The Good in Comics

What Makes Watchmen Great, and a Defense of the Watchmen Movie

Posted on December 27, 2019 by thegoodincomics

Thanks to the new TV show from HBO, Watchmen has been in the popular eye more than ever. The original Watchmen was of course a highly influential graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons that helped popularize grim, gritty takes on superheroes. Now that everyone is writing about Watchmen, I’m going to try and take a different approach. In this article, I’m mainly going to be talking about what makes the original comic one of the best comics ever. I’m also going to try and talk about Zack Snyder’s controversial 2009 Watchmen movie. Although the movie has received a lot of criticism over the years, I really like it. Although there are many problems with it, it very faithfully adapts the source material and manages to really lock into what makes the comic good in the first place, making it a worthwhile viewing experience for any Watchmen fan. Also, I’m not going to try and compare the TV show and the movie and pit them against each other. The TV show is a different story that deserves its own, separate analysis.

John Cassaday, a Creator Profile

Posted on December 14, 2019December 14, 2019 by thegoodincomics

For this installment in my Creator Profiles series, I thought I’d take a look at one of my favorite artists, John Cassaday. There are some artists that make every comic they work on a must-read, and for me, the first name on that list is John Cassaday. Cassaday, a film student and former director, takes a uniquely cinematic approach to comic art, framing his panels as if they were shots in a movie. His art style is clean and practically flawless, making it seem almost as if he captured the images with a camera, instead of pencil and ink.

Nowadays, Cassaday does a lot of cover art for other series, but for this article I thought I’d spotlight some series where he did all the interior art. Here’s some of the best work from one of the best artists in comics today. Also, before we get started, I’d like to give acknowledgement to Laura Martin, the colorist who works on almost all of Cassaday’s art and helps to give it that distinct look.

Planetary (1998-2009), with Warren Ellis

The Umbrella Academy and the Comics of Gerard Way

Posted on December 1, 2019December 1, 2019 by thegoodincomics

Gerard Way is perhaps best known as the frontman of the iconic emo band My Chemical Romance, but in recent years he’s been a prolific writer of comic books as well. Gerard has a penchant for making bizarre, creative, and very entertaining comics. One of his best works, The Umbrella Academy, has been adapted into a TV show by Netflix. With that show’s Season 2 on the way and My Chemical Romance announcing a reunion show in Los Angeles, I thought now would be a good time to take a deeper look at Gerard Way’s contributions to the world of comics.

***The Umbrella Academy*, art by Gabriel Bá**

Cover for The Umbrella Academy 1 by James Jean.

STAR WARS COMICS: WHERE TO BEGIN

Posted on November 5, 2019 by thegoodincomics

I’ve been a Star Wars fan for longer than I can remember. Really, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know what Star Wars was. Of course, that fandom joined forces with my comic book fandom pretty early, and over the years I’ve read a lot of Star Wars comics.

Because there have been decades of Star Wars comics from different publishers, and dealing with many different characters, time periods, and canons, it might be kind of confusing to figure out a good place to start. In this article, I’ve provided some series that I think any Star Wars fan would enjoy reading. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list by any means, just some good suggestions. If you’re looking to get into the world of Star Wars comics, here’s where to begin.

Anthony Bourdain’s GET JIRO and HUNGRY GHOSTS

Posted on October 27, 2019October 27, 2019 by thegoodincomics

The late, great Anthony Bourdain was a chef, author, TV host, and one of my favorite celebrities ever. Not everyone is aware that he was also a comic book writer as well. Bourdain co-wrote several graphic novels (that I will detail here) with author Joel Rose. They all deal with food and the culinary world, they show off Bourdain’s love of Japanese culture, and they’re all filled with his trademark offbeat sense of humor.

Get Jiro, with Joel Rose and Langdon Foss

That knife cuts more than fish. Cover by Langdon Foss.

AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER Comic Reading Guide

Posted on October 23, 2019October 27, 2019 by thegoodincomics

Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of my favorite TV shows of all time. The 2005 Nickelodeon cartoon tells the story of Aang, a boy with the power to bend the elements to his will, as he and his friends try to end a century-long war. Although it is ostensibly a children’s show, Avatar: The Last Airbender has amazing character depth and deals with the realities of trauma, loss, and war. I love the show a lot, and I recommend it to anyone of any age.

Although Avatar ended after three seasons, the story continues in the form of comics from Dark Horse Books. These comics have original story concepts by the series’ creators, Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. They are all very good, seeming just like more episodes of the show. If you’re a fan who wants to give the comics a try, but doesn’t know where to begin, this guide will give you all the information you need to jump right in. These comics build off one another, so they’re best read in order. Full spoilers for the show are within, so be warned if you haven’t finished it yet.

NEW GODS Movie Fancast

Posted on October 13, 2019 by thegoodincomics

I’m very excited for the upcoming DC Comics movie, New Gods. Directed by A Wrinkle In Time and When They See Us director Ava DuVernay and co-written by all-star comic book writer Tom King, the movie is set to adapt Jack Kirby’s Fourth World saga, a sprawling space epic about two planets of superhumans using Earth as a battleground for their eternal war. The Fourth World comics are some of Kirby’s most inventive characters and some of his best work. I really love the comics, so in anticipation of the upcoming movie, I decided to make a fancast of who I’d like to see playing some of the New Gods. I should note that these aren’t predictions for who I think will be cast in the movie, as basically no information has been released about it yet. This is just for fun.

X-MEN: WHERE TO BEGIN

Posted on October 8, 2019October 8, 2019 by thegoodincomics

Superheroes are more popular and more mainstream than ever. It seems like every week there’s a new superhero movie, TV show, or videogame hitting the screens. Nearly all of these superheroes and their stories originated in comic books. Of course, there are decades and decades worth of comics out there, and to a new fan it can be daunting trying to figure out which ones to read. In this column, I’m gonna try my best to give new fans fun, easy to understand jumping-off points into the world of comics. As far as accessibility goes, most of these comics are collected and readily available from comic shops, bookstores or online from subscription services such as Comixology, Marvel Unlimited, and DC Universe. Additionally, I always recommend your local library as a free source of comics to read, and with inter-library loan systems you can get your hands on pretty much anything.

We could be seeing the X-Men square off with the Avengers in a future MCU movie. Cover by Jack Kirby for *X-Men* 9.

For this edition of Where to Begin, I’d like to take a look at the X-Men. The X-Men have been some of my favorite superheroes since I was a kid, and I’ve always loved their movies, cartoons, and comics. The X-Men comics have become known for wide, sprawling stories with a lot of characters and spin-off series, and they can get kind of confusing to newcomers. If you’re a new fan looking for some easy entry points into the mutant world or to get ready for their eventual introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, here’s where to begin.

DOWN. SET. FIGHT! Reading Recommendation

Posted on September 29, 2019 by thegoodincomics

For this post, I thought I’d recommend you guys a fun indie graphic novel called Down. Set. Fight!, about gambling, fatherhood, and fistfighting football team mascots. The image of seeing giant, smiling cartoon character costumes engaging in unbridled violence is a funny one, and Down. Set. Fight! by Chris Sims, Chad Bowers, and Scott Kowalchuk, makes good use of that pro-wrestling style humor while also exploring deeper emotional themes.

Top Ten DEADLY CLASS Issues

Posted on September 23, 2019September 23, 2019 by thegoodincomics

Deadly Class is probably my favorite current ongoing series. Written by Rick Remender with art by Wes Craig, the series follows Marcus Lopez Arguello as he attempts to navigate King’s Dominion, a high school designed to train the next generation of international assassins. Set in the late eighties, the series provides a window into the underground music scenes and various youth countercultures of the time. I cannot recommend this series highly enough. Remender has crafted one of the most diverse, three-dimensional casts of characters in comics today, and his dialogue practically jumps off the page and into the ear. Wes Craig’s art for this series is wonderful as well, making equal use of heavy shadow and exuberant color to make sure the over-the-top violence present in basically every issue never loses its impact.

Although the TV adaptation of Deadly Class has been tragically cancelled, the comic is very much alive and well and returns on September 25^th with its fortieth issue. In honor of its return, I have decided to rank the top 10 single issues of Deadly Class so far. For those fans of the show who maybe haven’t caught up with the comics yet, I’ll try to keep this list as free of any major spoilers. There are some minor spoilers here though, so be warned.

Planetary (1998-2009), with Warren Ellis

The Umbrella Academy, art by Gabriel Bá

Get Jiro, with Joel Rose and Langdon Foss

***The Umbrella Academy*, art by Gabriel Bá**