Looking back at 2017: 10 best graphic novels

Much like my list for the five best novels, the ten best graphic novels list covers any graphic novels I've read in 2017, whether they were published this year or not.

Scott McDaniel rocked Daredevil during his
great run with D.G. Chichester.

1. Howling Commandos of SHIELD
   
   A great monsters meets adventure yarn quickly derailed by Marvel's obsession with publishing twenty too many titles.
   
   
2. Karnak: The Flaw in All Things
   
   Warren Ellis' entry into the Inhumans line of comics was easily the best, though a change in artists at the beginning derailed it from the beginning and made this the first and only collection.
   
   
3. The Nameless City
   
   Faith Erin Hicks' all ages fantasy tale was incredibly well put together and left me excited for more.
   
   
4. Dark Knight: The Master Race
   
   Brian Azzarello teamed with Frank Miller for an epic sequel to The Dark Knight. Probably not everyone's cup of tea, but as a personal fan of this future DC, it was an epic continuance as Batman took on a team of Kryptonian psychopaths.
   
   
5. Throwaways
   
   I loved Caitlin Kittredge's excellent Coffin Hill. Her Image Comics follow up with a story mixing superheroes with super spies. It's one of my favorite books to come out of nowhere in a long time.
   
   
6. Secret Empire
   
   Though it in no way was about a secret empire, the limited series offered an interesting new tale of the Marvel Universe. Unfortunately, the lead up to it was such a disaster, I doubt this final book will ever get much credit as Marvel fights to keep from faltering in 2018.
   
   
7. Red Wolf: Man Out of Time
   
   The only collection of the post-Secret War series was a lot of fun and seemed to be the start of a truly fascinating new corner of the Marvel Universe. But like Howling Commandoes, it had no chance to get off the ground at all.
   
   
8. Daredevil: Fall From Grace
   
   The classic D.G. Chichester and Scott McDaniel swan song to Daredevil was a great series that could have set up an intriguing new future for the character. Instead, it was quickly thrown away for a return to a lighter funner look at Daredevil.
   
   
9. Bandette: Stealers Keepers
   
   The second volume of the Colleen Coover and Paul Tobin series is every bit as good as the first. This book needs more issues desperately. I am hard pressed to find a comic as fun as it.
   
   
10. Deathstroke: The Professional and The Gospel of Slade
    
    The first twelve issues of Christopher J. Priest's run on the character have defined Deathstroke for a new generation. I strongly respect DC for making Deathstroke an important character in the DCU again. With his future in the DC movie universe, here's hoping this series continues for several more years.

Deathstroke Rebirth & Deathstroke: The Professional cover art by ACO.

Looking back at 2017: Top 5 articles on Super Powered Fiction

I did not publish as much this year as I have in the past. Things came up that derailed just about everything, from battles with intestinal issues (three times) to depression and money issues. It's been a rough go and that meant sometimes this blog suffered. But here are the five high points of my 2017 blog publishing schedule, even if they came as sometimes low points for my life.

I rarely need a ton of excuses to post a picture of beautiful women, but I'll use this one 
to give another look at the lovely (and inspiring) Ginary Suicide. Imag: SuicideGirls.com.

• Where I've been, or when life leaves you with no lemonade
  
  This is the post where I covered some my issues in the first half of the year. I won't pretend they're all fixed, but a job change and (relatively) better health have helped a lot.
  
  
• A few thoughts on Wonder Woman
  
  I didn't catch the Gal Gadot vehicle until it hit VOD, but I threw out a few of my thoughts on why it succeeds while other DC releases have not.
  
  
• Succubi and sucky jobs
  
  I still haven't quite wrapped my urban fantasy project, but this article talks about a few of my plans there as well as those aforementioned positive job changes.
  
  
• Star Wars, divisive pop culture and entitlement
  
  Because it needs to be said again and again, I wrote this article on why it is okay to not like the new Star Wars while still letting everyone else love it and it continue in the direction Lucasfilm has chosen.
  
  
• On Cornell
  
  I wrote this one after Chris Cornell took his own life. I have to be honest that while I was never at that point, I was certainly spiraling towards it. His suicide was a sobering moment for yours truly and it still leaves me with a spirit to fight. Godspeed, Chris. 

We will end the week of looking back (with one last article on 2017 in the wings for next week) with Chris Cornell's last major hit, one whose Old West music video has been removed from online. Featuring Cornell escaping a hanging, it seems it was deemed too dark in the wake of his death. But "Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart" is an amazing song from an immense talent that needs to be heard.

Looking back at 2017: The five top reads

2017 was a strange year for me on the reading front. I started and threw out more books because I wasn't interested in finishing than ever before. On top of that, I focused a lot more attention on health matters and a lot less on reading books, so I just don't have the pool I might normally have for this list. But here are the titles I read in calendar year 2017 that I feel are worth a look by my able eyed readers.

Remember this list isn't necessarily of 2017 released books, just of book's I've read in 2017.

1. Indigo by Charlaine Harris, Christopher Golden, Kelley Armstrong, Seanan McGuire, Tim Lebbon, Mark Morris, Jonathan Maberry, James A. Moore, Cherie Priest and Kat Richardson.
   
   I'm still not sure who did what on the ten writers that contributed to the first shared character novel. But the weird hodgepodge of superhero and urban fantasy that resulted was certainly a unique novel. While not as good as the Wild Cards series overall, I'm curious to see where a follow up might go for this one.
   
   
2. Storm Front by Jim Butcher. 
   
   I might be a bit late to the Harry Dresden bandwagon, but I greatly enjoyed his first adventure, a fun mash-up of magic, urban fantasy and old school noir.
   
   
3. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman.
   
   Not Gaiman's best work but I suspect that is due to the non-continuous narrative required of the project. He certainly did weave a unique look at the full cycle of the Norse gods, their worlds and their enemies. With a limited number of resources for Norse mythology not built around Marvel Comics or scholarly study of ancient manuscripts, it certainly will do a lot to expand the following for a mythology often dwarfed by Greek, Roman and Egyptian traditions.
   
   
4. Black Pulp, edited by Tommy Hancock, Gary Phillips and Morgan Minor. 
   
   I'm still not the biggest fan of the title of Pro Se's anthology, but I cannot argue with the results. This one is packed with great and compelling stories from the likes of editors Phillips and Hancock, Ron Fortier, Joe Lansdale, Charles Saunders, Mel Odom, Derrick Ferguson and more. Outside one dreg of a story, this was a great and varied anthology worth a look by any fan of adventure, pulp and sci fi / fantasy.
   
   
5. Blackthorn: Thunder on Mars, created and edited by Van Allen Plexico.
   
   It was a good year for anthologies. While Black Pulp succeeded at creating a wide range of stories, Blackthorn created a shared world and leads and ran wild with them. Creator Plexico's opening story may be the weakest of the bunch, with stories from Mark Bousquet, I. A. Watson, Bobby Nash and more really bringing the concept to life. Blackthorn exudes fun and excitement on nearly every page. Combining old school science fantasy with 80s cartoons tropes taken seriously made me jump for joy with this one.

I suspect 2018 will be a much more reading friendly year than last, but any of these books would be a great start to your own year. What was your favorite read of 2017?

Looking back at 2017: the top 10 songs

This year I've strangely become much more of a radiophile than ever before. I split a lot of time between pop and rock radio and I'm pretty show it shows with perhaps my least expansive list of ten songs ever. But with lots of solid pop music on the radio, it certainly wasn't hard to make this list.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• "Heavydirtysoul" - Twenty One Pilots
  
  
  
• "Everybody Knows" - Sigrid
  
  

THE TOP TEN

1. "Homemade Dynamite" - Lorde
   
   
   
2. "Honey" - Kehlani
   
   
   
3. "Love Galore" - SZA featuring Travis Scott
   
   
   
4. "Heavy" - Linkin Park featuring Kiiara
   
   
   
5. "Feel It Still" - Portugal. The Man
   
   
   
6. "RX (Medicate)" - Theory of a Deadman
   
   
   
7. "Kiwi" - Harry Styles
   
   
   
8. "Wild Thoughts" - DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller
   
   
   
9. "Believer" - Imagine Dragons
   
   
   
10. "...Ready For It" - Taylor Swift
    
    

Looking back at 2017: the five monthly comic series I'm still reading

2017 came with a lot of changes for myself and my family. I have seriously pushed back on my expenditures this year after years of being a hundred dollar plus a month comic reader. I am picking up a lot less material these days in a monthly format and pretty much everything I do grab is through the online juggernaut Comixology.

Here's the five comics I still get in single issue format as the year dawns!

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe
   
   

   

   Image credit: IDW/Comixology/Sophie Campbell.

   IDW is a strange publisher that for reasons completely foreign to me charges more for their trade paperback collections than single issues. While I have not found this secondary Turtles universe series nearly as strong as the main title over the years, it's still a very solid read. Having a place to focus on supporting cast members and other mutants is always a good thing for a universe as wide and interesting as the Turtles seem to foster.
   
   
2. Uber: Invasion
   
   Kieron Gillen remains a favorite writer of mine. While The Wicked + The Divine has moved into trade-waiting for yours truly, his epic Avatar series is still a must buy. While Avatar's weird publishing strategy often means I buy it in chunks rather than as single issues, the continuance of the alternate universe vision of a World War II extended by super powered beings is easily one of the most interesting things on the market today. Expertly researched and impeccably crafted by Gillen and artist Daniel Gete, this is one I have to read to its conclusion.
   
   
3. Rockstars
   
   

   

   Image credit: Image Comics/Comixology/
   Megan Hutchinson.

   Joe Harris is a writer I've enjoyed since the late 90s days of Slingers, but his new Image title may be his best work yet. It brings out a world of rock and magic where aging musicians may very well have sold their souls to the devil. Built on the framework of every weird urban legend from music history, Harris has crafted a fascinating new mythology in just a few issues. I am not sure how long this one is planned to last, but it looks like a fun ride ahead.
   
   
4. Gold Digger
   
   Fred Perry may be one of the most creative and talented men in any field, but barely anyone knows his name. Gold Digger is a one man masterpiece stretching over 200 issues and multiple universes. While this book is often completely insane, it's a marvel to behold month in and month out.
   
   
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
   
   

   

   Image credit: IDW/Comixology/Cory T. Smith. 

   Still written by Tom Waltz and co-plotter Kevin Eastman, the Ninja Turtles' ongoing at IDW has consistently made it into my top comics list for years. With a rotating cast of artists lead by Mateus Santolouco, the book is a nonstop tour in pure awesomeness. While a few of the digressions this year weren't as strong as last year's run, I cannot think of another book as consistently strong month after month as this one. Even as a lifelong Turtle-maniac, Waltz has honed the multiple mythologies of the character into a new ultimate universe for the ages. Check this one out if you haven't already.