Gef Fox's Top 5 comics of 2013

My Fave Five Comic Books of 2013

Gef Fox

Wag The Fox

Ever since Katie and Sharon invited me to review comic books for I Smell Sheep, I've been having a blast doing something that I just never had the chance to do when I was a boy: read comic books!

It's like I'm making up for lost time. And it's nice to live in a century where a thirty-something fella can read a comic book without having scorn heaped upon him. I get enough of that for reading horror novels, anyway.

Okay, so to be clear, the vast majority of comics I have read this year were published by Image and Dark Horse, though I have had the chance to read some promising titles from publishers like Valiant, Top Cow, Zenescope, and others, so please don't take this as any kind of definitive list or anything. It's just me cheer-leading the books I managed to read. So, here we go.

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#5 Kiss Me, Satan by Victor Gischler (Dark Horse) - This series was custom-made for me, it feels like, because it is an amped-up urban fantasy that makes no apologies for how entrenched in the genre it is. I can only imagine the fiendish glee Victor Gischler and Juan Ferreyra take with putting the story on the page. It's only three issues into the five-part series as I write this, but it's already a standout for me.
Gef's reviews of Kiss Me, Satan

#4 Fatale by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image) - I'm late to this series, but what I've read has been a delight to a devilish degree. The overtly melodramatic noir is so well-suited to the medium, I'm surprised. I would go bonkers if there was a TV or film adaptation of this series, but I have to wonder how a general audience would react when the allusions to supernatural elements rear up at certain points. Bah, screw adaptations--the comic book is superb.
Gef's reviews: Fatale

#3 X by Duane Swierczynski and Erin Nguyen (Dark Horse) - I'm already a fan of Swierczynski's novels, so when I caught word he also wrote for comic books and he had a new series coming out, I just had to check it out. I'm glad I did, too. The hyper-violent revenge thriller is at times so over the top, I feel like I should be repulsed, but there is just enough humanity injected into the story that I am simply captivated.
Gef's reviews: X

#2 Skullkickers by Jim Zub and Edwin Huang (Image) - I think it was Skullkickers #19 that first introduced me to the irreverent humor of Jim Zub. This series has been one of the most genuinely hilarious comic book series I've ever read. Heck, one of the funniest book series, period. If you enjoy fantasy adventure with drunken dwarves, you're gonna love this series.
Gef's reviews: Skullkickers

#1 Ten Grand by J. Michael Straczynski, Ben Templesmith, & C.P. Smith (Image) - I like my urban fantasy gritty, and Ten Grand might be the grittiest. Up until very recently, it was illustrated by the incomparable Ben Templesmith, whose artwork such a bleak and mesmerizing portrayal of this universe. Now, the helm has been passed to C.P. Smith, just as the main character ventures into Hell to save his lady love, which has been a bit of serendipity, offering a refreshing twist on the visual tone of the story. Straczynski's writing remains unchanged, meaning brilliant. I am hard-pressed to imagine a series that could impress me more.
Gef's reviews of Ten Grand

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And there you have it. I'm sure other lists of this sort look entirely different, but I'm going with my gut and basically putting my personal tastes in comics on display here. Aside from Batman and the occasional X-Men comic, I don't get wrapped up in the superhero genres. I have been far more drawn towards the books that work to tell stories a little more grounded, yet just as fantastical.

So, what are your favorite comic books from this past year? What have I been missing out on and need to hunt down once it's out in trade form?

Comic Review: Fatale #18

Fatale #18
Image Comics
Story By: Ed Brubaker
Art By: Sean Phillips
Art By: Elizabeth Breitweiser
Cover By: Sean Phillips
Cover Price: $3.50
Digital Price: $2.99
Diamond ID: JUL130523
Published: November 6, 2013
NOMINATED FOR MORE 2013 EISNER AWARDS THAN ANY OTHER COMIC!

Everything goes wrong when Josephine appears in a Seattle band's music video, and her effect on those who desire her runs wild, as the most exciting arc of Fatale continues.

And remember, each issue of FATALE contains extra content, artwork and articles that are only available in the printed single issues.

Holy moly, this series is just bound and determined to find out how far down the rabbit hole goes.

Skip's dead. Jane killed him ... sort of. After Skip tried to force himself on her while the rest of the band was out, Jane worked whatever mojo she has in that noodle of hers and made Skip dunk his head in the toilet until he drowned himself. Eesh.

Now, when your drummer dies, you'd think that would be a sobering moment that might have you reexamining the choice you've made in life recently, but you're not smitten with Jane like these guys. Nope, they move the body to the basement and argue over how to dispose of it--and try to figure out how to keep people asking too many questions when they do their music video shoot the next day.

In all of this madness, Darcy is the only one thinking straight. Maybe Jane can only affect men. Whatever the case, her common sense approach to things inside that house is gonna get her killed, I can just feel it.

Aside from some panels that felt a little uneven compared to the rest, the artwork effectively captures the dark, twisting descent this rock band is taking. And when it comes time for the video shoot ... well, my oh my, you will just have to see that to believe it.

The serial killer cop, the horrifically scarred mob boss, and the double-crossed fugitive take a backseat in this issue, but I think things are gearing up for one helluva climax in the next couple of issues. And I ... can't ... wait.

Review: Fetale #15
Review: Fatale #16

Review: Fatale #17

4 1/2 Sheep

Gef Fox
Wag the Fox: Den For Dark Fiction

Sheep Comic Review: Fatale #17

Fatale #17

Story By: Ed Brubaker

Art By: Sean Phillips
Art By: Elizabeth Breitweiser
Cover By: Sean Phillips
Image Comics
Price: $3.50Diamond ID: JUN130542
Published: September 25, 2013

The Bishop disappeared in Los Angeles in the late '70s, in a fiery scream, but he's never really been gone, and now he's finally got Jo's scent again. And remember each issue of FATALE contains extra content, articles and artwork that are not available anywhere but the printed single issues.

Okay, things are getting weird--and I'm loving it.

Fatale #17 begins with another interlude featuring the one-legged fugitive, Nick Lash, and his grizzled ol' liberator,, Nelson. They're still on the run, laying low, and the more time they spend together, the more it looks like Nelson is outhouse crazy.

After the interlude leaves off with a really great cliffhanger, the main story set in the mid-90s resumes with Lance, the guitarist/bank robber, and Jane, the alluring amnesiac. Now that she is firmly entrenched with the band in their farmhouse hideaway, her hold on the men of the house has reached a new level of obsession and depravity. Now, she is joining in on the robberies with Lance, while the other guys each grapple with Jane's mind-altering machinations.

Oh yeah, and the detective/serial killer is slowly closing in on them, too.

Along with all of that, a new player enters the stage who wants a piece of Jane.

Jane's secrets are slowly coming to bear, but there's still plenty of mystery behind what she is doing to these men and why. It's such a gripping piece of noir and fantasy, I simply enamored by Brubaker's storytelling and Phillips' atmospheric artwork. At this point, it feels like we're on our way to some kind of collision with all of these storylines, and it's shaping up to be a truly memorable one. At this rate, Fatale is going to wind up my favorite comic book series of 2013.

Review: Fetale #15

Review: Fatale #16

5 Sheep

Gef Fox

Wag The Fox: a den for dark fiction

Sheep Comic Review: Fatale #16 by Ed Brubaker

Fatale #16 
By: Ed Brubaker 
Image Comics 

Nicolas is on Josephine's trail of secrets, and they lead him back to 1990s Seattle, where a rock band, a gang of bank robbers, and a wandering serial killer all circle around a mysterious woman with no memory... And remember, each issue of FATALE contains extra content, artwork and articles that are only available in the printed single issues.

The irresistible allure of the nameless beauty comes to bear in this issue, giving Fatale a bit of a supernatural element I wasn't expecting to go with the noir atmosphere.

At the end of the previous issue, we saw the woman had escaped the makeshift dungeon of a psycho-cop serial killer. To start Chapter Two, we get a glimpse into his madness and what propels him to kill, and why he had such an obsession with our femme fatale. Meanwhile, the woman in question has taken on the name Jane Doe and effortlessly charmed the young bandmates with whom she's now living.

Lance, the guitarist/bank robber, becomes so enamored by Jane he convinces her to star in the band's music video. Trouble is they don't have enough cash. Lance figures the easiest solution for that is to rob another bank. As he is off making plans for the next robbery, Jane works her magic on the reclusive songwriter, Tom, much to the chagrin of his girlfriend, Darcy.

The story has a lot of moving parts, and despite not starting into this series earlier, issue #15 provided an easy enough jumping on point and this issue has managed to ease more of the backstory into the forefront. Things towards the end of the issue felt a little murky for me, but nothing has felt convoluted or impassable thus far. The nature of Jane and the effect she has on the men around her is gradually coming into focus, but I think it's the relationships among the bandmates, as well as the desperation of the killer on Jane's trail, that will provide the most intrigue for the next little while.

Bring on Chapter Three. 

4 1/2 Sheep 
Guest Reviewer: Gef Fox
Wag The Fox

Comic Review: Fatale #15 by Ed Brubaker

Fatale #15 
By: Ed Brubaker

Published: June 26, 2013

Image Comics

A NEW ARC BEGINS!FATALE finally arrives in modern times, as Nicolas Lash's research from his prison cell draws out old enemies. And him with nowhere left to run. And remember each issue of FATALE contains extra content, articles and artwork that are not available anywhere but the printed single issues.

I'd been reading some good things about this series from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, but with it being fourteen issues deep I was a little hesitant to take this fifteenth issue for a test drive, since I'm conditioned to reviewing comic books from the inaugural issue onward. Fatale #15, thankfully, feels like the start of a new story arch, making the learning curve a whole lot easier.

Nick Lash seems utterly doomed, but at least he knows it. Framed for murder, his dead uncle's manuscript stolen, his lawyer killed in front of him, and on the run with a man named Nelson who did the killing. Yeah, Nick is doomed.

That's just the prologue though, as the main story goes back to the mid-90s where a struggling rock musician, Lance, robs a bank to fund his band, only to botch the getaway and stumble across a naked beauty on the side of the road, covered in nothing but a bed sheet and a lot of blood. Even weirder is the fact that the blood ain't hers and there's somebody with a basement full of dead women looking for her.

If you like your crime fiction brazen and bloody, Brubaker and Phillips are your guys. Don't ask me how the first part with Nick Lash ties in with Nelson's heist gone awry storyline, at least beyond the femme fatale Josephine, but I think I'm going to enjoy finding out. The main characters all have the classic combination of empathy and ineptitude; guys in over their heads and can't help but dig their own graves a little deeper. With Nelson, all he's really done in this issue is take a strange girl home, but the atmosphere is as powerful as it is pulpy, and leaves things off in such a way that I can't wait to read Fatale #16.

If you're like me, and you haven't bothered with the first fourteen issues of this series for whatever reason, now might be a good time to give the series a chance, because it's either getting good or it's getting even better.

4 1/2 Sheep
Guest Review: Gef Fox
Wag The Fox