Prophet is an impressive comic. Its basic composition is clear for all to see
yet it combines words in pictures in ways that only the best comics can do. The
result is not only one of the best comics but also one of the best science
fiction stories I’ve read or watched this year. The third collected volume
dealt with the combination of the story’s two main storylines which also
happened to be the two opposing sides of a large conflict between various
species and factions. Prophet is an
excellent comic not just because of its interesting story. What really makes
this comic worthwhile is the storytelling. Brandon Graham, Simon Roy, and
Giannis Milonogiannis know how to craft an exciting and visually fresh
narrative. The continuation of this story was published in monthly single
issues but I have yet to see solicitations for the fourth trade paperback
volume. I really hope that I get to read the further adventures of all the John
Prophets as this comic book revival series has been a pleasant and engaging
surprise since the start.
I haven’t read
many science fiction novels this year. I’m not sure why because I seem to
continuously have an itch to read or watch science fiction but I often get
distracted by something else. That makes me sound like a bit of a liar or as
someone who’s exaggerating how much he’s been thinking of reading science
fiction but regular readers of SUR will have notices how scattered I am when it
comes to reading. There are just so many interesting books to read that I can
barely keep focused on finishing what I’ve already started. You’d think that
writing here would help with that but not nearly as much as I would like.
Out of all the
science fiction novels I did read the novelization of The Wrath of Khan by Vonda N. McIntyre was one of the most
enjoyable ones to read. Like all fans of Star
Trek this is a movie I’ve watched many times and I know it well. Somehow,
McIntyre managed to make me see things I simply never noticed before. The Wrath of Khan is one of the best
examples of science fiction storytelling that focuses on character and not on
technology. While there have been plenty of movies and episodes that quote Shakespeare
this is the story that comes closest to showing the same kind of gravitas and
tragedy of the Bard’s work. I didn’t know that novelizations could be so good.
Next year I’ll have to read some of the other novelizations McIntyre wrote for Star Trek along with her tie-in novels
as well.
Best Fantasy Novels
“Jhereg is a marvelous book.” That’s how
I started my review and really, I could have ended it there too. Written by
Steven Brust, this is the first novel in the Vlad Taltos series and it became my favourite fantasy discovery of
the year. Brust created a very rich and detailed world that avoids falling in
the vein of Tolkien-inspired fantasy settings. It’s a unique blend of noir
sensibilities with a fantasy setting that also happens to deal with at least
two distinct systems of magic. What impressed me the most about Jhereg is that Brust structured it in a
similar fashion as you would structure a heist story and that allowed him to
explain his fictional world progressively throughout the novel. He mixed plot,
characterization and world building in ways I don’t recall ever experiencing
before. Writing all of this now I can’t believe I haven’t dived into the second
book yet. Especially because it’s staring down at me from the bookshelf. I
guess I’ll have to crack it open in the new year.
Runner-up: The Farthest Shore:
Ursula K. Le Guin
is a powerhouse. I haven’t read anything by her that didn’t haunt me afterword.
Her characters and her themes are so potent that they reach deep down within me
and touch me on an emotional and intellectual level. She’s a master of the
craft. Reading the third book in her Earthsea
series, The Farthest Shore,
proved this to me once again. In this book she uses the simple story of
Sparrowhawk’s journey to discover the cause behind the disappearance of magic
to write about life, death, and the abuse of power. Her prose is taunt and
evocative and she strikes a balance between elegant descriptions and the
brevity of carefully selected words to bring her narrative to life. The first Earthsea book was a tale of young Ged
(before he truly became Sparrowhawk). The second book gave us an outsider’s
point of view on the Archmage. The third book gives us an old Sparrowhawk, one
who is contemplative as often as he is in action. Le Guin also writes about
dragons like it’s nobody’s business and I loved every page of it.
Best Comic Books
Last year’s list
split comics based on when the collected edition of title was originally
published. I’m giving up on that this year because I really don’t follow new
comics much and I also don’t care when specific things have been published. I
realize that by not keeping with up regular comics this end of the year list
loses some of its relevancy but I pulled away from buying monthly singles
issues because I was tired of keeping up. Reading comics was starting to feel
like a rat race and I was buying books I didn’t particularly enjoy simply
because it was becoming important for my pull list to stay relevant. When
something you like to do starts to feel like something you have to do it’s time
to pull back and that’s what I did.
Here then, is my
list of the best comics I read in
2014, regardless of when they were originally published or collected.
Bumperhead and Maria M.:
Gilbert “Beto” Hernandez
has had a long and fruitful career in comics but he continues to work as if he’s
just released his first acclaimed comic. By this I mean that he continues to
release comic after comic each year. This year alone he had two new comics
published (Bumperhead and Loverboys) and had at least two
collections of previously published material (Fatima: The Blood Spinner and Luba
and her Family). Two of my favourite comics this year were by Beto: Maria M. and Bumperhead. Maria M. is a solid comic without being
spectacular. I think that might have to do with the fact that it’s as of yet
incompletely. Only the first half has been released so far with the second half
scheduled for release in 2015. It has a fascinating metatextual and real-world
origin but it’s a little complex for the purposes of this recap. It’s best to
just follow the link to my original review.
The better of the
two works though has to be Bumperhead.
Somewhat of a sequel to last year’s Marble
Season, this comic focuses on the life of Bobby form his childhood to his
adulthood. The main focus of the book is
his teenage years in which he gets pulled into the punk movement. Beto has a
skill in writing character’s entire lives and adding meaning along with depth
of character and depth of story with well thought out snippets of everyday
life. With roughly 130 pages, Beto
builds a compelling and believable life of an individual. It’s all there laid
out on the page in stark black and white. Some people find this kind of comic
odd, difficult to read or lacking substance but it’s important to realize that the
narrative isn’t plot driven. It is character driven to the point of being
solely about that one character. By opening the cover of Bumperhead Beto is asking you, not to dive into a story, but to
immerse yourself in the life of another individual. His superb storytelling
makes it work, and that’s what brings it all to life. Truly, Gilbert Hernandez
is a comcis creator to follow.
Runner-up: X-Factor: Complete Collection vol. 1:
People who read SUR
with any regularity have probably noticed my affection for Peter David. This is
particularly true of his Star Trek
books. I also thing the guy understands sequential storytelling, especially in
the superhero genre, better than most. It’s the kind of thing that is often
missed because David isn’t a flashy writer. He’s no one of the biggest names in
comics but he should be. His work is mature, thoughtful, often hilarious, and
works particularly well as long-form storytelling without relying on
decompression to increase page count or stretch storylines for multiple issues.
The easiest identifying that understands the comic book format is that he
explores the consequences of previous stories on later stories. Yes, he uses
storylines like all other comic book writers but he also integrates them into a
much larger narrative. The narrative of the entire series. I’m not sure if he
always has an end game in mind but it’s clear he has something mapped out because
his comics feel like they’re heading towards an end.
X-Factor is one of the best X-men and superhero comics to come around in a long
time. I realise these issues are starting to look old. They date around the time
I began getting into comics (somewhere around House of M) but they’re still good. More importantly to me, they’re
better that the X-men comics today. Marvel has been collecting his run on X-Factor (which is still going strong)
in very thick trade paperbacks. Two volumes have been released so far but I
haven’t seen any solicitation for future volumes. Much like Prophet, I’m left hanging. I really wish
Marvel would get their act together because a lengthy run like this one (just a
few more than 100 issues before the latest reboot) is worthy of being entirely
collected in this format. I want more!
Best Original Graphic Novels (OGN):
I was not alone
in the comics reader community to be anxiously awaiting Bryan Lee O’Malley’s
new comic following the conclusion of Scott
Pilgrim. My initial reaction was one of pleasant surprise as the book was
heftier than I thought it would be. It was a fantastic read though. O’Malley’s
art became a bit more abstract, more cartoony than it became in the final
volumes of Scott Pilgrim. The
storytelling also matured as he’s working with interesting themes. Seconds is an entertaining and funny
moral tale that follows a structure similar to Groundhog Day. It was a highly anticipated graphic novel but O’Malley
cements his reputation as one of the most original and talented writer/artist in
comics. I don’t know if he’s announced his next project but I’m certainly interested
to know what it will be. More comics by O’Malley, please!
Runner-up: Nemo: The Roses of Berlin:
In the last few
years Alan Moore has fallen into disfavour in the comics industry for comments
he’s made in interviews. For all intents and purposes it feels as though he’s developed
a very negative opinion of the comic book community at large, both creators and
readers. From what he’s mentioned in interviews it seems as though as lot of
his feelings towards the industry has to do with the way publishers treat their
creators. This makes sense considering how Moore has been slighted. Despite all
these feelings, Moore clearly loves the medium as he’s had new comics hit the
stands at regular intervals in the last few years. The more recent of which is Nemo: The Roses of Berlin, second in his
Nemo trilogy which is part of the ongoing The
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series. Moore might hold a grudge against
the likes of DC and other publishers but he’s still writing mighty fine comics
that can be enjoyed on a number of levels. It’s definitively an intelligent
book and it’s filled with literary allusions and Easter eggs. There are fans of
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen that
absolutely delight in these minute and detailed references. While I enjoy those
that I notice, it’s not my only reason for liking this comic. I like it because
it actually has an emotional core. The Nemo comics, this one and the first, have
had a tighter focus than the last two League books (Black Dossier and Century).
Jaani has easily become one of the most interesting characters in the series and
watching her story unfold has been a delight. Like many of the best books that
I read this year, it is part of a series. There is one book left to be release
and I’m really looking forward to it.
Best Bande Dessinée:
This year I read
more bandes dessinées than I have read in the last few years. Most of them were
borrowed from my dad’s collection and those I enjoyed revisiting the most were
some of the Yoko Tsuno albums by
Roger Leloup. I haven’t talk a lot about art in this post yet because I tend to
focus on the story. While I include the art when I talk about storytelling I
don’t single it out often. When it comes to Yoko
Tsuno what attracts me the most to the series is Leloup’s distinctly
European style of ligne claire. Even his uninteresting Yoko Tsuno albums are lavishly illustrated. The storytelling is
clear, the pages are detailed and the colours are vibrant (while serving the story).
La spirale du temps is the best of
the volumes I revisited this year. It’s too bad that the rest of the BDs I read
this year simply weren’t as good as I remembered them being.
Best
Manga:
Yotsuba&! volumes 3 and 4:
There are certain
books and comics that simply make you feel good when you read them. Yotsuba&! is one of those books. It’s
impossible not to have your spirits lifted by the antics of young Yotsuba as
she explores the world around her and teaches other to enjoy everything in
life. I don’t have kids of my own but those that do have said that the way
Yotsuba acts is true to life. If this is true parenthood must be quite the adventure.
With his series, mangaka Kiyohiko Azuma
has captured the joy of life on the page and by reading his mange we all get to
spend some time enjoying simple, everyday pleasures and be inspired to pass it
along to others. It’s a beautiful and positive manga series that skilfully
avoids being overly sweet or sentimental.
I’m a fan of Viz
Media’s 3-in-1 editions. Sure, they’re not perfect. The paper quality is less
than ideal but it’s hard to argue with the price which is essentially have the
price of the original individual volumes. They also take less room on the
shelf, about two and a half the width of three individual volumes. It’s a good
deal and you get plenty of story in each 3-in-1 volume. It’s the best way to
read really long manga, especially shonen titles. This year I reread several
volumes of Naruto; specifically
volumes 16 to 24 collected in 3-in-1 volumes 6 to 8. That might sound confusing
but it’s really simple since there are only two editions in print: single
volumes and 3-in-1 volumes.
The story in
those volumes collected the very last chapters in the Konoha Crush story arc
and the entirety of the Search for Tsunade arc and begins in about half of the
Sasuke Recovery Mission arc. It’s a big chunk of manga and the reader flips
through the pages as quickly as the shinobi run through the branches of the forests
of Konoha. Everything is face pasts and very kinetic. The artwork remains top
notch even after 150 chapters. The storytelling is engaging and the series
reaches and invigorating tone in these volumes with the exploration of the history
of the universe that Masashi Kishimoto has created. It’s got a huge cast of
characters interacting and growing together. It’s one of my favourite manga
because of the amount of energy contained within its pages. Yotsuba&! is charming and makes me
feel good about life while Naruto
excites and thrills me. Just like the 3-in-1 editions this manga isn’t perfect
but it’s tons of fun, mixed together with action and a very cool aesthetic.
Unlike the bandes dessinées I reread this year Naruto still holds up and I look forward to the day that the 3-in-1
reprints catch up to the chapters where I originally left the series.
Special Mention: The Ice Schooner:
The Ice Schooner by Michael Moorcock is definitively not one
of the best books I read last year. It’s actually kind of bad but I loved it.
It’s ridiculous in so many ways and it is undeniably pulpy in origin as well as
in execution but it’s far from a terrible book. It’s actually very good in its
own way. I’m not entirely sure what it is about this book but it screams to me
in equal parts awesome and ridiculous. Ever since I saw the painted cover by Boris Vallejo at my local used book store
(Bay Used Books) I knew I had to buy it and I had a feeling I would love it. I
did.
I’m sucker for
stories that take place in cold, winter environments and this was one of the better
ones. I’m also of the opinion that it’s impossible not to love the idea of sailboats
on skies hunting ice whales on a frozen planet. It’s short, it’s a little
punchy, and it’s a fascinating look at a world that could be. Of the few books I’ve
read by Michael Moorcock (stories of Elric and this one) it’s my favourite. It’s
not structurally fancy or particularly daring or skilful but it presents a dangerous
and fascinating world that sneaked into my head and didn’t entirely leave my
thoughts for weeks. There were so many neat ideas and sharp edges to this story
that it left a clear impression on me. It’ll surely be a book I revisit from
time to time.
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