Sundays are known for folks gathering around tables on television and pontificating about some of the hottest topics out there, offering their expertise. We bring that tradition to Graphic Policy as the team gathers to debate in our Sunday Roundtable.

On tap this week?

In honor of Black History Month, what black comics character would you like to see headline their own comic, why, and what would you like to see plotwise in that comic?

Logan: Definitely Prodigy because he is one of the few male bisexual characters in the Marvel U. And with his abilities to absorb any mutants’ knowledge, I’d want him to be like a superhero consultant and travel the Marvel U pinch hitting on various teams.

Brett: That’d be a cool concept for him.

Logan: Tbh, I need to read more his of back appearances in New Mutants and X-Men. I just connected with him personally in Young Avengers, and he was fun in Ryan North’s Original Sins too.

Brett: I remember liking him back in the day, but I came in towards the end when he was a regular.

Paul: I like your idea for Prodigy, Logan. Just keep him away from Teddy and Billy…just saying tongue emoticon

Elana: Oh that’s such a cool use for him! And they definitely need to use him more. I’d love him written as being like 21. At this moment of “so I guess I’m an adult now? Ok let’s tackle this step by step”

Logan: I mean even if he doesn’t get his own solo title, I’d love for him to show up in Hellcat and help Patsy w/ her temp agency whilst romancing Ian Soo;)

Elana: Yes!!

Paul: I love that idea!

Troy: Wakanda has always resonated with me, mostly because it flouts most of the propaganda and history of Africa we see in our world. Having never been conquered by colonial interests and being a technological utopia in perfect balance with nature. Ever since the post AvX mutant revival I have always wanted to see a Wakandan team, something Alpha Flight-esque perhaps. There are quite a few interesting characters, out there, like Onome from the Future Foundation, and Nezhno the biracial new X-Man. I would love to see a a tittle dedicated to superhuman Wakandans, and see how Wakanda’s xenophobia and isolationism is explored in this context particularly with a disavowed former Mutant Queen. The politics and intrigue of such a story would be awesome.

Troy: Logan you should check out the Too Much Information New X-Men story arc which focuses solely on prodigy. They really gave him some solid character development, especially after losing his powers post M-Day, (although he had some residual carryover abilities due to the nature of his power set)

Brett: I loved the revival of Heroes for Hire with Misty Knight in charge. It riffed off of the Warriors which is a favorite film of mine. I’d like to revisit that but go hardcore in that 70s vibe. She’d either put together a different team for each arc to deal with an issue, or might be cooler in that there’d be villains trying to escape post heist and she’d be leading the team trying to catch them.

Elana: Anything with The Warriors and / or Misty Knight sounds amazing

Brett: I’m liking the idea more and more of having the villains being the ones trying to get somewhere and dealing with heroes Misty is throwing at them.

Alex: I’d like to see Shadowman headline a series again – although I’ll admit that my only exposure to him has been in the recent Ninjak comics and the N64 game I never played, so I really just want to read more about him.

Paul: I’d like to see Cloak and Dagger headline a book. Get back to their roots; street level book, dealing with drugs and runaways and homeless kids. Maybe have them more grown up, working as some sort of outreach organization who happen to be superheroes and uncover some sort of human trafficing ring/human smuggling, drug running something. Sorry, thoughts just coming out hehe

Alex: Other than Shadowman, though, I would be over the bloody moon to see Maggott return. I think he was killed off panel during Tieri’s Weapon X series, but y’know, comics. Seeing him return to the X-Men’s comics would seriously make me consider picking them up again.

A dude who’s mutant power is two external stomachs that eat anything and give him super strength? Aside from one of the most interesting mutant powers I read during the late 90’s, he was a character who I genuinely resonated with; he felt like an outsider among outsiders.

Paul: a thousand times yes!

Brett: Interesting pick with Maggot.

Alex: I can’t see him ever returning, honestly. He was very emblematic of the time I started branching out into more of the X-Books… I’ve always had a soft spot for Maggott and his stomachs.

Brett: I feel like there’s a metaphor waiting to happen with him and all of today’s various dietary things going on.

Alex: I think you’re absolutely right.

Alex: Also, I just found out Maggott isn’t dead – he was in Uncanny X-Men #600 (I never read the issue, meself).

Brett: Yup

Meghan: I’ll second Prodigy and Misty Knight. I also liked DeConnick’s guest-starring version of Monica Rambeau superhero-ing in New Orleans. A series like that could be pretty great. But she’s in space now, so… ?

Elana: Ooo a Monica: Superhero of New Orleans with gorgeous art would be to die for

Troy: Oh man Gabriele Del’otto would work wonders on that setting.

Elana: Marvel:
So glad that Luke Cage is back to co-lead his own series (he’s the best!)

– Storm needs her own book again. She is one of Marvel’s most high profile characters thanks to movies and cartoons and they continue to under-use her. I’d love either Storm: World Leader of Mutants. Or Storm doing things in Kenta and Egypt but it would NEED to be buy a writer from either of those countries. I don’t want another US perspective on African countries.

I really loved Pak’s Storm book. They could have her go back to Madripoor on “unfinished business”. Or have her try to work with the Morlocks.

Misty Knight needs her own book. I’d love a straight-up Brubaker-ish detective story staring her. One set today OR in the 70s would be amazing.

A Doctor Voodoo book rooted in Caribbean mysticism would be great in the right hands. Again, you’d need someone who understands that spiritual tradition though.

DC:
Thunder and her girlfriend Grace Choi fighting their way through a bushel of DC supervillians could be a lot of fun. Just humor and hitting people.

Bumblebee could be DC’s “college student/super hero with a sense of humor” book. They really don’t have anything like that. You could write some important things about her being a young black woman studying science. I would make it skew a bit older then Squirrel Girl does by having more romance. Then it would be a really unique book with a clear audience.

Alex: The Doctor Voodoo would be right up my alley, and I know somebody who would devour a Storm solo book

Logan: I know nothing about Bumblebee. (Except that she’s in the Superhero Girl toy line.) But I’d read that comic. Plus it could cross over with Batgirl of Burnside.

Ryan: John Shaft. And I’d like to see David Walker writing him. And I’d like it to be a gritty, hard-boiled, “street-level” crime drama than delves into Shaft’s past a bit more than the movies did. Oh, that’s right — that’s already been done, and the sequel comes out next week. Life is good. And yeah, Marvel, give Misty Knight her own series — preferably without that absurd costume you put on her in the last issue of “Captain America.” Just when you think the depiction of women in comics is getting better, along comes something like that to remind you that, hey, we still have a long way to go. Oh, and can I just add that now that the Wonder Woman/Superman romance is history (thank God!), he’d better get hopping and ask Lee Lambert on a date? She’d be the best love interest for Supes in decades.

Sundays are known for folks gathering around tables on television and pontificating about some of the hottest topics out there, offering their expertise. We bring that tradition to Graphic Policy as the team gathers to debate in our Sunday Roundtable.

On tap this week?

How do you find out about comics to read? And a slight twist to that, how would you actually like to find out?

Daphne: Ha. Great way to ask that question. Growing up, I found out about comics through reading comic strips – Calvin and Hobbes got me into Pogo and then I found out Jeff Smith considered Pogo to be a big inspiration, and that made me wonder who Jeff Smith was. His fantasy series, Bone, was my introduction to the world of comic books. After that the Batman/Superman animated series made me aware that superheroes were a thing, but I didn’t get into reading comics regularly until my early 20s. I started with things like Watchmen but when I began to branch out to follow series featuring characters I knew I liked, like Harley Quinn, I learned that being a girl who’s into comics means a major way you learn about new stuff is some dude telling you “that comic sucks, _____ is so much better”. That’s how I learned which comics to avoid more than anything else.

What I think I appreciate the most is when finding new comics happens organically: somebody who knows they like Harley could be reading a Harley comic and discover Power Girl, or Poison Ivy, or Etrigan, and then other plots and people referenced in those stories can also draw their interest to other franchises and characters. Seeing some background character in a movie or some cameo in an animated series is such a fun way to find new comics because then it feels like something you discovered and get to really explore for yourself.

Javier: That happened to me a lot with Batman. A lot of new/books characters ideas I read spun off batman. My favorite was Brubaker and Rucka’s Gotham Central.

Daphne: This has been your daily wall of text.

Alex: I used to use the Marvel Bulletin Board in the old Marvel comics, but I think that stopped being a thing around the early 2000’s. Around the same time I would cover browse – see what covers interested me and go from there (Maverick #4 had an awesome image of Wolverine attacking Maverick. Grabbed the comic, and Maverick swiftly became one of my favourite characters).

These days, I don’t cover browse in store as much…

Daphne: I never went to stores as a kid. I have vivid memories of finding a box of old Swamp Thing at a yard sale and being way into those until my parents took them away, but other than that everything I read came from the Internet, libraries, or trade paperbacks in bookstores. I learned not to go to comic book stores for my comics at a young age.

Alex: I’m a huge fan of visiting comic shops, especially ones I haven’t been to before, but then I think I’ve been lucky in that the shops I’ve been going too have been generally friendly (aside from one or two over the years).

Madison: When I started reading comics, it was because a friend recommended Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye to me. That was around the time Captain America: The Winter Soldier came out, so I read all of Cap vol. 5 and then just read characters that interested me. I also took a class in my last semester of college that was solely about comics, where we read some of the “essential” comics like Watchmen, Black Hole, Fun Home, The Dark Knight Returns, Maus, Persepolis, etc.

Now I tend to read comics that have female characters as leads or stuff that’s written by female authors. I’m also still catching up on everything that happened before I cared about comics, so I also browse used bookstores a lot.

I wish there was an easier way to discover comics, like an app that a.) would help me to keep track of my pull list and b.) would recommend based on stuff that I read–like a genre-specific Goodreads.

Elana: I find out through Graphic Policy! (seriously that’s the point, right?) and through social media. The people at my local comics store are good too.

Madison: The guys who worked at the comic store I went to in college were awesome. It’s hard to get two words out of the people at the store I go to now. Luckily GP and Twitter keep me in the loop.

Elana: I have a few key trusted people there. Everyone is nice but only a few GET my taste.

Alex: My comic shop is pretty good for chatting about stuff, but for recommendations about series I should read that I haven’t been days I tend to listen to you guys. Phonogram is a great example of this (even if I haven’t started it yet, I will!)

Troy: I also find out via GP! Long before my stint as a contributor it was sites like GP where I got tips for what was coming out…and what was creating buzz. It’s really what got me wanting to join the discourse and write about comics. I really trust the judgement of my peers, and the model of social media. So I would really like see something akin to a Goodreads for comics. Goodreads has five star rating system, not unlike the one we use on our reviews. Hrmmm who knows how to code….lets slap something together!

Madison: Troy That’s what I’m saying! My pulls are a mix of physical and digital copies, so I tend to lose track of what’s coming out when and what I subscribe to. Goodreads for comics would be super helpful.

Alex: I have some friends that can code… but I imagine it’d be a hell of an undertaking.

Paul: When I started reading comics way back, and up to a few years ago, every Wednesday, without fail, I was at the comic shop. I would grab my go to titles and just browse the racks. Now, just like Elana *high five* Graphic Policy gives me my weekly update on what’s coming out.

Alex: I’ve noticed another thing I tend to do now is read the Dark Horse, Valiant and Archie emails we get through for reviews to see if the comics sound interesting.

Daphne: I do that too! But you don’t have to tell anybody if it’s a secret.

Logan: A few ways: talking to cool people on Twitter, talking to my various podcast co-hosts over the year, and also looking at the weekly comics listing on Midtown Comics that I use to email comics to review for the other site I run.

Basically, comics friends are the best.

Javier: Back in the day it was either the rack or the comic book shop. FPNYC in the 80s if I could make into the city, otherwise the smaller sketchy shops in Brooklyn. Nowadays it’s mainly online Twitter, Facebook, WordPress Sites, webcomics, etc… Today, even tho I have a pull list I still spend a good 15 minutes or so browsing when I pick up my books at Midtown. Old habit. Rarely happens now, but every now and then I do see something on the wall I didn’t hear about online.

Brett: I really miss spinner racks. When they started to go is when I think the comic industry started to have issues. I actually want to purchase a spinner rack when I eventually have a house.

Alex: I remember the first I went to Manhattan. I was so excited to stumble across Midtown.

Javier: Alex yeah they came much later for me, 1990s. But around that time was when I had to cut back and was buying more TPBs. I was an early adopter of Amazon because they had deep discounts on graphic novels. My email with them is still my old netzero.com account.

Ashley: I’m a more modern comics reader, so a lot of what I got into came from things I saw on social media and trusted friends. My shop is pretty great too and I sometimes pick up things I think look cool, though I’m more likely to do this when comiXology has one of their deep discount sales.

Logan: Those sales will be the death of my bank account. (Looks at full Alias collection.)

Ashley: Logan: I still have a bunch of indie comics that I haven’t read yet from one of their SXSW sales last year. It was a giant bundle for like $3.

Logan: Oh yeah. All those Marvel #1’s that I never got to

Elana: back before the internet was a thing people had at home, i read comics because friends loaned them to me.

Logan: I did that a decent amount in college. I had a big DC friend who got me into Blue Beetle and Starman.

But people also steal your signed Wonder Woman comics.

Joke’s on them because they were New 52.

Ashley: Me and all my weeabo friends in middle school basically had this unofficial manga circle where we would swap whatever we had back and forth for the others to read. This once lead to me super embarrassingly taking my copy of Miyuki-Chan in Wonderland back from my chorus teacher because Jennifer Stogner would not stop reading it in class, goddammit.

Elana: Wow what dolts! I think I only have like 1 comic that’s an ex’s. He knows what he did…. I was always super diligent about returning comics to friends. Right now one of the big reasons I buy floppies is to loan them out to friends. I actually have a list I keep on my phone of which comics I loaned to which people. At one point I had it printed it out and it was in my purse. My husband noticed it and asked what “Stuff I Leant” meant. Because I cannot spell. At all.

Oh and Brett I still do have Understanding Comics that was loaned to me by my high school friend that works with your wife. But I blame him because he totally vanished.

Ashley: I started taking pictures of friends who I loaned comics out to, though one of them isn’t allowed to borrow my comics anymore because she kept coming up with reasons of why she couldn’t give them back and didn’t get them to me until the day before I left for HeroesCon after borrowing them for five months.

Brett: Elana I totally forgot about that connection!

Madison: I do this with my friends now! I did lose my first two Saga trades this way and haven’t had the heart to replace them because I’m still hoping they’ll make their way back to me. My copy of Pretty Deadly has been been read by almost everyone I know, though.

Alex: I’ve never loaned a comic out. I’ve had one “borrowed without permission” before, and I’ve given a couple away, but never I haven’t ever willingly loaned them.

I think I’m too paranoid about condition.

Brett: Yeah, I freak out about loaning things too.

Madison: I buy a lot of trades, I don’t usually loan out individual comics out.

Ashley: I let my roommates borrow comics a lot since I know where they live. wink emoticon

Brett: Anyone “inherit” comics from older siblings or relatives?

Paul: Oh I wish. My dad tells me of all the ones he had..and dumped…and I tell him how I want to dump him…

Logan: Yeah. My dad gifted me his late Silver Age/early Bronze Age collection of comics. Actually the first ones I read. There are some great Kirby Captain Americas and Claremont Marvel Team-Ups in there (“Madbomb”), and even the first appearance of Hellcat, which made me squee hard.

Alex: A few old British war comics and anthologies from my dad, I think. Hotspur, mainly. I’m still partial to King Cobra, but finding his stories over here is like finding a diamond in a venus fly trap.

Daphne: If I’d gotten my way I would have! I read the entire Death of Superman arc on a visit to my aunt and uncle’s house as a kid, but my cousin wouldn’t let me keep them. tongue emoticon

Elana: The opposite is true of me. I started reading comics because my little brother brought them home. He’s 5 years younger then me so that means I didn’t start reading comics till junior high because when I was in Jr High he was finally old enough for comics.

Brett: I really need to go back through my collection. I remember lots of 70s and 80s Marvel and DC in the comics I got from my brothers, and remember loving them. Don’t remember what they were.

Elana: My parents weren’t comics readers and I’m female so it sort of makes sense that comics trickled UP to me via my younger brother. But I’m way more involved in comics then he is now so I tell him what to read.

Brett: Elana yeah, I should have just put sibling instead of older.

Elana: Brett no it makes sense! To this day I think I’m the only person who got in to comics from a significantly younger sibling. My origin story is interesting, dammit!

Ashley: Paul I have a very similar experience with a “friend” (aka someone in my mutual circles that I barely tolerate) of mine who lost a bunch of his comics that he was going to let me go through when he stopped paying for his storage unit. He apparently had a lot of New Mutants signed by the Simonsons, which he did not tell me before he lost them. I have never actively considered murder the way I did that day.

Paul: Oh I get ya…total siren blaring The Bride from Kill Bill moment….

Javier: Not me but my dad used to work in sanitation in NYC, and I gave him marching orders to bring home any thrown away comics. Nothing of real value, but a lot of old beat up marvel/dc

Elana: Thats so cool! also I always salute New York’s Strongest!

Logan: So cool. Sad for the folks who threw them away.

Brett: That’s actually really neat.

Javier: Logan courtesy of NYC sanitation, really bad condition so not worth much but still cool.

Brett: A lot have said how the DO find out about comics, but how would you LIKE to. Facebook ads? Email lists? Shops doing better outreach?

Alex:  I’d rather word of mouth; I’m interested in reading Phonogram because Elana has been so passionate about the series, and it really makes me want to read it. I’m more likely to ignore an add, or a solicitation if there isn’t a personal touch to it, because it just feels like it is… pure promotion.

If somebody who’s opinion I trust and respect is telling me to pick up a book, I’m going to do it; Mr H and Batman: Europa, Elana and Phonogram… There’s a pretty extensive list I’ve got from you fine people, and the reviews and discussions we all have.

Elana: this is so true. and thank you!

Alex: No problem!

Daphne: I like finding out from my friends and peers. I think it’s a safe bet everybody here has a movie or tv show they hate that got massive praise from critics when it came out, and a movie or show they love that everybody else thinks is awful. So rather than go for only professional criticism when finding new comics, I prefer it when my friends or family – the people who know what I’m like and what I like to read – find something they really think I’d enjoy. That emotional connection to a new comic also makes me more likely to keep following it long-term.

Madison: Ads, to me, are way too annoying most of the time, and I find myself more likely to avoid the product rather than buy it. It might be nice to get an email or something with recommendations every so often, but I do like hearing about stuff from my friends because we have a good understanding of each other’s taste.

Alex: I think the word of mouth thing will always carry more weight than a publisher’s solicitations. It’s also why I tend to prefer previews that aren’t just carbon copies of the press release like some websites have been known to do.

But there’s a fine line there, too. I think that we, in the position we’re in at Graphic Policy, have to be cautious with just how enthusiastic (or not) we are when writing that kind of preview, because if we slam a book before it’s released and it’s actually good. Personally, I think we strike a good balance, but then I’m also slightly biased.

Brett: And that wraps up this week’s discussion! For those reading, sound off in the comments below!

Sundays are known for folks gathering around tables on television and pontificating about some of the hottest topics out there, offering their expertise. We bring that tradition to Graphic Policy as the team gathers to debate in our Sunday Roundtable.

On tap this week?

What are you looking forward to in comics and geekdom in 2016? What do you hope to see from comic publishers?

Alex: Less reboots and less relaunches.

Paul: Agreed!

Katherine: Marvel having an entire year without a Big Crossover Event. Sooner or later that will happen, right?

Brett: Too late…. already two events announced.

Alex: That’d be nice, wouldn’t it?

Katherine: IKR? I don’t think they’ve had a year without an Event since the 80s.

Alex: It’s not even that they have events an crossover – but don’ have them in the same books all the time! Cross Moon Knight and Howard the Duck over (it would be a train wreck, but it’s something different), but I’m tired of ignoring the same characters in yet another crossover.

Katherine: Better representation and diversity in comics. We already got a LOT of good stuff in 2015, which sold, so I’m hoping that publishers will pick up on that.

Brett: Anything specific you’d like to see?

Katherine: More trans characters, personally. I know that it’s been confirmed that there’s a trans character in Squirrel Girl, but it hasn’t been revealed who it is (but I have confidence that they’ll handle it well.) More Lumberjanes, natch, but the LJ movie has me worried, at best.

Daphne: I’m taking an “I’ll believe it when I see it” approach to representation in comics. Just about all of it tends to be a big fuss and then an anticlimactic letdown when it actually happens. I could see the Squirrel Girl team getting it right, but it’s so incredibly easy for somebody to mess up in service of a dumb joke.

Katherine: I’m trying to be optimistic here.

Daphne: I want to be but it’s pretty difficult these days.

Brett: I think I feel that way any time there’s some announced thing related to diversity. I’m hoping to see more behind the scenes with creators, not just with characters.

Katherine: Lets keep our fingers crossed then. I think that the comics industry is (slowly) going in the right direction and the popularity of titles like Lumberjanes, Jem, etc. hopefully means that the Big 2 will take notice.

Daphne: I’m excited for Godzilla Resurgence (if that ends up being the official title) and hopefully actual progress made toward un-canceling Pacific Rim 2, and I’m hoping for more kaiju in American media. Pacific Rim and Godzilla 2014 did what Cloverfield tried to do and brought kaiju film and the genre as a whole a lot more attention, and I really want to see that trend continue. Hopefully I won’t have as many conflicted emotions about whatever Godzilla comics come out this year as I did Godzilla in Hell.

Brett: Cloverfield sequel announced!? Guess that teaser on their Facebook page wasn’t a fluke. Be interesting to see how it does and if it impacts the Pacific Rim sequel.

Daphne: I honestly did not expect to call that one.

Brett: While this doesn’t get posted to Sunday, one of yours is already a go!

Katherine: It doesn’t look like it’s a sequel, but more of a side story set in the same universe. Which is cool. I’d love to see an anthology horror/monster movies like what they tried to do with Halloween.

Brett: Katherine: That’s my initial take too.

Daphne: Yeah. JJ Abrams has been describing it as “a blood relative” of Cloverfield so I think it’ll be loosely related but probably not directly addressing the original film much, if at all.

Brett: I’m really looking forward to seeing all of the indie comic releases. There’s been some amazing releases the last few years, and I’m expecting even more timely work. I’d expect at least something with the Presidential election. Please someone do something smart and intelligent with that! I’m also fascinated to see how all of the comic movies and television shows do. This is a year we’ll see if there’s a point of too many.

Katherine: Never too many. Never.

Brett: We’ll find out!

Alex: While I’d love there to be more comic book movies and shows, I’m at the point where there’s only so many I can see, or DVR, before I run out of time and start becoming choosy.

I already gave up on Gotham…

Brett: This coming week we get four days in a row. Soon we’ll have 5 days a week for part of the year. Plus all the movies.

Katherine: Honestly, for me? I’m like this

Katherine: Alex This is not a bad problem to have TBH.

Alex: No, it’s not, really. I do worry we’ll reach a saturation point where the market is more selective as to what they watch, causing some great shows to get cancelled after a season (or less, like Constantine)

Elana: should i post my list of most anticipated comics of 2016 here?

Most anticipated new comics of 2016:
Tie: Ron Wimberly’s Sunset Park and Slave Punk: White Coal for Image Comics
Tie: Ta-nahis Coates Black Panther
Runners up:
Faith from Valiant Comics will be the first plus-sized super hero gets a solo title and it looks fantastic. Jody Houser and artist Francis Portela with special art from the great Marguerite Sauvage. We interviewed the creative team on January 11th!
Gail Simone’s revamped Dynamite comics pulp hero properties like Dejah Thoris and especially Vampirella with Kate Leth at the helm.
Power Man and Iron Fist from David F Walker and Sanford Greene
Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat from Kate Leth and Brittney Williams
Over the Garden Wall (based on the cartoon and I believe from the creators) ongoing series at Boom comics

Ryan: I’m very much looking forward to Si Spurrier’s “Cry Havoc,” Dan Clowes’ “Patience,” Chester Brown’s new collection of Bible adaptations, Fantagraphics’ hardcover slipcase collection of the complete “Wimmen’s Comix,” and six more terrific issues of “Providence.” Beyond that, I’m struggling to think of anything the Big Two have announced that even interests, much less excites, me in the least.

Elana: Cry Havoc could be great. I’m usually not into war comics but Ryan Kelly is great as are lesbian werewolves

Alex: I’m curious about Old Man Logan, and I am hoping for more Moon Knight (the loss of that series because of Secret Wars still rankles). Other than that, there’s only Howard the Duck that has my Marvel interest these days.

Ryan: Elana, war comics are not usually my cup of tea, either, apart from the seminal works in the genre from Kutzman, Kubert, Glanzman, and Kirby, but 2015 actually saw two great war comics come our way in the form of Garth Ennis’ “War Stories” from Avatar and Paul Tucker and Paul Allor’s “Tet” from Comics Experience/IDW. I would rank both as among the very best war comics probably since Jack Kirby’s epic run on “The Losers” in the early ’70s. To Alex’s point, I gave the new “Howard” one issue, and that was enough to convince me once again that no one but Steve Gerber should ever touch the character. I like Zdarsky just fine, but Howard was always a stand-in for the obsessions, opinions, and commentary of his creator, and no one else has ever gotten his “voice” quite right simply because, well, they can’t.

Elana: I just noticed my comment is missing the word “not” yet you still caught my drift haha. Thanks for the tips!

Ryan: I’ve been on social media long enough to speak fluent typo.

Brett: I highly recommend Ennis’ Johnny Red. Really good war comic, and I’m not usually a fan of those.

Alex: I second Johnny Red, but it does fall victim to the double page spread issue you mentioned in GP Radio, Elana. That said, I’ve been rating the series highly in me reviews despite the PDF art issues (I did buy the actual comics, too, however, and the double page spreads are glorious).

Ryan, I never read any of the Gerber Howard the Duck, so I don’t have that basis for comparison, which is probably why I love it so much.

Ryan: You may want to keep it that way, then, since once you’ve read Gerber’s “Howard,” nothing else will do.

Alex: I may do that… I own the first issue of Gerber’s run (I love the cover, but still haven’t read it…), but I may just leave it at that, then.

Ryan: I would suggest, if you do go down that road, to grab the omnibus collection and read the whole Gerber run, because if you read just one issue, your reaction will probably be to immediately think “why can’t we have more Howard like this?,” and to immediately fall out of love with the current run. So, yeah, I think you’d be better off — and happier — just not even opening that particular can of worms.

Alex: Ryan I’m going to take your advice and leave it where it is until the current run gets cancelled. Then I’ll get the omnibus.

Ryan: How long did the last run last? Five or six issues?

Alex: Five, I think, before Secret Wars rebooted it. The current run is on the third issue (with Zdarksy more than willing to point out the two 1st issues in a year)

Madison: I’m excited for the Poe Dameron comic, mostly because I’ve missed Phil Noto’s art every month. Also looking forward to seeing where Bitch Planet goes, since there were only six issues last year. I want to hope that Marvel will take some risks with their content and characters, but I’m not banking on it.

Brett: Yes, more Bitch Planet! And agreed on the Dameron comic, Shattered Empire was clearly leading/hinting at something with his family.

Mr. H: I am excited for the return of Bruce and Clark to their proper roles. The story lines have run their current course. Also I can’t wait for Grant Morrisons take on Wonder Woman.

Alex: I’ve kept away from the solicitations, but I did hear that was coming – and holy crap am I glad. Robot Bunny Batman really doesn’t do it for me.

Mr. H: Alex: it’s a shame because Gordon in the suit is great but I’m sick of all this Mr. Bloom bs.

Alex: While I love the idea of Gordon in the suit, it’s that the suit is an ugly Iron Man wannabe and the whole back up team, military like operation that I’m not a fan of. I mean, I know Bruce is pretty damn capable, but the sheer number of people required to do what just he (and Alfred) for the most part did make him seem almost god like.

Mr. H: I hate the robo suit I like the inner suit underneath I meant, the black and yellow. Plus Gordon is representative of us as Batman which is great just the villains haven’t been compelling.

Alex: I agree with you there, actually; the undersuit is a cool design.

Ryan: I’d have to politely disagree with the idea that Superman is not in his “proper” role right now. In truth, while the current storyline in the main “Superman” book certainly does suck, the version of the character we’re seeing in “Action Comics” right now is much closer to the Siegel/Shuster original than anything we’ve seen in years. Their Superman was strong but not ridiculously so; leapt from building to building rather than flying; and, more importantly, was a champion of blue-collar, working class causes. Right now Superman has been fighting abusive cops and privacy-busting hackers to save his neighborhood, while Siegel and Shuster’s Superman took on slum landlords, Pinkertons, strike-breaking scabs, domestic abusers — shit, he even saved a death row convict, something later, decidedly more right-wing, iterations of the character would never do. We’ve all grown so accustomed to the idea of Superman as super-patriotic defender of the establishment that we assume that’s the way he always was — in truth, he was very much a populist, “man of the people” hero for his first several years, and only became a nationalist propaganda mascot when the former gangsters who owned DC swindled him away from his creators for the princely sum of $130 days just days before they were shipping out to serve in WWII and were desperate to leave some money behind for their wives and young children to survive on.

Mr. H: Oh absolutely but the writing is dreck. I love the original Superman who was champion of the downtrodden. In fact Grant Morrison did a great job at the beginning of the new 52. The outing of Clark Kent should have gave us fantastic story opportunities …See More

Alex: Oh man I loved the Morrison issues of Action at the start of the New 52.

Mr. H: Yes Alex and it declined quick, didn’t it?

Alex: As soon as he left. I dropped the book shortly after that.

Mr. H: Same here. I had to. Interested to see what he does with Wonder Woman. The Finches are ruining her right now.

Ryan: I think the current “Action” run is passable, but far from great. Kuder’s art is terrific and the neighborhood-vs.-the-cops storyline was fun for a few issues, but as soon as that cop Superman decked out turned out to be an alien shape-shifter, I knew …See More

Mr. H: Dude I agree so much. Kuder is great. Yes Wonder Woman/Superman’s relationship is garbage. Loving the revamp of Vandal Savage from the Annual #3 though.

Ryan: Yeah, I was totally taken aback by how much I enjoyed the annual — I damn near didn’t even pick it up simply because of the five dollar price tag — and I hate “comics-by committee” like a lot of these annuals are becoming with five writers and five pencillers and eight inkers and all that shit, but I’m glad I grabbed it, because it was certainly the most satisfying Superman story in quite some time.

Brett: I think Ryan is on point. I like the exploration of myth and the basics of Superman that they’re trying to do, and the “throwback” Superman, but the execution of both has been very off. I’m already looking for next.

Alright, I think that wraps up this week’s discussion. What about you readers? What are you looking forward to and hope to see in 2016? Sound off in the comments!