Oh, Comics! My Comics! (Of 2020)

In spite of a slow start for the printers, creatives and their editors have been hard at work putting together some incredible content to distract us from the world around us this year. I want to applaud everyone who successfully transported me to other realms, but alas, I have to winnow it down.

My choices here were guided mostly by the books I never had the chance to review this year. You can find my words on various other beloved works from the year on comicsbookcase.com, but listed below are the books that we still need to talk about. So go grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and I’ll tell you all about my unsung loves of 2020.

*Favorite Series Continued in 2020

Bitter Root

I am starting off the list by breaking my own rules, since I did review the first trade paperback of Bitter Root, but my admiration for this series and its creators has only continued to grow. I could give you the litany of reasons why it has become my go-to gift for friends and family this year, or I could just tell you that Walker, Brown & Greene have created an explosive and powerfully rich family story, that just so happens to be about a demon-killing, potion-brewing, trigger-happy family, the Sangeryes. It’s an action-heavy yet reflective celebration of the Black experience in America, that travels across history, from the Tulsa Massacre to the Harlem Renaissance, and even slips through portals to other worlds and other futures. Few books I’ve ever read maintain their momentum anywhere near the level of this series as the creators continue to explore multiple storylines and timelines. As the family confronts demons in a high fantasy story of past, present, and future, the creators prove they can take their readers anywhere, and root them in time-honored traditions and strange new realities. 

*Favorite Series Started in 2020

Department of Truth 

The series may only be half-over, but that doesn’t matter. It earns this spot. Every page teems with expressionist menace from Simmonds’ extraordinary painted panels. Bidikar letters with urgency, performing a sleight of hand so subtle you can hardly notice him reshaping this world in the margins. Then Tynion’s narrative cuts so close to the bone that I feel every issue as if it were an arc unto itself. 

I’d rather not divulge the highly classified secrets at the heart of this book. But then, I suppose it is my job to pique your interest, so I think I’ll leave you with the tagline question - what if every conspiracy theory you ever heard of was actually true? It’s a world of secrets and lies, where rabid belief is a dangerously supernatural power. Articulated in the story of one lone agent’s quest to find the truth, the mysteries of the Department of Truth connect American politics to string theory to Buddhism to childhood nightmares to the pit of your stomach in the fades to blackness, the dead eyes, the barely perceptible edges... This book horrifies but defies you to ever look away - which makes it every bit the perfect analog to the world we live in right now. 

*Favorite Single Issue

Wintermoot #3

This book offered my favorite vision of the future this year, populated with scientific discovery, romance, and serial killers. The story, written by and about Alaskan natives, is told through the lens of Arête, a detective who happens to be on the Autism spectrum. Her obsessive fascination with ice worms and the landscape around her instills a sense of wonder as you gaze at Shafer’s landscapes. The development of her voice as a character, the discussion of her atypical brain as a part of her powers, and her loving relationship with Anthrome connected deeply with me. And the hunt for sadistic killer Blood Snow Pioneer kept the mood dark enough to keep this science fiction universe in balance (and satisfy my inner bloodlust). Wintermoot as a series features collaborative creations between various Alaskans, who have taken great care in trying to appropriately present fictional characters steeped in the many various Alaskan cultures, however far in the future their story of a superpowered future might unfold. The whole series is worth a read, but this issue is exceptional.

*Favorite Graphic Novel 

A Map to the Sun

You will most likely find Sloane Leong’s tale friendship, basketball, and identity in the YA section of your local bookstore, but don’t let marketing dictate your reading choices. The writing is smart and savvy, and the artwork demonstrates Leong’s keen eye for narrative composition. Stream of consciousness imagery leaps from the page, bathed in pinks and purples. The colors sing in this book, but are always muted enough to draw the eye where it belongs. Additionally the use of an evocative neon glow (like nothing I’ve ever seen before) adds layers to both the setting and the mood of the work. And okay, yes, I do admit that the setting for this story is a high school girl’s basketball team, but this group of girls have been hailed by critics as “diverse” - I would hail them as relatable and recognizable characters that anyone can and should embrace. Too often writers are moored on the rocks trying to make teenagers speak in stilted ways or as mini-adults. Leong captures both the language of early loss and the playful and painful codes of female rites of passage. Leong has created an immersive work of writing and illustration, and Bidikar’s lettering only draws you down deeper, but I promise, it’s well-worth the dive.

*Favorite Literary Adaptation 

Parable of the Sower

It takes a rare prescience to see years into the future, much less 25 years into the future of American politics, but Octavia Butler did just that when she wrote the Parable duology, Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents in the 1990’s. The futuristic story of Lauren Olamina, the young girl with hyper-empathy who must journey beyond the wall, is brought into 2020, where it is most vital and most necessary. The story of her coming of age and into her own as she creates the religion of Earthseed in a time of political violence, division, and desperation resonates deeply now. Damian Duffy and John Jennings again adapt Butler’s work (see my previous review of their work on Kindred) with raw emotional force, inserting images of her sensitivity to the world around her in vital panels of black and red. Jennings’ gorgeous layouts draw the reader in deeper, while Duffy’s script masterfully abridges the original text while still allowing Octavia’s beautiful words to shine. 

*Favorite Graphic Memoir

Banned Book Club

Sometimes it can be easy to forget that reading is, in itself, a political act. This charming graphic memoir focuses on an unsure young woman entering university in South Korea in the ‘80’s, at a time when this was still a non-traditional path for women to follow. As Hyun Sook dodges past protests, attempting to steer clear of anything deemed illicit or illegal under the Fifth Republic’s authoritarian control, she discovers new friendships that teach her the value in forbidden knowledge. The supporting cast of characters is charming, in spite of the suffering they face for activities deemed “suspicious.” The book never shies away from the darker realities of the Fifth Republic, and does acknowledge the casualties then and now of corrupt political systems. More importantly though, Hyun Sook’s memoir finds romance in the world of ideas and protest. With deceptively histor-adorable illustrations by Ko Hyung-Ju, this book compels you with its lovingly drawn cast of characters, the sense of danger lurking behind every panel, and a core message about standing up for what is right.

*Best-Written Characters

Grendel, Kentucky

Oh, the humanity! This work, more than all others I read this year, captured a gritty, but humane realism that worked on all levels, and had me convinced I was hearing voices. Well, the voices of its characters ringing true like a bell in my head. Jeff McComsey and Tommy Lee Edwards’ incredible work here makes this re-telling of Beowulf both mythic and rooted in the run-down community they create. Set in a small Southern town, known primarily for its one bar, its biker gangs, and plentiful weed, the story’s hero, Marnie (bad-ass leader of the Harlots) has to put up one hell of a good fight. The artwork alone conveys so much about Marnie as the Beowulf to our Grendel, Kentucky - before she even opens her mouth. Edwards captures the careless gestures, the ritual dance of drunkenness and grief, the sweat, the dirt, the bravado and sway of the gangs. The panels exude personality. The dialogue feels raw and real. The portrayal of the characters never swerves into stereotype, and the careful use of dialect, word choice, and emotional beats all come together to illustrate the town in the most human terms imaginable. All this feels especially valuable to me now, when we as a country feel more geographically and ideologically divided than ever, and when most Southerners of the biker gang persuasion get painted with the same brush by noted literary figures. But no matter the place or circumstance, finding so many fully and carefully realized characters is a real treat.

*Best Series for a Smile 

Money Shot

I loved this sex-positive book that many dismissed because of its NSFW nature and the assumptions that go with that. Money Shot takes the realistic issue of scientists unable to pursue their research because of a lack of funds, then goes somewhere wildly imaginative with it: funding scientific discovery by filming porn with alien races. The script is tightly structured, and the designs for the aliens feel fantastical and, oddly, grounded, in a way that makes the story all the more engaging. This book was a much-needed diversion this year, that never takes itself too seriously and brims over with smart, sexy, goofy joy.

Read more great comic book reviews!