Tuesday 3 July 2012

Comics you should be reading right now - Part 1


 Comics you should be reading right now - Part 1


Batman
Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion

This is an inevitable one on this list because Batman has always been one of my favourite characters. Some of the first comics I ever read were the Batman comics published in the UK by Fleetway, reprinting stories from the US comics. This led me to my first local comic shop in my then home town of Preston and that was it. I was hooked. Since then I’ve read tonnes of comics, of all genres – superheroes, crime, fantasy, sci-fi, indie stuff. Batman has always been a constant.

The Batman of DC’s New 52, written by Scott Snyder with art by Greg Capullo is one of the best incarnations I have seen. Capullo’s style is perfect for Batman and his Gotham City environment, and his art, together with Jonathan Glapion’s stunning colouring perfectly captures the darkness of the character. Scott Snyder has been writing comics for a few years now and is widely recognised as one of the best around. He was writing Detective Comics before starting on the New 52 Batman, so had really got to grips with the character. On this run his writing is getting better and better. The introduction of the terrifying Court of Owls is a really important development in the history and mythology of Batman and Gotham City and has made for some amazing storytelling from Snyder. Whether you are a fan of Batman or superheroes in general, or not, you have to read this comic. Each of the current ten issues to date has been the best comic out that week, and it just keeps getting better. Snyder and Capullo are a brilliant team and they really love this book. You can tell, because it looks absolutely stunning.

Below is a panel from Batman #7. Batman, having recently survived a near-fatal torturous ordeal at the hands of the Court of Owls arrives back at the bat-cave, beaten and bloody, vulnerable, yet defiant.  



 
Mind The Gap
Written by Jim McCann
Art by Rodin Esquejo and Sonia Oback

Mind The Gap is a new creator-owned comic from Image; which, by the way is producing some of the best comics in its twenty year history right now. And Mind The Gap is one of my favourite books at the moment, even though it’s only just reached issue #2. I’ve re-read issue #1 a couple of times now and it is absolutely sumptuous. The art is beautiful and the writing is brilliant. The first issue sets things up nicely as we meet the protagonist Elle Petersen, as well as various members of her family and friends, both good and bad. I won’t give anything away about the story but it’s started out as a mysterious whodunit type story, multiple characters being introduced, at this stage we are not sure how they each fit into the story or how important they are. The writing gives you just enough information to be interested in finding out more about the characters and the story. Which is what the first issue of a new series should do. I for one am hooked already. 


 
Daredevil
Written by Mark Waid
Art by various including Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin

I’ve written here before about the current run of Daredevil and how great it is. But for good measure I am going to include it here because it is quite simply a comic book that you should be reading. The writing is fantastic. Mark Waid is a really great fit for the character. The art is stunning every month. It has a letters page, which I think is sadly missing from most mainstream comics now. I love letters pages in comic books and it’s great to see one here. Above all, Daredevil is a whole lot of fun to read and it reminds me every month why I spend so much of my time reading, thinking about and writing about these damn things.

How awesome does this look?



 
Punisher
Written by Greg Rucka
Art by Marco Chechetto and Matt Hollingsworth

Another character recently re-invented by Marvel Comics, the current run of The Punisher started at the same time as Daredevil. There is a lot of history between the two characters and they have indeed had an uneasy alliance in a recent crossover. As with Mark Waid and Daredevil, Greg Rucka and The Punisher is a perfect fit. Rucka’s writing is really suited to the complex character of Frank Castle. A character which has often been misunderstood by both writers and readers. The art on this comic book is absolutely stunning as well and it is an absolute pleasure to read. I can’t wait to see where Rucka goes with this one.

Look at this.



Enjoy the above. 

Part 2 to follow soon. 





3 comments:

  1. I'm reading Batman at the moment from the beginning of its relaunch and its one of the best comics I have read in my almost twenty years of reading comics.
    I don't read any of the others although I wish I had picked them up.

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    1. I totally agree Mark. It's really great to see creators who clearly love the Batman character and, even after all these years, are managing to take it in new directions. I just hope they stay with the book for a long time to come.

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