Broken Frontier

Another year has ended and it’s time to start preparing for the New Year. Part of these preparations involves making New Year’s resolutions. Normally, these resolutions involve trying to quit smoking or to exercise more. And usually, they are broken by the time mid-January rolls around.

The reason some of these promises don’t last is because people are giving up something they enjoy. Resolving to pass on that hot fudge sundae is hard because hot fudge sundaes taste good. But what if there was a resolution you could make that you would actually enjoy and provide a service at the same time? 

Guiding Lines has just the thing: we are going to provide you with nine titles that you should add to your pull list in the upcoming year. Each of these titles charted just outside the Diamond 100 list for November and while not all these titles are in danger of cancellation, I’m sure some are and your picking up the book would help stave it off. But these are books that should be reaching a wider audience. And these are titles I think are some of the best on the market.

Here is the list of the titles I think are worthy of your spending dollar. After each title, I will list the chart position and sales figures for the last several issues of each title.

• Jonah Hex (#11: #108, 19,000 – #12: #113, 18,300 – #13: #144, 18,700)

This title has made many an appearance in this column, mainly because I think it is one of the best titles on the market. I won’t go into the reasons again here, since I touched on them in my October 31st column, but I really love this title. And of all the titles I am listing today, I fear that this one is in the greatest danger of being cancelled.

As you can see above, the title has been dropping down the charts. And although sales did receive a bump with issue #13’s origin issue, it wasn’t enough to cancel out the drop between 11 and 12.

If I was rich enough to buy everyone a copy of Jonah Hex, I would. I would give them out free to whoever wanted it so there would be no risk for them to find out how good it is. But since my name isn’t Bill Gates, I can’t do that. All I can do is encourage all of you to give it a try. So try it, please?

• Ex Machina (#22: #106, 20,000 – #23: #106, 20,100 – #24: #141, 19,800)

Brian K. Vaughan is a favorite author of mine. I discovered his writing on Runaways, caught up on his Y: The Last Man in trade paperback and thoroughly enjoyed his Pride of Baghdad graphic novel. But my favorite work by him currently gracing comic shop shelves has to be Ex Machina.

I wonder if people are hesitant to pick up this title because they think that political battles wouldn’t be as interesting as superhero ones. These people would be right—they’re MORE interesting. The most recent arc had Mitchell Hundred trying to get to the root of a man dressing like a firefighter to break into people’s homes. At the same time he was also dealing with the repercussions of a woman who set herself on fire on the city hall steps to protest his drug policy. It had me on the edge of my seat all the way through.

• Blade (#1: #56, 35,800 – #2: #72, 27,200 – #3: #125, 23,100)

This series came about because of the Spike TV series based on the line of movies. Perhaps the fact that the TV series was not renewed has some bearing on the way this title is plummeting down the charts. If that’s the case, then it truly is a shame because those people not reading this title are missing out on something good.

Marc Guggenheim has done something interesting with the book—he has stayed true to the movie version of the character while seamlessly merging him in with the mainstream Marvel Universe. He recently fought a vampire-bitten Spider-Man, was forced to do a favor for Doctor Doom and had a run-in with Wolverine.  Stories like these make Blade a slam-bang, action-filled book that is an entertaining read.

• Criminal (#1: #85, 26,000 – #2: #135, 21,000)

Sure, this series just started and it might be too early to state it’s in trouble. But that 50 position/5,000 copy drop between issues is scary. And since what I read of the series so far was so good, that means it is worthy of an inclusion on this list.

I’ll grant you that it isn’t your typical comic book. But it is a good comic book. The first arc deals with an overly cautious thief who is being coerced into joining a job that he has a bad feeling about. Brubaker and Phillips create interesting characters and vivid settings that pull you in and make you feel that you are part of the seedy underworld they portray.

• Walking Dead (#30: #103, 20,500 – #31: #103, 21,400 – #32: #133, 21,200)

Sales on this title, with the exception of #32, have been consistently rising. As a matter of fact, they have almost tripled from #1’s 7,300 copies. But that doesn’t mean it still doesn’t deserve a higher readership.

Walking Dead was one of the originators of the recent zombie books trend, arriving in 2003. You’d think the genre wouldn’t be fruitful enough to sustain 3 years of stories, but this title is still going strong. That is due to the imagination of writer Robert Kirkman. He has focused on the living more than the dead and created some vivid characters and situations to put them in. Whether it is taking over a prison as a fortress against the horde of the undead to wrangling with a crazed and wicked warlord who calls himself the Governor, readers are kept interested. Accept no imitators; if you pick up one zombie related book, this is the one to go for.

• Blue Beetle (#7: #73, 29,100 – #8: #97, 25,900 – #9: #116, 23,800)

I’ll admit that I was at first hesitant about this title. But over time I warmed up to it, mainly because of the likeability of the main character, Jaime Reyes. He is a teenager who has had great power thrust upon him. A power he doesn’t quite understand, but is trying to figure out, with the help of his friends and family.

The series has begun to delve into the mysteries behind the blue scarab that gives all the Blue Beetle’s their powers. It has begun the process of explaining all the varied versions of the character logically as Jaime researches the legacy he inherited. The title is a charming mix of characterization, continuity and humor.

• Hellblazer (#224: #124, 13,700 – #225: #128, 13,600 – #226: #163, 13,400)

Perhaps the bar is lower for Vertigo books. Or perhaps Hellblazer is such an institution that it is cancellation proof. But it has been four years since the title cracked the top 100. This is not to say that it doesn’t deserve a higher readership. It does, especially considering the great job Denise Mina is doing on the comic. She has written a story that fits in with the weirdness expected from a Vertigo book, but with cohesiveness that does not alienate the reader.

John Constantine has been infected with empathy, the ability to feel exactly what everyone is feeling. This can be debilitating to anyone who deals with pain and torment on a daily basis. But there is a virus on the loose that will mean the end of all living things. John is the only person who can stop it, if he could just work his way past his new handicap.

• Jack of Fables (#3: #100, 22,400 – #4: #101, 21,600 – 5: #134, 21,200)

This title is a spin-off from Fables, one of Vertigo’s best selling titles, and features a lead, Jack, who’s one of the better characters from that book. Jack, from Horner and “and the Beanstalk” fame, is portrayed as a charming rouge, a sly manipulator who would do anything to get his way and you’d love him for it.

The series just wrapped up it first arc, dealing with Jack’s capture by, and escape from a villain who keeps Fables captive for his own nefarious means. The series is written with a cheeky sense of humor and sense of mischievous fun. While Jack of Fables did spin out of Fables, and Fables is a good book, the former is also a good book in a completely different way. If you have been reluctant to try it thinking it to be a rote rehashing of Fables, give it a shot. It has a style all its own. 

• All-New Atom (#3: #63, 33,300 – #4: #66, 28,400 – #5: #104, 25,600)

This title experienced a dramatic drop-off after artist John Byrne left the series. I think this is a shame because Byrne played only a little part in my enjoyment of the series. Don’t get me wrong, I think Byrne did a good job on the art duties, but the main draw here was and is the writing of Gail Simone.

Anytime you see a blurb that states “Based on a concept by” a particular author and that individual is not writing the series, it is natural to feel concerned. The new Atom was conceived by Grant Morrison, and it is hard to find another writer compatible with his style. But Gail Simone seems to fit in quite nicely. This book has the feel of Morrison’s Doom Patrol series, although skewed a little closer to the mainstream. It has a post-modern Silver Age tone to it, mixing the wacky and goofy with the dark and nasty. It deserves recognition for more than just its art.

So there you have it—nine books in need of love, and you in need of a New Year’s Resolution. That seems to be a marriage made in heaven. Add one or more of these books to your monthly pull list. Make those monthly orders increase. Save these books from cancellation. You just might be happy you did. 

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William Gatevackes is a professional writer living in Mamaroneck, NY with his wife Jennifer. Bill also writes periodic comic reviews for PopMatters and writes title descriptions for Human Computing’s Comicbase collection management software. He hopes everyone out there is having a safe, happy and joyous holiday season!