jeff Lemire **Ice Cream Man** by W. Maxwell Prince & Martin Morazzo **John Constantine: Hellblazer - Dead in America** by Si Spurrier & Aaron Campbell *Favorite reads this year overall, not tied to release date:* 1. **Shubeik Lubeik** by Deena Mohamed 2. **Ordinary Victories** by Manu Larcent 3. **Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees** by Patrick Horvath 4. **The Heavy Bright** by Cathy Malkasian 5. **Stuck Rubber Baby** by Howard Cruse 6. **The Killer** by Matz and Luc Jacamon 7. **Tunnels** by Rutu Modan 8. **Bolero** by Wyatt Kennedy & Luana Vecchio
We seem to have similar tastes, so I'm definitely gonna look into some of the things on your list that I haven't read. Since you have Bolero in your favorites (well deserved), have you been reading Kennedy's new ongoing, Nights?
I actually wasn’t aware of Nights, so thanks for the heads up!
Ultimate Black Panther rules. The whole line really. Still not very into Ultimate X-Men as I'd prefer to see them handle the X-Men the way they're doing the other Ultimate books, if it were an indie title I'd dig it but the others seem so grand in scope and style, feels out of place in this Universe.
By far, Tom King's Wonder Woman. Every issue has been a banger and it shows no signs of slowing down.
Are you reading Helen of Wyndhorn?
I have never heard of it before! Fill in me, please!
It's Tom King's new series with Bilquis Evely, Matheus Lopes, and Clayton Cowles (the same team behind Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow). It's coming out from Dark Horse now. Highly recommended
Thanks for the recommendation! I did so enjoy Woman of Tomorrow!
I'm a sucker for Tom King, especially when he's collaborating with really stylistic artists. His creator owned series with Elsa Chartier at Image called Love Everlasting is also excellent
- Ultimate Spiderman & Ultimate X-Men have been to be a joy to go through so far, but probably too early to recommend. - Nightwing has been my go to series for a while now, and continues to be fantastic - Batman & Robin also has been a lot of recent, character-building fun - Avengers Twilight was weird in some ways but overall spectacular
Hellblazer, Santos Sisters, Den reprint, Mythologies & Apocrypha, the new Juliette Collet stuff
Probably a tie between Geiger and Rook
*The Sickness*. Is anyone else reading this? It feels so deep. Takes me like 30 minutes to read an issue. Love the art and the concept.
Yes, I am! I’m glad they’re taking a break to catch up before coming back, the delays are well worth the art
This series has the right amount of weird mixed with great social commentary. Some of the pages make me feel like I’m the character seeing shit. It’s a very empathic experience.
"Interesting thread as there seem to be so many great comics coming out this year. But as you are asking for our favorite, I am loving Redcoat. It has really piqued my interest in new comics. I'm looking forward to getting hold of the next copy as soon as it's out. I haven't had this level of interest in any comic, manga, or graphic novels for years - not since I was a kid. Thanks
[Napalm Lullaby](https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/napalm-lullaby-1) is excellent
John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America has my vote. Only just picked it up, but I’m really loving it. It’s pretty political, which isn’t everyone’s thing, but so far I think it’s a pretty interesting critique of America and is a great followup to Spurrier’s critique of Great Britain in his last Hellblazer run. I’m also just a sucker for the Spurrier’s Sandman Universe titles and enjoy his storycrafting about stories themselves.
Birds of Prey Superman Vengeance of the moon knight The immortal Thor
USM and Transformers, with Ultimates looking very good as well. But USM and Energon are the best things on shelves at the moment
Transformers and Ultimate Spider-Man for me.
Transformers - After reading the IDW 05 run in full (which was still a lot of fun but there are parts that really dragged), I've really appreciated Skybounds current run. I don't feel like any characters are terrible to read, I love the art and I really like where the story is going so far Ultimate Spiderman - I haven't paid much attention to spiderman comics over the years, only reading particularly popular (or infamous) chapters but even then, I can understand how exciting it is to finally see Peter Parker who actually has his shit together. Ultimate X-Men - As a manga fanatic, I'd have to be insane not to check this series out and I'm so happy I did. I'm really loving seeing mutants being so new to the world and not understood at all by the general population. The art is absolutely phenomenal and is the only comic I'm reading right now where I'm constantly doing rereads just for the art.
From Marvel: - Ultimate Spider-man - Ultimate X-men From DC: - Green Lantern
Fantastic Four, She-Hulk, Scarlet Witch (including Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver), Immortal Thor, Hulk, Superman, Nightwing, all the Energon Universe books, but especially Transformers, The Sacrificers, The Deviant, to name a few lol.
*The Deviant* is great. I'm really enjoying the subtle commentary about the way people have and still tend to villainize gays.