I’ve reviewed a ton of comic books this month.When I decided to do my top 5 comics for August, 2012, I thought to myself, ‘Oh, this won’t be that hard.’ I was wrong. I don’t read every comic on the market, but I read a lot of them. Looking back, I read more comic books than I thought this month. More troublesome than that, when I tried to make a top five list, I ended up with a list of 12 comics that I felt deserved to be on it. I thought about listing a top five and then doing an honorable mentions list, but that seemed to be a cheap way out of actually doing what I set out to do. And then I ended up doing a small honorable mentions list anyway. So, just to be clear, these were my favorite five comics this month. This is not an objective determination of which comics are better or worse. In any case, without further ado, here are my top five comic books for August, 2012:
Supercrooks #4 from Mark Millar – The end of the four-part superhero heist series from Mark Millar was pretty spectacular. The characters were interesting, the book was intense, and watching the plan unfold was fantastic. Supercrooks is finished, that’s the bad news. The good news is that you should be able to grab it in November in hardcover version. Which I would recommend you do if the idea of an ultra-violent superhero heist comic book sounds at all interesting to you (and if it doesn’t: Wha?).
Godzilla: The Half-Century War #1 from James Stokoe - This was one I wasn’t expecting. Godzilla: The Half-Century War #1 looks like a really interesting take on the Godzilla story so far, telling one man’s fight against the giant, atomic reptile over the course of a 50 year military career. It doesn’t hurt that James Stokoe’s art is gorgeous (check out this preview to see what I mean), but I really like the unique take on Godzilla as well, which isn’t just him fighting all the other monsters (not that I don’t love that, too).
Hawkeye #1 from Matt Fraction – What does the world’s only Avenger without super powers do when he’s not, you know, being an avenger. Matt Fractions take on Hawkeye in Hawkeye #1 is a really interesting read and expertly plotted. It may lack the super powers of some of the other books, and Fraction’s Clint Barton may be a bit of a rogue, but his heart is always in the right place.
Punk Rock Jesus #2 from Sean Murphy - Punk Rock Jesus is great. I don’t know of any other way to put it. It may not be the most action-packed comic book on the list, but it is certainly one of the most artistically interesting. I’m interested in the characters and what they will do when faced with moral dilemmas and the questions that the series asks about what we believe.
Atomic Robo and the Flying She-Devils of the Pacific #2 - Think Tank #1 introduces us to the thoroughly likeable David Loren who decides that he is done working for a military think tank (natch). It’s a good mix between science-y action and humor that I really enjoyed.
Honorable Mentions: I didn’t want to make this just a list of the comics I reviewed this month, so I had to cut the list off, but these comics deserve to be mentioned as the best of the month as well: Think Tank #1, Amelia Cole and the Unknown World #2, Skullkickers #17.
So, that’s a long list and it left off a few books that I really, really enjoyed. In any case, what were your favorite comic books of the last month? Talk about it in the comments! If you’re done checking out my top five comic books of August, 2012, why don’t you look at the Related Posts below, the Recent Posts in the sidebar, or go to a random post on Futile Position.
