image comics | books and writing

It’s that time again, for the weekly top ten countdown. This week’s topic is a ‘freebie’ week, meaning we can talk about whatever we want to. And since I’ve got to the comic book side of things, I’m going to talk about my top ten comics/graphic novels that I’m loving right now. Most of these are DC verse with a couple others thrown in. As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Broke and Bookish

Batman: Battle for the Cowl Tony S. Daniel, Fabian Nicieza Who has earned the right? Who thinks they deserve it? Robin? Nightwing? Jason Todd? Two-Face? Catwoman? Batgirl? Who will ultimately win the BATTLE FOR THE COWL?

One of the few Pre-52 volumes that I own and love, Battle for The Cowl is explosive, entertaining and really lays down some great Bat mythos and dynamics.

Hawkeye Vs. Deadpool Gerry Duggan Matteo Lolli Once upon a time, champions emerged to fight the evil plaguing humanity. They fought for all that was good in the world. They were kind, generous and self-sacrificing. They were heroes. These are not those heroes.

I love this comic, and I’ve got a review of it coming soon. Working on a few things, but this is hysterically funny and it’s not really a VS in the true meaning of the word, but more of a team up.

Nightwing: Death of the Family Kyle Higgins, Eddy Barrows, Andres Guinaldo, Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo Joker makes his horrifying return to Gotham City! But even for man who’s committed a lifetime of murder, he’s more dangerous than ever before. The Joker sets his twisted sights on the members of the Bat-Family and attacks them all where it hurts—and for Dick Grayson, that means going after the family he’s built up for the past year at Haly’s Circus!

I’ve got a whole review of the Nightwing graphic novels coming up, so I’m not going to get too much into my feelings about Nightwing here. I do however really love the Death of the Family arc and the Nightwing volume was my second favorite when it comes down to it. Beautiful art, great story line and it really helps define a the Dick Grayson/Nightwing character.

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Title Morning Glories Vol 1: For a Better Future.

Publisher: Image comics

Writer/Artist: Spencer, Eisma, Esquejo

Rating:

Synopsis: One of the most prestigious prep schools in the country…But behind it’s hallowed doors something sinister and deadly lurks. When six brilliant but troubled new students arrive, they find themselves trapped and desperately seeking answers..and escape from a place where nothing is what it seems to be.

This was a little bit of a different read for me. I’m drawn toward stories like this, but usually in standard novels, not so much the comic book/graphic novel world (though most of my manga run along this type of story as well). I really like this volume, and I’m going to read more of this series, I had just gotten distracted by some of the DC story lines. Now that I’m pretty much caught up with the ones that I’m seriously following, I’m going to go back to looking at a few Marvel lines, and some Image.

Morning Glories is a pretty wild ride. The story in this first volume is a little jumpy, often back tracking on itself and twisting into various little side teasers of things to come. The main arc is pretty dense and convoluted–the kids show up at a boarding school, all for different reasons, all having some seriously weird tendencies and all having the same birthday. When they contact their parents, its as though they were never born–one character’s parents end up dying. There’s a lot of layers stuffed into this one volume, and it took me a little while to get into the groove.

What saved this comic for me though, and what made me give it a five star rating is the cast. The characters are well thought out, well drawn and distinguishable from one another, despite being a large ‘main’ cast. Each character has a brilliant flaw, a little (or a lot) messed up, and they’re compelling with really clear motives. We don’t get the full reason why each one is there, but hinted back story of a few of the characters, I’m thinking of two in particular, are freaking awesome. They’re edgy without throwing it in the reader’s face. I LOVE the female characters, they’re intelligent and strong, and often take the lead in group situations. The art is phenomenal inside the volume, I’m not particularly fond of the trade cover.

Overall: This is not your typical “bad guys v. Good guys’ comic book where the hero swoops in and saves the day. Right now? There’s no hero, just a bunch of flawed teenagers stuck in a really messed up place. I’ve seen a lot of comparisons to Lost (which I didn’t read) but that should give you an idea as to how layered/convoluted this is. Pick it up and read it with an open mind, and resist the urge to spoil yourself. Just read and and go with it.